Whisky

Headhuunter

Does anyone know anything about whisky? Friend of mine wants to spend around £100 on a nice bottle for a wedding present.... I haven't got a clue, I like the odd dram and I know there are peaty ones and not so peaty ones but other than that I'm a bit lost

daviesee

The clue is in the question.

You need to know how peaty the recipient likes his/her whisky.

Without that knowledge, I would start off looking at the Speysides as a safe bet as they are good without being too peaty.
My current preference is for a Glenlivet but as ever, that is a personal choice.
My previous preferences have been - Macallan, Dalmore and Balvenie.

rubertoe

Pendyryn

edit: check out these guys on bloomsbury square

http://www.royalmilewhisky.com/

davis

You absolutely need to know what the drinker likes.

Safe bets are, as above, Speysides. I also really like Balvenie (single barrel is pretty good, bit cheaper than your price range).

Outside of Speysides, and towards the peaty end would be something like Ardbeg Corryvreckan (truly epic).

Find out what they like, and take a look at the Whisky flavour map. Dedicated Whisky shops are worth visiting too!

Edit: Highland Park is often considered a very safe bet too, but I don't think it's worth going beyond 12 years' aging (I think I've tried their 18-21 and didn't think it was worth the money)

Headhuunter

Hmmmm, OK thanks... Will have to find out more!

vitesse169

I've got a bottle of Glenfiddich 18yr (about £45-£50) and is EXCELLENT. Only comes out acouple of times a year as its a good one.
Also got a Ben Riach 12yr which has good flavour (about £25).
Don't forget to add a few drops of spring water to the dram....

il_principe

daviesee wrote:

The clue is in the question.

You need to know how peaty the recipient likes his/her whisky.

Without that knowledge, I would start off looking at the Speysides as a safe bet as they are good without being too peaty.
My current preference is for a Glenlivet but as ever, that is a personal choice.
My previous preferences have been - Macallan, Dalmore and Balvenie.

Defo find out more. e.g people are recommending Speyside as a safe bet. I dabble a little in Whisky, yet tend to dislike Speysides...

wandsworth

Bruichladdich (pronounced 'brookladdy') is an excellent Islay malt. Towards the peaty end but not stupidly so. They have various types and ages at various prices.

I can also vouch for Ardbeg, another Islay whisky, having visited the distillery some years ago.

sketchley

Penderyn is good bet for a malt buff. Reason is most would dismiss it as it's welsh. However, it is excellent and you will surprise them with it.

Other than that, I recently send some as a gift using http://www.masterofmalt.com/ and got a presentation box etc with it plus gift wrap. Worked really well.

I woudln't worry about which on to get, just get a good one. While you might not hit the nail on the head with a the perfect favourite malt, every malt drinker I've met appricates trying something new of high quality. You can get it wrong but never that wrong. I mean even i'll drink a peated malt if given to me but it would never be a choice....

Here's an option http://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/ob ... on-whisky/ add a box and gift wrap and your around the £100 mark. I'd be extactic to get one of these as a wedding present. I've had a bottle of this (earlier year mind) a few years ago very very nice tipple it is each year is a little different but a good fine malt.

hudsons8

As per previous posts if you find out what they like and have a budget you can go to a good supermarket or for something slightly different/rarer there are a few places worth visiting where you could get some advice. Royal mile whisky has already been mentioned, to this I would add
http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/ a large selection of whiskies at its shop in Southwark, and when I have visited friendly and knowledgeable staff.

Don't overlook Irish Whiskey in your search. Two that I have bought for a 50th Birthday present that were well recieved are Redbreast and Green Spot.

Headhuunter

wandsworth wrote:

Bruichladdich (pronounced 'brookladdy') is an excellent Islay malt. Towards the peaty end but not stupidly so. They have various types and ages at various prices.

I can also vouch for Ardbeg, another Islay whisky, having visited the distillery some years ago.

