I had a taste of Glenlivet over the weekend in a pub in Hendersonville NC . Been a long time since I've any . When I drink scotch it's usually Dewars mostly due to price. There certainly is a difference. Glenlivet and Glenfiddich are the only single malt scotches I've tried. Anyone else like scotch?

Sorry, bourbon and rye whiskey for me.

One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer, Well maybe pass on the beer and go for two Bourbon's As long as it shared with friends.

Ya, I like Scotch. The best I have ever had is Bowmore Islay Scotch 25 year aged. I had two glasses at a scottish restaurant/barcalled Nicholson's in Cincinnatti; I took my wife there on our anniversary. Man that was good Scotch!

I can't stand the smell of Scotch Whiskey to this day it makes me sick to my stomach. When I was about 12 years old my friend and I would clean out garages, rake leaves and mow lawns. One Saturday we worked for a single guy in his forties that acted like Ted Knight in Caddy Shack. When we had finished working after 4 hours of being berated by this guy we put the tools away in his detached garage. Inside the garage he had an opened case of Glemore Scotch Whiskey and we took a bottle, 1/5th, and hid it in the woods behind his garage to be retrieved later that night after dark.

We went back and took the bottle to an area by some nearby railroad tracks to partake. I drank about half of the bottle and was feeling pretty good. The next day my dad who had moved out of our house a year earlier returned with what he said was good news. He had arranged for my younger brother and I to take a flight in a small plane at an airport near our house. Neither of us had ever flown before The pilot thought it would be fun to dive like the Stuka's in WW2. I wasn't feeling good to start with but this only added to my misery. My brother who didn't drink with me the previous evening had to use the stomach distress bag I didn't but sure felt like it a couple of times. I did however had to lay down in the back of the station wagon on the way home. We never went back for the rest of the bottle.

I have nothing against Whiskey or any other spirits but I don't think I will ever get over that smell without my stomach doing flip flops.

I drank lots of Jack Daniels on November 9th 2007. That was my last drink. One day at a time.


I used to really love Lagavulin.

I like single malt Scotch Whiskeys. To me they are in the same category as fine Cognac a pleasurable drink to be slowly sipped and enjoyed. I don't drink a lot so this works for me.
Jim

Deja Vu Yorkie.

While in DaNang, I got violently ill drinking Vat 69.
To this day, if I get a whiff of Jiff, I get queezy.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Love it but I get massive headaches from it and I don't mean because of drinking a lot, like a hangover headache. Even a quarter of a shot glass will give me a bad bad migraine the next day. Glenlevet 25 year old is great! Anything peatty like Islay scotch! Japanese and Indians make some great scotch too.

When it comes to food and alcohol the one thing I can't do is buy cheap. If I'm drinking it's going to be something I enjoy and not for the sake of drinking.

Scotland makes Whisky and Ireland makes Whiskey. Two similar but different products.

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Front sight and squeeze

The Kennedy family made there fortune being bootleggers. They get a royalty on every bottle of scotch that's imported here.

I must agree.

Now if you want one of the more unusual single malts (and there are no worthwhile blends in my book), try Edradour. Smallest distillery in Scotland, about 3 miles NNE from the Bells Distillery in Pitlochry, well worth the trek on a one and a half lane wide "Scottish Main Road!!". You can find it in the House of Whiskies in terminal 5 at Heathrow and very occasionally in the USA.

As far as the Japanese and Indians making Scotch, the only comment I can make is that the taste buds must have atrophied in anyone who claims that!! There is a Welsh single malt that is not bad, and in Ireland, there is a single malt sold in Dublin Airport that is "tolerable".

There used to be a pub alongside the Cutty Sark in Greenwich just below the Zero Meridian that in my "youthful days at the University of London" had 160 plus different scotch whiskies available. I finished my degrees in London before being able to afford to drink beyond number 55. Dave_n

Why yes. Yes, I do. Very much so. Thanks for axin'

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paws for friendship

"I was drrrrrrrrrrrrinkin' scotch when you werrrrrrrrrrrre at your mothers teat!!!!"

haha, do I like scotch??? Single malt, double wood and hold the heavy peat...I cant take Laphraiog and such. Other than the ones you mentioned...The Balvenie is fantastic...especially the Double Wood one finished in a sherry cask. Now whiskey wise it would be hard to beat 16 year old Bushmills single malt.

Perhaps I wasn't lucky enough to find the right variety, but all the scotch I've sampled seemed greasy and tasted similar to diesel fuel.

I'll stick with bourbon.

Glenlivet and Glenfiddich are great however I mostly stick to Bushmills (Irish) and Wild Turkey when I can afford it I will go for a good Rye. Can't do JD at all nor Jim Beam.

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I Cor. 10:13 "1611KJV"

I see no problems at all with a good Blended Scotch and my current favorite is Johnnie Walker Double Black. It's an excellent sippin Whisky best drunk neat after flushing the mouth with some good ice water. Some day I may try some of the Blue but at the prices per bottle for the Blue it will likely have to be a gift.

