The whiskey tribe and Trade!

Went on another buying binge at TWM today.

Bought a bottle of Boondocks 8 yr Port Finished which was on my buy list to compare w/Woodinville and Angel's Envy which are also port finished. Couldn't find any other bourbons on my bourbon by list there today.

Had a lot to choose from among the bottles on my scotch list and decided to go for the 18 yr old bottles of Glenlivet, Glenfiddich and Glenmorangie, which each cost less than $100.

Most of the rest of the 18 yr old scotches that I am interested in buying cost between $100-250 and I'm not in any hurry to buy them.
 
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Question for SGT1372:
Which GlenScotia did you pour down the drain ?

I buy the 15 yo. a six pack at a time ! I hope that does'nt mean that I have No Taste Buds at all.

going to offer up some alternatives for your shopping list.

Mac 12: Try Kilkerran 12 or if you can find it Edradour 12 " Caledonia"

OP 12: A better choice {for me at least } Aultmore 12, tart & a tad of Maritime salt & higher ABV%

and for every day easy sipping GlenCadam 10 , & if you can find it the 15 yo. is even better.
 
Finally got around to "downloading" a couple of pics off of my phone and uploaded them to Imgur so they can be posted here.

This is why I'm lazy about posting pics, just a PITA but here are a couple of scotch photos that I've been meaning to post for awhile.

BL7ElRM.jpg


PPHDAQk.jpg


Have also posted a couple of other photos to the Bourbon & Knife thread.
 
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OldNavy said:
Question for SGT1372:
Which GlenScotia did you pour down the drain ?
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As I recall, it was this one:

glen-scotia-victoriana-fspdtr-800x800.png


It was a very generous and well intentioned gift from a GF, after we 1st met, who really didn't know what I liked (nor anything about scotch) and took the suggestion of a salesperson who apparently was just trying to make a sale.

Problem was that I really HATED it!

I checked the available reviews for info on it, many of which are steller, but I just didn't taste what they did.

Too me it was WAY TOO HOT and medicinal which overwhelmed any nuances, which a little water nor an ice cube did little to help. So, I just stuck it in the back of my cupboard after the 1st taste and ignored it.

The GF noticed that I wasn't drinking it and later bought me a bottle of Laphroaig 10 because she saw that was one of the Islays that I was drinking.

A better choice but if she was willing to spend $100+ on an unknown bottle of scotch based on the "recommendation" of an unknown salesperson, I certainly could have made some better suggestions, like one of the 18 yr old single malts that I just bought, but she liked to give me "surprise" gifts and asking me for info would have not been as enjoyable to her.

One of her endearing traits. Just too bad there were too many other traits that were not. ;)

In any event, I had the good sense to keep the Glen Scotia until my GF and I broke up permanently and then tossed it down the drain to make room for scotch that I prefer drinking.

I'm sure that's "shocking" to some people but I didn't pay for it, so it didn't cost me anything, and I've done the same to both cheap and expensive bottles of wine that I actually paid for but also didn't like.

PS: Thanks for the alternate bottle suggestions. I'll keep them in mind.
 
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ShannonSteelLabs said:
Practice makes perfect!!!!
I took a bartending class years back and mess around with mixology as a hobby.
Its a good time.
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Just tried making another Old Fashioned, added more sugar (2 cubes) and bitters (4 dashes). Also bought a 2" square cube ice tray, so there's only 1 big a$$ ice cube in the glass.

Tastes better but still not as good as the one I had at the restaurant but that may be because they used Eagle 10 and Ive been using Old Tub (because I want to finish off the bottle).

Will try making another w/Eagle 10 to see if that makes more of a difference. Update to follow.

Update:

Definitely better w/Eagle 10 but still not as good as the one I had (w/Eagle 10) at the restaurant/bar. Will have to go back there and ask the bartender to give up the "secret." LOL! ;)
 
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oh yea, eagle rare is several steps beyond the Old Tub.

there is a TV show thats new called Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip with Sam and Graham
two actors from Scotland travelling around Scotland -anyway, episode one goes into food and drink and has some shots of the distilleries at Lagavulin and Laphroaig and maybe other on Islay. its shows a bit about harvesting the peat and prepping the malted barley, and they talk a bit with some of the guys at Laphroaig
 
Just bought a few more bottles of scotch today:

Aberfeldy 16
Dewar's 18
Lagavulin 8

Haven't tasted any of them yet.

