The OCUK Whisky (and Whiskey) review thread

[Stan_Lite]

Got another bottle from my old man, in a square bottle.....
..... Any ideas what it could be Stan?

Struggling a bit here. There aren't many malts that I'm familiar with which come in square bottles.
Cardhu comes in a squarish bottle and Strathisla do a 12yo in a square bottle - apart from those, I can't think of any more (I'm sure there are plenty more that I don't know about or have forgotten about). Bushmills Irish malt comes in square bottles too.

There are a great many blends that come in square bottles. Is it definitely a malt?

 

[Ahleckz]

It is definitely a malt, my father wouldn't be buying a blend!

The name was quite long. I'll just send him a text and ask him!

 

[Ahleckz]

Turns out it's 'Bunnahabhain' that I've been given. Don't think I've ever seen it in a pub before so will be interesting seeing what it tastes like whenever I get it back though apparently it's a lot milder than other Islays.
Bit of a pointless conversation this...

 

[Pate]

After quite a few bottles of famous grouse in the past few days, my review is that it's not pleasant, but gets the job done very effectively.

As lame as it sounds, I much prefer Bells.


Can't be affording single malts.

 

[Stan_Lite]

Turns out it's 'Bunnahabhain' that I've been given. Don't think I've ever seen it in a pub before so will be interesting seeing what it tastes like whenever I get it back though apparently it's a lot milder than other Islays.
Bit of a pointless conversation this...

Ah. That's what was confusing me. It's not actually a square bottle as such, it's just a dumpy bottle (i.e. not as tall as normal bottles). Nice whisky, Bunnahabhain - one I buy quite often. It's not as pungent as other Islay malts - quite smooth and refined. I'm sure you'll enjoy it (when you eventually get to taste it)

 

[Ahleckz]

Stan, what's Port Ellen like? Got the opportunity to try some.

 

[Stan_Lite]

Stan, what's Port Ellen like? Got the opportunity to try some.

Sadly I've never had the chance to try it. There are a great many expressions of Port Ellen, some of which are considered excellent and some which are supposedly quite average. Jim Murray, in his Whisky Bible, scores them from 95/100 for the better ones all the way down to 76/100 for the poorer expressions.

I'd be interested to hear what you think of it. Must get myself a taste of some sometime.

 

[jimmy321]

I've had quite a few Port Ellen's, most are independent bottles. Which one is it?

Whether it's going to be good or not is a bit of a coin flip, the ones i've tried are generally good but iv'e had a few not so good.Bladnoch Forum bottle comes to mind one is top notch and the other is below average IMO. I've tried the OB Annual release 3, 4, 5, 6 the 4 & 5 were outstanding and the 3 & 6 were good.

In any case it's worth trying as these are starting to get scarce, when I first started to buy Port Ellen they were going from upwards of £75 you will find it hard to find a bottle under £125 today and most much higher.

 

[IRLeetly]

How much water is too much? like 1:1 ratio at the very most, finding this Glenfiddich a bit harsh, I know its not the best tasting but, hard to explain

 

[Ahleckz]

its the 40 yo IIRC.

 

[jimmy321]

Interesting, I've never heard of a 40yo PE.

 

[dante6491]

How much water is too much? like 1:1 ratio at the very most, finding this Glenfiddich a bit harsh, I know its not the best tasting but, hard to explain

I just drip a little bit in. It is all down to taste. I try not to drop below the 40% mark. It is difficult to judge by eye but taste wise you can sort of tell. It might just be my palette but I can taste warm Guylian when I drink the Glenfiddich.

 

[Stan_Lite]

Interesting, I've never heard of a 40yo PE.

I've heard tell of such a beast, verbally, but never been able to find any reference of it elsewhere so I suspect it may be a myth. It is rumoured to be a fabulously tasting whisky but I've yet to meet anyone who has actually tried it first hand.

If Ahleckz has genuinely gained access to it, I'd be fascinated to find out what it's like and where one can source it.

There is a possibility it may refer to 40yo Laphroaig since the Laphroaig distillery is actually situated in Port Ellen on Islay. I've been keen to try this ever since I got into Islay malts. It's becoming almost impossible to buy, with the last bottle I saw for sale priced at more than £3000.

