Malt Whisky

[The Mantis]

It's time we had another thread for all the old farts talking about our national drink.

I was at Tomintoul for a weekend in September and one of the guys had a bottle of malt from Lidl called 'Ben Bracken' which we scoffed fairly smartish. Somebody in the trade had told him it was really Tamnavoulin in the bottle and it was only £12.99 so I went by Lidl's on the way home and got 6 bottles  :010:

[Caley Mad In Berks]

I was told that the Waitrose (John Lewis) malt whisky was actually a good single malt from a well known distillery too, so there are bargains around.  I'd recommend a book by Iain Banks called 'Raw Spirit' which is a very entertaining account of his travels round all of Scotland's distilleries.  His favourite dram, surprisingly to me, was one of the rarer Glenfiddichs, and not from one of the more exotic distilleries

[CaleyD]

I wouldn't ever claim to being an expert on Whisky or the differing flavours from the differing regions etc.  I know what I like and thats about it.  I also shy away from recommending a Whisky to anyone who asks what is good/bad as it is, IMO, very much a personal thing unlike Vodka which clearly has good and bad brands.

The bottle I have open at the moment was a gift and is a 12yr Old Glenfiddich (Special Reserve), very enjoyable dram.  Also found myself tending more towards Malts than Blends recently since I have all but given up drinking anything except Whisky - Beer, Lager and Cider leave me feeling like chit next day, even if I only have just the half pint.

Also, I have to say that it really does my box in when I see someone adding Coke or Lemonade to Whisky.

[Yngwie]

As with wine, the most expensive is not necessarily the best, and it's all down to personal taste.

I'm not particularly bothered about older variants, and like nothing more than a night in front of the fire with a good 12 year old. Although saying that once got me into a bit of bother.....

Personal favourites of mine are Highland Park followed by Macallan. Just noticed they've repackaged HP and ditched the Orkney sunset imagery for a more traditional appearance and shape. Just noticed on ebay that a special bottling of HP 12 that I possess was going for about £280, so I might keep the lid on that one.

Slainte!

[Johnboy]

Thanks for considering the "old farts" Mantis.... they're in danger of becoming an extinct race....

It is interesting what can be found in places like Waitrose & Lidls...

My current favourite is an 8 year old blend from Aldi's store (Perth or Elgin)... It goes by the name of Highland Black... very very smooth, and at £8.99 a bottle to me is fantastic value.... If anyone else has tried it and has worked out what it is, I'd be interested to hear from them.....

Try "Tesco Value" whisky, CaleyD.... then you'll understand why some people add coke or lemonade....!!

[CaleyD]

All for giving "cheaper" Whisky a go, but Tesco Value is pushing it a bit, I'd rather experiment with Windolene or Meths  :puke03:

[Tichy_Blacks_Back]

Very much the same myself - I think whisky is very much a personal taste - as they say "one man's meat is another man's poision". 

Proof of this is "Talisker" - first tasted on a tour of Skye several years ago and although a good night was had I couldn't get rid of the taste of the stuff for about 2 days - never had a drop since - although every time I see the bottle it reminds me of a cracking holiday.  Others swear by it.  One thing is true - it always gets a 5 in the 0-5 taste rating - and I would not in any way disgaree with that.

My favourite tipples that I always come back to though are Glenmorangie and Macallan.

I believe you are correct the Ben Bracken is indeed a 12 year old single malt from Tamnavulin Distillery.

As for the Aldi Whisky "Highland Black" it is just listed as a Scottish 8 year old blend purchased by Aldi in 1999 - no details on what makes up the blend - but might have a bottle purchased myself just in the name of experimentation  :023:

[The Mantis]

I've always been a fan of Iain Banks' fiction but I find his whisky book no more than an ego trip (boys with toys, loads of cars, he comes over as a big spoiled laddie), although it's an insight into just how autobiographical some of his characters are. I actually have 2 copies as I bought it myself up at Falls of Shin one day, then a mate bought me a copy for my birthday. So I've got one going spare if anybody wants it.

[Johnboy]

I've always been a fan of Iain Banks' fiction but I find his whisky book no more than an ego trip (boys with toys, loads of cars, he comes over as a big spoiled laddie), although it's an insight into just how autobiographical some of his characters are. I actually have 2 copies as I bought it myself up at Falls of Shin one day, then a mate bought me a copy for my birthday. So I've got one going spare if anybody wants it.

I'll buy you a single malt for your spare copy, Mantis..... Are you coming up for the Internutters Pre Christmas Party next Friday night? (Jambos on the Saturday)

[The Mantis]

OK it's yours, not sure about the plans for next weekend yet though.

[Guest Cotter]

I started drinking whiskey young, my father owns a hotel in cullen. Every xmas & birthdays id get a decent bottle, but my fav is Talisker. It is dark, peaty and a decent dram.

[Johnboy]

Strange you should say that, Cotter.... To me, not only does it smell like TCP, it tastes like TCP....

It is my least favourite dram by a long way.....  :020:

[Guest Cotter]

I was at my fathers a couple of weeks ago celebrating his 65th birthday. I found a Strathisla 25 year old in the house, which we tanked in about 20 mins. This was a good smooth dram which every one that had a drink enjoyed.

