me: “Mmm. Delightfully peaty. Excellent nose. Hints of the sea, commingled with the vanilla nuttiness of charred oak. Nice smooth finish… Exquisite!”
glass of Laphroaig Scotch: “Thanks!”
glass of Laphroaig Scotch: “And for what it’s worth, I really like your ass.”
Hmmmm.
@ Jeff
Nice!
Personally I like either Talisker or Balvenie PortWood 21 year old. Hell I’d drink just about any scotch except Glenfiddich, which tastes like liquid seaweed frankly.
There’s just something about going down smooth that IS all that. Yeah, I said it…
la-fro-ig
As close as I can without spit.
Highly coincidentally, I polished off an ordinary bottle of Laphroaig 10-year-old Islay single malt not five minutes ago. Mmmm…peat.
Johnny Walker is Gay?
30 year old: But why did you go so soon…
10 year old: they just don’t understand..
30 year old: you could have been something..
10 year old: but they couldn’t wait..and my cork was out…
Mentioning Johnny Walker when someone is talking about scotch is like mentioning Miller Lite when someone is talking about beer.
Yeesh.
Hmmmm.
The only thing is that I generally don’t use either water or ice when drinking scotch. But I have been told repeatedly by my father, who introduced me to scotch when I was much younger, that I should try drinking scotch with side glass of ice water.
So how about it folks. How do you drink your single malt scotch?
1. Neat, no water or ice.
2. Neat with room temperature water chaser.
3. Neat with ice water chaser.
4. Mixed with room temperature water.
5. Mixed with ice chaser (no water unless it’s from melted ice).
6. Mixed with ice & water.
7. Strained through ice.
8. Strained through unwashed panties from a Japanese schoolgirl with an garnish of peppercini you unwashed gaijin bastards.
Jeff, my Lagavulin will beat your Laphroaig’s ass.
ed, #10, neat with chilled marble cubes.
Hmmmm.
Really? Oh ok. So the you get the chill but not the added water to dilute the scotch then?
Makes sense. I tried something similar with frozen grapes and then would eat the grapes after the scotch was finished and the grapes had thawed out some.
But I wasn’t entirely sold on chilling a single malt scotch. I kinda prefer the scotch to be room temperature.
Hmmmm.
You know. I think this has come up before.
I’m going to check the archives in the morning.
Put me down for #4, maybe an icecube if the tap water is warm.
But, I’m more partial to Irish as far as darks are concerned.
I use crushed ice and a bit of soda water or water.
I have a fairly decent variety here. Right now I’m liking the peat. But I also find The Balvenie Doublewood to be very very nice—almost sweet.
I plan on picking up some Laguvalin tomorrow. I haven’t yet tried that.
I have a nice selection here—maybe 10-15 bottles. Problem is, I keep drinking them.
One word: PEAT
the math of malt
ice + single malt = some sort of philistine.
water + single malt = the mad uncle we humour
<> + single malt = enjoy
Jeff,
Lagavulin is about as agressively peaty as it gets – which spirits guru Michael Jackson described as “like gunpowder tea”. If you’re a fan of Talisker and Laphroaig, you’ll like it just fine.
In fact, I have bottle I haven’t opened yet.
Scratch that, I have now. Slainte!
Oh, BTW:
ed,
Islay: #4. Mixed with room temperature distilled water. The tap water here is hard and alkaline, which really affects the flavor.
Speyside: Neat with a water chaser. It doesn’t need ice as long as it’s cold.
#4
1 part distilled water to 4 parts scotch. Tap water in my town is much too hard to spoil scotch with.
Neat? Nae, laddie! Water brings out the nose.
Drinking The Balvenie Doublewood right now.
Och aye, thass gud!
On ice, wait a bit for the ice to melt before drinking.
That should say, wait for a little melt to occur.
Sheesh! Ix-nay on the ass-way of the entay-earyay-oldsway…
It might be legal to do it, but it might not be legal to publish, y’know?
The world can be a dangerous place…
…and as for the proper drinkin’, people who just drink for drinkin’s sake get drunk.
Scotch is a fine drink for contemplating one’s place in life. Proper accompaniments include a comfortable home, nearby loved ones, the remnants of a feast, a postprandial cigar, a fire on the hearth, and philosophy. Water and ice are of secondary importance.
