Any One for a Scotch?

[chrisjr]

http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/lcbo/product/inventory/searchResults.do?language=EN&itemNumber=192732
Damn so much for getting a bottle for $30-35. I like the consistency of the LCBO but hate how they gouge.

 

[Piobaire]



lol I was there yesterday. Talk about camel toe city... I will get a bottle for safe keeping. I just hope they were stored properly.

Spirits are not wine. Don't worry about how they were stored.

 

[I<3Bacon]

To a certain extent. You don't want to store them on their sides like wine because the cork will influence the spirit but you want to make sure that cork touches some moisture every couple years or so (or so the experts say).

 

[Piobaire]



To a certain extent. You don't want to store them on their sides like wine because the cork will influence the spirit but you want to make sure that cork touches some moisture every couple years or so (or so the experts say).

Yeah, but a company like CostCo is all about velocity of inventory turns. It's not holding onto pallets of JW...or any item for that matter...for any longer than it takes to get them on the floor.

 

[I<3Bacon]

For sure. Bottom line is if your Costco has Lagavulin 16yr for less than $60, you best not be caught sleeping.

 

[GQgeek]

Lag 16 for $51? **** i hate canada.

 

[Kid Nickels]

here's the Glenmorangie sampler I picked up for $38 the other day!

 

[azazel246]

+1 on the Dalmore 12 yo. Wonderful single malt.

 

[Althis]

I'm about to buy my first bottles of scotch and am looking at Macallan 12 year and Laphroaig 10 year. As a college student, I mostly drink Jack Daniels and cheap Jameson and am not sure what to expect. I hope I like what I find.

Actually, after reading through more of this thread, it seems that many do not recommend the Laphroaig as a beginner scotch, any other ideas?

 

[cptjeff]



I'm about to buy my first bottles of scotch and am looking at Macallan 12 year and Laphroaig 10 year. As a college student, I mostly drink Jack Daniels and cheap Jameson and am not sure what to expect. I hope I like what I find.

It'll be an interesting experience. Jameson is actually a decent spirit, and a typical example of the irish whiskey category, which, after a recent trip to ireland, I find myself rather familiar with. Irish whiskey prides itself on the character of the barley. They roast it without any smoke and typically use very pure spring water to make the whiskey to highlight the character. They also use neutral spirit to cut the stuff made from the malt to spread out the flavors, similar to what a lot of whiskey drinkers do with water after the fact. It maintains the strength while separating the flavors, so to speak. There's a reason that until fairly recently, single malt anything was fairly niche. And Irish whiskey was generally considered the more approachable cousin to scotch.

Now, I don't like Jameson as much as some other Irish whiskeys, simply because I find it too simple and refined. It achieves its objectives perfectly- it's a simple description of barley in spirit form. I like some other irish whiskeys that have other notes in them as well, from whatever factor, or are denser in flavor, like the few irish single malts available.

Point is, Jameson ain't rotgut.

Jack Daniels is a Bourbon. It's made from corn and freshly charred oak barrels. Like other bourbons (I don't buy the Tennessee Whiskey bit- by the US government definition, it's Bourbon. Yes, they filter it through Charcoal. So do other Bourbons.) It's sweet (due to the corn), smoky, and I don't know of a better way to put it, meaty.


Scotch is made from barley and aged in recycled oak. It's dry, unlike bourbon, due to the mashbill, similar to the irish whiskey. But Scotch Whisky (as it's spelled there) welcomes, rather than avoids, the flavor complexities introduced in the process of making the whisky. The barley is dried over peat fires, lending a smoky taste. The water is often tinged with peat from the local bogs, lending a peaty taste. The aging introduces flavors as well. Salt, heather (from the air blowing over the fields, of course!), fruit, from wherever in god's name it comes from...

The proportion of those ingredients will vary based on regional style. Islay scotches will be high in peat and smoke. Speyside scotches will be high in salt and heather. Lowland (not around much these days) will put the focus on the barley. Highland can be just about anything, though they're generally less sweet and grassy than speyside and less peaty and smoky than islay.

