The OCUK Whisky (and Whiskey) review thread

nydryl said:
92/100 as opposed to 91/100 or 93/100? Aye right :p

Whereabouts was the wrong pricing? Would be very interesting if it's nationwide!
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Ha yes well one must give an accurate scoring :D

It was in my local Irma in Copenhagen I'm living abroad I'm afraid.

Yesterday I got myself a bottle of the laphroaig quarter cask. Has anyone else tried this yet?

I found the first and second to be very pleasant. Punching on the nose and setting the tastebuds alight with it's fiery salty peatiness. After a couple though I found the taste to be a bit on the intense side. This is definately no gulping whiskey!
 
Had my first taste of Doublewood last night. Much nicer than Jura!

Whats the best way to enjoy whisky as a beginner? I am still finding it very harsh on the throat. Same as most spirits. When does that pain go away and the enjoyment take over?

I am drinking with a couple splashes of water, but it still tastes too strong. Should I add more, ice maybe, something else?
 
Sleeve88 said:
Had my first taste of Doublewood last night. Much nicer than Jura!

Whats the best way to enjoy whisky as a beginner? I am still finding it very harsh on the throat. Same as most spirits. When does that pain go away and the enjoyment take over?

I am drinking with a couple splashes of water, but it still tastes too strong. Should I add more, ice maybe, something else?
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Add water until it's pleasant to drink. No two whiskies are the same and no two people are the same. I've been drinking whisky for years and I still have quite a few whiskies that I prefer with a bit of water. Whatever you do, don't add ice - ice will dull the aromas and flavour and make it pointless.
 
Ok thanks for the advice. Sorry for all the questions.

Looking forward to being able to taste all the different flavours and not just the harsh burn every sip :)
 
It's Glen Gerioch time! Yum.

Sleeve88 said:
Ok thanks for the advice. Sorry for all the questions.

Looking forward to being able to taste all the different flavours and not just the harsh burn every sip :)
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Also, get it in a fairly wide glass and give it a good swirl around. A wine glass is pretty good for it. I find that the extra air in the drunk can make it a bit smoother. It seems a bit mad, but it does work.
 
Ahleckz said:
It's Glen Gerioch time! Yum.



Also, get it in a fairly wide glass and give it a good swirl around. A wine glass is pretty good for it. I find that the extra air in the drunk can make it a bit smoother. It seems a bit mad, but it does work.
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Thanks man!

I also read that adding tap water is a bad idea due to imbalanced ph levels and impurities and that it's best to use bottled spring water. Any truth in this?
 
Total crap Sleeve. Unless you happen to live in Egypt or something and your tapwater is terrible then it'll be fine. As for the temperature, never heard of a 'perfect' temperature. I'd just use whatever the temperature the water was when it came out my tap. I'd say it should match the temperature of the whisky.
 
I don't drink tap water anyway and I certainly wouldn't put it in my whisky. The amount of crap that gets added to it (never mind the crap it picks up form the pipes) is shocking.

As for warm water, that's a new one on me. I've always had my whisky and my water at room temperature and it's been fine. As Ahleckz says, a wide glass is good. The narrow nosing glass is good for trying out a new whisky but a wide glass allows a larger surface area exposed to the air. I assume it reacts with something in the air or something. Whisky glasses are always wide - there has to be a reason why.
 
I best do as I preach, so I just poured a Laphroaig Quarter Cask into my Laphraoig nosing glass (L) and also one into a wide brimmed Auchentoshan glass (A). Let's have some comparisons:

Nose:
L - Sweet, tabletlike.
A - Saltier and more muted.

Taste:
L - Sharp, grassy. Got a fair bit of burn (it's only the first dram of the night, so that'll go down)
A - It does seem to taste different, after a fair old swirl. Peatier, I'd say and more hay likE rather than grass.

Overall:
There is a difference between the two glasses, no doubt from the amount of air that has touched the one in the Auchentoshan. I'm not sure that there is a great deal of difference in the taste, though the nose is pretty different. I think all this experiment has done has made me drink two drams very quickly...
 
Ahleckz said:
I think all this experiment has done has made me drink two drams very quickly...
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:D

Might try the same experiment myself later. It just so happens I have a bottle of QC in the house (I almost always do). I'm a little bunged up but, hopefully, the pungency of the QC will overpower any sinal weakness on my part. Just need to get through this bottle of delicious Rioja first ;)
 
Just got myself a bottle of QC in Tesco for £26. Had a tiny bit before tea this evening and quite liked it, will have some more later tonight, possibly with a bit of water as the taste is still quite strong. Still shocks me as to how smooth it is though!
 
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Had a bash at this myself. I've added my findings, in green, to those of Ahleckz.

Ahleckz said:
Nose:
L - Sweet, tabletlike.
A - Saltier and more muted.

I actually got more of the salty sea spray from the nosing glass but I would agree that it's all more muted in the wider glass.
I also got a bit of peat in the wider glass and a hint of iodine/seaweed in the nosing glass.

Taste:
L - Sharp, grassy. Got a fair bit of burn (it's only the first dram of the night, so that'll go down)
A - It does seem to taste different, after a fair old swirl. Peatier, I'd say and more hay likE rather than grass.

I have to say, I pretty much agree with your taste analysis. The nosing glass definitely gives a sharper, grassier taste while the whisky tumbler gives a much more rounded, hay-like taste and is a little sweeter.

Overall:
There is a difference between the two glasses, no doubt from the amount of air that has touched the one in the Auchentoshan. I'm not sure that there is a great deal of difference in the taste, though the nose is pretty different. I think all this experiment has done has made me drink two drams very quickly...

All in all, I think there is a difference as well and, in this instance, I think I prefer the wider glass - both for nosing and tasting. I might have to try this with some different whiskies (not tonight, I have an earlyish flight tomorrow and hate traveling with a hangover). Maybe the nosing glass is giving a false impression.
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Next up, Glen Garioch 12. I love Glen Garioch (and I'd love to hear some pronunciations!) (It's 'Glen Gheaa'Reeee'. Two syllables). This one is nice and creamy, and a fair bit of pear on the nose. It is very smooth and hardly peated/smoked at all. Certainly an interesting one to try after the Quarter Cask. I'm not sure how widely available their whiskies are, and won't be found in supermarkets, but the Founders Reserve & the 12 are both great whiskies at great prices.

Doing the same as above, nosing glass and 'normal' glass.
Nose:
L - It's like a candied PCP. Pretty salty. Lots of iodine
A - Much more mellow and more mineral coming out.

Taste:
L - Caramel, cream. Lots of cream.
A - The sherry is really more prominent. Taste doesn't seem to linger as long.

Overall:
It's getting on, and I'm getting tired so that has some bearing. But for this one I prefer it in the wider glass because it's that bit gentler on the finish. However, the nosing glass does seem 'fuller'.

Though, I do believe that there is something in this different glass malarky!

More I drink this, from both glasses (I'm alternating) the bigger the finish is getting. I think it was flattened by the QC that I had before. A great whisky, though IIRC from when I first had it at a tasting; water totally killed it so keep it neat.

I give this 84, Craig.
 
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