mitchshrader
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2006
- Messages
- 146
It's a shame that Michael Jackson (the whisky reviewer) shares a name with an infamous entertainer.
Good whisky gets lots better with age, bad whisky improves a little bit.
Proper casking matters, greatly, to add flavor. You can't age booze in a bottle.
Hotter climates age whisky faster.
Charred Oak adds vanilla and honey and caramel tastes.. Sherry casks add raisen and apple and nut tastes..
New oak adds wood and clove and cinnamon tastes..
Old whisky that's aged in dirt floored warehouses will get a musty, antique OLD taste to it.. that reminds me of a wet old dog.. (ever had a retriever in a duck blind with you?)
Peat fades in older liquour, with bourbon casks holding that taste longest and sherry casks covering it up soonest..
Heavily peated liquour will *usually* stand more age without becoming over the hill.. which is somewhere over 25 and under 50 for most scottish malts.
Average Maturity seems to be 15 to 25, depending on storage conditions, for colder climates. The same casks in warmer climates might take half the time.
If the 18 year old version isn't wonderful, they did something wrong. That's enough time.
Just don't drink 80 proof liquour. Life's too short.
Cask strength liquour is an improvement, after the liquour gets mature. Before that, it's just a way to make the flavour more impressive.
If you're not willing to spend what good malts cost, and seek cheaper alternatives, lemon schweppes and vodka is tasty and alcoholic and one may economize without buying bad whisky.
If you ARE willing to spend what good malts cost, Shop Around.
Prices vary greatly from state to state, as does availability. Go with personal recommendations as opposed to advertised ones. Try to find out what SORT of drink you like, and find similar ones. Price isn't an indicator of type or quality, merely rarity.
GOOD booze (which is a small fraction) and by good I mean 'hand made, boutique quality, I'd be proud to brag I did that' .. is a small fraction. I'm amused by the folks who want to 'get into it cheaply'.. as they are in fact paying to AVOID getting into it.
If you want the fastest 'what it's all about' scotch seminar on the planet.. buy 3 bottles.
Buy a Balvenie Single Cask 15. This is a mature, light, sweet, woody, GOOD booze, at about 95 proof, aged in once used Evan Williams bourbon casks. Very vanilla. Not much of anything there but sweet and pleasant, with maybe a touch of spice.. No surprises, no great thrills, vanilla. RELIABLE..
That's one baseline. And, drink it out of a warmish glass, like a brandy snifter. They really help appreciate the aroma, and the slow warming from your hand opens up the tastes.. as do a couple (literally) drops of water.
Then the Macallan 18. It's the baseline for a sherried old scotch.. It's high proof fruitcake and a wet dog in the room.
If you love it, you're not alone. If you don't, oh DARN, more for me.
Then Laphroiag 10 year cask strength. Rocket Fuel. *THE* booze if you're ice fishing. Smoke, fire on the beach, ocean spray and yellow slickers.. an amazing, huge, addictive 10 year old booze. If you like it at all, you'll like it a LOT.
Drink em all neat. Put a shot in a brandy snifter and let it sit a minute. Swirl it, smell it. A couple of times. Taste it with the tip of your tongue, a tiny sip. Then a bit more.. let the flavor develop. TASTE it. yeah, shut your eyes.
Don't do this after a spicy meal, with a mouthful of chewing gum, when you're on a first date, or at a redneck bar.
It's MUCH more intelligent to drink at home, than anywhere else. DO consider the aftermath of any tasting sessions.
Balvenie, Macallan, & Laphroaig define three main taste categories.. and any whisky, from any still, Could fall into any of those categories.. depending on sherry casking or bourbon or new oak casking.. by how much peat and how fast it was stilled and how long it was aged. 'Could'.. theoretically.. and in fact there're many exceptions to the usual Distillery Profile, (what you expect).. but there aren't many exceptions to the three main flavor profiles.
Sweet Woody Vanilla, Sweet & Fruity & Doggy, & Smoky & Medicinal.
There's also 'woody & varnishy & linseed oily' and 'Peppery and fiery and spicy'.. and both might claim to be traditional malts.. but they taste nasty so I don't care.