If you're into complex and relatively dry whisky, you'll love scotch. I'm personally a fan of just about everything, I have an islay single malt and a speyside blended in the cabinet right now, along with a bourbon and an irish, so I'm not gonna make calls on good or bad. You're looking at a speyside and an islay, and they couldn't be more different. The Laphroaig will be loaded with smoke and peat, while a speyside whisky like McCallan will have pretty much none. You should, at some point, try examples of each style, a couple of times (sometimes people react badly to unfamiliar flavors, even if they wind up really loving them once they're over the shock) and figure out what you like best, unless you're somebody who, like me, winds up loving virtually all styles. In which case you're doomed to a lifetime of keeping a wide variety of (probably expensive) spirits on hand to suit your mood and cocktail idea on any given day.




Also, long winded posts like this are what two 4 oz, high proof cocktails can do to you. You have no idea how handy firefox's built in spell check is.

 

[Althis]

Thanks for the overview! I definitely prefer the Jameson over Jack Daniels which led me to want to try scotch. I'm also considering getting a bottle of Makers Mark or Knob Creek to see if I'm just being put off by the taste of Jack Daniels as a generalization of bourbon. I was interested in the peaty and smoky taste of the Laphroaig and how it's pretty much the complete opposite of the sweeter, honeyish(?) Macallan because I wanted to try different ends of the spectrum, but some say that it's too overpowering for a beginner? Am I better off getting something more mild as a middleground?

Also, I might as well get a couple Glencairn glasses if I'm gonna do it right.

 

[Alter]

Kudos to cptjeff for the informative post.

 

[cptjeff]



Thanks for the overview! I definitely prefer the Jameson over Jack Daniels which led me to want to try scotch. I'm also considering getting a bottle of Makers Mark or Knob Creek to see if I'm just being put off by the taste of Jack Daniels as a generalization of bourbon. I was interested in the peaty and smoky taste of the Laphroaig and how it's pretty much the complete opposite of the sweeter, honeyish(?) Macallan because I wanted to try different ends of the spectrum, but some say that it's too overpowering for a beginner? Am I better off getting something more mild as a middleground?
Also, I might as well get a couple Glencairn glasses if I'm gonna do it right.

I might try some of each in a bar first. If you really think you'll like a certain profile, go ahead and jump right in. But single malts are pricey for a college student (been there, done that) so I would be careful not to buy something I would hate. But I enjoy both ends of the spectrum, you very well might as well.

And yes, trying other Bourbons is worth a shot. Buy a few older than jack, and try a few with different mashbills than jack. Maker's Mark uses no rye, but rather wheat. It leads to an entirely different character. Also, a little more aging smoothes the edges on bourbon and brings out different notes. Try the Evan Williams 1783 (which is a 10 year) or the Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage (a better 10 year). There are lots of better bourbons available, but Evan Williams and the folks at Heaven Hill do it for a lower price than many of the others. Hell, their standard Black Label is pretty good as well, aged longer than jack, better flavor than jack (imo) and at a lower price.

Don't bother with fancy glassware. Any old tumbler will do just fine, I've been using a pewter Jefferson cup lately.

 

[Althis]

Wound up getting a Macallan 10 year fine oak (they didn't have the 12 year), Glenlivet 12 year, and Glenfiddich 12 year. They didn't have the Laphroaig so I decided to try speysides first and go from there. Also got a glencairn glass since they were only 10 bucks. They seemed like decent choices as starters and I know they're pretty much the most commonly found cheaper scotch.

 

[Kid Nickels]



Wound up getting a Macallan 10 year fine oak (they didn't have the 12 year), Glenlivet 12 year, and Glenfiddich 12 year. They didn't have the Laphroaig so I decided to try speysides first and go from there. Also got a glencairn glass since they were only 10 bucks. They seemed like decent choices as starters and I know they're pretty much the most commonly found cheaper scotch.

sure that's a good start... like cptjeff said, try different varieties, take mental notes, try again and keep having fun!