Whisky evening - food to accompany it?

I'm enjoying my Glen Garioch Founder's Reserve with some sharp cheddar and oatcakes right now!

Nice whisky :cool:

chocolate

Good call. Depends on the chocolate. I like the 85% cocoa solids stuff (Green & Blacks is nice, as is Morrisons 'The Best'). 85% chocolate can be a little on the bitter side so you need a sweetish whisky. Sweet whisky = sherry cask in my book. Something like the 21yo Glengoyne I'm drinking just now would be perfect.

Hang on............what's that I spy across the room?........... Why, it's a bar of Morrisons 85% 'The Best' chocolate ............. and I'm drinking 21yo Glengoyne ..................................................................................................................

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Blind taste testing by world leading sommeliers, wine makers and others disagree with you, who has what qualification and blind tasted what?

Why do you find it hard to believe? We have the perfect climate for sparkling wine.

Shut up. He's in "the industry", therefore knows everything there is to know about whisky, wine, beer, gin, vodka, yadda yadda. :p
 
Why do you find it hard to believe? We have the perfect climate for sparkling wine.

Champagne is such a HUGE industry that surely there'd be more strive to better the product? I mean, some champagne is fetching thousands of pounds for a single bottle in places. Unless there isn't much further to go with it, I guess.

I've tasted a fair few English sparkling wines, they were nice but none have really surprised me as much as most people make out. Perhaps I have tasted the wrong ones, or haven't imparticular, tasted these big-league rivalry ones. Throw me some names to try and I will happily stand corrected.

Sorry OP for derailing your thread, I've obviously opened a can of worms here.

Stan, pick me two reasonably priced whiskies and two dishes for each, I shall cook them at some point in the near future and try them. I will eat humble pie and admit defeat in this argument, I need to try the dishes you've suggested to really have a counter to anything - I can't say "No, don't like them" because I will admit I haven't had what you said. I've been told to "drink this while eating this" and found it ****, that's rather dampened my perspective on whiskies and food.

Shut up. He's in "the industry", therefore knows everything there is to know about whisky, wine, beer, gin, vodka, yadda yadda. :p

I didn't say I was in the industry, I have a couple of friends who are. I'm a bleeding designer.
 
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Champaign is just a region protected product it is nothing special. Price is not determined by quality.

Name is in the quote.
 
Stan, pick me two reasonably priced whiskies and two dishes for each, I shall cook them at some point in the near future and try them. I will eat humble pie and admit defeat in this argument, I need to try the dishes you've suggested to really have a counter to anything - I can't say "No, don't like them" because I will admit I haven't had what you said.
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What would you call reasonably priced? The price range can make a huge difference. If you give me a rough idea, I'll do my best to work from that :)
 
Right vineyard, correct wine, but not the year that won it.
You should know that wines very with years due to weather changes.
 
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What would you call reasonably priced? The price range can make a huge difference. If you give me a rough idea, I'll do my best to work from that :)

Up to £100 per bottle - preferably fairly accessible too. Though I do live in London so whisky shops are abundant.

Right vineyard, correct wine, but not the year that won it.
You should know that wines very with years due to weather changes.

Yes absolutely, finding the right year might be a challenge though.

Edit: After a bit of Googling I found the following, pretty much sounds like my own perspective. Does anyone know if there's a list of winners (Wikipedia or similiar?) anywhere, and what the overall Continent vs English score is?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/feb/01/nyetimber-classic-cuvee
 
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Up to £100 per bottle - preferably fairly accessible too. Though I do live in London so whisky shops are abundant.

Thank god for that, I was worried you were going to say £30 or something that would make it difficult.

I'll do a deal with you. Since you've been man enough to accept the challenge, I will let you pick the whiskies so that I can't cherry pick easy ones. I will then either find/adapt/invent dishes to suit.

Is that acceptable to you? If so, let me know which whiskies you want me to match.



On topic - Haggis!

Good call. Whisky and haggis is such a good combination. I prefer an Islay malt with my haggis - Bowmore is good or Bruichladdich.
 
Actually, on the subject of haggis, I had a starter in a restaurant in Aberdeen once which was deep fried haggis balls (not unusual in Scotland :D) with some sort of sweet chutney (I can't remember the details). I seem to remember I had a Speyside malt with it but I can't remember which one - probably Balvenie but I can't be sure. Absolutely delicious.
 
Balvenie but I can't be sure. Absolutely delicious.

You see, this is what puzzles me. I just can't imagine liking the very deep flavour of haggis going with something like Balvenie... :confused: If I remember correctly, Balvenie has a rather spicy taste and somewhat of a kick to it from being matured in rum casks - or at least that's what the bloke at the shop told me when he sold it to me. I bought the 15 year old as a gift for my brother in October and only had a few glasses and haven't had it since (I loved it, just haven't had the chance).

As to the "Let's Gun DcD Down Challenge 2012", can I select what's in my cupboard to save myself a couple of hundred quid? :p Could probably put my dosh to better use than a debate on OcUK! Haha.

I have a few ends of bottles and a couple unopened gifts.

Edit:
I have a bottle of Glenfarclas, 17 year old. Haven't opened it yet though. Review? Also, a bottle of Aberlour 16 year old. I have an unopened bottle of Dalmore 12 year old (yes, the £30 price range you were afraid of) but after tasting that at the shop a while back I'd be intrigued if you could find something to go with that. I've been meaning to buy a bottle of Balvenie, actually. Good excuse?

The bits left (not very much at all though) are Glenfiddich and Glemorangie Astar (probably two measures left each - would that suffice?).

Oh, and a bottle of Jim Beam Red Stag. :p
 
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Well if you bothered reading the article, although a 2003 won it, it wasn't the only one entered and another wine they entered came 12th from 2001.

Wine ratings for what we don't have perfect climate/soil for all wines.
 
Well if you bothered reading the article, although a 2003 won it, it wasn't the only one entered and another wine they entered came 12th from 2001.

Wine ratings for what we don't have perfect climate/soil for all wines.

I read your quote but don't see how that already answered my question from my last relevent post?
 
As it contradicts the article you posted. Which basically put it down as heat wave in 2003, destroying continental grapes. As well as not all the wines were from 2003, basically it's a **** article. So does indeed match youre sentiments :D
 
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As it contradicts the article you posted. Which basically put it down as heat wave in 2003, destroying continental grapes.

Oh the link I posted was merely supporting your point, in that someone who valued champagne so much and had a "So what?" attitude about English sparkling wines getting into the big leagues had been converted; not their reasoning for it getting there.

I see what you mean now, but no, I have no opinion or knowledge of how exactly they got there. The article wasn't posted as ammunition, just an observation. I'll taste the damn stuff before I even attempt to start making assumptions about heat waves that I can't even remember. That part of the article sounded absurd to me aswell.
 
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