Whisky Appreciation Thread

[Jack Brickman]

Going to a bar in Ballantyne tomorrow that has a 600 dollar pour of Johnny Walker Blue Anniversary.

I will not be buying that, but I thought it was relevant to the topic at hand.

 

[BooyaCS]

Going to a bar in Ballantyne tomorrow that has a 600 dollar pour of Johnny Walker Blue Anniversary.

I will not be buying that, but I thought it was relevant to the topic at hand.

Not a fan of blended scotches, personally, I had Johnny Walker Blue before and it rates real low on the spectrum of good scotches for me.

I prefer single malt scotches ~18yrs or older.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Not a fan of blended scotches, personally, I had Johnny Walker Blue before and it rates real low on the spectrum of good scotches for me.

I prefer single malt scotches ~18yrs or older.

I bought a bottle of Blue back in college when I was doing my first internship and got my first paycheck. I loved Walker Black, so I was expecting great things from Blue. I ended up disappointed. I think Walker Black is better. Or at least I did back then. Haven't had Blue since I finished that bottle, so I don't have any recent frame of reference.

 

[Randolphkeys]

Not a fan of blended scotches, personally, I had Johnny Walker Blue before and it rates real low on the spectrum of good scotches for me.

I prefer single malt scotches ~18yrs or older.

Here's the thing: you can get a real pure taste from single malt. If you like earthy peat or you have a very refined palate, I can see the single malt being worth the money. I was spending a lot of money when I had a scotch collection going. That had to do with who introduced me to Scotch. My wife's boss at the time had an impressive collection and he liked pouring out samples and talking about regions of Scotland.

In the past year, a family friend did a blind tasting of scotch. As it turned out, on pure taste I liked blends. They had complexity even if they didn't have pedigree. So, saving money for family vacations by finding two or three cheaper blends I liked worked out well for me... even if I don't get to tell stories of highland regions or coastal oaks along with the pour.

 

[Frank Reynolds]

Love whiskey. I am probably going to upset the purists with this suggestion.

If you aren't really into whiskey and you are trying to have a good mixed whiskey drink here's what you do:

Go find yourself the best bottled craft root beer you can find I recommend Sprecher or I forget how it's spelled. Get a good root beer though don't get something loaded with bullshit corn syrup that you would get out of a vending machine.

Get yourself a bottle of Makers Mark
Mix the whiskey ice and root beer. Come back and thank me later.

For the purists out there that are sippin neat: Woodford Reserve for me all day.

When I'm on a whiskey bender, Elijah Craig. But lately that shit is been rotting my gut. Maybe I'll cycle it through the Brita several times lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Randolphkeys]

@ChicagoCavFan and I had a standing bet in fantasy football. A bottle of scotch was on the line. Long story short, he went double or nothing and lost again. He just paid up this past week and the booze was worth the wait.

Redbreast 12 year Irish whiskey is one damn smooth whiskey. They age in a sherry barrel, so the finish is long and sweet. If your local watering hole has it, try a pour and drink it slow. It's too good to shoot back fast. I definitely have a favorite Irish whiskey now. Excellent choice CCF!

 

[Jack Brickman]

@ChicagoCavFan and I had a standing bet in fantasy football. A bottle of scotch was on the line. Long story short, he went double or nothing and lost again. He just paid up this past week and the booze was worth the wait.

Redbreast 12 year Irish whiskey is one damn smooth whiskey. They age in a sherry barrel, so the finish is long and sweet. If your local watering hole has it, try a pour and drink it slow. It's too good to shoot back fast. I definitely have a favorite Irish whiskey now. Excellent choice CCF!

Redbreast is great. I haven't seen it in any of the ABC stores around me, though. Might have to take a trip down to South Carolina and hit up Frugal.

 

[LyXo]

Love me some good whiskey, whether it's a hotter summer day or a chilly winter gloom.

When I was living in Bangkok, bottle service was (at still is) the way to go, so we'd always be splitting a bottle of Johnny Walker Red or Black, and if we were with a rich friend, Gold. To stave off the heat and the fact that we're splitting a bottle between 4-8 people, mixing in Club soda was my drink of choice and it's stuck with me, others went for water or cola.

So now, if I'm looking for something light:
Johnny Walker Blended Scotch ($24-8), Dewar's Blended Scotch ($24), Jameson Irish ($26), Bulleit Bourbon ($26), Dickle Tennessee ($18) - with a splash of soda - great for those cash/open bar setups and an everyday budget whiskey

Any of these are flask worthy, but one fun one that released recently is Tin Cup ($28). It comes with.. you guessed it, a Tin Cup on top. Great for golfing: the best part is, you leave it in a cooler, and the tin cup cools the shot, making it lovely for that on course pick me up when you've been in the sun for hours.