These observations are MY OPINIONS, not gospel, from my perspective, my taste buds, and aren't intended to make you believe anything differently than you do now. JMHO, YMMV.
and, supposing may 06, you follow my suggested self-help instant guidebook to your own preferences.. you'll have bought 45 shots of at least upper middle shelf scotch, for about 5$ a shot.. with an average age of about 15 years, and an average proof of about 98 or so..
there are worse fates.
And, if you liked door #1, Balvenie, the best, you're in luck. You'll like most of the 'mid level' premium scotches, JW Gold Blend, Glenlivet 18, Glenfiddich Solera Reserve.. Tasty, Smooth, not hard to find or hard to swallow. Civilized whisky.. but not terribly expensive or rare by single malt standards..
And supposing it was door # 2, you're in luck! The Very Best People agree with you, SO heartily that the price of it has doubled in 3 years and appears ready to do likewise again! Aren't You SO GLAD you have good taste? The good news is, almost all the alternatives that are similar are cheaper.. and the bad news is, theres darn few of em. But at least you're in good company searching..
And if it was door # 3, the Laphroaig Cask Strength, well, you really ARE in luck. Heavily peated (Islay style) scotches are not dependent on rare and expensive sherry casks, so they're less expensive.. nor quite so age dependent, so some very reasonable 10 and 12 year old peated whisky is available.. and thus, competition keeps ALL those prices a bit lower.. The only *Bad* news is that there are enough it'll take AGES to sample em all.. Liking this one would be a fine indicator to hunt through independent bottlers, for some young, cask strength, Islay style malts.. which can be had VERY reasonably.. (for scotch, under 50$ is very moderate, and under 40 for anything you'ld drink twice is 'reasonable').
To avoid wasting time, not buying anything 80 proof, or more than 3x the price of your cheapest bottle, will let you explore a range of tastes without breaking your entire budget out of curiousity or consuming too much expensive water..
If you're fortunate enough to not HAVE a budget, and whimsically buy case lots of 30 year old malts on idle speculation about their flavour.. do, please, invite me over. I cook, I do windows, I'm a decent chauffeur, and I'd not insist on a 401K right away.
Adoption is an option as well, and would you prefer to be the ancestor or no? I've even got my own glass.
Good whisky gets lots better with age, bad whisky improves a little bit.
Proper casking matters, greatly, to add flavor. You can't age booze in a bottle.
Hotter climates age whisky faster.
Charred Oak adds vanilla and honey and caramel tastes.. Sherry casks add raisen and apple and nut tastes..
New oak adds wood and clove and cinnamon tastes..
Old whisky that's aged in dirt floored warehouses will get a musty, antique OLD taste to it.. that reminds me of a wet old dog.. (ever had a retriever in a duck blind with you?)
Peat fades in older liquour, with bourbon casks holding that taste longest and sherry casks covering it up soonest..
Heavily peated liquour will *usually* stand more age without becoming over the hill.. which is somewhere over 25 and under 50 for most scottish malts.
Average Maturity seems to be 15 to 25, depending on storage conditions, for colder climates. The same casks in warmer climates might take half the time.
If the 18 year old version isn't wonderful, they did something wrong. That's enough time.
Just don't drink 80 proof liquour. Life's too short.
Cask strength liquour is an improvement, after the liquour gets mature. Before that, it's just a way to make the flavour more impressive.
If you're not willing to spend what good malts cost, and seek cheaper alternatives, lemon schweppes and vodka is tasty and alcoholic and one may economize without buying bad whisky.
If you ARE willing to spend what good malts cost, Shop Around.
Prices vary greatly from state to state, as does availability. Go with personal recommendations as opposed to advertised ones. Try to find out what SORT of drink you like, and find similar ones. Price isn't an indicator of type or quality, merely rarity.
GOOD booze (which is a small fraction) and by good I mean 'hand made, boutique quality, I'd be proud to brag I did that' .. is a small fraction. I'm amused by the folks who want to 'get into it cheaply'.. as they are in fact paying to AVOID getting into it.
If you want the fastest 'what it's all about' scotch seminar on the planet.. buy 3 bottles.
