Any Whisky Connoisseurs in our mist

Wallace1492

I would have thought it would be th year distilled that most would go for.
We managed to track down a bottle of Glengoyne that was distilled on Xmas Day 1967 as a 40th birthday present for a friend that was born on that day, think it was his most favourite present ever.... he has not opened it yet, but will on his 50th....

il_principe

FoldingJoe wrote:

Sewinman wrote:

My dad worked in the rum industry and was told by a senior whisky man from Diageo that whisky does not improve much beyond 12 years in the cask and that most of the older more expensive whiskys are mainly marketing gimmicks to add some exclusivity to the brand and please foreign buyers who go for that kind of thing.

No idea if that is true though.

What would somebody from Diageo know about whisky? Jack Daniels was a nice bourbon before they got their hands on it.

Bzzzzzt! Jack Daniels is neither a Bourbon, nor is it nice. Although legally it can be classed as a bourbon, most bourbon fans will tell you it isn't really a Bourbon - it's not made in Kentucky and it's filtered through maple charcoal. JD themselves insist that it's a Tennessee whiskey.

snooks

Clever Pun wrote:

mmm whisky

Mmmmm more whisky

A-M
(although I notice a bottle of Talisker had been put back in the wrong place)

We have 28 bottles at the last count :twisted:

The SMWS bottles are next door (hidden from the father in law!)

Blacktemplar

allen.coulson wrote:

Another factor is that the distilleries - well some of the smaller ones do not distill continuously. So you can get gaps in production - so in one year they produce a lot and botle some 12 years later and some 16 yearls later. I think also that they have to pay duty when it is bottled so that is another reason to keep it in the cask.

If you are really interested, the Islay Malts re:

Ardbeg
Bowmore
Bruichlaiddich
Bunnahabhain
Caol Isla
Lagavullin
Laphroig.

That alphabetical sequence follows the pungency exactly with the early ones being described as 'Breakfast Malts' and Laphroig as 'Liquid Kipper' because of the iodine coming from the kelp in the burn water.

Usually if I tell a girl that information she usually lets me have sex with her.

Erm.....

Ardbeg is one of the peatiest, and Bunnahabhain has no peat at all (not in its' normal expression, though they are now doing a peated variant once a year). Bowmore, Caol Ila and Bruichladdich are medium to high peat, and Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Lagavulin are the 'big beasties'

Iodine in the burn water? Puh-lease.... the phenols (which give the whisky its' TCP-like flavour and dry palate) come from the barley which is roased over peat to stop germination after steeping.

snooks

Oh if you do go to Lagavulin, do so soon, and do the tasting tour in their warehouse, I did it last year, generous hand pours measures of raw spirit, 7,10, 12,17 22 and finished off with a 44 YO distilled in 1966.

All for £15!

wgwarburton

snooks wrote:

Oh if you do go to Lagavulin, do so soon, and do the tasting tour in their warehouse, I did it last year, generous hand pours measures of raw spirit, 7,10, 12,17 22 and finished off with a 44 YO distilled in 1966.

All for £15!

Do they have to pay duty on free samples?

Cheers,
W.

Wallace1492

WGWarburton wrote:

snooks wrote:

Oh if you do go to Lagavulin, do so soon, and do the tasting tour in their warehouse, I did it last year, generous hand pours measures of raw spirit, 7,10, 12,17 22 and finished off with a 44 YO distilled in 1966.

All for £15!

Do they have to pay duty on free samples?

Cheers,
W.

I would imagine not, as it is not being sold.

alan_a

Whether sold or not the producer of alcohol has to pay the required duty on it.

With Scotch whisky they pay it in 2 instalments; 1st when the raw spirit is taken from the final still and goes through the spirit safe prior to casking and then 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 15 or whatever years later when the whisky is taken out of the cask / bonded warehouse and put into a bottle.

If you get a free bottle from the distiller they have paid HMRC £23.80 per litre of pure alcohol.

So if you have a 70cl bottle at 40% that "free" bottle cost the distillery £6.36 in Duty (Tax type code 461/462/463)

No VAT has been paid since no purchase cost.

snooks

WGWarburton wrote:

Do they have to pay duty on free samples?

Cheers,
W.

Duty was paid on the casks and they were kept in the front of warehouse where we were allowed to be. It was the best of the 15 distillerys I've been to.

Adnams in Southwold is worth a visit if anyone happens to be near Suffolk as they have a distillery now as well as the brewery. They started producing spirit (vodka, gin and raw spirit for whisky) last November so a few yeas to wait yet for the whisky. They do an oak aged vodka, no, it's not whisky, but it's tasty

alan_a

Hi, Edinburgh Fringe over now... Phew.

Here are a few video podcasts of comedians tasting different whiskies that I did whilst up there.

Al Murray The Pub Landlord - http://youtu.be/fGVO6eCVuEQ

Randy The Puppet - http://youtu.be/iGxbLClN9A8

Shlomo (Beatbox World Champion) - http://youtu.be/oDRvnKR0iLY

The Boy With Tape on His Face - http://youtu.be/bvFuNUnUAis

The audience describe Laphroaig - http://youtu.be/SNK8YhUOEG4

alan_a

Here are some videos from last week's Altitude Comedy Festival featuring...

