Thread In Which We Discuss The Whisky

[Asher]

WHISKY REVIEWS ARE AS FOLLOWS. PAY ATTENTION OR GTFO

I'm sure I'm leaving a lot out as I had a LOT. I didn't write **** down 'cause I'm too cool for that so I will share with you my mental shorthand notes and categorizations

// Scotch whiskys
Highland Park 12: Decent but blandish
Highland Park 18: Excellent with a touch of peat
Highland Park 25: Not as good as the 18? Stronger finish, but not better
Highland Park 30: Not as good as the 18 also. Hard to tell apart from the 25, but its def different. Had with taste pairing of smolked salmon which burned with the 30 (and 18), was fine with the 12 and 25

Macallan 10: Very good "budget" single-malt, had before though
Macallan 12: Slightly better than the 10, but not worth the price premium (i think its 30-40%)

Glenfiddich 18: Better than the 12 which I have at home, but not enough to justify the price. Strong but flavourful finish, no smoke flavour at all.

Glenlivit 18: Bland. Blandblandblandpass.

Cutty Sark 15: One of the better blended I've had. I still prefer JW Green (which is vatted)?
Chivas 18: Not as good as Cutty Sark. Still pretty good

Scapa ??: run of the mill, can't remember much

Glenmorangie Lavaltorsomething: Best Glenmorangie I've had yet. Very very good
Glenmorangie port cast: Not too different from the original. stronger finish maybe

Peat Monster: TOO PEATY

// Bourbon
Maker's Mark: Better than the last time I tried it. It's growing on me as a warm summer drink

// Canadian whisky
Canadian Club 30: Very good for a Canadian whisky, but nothing compared to the scotches

// Irish whisky
Some irish whisky (Tamdandan or some****): First irish whisky. Cross between a Canadian Whisky and a Scotch Whisky without the character of either. Fundamentally very Irish.

// Congac
Hennessey XO: Bland and pointless, like the French

I WILL ELABORATE AS BEST I CAN TO ANY DEMANDS

[SlowwHand]

When I drank liquor, I drank Black Jack. Crown is supposed to be good.

[Main_Brain]

Would you mind posting some Price Pointers?
I would appreciate it =)

[orange]

I'm not much of a drinker, but my friend got me to do two shots of Jamison's not to long ago (up until that point, I had never done a shot of anything), and I must say I rather enjoyed it.

[duke o' york]

You don't drink whiskey by the shot.

[Krill]

You don't drink good whiskeyby the shot. Depending on how old the Jamesons was that might be acceptable.

[orange]

twas all I could afford

[Krill]

Saving up for the wedding and honeymoon were you?

[Asher]

Would you mind posting some Price Pointers?
I would appreciate it =)

Eh?

[BlackCat]

Asher, I was presented for a new whiskey not so long ago - The Black Grouse. It's a blend wich includes some Islay malts. Yeah, I know you don't like those, but the peat is reduced heavily, so it's more a note. I think that you might like it.

[Supr49er]

WHISKY REVIEWS ARE AS FOLLOWS. PAY ATTENTION OR GTFO

I'm sure I'm leaving a lot out as I had a LOT. I didn't write **** down 'cause I'm too cool for that so I will share with you my mental shorthand notes and categorizations

// Scotch whiskys
Highland Park 12: Decent but blandish
Highland Park 18: Excellent with a touch of peat

I think HP 12 & 18 are good all-around SMSWs (Single Malt Scotch Whisky). Quite smooth. 18 is noticeably better. One of my favorites.

Highland Park 25: Not as good as the 18? Stronger finish, but not better
Highland Park 30: Not as good as the 18 also. Hard to tell apart from the 25, but its def different. Had with taste pairing of smolked salmon which burned with the 30 (and 18), was fine with the 12 and 25

I'm Jealous. Jealous. I have always wanted to try the 25 & 30.
I'm am glad to hear the 18 is superior.

Macallan 10: Very good "budget" single-malt, had before though
Macallan 12: Slightly better than the 10, but not worth the price premium (i think its 30-40%)

I like the 12, but the 18 is perhaps my favorite. Unfortunately it is very expensive, and I save it for rare occasions. It has an almost gingercake finish.

Glenfiddich 18: Better than the 12 which I have at home, but not enough to justify the price. Strong but flavourful finish, no smoke flavour at all.

18 is good, the 15 Solera Reserve may be the best Glenfiddich, and it is reasonably priced, but a little hard to find.

Glenlivit 18: Bland. Blandblandblandpass.

I agree. Very much like a lowland whisky - grassy and mild.

Cutty Sark 15: One of the better blended I've had. I still prefer JW Green (which is vatted)?

JW Green is a superb 15 whisky, and is indeed vatted (or pure) meaning that it is a blend of only SMSWs and no grain alcohol like JW Black or Red.

JW Gold is an 18 vatted malt, more expensive than Green, and not as good.

And JW Blue is ridiculously priced, and for pretentious Douches to try to impress people who don't know anything about whisky.

Chivas 18: Not as good as Cutty Sark. Still pretty good

Never had it.

Scapa ??: run of the mill, can't remember much

The Scapa 12 I had was briny and mediciny. Not good to me.

Glenmorangie Lavaltorsomething: Best Glenmorangie I've had yet. Very very good
Glenmorangie port cast: Not too different from the original. stronger finish maybe

Not sure which one you tasted. The 18 is a smooth and slightly sweet finishing highland with good malt flavor.

Peat Monster: TOO PEATY

Never tried, but if you don't care for the really peaty smoky whiskys, avoid the Islay whiskies like Lagavulin. They are the trendy whiskies, and pretty overpriced anyway.

