Huntsman
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Well, jpierpont, I understand that chocolate and scotch is an excellent combination, but that concoction is to overblown for good scotch -- scotch is a drink of elegance and subtlety. Of course, you may enjoy that combination, but use cheap scotch, Johnnie Walker Red or Dewar's or something like that.
Otherwise, it would be like having a mimosa with Dom Perignon.
The two primary divisions in scotch are the blended scotches (Johnnie Walker, Ballantine, Ambasssador, Cutty Sark) and Single Malts, which are a product of a single distillery. Now, Blended scotches have a high proportion of grain whiskey blended with the malt whiskey, which dilutes the character. Of the Blended whiskeys, I second Kalra's reccomendation of JW Black Label, and I'll explain the reasons why in a moment.
As for single malts, they are the best because they are not diluted and they show the unique character of the ingrediants (especially the water), the house style, and the land in their flavours. The 80-odd Single malt distilleries are generally divided into certain regions, and of them, Highland, Speyside, Lowland, and ISlay are the most common.
I drink scotches from all the regions, depending on mood -- their is a whiskey for nearly all moods -- but Highland and Speyside whiskeys are my usual drink. They are elegant and gentle. Available favs for me are Macallan (quite common in a decent bar), Cragganmore, and the aforementioned Dalwhinnie. The Islay scotches are the most distinctive of all, having their malt roasted over peat-fed fires, and believe me, the smoke really comes through. Bowmore is a good first if you want to try and Islay, and Laphroig (sp) is a seriously smoky scotch. I also like Talisker, which is a compromise between a Speyside and an Islay -- a little smokey, but has the nice caramelly notes of a Speyside.
As for Glenfiddich, yes it is an approachable scotch. But I do find that of all the scotches, Glenfiddich has the most herbal notes -- by herbal I mean it has a nose and flavour of grassy, green things, and is unique in that manner. I personally prefer the richer caramel notes of other scotches.
Back to JW Black -- that particular blend has a quite low proportion of diluting grain whiskey, and most of the malt whiskey in it is from Highland and Speyside, so it is my standard indulgence.
Best way (generally agreed) to drink scotch is at ambient temp, or slightly chilled, with water added up to 20% the volume of the scotch. Some like soda, or scotch on the rocks. I do rocks sometimes, but most often just drop one in my scotch -- it cools it a little and dilutes it just right for me.
Oh, and if you need a dessert-y scotch drink, do, do, do have a rusty nail as Kalra mentioned. it's 1:1 or 1:1.5 ration of scotch to Drambuie, Drambuie being a sweet scotch liquor. Oh, and Kalra, a 'dram' is a unit of measure...
I've also heard that scotch, neat, with warm chocolate chip cookies has the above-mentioned effect. I don't need that assistance, so I haven't tried it. I might be impelled to try a square of Lindt bittersweet chocolate with scotch, but usually pair it with an assertive Cabernet or Port.
Regards,
Huntsman (can you tell that I like my scotch? ;-) )
Otherwise, it would be like having a mimosa with Dom Perignon.
The two primary divisions in scotch are the blended scotches (Johnnie Walker, Ballantine, Ambasssador, Cutty Sark) and Single Malts, which are a product of a single distillery. Now, Blended scotches have a high proportion of grain whiskey blended with the malt whiskey, which dilutes the character. Of the Blended whiskeys, I second Kalra's reccomendation of JW Black Label, and I'll explain the reasons why in a moment.
As for single malts, they are the best because they are not diluted and they show the unique character of the ingrediants (especially the water), the house style, and the land in their flavours. The 80-odd Single malt distilleries are generally divided into certain regions, and of them, Highland, Speyside, Lowland, and ISlay are the most common.
I drink scotches from all the regions, depending on mood -- their is a whiskey for nearly all moods -- but Highland and Speyside whiskeys are my usual drink. They are elegant and gentle. Available favs for me are Macallan (quite common in a decent bar), Cragganmore, and the aforementioned Dalwhinnie. The Islay scotches are the most distinctive of all, having their malt roasted over peat-fed fires, and believe me, the smoke really comes through. Bowmore is a good first if you want to try and Islay, and Laphroig (sp) is a seriously smoky scotch. I also like Talisker, which is a compromise between a Speyside and an Islay -- a little smokey, but has the nice caramelly notes of a Speyside.
As for Glenfiddich, yes it is an approachable scotch. But I do find that of all the scotches, Glenfiddich has the most herbal notes -- by herbal I mean it has a nose and flavour of grassy, green things, and is unique in that manner. I personally prefer the richer caramel notes of other scotches.
Back to JW Black -- that particular blend has a quite low proportion of diluting grain whiskey, and most of the malt whiskey in it is from Highland and Speyside, so it is my standard indulgence.
Best way (generally agreed) to drink scotch is at ambient temp, or slightly chilled, with water added up to 20% the volume of the scotch. Some like soda, or scotch on the rocks. I do rocks sometimes, but most often just drop one in my scotch -- it cools it a little and dilutes it just right for me.
Oh, and if you need a dessert-y scotch drink, do, do, do have a rusty nail as Kalra mentioned. it's 1:1 or 1:1.5 ration of scotch to Drambuie, Drambuie being a sweet scotch liquor. Oh, and Kalra, a 'dram' is a unit of measure...
I've also heard that scotch, neat, with warm chocolate chip cookies has the above-mentioned effect. I don't need that assistance, so I haven't tried it. I might be impelled to try a square of Lindt bittersweet chocolate with scotch, but usually pair it with an assertive Cabernet or Port.
Regards,
Huntsman (can you tell that I like my scotch? ;-) )