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teleblaster
Malt of the month in my local pub is Bendromach, a 10 year old Speyside single malt. Very nice it is too.

And now a choice of the above or Old Pulteney, a 12 year old from the Wick area in the far north of the country. More marine than the Bendromach. At £1.95 for 35ml of either, my cup runneth over!

I received a bottle of Glenfiddich last Christmas. Never was much of a fan of scotch but I must say I learned to love it. I am due for another bottle actually.

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Shantipole
I received a bottle of Glenfiddich last Christmas. Never was much of a fan of scotch but I must say I learned to love it. I am due for another bottle actually.

I prefer Glenlivet...I've had a bottle of the Glenfiddich for a few years now...I only go to it if I've run out!

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treaclefingers

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Shantipole
I received a bottle of Glenfiddich last Christmas. Never was much of a fan of scotch but I must say I learned to love it. I am due for another bottle actually.

I prefer Glenlivet...I've had a bottle of the Glenfiddich for a few years now...I only go to it if I've run out!

12 yr, either or...
15 yr, I prefer Glenlivit
18 yr, Glenfiddich is good, still need to try Glenlivit.

vodka killed my boyfriend so . nein !

Tamnavulin - From the heart of the glen of the river Livet.
Surrounded by beautiful scenery.

Friday merits a robust Islay malt - Bunnahabhain per chance. Name means "Foot of the river" but can be drank anywhere eh Mr Tblaster.

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belld
Friday merits a robust Islay malt - Bunnahabhain per chance. Name means "Foot of the river" but can be drank anywhere eh Mr Tblaster.

"A bit of a woman's drink" as the postmaster in Finlaggan advised me. I went for a bottle of Caol Ila instead. Will try to track down a bottle or three of that for pagan sampling at Ne'erday. Tesco in Kirkwall stocked it when I was there a few months back, but I think they must have watered it down as I got through it very quickly.

It'll be Old Pulteney with a Guinness chaser for me tonight. No doubt you will have your nose in the Aldi Grouse trough!

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teleblaster

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belld
Friday merits a robust Islay malt - Bunnahabhain per chance. Name means "Foot of the river" but can be drank anywhere eh Mr Tblaster.

"A bit of a woman's drink" as the postmaster in Finlaggan advised me. I went for a bottle of Caol Ila instead. Will try to track down a bottle or three of that for pagan sampling at Ne'erday. Tesco in Kirkwall stocked it when I was there a few months back, but I think they must have watered it down as I got through it very quickly.

It'll be Old Pulteney with a Guinness chaser for me tonight. No doubt you will have your nose in the Aldi Grouse trough!

Caol Ila or Bunnahabhain? First a pale soft drink for mermaids second a real drink for macho seals. Guinness? a soft drink for leprechauns and no trough you apprentice a loch full of the low flyer. Alpha males?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2013-12-13 22:39 by belld.

Mr T blaster after Oban I intend to board the MV Isle Mull and drop into the Mishnish for a Tobermory. Will then charter a Bowmans waterbus and head across the Sound of Jura to Feolin for a local sensation. Then back over the water to Isle of Islay to catch a local taxi geared up for a Distillery Grand Tour. Finally fly back to Glesca Airport and take a fast Black to the Broon Coo for last orders.
East to West Dramming always the wisest route.

I am really enjoying Talisker on this Christmas evening, love the smokey,peaty flavour and smooth as you like. Joy in a bottle! Merry Christmas to all on IORR.

Any.

Something that outta make a lot of people here happy, abstaining from alcohol can shorten your life:

[content.time.com]

Bourbon’s Masters of the Craft

With the approach of the Kentucky Derby, you can bet a lot of bourbon will be consumed. Nowadays, that’s nothing new.

Over the last decade, bourbon has been on the kind of streak that horseplayers can only dream about. This is particularly true of the most expensive bourbons: not merely high-end ones, but those that are super-premium, in the parlance of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, a trade association. From 2004 to 2013, sales of these bourbons and Tennessee whiskeys more than tripled, to more than 1.2 million cases from 385,000. Among super-premium whiskeys, this rate of increase has been matched by only that of Irish whiskey, though the volume sold is puny alongside bourbon.

Bourbon had already begun its roll when the spirits panel last visited it, in late 2007. The bourbon industry had quite successfully been making up for lost time. In the last quarter of the 20th century, it had ceded much of the spirits field to other, better-marketed choices. Older aesthetes had abandoned bourbon, which was associated with rural rustics and the fedora generation, for the new single-malt Scotches. Younger drinkers had become enamored with vodka, which capitalized on slick marketing and fanciful bar preparations.

