Whiskey Thread

[CultExciter]

I bought a bottle of Elmer T Lee recently. For a $25 bottle of bourbon, it was pretty impressive. Pretty smooth on the top-end. Finishes like rye.

[RoryQ]

A buddy of mine gave a bottle of this as a late christmas present ... This is the kind of present I can get behind. Finished in bourbon casks first of all and then the sauternes casks for extra maturation.

It'll be interesting. Port and sherry finish whisky I've tried from the likes of Balvenie have been very appealing if you're looking for something easy to drink after dinner...

[Abellve]

I haven't had that, but their LaSanta in the sherry cask is amazing. So much whisky, so little time.

[Gregor]

I love a nice bottle of J & B rare (despite my attempts at boycotting Diageo), can go on about all the fancy poncy single malt whiskeys there are , but sometimes a nice blend does the business. Someone gave me a bottle of Grants too , I'll crack that open when I need to clean my paintbrushes ! Cant believe the same company makes Glenfiddich ...

[RoryQ]

I hear Ballantine's Finest is a pretty amazing blended whiskey... Jim Murray (Whiskey bible?) seems to consistently rate it highly.

[Gregor]

I cant stop going on about William Lawsons thats the best blended Whiskey I have tasted. With single Malts I lean towards Macallan, Auchentoshan or Glengoyne, Lawsons is just as good IMO

[CaptCanada]

I've been eyeing a bottle of Talisker, how do you guys feel about about it... Good buy our money better spent else where.

Sorry my phone auto-corrected Talisker.

[Gregor]

Talisker = Diageo so I wouldnt buy it. Its a nice dram tho . Its from Skye rather than Islay so it doesnt have that peaty medicinal quality you get with the likes of Laphraog

[CaptCanada]

Why the hate for diageo if I may ask?

[Gregor]

They closed down their Kilmarnock plant (the place that makes Johnny Walkers and also where it originates from ) after 192 years ! Basically tore the heart out of a small working class town on the west of Scotland

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | Glasgow, Lanarkshire and West | Salmond slams Diageo management

[RoryQ]

I didn't know that about Diageo, Gregor. Unfortunately they own a shitload of Irish distilleries as well. In fact, the very last Irish-owned distiller (Cooley Distillers) sold out to Jim Beam earlier this year / late last year. It's a shame.

I've had a few Taliskers, from 10 year old to (I think) 15 year old. All very nice - peaty but not as heavy-duty as most Islay offerings, as the man said.

[Gregor]

Just about every popular spirit brand you can think of from Smirnoff to Jose Cuervo is owned by them ...

Whisk(e)y

[IanBurkhart]

I was always fond of Kessler and Jim Beam.

[Tight-Lines]

Touche on the Jim.

It was recently my day of birth, and my cousin bought me a bottle of Ardbeg Uigeadail. Holy shit... I forgot how much that bottle tasted like Dagobah.

[RoryQ]

@dcostello

I had a glass of uigedail last night, oddly.

[Tight-Lines]

Awesome. We were drinking twins 6,000+ miles away.

[DRABFURS]

I just purchased a Johnnie Walker Double Black....on special in Sainsburys £28

Roll on home time !!!!

[RoryQ]

Wow, that's a pretty good deal.

Got a Brekkle's Brown (Anchor), 2 Liberty Ales and 2 Anchor Steam in the fridge. Unfortunately I'm also working Saturday and Sunday morning so it's unlikely I'll drink 'em (all).

[Jack]

Drinking Islay whikys at my buddies house, 12 year Bowmore. On ice. So right.

[Abellve]

Just did a 300 mile round trip from PA, up one side of Seneca Lake and down the other with the main mission being a stop at Finger Lakes Distilling. They have such good stuff there. I tried their new pot still Irish style whiskey and their White Pike, both good. Somehow I ended up getting two bottles of rye. Should've mixed it up in the whiskey department but their rye is particularly good. I had never been into rye til I had theirs.

I came down from that lake with 8 bottles in that bag...2 wine, 2 gin, 2 rye and 2 brandy...and a couple of wine glasses that actually survived the trip without breaking.

[Androosh]

@Abellve - I am envious of your Triumph.

[Abellve]

Thanks, man. I've sworn at it and sweated over it a ton but it's my one good "thing".

[Androosh]

Thanks, man. I've sworn at it and sweated over it a ton but it's my one good "thing".

I feel the same way about my marriage. What color was it originally?

[Abellve]

When I bought it, it was already pretty far from original in little ways but it was black and silver. I don't know what it was originally. This Mist Green is the color from the next year's competition model.

...yeah, I know what you mean about the marriage thing. Fourteen years tomorrow.

[RoryQ]

Bought a bottle of Teeling Hybrid a few days ago as a Christmas present for a friend (yeah, I do my shopping super early).

It's an interesting product for a few reasons. First of all, it's the first offering from Teeling whisky, which is a brand spanking new independent Irish-owned distillery. It was set up by the former owners of Cooley Distilling, which was an independent Irish-owned distillery until it sold to Beam International last year for megabucks.

Teeling Hybrid is a bit of an unusual choice for their first release. The name comes from the fact that its a mixture of Irish blended whisky (Connemara from Cooley) and Bruichladdick Islay whiskey. It sounds weird but the reviews say that it actually works pretty well taste-wise. The idea of mixing Scottish and Irish whiskies is unorthodox and from what I've read the Scottish Whiskey Association more or less had a fit when they found out about it (guess they see it as some sort of bastardisation of a national treasure).