Quote Originally Posted by Jock Scot View Post
"All whisky is good, its just that some whiskies are better than others," or so my father used to say. Over a fairly long life I have come to the conclusion he was right! He also was of the opinion that "whisky is a mood drink" in other words the taste alters depending on the occasion and its ambiance. He was right about that too!

For what it is worth, my favourite go to labels are Talisker as a single malt and Famous Grouse as a blend.
It is claimed that Famous Grouse has been the Number One whisky in Scotland for more than 40 years - which kind of coincides with the rise in popularity and wildly expanding range of malts.

Not a bad record to have!

The sad thing about malts, to me, is that many of the old distilleries have been taken over by foreign owners, with the intentin of giving themselves a ready supply of whisky which they can then transform into soomething they understand.

I would say that Pernod-Ricard are the worst offenders in this crime, openly saying that Scotch is done all wrong, and what their own distilleries are now producing is much more to the taste of ladies in particular (gentle, sweet and floral) and ideal as a mixer.

Such is the fate of Glen Moray, that was once a stablemate of Glenmorangie and Ardbeg.

But we cannot stand in the way of progress, and we must let the likes of Bruichladdich distil their Islay spirits with no trace of the island character if they want to, and palm it off to inner-city hipsters at funny-money prices.

I kick myself now, for I passed-up the opportunity, but back in the early '80s when the bottom fell out of the whisky market with the 'discovery' of Bacardi and Smirnoff, distilleries were flogging off 40gal barrels at £40 a go. You only had to stump-up the tax and find somewhere to store the stuff, and you'd be giggling until you'd drunk the barrel dry.

Single barrel, cask strength? Sure, but that's not to say it was any good - which is why Famous Grouse continues to be No. 1 in its homeland.

I find a cap-full of an Islay added to a fresh bottle, followed by a good shake-up, makes the 'Grouse slip down a real treat. I bet Talisker does the same job just as well.