I quite like Ardbeg, I bought a bottle for my dad one year and he really didn't like it... Those peaty malts can be an acquired taste

First.Aspect

Why would a valid recipient of a £100 bottle limit their tastes to peaty or not peaty?

Possibly worth getting some intel on what they currently have in the drinks cabinet and then the Scots Whisk Association would be a good place to start. Current in vogue are one offs - a single cask, at cask strength is pretty much unique. Even a single malt is a blend of various casks. Alternatively people go for something first put in the cask on the year of ones birth.

Beware though, whisky buffs tend to talk more science bollicks even than cyclists.

james1911

Hi,

I got married last year and gave a bottle of Imperial Tribute to the father in law. It cost around £125, it was beautifully packaged and supposedly tasted nice although I'm not much of a whisky connoisseur myself! Anyway I recommend it just for the packaging! The website is http://www.imperialtribute.com/ enjoy!

James

sketchley

First Aspect wrote:

Why would a valid recipient of a £100 bottle limit their tastes to peaty or not peaty?

Possibly worth getting some intel on what they currently have in the drinks cabinet and then the Scots Whisk Association would be a good place to start. Current in vogue are one offs - a single cask, at cask strength is pretty much unique. Even a single malt is a blend of various casks. Alternatively people go for something first put in the cask on the year of ones birth.

Beware though, whisky buffs tend to talk more science bollicks even than cyclists.

I think this is was my point too. It really doesn't matter what you get when spending that kind of money. A buff will enjoy a £100 bottle even if it isn't thier preference in terms of flavour. They will certainly appreicate the gift. Let's say they don't prefer peated whiskey but you buy them a Laphroaig 21 Year Old 1990 Directors' Cut which is very peaty. They will still enjoy it a lot. If they don't you shouldn't be buying them whisky at all....

The exception to this would be someone who reguarly pays £200+ for bottle. They would turn thier nose up at the wrong £100 bottle. But for the majority who drink 12 year old malts, at sub £40 a bottle, any £100 bottle would be heaven.

jeepie

Johnnie Walker Blue Label?

essex-commuter

I spent £40 on a bottle last Saturday for my Dad for Father's Day (he's not a whisky 'lover' but I wanted a half decent bottle for him). Carried it in with the shopping and stood it in the kitchen. My Mrs knocked it over and smashed it. We didn't speak for a couple of hours after that. It seeped out through the box, I was sure the glass was filtered out...I was very tempted to get a straw.

I bought a replacement so in effect he had an £80 bottle.

bill_gates

Pendryn is muck. It noses well to start with but then loses all character verging on a smell close to meth spirits, the only positive side is the packaging is nice (although a taller bottle and doesn't fit in my cupboards upright) and the Welsh novelty factor is there but it purely is novelty. I was bought it as a Christmas gift one year and by the time Easter came around we were using it to cook with, that was before I was into cycling and if I had it now I would degrade it to chain cleaner.

I'm very much a single malt buff and could rhyme off dozens if not hundreds of suggestions but you really can't go wrong with any of the mainstream brands such as Glenmorangie, Macallan, etc. Stick with a Speyside also and maybe see if you can get some form of special edition such as a Distiller's Choice or special cask. Highland Park is also a nice one from the island and again is very popular.

Glengoyne is also nice and it the most southernly Highland distillery. Glenfarclas is also good and the 105 Cask Strength is good value for money with a great taste also.

il_principe

How about a gift membership to the SMWS?

http://www.smws.co.uk

sketchley

Bill Gates wrote:

Pendryn is muck... snip

Are you Scottish by any chance? Just that the only people I know that have really laid into Penderyn like that were! If so I would love to see you do a blind tasting with a penderyn and few big brand scotish malts at of similar cost and see which one you actually prefer... How did you drink it? You know it iss bottled at 46% so needs a tiny bit of water to bring out the flavour? Also which finish did you try? The Madeira (black box and label) is the most common but not the nicest, the Sherrywood is the best (Red Label and box) its a cracker right up there with Glenmorangie Lasanta another very good Sherrywood at similar price, or a Glenlivit French Oak Reserve. The Peated Penderyn (Green) is my least favourite but as highly peated whisky goes is ok....