TW: together17…how does that work, exactly?
No. Decent Scotch should be unsullied by water. Usually I try to spit all the saliva out of my mouth before taking a sip, so I don’t dilute it.
If they could dehydrate it, though…no, if God had intended us to drink raw, flavored spirits, he’d have…
No soda, no ice, roughly two thirds whiskey to one third room temperature pure water. This releases the nose. You should get 8 glasses out of one bottle.
Lagavulin is excellent.
Sure the Laphroiag is nutty, but is it rooty?
Oh crap..wine snobs are bad enough to deal with by us Maddog drinkers…but now Scotch snobs also……
I’m not a scotch snob; I just know what I like. Now, my brother…there’s a scotch snob. A wine snob, too, but he’d probably just also say he knows what he likes. He lives within empty-tossing distance of Goldstein, I think.
Does Talisker know you’ve been cheating on it?
That explains the mysterious head injuries.
Probably. He’s got a good arm.
Slart–
You can’t drink cask-strength scotch without dilution; it will burn off your taste buds.
Jeff–
Ten-y.o. Laphroaig has a great attack and leaves a pretty strong impression. A bit on the medicinal side, one might say. Sixteen-y.o. Lagavulin (if you can find it) has all the rough edges sanded off and a loads of peat, but it’s rather pricey. You might check out the 15-y.o. Laphroaig if you can find it, which is a bit less aggressive.
Balvenie is nothing like either of them; it’s a Highland. If you really like Islay malts I would recommend trying Caol Ila.
Also, note the latest hilarious PD Googlebomb assignment by Liberal Avenger, courtesty of Patterico.
You can’t drink cask-strength scotch without dilution; it will burn off your taste buds.
Please. You’re talking to a guy who occasionally (Ok: maybe only once. But who can remember that kind of thing?) practically gargled with 151 in college.
My girlfriend got me a bottle of Lagavulin 16yr for Christmas.
God, I love her.
And how do you feel about the girlfriend?
I’m partial to Dalwhinnie and Glenkinchie, myself. Very smooth, never a headache, you can drink without even a chase of water. (although plenty of cold water is a good side for scotch drinking).
I saw the Cask Strength at the Costco liquor store about a month ago and passed since I still have a few drops of the regular ol’ 10-year left. But it was VERY tempting.
Tonight I’ll be drinking Teacher’s on ice while playing Mario 64.
/My life, you know you want it.
The Balvenie DW is my favorite so far, but being a bourbon dork I’ve only had maybe a dozen SMSWs.
And regarding Jonnie Walker, IMO it’s a perfectly “serviceable” blended. I agree that there are better ones (the aforementioned Teacher’s being my personal fav, the American-bottled Cluny being another), but it’s not bad by any stretch. Blended scotches in general get a worse rap then they deserve.
Blended bourbon on the other hand. . .never had one that wasn’t perfectly terrible. And I’m a man who kinda-sorta likes milk and Pepsi.
Anybody see the 60-year scotch on Lost last week? It was first shown in a very rich man’s office, which blunted somewhat the absurdity of a 60-year scotch being, well, anywhere. But then they showed it sitting with the other whisk(e)y bottles in an average pub setting, which made me realize that sometimes Lost takes a few liberties with consensual reality now and again.
You’re talking to a guy who occasionally (Ok: maybe only once. But who can remember that kind of thing?) practically gargled with 151 in college.
Then I guess Cutty Sark is your thing, eh?
When I was over in Scotland not long ago, my brother-in-law almost decaptitated me for misspronouncing “Glenfiddich” with a soft ‘ch’.
I was informed in no uncertain terms that it’s “GlenfiddiK”.
tw: spirit55 CUT THAT OUT, JEFF!!!!!
Having worked my through the various and sundry Bushmills and Jameson offerings, I decided to expand my horizons into Scotch.
I grabbed a bottle of Glenfiddich to give to my brother for Christmas and we put some serious bubbles in it. Rather enjoyable IMHO.
Back at the bottle shop I saw the Laphroaig. I remembered reading about it somewhere. So I grabbed it.
Well, back at the ranch, I figured it was time and I sloshed some over rocks.
