The OCUK Whisky (and Whiskey) review thread

manic111 · 3 Jul 2019 at 17:21

I have a nice bottle of Ardbeg, and the cork has broken; the top bit which you can grip has come off, so the cork is stuck in the neck of the bottle. Any ideas? I've tried a corkscrew and can't get any purchase. I'm wondering about pushing the cork in, and then decanting the whisky into something else before the cork affects the flavour.

Illgresi · 3 Jul 2019 at 17:35

manic111 said:
I have a nice bottle of Ardbeg, and the cork has broken; the top bit which you can grip has come off, so the cork is stuck in the neck of the bottle. Any ideas? I've tried a corkscrew and can't get any purchase. I'm wondering about pushing the cork in, and then decanting the whisky into something else before the cork affects the flavour.

Try a coachscrew? I have one of those fancy corkscrews I got as a present like this, used it before to remove broken corkscrews. Not sure I would consider it worthwhile to spend £30 just to remove a cork though. Personally I'd probably just push the cork in and forget about it. I mean it's been in a wood barrell for 10 years anyway.

manic111 · 3 Jul 2019 at 18:02

Yeah I've tried a corkscrew and it won't screw in for some reason, it must be a different type of cork.

Gribs · 3 Jul 2019 at 22:05

If you've got a spare bottle just push the cork in and transfer into the spare, preferably filtering the bits out whilst you do it.

Karl · 4 Jul 2019 at 10:31

Whiskey-orientated news

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/03/us/jim-beam-warehouse-fire-kentucky-trnd/index.html

Karl · 8 Jul 2019 at 11:36

If anybody's interested, the laphroaig 10 year old is on sale in Tesco for £28. I think I might partake.

The select (not the 10 year old) is on Sainsbury's and Amazon for £23.

Think I've got that straight now... Oops...

Karl · 15 Jul 2019 at 08:23

This thread is a bit dead as of late, but thought I'd point out that it's amazon prime day, and there are quite a few whiskys on offer, the Laphroaig quarter cask is £24.90

Scam · 15 Jul 2019 at 15:07

Karl said:
This thread is a bit dead as of late, but thought I'd point out that it's amazon prime day, and there are quite a few whiskys on offer, the Laphroaig quarter cask is £24.90

I was going to post about Prime Day too. I just bought a bottle of the Knappogue Castle 12. Been meaning to try an Irish for a little while, seems like a decent deal for my tastes.

Any others worth jumping on?

Lupis · 15 Jul 2019 at 16:33

Scam said:
I was going to post about Prime Day too. I just bought a bottle of the Knappogue Castle 12. Been meaning to try an Irish for a little while, seems like a decent deal for my tastes.

Any others worth jumping on?

The Glen Grant 10, Glengoyne 10, Wild Turkey 101, Glenrothes 10 are all decent whiskies and are under £23. If you like Lagavulin it is a decent price at under £40.

Scam · 16 Jul 2019 at 10:54

Lupis said:
The Glen Grant 10, Glengoyne 10

I very nearly went for one of those. Already finished a bottle of Glenrothes. I seem to recall thinking it was nice.

Lupis · 16 Jul 2019 at 14:06

Scam said:
I very nearly went for one of those. Already finished a bottle of Glenrothes. I seem to recall thinking it was nice.

They aren't going to blow you away, but they are both very nice whiskies, especially once they are opened for a wee while and get a chance to open up a bit. I find them very pleasant to drink and for that price it's not much of a risk. I don't know your tastes, other than the Glenrothes you mentioned, but I think you'd be happy with either one of them.

bsoltan · 17 Jul 2019 at 00:19

Auchentoshan Three Wood was an excellent price for £27 well worth it.
I also got the Quarter Cask at under £25.
I've always wanted to try Oban and so got the 14 for about £36 (it's £50 on whisky sites).
That'll keep me stocked up!

Karl · 17 Jul 2019 at 11:40

I ended up getting a bottle of the Jura 10 as well. I'd have ended up buying it sooner or later, may as well get it all while it's cheap!

Karl · 19 Jul 2019 at 12:13

I cracked open the Laphroaig quarter cask the other night for a little taste, and wow. I didn't realise that there would be such a huge difference between that and another whisky described as 'smoky', such as a Talisker. There's a real saltiness to the flavour for the Laphroaig, and it's lacking that slightly medicinal quality that the Talisker has that some have likened to TCP.

Scam · 22 Jul 2019 at 11:40

Lupis said:
If you are willing to wait Amazon have the Bunnahabhain 12 for £30, although it is out of stock. You can order it though to get it at that price. It says 1-2 months but I've found they never take anything like that to get them back in. That is a bargain in my opinion.

Just wanted to say thanks for this recommendation. My Bunnah' turned up last week and I absolutely love it. Great shout.

Quite disappointed with my Knappogue Castle 12 though. Very light on flavour, not much to it at all. Oh well.

Karl · 22 Jul 2019 at 13:53

I was in a pub in Clifton on Friday night, and got the chance to taste this one: https://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/lagavulin/lagavulin-16-year-old-whisky/
Wow. What a beauty. I've got 3 bottles of whisky at home, and I'm already eyeing up the fourth. It's such a balanced smooth nicely smokey flavour with nothing overpowering about it.

Lupis · 22 Jul 2019 at 16:59

Scam said:
Just wanted to say thanks for this recommendation. My Bunnah' turned up last week and I absolutely love it. Great shout.

Quite disappointed with my Knappogue Castle 12 though. Very light on flavour, not much to it at all. Oh well.

Glad you liked the Bunnahabhain. I've never had the Knappogue, but my usual recommendation with something you don't like off the bat is leave it alone for a while. A month or so in the the bottle, now it has been opened and let some air in, might change it up a bit. It really does make a huge difference to some whiskies. No harm in trying anyway.

dl8860 · 23 Jul 2019 at 14:51

Karl said:
I cracked open the Laphroaig quarter cask the other night for a little taste, and wow. I didn't realise that there would be such a huge difference between that and another whisky described as 'smoky', such as a Talisker. There's a real saltiness to the flavour for the Laphroaig, and it's lacking that slightly medicinal quality that the Talisker has that some have likened to TCP.

Interesting take, Laphroaig QC is the most medicinal tasting whisky I've had. Totally blew my mind the first time I tried it, just couldn't work out if I enjoyed it or not. I would attribute zero of the TCP/band aid taste to Talisker too, odd.

the_r_sole · 24 Jul 2019 at 14:01

Has anyone tried the new Tobermory 12 year old?
Much better than the now discontinued 10...

FTM · 24 Jul 2019 at 14:09

the_r_sole said:
Has anyone tried the new Tobermory 12 year old?
Much better than the now discontinued 10...

I have ..i bought a bottle of it and the new balblair 12 as well

both are excellent, really easy drinking.