Your personal favorite single malt scotch

[Brian K]

Back about then I bought a bottle of a brand I can't remember, but it was probably from the same refinery as yours. A friend of mine and I decided to finish it off after it sat around for a while, and we decided to get pyrotechnical. Somebody sober asked, "But does it burn?" and so I opened the bottle, took a slug, and said, "Yup."

:ootd:

Thanks for this, Charles. I read it yesterday and had a pretty good laugh. Read it again today and laughed even harder.

Regards,

Brian

:ootd:

[BobsYourUncle]

My first sip of Laphroag 10 year old was a life changing event. There was life before, but life after has been mellower, images crisper, the pipes more resonant...

[NewEnglander]

Also try to make friends with someone who's got a nice Scotch collection...

That's absolutely what I'm doing. I was going to buy a bottle, but my buddy said I was welcome to spend some time with is extensive bar first before I forked over the cash for an investment...
Thanks again for your advice, lads!

[artificer]

That's absolutely what I'm doing. I was going to buy a bottle, but my buddy said I was welcome to spend some time with is extensive bar first before I forked over the cash for an investment...
Thanks again for your advice, lads!

Now THAT'S a good buddy!

I too would recommend something like The Macallan (and mentioned it earlier as well). The sweetness of the sherry on the finish is very mellow, and even the 12yr (younger Scotches tend to be more 'fiery' than older ones) is very smooth.

I'm personally a fan of younger Scotches, when they get to mellow it just loses something for me.

[MacBean]

I've been enjoying Glenmorangie LaSanta (sherry cask) which has flair and a lovely honey fragrance. When I want something a bit more masculine, I switch to Laphroaig.

By the way, how DO you pronounce that!

[MacBean]

From http://liquor.suite101.com/article.c..._pronunciation

Allt-a-Bhainne – Alt-a-bain. A sweet flowery highland whisky.

An Cnoc – An-Noc. A lovely creamy whisky with a hint of pineapple tanginess.

Auchentoshan – Ocken-toshan. One of the few lowland whiskies left A fruity, citrussy, floral whisky.

Auchroisk – according to Michael Jackson’s Malt Whisky Companion, there is some discrepancy between the distillery who pronounce it Auck-Roysk and the locals who pronounce it either Ack-Rask or Ath-Rask. A soft aperitif whisky.

Bruichladdich – Brook-Laddie. A dry, salty, tangy whisky from the West of Islay.

Bunnahabhain – Boona-Har-Vin. A fruity and floral Islay whisky, very unlike the majority of its heavily peated neighbours.

Caol Ila – Cull-Eela, meaning the Sound of Islay, the stretch of water between Islay and the neighbouring island of Jura. Caol Ila are smoky, heavily peated whiskies.

Clynelish – Cline-Leash. A distillery from the North coast of Scotland producing a spicy, mustardy malt whisky.

Dailuaine – Dall-Yoo-Ain. A malty, fruity speyside whisky.

Glen Garioch – Glen-Geery. A lightly peated highland whisky with a flowery spiciness.

Glen Mhor – Glen-Vor. A silent distillery since 1986, producing big, sweet, treacly after dinner whiskies.

Glenmorangie – Glen-Morrun-Jee (rhyme with orangey). One of the greats. Creamy and soft.

Lagavulin – Lagga-voolin. A huge medicinal, peaty and smoky monster from Islay.

Laphroaig – La-Froyg. Lagavulin’s neighbour. The most extreme of any malt whisky – iodine, peat, seaweed in abundance.

Ledaig – Led-Chig which is the Gallic name for Tobermory, the capital of the island of Mull. Ledaigs are heavily peated whiskies from the Tobermory distillery.

Poit Dhub – Potch-Goo. Poit Dhub is a vatted malt from the Island of Skye.

Tomintoul – Tom-in-towel. A gentle Speyside dram with a zesty kick.

