Single Malts.
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I'll buck the trend here. Not a big peat fan as of yet. Bought my first bottle of Laphroaig about a month or two ago and wasn't crazy about the smoky, iodine taste. It might grow on me, but for now, I will stick with my Balvenie (Double Wood and Caribbean Cask) and my Glenlivet 21 for special occasions.
Not a single malt, but Monkey Shoulder is a fantastic blended scotch as well.
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Not a single malt, but Monkey Shoulder is a fantastic blended scotch as well.
-PM
Every time I see this post, I regret not making note when we bought a single malt scotch
as a birthday gift for a friend in Queens, N.Y. It was a pretty high-end, extra aged,
lovely example, and I should have written it down for future reference. We had it as
one alternative on a lazy-susan turntable at a Chinese restaurant where we had a
spectacular Chinese meal on into the evening. Then we enjoyed a little that was left
back home, and it was exquisite every time. Maybe for $85, it should have been, but
it lived up to the price, for sure. But I'm sorry, I just didn't make a note. Having too
good a time, I guess.
as a birthday gift for a friend in Queens, N.Y. It was a pretty high-end, extra aged,
lovely example, and I should have written it down for future reference. We had it as
one alternative on a lazy-susan turntable at a Chinese restaurant where we had a
spectacular Chinese meal on into the evening. Then we enjoyed a little that was left
back home, and it was exquisite every time. Maybe for $85, it should have been, but
it lived up to the price, for sure. But I'm sorry, I just didn't make a note. Having too
good a time, I guess.
Mmm, just went through a bottle of Lagavulin 16 with a good
friend last Sunday while smoking many great bowls of bacci
after a large brunch from our favorite Columbian restaurant
in town...great way to spend a Sunday ;-)
friend last Sunday while smoking many great bowls of bacci
after a large brunch from our favorite Columbian restaurant
in town...great way to spend a Sunday ;-)
Highland Park 12, and Balvenie Doublewood are two of my standards. I'm not into latakia that much anymore and these malts fit perfectly with some good Virginia Perique mixtures.
I am a big Latakia fan, but the smokey malts, not so much. Dalwhinnie is a good one. I had a Scotch once before called "Cigar Malt" which was very good, but I can't find it anymore. I think it was made by Dalwhinnie and it could have been a limited release. Looks like I need to start adding Scotch to my cellar.
I visited the Glenlivet distillery and picked up an offering that was aged 16 years and bottled at cask strength. It was only available to buy at the distillery, and has been the best I've had to date. I've since run out of it, but the malt I reach for the most is the basic MacCallan 12 year.
I do appreciate the Islay malts, but only drink them occasionally.
I do appreciate the Islay malts, but only drink them occasionally.
No one mentioned my favorite: Glenmorangie. I had a 35-year-old Glenmorangie by mistake. Ooooo. Lovely mistake. Cost my friend quite a bit, but ... she had asked to buy me a drink. I said Glenmorangie, and the boat club only had the fancy-tagged bottle on hand. She was frowning when she brought it to me.
35-year-old Glenmorangie... That, my friends, will spoil you. Dangerous thing to taste!
(But when I can't get Glenmorangie, Glenfiddich will do, which is what I have in my liquor cabinet now).
I love latakia, by the way.
35-year-old Glenmorangie... That, my friends, will spoil you. Dangerous thing to taste!
(But when I can't get Glenmorangie, Glenfiddich will do, which is what I have in my liquor cabinet now).
I love latakia, by the way.
For Scotch whiskey, I'm a Macallan guy, 12 year old is good enough for me.
We really enjoyed Knockando in our house back in the day.
But anymore I save Scotch Whiskey for special occasions, like when my good scotch drinking friend drops by or for holidays. Mostly, I drink old number seven on ice.
We really enjoyed Knockando in our house back in the day.
But anymore I save Scotch Whiskey for special occasions, like when my good scotch drinking friend drops by or for holidays. Mostly, I drink old number seven on ice.
Some of the real peat bombs are a little much for me, although I do like Talisker and have a bottle of Laphroaig 18. I founded a small scotch club amongst a limited group of friends. Every couple months we get together and try a new scotch and eat amazing food. Part of the experiment is we try scotches from all the different regions and also try the different ages of a scotch. It is very interesting to add just a couple drops (literally from a pipette) into the scotches and see how much it transforms them. We've found that the biggest changes occur in Islay scotches for some reason.
Personally, some of my favorites have been Auchentoshen 12, Glenfiddich 18, Longmorn 16, Glenlivet 15 French Oak Reserve, and surprisingly enough a Japanese scotch Yamazaki 18. That one was incredible!
Personally, some of my favorites have been Auchentoshen 12, Glenfiddich 18, Longmorn 16, Glenlivet 15 French Oak Reserve, and surprisingly enough a Japanese scotch Yamazaki 18. That one was incredible!
It really surprised us that Japanese whisky could be that good. It does make sense though. The Japanese are buying up all of the old distilleries in Scotland because, apparently, Japan can't get enough of the stuff! In the past year, Yamazaki 18 has gone WAY up in price though. I think it's around $160/bottle now (up from $120)!
Not a huge fan of peat here but I do love a dram of single malt now and then. Here in Latvia there's a nice little bar with a huge wall of whiskies an many of them are special editions with some more than 30 years old. There's even a 1992 Littlemill that is one of the rarest Scottish Whiskies I've been able to get my hands on. The best bit? The most expensive dram is $22 and that is one that I've seen in the USA for around $75.
The downside? Glenlivet 12 is around $50 for a fifth in the market.
The downside? Glenlivet 12 is around $50 for a fifth in the market.
I've gotta add that I agree, Japanese whiskies are absolutely awesome. Along the same lines, if any of you get a chance, try to get a bottle of Macmyra out of Sweden. One of the better tasting drams I've tried.
Single malts are getting pretty pricey, but there is one bright side. Due to the high demand, a number of smaller, lesser known distilleries have taken the opportunity to produce and market more malt. Often, it's a distillery that used to contribute its whisky to blends but has found that they're better off just bottling it. Tomatin and Speyburn are two great examples, and both are amazing deals. You can easily get them for around $30. They're not peated, but someone a year ago mentioned Finlaggan, which is an independent bottling of an unspecified Islay that can be found for the same price. For me, finding the affordable-but-good malts has been a lot of fun lately, and these would probably have to be my top three picks so far.
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