Let's talk some Bourbon, Whiskey & Scotch

[Bamabuzzard]

First time visiting this board in literally years. I like tasting different Bourbons, Whiskeys and Scotch. I would love to hear some of y'alls preferences, recommendations and just general comments.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Trying these two over the holidays. The Elijah Craig is a somewhat unique bottle. One of our local wine and spirits stores had a barrel privately made just for them and have it as a holiday promotional with their label at the bottom, serial number etc. I'll report back when I've tried both.

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[bama579]

Not much for the exotics . . . it's a $$ thing.. . Like George Dickel, though.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Tried the Four Roses Single Barrel this weekend. I'm not an expert so my "review" will not be as professional and technical as expert taste testers.

I read a lot about this one when I searched "Best bourbons under $50". This one in particular was on seemingly EVERY LIST and many times at the top of it. I have to say the reviews were spot on and I see why it was on every list. I normally drink Makers Mark because I can buy it in the 1.75 and still get a decent quality bourbon. I'll continue to buy Makers Mark as my "every day" type bourbon. But Four Roses Single Barrel will now become a part of my "top shelf" bourbon on special occasions. Like many folks, I don't have the $$$ to spend on the truly "High end" bourbon. Nor do I want to. As most of the reviews stated. This bourbon has high end taste at middle class prices.

First thing you notice when going to take a sip is the wonderful deep smoked vanilla smell. I wish they made air freshener with this smell.

The taste is smooth with an immediate burst of flavors that basically have a party in your mouth. You get combinations of sweet, cinnamon, heat, and a spicy bite on the back end. But the cool thing about it is the taste or the "finish" last a good while after you finish the taste. You can sit and enjoy the taste long after the actual bourbon has gone down and before you take your next sip. This is a wonderful bourbon for the money. The expert reviews were spot on. Four Roses Single Barrel will no doubt be a part of my bourbon inventory. Highly Recommend.

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[bama579]

In the "under $40" category. Costco had a Tennessee whiskey in their Kirkland brand that was very good. i m o. Didn't see it when i was there last week, though.



Picked up a bottle of their Kirkland Scotch that have not opened yet. Maybe tonight.

:wink:

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I'm just now getting into Scotch. If you wouldn't mind post a pic of the bottle and let me know what you think about it after you try it. It would be greatly appreciated.

In the "under $40" category. Costco had a Tennessee whiskey in their Kirkland brand that was very good. i m o. Didn't see it when i was there last week, though.



Picked up a bottle of their Kirkland Scotch that have not opened yet. Maybe tonight.

:wink:

 

[Bamabuzzard]

"Best under $40" list. Four Roses Yellow Label falls into this category.


https://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/best-value-bourbon-wild-turkey-four-roses-evan-williams-and-more

 

[bama579]

I'm just now getting into Scotch. If you wouldn't mind post a pic of the bottle and let me know what you think about it after you try it. It would be greatly appreciated.

I gave up posting pics here long ago . . Never succeeded.

Here is a link that may help you:

http://www.tastings.com/Spirits-Rev...cotch-Whisky-Scotland-1750-ml-09-01-2016.aspx

 

[Bazza]

At one point in my career I worked for a corporation which held annual national sales meetings. The entire sales force plus the usual big wigs and product managers converged for a week or so to hold various sessions, equipment & product demos, motivational talks, etc. etc. The entire country was broken into regions and they would pair up 2 associates from the same region as roommates at the hotel we stayed at. You never knew who you would be paired with. Most of use knew each other from interactions throughout the year - especially when regional sales meetings were held, but also when we needed stuff transferred from store to store or just had a reason to talk with each other about a particular situation.

Getting to the point of my story......I remember one year my roommate was guy from south Florida and he checked in before me - and when I opened the door to the room the first thing I saw was two bottles of booze on the dresser along with glasses, an ice bucket, and some coca-colas. One of the bottles was Makers Mark and not sure what the other one was but that was the first time I ever tried Makers Mark and boy it was really good.

I'm not much of a drinker actually (never have been to be honest) but on another forum I frequent, there are a couple threads that might be of some interest to you guys.....

HTH!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/736769-learned-about-scotch.html


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/961694-bourbon-whiskey-thread.html

 

[bama579]

I'm just now getting into Scotch. If you wouldn't mind post a pic of the bottle and let me know what you think about it after you try it. It would be greatly appreciated.

The Kirkland/Costco Scotch i tried is the blend. They also have a single-malt.

The blend had was good . . this from someone who goes Johnnie Walker for Scotch. [so what do i know?]

 

[Bamabuzzard]

The Kirkland/Costco Scotch i tried is the blend. They also have a single-malt.

The blend had was good . . this from someone who goes Johnnie Walker for Scotch. [so what do i know?]

I've tried the Johnnie Walker Red, Black and Double Black. The double black isn't as good as the Black. The Red is decent considering the price. But once you've had the Black the Red is hard to buy again.

 

[Its On A Slab]

My Wisconsin buddy turned me on to Irish whiskey a few years ago.

Locally, the 12 yr runs about $65, but the 15 yr(my favorite) runs around $100.

After drinking Redbreast, I find it hard to go back to Jameson and other lesser Irish whiskeys.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

My Wisconsin buddy turned me on to Irish whiskey a few years ago.

Locally, the 12 yr runs about $65, but the 15 yr(my favorite) runs around $100.

After drinking Redbreast, I find it hard to go back to Jameson and other lesser Irish whiskeys.

Yeah, that's the "problem" I've run into regarding my alcohol. I'll get introduced to a more expensive Bourbon/Whiskey/Scotch and don't want to go back to what I was drinking.

 

[GrayTide]

Haven't had bourbon in many years. I do love a good single malt scotch The Glenlivet when I drink scotch which isn't very often. I had some Johnnie Walker Blue this summer which was excellent. Mostly wine these days.

 

[bama579]

Yeah, that's the "problem" I've run into regarding my alcohol. I'll get introduced to a more expensive Bourbon/Whiskey/Scotch and don't want to go back to what I was drinking.

A first-world "problem", eh?
:wink:

 

[Bamabuzzard]

A first-world "problem", eh?
:wink:

Aren't those the best kind to have? LOL!

 

[LSUgrad2BamaDad]

Proud to say I am president of my neighborhood Bourbon club! We have 8 guys and we get together about every 2 months. Maybe more in FB season.

Some of our favorites in the $30 range (at least in Nola) Eagle Rare, McKenna, and the Elijah Craig pictured in the second post. If you can find Weller 12, it’s awesome and a bargain at $30. Poor man’s Pappy - same barrels and warehouse.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

Proud to say I am president of my neighborhood Bourbon club! We have 8 guys and we get together about every 2 months. Maybe more in FB season.

Some of our favorites in the $30 range (at least in Nola) Eagle Rare, McKenna, and the Elijah Craig pictured in the second post. If you can find Weller 12, it’s awesome and a bargain at $30. Poor man’s Pappy - same barrels and warehouse.

I've been trying to find the Weller 12 around my parts. I've heard good things about it.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

I'm just now getting into Scotch. If you wouldn't mind post a pic of the bottle and let me know what you think about it after you try it. It would be greatly appreciated.

My personal favorites are all from the island of Islay (pronounced EYE-la), just off the southwest coast of Scotland.

Lagavulin (LAGGA-voo-lin), Laphroaig (la-FROIG) and Ardbeg (ARD-beg), are all great, especially on a cold winter night. They're similar to one another in that they're all heavy peat and smoke and sea air. Almost like drinking cold, wet smoke, except you can smell the sea as well. Very different from anything else in Scotland. Flavor is really strong, though unless you get into one of the specialty bottlings, the alcohol content is the same as all of them.

They admittedly can be an acquired taste, and therefore a bit of a reach for beginners, but the reach is worth it. If the regular bottling is just too demanding, Ardbeg makes one called Ardbeg Uigeadail (OOO-gee-dal), which is double-matured in sherry casks, and that takes some of the peat out. Lagavulin makes a double-matured, too. Not sure about Laphroaig.

Talisker (TAL-iss-ker) is from the Isle of Skye and my favorite non-Islay. It has some of the smoke and peat and ocean, but not quite as much as the Islays. Distinguishing factor is a blast of black pepper on the finish.

If I'm going for a softer presentation, say a Speyside, my favorite is Glenmorangie (glen-MAHR-un-jee).

A lot of people swear by Macallan's, but it's not my style. Too sweet. If I want that, I want a good bourbon. To each his own, I guess.

None of this stuff is cheap. But it's sipping whiskey, so you don't mix it with anything except maybe a few drops of water. Point being, you don't slug it back....you sip and savor it. So it takes longer to run through a bottle. So while the initial purchase isn't fun, if you amortize it over the life of the bottle, it isn't nearly so bad.

I like mine on the rocks -- the melting ice supplies the water, and I like it cold. Some think that anything other than straight is blasphemy, but I don't care. I like it the way I like it.

I will offer two things:

First, if you really like your scotch mixed with water or soda, don't waste your money on a single malt -- stick with a good solid blend. Johnnie Walker and Dewar's are fine choices. Monkey Shoulder is an outstanding blend, but a bit harder to find.

With a single malt, you're paying for distinctiveness. If you dilute it with 2-3 ounces of water or soda, you're destroying the very thing you paid extra for.

Second, I personally don't pay for age. With a single malt, the standard aging for most, not all, is 10 years. If you pay for the 15, it's a lot more. If you pay for the 25, it's through the nose. And it isn't all that much better. Maybe not even as good. Definitely has snob appeal, and people will fall all over it. But I promise if you put them side by side in a blind tasting, they won't know.

 

[uafan4life]

My go-to for single-malt has always been a Glenlivet 12 Year - inexpensive, consistent, and good enough. However, a buddy of mine recently turned me onto a new favorite: Balvenie 12 Year Doublewood, matured first in traditional whiskey oak and then in sherry oak casks. Either the sherry casks steal most of the smoke or it didn't have too much to start with but I love it.

The way I drink it I call sorta neat. I have a set of stainless steel, Crimson Tide Whiskey Stones, similar to the ones below, and I use those instead of ice. Good whiskey usually needs a little water but ice is too inconsistent for me. I put three of these stones in the glass, add a few drops of purified water so the whiskey can bloom, and then scotch to taste. It's nice and cool and I can take as much time as I want with it without it getting too watered down.