Thread: Scotch/whiskey of the day

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

Ok I’m primarily a bourbon guy. Y’all know I like my Knob Creek. And I still drink a lot of Woodford plus the bottle of jack. So I’m wanting get a very good single malt without breaking the bank. By that I mean for me getting into keeping s couple bottles and consuming I’m saying let’s stay under 200 a bottle 150 even better. There are some of you who are more familiar with these offerings who may get just as good a scotch for far less.

So give me some choices that a bourbon guy like me can transition over to a single malt and have a good starting point without getting something that might turn me off. Plus I want to be able to offer to guests without embarrassing myself. Let’s stay away from the strong peats to start with. That may be an acquired taste. So Orville jump on in here and all you other Scotch guys. Tc

Glenmorangie nectar d'ore or any balvenie. I like peaty bombs, so I focus more on them recently.

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

Ok I’m primarily a bourbon guy. Y’all know I like my Knob Creek. And I still drink a lot of Woodford plus the bottle of jack. So I’m wanting get a very good single malt without breaking the bank. By that I mean for me getting into keeping s couple bottles and consuming I’m saying let’s stay under 200 a bottle 150 even better. There are some of you who are more familiar with these offerings who may get just as good a scotch for far less.

So give me some choices that a bourbon guy like me can transition over to a single malt and have a good starting point without getting something that might turn me off. Plus I want to be able to offer to guests without embarrassing myself. Let’s stay away from the strong peats to start with. That may be an acquired taste. So Orville jump on in here and all you other Scotch guys. Tc

TC-I'm not Orville, but I'm enough of a malt fanatic that I had to make a pilgrimage to some Highland distilleries, and have tasted my way around the regions as best as my wallet (and my liver!) can tolerate. But yeah, the peat-monster Islays are an acquired taste, though I for one love their often rich, sweet complexity under the peat blast.

There are some fantastic user-friendly scotches out there, many for half your budget, that you can be proud to offer guests. Johnnie Black for around $50 is always a classic blend in any bar, but if you're wanting single malt, here are a few in no particular order:
-Talisker 10 year old and up
-Macallan 12, 15, 18, from about $75 up to the range you mention. Aged in Sherry casks and one of THE classic malts, though many say it's a shadow of its former self in the era of Diaego and the scotch boom. The same thing happened to bourbon as you know.
-Aberlour A'Bunadh: I wanna say it's about $130 a bottle. We toured their beautiful little distilllery and I had some of this nectar. One of the richest malts I have ever tried! Also aged in sherry barrels (though many Scotch distilleries are getting ahold of and using bourbon barrels, as you know that to be called a bourbon, a whiskey must be aged in new-charred oak barrels).
-Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban is a bargain at about $60. Aged in port casks. I got this one for my niece and her husband for Christmas-just delicious for the money.
-Highland Park 12 or 18. Both are great and highly regarded.

There are many more that others will recommend, but most of these I mentioned are very approachable and delicious, not controversial like your Laphroiags and Lagavulins. Also, nowadays there are so many specialty bottlings that they are hard to keep up with, and a whole 'nother universe of choices opens up in the bigger duty-free shops in airports. You being an oilman, I assume you've traveled a bit and know this.

Lastly, you may not have the patience for this, but the best scotch reviews online are probably either by Ralfie or The Whiskey Bitch (seriously). You can learn a lot from them if you want to go down that rabbit hole.

I myself have been on a bourbon kick this winter. Four Roses Single Barrel always pleases, though it's quite a bit tamer than Knob Creek. Now that I think about it, though, I'm overdue for a nice bottle of malty goodness.

I hope this helps-Aaron

I've been shoveling snow for the last three days. The Sun is out, 54 degrees and I'm taking a break.

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

Ok I’m primarily a bourbon guy. Y’all know I like my Knob Creek. And I still drink a lot of Woodford plus the bottle of jack. So I’m wanting get a very good single malt without breaking the bank. By that I mean for me getting into keeping s couple bottles and consuming I’m saying let’s stay under 200 a bottle 150 even better. There are some of you who are more familiar with these offerings who may get just as good a scotch for far less.

So give me some choices that a bourbon guy like me can transition over to a single malt and have a good starting point without getting something that might turn me off. Plus I want to be able to offer to guests without embarrassing myself. Let’s stay away from the strong peats to start with. That may be an acquired taste. So Orville jump on in here and all you other Scotch guys. Tc

I second ScoutHikerDad. Some good whiskies on his list. I'd probably add old pultney to it.

If you can afford it it's worth trying a few different ones. As a general rule of thumb you can expect speyside to be quite sweet often with fudgy caramelly flavours and dried fruits and christmas spices. Islay is where the peat monsters come from. I'd say it seems more like a love it or hate it thing than an acquired taste. The first single malt I tried was talisker and the second was laphroaig and I loved the phenolic smell from the moment I opened the first bottle, but if I pour a glass in the presence of my mother she leaves the room. No need to be scared of them, but maybe try a small bottle or miniature or better yet a friend's whisky before forking out for a whole bottle. Highland whiskies tend to be dried fruit and floral, sometimes a little smoky. I've only had glenkinchie from the lowlands, but that's light and flowery. I've only had springbank and longrow from campbeltown, both from the spirngbank distillery. Complex and minerally. If anything I'd say their whiskies are the only ones I've had that I wouldn't recommend for someone starting out in tasting whisky due to the complex and unusual notes of things like wet flint, but if you've been tasting bourbons for a while then no worries. Islands other than islay tend to be a bit briney with a kind of seaside feel, maybe peppery and minerally notes, maybe floral and fruity notes. Interestingly maturing whisky at a high altitude has a similar effect to maturing it near the sea.

Anyone else drink mezcal? I picked up a couple of bottles this week.

havent gotten to the list yet Aaron, but i did wind up with a bottle of Glen Livet 12 so far i like,, next up Highland Park a friend has a bottle hes gifting me.

Interesting thread. I don't generally drink scotch, but on rare occasion have enjoyed it. I wish they made high quality in small "airline" size bottles, as all I really want at times is a taste. A regular bottle of scotch would last me a very long time.

I got one for Christmas too tc, haven’t tried it yet..

Originally Posted by Ezekiel81

Anyone else drink mezcal?.

Not that I remember...

Originally Posted by MikeB52

Not that I remember...

One too many?