 

[Stan_Lite]

How much water is too much? like 1:1 ratio at the very most, finding this Glenfiddich a bit harsh, I know its not the best tasting but, hard to explain

It's entirely a matter of taste and varies wildly from person to person and from whisky to whisky. ABV has very little bearing on how much water needs to be added. I've had cask strength whiskies at over 50% ABV which tasted best neat.
Most whiskies tend to be improved by the addition of a small amount of water - usually (for my taste) between 10:1 and 5:1 (whisky:water). It's entirely subjective though. If you prefer 1:1 then, go for it (although I would suggest that, if you need to be adding that much water, you need to find a better whisky ).

Glenfiddich isn't the best malt around by any stretch of the imagination (I refer to it (probably a tad harshly) as cooking whisky). Get yourself a decent, reasonably priced Speyside or Lowland malt (Balvenie Signature or Auchentoshan for example) and start off by adding a little water at a time until you find a ratio you enjoy

 

[Ahleckz]

Ah, sorry. Got a bit confused as I've got the chance to try a Glenfarclas 40.

The Port Ellen being offered is the Pe5. However, I've got to work the day of the event so no luck.

Now I look silly, again.

 

[jimmy321]

Hey no problem, I see your in Glasgow! Why don't you buy yourself a ticket for the Glasgow whisky festival 17th Nov 2012, yes I know Nov 2012 but the tickets are on sale now and they will sell out early next year and they are only £20.

I have been the past two years and it's outstanding value as unlimited samples are included it the price and there are about 45 exhibitors.

This year I tried the following among others,

Glenfarclas 40yo & the 15yo (the 15 was better IMO)
Clan Denny Single Grain 36yo, I think it was Girvan
Big Peat
Glendronach Single Cask (some of these are outstanding but they only had 1 at the show)
Bowmore Tempest
Talisker 57° North
A few Armut
About 10 independent bottlings from various distilleries
The new PC
The new Bruichladdich 10
A selection of Sprinbank/Longrow, I really enjoyed the Longrow 14

*Edited to say it's in the Arches from the front entrance right across the road from Glasgow Central*

 

[Stan_Lite]

Hey no problem, I see your in Glasgow! Why don't you buy yourself a ticket for the Glasgow whisky festival 17th Nov 2012, yes I know Nov 2012 but the tickets are on sale now and they will sell out early next year and they are only £20.

I have been the past two years and it's outstanding value as unlimited samples are included it the price and there are about 45 exhibitors.

This year I tried the following among others,

Glenfarclas 40yo & the 15yo (the 15 was better IMO)
Clan Denny Single Grain 36yo, I think it was Girvan
Big Peat
Glendronach Single Cask (some of these are outstanding but they only had 1 at the show)
Bowmore Tempest
Talisker 57° North
A few Armut
About 10 independent bottlings from various distilleries
The new PC
The new Bruichladdich 10
A selection of Sprinbank/Longrow, I really enjoyed the Longrow 14

*Edited to say it's in the Arches from the front entrance right across the road from Glasgow Central*

Hmm. Might be tempted by that myself. I never know with my job what I'll be doing or where I'll be that far ahead but, for £20, I may take a chance.

I've had a few of those, some nice whiskies there - except the Amrut - vile stuff. I'm not averse to foreign whisky. Some of the Japanese stuff is very good (like Yamazaki) and I had a taste of Thai whisky which was drinkable but Amrut, just NO. Sorry India, your whisky is almost as bad as Egyptian 'whisky'.

 

[jimmy321]

I agree that Japanese whiskies are really good, and dare I say are more consistently high quality in comparison with Scotch but also more expensive for whiskies of the same age.

I have to disagree with Amrut the Amrut Fusion was excellent and my mate could not believe how good it was. FWIW Jim Murray gave it 97/100, I personally did not think it was THAT good but I would still recommend it.

 

[Ahleckz]

http://www.thefinnieston.com/

"The Finnieston celebrates whisky's great heritage and your right to drink it how you please. Specially blended to benefit from mixing, The Finnieston has just the right balance of quality malt and grain to create a drink that is neither overpowering or weak-kneed when mixed with any number of other things."

They've created a whisky (through blending others I assume, as oppose to distilling their own) that is designed to be mixed with other drinks. On one hand, I can understand this. The cocktail market is booming (though perhaps not as much as 5 years ago) and whisky sales are consistently rising. Is this therefore of benefit to the market and is something that is worth looking at? Or instead, should we (and I'd say that most of us with an interest in this thread are probably more purists than not) ignore it and scoff at their foolish gimmicky ways?

 

[Martynt74]

Has anyone tried any of the offerings from the English Whisky Co?

I've seen they have one aged in rum casks which appeals to me quite a bit although its well above my budget