The Scotch Whisky Thread

[flabbergast]

This reminded me that I gotta figure out a liquid something for my in-law. I've had some Talisker 18YO with him and I thought it's pretty good - but I don't really know much about scotch. So... help, please?

[scottc]

My go-to whisky is always Lagavulin 16.



It's got a very strong flavour, very peaty, very smokey, but an absolute delight.

By the way, I've heard that the Whisky Exchange is a great place to shop for whisky in the UK: https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/

[Muirium]

Aye, Lagavulin is my top pick overall, and a firm favourite of many. You can't go wrong with that.

I tend to stick to the regular pleb versions. The various special editions of this that and the next thing (I'm looking at you, Macallan) are generally too pricey for me and my fellow locals. They aren't a complete sham, but they are certainly a way to make a pretty penny from the foreign market. Drinking Scotch abroad is basically a way to show you're pricey and snobby and shit. Drinking it here, meanwhile, is a way to stay warm in winter and to get the night begun!

Other Mu favourites include Islay's other stars: Ardbeg, Bowmore and Caol Ila. (Alphabetised for when lightheaded…) And then there's Skye's majestic Talisker, of course, which you already know. I'm into island whiskies, like I am with buckling spring. As for the MX realm of the mainland, my top tips are Glenmorangie for a classic highland malt, and for something crystal sharp there's Clynelish, which I like to spring on the unsuspecting who always expect something peaty with me!

If you want a real shocker there's the seaweedy taste of Oban which I'm rather partial to, in small doses. A whole bottle would be overdoing it, but taste a shot if you see it around.

Here's a handy list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_w ... stilleries

The basic rule is Highland whiskies are clearer and sharper, Island whiskies are darker and peatier, and Islay will knock your sporran off.

[scottc]

Yeah, while Lagavulin is my go-to whisky for recommendations, it's not what I drink all the time. If it was, I'd be more sober and more poor (neither of which I'm a huge fan of)!

I'm into the fairly heavy whiskys, mostly. Ardbeg is a reasonably decent one: fairly peaty, nice and drinkable, but the ten-year-old is a good bit cheaper than the likes of Lagavulin. I recently got a bottle of Caol Ila 12 and have been impressed by it too. When I'm not drinking scotch I tend to also go for the peatier Irish whiskeys like Connemara (which is an absolute steal at about 35 euro/bottle for the cheapest version, and packs a whallop since it's peated). I used to drink more of the "decent but available everywhere" whiskys like Glenfiddich and the likes, but not so much anymore since they're not as available where I'm living now (so I tend to just bring back bottles when I go on trips to London for work).

You can probably see a theme emerging here... Yeah, I'm all about the heavy, peaty islays. I suppose I'm a man of extremes, when it comes to it!

Back when I was a student, I would regularly cruise cheapo supermarkets for bargain whiskys. There were a good few hidden gems, like Lidl's Glen Orchy 5 and 8 which were absolute steals at 8-12 euro for a bottle. Sorted!

Edit: I have to say, this is my kind of thread! We've got Model Fs, we've got Islays... what more could a person need?!

[Muirium]

Careful what questions ye pose before the drunken mind!

Spoiler:

She'll buckle your springs, all right…

Ahem, anyway, so yes, Yes! Booze and boards.

I wonder if there's a correlation between clicky IBM fans and a taste for peaty Islay whiskies. If I want something mellow and linear, I'll get an ale…

[flabbergast]

Nice!

Right. Looks like a lot of stuff to try out... will do. Eventually. Thanks!

I guess the first up are some IBM Model F and some Islay drinks.

{And thanks for the drink!}

[chuckdee]

I always go for a good liqueur myself over whiskey. Something about the texture and flavor... does that mean I'm not invited to talk about alcohol? That makes me sad... need to go drown my sadness in a bottle of Disaronno.

[Muirium]

Can't say I know much about liqueurs. Don't mind the occasional bit of amaretto, but I put it in my coffee rather than drink it straight!


@Flabbergast: You're welcome. We'll make a picky boozer out of you yet! Scott's advice is good for the practical drinker. I tend to mooch mine, being a penny pinching Scot with a high tolerance. The time of night I'm the one calling the drinks is the time I know I need to head home!

[Chyros]

I'm a big whisky fan, I've tried over 50 types - almost all of them Scotch! I have tried Irish whiskeys and bourbon, but I find the former very tasteless and the latter unpleasantly sweet and "dusty"-tasting. Scotch all the way for me. Partly as a result of that I really enjoyed my holiday in Scotland .

I'm into the very heavily peated ones and really like Islays. My favourite is probably Ardbeg, which I suspect is the most heavily peated of the lot. I massively enjoy the others too, though. Typing this sipping Caol Ila, as a matter of fact ^^ . That said, I enjoy some lighter whiskies from time to time too, such as Ardmore, Talisker, Springbank, and even Glengoyne. I also tried Blue Label once, that was almost trippy.