Also bought 2 bottles of bourbon:

Burning Chair - Barrel Select - Cabernet Sauvignon Finished
Hickory Hill 12 - Single Barrel.

Tried the Burning Chair and liked it. Easy to drink "neat" w/just a little water. Could just be my imagination but I think I can smell some cab in the nose but it doesn't transfer to the palate which is just tastes smells like a sweet caramel bourbon to me.

Update (same day): Just tried the Dewar's 18. My 1st time drinking Dewar's of any kind.. It came in a really big/impressive box and the bottle is also very elegantly designed bottle. It's tastes fine neat but I don't think the scotch measures up to the box or the bottle.

It's a blend of 18 yr old Highland (3) and Speyside(2) single malts; most notably (to me) Alberfeldy. The only thing I have to compare w/it is JW Green which is a blend of four 15 yr old single malts: Islay (1), Skye (1) and Speyside (2); most notable (to me) Caol Ila and Talisker. So, they are not exactly the same because the Green is obviously gets more peat/smoke from the Caol Ila and Talisker and, being an Islay fan, I definitely prefer the Green.

However, JW also bottles an 18 yr old blend (reportedly of 18 different brands across Diego's holdings which should not be as peat/smoke forward) at 2x's the price of the Dewar's that I will buy/taste later to see how they compare side-by-side.
 
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I'm gonna need to buy a reasonably good bottle of rye soon, for a gift for my hunting partner. I can't break the bank, as I'm poor... (kid in college etc.) yet, I won't bring trash. Willing to go up to the $60 or so a bottle price point.
Recommendations?
 
Mongo said:
I'm gonna need to buy a reasonably good bottle of rye soon, for a gift for my hunting partner. I can't break the bank, as I'm poor... (kid in college etc.) yet, I won't bring trash. Willing to go up to the $60 or so a bottle price point.
Recommendations?
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Try old Forrester rye.
I've had it once at a friend's. Its very good. Should be in that price range.

Also high west double rye.
High west rendezvous rye. (60ish??)
I'd recommend the rendezvous rye. Its excellent.
 
Mongo said:
I'm gonna need to buy a reasonably good bottle of rye soon, for a gift for my hunting partner. I can't break the bank, as I'm poor... (kid in college etc.) yet, I won't bring trash. Willing to go up to the $60 or so a bottle price point.
Recommendations?
Click to expand...

in addition to what SSL noted above

if you can find it, Sazerac is well within your budget.
Whistlepig is another good option - the 10 year is my favorite but outside your price range. you should be able to find the 6 year in that range
Pendleton 1910
Michters Rye
Basil Hayden Dark Rye
Elijah Craig Rye
 
l1ranger said:
in addition to what SSL noted above

if you can find it, Sazerac is well within your budget.
Whistlepig is another good option - the 10 year is my favorite but outside your price range. you should be able to find the 6 year in that range
Pendleton 1910
Michters Rye
Basil Hayden Dark Rye
Elijah Craig Rye
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Good call on the Sazarac rye!

I haven't tried the basil haydens dark rye yet.
Same with the Elijah Craig rye. But I am going to guess that they are pretty great.
 
Good news for scotch drinkers!

US Suspends 25% Tariffs on Scotch Imports!

Unfortunately, we won't see an immediate drop in scotch prices because all existing stock was purchased subject to the 25% tariff (aka "tax") but we "should" see some price reductions in the cost of scotch shortly.

If not, something is/will be definitely "fishy" which can only be explained by distributors/retailers maintaining current pricing and pocketing the additional profits for themselves.

Only time will tell . . .
 
sgt1372 said:
If not, something is/will be definitely "fishy" which can only be explained by distributors/retailers maintaining current pricing and pocketing the additional profits for themselves.
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that would never happen!
the best thing about the state run stores here is that we don't get crazy markups on prices.
but the Michters 25 year is still 1200 bucks

on a unrelated note - has anyone tried Knappogue Castle 12 year. any thoughts on it?
 
Have been focused on bourbons for too long and am now returning to my preferred whiskey - scotch.

Just bought these 2 bottles to begin adding to my scotch collection again. The knife is an Extrema Ratio BD2 R CD friction folder.

ez01eOP.jpg


The Talisker 18 is a very rare bottle in my area. Never saw it at TWM or BevMo or the LGS where I have found some very hard to find bourbons.