Back to OP as a curve ball how about a good Bourbon such as http://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/ol ... bon/?srh=1 very different flavour and much sweater than single malt. Sold out in that link but I'm sure you can find some. Again a bottle I'd happily recieve.

jeepie

I dislike Pendryn also. Very thin with a phenolic aftertaste.

bill_gates

Sketchley wrote:

its a cracker right up there with Glenmorangie Lasanta another very good Sherrywood

Agree on Lasanta, I'm a fan of the special cask Glenmorangies. I certainly can't agree thinking about Pendryn even being in the same sentence as a Glenmorangie though.

daviesee

Sketchley wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

Why would a valid recipient of a £100 bottle limit their tastes to peaty or not peaty?

Possibly worth getting some intel on what they currently have in the drinks cabinet and then the Scots Whisk Association would be a good place to start. Current in vogue are one offs - a single cask, at cask strength is pretty much unique. Even a single malt is a blend of various casks. Alternatively people go for something first put in the cask on the year of ones birth.

Beware though, whisky buffs tend to talk more science bollicks even than cyclists.

I think this is was my point too. It really doesn't matter what you get when spending that kind of money. A buff will enjoy a £100 bottle even if it isn't thier preference in terms of flavour. They will certainly appreicate the gift. Let's say they don't prefer peated whiskey but you buy them a Laphroaig 21 Year Old 1990 Directors' Cut which is very peaty. They will still enjoy it a lot. If they don't you shouldn't be buying them whisky at all....

The exception to this would be someone who reguarly pays £200+ for bottle. They would turn thier nose up at the wrong £100 bottle. But for the majority who drink 12 year old malts, at sub £40 a bottle, any £100 bottle would be heaven.

Disagrees......
I drink way more whisky than the recommended amount and I can assure you that I wouldn't thank you for any Laphroaig. There is so much difference in tastes in whiskey that they are practically different drinks.
Re a bottle from date of birth. Great idea. With a but.
I wanted a 1962 Macallan for my 50th but Daniel Craig had to drink it in Skyfall. The current price - @ £1000.

edhornby

I don't like penderyn either, it falls apart in the glass as BillG says, and I'm not a fan of some of the big brands either as glenmorangie and glenlivet don't really do it for me, lots of people rave about jura but I'm ambivalent about that too (I'm english btw but have no nationalist tendencies)

I do like the bigger peaty islays - like ardbeg bowmore bruichladdich, there is also a tesco own brand islay that I am convinced is a well known make (can't remember which) but relabelled. ledaig is great for the price

daviesee

edhornby wrote:

I don't like penderyn either, it falls apart in the glass as BillG says, and I'm not a fan of some of the big brands either as glenmorangie and glenlivet don't really do it for me, lots of people rave about jura but I'm ambivalent about that too (I'm english btw but have no nationalist tendencies)

I do like the bigger peaty islays - like ardbeg bowmore bruichladdich, there is also a tesco own brand islay that I am convinced is a well known make (can't remember which) but relabelled. ledaig is great for the price

Little known fact thanks to Brian at thewashingmachinepost who is based on Islay. There are 9 distilleries on Islay and anyone with a passing interest will have heard of all of them. If a supermarket has honestly labelled a whisky as an Islay single malt then it has to come from one of them, re-labelled and cheaper.

sketchley

edhornby wrote:

I don't like penderyn either, it falls apart in the glass as BillG says, and I'm not a fan of some of the big brands either as glenmorangie and glenlivet don't really do it for me, lots of people rave about jura but I'm ambivalent about that too (I'm english btw but have no nationalist tendencies)

I do like the bigger peaty islays - like ardbeg bowmore bruichladdich, there is also a tesco own brand islay that I am convinced is a well known make (can't remember which) but relabelled. ledaig is great for the price

Moving on from the Penderyn then.....

