Your personal favorite single malt scotch

[jjpiper]

Glen Breton Rare. It's the only single malt made in Canada. An it is divine.

http://www.glenoradistillery.com/glenbreton.htm

[Ancienne Alliance]

Port Elen... alas...

::dead::


Best,

Robert

[ziggy]

Glen Breton Rare. It's the only single malt made in Canada. An it is divine.

http://www.glenoradistillery.com/glenbreton.htm

I have tried this one, realitically I live 8 hours drive from the distillery....it's not bad, but I have had better....just the same having something is accepted as "scotch" though not made in scotland is interesting

[raibeart_dubh]

I'm really partial to the peaty single malts, so pretty much anything from Islay. Right now Laphroaig is pretty high on my list. Take your pick of their offerings they all have something to offer.

[CPOBull@Comcast.net]

Every one is talking about peated whiskey as though peated and "single malt" were synonymous; they are not. A single malt whiskey by definition is any distilled spirit whiskey that is rendered from the malting of a single batch of barley and nothing else. if it is not made from a single malting it is "pot-still" whiskey. generally speaking most of the scotch sold over the counter is blended Scotch; my favorite of the blendeds is Ballantine's; it is consistenty good with just the hint of peating.
The Scotch that I favor among the single malts is peated and is Bowmore Islay Legend; it is as good as anything currently sold for far more money, with silky smooth smokey nose to it and just the slightest oakiness to it; one can almost hear the word "bourbon" whispered. It is best with a Helix Churchill cigar. Two fingers in a snifter, fire up the Helix, get an ash ~ 1/2" or more. Take a hit from it, gently blow into the snifter and roll it around once. Then take a small sip; the effect is stupefying--a double hit of nicotine and peated Scotch. I gaurantee you after an evening on the cigar porch at the club you will not hate anybody in the world.
If I want a desert sinbgle malt I favor McClelland's Lowland single malt. It is not peated; and it is sweet with the taste of honey immediately in the nose after the swallow, and it is absolutely sensational with a bit of dark bittersweet chocolate to contrast the honied nose of it in the swallow.
I think that the thing to keep in mind here is that "there is NO BAD" Scotch whiskey distilled; it is all good and consistent in its quality whether "pot-Still" or single malt or peated single malt And, you "do not" have to spend a lot of money to appreciate it either; be willing to try and be willing to admit, "...I like this...I don't like that..." that's all and then move on to the next taste adventure.
Come to think of it, my mouth is watering right now for some cigar malt.

slaintemath!
Anchor'sAway/SemperFi
CPO Bull

[The Soup Dragon]

*UPDATE*

So after the bad experience with with a Bowmore 12 YO, I took some great advice posted (Thank you all), bought a Glenfiddich 12YO and a Glenlivet 12YO. I coated my tongue with a nice, neat sip and was able to taste more than just alcohol. The smell was still a bit strong, but I am sure over time I will get past the burning in the nose and really smell the whisky.

Currently I am drinking them with about 30% water, after realizing that half and half left we with too little flavor. I am happy with the results and really enjoy drawing the whisky thru and tasting it in the back of my throat.

To all who left great advice, thank you! And I am open to suggestions of where I might go from here.

Slainte M'Hath
The Soup Dragon

[ForresterModern]

According to some scotch whisky connoiseurs scotch is best taken with just a few drops of water to help "release" the full flavor, preferably with water from the same source as was used to steep the original barley in for distilling. For instance, Aberlour (which literally means mouth of the Aber river---where the actual distillery is sited) is distilled using water from that springfed river, and the Aberlour folks on their tour will provide you with Aber spring water to both rinse your palate between tastings as well as to add a touch to "release" the flavor.

There is a famous little whisky shop in the grampian highlands not far from a bunch of the speyside whisky distilleries called the Whisky Castle, and the proprietor there has literally hundreds of whiskies, mostly specialty bottlings, on his shelves. But he also has dozens of bottles of water behind the counter that he uses to "release" the flavors of those he lets you do tastings of before buying.

Personally I am not a believer in this theory as from a physics standpoint it really makes no sense to me (all you are doing is diluting the whisky slightly, which might make it a wee bit more palatable to some, thus the likely effect rather than any "release"). I also am starting to lean toward some of the special bottlings of whiskys by middlemen who are allowed to sample single barrels of certain batches to find something special they like, then they buy several barrels and do limited bottlings of it, usually at cask strength (sometimes as high as 62% alcohol by volume) rather than the usual 40-43% of mass produced (which is usually diluted down from its production 50-60%) for consistency sake. Once you have tasted cask strength, if you like it, it is hard to go back to mass bottled stuff. You never really know what you are getting as each bottling will have extremely unique flavours, but virtually all of them I've tasted so far have been very enjoyable, amazingly flavorful and rich compared to the mass bottlings. But also be prepared to pay a premium price for them too, and unfortunately this is usually what scares folks off from them---paying a decent amount of money for something you have never tasted and are not sure you will like.

[Jack Daw]

Maybe there is something wrong with my taste-buds, but I think adding water only dilutes the flavor and makes the whisky taste more like alcohol. I prefer it NEAT.

[JRB]

...Once you have tasted cask strength, if you like it, it is hard to go back to mass bottled stuff...

I'll admit, I once purchased a bottle of 12yo cask strength Lagavulin and found it to be even better than the usual 16yo non-cask strength Lagavulin I almost always have on hand. However, it didn't spoil me for their standard offering and I haven't been able to justify the extra cost of the cask strength enough to buy another bottle of it. I do usually add a few drops of spring water to my scotch but do it more out of tradition than for any beneficial reason. I like to see the oily swirl in the glass when the water mixes in but two or three drops is certainly not enough to make any significant change to the taste of the scotch.

Whenever I drink my more expensive scotches I always use a Glencairn glass. I think it adds to the experience.

[Old Hippie]

Currently I am drinking them with about 30% water, after realizing that half and half left we with too little flavor

I was lately in the Toronto area for a conference, at which an Irishman, a New Zealander, and myself conspired to drink a bit of the pure in company with some graduate students who needed some introduction to the secrets of academic life.

While the torch was being passed in that fashion, the Kiwi offered some sage advice to the younger generation: "When you drink whisky, take water. When you drink water, take whisky."

So I think you're very much on the right track.