The OCUK Whisky (and Whiskey) review thread

I bought a famous Grouse 50ml bottle to try the other day as I'm not a big drinker but wanted to give whiskey ago.... I put ice in the cup with it, took a sip and nearly blew my head off :cry: apparently I'm better trying with coke etc
 
Minibiker said:
I bought a famous Grouse 50ml bottle to try the other day as I'm not a big drinker but wanted to give whiskey ago.... I put ice in the cup with it, took a sip and nearly blew my head off :cry: apparently I'm better trying with coke etc
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Coke just conceals the spirit. A lot of whisk(e)y and cokes often use cheap (not necessarily bad) American whiskeys and bourbons, where the fresh American oak casks impart quite a strong and sweet vanilla flavour which can work quite well. Whisky might disagree with you, which is no bad thing. Plenty of other spirits available!
 
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Minibiker said:
I bought a famous Grouse 50ml bottle to try the other day as I'm not a big drinker but wanted to give whiskey ago.... I put ice in the cup with it, took a sip and nearly blew my head off :cry: apparently I'm better trying with coke etc
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When you start drinking neat you just have to go with tiny, and I mean really tiny sips, it's the only way. Power on, you can get there
 
Minibiker said:
I bought a famous Grouse 50ml bottle to try the other day as I'm not a big drinker but wanted to give whiskey ago.... I put ice in the cup with it, took a sip and nearly blew my head off :cry: apparently I'm better trying with coke etc
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I actually quite like Famous Grouse neat but you could try adding a few drops of water and no ice to it - with some whiskys it brings out a lot of the flavour and removes the harshness.
 
Axeboy said:
Few more bottles to try for me, trying to expand away from the Islay stuff.

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Expanding away from Islay, but from the description on the label that Benromach should still be pretty similar. Not that that's a bad thing! Let me know how you like it, one of my favourite distilleries and some of their stuff can be had at a really good price at auction. A very similar bottle just went for £25, which for a 12yo Benromach at 46% is daylight robbery.
 
Yeah, it might be, just keen to broaden any other direction, its at least a Speyside. Islay of course, even non-peaty, has its own distinct taste. It was a cheap bottle, there was a load of them going through auction at the same time
 
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Axeboy said:
Yeah, it might be, just keen to broaden any other direction, its at least a Speyside. Islay of course, even non-peaty, has its own distinct taste. It was a cheap bottle, there was a load of them going through auction at the same time
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As much as my wallet and liver don't want the answer to this, which auction site was it?
 
Don't do it

I alternate between Just Whisky and the Whisky Auctioneer

I've been after a few target bottles and got them, but I tend to now go for just stuff that seems a decent deal
 
I may or may not actively peruse 9 different auction sites. These days like you Axeboy I just try a few lowball bids here and there to see if I can snag anything at a good price. Just how 'low' those bids are is of course a function of how full my cabinet is at home...
 
Minibiker said:
I bought a famous Grouse 50ml bottle to try the other day as I'm not a big drinker but wanted to give whiskey ago.... I put ice in the cup with it, took a sip and nearly blew my head off :cry: apparently I'm better trying with coke etc
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I would try something that isn't gutrot before deciding on Whisky. I much prefer just a wee splash of water than ice and please don't put coke in it :)
 
Minibiker said:
I'll have to give it a go with water, Coke no good then?
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If someone gave me a blended whisky like Grouse then I'd probably use it for whisky and Coke. Blended Scotch is a mix of grain and malt whisky. A cheap blend will have little malt in it and it will not be aged for long so it will be very spirity. Even though it's watered down to the bare legal minimum 40% the alcohol will make it's presence known by being hot and burny. A well crafted single malt whisky can be easier to drink even though the ABV may be much higher.

Anyway, try something like Glen Moray. It's a reasonably, basic single malt that won't blow your head off. It's £20.48 in Asda or Amazon just now so only £2.48 more than a bottle of Famous Grouse. Pour a small dram and see how you get on with it. Experiment with adding water. Start with a half teaspoonful of water but feel free to add as much as you like. It's your whisky after all!
 
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I bought a bottle of Glenmorangie: Ice Cream, I've got to say it's exceptional. Well worth the £70 odd I paid and definitely one I'll get again.
 
Minibiker said:
I bought a famous Grouse 50ml bottle to try the other day as I'm not a big drinker but wanted to give whiskey ago.... I put ice in the cup with it, took a sip and nearly blew my head off :cry: apparently I'm better trying with coke etc
Click to expand...

Yeah I tried whisky - the only one I can really drink is a Glenrothes one which is very easy to drink (from a taste perspective, not an alcoholic perspective). It's the one in the short stout bottle - may have been the 10 or 12 y/o. Quite pale golden but smooth. sub-£50 for the bottle at the time for a secret Santa but the guy doesn't like whisky so I ended up drinking the entire bottle quite quickly!

The others I don't think are for me - I don't get the peat taste - I've tried many Islay whisky including Bruichladdich.

Instead I've slid more towards a good Rhum or Congac, but that's a different thread.
 
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Can anyone recommend a good Canadian bourbon-style or rye? Need a mixer to replace my usual bourbons (Buffalo Trace, Bulleit, Woodford etc.). So don't want to spend too much but refuse to buy anything made in the USA.
 
Scam said:
Can anyone recommend a good Canadian bourbon-style or rye? Need a mixer to replace my usual bourbons (Buffalo Trace, Bulleit, Woodford etc.). So don't want to spend too much but refuse to buy anything made in the USA.
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I've not tried any to recommend, but it might be the perfect time to try Canadian Club. I've never done so, but need to try it sometime. They even do a 100% rye.
 
Axeboy said:
Forbes says this is the best for 2025, not tried it yet, but will try and remember to report back

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Would you mind sharing how much you paid please, and whether you bought it from a shop or online?

[EDIT] The reason I ask is I'd like to know how the prices compare in the shops vs. online.
 
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