Phill Jupitus, Marcus Brigstocke, Andre Vincent, Ian Stone, Tim Minchin, Ed Byrne, Phil Nichol, Craig Campbell, and Chortle's Steve Bennett

Phill Jupitus drinks Old Pulteney 21yr

http://youtu.be/4aAnTahmobw

Ed Byrne... with heckling from Phil Nichol & Craig Campbell drinks Connemara peaked single malt Irish whiskey

http://youtu.be/0Wmc6DIGXko

Marcus Brigstocke, Andre Vincent, Ian Stone... and cameo from Phill Jupitus

http://youtu.be/Uph14LSCQyc


Craig Campbell... with shots of lots of comics snowboarding

http://youtu.be/TvejBonH9Lg

Phil Nichol drinks Highland Park from 1998

http://youtu.be/eiFXlTw88Tk

Steve Bennett - he's a comedy reviewer

http://youtu.be/JCFkMwLJcbQ

alan_a

suzyb wrote:

I want to make sure I'm correct in thinking no one in the whisky connoisseur world cares about bottling year. It's all about the age of the whisky i.e. how long it sat maturing in the cask.

So if you were looking for a whisky as a birthday gift. You wouldn't look for one bottled in the year the person was born but one the same age as them.

Out of interest, did this database ever become a reality?

suzyb

Alan A wrote:

suzyb wrote:

I want to make sure I'm correct in thinking no one in the whisky connoisseur world cares about bottling year. It's all about the age of the whisky i.e. how long it sat maturing in the cask.

So if you were looking for a whisky as a birthday gift. You wouldn't look for one bottled in the year the person was born but one the same age as them.

Out of interest, did this database ever become a reality?

It did, whiskyshop.com (on the right toward the bottom of the page)

rhext

suzyb wrote:

I'm actually asking because I'm working on a website for a whisky seller. The proposal is to allow people to search whisky by bottling year, but after consulting with a colleague I coded it to use age.

Boss now wants it changed to follow the proposal. But I don't think that's how whisky works.

(although he did point out why no one wondered why there weren't any 60 or 70 year old whiskies)

I'd not particularly class myself as a connoisseur, but I do know that most whisky maturation happens in the cask. There's a constant evaporation of alcohol (and presumably other volatiles) through the wood which changes the character completely. Once it's bottled, it's a lot more static. I suspect that it'll carry on changing subtly, depending on how it's stored, but whether that change is for the better or not is undetectable to me.

Suffice to say, however, that if I were looking for a 'special' bottle of whisky, I'd be looking for the year in which it was distilled, not the year in which it was bottled. Whisky 'ageing' stops when it's bottled, so a 12-year-old scotch remains 12 years old, regardless of how long it's been in the bottle. The proposal solution wouldn't work for me because bottling date isn't particularly 'special', but your solution won't work either because I can't afford a 45-year-old whisky. If, on the other hand, you happened to have a batch of 12-year-old whisky that had been distilled in 1967, I might be up for that.

....but speaking as an IT professional, shouldn't you simply be checking back with the customer and perhaps raising a change request if necessary.....and if you've got all the data to hand, why not offer all three options?

rubertoe

rhext wrote:

suzyb wrote:

I'm actually asking because I'm working on a website for a whisky seller. The proposal is to allow people to search whisky by bottling year, but after consulting with a colleague I coded it to use age.

Boss now wants it changed to follow the proposal. But I don't think that's how whisky works.

(although he did point out why no one wondered why there weren't any 60 or 70 year old whiskies)

I'd not particularly class myself as a connoisseur, but I do know that most whisky maturation happens in the cask. There's a constant evaporation of alcohol (and presumably other volatiles) through the wood which changes the character completely. Once it's bottled, it's a lot more static. I suspect that it'll carry on changing subtly, depending on how it's stored, but whether that change is for the better or not is undetectable to me.

Suffice to say, however, that if I were looking for a 'special' bottle of whisky, I'd be looking for the year in which it was distilled, not the year in which it was bottled. Whisky 'ageing' stops when it's bottled, so a 12-year-old scotch remains 12 years old, regardless of how long it's been in the bottle. The proposal solution wouldn't work for me because bottling date isn't particularly 'special', but your solution won't work either because I can't afford a 45-year-old whisky. If, on the other hand, you happened to have a batch of 12-year-old whisky that had been distilled in 1967, I might be up for that.

....but speaking as an IT professional, shouldn't you simply be checking back with the customer and perhaps raising a change request if necessary.....and if you've got all the data to hand, why not offer all three options?

this has a sweet name, its called the "Angels Share".

i have a Penderyn in the cupboard that is yet to be opened, not really a connoisseur at all, i won it in a raffle - should i give it a bash?

