Educate me on Scotch....

Well, I only got to read the first reply via my thread subscription email as I was too busy to hop on bladeforums and check the thread today at lunch. I visited one of the excellent local liquor stores with a staggering scotch selection. I went with the Balvenie Doublewood, I'm looking forward to trying it this evening after dinner. Thanks for all of the replies and opinions, I really appreciate it. Keep 'em coming guys!
 
THis is one of those things like knives and women....its more of a personal choice of style, flair and taste;):D


My first thought is to try as many as humanly possible, try em again, and then "try" and make an educated decision. :D
 
Check around your area and see if anyone is organizing a Scotch tasting, or orgainze one yourself. Take three different whiskeys, then nose, sip, and discuss. It's a good time.

I enjoy Johnnie Walker Black as a blended whiskey, and I also enjoy Glenfiddich 15 yr old. I do like the flavor of the peaty, phenolic island malts, but the phenols don't agree with the rest of me.

Have fun exploring!
 
aberlour 16 yr old, any vintage year glen rothes, macallan 18, balvenie 15 single cask, n JW Gold pours like water, blended or not.

noughty booze, that JW Gold. came closer to swallowin the whole thang than any time in twenty years. didn't hurt, neither. felt a bit STUPID lookin at 1/3 of a bottle a day old, but i wasn't cryin. admitted it took 8 hours and i ate two steaks during, still the most booze at a sitting in decades. musta been some watery 80 proof town likker, ya reckon?
 
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Dark Nemesis said:
I'm curious to see the responses you get throughout this week. I've tried to 'explore' scotch and disliked every one I've tried. Bourbon is a spirit I enjoyed from my first try with Knob Creek and every one since.

I may steal some of the Scotch suggestions from your thread and try again, LOL :)
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:(

I had the opposite reaction. I've loved single malt all my life and only recently come to terms with our native whisky, Kentucky Bourbon.

Try a little MacAllan 12. You might enjoy the sherry -- it's not like the carmel and vanilla you get in Bourbon, but it ain't bad!;)

My Scottish colleagues love the spirit produced by the 9 Old Men of Tain -- Glenmorangie.

As has already been mentioned, Talisker and Highland Park might also do it. I, too, am partial to Balvenie Double Wood.

Stay away from Islay for now. Probably also the light Speysiders like Glenlivet -- not enough character to interest a Bourbon drinker.

A little exploring ought to find you a fine dram.
 
Macallan isn't a bad choice at all, especially given its reasonable price...

Having me a glass of it as we speak :thumbup:

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knife hunter said:
THis is one of those things like knives and women....its more of a personal choice of style, flair and taste;):D


My first thought is to try as many as humanly possible, try em again, and then "try" and make an educated decision. :D
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This is very true. You need to try lots of different Scotches to find out what you like. It takes a lot of time and money but it is well worth it:)
 
MustardMan said:
Start with something cheap - you won't have the tastebuds developed to know the difference anyway :D
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Careful there ... back when I started drinking whiskey occasionally, I hated the stuff, thought it was poison. Then I started drinking the single malts and I could certainly tell the difference - that was the beginning of my appreciation. It's kind of like Hi-Fi equipment: you'll notice the difference between a $500 stereo and a $5000 stereo, but would novice ears notice the difference between a $5K stereo and a $20K stereo.

Booze is fantastically cheap in the US, so what would be an expensive bottle everywhere else is about 1/2 the price in the US. I cut my teeth on 14 year "Oban", which can be had for about $45 USD [Costco] or $110 CND!:D I'd recommend that. So instead of choking-down cheap swill, buy a decent bottle, like Oban and use that as your starting point. You probably won't appreciate the value of a more expensive bottle, but you'll definitely appreciate the quality of a $50-70 dollar bottle over the cheap stuff. See if your city/town has a bar with a good selection of scotch and try a few before you buy.
 
drcfreak said:
If you are new to scotch any non-peaty sort will suit you fine. I would stay away from Lagavulin and Laphroaig, which are marvellous but usually too heavy, peaty and seaweedy for the majority of beginners. Good starter types would be Highland Park from Orkney or any of the excellent Lowland whiskies such as Auchentoshan or Glenkinchie. The latter are the classic starter types. I am also very partial to Balvenie form Speyside and their Double wood is very smooth. All of the above sorts are single malts.
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Blasphemer! Heretic!

Islay is the way!!!
 
I would stay away from Lagavulin and Laphroaig, which are marvellous but usually too heavy, peaty and seaweedy for the majority of beginners.
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i first learned to appreciate scotch when my bother in law introduced me to some Lagavulin, it's dank smokey, peaty richness turned some gear in my head and it all made sense.. as a matter of fact i have a glass of it it right in front of me...mmmmmm truly warming and delicious!!
 
Well once the little ones wound down for the evening, I sat down with a glass of the Balvenie Double Wood, I was pleasantly surprised. This is easily one of the smoothest straight drinks I've ever had, love the woody complexity. I look forward to trying others as well, I'm not too shy when it comes to my drinks, maybe I'll go for something a little heavier like the Lagavulin or the Laphroaig. I'll be sure to try the Macallan 12, seems to be an easy favorite.
 
I prefer to drink a bit less but make it the good stuff. MacCallan is certainly one and Glen Morangie (sp?) is another moderately priced choice.

DancesWithKnives
 
ridgeline said:
I went with the Balvenie Doublewood, I'm looking forward to trying it this evening after dinner.
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I prefer Bourbon and Rye, the Van Winkles being amongst my favorites, but when I drink Scotch I enjoy:

* MaCallan 12
* Glenmorangie 10
* Oban 14
* and Balvenie DoubleWood (with Busse content):

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Try different brands, everyone's taste is different. Save the single malts for drinking early in the evening, after a few glasses the cheaper brands taste fine. But if money is no problem then skip the cheap stuff.

I got introduced to scotch while cross country skiing about 25 years ago. I had a bunch of those little bottles of single malts that comes as samples. Talk about marketting, they had me hooked in no time!
 
tomdogma said:
i first learned to appreciate scotch when my bother in law introduced me to some Lagavulin, it's dank smokey, peaty richness turned some gear in my head and it all made sense.. as a matter of fact i have a glass of it it right in front of me...mmmmmm truly warming and delicious!!
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Lagavulin was my first single malt too and I loved it the first minute I tasted it. Still one of my preferred single malts. But in all fairness, to a lot folks that are new to scotch its pungency may appear off-putting.
 
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