Recognizing the urgency of the moment, bourbon distillers successfully overhauled themselves as a significant option for connoisseurs. Instead of the inexpensive mass-market bourbons that for so long had been the industry’s focus, a new array of small-batch, single-barrel and special-selection bourbons emphasized the complexity and elegance prized by whiskey experts.

This was not simply marketing. It required recognition that bourbon could offer excellence. Rather than diluting greatness by tossing exceptional barrels of whiskey in with the mass of mediocre stuff, distillers realized that a small but significant group of consumers thirsted for what was exceptional. American society had given birth in the last 30 years to a connoisseur class for comestibles and beverages, whether for beer, barbecue, pizza, wine or cocktails. Whiskey was no different.

This was where matters stood in 2007. But bourbon has continued to evolve. Books exploring the spirit and its distillers have come out, including recently “Bourbon: A History of the American Spirit” by Dane Huckelbridge, and “Kentucky Bourbon Country: The Essential Travel Guide” by Susan Reigler. Cult bourbons have emerged, like Pappy Van Winkle (which incidentally was No. 1 in our 2007 tasting, when you could still find it at retail shops). Most significantly, small craft distillers have turned their attention to bourbon.

In 2007, when Sean Josephs opened Char No. 4, a whiskey bar and restaurant in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, he said he knew of only two American craft distillers. “Since then, the category has exploded,” said Sean, who is also an owner of Maysville in the Flatiron district.

This time, we focused on only bourbons from craft distillers. For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Sean and Robert Simonson, who writes frequently on drinks for the Dining section.

Bourbon can be made anywhere in the United States, not just in Kentucky, though that state and a handful of big distillers, who comprise dozens of different brands, account for roughly 90 percent of the world’s bourbon. By law, bourbon must be distilled from grains made up of at least 51 percent corn, and the whiskey must be stored in charred new oak barrels before bottling at 80 proof or higher. If it is aged in charred oak for two years or more, it qualifies as straight bourbon whiskey.

It is easy to understand the appeal of small craft distillers. Given the perception that corporate ownership diminishes the so-called authenticity of foods and beverages by focusing more on profits and efficiency than quality and craftsmanship, connoisseurs may be drawn to those distillers the way they are to microbrewers and family wine estates. Throw in the attraction of the local — small distilleries can be found all over the country, with more than 30 in New York State alone — and you have a formula for obsession. Of our top 10 bourbons, five came from New York, two from Colorado and one each from Tennessee, Ohio and Illinois.

Yet, as the panel found previously with gin, craft distillers are not automatically successful with bourbon. Or, to be more precise, newer distillers are not always better bourbon producers.

full story:
[www.nytimes.com]

Any thoughts on a good but reasonably priced French cognac or brandy?
Thanks!

I'm not a big drinker stonesrule, a few glasses of wine and I'm done for, but I do like a sip of brandy now and then. Can't pretend to know what I'm drinking, but the NYTimes is always a great place to start when you're looking for some spirit advice.

[www.nytimes.com]


Cheers!

LB, VERY thoughtful of you.
I shall go "a tasting.." and will report back.

I used to spend much time in France and loved to shop around for Cognac but prices have skyrocketed.

I'm blaming this sudden desire on the thought of Erik's blue arm!

Yamazaki 12 or 18yo

Clan MacGregor, Glasgow's finest, blended. Love it!

I can tell you what I knew about Keith and Ronnie's drinking preference in the 80's. They enjoyed Old Granddad and Jack Daniels and alternated from one to the other each day as they were convinced doing this would lessen their hangovers. I never doubted they were right..

So what was their cure for a hangover, D&G? I'm sure that would be of great interest here on this Sunday morning...

Talisker!

Roll a few cubes of ice around in a rocks glass, and then top it off with some Bookers Bourbon whiskey. A little pricy, but not as sweet as Jack, and goes down really smooth. That is what I was drinking when I was on my Whiskey kick...which I revisit occasionally.

OK...rather than start a new thread, thought I'd update y'all on a recent happening:

[www.telegraph.co.uk]

Crown Royal was named as the world's best whisky this year!

Just wondering if we could now throw RYE in the thread title?!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-11-23 02:39 by treaclefingers.

Last year I got this one for Christmas very nice so I ordered a new one ............



__________________________

These pretzels are making me thirsty!

For Kentucky bourbons I don't think you can beat Woodford Reserve.

"Take all the pain...It's yours anyway"