Whisky again... sources?

Magospietato on 18/12/2007 at 15:22

Bailie Nichol Jarvie is a pretty nice blend. I like a Laphroaig or Talisker, but they can be quite complex, and tbh, I'm not massively into alcohol I actually have to think about. BNJ mixes sweet notes with a peaty undertone making it easier to drink.

Mingan on 18/12/2007 at 16:07

One of my friends tried Bushmills and summed it up as 'meh'. Maybe it was too young, I don't know.

Anyone tried Auchentoshan 21yr?

Brian T on 18/12/2007 at 16:10

I'm Scottish and as unpatriotic as this may sound, whisky would gag a buzzard. :eww: If you want the strong stuff meet me in Tijuana for a tequila slammer.

Rug Burn Junky on 19/12/2007 at 01:13

So, on a lark, I decided to swing by my local liquor store, and, by some twist of fate, they had a bottle of 30 yo Laphroaig. When I had one of the guys bring it to the register to check the price, the girl there looked rather upset, and told me "Don't you dare buy that."

It seems that she and another of the girls were planning on buying it for themselves if it didn't sell by New Year's. I told her that a friend was looking for a bottle, and could only find it for about twice the price, at which point she said "If you two ever want to double date..."

So, long story short, I now have a bottle of Laphroaig 30 in my living room, and a date with a relatively cute girl who can appreciate a fine whisky. You'll have to make your own arrangements with the other girl.

I would offer it to tungsten, if you still need a bottle, but I've also found (http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Laphroaig+30/2/-/USD/A/-/0) this online, which may just net you a better price, once you factor in shipping and tax (it was $244 for me after tax).

Inline Image:

http://www.bluegrin.com/images/ttlg/laphroaig.jpg

Shug on 19/12/2007 at 05:54

i would have been all yours for a bottle of captain morgan, never mind 30 year old whisky :mad:

Aja on 19/12/2007 at 06:26

This must sound like a completely dumbass question, but in what ways does a $250 bottle of whiskey differ from, say, a $50 one?

What I mean is, would someone like me who can barely stomach the $50 bottle possibly enjoy the more expensive one?

Scots Taffer on 19/12/2007 at 06:31

Possibly not, but you won't know unless you try. I recommend sampling if at all possible as opposed to buying straight off the shelf, a good whisky is a medium-term investment dependent on how quickly you imbibe it.

The difference in price, like with wine, is down to the duration and type of maturation involved. For example, the Glenfiddich 21 year old whisky I'm currently enjoying was interned into ex-Havana Club rum casks and was allowed to soak up some of the flavour from the wood, which gives the whisky a completely different character than if it had been simply retained in its original cask. The production process is timely and hence costly, then there's all those failed batches to account for.

Rug Burn Junky on 19/12/2007 at 18:40

Shug, don't tease, I've stocked up for you.

Inline Image:

http://www.bluegrin.com/images/ttlg/captain.jpg

Quote Posted by Aja

I would venture to say "probably not," at least, not enough to make it worthwhile. Though, that depends on why you can't stomach the $50 one. Drink a halfway decent blended on the rocks regularly (Johnny Black is still my staple), and then come back to a single malt, and see if you have a different reaction.

The key with the older ones isn't just the casks (although, many of the more expensive expressions have different caskings, such as sherry, port, or as Scots mentioned, rum). The longer it ages in a barrel, the more complex the flavor gets. But to pick up on these changes, you kind of have to know scotch to begin with. It's not usually a question of it being smoother, or more drinkable - the kind of things that a novice would appreciate - but rather, as you savor it, you notice more flavor, and that flavor changes in your mouth a bit more.

I've been drinking scotch for about 12 years, and I would venture to say that before 3 years ago, the Laphroaig would have been wasted on me. Even now, there's a ceiling I hit, because I don't feel that my palate is sophisticated enough to appreciate the differences. On Islay's I generally am willing to go for the better expressions. Because they're such bold flavors to begin with, the differences are more dramatic, and because I've spent so much time drinking them to begin with, that I appreciate it more. With Speyside, or Highland malts, I don't explore as much, partially because they aren't my favorites to begin with, and partially because the subtle differences don't really do as much for me.

By the same token, I don't waste money on wine. I can taste the difference between a shit bottle of jug wine, and your average $15 bottle. The differences between the corner wine store bottle and a high end vintage are pretty much lost on me, because I haven't drunk enough wine to know what to look for. For me, ordering a $500 bottle of wine would be pretentious, for someone who knows his vino, I can understand perfectly why it would be worth it.
----------------------
Also, I misspoke before. The Talisker I have is the 20 year old, not 25. I'll repeat that it's still one of the best whiskys I've ever had, if you can find it (It was distilled in 1981, bottled in 2002, and aged in sherry casks, there are other recent expressions of the 20 year old, that are not quite up to the same level).

As for the 30, I've had it, but wasn't blown away*. To be fair, it was at the end of a client dinner, and I'd had about 3 drinks beforehand, and a bottomless glass of wine with the meal, so I wasn't particularly on the top of my game.

/edit *that's not to say it disappointed me. It was certainly worth it for what it is, but wasn't necessarily worth a premium over the 20, when faced with that choice.

tungsten on 19/12/2007 at 19:25

Thank you for that "wine"-searcher! I'll check out what they ask for shipping, and I'll check what the taxes will be. And of course I hope to find a tasting with the Talisker 20, so that I can decide what to buy.
You taste your girl and the bottle :ebil: - If you get her completely (I mean that platonically :rolleyes: ) you might get even better rates in that shop...
But many thanks anyway! Oh, and tell us about the comparison. I mean the whiskies.

Aja, let's see flavours as colours.
here's your 50 bucks whisky:

Inline Image:

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/583/50wc4.jpg and here one for 250:

Inline Image:

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3420/250jk0.jpg
Of course you'd still have to like that particular colouring/flavouring.

It's sad but true. Once you've tasted the right one you're spoilt. You can still drink the cheap one, but it's rather boring.
I don't agree with RBJ's view on this. I tested with a friend, who "just started" with the whisky (never drunk more than 20 glasses in life!). We went to a tasting and started mild, climbing fast to the higher end. - Even beginners can tell the huge difference between a fantastic (and expensive) whisky and a good (and cheap) one. Although there are some/many expensive ones that are not as good as they are expensive.
The next day we went into a shop to buy some (50$) as a gift. The shop let us try it, and my friend said: "rather boring in taste" (which was true in comparison of course). Even "beginners" taste the huge difference. At least if you try the Laphroaig 30.

Rug Burn Junky on 19/12/2007 at 20:08

I actually kind of agree with you, that beginners will notice "a" difference, they just won't notice "all of" the differences that make it worthwhile. It's kind of like driving a Ferrari and keeping to a 55 mph speed limit. You'll know it's a better car, and even at those speeds it's going to be more fun to drive than a Subaru, but you're not getting everything out of it that you could.

I like your color comparison. I just don't think that a beginner is going to be able to pick out all of those little blue dots, even if they do notice that there are more colors involved. Which means there are probably some intermediate bottles (usually the 15-20 year old range for most distillieries) that will do just as well.

I'll be honest, I consider myself an intermediate at this point, and if someone ever did give me a bottle of vintage Macallan, I wouldn't even think of opening it yet, even though I know I'd be blown away by it, because I don't think I would get as much out of it now as I would in a couple of more years.