I'm not a fan big brand mass produced 12 year olds. For example I would turn my nose up at a Glenfiddich 12. However doesn't mean the big brands cannot make a good malt once you get passed the mass produced main line. Glenmorangie Lasanta is a very different quality of Whisky to the standard 12. Glenlivit 12 pales in comparrision with the 15 year old french oak reserve espically when Sainsbury's were flogging it off at £22.50 a bottle about a year ago. Personnaly I like an Oban 14 (although preference is for the distillers edition which has an extra two years in a sherry casks). Have you notice I like a sherrywood finish? I'm also quite fond of Old Pultney from Wick.

sketchley

daviesee wrote:

Disagrees......
I drink way more whisky than the recommended amount and I can assure you that I wouldn't thank you for any Laphroaig.

Ok first I do understand your point about Laphroaig, I dislike it too. Now though answer me this. I turn up at yours on a Saturday night, you have nothing else on, I have with me a bottle of Laphroaig 21 Year Old 1990 Directors' Cut (£250 a bottle mind), I'm intent on drinking it all as I don't want to keep any, do you?

a). Get out your best glasses and join me in finishing the bottle
b). Get out two coffee cups, saying "there's no way that's tainting my best glasses", and join me anyway
c). Give me plastic cup and tell me to drink it in garden
d). Send me on my way saying "not in my house mate" and never speak with me again

edhornby

Sketchley wrote:

Now though answer me this. I turn up at yours on a Saturday night, you have nothing else on

bom chicka waw waw ;-)

UndercoverElephant

edhornby wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

Now though answer me this. I turn up at yours on a Saturday night, you have nothing else on

bom chicka waw waw ;-)

He'll be needing a *loooot* of whisky.

daviesee

UndercoverElephant wrote:

edhornby wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

Now though answer me this. I turn up at yours on a Saturday night, you have nothing else on

bom chicka waw waw ;-)

He'll be needing a *loooot* of whisky.

My thoughts exactly!

daviesee

Sketchley wrote:

Ok first I do understand your point about Laphroaig, I dislike it too. Now though answer me this. I turn up at yours on a Saturday night, you have nothing else on, I have with me a bottle of Laphroaig 21 Year Old 1990 Directors' Cut (£250 a bottle mind), I'm intent on drinking it all as I don't want to keep any, do you?

a). Get out your best glasses and join me in finishing the bottle
b). Get out two coffee cups, saying "there's no way that's tainting my best glasses", and join me anyway
c). Give me plastic cup and tell me to drink it in garden
d). Send me on my way saying "not in my house mate" and never speak with me again

Option E. Which is a modification on Option A.
Get out my 2 best glasses. Toast your health with a Laphroaig and check that my prejudices are correct.
Then either help you finish off the bottle or crack open the bottle of Aberlour a'Bunadh Cask Strength that I bought last week and we finish them both. :P

sketchley

daviesee wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

Ok first I do understand your point about Laphroaig, I dislike it too. Now though answer me this. I turn up at yours on a Saturday night, you have nothing else on, I have with me a bottle of Laphroaig 21 Year Old 1990 Directors' Cut (£250 a bottle mind), I'm intent on drinking it all as I don't want to keep any, do you?

a). Get out your best glasses and join me in finishing the bottle
b). Get out two coffee cups, saying "there's no way that's tainting my best glasses", and join me anyway
c). Give me plastic cup and tell me to drink it in garden
d). Send me on my way saying "not in my house mate" and never speak with me again

Option E. Which is a modification on Option A.
Get out my 2 best glasses. Toast your health with a Laphroaig and check that my prejudices are correct.
Then either help you finish off the bottle or crack open the bottle of Aberlour a'Bunadh Cask Strength that I bought last week and we finish them both. :P

LOL. I almost put that option in..... Well not the specific bottle but your best malt....