Buy a Balvenie Single Cask 15. This is a mature, light, sweet, woody, GOOD booze, at about 95 proof, aged in once used Evan Williams bourbon casks. Very vanilla. Not much of anything there but sweet and pleasant, with maybe a touch of spice.. No surprises, no great thrills, vanilla. RELIABLE..
That's one baseline. And, drink it out of a warmish glass, like a brandy snifter. They really help appreciate the aroma, and the slow warming from your hand opens up the tastes.. as do a couple (literally) drops of water.
Then the Macallan 18. It's the baseline for a sherried old scotch.. It's high proof fruitcake and a wet dog in the room.
If you love it, you're not alone. If you don't, oh DARN, more for me.
Then Laphroiag 10 year cask strength. Rocket Fuel. *THE* booze if you're ice fishing. Smoke, fire on the beach, ocean spray and yellow slickers.. an amazing, huge, addictive 10 year old booze. If you like it at all, you'll like it a LOT.
Drink em all neat. Put a shot in a brandy snifter and let it sit a minute. Swirl it, smell it. A couple of times. Taste it with the tip of your tongue, a tiny sip. Then a bit more.. let the flavor develop. TASTE it. yeah, shut your eyes.
Don't do this after a spicy meal, with a mouthful of chewing gum, when you're on a first date, or at a redneck bar.
It's MUCH more intelligent to drink at home, than anywhere else. DO consider the aftermath of any tasting sessions.
Balvenie, Macallan, & Laphroaig define three main taste categories.. and any whisky, from any still, Could fall into any of those categories.. depending on sherry casking or bourbon or new oak casking.. by how much peat and how fast it was stilled and how long it was aged. 'Could'.. theoretically.. and in fact there're many exceptions to the usual Distillery Profile, (what you expect).. but there aren't many exceptions to the three main flavor profiles.
Sweet Woody Vanilla, Sweet & Fruity & Doggy, & Smoky & Medicinal.
There's also 'woody & varnishy & linseed oily' and 'Peppery and fiery and spicy'.. and both might claim to be traditional malts.. but they taste nasty so I don't care.
These observations are MY OPINIONS, not gospel, from my perspective, my taste buds, and aren't intended to make you believe anything differently than you do now. JMHO, YMMV.
and, supposing may 06, you follow my suggested self-help instant guidebook to your own preferences.. you'll have bought 45 shots of at least upper middle shelf scotch, for about 5$ a shot.. with an average age of about 15 years, and an average proof of about 98 or so..
there are worse fates.
And, if you liked door #1, Balvenie, the best, you're in luck. You'll like most of the 'mid level' premium scotches, JW Gold Blend, Glenlivet 18, Glenfiddich Solera Reserve.. Tasty, Smooth, not hard to find or hard to swallow. Civilized whisky.. but not terribly expensive or rare by single malt standards.. And supposing it was door # 2, you're in luck! The Very Best People agree with you, SO heartily that the price of it has doubled in 3 years and appears ready to do likewise again! Aren't You SO GLAD you have good taste? The good news is, almost all the alternatives that are similar are cheaper.. and the bad news is, theres darn few of em. But at least you're in good company searching..
And if it was door # 3, the Laphroaig Cask Strength, well, you really ARE in luck. Heavily peated (Islay style) scotches are not dependent on rare and expensive sherry casks, so they're less expensive.. nor quite so age dependent, so some very reasonable 10 and 12 year old peated whisky is available.. and thus, competition keeps ALL those prices a bit lower.. The only *Bad* news is that there are enough it'll take AGES to sample em all..
Liking this one would be a fine indicator to hunt through independent bottlers, for some young, cask strength, Islay style malts.. which can be had VERY reasonably.. (for scotch, under 50$ is very moderate, and under 40 for anything you'ld drink twice is 'reasonable'). To avoid wasting time, not buying anything 80 proof, or more than 3x the price of your cheapest bottle, will let you explore a range of tastes without breaking your entire budget out of curiousity or consuming too much expensive water..
If you're fortunate enough to not HAVE a budget, and whimsically buy case lots of 30 year old malts on idle speculation about their flavour.. do, please, invite me over. I cook, I do windows, I'm a decent chauffeur, and I'd not insist on a 401K right away.
Adoption is an option as well, and would you prefer to be the ancestor or no? I've even got my own glass.