By God this stuff is Robust! No doubt you are partaking of an adult beverage.
Definitely required a good Habano as a counterpoint.
Sure, the one day I take off, I get badmouthed.
Red, green, and black labels are mediocre to terrible. You know you have a bad scotch when, at a tasting, they actively encourage you to mix with coke or ginger ale (red label).
Gold and blue labels, however, are incredibly tasty, if expensive.
Serious question.
I’ve only ever tried the cheap stuff (JWB, Cutty Sark) and not really liked it, what do you recommend?
I’ve been sticking to beer. Unfortunately, beer has been sticking to me. Despite putting in enough miles on the treadmill that I’m due for an oil change…
MarkD: If you are looking for a whiskey substitute for beer, I would recommend either some American bourbon, e.g., Jack Daniels, or blended scotch, e.g., Jamesons, with Club Soda (or ginger ale).
You will get a head, like with beer, rather smooth taste, and you can nurse it like a beer. This is a classic high ball.
one shot = 1 beer. However, there are points to hard liquor too, just not as many as beer.
Last time I was able to choke down a Cutty Sark was, oh, just before the 151-gargling incident. In other words, more than 25 years ago.
I do occasionally, at need, have a Dewar’s. That’s about it for me; nothing worse than Dewar’s really tastes like scotch. If there isn’t anything as good as Dewar’s, I usually switch over to Irish. If you can’t do any good, at least do no harm.
Oh, and if you want to try a scotch that’s not going to make a serious dent in your wallet, Dewar’s is your critter. I’m sure Teacher’s is also perfectly serviceable, but I can’t even go near the stuff. Let’s just say that my brother got a bottle of it for his birthday, and his girlfriend decided we should just chug it.
If you don’t like bourbon (and I don’t; I can’t stand anything below Knob Creek on the bourbon ladder), try Bushmill’s, or Jameson’s or Tullamore Dew. All nice, smooth, good flavor, but not too intrusive.
BTW, Jameson’s is Irish whiskey. Or ouiskeagh, or however those guys spell it.
MarkD,
For an inexpensive blend, the aforementioned Dewar’s is more than passable. For a little bit more, The Glenlivet 12 year old is my choice (the 18 year old is superior, but like Dalwhinnie, Glenkinchie and Balvenie, it’s a bit pricey). Another one I’m never without is Highland Park – it’s got the smokey, peaty nose and full body of an Islay malt (like Laphroaig), but with a smooth and somewhat sweet finish of a highland. Excellent.
BTW, for something delightfully different, try the Yamazaki Japanese malt whisky. Yum.
Its all about the Lagavulin 16. Liquid Gold–nothing else comes close even at 10 times the price.
BTW–the Lag and some of its ilk are becoming hard to find because idiot kids in Japan have decided its fashionable to drink it with Coke. And you thought Pearl Harbor was bad….
Coupla things:
1. Jack Daniels is not technically bourbon (it’s a “Tennessee” whiskey; there’s a funky maple wood filtration process that nixes it as a bourbon candidate).
As an aside, George Dickel is the only other Tennessee whiskey that I’ve ever seen. I tend to buy it over Jack since it’s got an edge on Jack taste-wise and I like supporting what is essentially a small American business.
2. As Slartibartfast said, Jameson’s is not scotch but Irish. Irish whiskeys tend to be double- or triple-distilled and usually are not peated.
As far as recommendations go, I’ll stick to my strength by recommending bourbon:
– Buffalo Trace. BT is both a distillery and a bottler. My faves from their portfolio are Old Charter 12, W.L. Weller (12 or Antique 107), and the mighty Stagg (proof varies from year to year, it’s quite limited and nerdy).
– Anything by Van Winkle. Bottled by Buffalo Trace, Van Winkle isn’t a distillery but a brand that selects and configures whiskey profiles for their own labels. A bit pricier on the whole than most, but you’ll know why once you taste them. My faves are the Family Reserve Rye 13 and the Old Rip Van Winkle 10 or 15 year.
– Wild Turkey. They are the grumpy old man of bourbons. They don’t change that much, I don’t think they’re owned by a heartless international, etc. Everything they make has a spicy “Wild Turkey” taste that some newbies don’t like (and most women think is awful). My personal Favorite is their basic “101”. . .they’ve really only got about 5-6 domestically-available varieties.