[Caley Mad In Berks]

At least let's spell it correctly, whiskey with an 'e' is the Irish variety!!

[The Mantis]

My 'quality' bottle in the house just now is a 25 y.o. Caol Ila cask strength. It's nearly ersed now though.......

[buckett]

Used to love the Lagavuilin when it was a reasonable price, but one day it doubled and flew out of my price range. Must have appeared in a film or something.

Any of the Islay malts will do me, though, and most are more reasonably priced. Caol Ila and Bunahabhainn are exceptional.

And for anyone who likes the peaty malts but finds them rather pricey, may I recommend a blend of similar ilk, called MacLeods Isle of Skye, which is cheap and lovely.

Of the cooking whiskies, i.e. the own-brand ones, perhaps the Co-op one is worth a slurp!

[Guest PartTimer]

A nice Laphroaig in front of the fire never disappoints, preferably the 15 year old. I was offered the 30 year old once at a tasting, but it didn't do it for me. At this point, I suppose that mentioning Michael Jackson would be at least a triple entendre...

I used to live in Germany where they sold Royal Lochnagar at the same price as blends for some reason. Never questioned it myself.

Funnily enough, I quite like J&B as a blend. Clearly there is no accounting for taste!

Got involved with the Scottish Malt Whisky society for a while, but it all proved too difficult (and I kept forgetting the water)

[The Mantis]

Yeah I joined the SMWS away back in the early days but lapsed. I was a bit skint back then with 2 young kids. I got Mrs Mantis to enrol me again for xmas last year. My enrolment bottle was a Clynelish/Brora, not sure which, not opened yet.

One thing that's really good is, in spring they do 'end of cask' parcels. This year I clubbed together with 2 pals and got a parcel of 3 for £100, but they were valued at about £170 in total, including the Caol Ila at £62. So next year I'm going for a parcel by myself!

[Kingsmills]

From my personal point of view, Caol Ila is by far the nicest of the Isla malts, the others being too peaty for my tastes.

That said, I'm half way through a 25 year old Bowmore at the moment which gives tghe lie to my last statement.

[The Mantis]

Your spelling's no bad for somebody that's halfway through a bottle. On the sabbath too......

I visited Bowmore in 94. Got the place to myself and the two guide lassies couldn't have been more helpful. Cycled there for 10am after a night on the sauce at Port Charlotte, and they sat me in a comfy chair with a big bottle of Highland Spring to work off my drouth while watching a video.

After the tour they recommended the Lochside Hotel for a bar lunch. It had a laminated malt menu with about 350 different malts on it.

Then it was back on the bike and off to Lagavulin  :003:

[Alex MacLeod]

As my old grand daddy used to say, "there are no bad whiskies ------ just some better than others.

And for all you connieseurs out there, the main flavour in any whisky comes from burnt oak and the atmosphere its stored in. Island malts can seem a bit seaweedish due to the sea air being absorbed into the cask, whereas speysides can seem quite peaty.

Personally i have no particular favourite though I'd recommend people try some of the small independants like Glen Elgin or Miltonduff.

I used to work in the Glenlochy distillery in Fort William, sadly a disco or something nowadays, and we probably poured gallons of the stuff down the drains. I liked the eight year old stuff we had but the majority was sent for blending. Connieseurs Choice bottled a few casks but its now a rarety and selling in Gordon McPhails, Elgin for close on £130 a bottle. No way I'd pay that sort of prices. Theres so many good malts out there at proper prices if you go looking. And as has been said some of the cheaper ones in supermarkets etc. are the same stuff as the well known. Distilleries would not be able to survive if they depended on only selling their label so they bottle for other outlets. They dont change the way its made or matured. The only provisio is that the outlet is not permitted to divulge the source of the product.

[The Mantis]

I dare say most of that's true o silver one, but to me the main flavour is the, eh, malt  :001:

[DJS]

Having worked in the whisky trade for a number of years, it was interesting to read through this.

My own preference are the Islay Malts which I think are all very good.  They are not all heavily peated - try Bunnahabhain or Bruichladdich.  Laphroaig 15 or the very affordable Quarter Cask are top notch.  Lagavulin is excellent but over-priced as they can't keep up with demand.  Bowmore 17 or Darkest, anything from Ardbeg and younger Caol Ilas all hit the spot.

Away from Islay, Highland Park, Clynelish, Macallan, Balvenie would be in my malt SPL.

However, my Christmas gift to you is this word - Mortlach.  Without a shadow of a doubt, in my view, the most under-rated of all malts. If you know anyone who is a member of The Wine Society get them to order you a bottle of their 15 year old 40% (under £20) or the cask strength (under £30).  Both are  absolutely outstanding.

[Heilandee]

Anybody with the remotest interest in Whisky should take a night or two down Craigellachie.I was recently doing work for the hotel down their and the whisky bar is astonishing with over 700 malts available(apparently the Japs have built an exact replica of the bar and it's contents back in Japan)

Craigellachie hotel

also across the road is a cracking wee pub with a smaller selection of about 100 where you can select any 6 from the gantries and they give you info and history etc on them all as you taste your way through them ...

[Johnboy]

Ah wonderered why you seemed to have disappeared for a few days, H/Dee....  :014: :017: