Fellow Whisky Affictionados!

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Fellow Whisky Affectionados!

My friends, with the sudden onset of april, i have been faced with this question by my sympathetically aging parents; "What do i want for my Birthday?"

i have come to the conclusion that, as a result of incredible generosity on my parents part in the past (exquisute and elaborate gifts, like my 400D!) that something small would be much better than something extravagant.

to this end, i think that i'd like to recieve a nice Bottle of Single Malt, to commemorate the event of my 18th year of life.

the reason why i have gathered you then, is that as a young and inexperienced Whisky drinker, i'm unsure as to which Whisky to go for, and would like your reccomendations and help in deciding.

note: no crap! JackDaniels and Johnnie Walker Red/Black are out of the question! this Whisky will be drunk Neat or with water. coke will not come within 6 feet of it at all times.

Thanks in advance for all help!
 
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Don't dilute your whisky. That's my advice. If you want water with it, keep the two separate. It doesn't matter with the sort of whisky you get in an average pub, but if you're drinking the good stuff you're better off drinking it as the distiller intended. It's really very different to the mass-produced swill.

I'm not up on fine whisky any more. It's been 20 years since I drank at a pub where the landlord specialised in whisky and stocked over 80 different ones. I've forgotten the best ones, perhaps because I couldn't pronounce most of them. I don't drink whisky because I can't afford the good stuff and I'd rather not drink the cheap stuff.

EDIT: I had some in a pub a few months back, because I hadn't seen it in a pub before. Glen Ord, 12 year old. That was very drinkable.

Good grief...I've just checked on one I half remembered, by searching a list of names. Bunnahabhain, which is pronounced very differently to how it appears because the name is not English. It's selling for up to £140 a bottle, depending on the year and the details of how the distillery made it. £140!
 
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Personally, I'm partial to anything from the Bowmore distillery, but I tend to lean to the 'Peaty' side more than anything and so particularly like Bowmore Darkest. Although to tell the truth I haven't seen it offered for sale anywhere in ages.
 
For sentinmental reasons I would suggest an 18 year old.

The next difficulty is identifying your particular type of whisky, they are all distilled in different parts of scotland and as such all have differing characteristics.

The main areas are:

Highland (try an 18 year old Glenmorangie)
Island (try an 18 year old Isle of Jura or Talisker)
Islay (try an 18 year old Lagavulin)
Speyside (try an 18 year old Glenfarclas)
Campbeltown (unsure what to recommend here as I have never tried any)
lowlands (try an 18 year old Auchentoshan)

Try all of them in a good whisky shop (not a chain) and that will help you decide what region you like your whisky from. A lot of people who don't like whisky say they all taste the same but the difference is vast - it's akin to saying all french food tastes the same.

P.S on the adding water - a lot of cask strength whiskys will be enhanced by a little drop of water. Different whiskys different properties.
 
Now back to the question:

Single malt - one of my fav regulars is Jura - Tesco normally have it on offer @ £17.99.

Really smooth and you can get your way through the bottle stupidly quick :(

If your going for something a little more special i would reccommend (I know ill get slated
as its a love it or hate i thing with this) JW - Blue Label - not strictly a single malt but this stuff IMO is amazing. Not cheap as a 70cl will cost iro £150. This is one for special
occasions, I have a bottle ready for when my little one comes along in August :)

Do you have a budget?

Andy
 
Oh and if your not used to or a regular whiskey drinker stay away from Peated blends.

These take a fair few bottles before you get used to the flavour :)

Andy
 
I'm a fan of Balvenie stuff. Have had a 10yold and currently working my way through a 12yold doublewood which is just so smooth it's silly. I would echo the 18yold idea though, from what I've seen they tend to be around the 35-40 mark and would be great for sentimental reasons :)
 
singist said:
Sorry to contradict you but I think you'll find that most distiller/blenders will tell you to take it with water as this enhances the flavour.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as you don't put things like Coke in it, you can drink it however you like.
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They mean with abitta soda water and only a very small amount(by this I mean not even a 16th of the glass)
 
I have a 500ml water bottle filled with distilled water (so as not to alter the taste), and put a cap full in a double measure (ish). I think a drop of water improves the whisky, but it really is a tiny amount you want. Whatever you do, don't put ice in it.

My top recommendations, if you can find them:

Rose Bank, very nice lowland whiskey
Teannanich, preferably the port barrel
In fact, pretty much anything from the Connoisseur's Choice range is probably good.

Unless you're in London or Scotland, you'll probably need to go online to get such things, if you can't do that, see if you can get:

Laphroaig Quarter Cask
Balvenie Double Wood
Caol Ila (the 18 year, not the 12)
Glenkinchie (not the most sophisticated of whiskeys, but very easy drinking)

The Tesco near me does all four, so you should be able to get them.
 
Over Xmas I enjoyed over a period of about 4 days two fine bottles of Bourbon.

One was Blanton's Silver, higher than normal alcohol content (around 45%). Smooth but has a definite kick to it on the aftertaste.

Second was Wild Turkey Rare Breed, 54% so one of the stronger ones. Amazingly though this Whiskey is very sneaky. Smoother than the Blanton despite being nearly 10% stronger.


One thing to you must realise though is that I was quite quite ****** at the time.
 
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