If so how should i drink it? with coke?

rhext

...and ice!

alan_a

rubertoe wrote:

i have a Penderyn in the cupboard that is yet to be opened, not really a connoisseur at all, i won it in a raffle - should i give it a bash?

If so how should i drink it? with coke?

Penderyn is a stupidly nice whisky. One of their expressions won a World Whisky of the Year award last year. The madeira and sherry wood are both fruity and IMHO would go well with a chutneyfied Welsh Rarebit.

Enjoy it slowly with a drop of water and a half pint of Lambs Gold Light Ale.

alan_a

rhext wrote:

The proposal solution wouldn't work for me because bottling date isn't particularly 'special', but your solution won't work either because I can't afford a 45-year-old whisky. If, on the other hand, you happened to have a batch of 12-year-old whisky that had been distilled in 1967, I might be up for that.

Sadly you will struggle to find a batch of 12 yr old single malt that was bottled in 1967. The vast majority of bottled whisky up until the mid 1980's went straight into blends, so finding a bottle of 12yr old single malt from 1967 would mean that it is very rare and very very expensive... much more so than a bottle of 45 yr old.

finnjävel

I am mostly attracted to Islay whiskys. I seem to have mostly Laphroaig ones, their basic 10 yo is the workhorse of my whisky stable, with Triple Wood backing it up for when I want something a bit more special. For "special occasions" I have Lagavulin 16 yo, which is about as nice a whisky I can justify buying.
I find Caol Ila is about 85% as good as Lagavulin with about 60 % of the price, IIRC. That said, I think I'm beginning to prefer 10 yo Laphroaig to the Lagavulin, not sure why.

I'm sure there are a lot of whiskys made outside Islay that I would enjoy, but I tend to search until I find what I like and then keep at it. I do it with jeans, shoes, wines and women, why not whiskys as well.

alan_a

If you like beefy Islay Malts try Big Peat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BUWF6bK6bY

graeme_s-2

rubertoe wrote:

rhext wrote:

There's a constant evaporation of alcohol (and presumably other volatiles) through the wood which changes the character completely.?

this has a sweet name, its called the "Angels Share".

At the Arran distillery they call it the Eagle's Share, as they have a nesting pair of golden eagles near the site which caused them to temporarily halt building work when the distillery was being constructed. The story is they got a fly by from the pair during their official opening ceremony, although that sounds a little bit too good to be true to me!

SimonAH

Yeah, I took the distillery tour there a few years ago. Great tasting session in the little bar by the shop afterwards. Awsome day that was - just me and about ten colleagues (they opened up the distillery just for us) and we got there on a 500HP Rib from the mainland. Top jolly that was!

rhext

Graeme_S wrote:

rubertoe wrote:

rhext wrote:

There's a constant evaporation of alcohol (and presumably other volatiles) through the wood which changes the character completely.?

this has a sweet name, its called the "Angels Share".

At the Arran distillery they call it the Eagle's Share, as they have a nesting pair of golden eagles near the site which caused them to temporarily halt building work when the distillery was being constructed. The story is they got a fly by from the pair during their official opening ceremony, although that sounds a little bit too good to be true to me!

Now there's a nice whisky. Just reaching the bottom of my last bottle :-(

leodis75

I did the Tullibardine tour last year and loved it, they have a nice cask which turns 60 soon and so they say it will be around £6k a bottle. Really good tour and enjoyed the taste of it, it quite amazed about how much a single drop of water can change the flavour.

finnjävel

Alan A wrote:

If you like beefy Islay Malts try Big Peat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BUWF6bK6bY

Sacrilege!

That said, I subscribed to the channel, seems amusing.

Canny Jock

Probably my favourite malt, at a bargain price.

http://www.thewinesociety.com/shop/sear ... d=mortlach

Yes you need to be a member, but if you like booze it's worth joining.

Agent57

Lagavulin 16 is currently £35 at ASDA. Considering it's normally around £42-£45, I call that a good deal.



(Sorry to bump an old thread; just looked for somewhere relevant to dump the post. There isn't a "Silly Commuter Whisky" thread, is there?)

nicklouse

for those that fly. see if you can get some of this.


nice.

PS scroll down for the name.

SteppenHerring

Graeme_S wrote:

rubertoe wrote:

rhext wrote:

There's a constant evaporation of alcohol (and presumably other volatiles) through the wood which changes the character completely.?

this has a sweet name, its called the "Angels Share".

At the Arran distillery they call it the Eagle's Share, as they have a nesting pair of golden eagles near the site which caused them to temporarily halt building work when the distillery was being constructed. The story is they got a fly by from the pair during their official opening ceremony, although that sounds a little bit too good to be true to me!

When my parents went to Islay a few years back, the guy running the tour of one distillery confirmed the name "the angels' share" although he did say "Sometimes the angels have two legs and a wee jug".

Lagavulin 16yo is still a favourite though.

noisemonkey

Zombie_donkey wrote:

Anyone tried Yamazaki single malt from Japan?

I am intrigued but always go for a safer bet when buying.

it's really smooth, same with other Suntory malts.