Whisky and Scotch Recommendations

Exciting news - the friend who's going to be renting the downstairs of our house is shipping some rare Japanese whisky back to our place. It's apparently not sold outside of Japan.

I'll report back once I've guilted him into sharing it with me.

Jonman wrote:

Exciting news - the friend who's going to be renting the downstairs of our house is shipping some rare Japanese whisky back to our place. It's apparently not sold outside of Japan.

I'll report back once I've guilted him into sharing it with me. :)

Sweet.

DanB wrote:
Jonman wrote:

Exciting news - the friend who's going to be renting the downstairs of our house is shipping some rare Japanese whisky back to our place. It's apparently not sold outside of Japan.

I'll report back once I've guilted him into sharing it with me. :)

Sweet.

iirc, a Japanese entity (person or company, I can't recall) bought (either all, or a large part of) the Bowmore distillery, quite some time ago, and they bottle a very specific run that is sold only in Japan. I remember seeing an EMPTY bottle (with wooden case) for sale on eBay years ago.

Someone put whisky in a can.

why, I'm not sure.

IMAGE(http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2011/01/whiskyinacan.jpg)

A lot has been said here, but I'll just outline my favorites in each class:

Bourbon: Van Winkle 12, Van Winkle 10 (a bargain if you can find it), Old Weller 12, George T. Stagg (any year if you can find it). Personally, I avoid Makers like the plague.

Irish: Crested 10 is a great value for a blended. Connemara Cask Strength is a nice, peated Irish whiskey in the same vein as Laphroiag and Lagavulin

Scotch: Typically, I lean much more toward the Islay malts than any others, with Lagavulin 16 being my favorite. Caol Ila is also nice, and I'm looking forward to trying the Distiller's Edition soon. For other Scotch, Dalmore 15, Dalwhinnie 15, Jura Superstition (smokey, but still a blend), are probably my favorites. I've never been a huge fan of the Glens, and don't have much experience with some of the other highlands.

Sláinte!

Seth wrote:

Someone put whisky in a can.

why, I'm not sure.

WUT

I'd at least give it a try.

I probably need 12 ounces of whisky at a time.

I'm not much of an alcoholic, heck I don't even drink that much. I'm more of a smoker. Give me a thread about weed and I can go on for days. Or maybe a couple sentences that took a really long time to think of. But when I do drink I prefer Whiskey. Recently, I've been enjoying Makers Mark, mixed with ginger ale and a few drops of Bitters. MMM MMM Good.

I do look forward to trying some new flavors mentioned in this thread. Cheers!

BassMadMadoo wrote:

I'm not much of an alcoholic, heck I don't even drink that much. I'm more of a smoker. Give me a thread about weed and I can go on for days. Or maybe a couple sentences that took a really long time to think of. But when I do drink I prefer Whiskey. Recently, I've been enjoying Makers Mark, mixed with ginger ale and a few drops of Bitters. MMM MMM Good.

I do look forward to trying some new flavors mentioned in this thread. Cheers!

Since you're enjoying Makers Mark you will probably enjoy about every whiskey mentioned here.

I finally tried some Buffalo Trace. It is marvelous! I think it will replace Woodford Reserve as my go-to sipping bourbon.

I also upgraded my mixing bourbon from regular Jim Beam to Jim Beam Black, with a noticeable increase in quality. (I also like Old Forester and Evan Williams 1783 for this purpose.)

KrazyTacoFO wrote:
BassMadMadoo wrote:

I'm not much of an alcoholic, heck I don't even drink that much. I'm more of a smoker. Give me a thread about weed and I can go on for days. Or maybe a couple sentences that took a really long time to think of. But when I do drink I prefer Whiskey. Recently, I've been enjoying Makers Mark, mixed with ginger ale and a few drops of Bitters. MMM MMM Good.

I do look forward to trying some new flavors mentioned in this thread. Cheers!

Since you're enjoying Makers Mark you will probably enjoy about every whiskey mentioned here. :lol:

HA! I figured that much. I just don't know where to start..... But that gives me a good reason to finish this bottle of MM I got for x-mas.

So I finally grew up and tried whiskey for the first time this weekend. I don't know what took so long. Just never thought about it. Perhaps it just seemed like a Grandpa drink. I remember when I was a kid and seeing Jack Daniels all over his cabinet and on his breath.

Unknowingly I took Lobo's advise and picked up a bourbon. A friend recommended Bulliet. It is $20 from Trader Joe's.

First time I tried it was neat. I really liked it. Hit me faster than most other hard liquors.

Then i tried it on the rocks the next day. That is how I remember Grandpa drinking his whiskey and gin. Why did I go backwards? It had no taste cold and watered down.

Now I am on the lookout for more.

Lobo wrote:

I finally tried some Buffalo Trace. It is marvelous! I think it will replace Woodford Reserve as my go-to sipping bourbon.

I also upgraded my mixing bourbon from regular Jim Beam to Jim Beam Black, with a noticeable increase in quality. (I also like Old Forester and Evan Williams 1783 for this purpose.)

I'm not sure if I enjoy Buffalo Trace more than Woodford, but it is a good bourbon.

BassMadMadoo wrote:
KrazyTacoFO wrote:
BassMadMadoo wrote:

I'm not much of an alcoholic, heck I don't even drink that much. I'm more of a smoker. Give me a thread about weed and I can go on for days. Or maybe a couple sentences that took a really long time to think of. But when I do drink I prefer Whiskey. Recently, I've been enjoying Makers Mark, mixed with ginger ale and a few drops of Bitters. MMM MMM Good.

I do look forward to trying some new flavors mentioned in this thread. Cheers!