[andrewjoy]

I love whiskey, not a huge fan of Irish whisky but Scottish and even some american are loverly , japan makes some good stuff too.

One thing i do no like is the blended crap , it has to be single malt for me.

EDIT

forgot the name of the stuff i had last

http://www.jurawhisky.com/en/whiskies/our-whiskies

Loverly stuff.

[tp4tissue]

Does anyone here have experience with those ice-ball aluminum molds.

I am planning to CNC one once my machine is set up.. Deciding on the rails right now.



Anyone have one?, I've only seen videos and I'm not absolutely clear as to how the material volume is distributed.. for example if the bottom needs more metal because it gets more cold, vs the top.

[Khers]

My go to whisky is the 16yo Lagavulin. Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Jura, and Laphroaig are all nice distilleries as well. As you can see I tend to prefer islay to highland, but both MacAllan and Glen Garioch can be nice if I'm in the mood.

While I've never been much of a drinker, I do like the odd peaty bastard, a kind of whisky that I started to like during a brief period spent as a visiting scientist in Cambridge, where my hosts taught me most of what I know about whisky and how one should consume it.

[ramnes]

Do we need to make another thread if we want to talk about Nikka?

[Muirium]

Imagine the irony if this was to become DT's first ever fully on-topic thread!

[tp4tissue]

My go to whisky is the 16yo Lagavulin. Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Jura, and Laphroaig are all nice distilleries as well. As you can see I tend to prefer islay to highland, but both MacAllan and Glen Garioch can be nice if I'm in the mood.

While I've never been much of a drinker, I do like the odd peaty bastard, a kind of whisky that I started to like during a brief period spent as a visiting scientist in Cambridge, where my hosts taught me most of what I know about whisky and how one should consume it.

I've never understood the term peaty.. it's described often as the smell of dirt.. but dirt doesn't have a consistent smell that's the same everywhere..

So it's confusing.

[Khers]

It's the smell of Scottish peat. Obviously!

[Muirium]

Needs more drinking… it'll make sense soon enough!

[Chyros]

Man I can't wait to go home and have a drink now. Am I an alcoholic? Yes Thomas, yes you are.

D:

[tp4tissue]

Man I can't wait to go home and have a drink now. Am I an alcoholic? Yes Thomas, yes you are.

D:

I had a mild problem throughout the college days.. because of the parties every week..

No more of that.. it was probably killing me..

[Muirium]

Good job keyboards don't turn into piss, too. Or I'd have real problems…

[tp4tissue]

Good job keyboards don't turn into piss, too. Or I'd have real problems…

Not sure I follow this logic. you want to drink keyboards ? then.. it comes out? and it gets stuck ? what?

[Muirium]

Double matured Lagavulin in: piss out.

Kishsaver in: Kishsaver, um, "out". So to speak! It's about impermanence. Booze is a life lesson if ever there was one.

[tp4tissue]

Double matured Lagavulin in: piss out.

Kishsaver in: Kishsaver, um, "out". So to speak! It's about impermanence. Booze is a life lesson if ever there was one.

But we had food and water before booze, how could it be that you only learn of impermanence from booze.

I think you're romanticizing an addiction or affinity for emotional escape, the booze..

[Muirium]

Water isn't the kind of thing you keep in a bottle for years, waiting for just the right fancy occasion. Well, unless the climate changes significantly for the worse!

Food, meanwhile, goes fusty. So even the fancy stuff isn't worth cherishing long after it was made.

Whisky is easily the nicest stuff in life to wind up so quickly spoiled once in human hands! Kind of like NIB vintage doubleshots…

[tp4tissue]

Water isn't the kind of thing you keep in a bottle for years, waiting for just the right fancy occasion. Well, unless the climate changes significantly for the worse!

Food, meanwhile, goes fusty. So even the fancy stuff isn't worth cherishing long after it was made.

Whisky is easily the nicest stuff in life to wind up so quickly spoiled once in human hands! Kind of like NIB vintage doubleshots…

My statement referred to you having learned impermanence from booze, which seem an unlikely scenario.

Whisky being nice..

That's a matter of where you cut the line at WHEN is whisky nice..

Whisky in a bottle, is just some liquid in a bottle..

When you drink it, taste it, get drunk from it, you FEEL nice..

I'm not sure which segment of this process you're trying to emphasize.

[adhoc]

Haha, oh wow tp4, you're just looking for reasons for everyone to hate you.

[Muirium]

I think we're his hobby, today. OMG amazeballs…

[andrewjoy]

I am all confused! Is this not a thread about loverly single malt ?

[Khers]

Nah, we're eating Kishsavers now.

[andrewjoy]

Nah, we're eating Kishsavers now.

Just like the shredder