As for the single malts, that can be a real Mares Nest with folks arguing about which barrel in which Distillery. Personally I would rather place my trust on a real expert producing a good consistent blend rather than whether Hamish had consumed an optimum quantity of spirits before taking a torch to barrel xxyy and didn't rush it because he needed to pee.

Bourbon here. Just received a bottle of Gentlemen Jack from a friend for helping out. Rebel Reserve is a good bourbon for the price. Anybody have "whiskey balls". (keep your mind out of the gutter lads). Those are the big round ice balls that you put into a glass of bourbon so it keeps the bourbon cold without the dilution of the water from the ice.

Single malt Scotches are my favorite, but there are so many varieties that you really can't generalize. Speyside, Islay, Highland, Lowland, Island, the list goes on. My current favorite is Talisker.

Back in my Scotch drinking days, several decades ago, the one I liked best was good old everyday J&B. Go figure.

Sorry - the very best drips out of a copper worm.

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

I seriously doubt that.

I have yet to drink a malt from the Isle of Islay I didn't like. Lagavulin is among the very best. But recently I found at at Trader Joe's, "Islay Storm". It is a milder version of Lagavulin, very smooth, but at 1/5 the price of Lagavulin. At just over $21 a bottle I was shocked. My closest Trader Joe's is St Louis, about 100 miles. Luckily I have a friend that makes the trip nearly every month and I have a standing order with him for a couple bottles. There are many other single malts that are excellent and the area of the country of Scotland it is distilled in will have a very definite bearing on the flavor.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Except that Maker's Mark, George Dickel and Old Forester also make Whisky, not Whiskey, even though they're American. Gotta love the marketing guys.

The first part is true, I also doubt the second part without some sort of documentation.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

For single malt Islay, Lagavuin.
For a blended, Chivas Regal 18 Yr old for the price...

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i5k4I1AOEI

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UNDER THE CONE OF SILENCE

Yea I ment the 2nd part. I know they were into whiskey running but Senior made a ton of money in the stock market before the fall. In fact the reason he wasn't effected was because he pulled out before it fell. The stock market spike was partially caused by the the fact that for the first time in history any avg Joe could buy stocks. When his shoe shine boy told Kennedy that he was trying to invest Kennedy pulled his money out. Saying that if any idiot can participate then there is no room for me

Actually, the saying in Scotland apparently is (according to a friend whose mother hails from Edinburgh) "Single Malts are for tasting, blends are for drinking."
By far the most-sold Scotch in Scotland itself is the Famous Grouse, a pretty decent blend which I like better than Johnnie Walker red label for an everyday Scotch.

I find Talisker a bit peaty for my taste. Fortunately, there are enough different brands that I'm not forced to drink it.

For the most part, I like MaCallan, although it's hard to beat The Balvenie. Double Wood is good, Portwood is much better, but beyond my price range.

The only blend I like is Famous Grouse. It's part MaCallan and part something else.

Earlier tonight I had some Johnie Walker Blue that was given to a friend of mine. I wasn't impressed. It was smooth, but I didn't find the flavor particularly appealing.

I've had the Japanese Yamazaki. They can't call it Scotch because it's not made in Scotland. I found it very tasty.

Fortunately I have a couple of friends who are well off and share my taste in Scotch and cigars.

Speaking of MaCallan, the day I retired my partner came over to me with a tall, thin, brown bag. Inside was a bottle of MaCallan 18. He's not a Scotch drinker, so he was going by what the guy at the store told him. He asked me if it was an OK Scotch. I assured him that it was more than OK. He told me that he didn't want me to just put it on a shelf, he wanted me to drink and enjoy it.

I did.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Give Hamish his due. He never actually peed into the barrel (except to put the fire out ) and even then there was no real proof as the distiller was asleep at the time.

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Forum consigliere

Oh yeah, Glenlivet, Glenfiddich et al, but I also like Tullamore Dew and Guinness

Lagavulin, yeah!

Actually, I don't drink much -- shouldn't drink at all because I'm diabetic -- but every so often a shot of a good single malt puts a nice end to the day. It takes me nearly a year to get through a standard bottle, and I've been known to use it in cooking. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't.

Not sure why I like Lagavulin so much. Other Islay scotches leave me cold. I think it's the peat flavor. I suspect I would happily drink the rawest 'shine you can imagine if it had been filtered through a brick of peat.

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David Wilson

I fully agree with the old saying from Scotland; "Blends are for drinking, single malts are for tasting." Over the years I have tried almost all of the names mentioned except "Lagavuin". I have a Trader Joe's fairly close and I will be driving right by it tomorrow. I'm going to stop in a see if they have Lagavuin in stock. ................... Big Cholla

This is my kind of thread!!!!