– Jim Beam. If it says “Jim Beam” it’s gonna taste like ass, but they also make and market the “Small Batch” collection, of which Knob Creek is the most famous label. Also good: Bookers.
– Ezra Brooks. Cheap, uncomplicated stuff. I like the 7 year a lot.
– Evan Williams. Another affordable and uncomplicated brand, Evan Williams doesn’t really do it for me but lots of people seem to like it. Their Single Barrel isn’t bad but IMO not as good as it should be.
When I first read Michael Jackson’s (no not the pedophile) review of Lagavulin 16 I thought he was talking about my sexual performance: “Finish: Huge, powerful, peaty, salty, embracing.” BTW, if you can’t find Lag, any variety of Macallan is always a good bet. The 10 year old is reasonably priced and goes well with water—the 18 year old is a bit more expensive but delightful to sip neat. Just the thing for a cold wet day on the moors.
Maker’s Mark, tachonshaggy, what about Maker’s Mark?
;^)
Wild Turkey Rare Breed is also quite good.
That reminds me, the Macallan Cask Strength is another I need to restock…
#1 I am aware that Jameson’s is not technically scotch but, unless you want to spend $30-$60-$80 a bottle, it’s close enough. I use Jameson’s for recreational whiskey drinking.
#2 For American, I was not aware that JD’s process made it not bourbon. In general, I don’t much care for bourbon, which I why I mentioned JD, because I can drink that.
#3 Something I DO like is rye whiskey, which is hard to find. Jim Beam makes/made it, it’s harsh, but rye has a special flavor and I just like it, much prefer it to bourbon. Another cheap rye is Old Overcoat (Overholt), which also is rather harsh. But a good bottle of rye is $50 a pop, and I will buy that as often as I buy my preferred scotches.
I interpreted the Question in terms of, I drink beer, what kind of whiskey can I substitute? As for (our group) answers, nothing matches your own experience. For example, I generally drink late at night, with tobacco, and water. I find several whiskeys just give me bad headaches or have a terrible taste while others I can drink 3-4 glasses and wake up the next morning with renewed strength (I know that sounds odd but it’s true) and no sense of having drank. Personally, I find the heavy peaty whiskeys to not work for me. But, to each his own.
Steve,
Wild Turkey Rye has a definite “bite” but is a much better drink that Beam’s.
Then Glenlivet is what I would recommend. Absolutely.
Thanks for the suggestions. I was not clear – I will probably try Dewar’s and see if I like it.
My query was probably not totally clear. I know my tastes aren’t that different from everyone else’s. (OK, we’ll skip the bit about actually liking natto – fermented soybeans) Reading everyone here rave about Scotch makes me feel like I missed something. What I remember of drinking Cutty Sark (college days with our dorm RA) was:
1. You’d have to pay me to drink this.
2. You don’t have enough money.
I will give it a shot. I mean, it’s Friday, after all.
Cutty and J&B are harsh. They were originally made for London gin drinkers, and taste like it. A mellow old highland malt whisky is worlds apart. And costs more, naturally. Ah well…
BTW, Glenlivet is available at any decent bar, as is Glenfiddich, so you don’t need to shell out $30 for a whole bottle of something you may or may not end up liking.
MarkD: My memories of Cutty Sark was that it tasted terrible and gave me instant headaches. But then, I was 15 and I used to mix it with Budweiser to make boilermakers …..
What are you missing? Well, a really good scotch will relax you, even get you drunk, but it should give you zero hangover and leave you feeling relaxed and alert the next morning. But, again, a really good scotch will vary from person to person.
A really good scotch will have a distinct flavor, when you drink it, an aftertaste and effect, a distinctive scent, etc. etc. but these are connoisseur points. The real benefits of a $50 of Scotch came in the first para, in my opinion.
If you want to spend the money, I’d get a bottle of Dalwhinnie, because it’s very mild ($45). Or you could get Irish and go with Jameson’s which is also mild ($23). Or you could go Scotch and get, say, Glenfiddich ($30). Not as mild as the others, but by no means harsh. As you can see, I just had Glenlivet recommended to me, so I have forgotten all about that one, but I know it’s not too steep. Talisker, Lagavulin, and some of the others have a strong peaty/Sherry flavor which I don’t care for and which you probably aren’t prepared for, either.