// Bourbon
Maker's Mark: Better than the last time I tried it. It's growing on me as a warm summer drink

If you can find it, George T. Stagg is a great Bourbon, but expensive ($100 USD).
Believe it or not, the Jim Beam Black Label 8yo Bourbon is quite good and less than $20 USD.

// Canadian whisky
Canadian Club 30: Very good for a Canadian whisky, but nothing compared to the scotches

I'm jealous again. I love rye whisky, and would like to try the upper level ones. How much is this one?

// Irish whisky
Some irish whisky (Tamdandan or some****): First irish whisky. Cross between a Canadian Whisky and a Scotch Whisky without the character of either. Fundamentally very Irish.

Bushmills 16 malt is good, lighter than the SMSWs, less of a finish.
Jamesons 12 is the best all-around Irish Whisky, smooth, light and an almost citrus finish. Fairly inexpensive too.

// Congac
Hennessey XO: Bland and pointless, like the French

I WILL ELABORATE AS BEST I CAN TO ANY DEMANDS

Never tried Cognac. Seems very expensive.

Have you tried any Japanese Single Malts? I recommend two:
Yamazaki (Suntory Distillery) 12 and 18. Almost like a blend of an old Bourbon and a SMSW. Very much like the malty robust highland whiskies.
Yoichi (Nikka Distillery) 10, 12, 15. Very delicate peat - very slight smoky finish on top of a highland whisky. Very hard to find, but worth your effort.

Great review, and quite helpful to me. I love SMSWs above all other drinks, and I am always eager to see reviews. Keep it up.

I currently have around 40 bottles, so if you are interested, I could review some of them in depth for you.

[Asher]

I'm Jealous. Jealous. I have always wanted to try the 25 & 30.
I'm am glad to hear the 18 is superior.

I went to two Master Classes last night, by whisky experts. First was by a Highland Park global ambassador. They had rows of tables set up, each with four glasses poured and they also had smoked salmon and chocolate for food pairings to taste with. The ambassador had a pictorial tour of the distillery, with step-by-step photos of how it is made. Complete with some videos of them hand-turning the malt with wooden shovels (it's heavier than snow, he says). Inbetween we sampled the whisky with his notes on them. We had the 12, 18, 25, and 30. I was hoping for a 40, but that's pretty expensive.

I was surprised I liked the 18 the best, until the next masterclass. It was a 45m presentation by Dave Broom (a very prolific whisky author) who discussed why the older-aged malts are not necessarily better, depending on the characteristics of the distillery, storage, ingredients, etc. In most cases, he says, the mid-range are the best. The younger ones are not matured enough, the old ones too much. It's mostly a prestige thing.

18 is good, the 15 Solera Reserve may be the best Glenfiddich, and it is reasonably priced, but a little hard to find.

Will keep an eye out for it.

JW Green is a superb 15 whisky

I bought another bottle of it recently as a spare, because it is no longer being sold in Canada.

Not sure which one you tasted. The 18 is a smooth and slightly sweet finishing highland with good malt flavor.

Port Cask = Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban (http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-7066.aspx)
Lasanta = Glenmorangie Lasanta : http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-7067.aspx

Never tried, but if you don't care for the really peaty smoky whiskys, avoid the Islay whiskies like Lagavulin. They are the trendy whiskies, and pretty overpriced anyway.

Yeah, still not getting into the Islays. I had some Laphroaig and if you had told me it was 100% iodine, I'd have believed you.

If you can find it, George T. Stagg is a great Bourbon, but expensive ($100 USD).
Believe it or not, the Jim Beam Black Label 8yo Bourbon is quite good and less than $20 USD.

Will look, thanks.

I'm jealous again. I love rye whisky, and would like to try the upper level ones. How much is this one?

Good question, I'd no idea. They never mentioned price (they weren't for sale). It looks to be $150-200 USD (http://blog.maltadvocate.com/2008/06...lub-30-yr-old/)

I don't know if I mentioned it but I also had Forty Creek, which AFAIK is an upstart type of distillery? Far better than the typical Canadian fair like Crown. The master distiller for it (the guy in all their photos) was there giving presentations on it too.

Have you tried any Japanese Single Malts? I recommend two:
Yamazaki (Suntory Distillery) 12 and 18. Almost like a blend of an old Bourbon and a SMSW. Very much like the malty robust highland whiskies.
Yoichi (Nikka Distillery) 10, 12, 15. Very delicate peat - very slight smoky finish on top of a highland whisky. Very hard to find, but worth your effort.

Will try to have a look. My socialist overlord liquor control board carries the Yamazaki 18 only ($108CDN): http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/lcbo/pr...emNumber=54494
Looks like they used to carry the Yoichi 10 for $81CDN, but it is marked as discontinued. http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/lcbo/pr...mNumber=604454

I currently have around 40 bottles, so if you are interested, I could review some of them in depth for you.

That would be cool but I wouldn't want you to just sit down and review 40. Maybe over the coming months we can bump this thread when we try whisky we can bump this with a review and subsequent discussion.

[DanS]

I will follow this thread.

The Macallan mid-ranges are great every day whiskeys.

[Supr49er]

I will follow this thread.

The Macallan mid-ranges are great every day whiskeys.

What do you think of the Macallan Fine Oak whiskies?

They are cheaper than the regular Macallans, but finished in oak casks instead of port casks.

My favorite is still the 18yo Macallan. I would love to try the 25 or 30 Macallan, but they're way way too expensive.

[Asher]

Surely they have whisky shows near you (Bay Area?)

They're so incredibly awesome. I tried all of the above for $115, and that also included endless hors d'oeuvres, water, coffee, tea, whisky experts' presentations, a Glencairn whisky glass, and very pleasant company.


The glass: