Whiskey advice please

Anonymous

from the back of the what do you drink thread:

does anyone know owt about whiskey and if so, whats a good recommendation?

for reference i only drink jamesons at the moment (i have a laverlee 12yo as well as the regular stuff at the mo)

my local has loads and loads of bottles behind the bar so i like to know what to expect before i part with my hardearned.

jay12

my dad drinks only Talisker. i think the 12yo or 15yo. depends what saisubyrys have at the time

rmj555

I bought a 21 year old glenfiddich last xmas but there was not much difference between that and a 18 year old..apart from the 21 was 70 quid and the 18 was 35 quid.

I would recommend the 18 yeard old one. single malt all the way dude

Andy B

Talisker, Dalwhinnie, Cardhu are three of my faves, all quite easy drinking

Ardbeg if you want something with a little more flavour

upinsmoke

Glenmorangie; nice easy drinking lowland malt. Miles better than the peaty island ones.

Those 7 men of Tain know their stuff.

Stoo61

Euuuuuuuuuuch....its not worth it.

Chaz.Harding

[Chaz to get flamed off BR]

Any spirits shouldn't be consumed. Ever. They are good for 2 things. Keeping alcohol addicts alive, and stripping paint off paint brushes....

[/Chaz to get flamed off BR]

Joe_Pineapples

Highland Park single malt.
It's a king amongst whiskies.


Incidentally, a whiskey is Irish and a whisky is Scottish.

blister pus

bigchazrocks wrote:

[Chaz to get flamed off BR]

Any spirits shouldn't be consumed. Ever. They are good for 2 things. Keeping alcohol addicts alive, and stripping paint off paint brushes....

[/Chaz to get flamed off BR]

This is correct if you abuse spirits. Guaranteed to shrivel everything you value.

MrChrisP

It all depends on personal preference. What might be a god among whisky's to one person can easily be paintstripper to another.

I'd try a Speyside first (Dalwhinnie or Glenlivet are good ones) and see what you think. Spey's aren't as smooth as the lowland drams but aren't nearly as peaty or 'coarse' as the Islay options.

Personally I'm a big fan of Talisker, but if you're a Jamson drinker you'll prob prefer the Spey and Lowland whisky's.

The best advice is to just get out there and try them all. You can worry about the bank balance in the morning

CraigXXL

If you like the Irish Whisky try Paddys, Powers, Tullamore Dew, Bushmills Black Bush and Malt. Most of these are blends but son't let that put you off as they are all very good. I have bottle of Midleton Very Rare for those rare occasions which is kind od special but Busmills Single Malt is my favourite every day tipple. The Blackbush is also nice with it's hints of Sherry if you want try something different.

If you want to try a Scotch but not something too complex then have a go at Glenmorangie if you wnat something with the depth of a puddle or try some of the Lowland brands as they are usually a comparable with the mellowness of Irish whiskies, avoid the Islay Whisky as they are usually very peaty tasting which will be very different from Irish. My favourite Scotch whisky is Edradour just for the memories of a great holiday in that area.

Also don't discount the American Brands of Whisky and Bourbons such Wild Turkey, Woodfords and Maker's Mark which are all very enjoyable.

Best thing is go to a good bar and try something different before investing in a bottle. Research should always be this much fun

Razer_MTB

upinsmoke wrote:

Glenmorangie; nice easy drinking lowland malt. Miles better than the peaty island ones.

Those 7 men of Tain know their stuff.

+1

Jimbob_no5

Bowmore 18year old, if you want a peaty taste

nicklouse

Cant say i remember what jamesons is like.

onmy shelf as now.

Highland Park 18
Caol Ila 18
Aberlour a'bunadh
Auchentoshan 12
BruichLaddich Rocks
Glenkinchie 10
Laphroaig Quater Cask
Ardbeg Uigeadail

Monkey Shoulder (blended but i liked the bottle).

most disappointing was the Monkey and the Uigeadail considering how I like the Ardbeg 10

biggest surprise was the Laphroaig Quater Cask but you need to know the Laphroaig 10 firts.

what i try and do is go to a good pub that knows its whisky sober and be a nerd till i cant tell the difference and then buy a good bottle from the booze shop.

CraigXXL

Don't knock the blends Johnie Walker's are very nice just over priced or just out of my price range. It's the bad blends i.e. Teachers, Bells and the like that put people of blends.

stumpyjon

Edradour, but it's difficult to get hold of unless you are in the house of lords or live in Pitlochry or Clitheroe (Pitlochry is where the distillery is and Clitheroe is the only other place with a shop that I've found selling it).

nicklouse

stumpyjon wrote:

Edradour, but it's difficult to get hold of unless you are in the house of lords or live in Pitlochry or Clitheroe (Pitlochry is where the distillery is and Clitheroe is the only other place with a shop that I've found selling it).

Or my Local they have most of them.

