Any One for a Scotch? - Page 134

Had a second chance to taste the raved about Maccallan 12, not a fan to be honest...way to oily for me, finish seems a bit off. More than just sherried (which I like) almost buttery. Not enough bite.

It's a gateway scotch. That's the one I usually pour for friends who would like to get into scotch.

 

Well now that's just crazy talk. Are you saying that you prefer the 12 to both the 15 and the 18? 

 

But it does reinforce that beyond the presence or absence of outright technical flaws, everything is subjective in this pursuit.

 

Then a lot of the older core expressions probably won't turn your crank either. Congratulations, as you just saved yourself a ton of money!

 

That said, you might give the G&M Speymalt bottlings from 1988/90/91 a try. Still tons of Macallan character but not as soft. If you're looking for bite, the undated Cask Strength might also be up your alley.

 

I really like the 15 yr old French Oak but if you didn't like the 'buttery' finish of the 12, I can't imagine you'd like the stronger oak character.

No, the 18 is far superior, but I like the 12 more than the 15.

Actually, I can kind of see that. The 15 uses American oak barrels whereas the 12 and 18 use Spanish oak and are a touch more wherried (although nothing compared to the Macallan). The latter two are more birds of a feather.

How come that malts like Talisker 30 have added colouring agents? Shouldn't 30 years in casks be sufficient? Or do some online shops just write it when they aren't sure to avoid legal charges?

If it has them, it's probably just to even out the variation across barrels (which might become more pronounced with greater age).

Not scotch, but I'm stoked that my go to place called me and informed me that a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 20 is waiting for me whenever I'm ready!

^ Nice! Dare I ask how much? I saw a bottle in a local store the other day for $600. Two years ago it was around $100, IIRC.

I'm on a waiting list here for the 15 year. Whole county is sold out. The 15 year is $62, the 20 year is $100. But...you have to wait a year+ to get any. People are probably flipping the stuff at that price.

Its up to $124...the 15 was at $79, I had my choice but they only got 4 bottles in.

Don't forget: age statements are not always indicative of quality or superiority. There are several scotches where the younger whisky is superior (or sometimes even more expensive!) than the older whisky. Lagavulin 12 comes to mind, on both counts.

There is definitely a sweet spot, value- and quality-wise, with many scotches. I think the HP 12 is very good. I was not blown away enough by the HP 18 to buy it (solely because of price), but it is a fine whisky. I have a bottle of the HP 21 (original 47.5 ABV dutyfree) that I love, but at its price I would rather buy the HP 18 and something else. See? Clear as mud.

Carry on....

often the case with Cognacs as well, I'm finding many more in the VS and VSOP age range that are tastier than their counterparts in the XO range.

 

Yep - I think I said something to this effect about the 25 yr old Macallan a couple pages back in this thread. I was commenting specifically on the HP, where I think the 15 and 18 are each significant steps up. The 30 yr old is nice, but I think I prefer the 18. Haven't had any in between - wasn't the 21 bottled only for duty free stores?

 

I don't have much knowledge of cognac, but I like the bottle of 25 yr old XO Francois Peyrot in my cabinet. Anyone here tried Tesseron? They seem to be the latest small house to generate buzz.