Since you're enjoying Makers Mark you will probably enjoy about every whiskey mentioned here. :lol:

HA! I figured that much. I just don't know where to start..... But that gives me a good reason to finish this bottle of MM I got for x-mas. :)

Read through this thread at least one more time (or twice) and then you should get a good idea at where to start. Lots of good ideas and advice here. Or just buy every recommendation from the thread.

I picked up Elijah Craig this weekend and was really disappointed with the bitterness. It has nothing on Buffalo Trace.

PyromanFO wrote:

I picked up Elijah Craig this weekend and was really disappointed with the bitterness. It has nothing on Buffalo Trace.

I agree, Elijah Craig is not a taste that I'm attracted to. I've ended up trying it a few times in some whiskey flights and it's always my last choice when I rank them.

I know it's been mentioned several times before, so I won't go into it too long, but I was just (re)introduced to Booker's. Amazing stuff -- the aroma is almost like dessert, it's so heavy on the vanilla, and the taste is spicy with some leather.

It's also really umm.... intense. 125 proof is a bit more than I'm used to sipping. I needed a couple splashes of water to open it up.

Seth wrote:

It's also really umm. intense. 125 proof is a bit more than I'm used to sipping. I needed a couple splashes of water to open it up.

That's fair. It's powerful stuff. Also has a lot of cool history behind it. I'm a fan of Jim Beam if for no other reason than "The Three Bs" (Booker's, Baker's and Basil Hayden's) because they're all so different and yet all such outstanding product. Oh, Knob Creek's not bad, either.

Minarchist wrote:
Seth wrote:

It's also really umm. intense. 125 proof is a bit more than I'm used to sipping. I needed a couple splashes of water to open it up.

That's fair. It's powerful stuff. Also has a lot of cool history behind it. I'm a fan of Jim Beam if for no other reason than "The Three Bs" (Booker's, Baker's and Basil Hayden's) because they're all so different and yet all such outstanding product. Oh, Knob Creek's not bad, either. :-)

Hard to go wrong when Knob Creek is the low end swill.

I just put an order in for a blended irish whisky which sounds interesting...supposedly it's produced by the only Irish-owned distillery in the country, all the others being owned by large international corporations. It's called Okanagan. $32 Canadian from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Anyone heard of it by any chance?

DrunkenSleipnir wrote:

There is...a definite lack of bourbon after I finished my bottle of Willet Reserve with some yams not long ago.

*looks at tag*

*slowly shakes head in shame*

There are four single malt scotches on the shelf right now (did a sampling this past weekend!), but a definite lack of bourbon after I finished my bottle of Willet Reserve with some yams not long ago. I may have to try some of the ones listed above, such as the Old Weller and Buffalo Trace.

As far as the scotch tastings went, we did Glenrothes, Cardhu, Bowmore, and Caol Ila, in that order.

The general consensus was enthusiasm for the balanced and mildly sweet Glenrothes, a mild dislike of the pungent Cardhu, a great reception for the Bowmore (peaty but balanced), and a pleased finish with the extra peaty Caol Ila. More drinkers went back to the Bowmore for casual consumption.

Seth wrote:

Someone put whisky in a can.

why, I'm not sure.

Problematic here is I am not sure what is more of a cry for help. Keeping a hip flask at the ready(which I often do) or drinking your whiskey from a 12 ounce can. If you saw me engaging in one or the other, which would lead to a locked room intervention?

At least you can put the cap back on your flask.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

At least you can put the cap back on your flask.

So that's another vote for the 12 ounce can then?

Symbiotic wrote:

A lot has been said here, but I'll just outline my favorites in each class:

Bourbon: Van Winkle 12, Van Winkle 10 (a bargain if you can find it), Old Weller 12, George T. Stagg (any year if you can find it). Personally, I avoid Makers like the plague.

Irish: Crested 10 is a great value for a blended. Connemara Cask Strength is a nice, peated Irish whiskey in the same vein as Laphroiag and Lagavulin

Scotch: Typically, I lean much more toward the Islay malts than any others, with Lagavulin 16 being my favorite. Caol Ila is also nice, and I'm looking forward to trying the Distiller's Edition soon. For other Scotch, Dalmore 15, Dalwhinnie 15, Jura Superstition (smokey, but still a blend), are probably my favorites. I've never been a huge fan of the Glens, and don't have much experience with some of the other highlands.

Sláinte!

God, you can find Pappy Van Winkle at all? I love that sh*t to death.

I'm all about Pappy Van Winkle....now If I can only get North Carolina's ABC to agree to carry it

m0nk3yboy wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

At least you can put the cap back on your flask.

So that's another vote for the 12 ounce can then?

Quintin_Stone wrote:

At least you can put the cap back on your flask.

Mine only closes when it is full or empty. All points in between the cap just pops off spontaneously.

To celebrate the arrival of my baby boy, I bought a bottle of JW Blue Label. Still prefer my Middleton Very Rare whiskey over Scotch, but still, very tasty.

wanderingtaoist wrote:

I always keep a bottle of Tullamore Dew around for the everyday casual sipping. Very mild, nice, almost everyone likes its taste, even people who are not into whisky at all. For a bit of a challenge I go to Smokehead. In this case, it's nomen omen all the way.

I was hoping that there would be some Tullamore Dew love on this topic and I was not disappointed. Smooth as silk and sweet as a stolen kiss.

My go-to binge whiskey has always been Ten High. Cheap, tolerable, non-blinding. Of late they've only had the handles at my local liquor store, so I've made a small step up to Early Times' 750. Just found that Early Times has a new upgrade, called Early Times 354 Bourbon.

It has stuff floating in it. Like, shreds of what appear to be cigarette tobacco, suspended throughout the liquid, not just at the bottom, seemingly defying simple physics. 80 proof, tastes like Early Times but lighter, without that irony tang.

The bottle has a nice rectangular shape.

I will never buy it again.