M1llh0use

But of a whisky snob here, never touch the blended ones! :oops:

personally like dalwhinnie the most but have destoyed many bottles of talisker and just started on a bottle of glenlivet.

either one give you a BIG headache though!!

Anonymous

this is making for good reading thnks guys, so:

islay wiskeys are more coarse and 'peaty' tasting? this sounds like the opposite of jamesons which is smooooth as butter.

lowland wiskeys are the smoothest?

speyside are the ones in btween?

this sounds like id prefer the lowland stuff but why is that smooth and the islays more coarse? how do i know which ones are which?

i have enjoyed johnnie walker red and black labels but found them both to be too strong tasting (is the coarse the right word to use here?) for drinking much of. also i have the last inch or so of a bottle of J&B in the house too which i quite liked, is that a blend?

MrChrisP

Yep you've got the jist right there.

You can tell them apart just by reading the labels. An Islay Whisky will say 'Islay' on it. Most labels describe were the whisky is from and will also give a description of the taste as well.

I could be wrong here but from I know the general reason for the difference is the water used in the process. Most if not all distilleries use fresh water from the area. Dalwhinnie for example takes its water straight off the hills to the back on the village. If the distillery is in Skye for example (like Talisker) then the water used runs through peat bogs which is why it gets that particular tast. It is also affected just like wine by the type of casks used.

+1 to stumpyjon for Edradour as well. That is a very nice tipple and I'm lucky enough to have grown up just a few miles from the Pitlochary estate and my parents still live up there so it's easy enough for me to get a bottle or two whenever I go up to visit.

jay12

when i went for a scotland trip 2 years ago i went to Skye to the Talisker destillery/factory. great place and they give you a 10% on any purchese if you took the tour. i don't know if they do that now. and the guy also said the reason that talisker gets a distictive taste is because the water passes through peat

fatblokefromwarwick

You can't beat a drop of Bushmills Original Irish Whiskey for smoothness 8)

Just don't get pulled & breathalyzed on your MTB then bollocked and told to push it home :oops:

CraigXXL

If only it was as simply as that. They're many factors that contribute to the taste from the water, the grain, the malting and the barrel it's aged in. The Islay ones use water that runs through lots of peat and the water picks on this. If you'd seen the colour of the water going into it's production you wouldn't want to drink whisky again but thanks to distilling it makes a wonderful thing.

Sheepsteeth, you're on the slippery slope of getting hooked on the stuff and talking bollocks in the earlier hours of it's merits. Get yourself the Michael Jackson (not the dead singer) Whisky Guide and have a good go at trying each one in the guide. He also does a guide on beer too then you can qualify being a piss head as a hobby.

CraigXXL

I've done the Bushmill, Blair Athol and Edradour tours and without doubt the Edradour was the most fun and you really understand the passion in their work.

Anonymous

well, i think i know the direction i want to go in, looks like im going to be a fan of lowland whiskeys but im fascinated by the idea of trying some quality one form the other varieties.

until then, this evening im gonna enjoy my 12yo jameson.

grim168

stumpyjon wrote:

Edradour, but it's difficult to get hold of unless you are in the house of lords or live in Pitlochry or Clitheroe (Pitlochry is where the distillery is and Clitheroe is the only other place with a shop that I've found selling it).

Theres a shop in Ambleside that sells Edradour but one of my favorites is Bruichladdich. Not sure of spelling but for the money Glenmorangie is pretty good.

colintrav

Bowmore dusk -
bowmore 12 yr old -
Aberlour 10 yr old -
Old pulteny - 12yr old
glenrothes - 1991 -
provance laphroaig 8yr old -
glenlivet 18yr old
lochan ora - untouched
Cardhu -
Clynelish double matured ltd edt bottled 2007 , distilled 1992 - untouched
chivas regal royal salute 21 yr old bottled 1967 original wade porcelain - untouched
Chivas regal royal salute 21 yr old wade porcelain minature - untouched
Bells minature
And a blended variety that i don't know the name off due to missing label

Also later bottles royal salute were of a different porcelain and the gold chord is thicker


Was also a member of a glenkeir whisky club - I can honestly say promise a lot of things yet zilch .. only a quaterly magazine access to website which is crap

Hercule Q

see what alot of you are talking about is single malt scotch whisky

my favorate whiskey is


:P

no arguement the nicest stuff about

Surf-Matt

JD is for council house chavs.

If you like it peaty - Laphroig
If you don't like it too peaty - Highland Park.

End of

singlespeedexplosif

Edradour is lovely. I'm still a Talisker/Scapa man but I do love a drop of their stuff.
If you're struggling finding it, can I suggest Loch Fyne...

https://www.lfw.co.uk/acatalog/Single_Malts.html

oh, and 'whisky', thanks. Whiskey with an 'e' is that 'orrible Irish stuff.

cee

avoid disappointment and if you only buy one whisky...make it a bruichladdich...

and whoever said that glenmorangie was a lowland malt......

find Tain on a map!