There are also a number of pronunciations of specific expressions of whiskies which also cause a number of problems. Here are three:

A’bunadh – a-boon-ar. A big heavy after-dinner whisky from Aberlour.

Islay – Eye-la. Home of some of the world’s greatest whiskies. A peat lover’s paradise.

Uigeadail. Oog-a-darl. This is a thumping, sherried expression from Ardbeg, named after the brooding loch where the distillery draws its water.

[Bigjockneill]

Some wild pronunciations in there!! Ill let you off since the correct pronunciation for Glenmorangie (orangey!) is up there! I have arguments with people in this country who really should know better that pronounce it Glenmore-Angie

Bruichladdich is as you see it Broo ich ladd ich, soft 'ch'. couple of other dodgy ones too i cant recall, one with Dhub, in the article as Goo?! Anyone stick a Skean Goo in their sock?!

As for favourite, Id crawl a mile over broken glass to get a sniff of thirty year old Macallan, but only if someone else was buying it!
Cant beat 10yo Macallan or Glenmorangie for an everyday dram for me.

Whisky (even whiskey at a push!) can be a very personal affair i find. My freinds and I regularly come close to trading blows over Speyside versus Islay, highland versus island, water versus ice, which drams should be mixed and which not!

At the end of the day there are no right answers, you drink whatever whisky you find the most pleasureable, in the way that most tickles your fancy! My advice, have fun trying them all!!

[DWFII]

One of the things that should be said for those starting out...is that the older the whisky the more representative of good single malt it's going to be. In my experience anything younger than 12 years old tends to be a little immature.

Pour 1 Malt remarked on another forum that with younger whiskies you often get more of a raw spirit taste simply because the whisky hasn't been exposed to the wood long enough. And in unpeated or very lightly peated whiskies you taste that raw spirit even more strongly.

Also whiskies that are aged in bourbon barrels tend to taste like hay or straw.

Some people like that clean raw spirit taste...personally, I don't--it hangs in the back of my throat. And it can be found in Irish whiskey, bourbon and the like...so it's not really the distinctive experience that single malt Scotch can be.

I liked Islay malts the minute I tasted them but most folks...especially neophytes...find them a little too medicinal.

There are a lot of good names but, in my experience, most of the time you won't really appreciate what the distillery has to offer until you start getting into the 15 -18 year old range.

If you're just starting out try the MacCallan 18, and if you're really adventurous, try the Laphroig Quarter Cask.

[Bigjockneill]

One of the things that should be said for those starting out is............ dont waste money on 18yo's! find an area type that you like then experiment with ages. not sure what the export prices are like in the US but 18yo is a mad place for a newcomer to start. if you find that speysides are your thing then bash on, but not a purchase for the first timer when the price/quality ratio is so high!
10yo is the widely accepted starting point.
Jock.

[DWFII]

One of the things that should be said for those starting out is............ dont waste money on 18yo's! find an area type that you like then experiment with ages. not sure what the export prices are like in the US but 18yo is a mad place for a newcomer to start. if you find that speysides are your thing then bash on, but not a purchase for the first timer when the price/quality ratio is so high!
10yo is the widely accepted starting point.
Jock.

While your advice seems sensible on the face of it, it really is "penny wise and pound foolish."

I used to teach fly-fishing to absolute novices. I'd hand out a flyer specifying equipment--brand names and such--that was suitable for learning as well as a satisfying experience in actual fishing situations. Inevitably someone (usually three or four someone's in a class of 15-20) would show up with the cheapest rod they could find--Eagle Claw, if that means anything to you (a popular "starting point" brand of fishing gear, etc.). And just as inevitably, almost to a man, those who'd saved...refused to commit, as who should say...could not learn to cast with such equipment and gave up in frustration.( Heck, I had a hard time casting with that equipment and I could cast without a rod.)

Wasted: the money spent on classes, the money spent on equipment, my time, their time and maybe most importantly, their enthusiasm for the sport.

There's a lesson to be had in that story (for those that want it) that applies all across this board.