In fact, my local Safeway was the ONLY place that I've ever seen it hereabouts. So, I finally decided to buy it and got it for "only" $180 after getting a $50 discount off of the marked price of $230 and member price of $200. :)
 
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3 more additions to the scotch shelves purchased today:

QfHUf49.jpg


The Johhny Walker 18 joins bottles Chivas 18 and Dewar's 18 as comparable "aged" blends as well as bottles of JW Green, Black and Double Black. The Aberfeldy 21 joins bottles of Ablerfeldy 12 & 16 to complete that lineup And, the Oban 18 joins a bottle of Oban 14.

They should all make for some great taste comparisons down the road. :)
 
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In case you haven't seen them yet (and assuming that you care), here are the Scotch Whisky results from the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition that were recently released.

I've got but have not yet opened a bottle of Lagavulin 8 and Talisker 18 which I look forward to tasting soon. Also have a bottle of Compass Box's "Glasgow Blend" that I like very much but not as much as I like Compass Box's "Peat Monster" blend.

Was going to buy a bottle of Highland 18 but based on these results I may buy an bottle of Highland's "Cask Strength" 1st instead.

The Glen Scotia 25 won the "best in class" whisky, which apparently costs around $400/bottle. So, I'm unlikely to ever get a chance to taste it. I'm just glad that it's not the bottle of Glen Scotia that I poured down the drain because I hated it. LOL! ;)

The McNair's 21 Blended sounds interesting but TWM doesn't have it which probably means that it's not distributed for retail sales in the US yet.


SCOTCH WHISKY

Best Blended Scotch – No Age Statement: Compass Box, Glasgow Blended Scotch, Scotland

Best Distillers' Single Malt Scotch – Up to 12 Years: Lagavulin, 8 YO Single Malt Scotch, Scotland

Best Blended Scotch – Up to 15 Years: Dewar’s, Caribbean Smooth Rum Cask, Scotland

Best Blended Scotch – 16 Years & Older; Best Blended Scotch: Dewar’s Double Double 27 Palo Cortado Sherry Cask, Scotland

Best Distillers’ Single Malt Scotch – 13 to 19 Years: Talisker, 18 YO Single Malt Scotch, Scotland

Best Distillers' Single Malt Scotch – 20 Years and Older: Glen Scotia, 25 YO Single Malt Scotch, Scotland

Best Distillers' Single Malt Scotch – No Age Statement: Highland Park, Cask Strength, Scotland

Best Independent Merchant Single Malt: The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Cask 46.104 Turn Me Inside Out, UK

Best Blended Malt Scotch: MacNair’s, 21 YO Lum Reek Blended Malt Scotch, Scotland
 
Just bought 2 - 375ml bottles of the Dewar's Double Double 27 today at TWM - $100/bottle - to see whether it deserved the "award."

It's good but I'm not "in love" w/it because there's a little bite to it neat. Will have to do a side by side taste test of it w/Dewar's 18 to see how they differ.

NM3PdDc.jpg
 
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sgt1372 said:
Finally got around to "downloading" a couple of pics off of my phone and uploaded them to Imgur so they can be posted here.

This is why I'm lazy about posting pics, just a PITA but here are a couple of scotch photos that I've been meaning to post for awhile.

BL7ElRM.jpg


PPHDAQk.jpg


Have also posted a couple of other photos to the Bourbon & Knife thread.
Click to expand...
Good grief.... I got a bottle of the Monkey Shoulder, and tried it twice. That's all I could take. If I could find someone local, I'd give them the bottle.

I went off the recommendation of someone in the Traditional knives forum, and tried the Caol Ila..... I'm hooked. Easily my favorite Islay whiskey. Most of the others are a little too intense for me, but that Caol is just excellent.

I still haven't tried the Lagavullin 8 yr... maybe it's time to give it a whirl. I like the older Lag's, but not as an every day kind of thing.

My favorite blend, (for the money) believe it or not, is Famous Grouse. Just enough smoke/peat, whichever, to make it "not bland". Hard to beat.

I really like the Highland Park 18 yr, but it's too expensive for regular purchase. It's around $150-170 where I live. Too many other whiskies to enjoy, to spend that much. I can get two bottles of the Caol for that...
Highland Park Magnus is pretty nice, though.... very smooth and consistent.
 
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