I drank some Cutty Sark when I was 16, tasted like someone had
washed out their socks in kerosene. At this time our taste buds
were honed with "fresh" rye that taste similar to broken glass.
Now, Hudson Bay Finest Rye. 33 yrs. old....smoooooooooth!

I spent a lot of money one summer years ago trying to acquire a taste for Scotch of any kind. Fortunately I failed and still drink rum, beer, and cheap wine.

This thread is makin me thirsty, Yes I like Scotch my favorites are Talisker and Glenfiddich

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Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

Have you tried Glenmorangie?

Thewelshm

I like Scotch but rarely drink it. That may change however. Christmas my visiting nephew from San Francisco had a buddy from who lived near us drop over and he gave me a bottle of Macallan 12 year old single malt. What a nice gift from a total stranger.

Ah, the Contrarian Theory of Investing! If Joe Kennedy said the above, then he was right and I agree with him.

The synopsis of the theory holds that whenever everyone is buying, it is time to sell. Not surprisingly, when everyone is selling, it is time to buy.

Notice how the market keeps reaching new record highs? It appears everyone is buying.

More on topic is the fact that I cannot do Scotch. Irish whisky, on the other hand, is another deal completely!

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... a little behind in my work

I never cared for Scotch until I tasted my first real single malt. Glenlivet is a fine old whisky, the 12 year old is the only Scotch my wife likes. My favorite is the Bowmore, I like a slight taste of peat. I knew a guy that had an immense Scotch whisky collection, even had his own barrel. He introduced us to the the fine tastes of Scotch whisky. I'm also a big fan of rye whiskys and have a stash of Crown Royal for special cases of illness that have me spending alot of time in my chair with blanket and hot toddy. My wife was gargling with whisky to help her with her sore throat and cough, I approved wholeheartadly, she asked me if I had more whisky, I checked to see what damage she had done and found that she had been gargling with my Crown Royal Special Reserve, she said "That stuff sure is smooth." I told her she would have to suffer with regular Crown Royal, she was slightly crestfallen but found it was acceptable. I used to prefer bourbons but once I started drinking ryes up in Canada I was ruined, pretty tough to beat a rye for smoothness. My granddad's moonshine recipe called for corn but I'm sure if rye was available he would have used that as well.

As has been stated, The. MacCallan (18is best IMHO), The Balvenie Doublewood or, if you can, Portwood, and Haig & Haig Pinch 15 or Famous Grouse Black. Quite surprisingly, the Costco simgle malt is pretty darn good! It's a Speyside, and rumor nas it that it's made at MacCallan.

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Even older, even crankier....

In this elevated bunch of sophisticated drinkers, I was hesitant to mention 'Speyside'. I tried it and was impressed as the quality/taste/value was sure there. Glad that you did. I will bet dollars to doughnuts that you are right about the maker. I know a high level manager of Costco headquarters. The first time I get a chance I will ask him flat out about their 'Speyside.' ................ Big Cholla

Not to go all "whiskey nerdy" on you, but you do realize that Canadian whiskies are made mostly from corn, frequently more than some of the high-rye Kentucky bourbons?
In fact, whiskey historians generally blame the illegal influx of soft corn-based Canadian whisky into the US during Prohibition for the decline of (real) rye whiskey in the US and the shift to the prevalence of the softer, less spicy corn-based bourbons once whiskey was legal again.
The story why Canadian whisky is frequently called "rye" is a bit nebulous, but these days you have to be careful with the terminology since lately there are so many excellent real rye whiskeys being made here. The only Canadian whiskies that are definitely real ryes, actually rare 100%ers, are those from Alberta Distillers in Calgary.

I have and it didn't "knock my socks off". There was something about the lingering aftertaste that while wasn't terrible, wasn't what I expected in a good quality Scotch. I am not a sophisticate when it comes to drinking Scotch with water or soda water, but a single malt I will only drink with a maximum of 1 cube of ice. Glenmorangie didn't do it for me. ......... Big Cholla

Scotch is good stuff. My regular imbibement is Balvenie Double Wood, but I also really like Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or.

A nice Bourbon is A-OK with me once in awhile too.

Johnnie Walker Black or Double Black. Scotch is the only kind of Whisky
I drink anymore. I've tried a number of Single Malts but none of them
compare to the better blends in my opinion.

I never had to develop a taste for Scotch. Dewar's was the first I tried,(ashamed to tell my age at the time) and I liked it. I will occasionally still enjoy a neat drink of whatever's handed me when visiting a scotch drinking friend. I don't think I've had the pleasure of a single malt. I need to put that on my tumbler list!

In the last few years I've discovered that bourbon is my drink of choice. Like scotch, some bourbons are of course better than others, but so far I've yet to find one that wasn't palatable.

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GOA
USA Shooting Supporter

I have to agree with Cdog to this extent. While I dearly enjoy single malt Scotch Whiskey I also enjoy some of the upscale Bourbons crafted right here in the USA. While having a totally different flavor they can be an incredibly smooth and enjoyable drink.
Jim