spirits Curious about Whisky
- Thread starter Rymerpt
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Anybody ever had this? Grabbed a cheap, young Ardbeg awhile ago. Finally got around to trying it. Understandably not as peat bomb as the rest of their stuff. I'm not sure what they were going for here... Maybe just to see if somebody would buy it...
Well played Ardbeg, you win this round!
Well played Ardbeg, you win this round!
Rymerpt said:
Single malt means that the whisky does not contain more than a single malted barley - it's "pure" as opposed to having other barlies or grains mixed in.
They generally age whisky in oak barrels and the longer it's in the barrel the more it mellows and starts to take on complex flavors. 12 years is still considered "young". Many good whiskies are aged 16-20 years. If a bottle lacks an age declaration, then don't buy it.
Bourbon is an american booze made from corn, whisky is a scottish drink made from barley. Bourbon is a really sugary drink, whisky contains zero sugar. Bourbon has to be made from limestone water (cave source) and is geographically restricted by law as to where it can be made. Whiskey with an E (not whisky) is not scotch, it's randomly anything else than bourbon or whisky.
Might be easier to just go to a good bar (hotel for example) and ask the bartender what is a good scotch whisky and then try it.
There are snobs, for sure, but my fav bourbon is Maker's Mark. As far as single malt scotch, there are too damned many to list.
so how is it? i`m usually drinking bushmills irish whiskey because of availability smoothness and price but i pick up other brands for some variety.boutros said:Anybody ever had this? Grabbed a cheap, young Ardbeg awhile ago. Finally got around to trying it. Understandably not as peat bomb as the rest of their stuff. I'm not sure what they were going for here... Maybe just to see if somebody would buy it...
Well played Ardbeg, you win this round!
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Whisky/whiskey is just a spelling variationpodz said:
There are plenty of other countries that make whisky other than Scotland , although Scotch whisky can only come from there.
The general rule of thumb that mostly works is if the country's name contains an E then they use whiskey , if not whisky.
India=whisky
Canada = whisky
Japan=whisky
Ireland =whiskey
United States of America = whiskey
As for bourbon, it can be made anywhere in the USA that distilling is legal, the grain bill has to be at least 51% corn , and aged in charred new oak.
There are some specifics about proof in the process. Distilling, barrel entry bottling etc. There are some designations that have additional requirements like straight Bourbon and bottled in bond that I can't recall the specifics of without googling.
Bottled in bond is one of the most stringently regulated whiskey designations.
Limestone water isn't a requirement but Kentucky is known for it and makes some damn fine Bourbon.
Btw, without bourbon ,Scotch as we know it would be a very different beast . Because bourbon must use new charred oak there are tonnes of used barrels available each year.
Scots being extremely thrifty have been mostly aging Scotch in used bourbon barrels forever.
I have heard anecdotal stories of the Scots at one time using any kind of barrel they could find before sourcing bourbon barrels was a thing. Even barrels used to store preserved fish. That would have been a crazy Scotch to try.
I’m not much of a critic or reviewer to be honest. It was around $30, so not a bad bottle to try to see if you like peat.luvmesump3pp3rz said:
I liked it, but would probably just stick with the regular 10 year Ardbeg over this one. It would be interesting to do a blind taste test between the two.
Definitely. There are some very sweet Scotchs out there. Maybe not as sweet as other whiskeys, but sweet nonetheless. Often the highland varieties err towards lighter, more floral notes. Opposed, of course, to their peat monster Islay or Campbeltown cousins.Ashen said:
To throw my recommendations into the ring:
Irish: Writer's Tears is a really nice whiskey at a solid price. If you can find it and want to spend a bit more the Powers Three Swallow is fantastic as well
Scotch: Highland Park 12. Not the most interesting scotch on earth, but its a very good, solid scotch and should only set you back $60 or so.
Bourbon: I'm not really a fan of American whiskeys, but the Four Roses Single Barrel Select is really, really nice. My go-to Rye is Whipsaw Rye from the Splinter Group.
Islay whiskys: I'm glad someone finally mentioned Ardbeg. It is quite good. I prefer the 10 year to the 5 year. Laphroaig 10 year is my usual go to. I find Lagavulin more of a good whisky to use to introduce someone to smoky scotch but I don’t feel it has the same complexity or depth of flavor as Laphroaig or Ardbeg. Caol Isla can be quite good but you really need to try the older ones which can get expensive. Kilchoman is a newer distillery. Its whisky is good. It tastes similar to Ardbed which may be because the distiller came from Ardbeg. Octomore made by Bruichladdich is by far the smokiest scotch out there. A lot of people will not like it.boutros said:Anybody ever had this? Grabbed a cheap, young Ardbeg awhile ago. Finally got around to trying it. Understandably not as peat bomb as the rest of their stuff. I'm not sure what they were going for here... Maybe just to see if somebody would buy it...
Well played Ardbeg, you win this round!
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The non smokey Islay whiskys are Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain (although they do now have a peat smoked whisky too).
There are several newer distilleries I have not tried yet.
There were a couple of issues with definitions and in regards to age.
Just because a whisky is old, does not make it good. Some do not age as well as others. I prefer the 10 yr Talisker to the 18 yr Talisker by quite a bit.
To be legally called Scotch, it has to be distilled in Scotland and must be at least 3 years old. The scotch whisky industry will vigorously go after anyone in any country who tries to break this rule.
Scotch whisky is distilled in pot stills and as the distilling process is not continuous, no two batches are exactly the same (many other commercial whiskys are distilled in a different process that is more continuous).
The "new make" scotch can be around 70% or more alcohol. When it ages in casks, some of the alcohol evaporates (called the angel's share) but it is still stronger than anything you can usually buy unless you buy cask strength scotch. All malts are blended with other malts from the same distillery and have water added to lower the percent of alcohol to the proof the distillery wants.
Vatted whisky is a mixture of single malts from more than one distillery. It is still a malt whisky but can’t legally be called single malt.
Scotch whisky is aged in wooden barrels. They historically were sherry casks because the Spanish would ship Sherry to the UK in wood casks so there were a lot of casks around. It was cheaper to use those than make casks from lumber in Scotland. The Spanish now ship Sherry in glass bottles as it has become much more expensive to make the casks now so they reuse them. Some scotch whiskys specific taste is due to being aged in Sherry casks. The classic McCallan has a really strong sherry taste.
The whiskey in the US uses oak barrels and by law, they can only be used once. As Sherry casks became more expensive in Scotland, it became a great market for used oak casks from the US whiskey industry. They are shipped to Scotland where they are rebuilt and used multiple times.
“Blended” whisky such as Dewar’s or JohnnyWalker are made by adding grain alcohol to a mixture of single malts. The scotch industry sells much more blended whisky than single malt.
(I am a scientist so when I like something, I really try to research it. I could easily write page after page about whisky and whiskey!)
Received a few samples from my step dad. He says these are among the best out there. Thoughts? All new to me except for the "Bookers"
Cheers chilliheads. Enjoying a classic old fashioned. Made with a delicious bourbon
3oz Weller Antique 107
3/4 oz simple syrup
3 dashes angostura
3oz Weller Antique 107
3/4 oz simple syrup
3 dashes angostura
Coming to this conversation late. But I personally think you should go on a whisky distillery tour or a handful of yours. You will really get a chance to see how it's made and understand more about the different types and blends available. I knew nothing about whisky and went to several in Speyside Scotland a few back, and my perspectives of Whisky changed completely.