If I'm looking to mix it up with some bitters for some old fashioned's, make up some bourbon cherries, or something similar:
Knob Creek Bourbon ($32), Bulleit Rye ($26), Old Overholt Rye ($16), Maker's Mark Bourbon ($25) - more flavorful/bite to blend with the orange/sugar/bitters/cherries

Side note: The Fairmount Martini/Wine Bar has some really legit Old-fashioned's, best I've had since being down in Kentucky for a quick bourbon tour, had great ones at Haymarket

And if I have some cash, it's cold outside, and I'm looking for something neat or perhaps over one ice cube:
Balvenie Single Malt - Double Wood ($60) or Carribean Cask (my fav) ($72) - Speyside Single Malts that are super smooth, flavorful and warm a belly up
Oban Single Malt ($80) - Islay based peaty Single malt that's doesn't taste like sore throat spray - but I'm starting to come around to the Laphroaigs, Ardbegs, and Lagavulins...
Nikka Single Malt (???) - hard to find Japanese Single Malt, I picked up a few bottles from Japan, but I've seen them pop up here and there at bars. More smooth-leaning than peaty.. other popular distilleries there are the Yamazaki (they recently won the best Single malt award in 2015 for one of their rare batches). Nikka's from the northern region, whereas Yamazaki is closer to Tokyo.
Jefferson's Bourbon ($42) - super smooth and delicious bourbon, I prefer this to Blanton's
Green Spot Irish ($40) - smooth and delicious Irish

I'll have to give this Redbreast a shot, been hearing good things about it from multiple sources - that'll be my next purchase. I'm taking a trip to Ireland and Amsterdam next month so I'll be able to sample a shit ton of Irish Whiskys, among other things, looking forward to that, some pints, and some cafes. Great thread!

 

[Jordan]

@ChicagoCavFan and I had a standing bet in fantasy football. A bottle of scotch was on the line. Long story short, he went double or nothing and lost again. He just paid up this past week and the booze was worth the wait.

Redbreast 12 year Irish whiskey is one damn smooth whiskey. They age in a sherry barrel, so the finish is long and sweet. If your local watering hole has it, try a pour and drink it slow. It's too good to shoot back fast. I definitely have a favorite Irish whiskey now. Excellent choice CCF!

I'll have to try this. I'm a fan of drinking my whiskey neat, or at worst, one large cube of ice. I don't like it watered down though. Did you go neat, on the rocks, what?

 

[Randolphkeys]

I'll have to try this. I'm a fan of drinking my whiskey neat, or at worst, one large cube of ice. I don't like it watered down though. Did you go neat, on the rocks, what?

I had a friend over who is also a whisky enthusiast. We had been drinking Tecate with lime and eating pizza. I then told him about winning "a major award in the mail" and poured two glasses neat. My reaction was "this tastes like Balvenie." My friend said, "no sour face at all, that's smooth." We could have easily killed the bottle, but it was a weeknight. Thank goodness, more for me.

 

[ChicagoCavFan]

Full disclosure fellas - I haven't tried the RedBreast yet either. Was traveling with my boss recently (who is older and has been around, ex-SEAL and IBM sales guru from the 80s) and we were discussing scotch. His fav was the RedBreast, so I took a note in my phone to grab a bottle. I would have ordered some to my home, but we are in the midst of a move (closed on Friday), and are living with the in-laws while our house is being built. Therefore, the smoothness has not yet hit these lips.

And you mention Tecate....my current favorite beer is of the same ilk: Negra Modelo. Pure gold right there.

I remember when we first made that bet several years ago....I think I had finished near the top and was feeling cocky...and we set it up - whoever finishes with the better record, owes the other something special. Haven't even come close to beating him since. Story of my life. Be humble and out of the exposure, and great things happen. Make that noise, and fail miserably. I need a drink now.

 

[BooyaCS]

For beer, I suggest Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale or Stout. They age it 6 weeks in bourbon barrels. Rather interesting stuff, although expensive. A 4 pack is $12 here in NE ohio...

 

[Kouki]

I love bourbon and I love beer, but the Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale/Stout is probably the worst beer I've ever had...had to pour it out. I'm thinking it was the ale. To each his own I guess.

I also saw a beer-aged bourbon at Giant Eagle the other day...

 

[Jordan]

I've been drinking a lot of Blanton's recently. Such an underrated Bourbon, imo. I love it.

 

[Jack Brickman]

Found out that my local "late night" bar (Tyber Creek, a Charlotte classic) has Walker Black for eight bucks. That's my new go-to. It's always been one of my favorite scotches, and at that price I see no reason not to drink as much of it as possible when I'm there.