I drink Scotch in a glass with a side of water, it is my understanding that the best way is to drink it is mixed with water (something less than 1/2). This is supposed to bring out the flavor and the scent (nose).
I don’t know about Dewar’s …..
Spiny Norman:
Quite good. . .I simply overlooked it because I don’t buy it often. It’s a “wheater,” as in the dominant secondary ingredient (after corn) is wheat, and the Van Winkle and Weller products tend to satisfy my need for wheaters.
Steve:
I can’t believe I forgot about Wild Turkey Rye, which is an absolute killer rye. Much better than Old Overhold IMO. Never had the Jim Beam Rye. . .the piss-yellow label scares me off
If you want a solid scotch for under $30 look for either the Bowmore “Legend” series or the “McClelland’s” label (another Bowmore sub-label). Both give you younger whiskys (5 year) at affordable prices. You won’t mistake any of them for Caol Ila 18 but they’re a way to get to Scotch without breaking the bank.
My personal favorite Irish (that I’ve had) is Redbreast, which is so incredibly good it hurts, but at ~$50 a pop it’s not for everyone (and I’ve been nursing my bottle for about 9 months now to conserve). For a solid alternative to Jamesons and Bushmills you might also try Powers.
Again, if you like Jack you should give Dickel a whirl. My 50 year old uncle says it’s the ONLY whiskey he can drink without getting an immediate, nasty headache. Go for the #12 and leave the #8 on the shelf for the college students. It’s only a couple of dollars more but more than worth it.
Doesn’t it though? Wow, I thought I as alone in that…
Hmmm, I’ve never had Redbreast. Even at $50, I’ll have to try it. (I paid $80 for the Lagavulin three months ago, which partly why I hadn’t opened it yet.)
Scapa 12 year old, neat, on a cold night.
Just FYI – my husband, an Edinburgh man whose grandparents were highlanders, looked over my shoulder at this post last night and had a few comments, and with the comments since posted, I’ll add a couple more.
1. If you’re drinking to drink, drink something cheap (a blend) and dilute it until it’s palatable. If you’re drinking to appreciate the drink, the company, to ruminate, etc., drink a decent single-malt. It’s acceptable to drink it neat, with an ice cube or two (to help bring up the flavor, if it does for you), or with a *splash* of tepid to cold water. Experiment with these to find what works for you with a particular whiskey. And sip it. Please.
2. “Lah-FRAY-ig”. And, as noted, “Glen-FID-ick”. All those “ch”s are usually pronounced with what we Americans would recognize as a “k” sound.
3. In Irish-American circles, it’s pretty well-known that “Bushmills is Protestant, Jamesons is Catholic”. Even when I was growing up, 20 yrs ago, no decent family would have or offer Bushmills. Maybe this prejudice is dying out but I haven’t seen evidence of it – the only Catholic I’ve ever known who openly drank Bushmills had the old saying around backwards and insisted that he was right and everyone else was wrong. Anyway, just to be aware, as in many other things, there is even a sectarian divide among Irish whiskys. (Tullamore Dew is newer and considered “neutral”, though not as “traditional”, obviously.)
4. My husband likes Glenfiddich and has a glass of it every few nights, but he says at the moment he’s a bit tired of it “all the time” and thinking of buying a Glenlivet next. There is no shame in going back and forth among brands, even once you have a favorite.
And a question: Isn’t Maker’s Mark “the Marine’s whiskey” (i.e., what Marines like to drink)? I thought I’d seen that on some conservative sites.
i dunno where ya’ll are at, but i’m currently in Taiwan, coincidentally doin the same as alot of you all ‘round the world… with an Islay to my right and a Balvenie to my left… although my current Islay is a Caol Ila 18 and Balvenie is a 15 Cask Strength…
i was just curious if you all would post what kinda prices you all are payin for these bottles…. i paid 1600 ntd (~48 usd) for the Caol Ila and the Balvenie 15… just curious… thanks!
and i’ve been lookin’ for the Laphroaig 15 for the longist time now…. no where on the island to be found… do you recommend the Lagavulin 16 in it’s place?
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