Have you guys tried the Glenmorangie Signet? My cousin collects scotch, and he got a bottle of the Signet a year or so ago. Just a few months back, he opened it and we both tried it -- that is some smooth stuff. I don't know if it's significantly better than the 18yr to warrant the cost difference, but if you have the extra cash you probably won't be disappointed.
I will have to try the Glen 18. Meanwhile I can't get enough of my goto Laphroig Quarter Cask. Just hits the right spot both in my liver and in my wallet
"Who would have thought a whale would be so heavy?" - Moe Sizlak
I get that with wine, as well
It always seems to taste better at the winery than once you've brought it home.
Of course the thing with wine is that it doesn't travel ( I don't think it's a factor for hard alcohol, though) and one should let it rest minimum a week (more like 30 days) per 100 km it travelled.
Point is you can't be sure that the stuff they make you taste is the same stuff inside the bottles they'll sell you.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Apparently it can affect the taste of hard alcohol (such as whisky), because jostling the bottles can speed up the oxidation process. But I think that only really becomes a problem after the bottle has been opened and the liquor has been exposed to more air.
I've also found that some whiskies actually improve a few days after having been opened, compared to how they tasted at first. It's interesting...
2 new bottles tonight:
Highland Park 12 Viking Honour.......This is fucking AMAZING. I mean AMAZING. Just buy it. Possibly jumping into my top 5 fav of all time, yes its that good. A wee slight peat, vanilla, caramel, oak, wood, sweet, more sweet, complex, just yummy...great finish tasting the cask. The bottle is absolutely gorgeous too, Celtic design. Gorgeous.
Glenkinchie 12.....also pretty great. A great first dram perhaps, pretty basic, well rounded, very smooth, zero peat. Delicious really, but compared to the amazing HP Viking its not quite in that class. Great though.
If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.
"And it's only the giving
That makes you what you are" - Ian Anderson
^^ Thanks for the recommendations man! I've never had either of those, but will keep an eye out. If I do see them, now I'll know they're worth picking up.
HP is slowly gaining in my pantheon (it's not there yet, but getting close), despite a certain smoky/peatyness. I've only tried the 10 and the 15 so far, but both impressed me
Kinchie is one of those Lowland malts (Edinburg area) that I've tried some 12/15years ago, and I'd call it an entry level SM along with Oban 14 or Scapa 16 or the recent Macalan Amber. I wouldn't call it/them neutral (nor aggressive nor pungent), but it's straightforward for newcomers to see if they want to investigate the SM route further or not.
But then again, most of Speyside could achieve that task with more character than those three.
I haven't seen Kinchie proposed on sale for years (not that I would've returned to it), but does it still have that leather base and metal collar? I thought that was neat at first (I still have the cadavre somewhere), but ultimately, it might be too gimmicky
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Too bad you aren't into any peated whiskies. Two of my fav drams are Ardbeg and Lagavulin - I can't imagine life without those drams. I'd say don't give up just yet, because yuo may yet grown into them, ya never know. When I first had Laphroig years back, I thought it was horrible - I was a strict speyside snob. Glad I grew out that phase!
Highland Park and Jura are great lightly peated whiskies that can steer you into the "darkside".
If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.
"And it's only the giving
That makes you what you are" - Ian Anderson
WANTED: Sig-worthy quote.
I was really confused at how they re-branded everything. I thought I read once that Viking Honour was the new name for "HP 12", but it appears that's wrong. Glad you enjoyed it. I have tried two of the recent HP expressions:
Magnus - Appears to be their entry level, it's okay but pretty dull and uninspired - so why bother?
Dark Origins - This was very good, almost a dead ringer for Macallan 12. But then again, might as well get that.
WANTED: Sig-worthy quote.
I have noticed this with both whisky and micro brews.The palette is a funny thing. Try tasting the same whisky several days in a row, and you might find that it's *you* that is changing, not the whisky. I have experienced that many times myself.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
I have been enjoying this:
I managed to get some in a "closeout" sale, otherwise I likely would not have bought it. It was really quite good. I'm a sucker for cask strength offerings to begin with. The closest comparison I can come to is that it tastes a bit like Macallan Fine Oak 10 on steroids. Sweet, oak, full body, and the power of 110 proof.
WANTED: Sig-worthy quote.
****Shudders in horror .... ****
It's not the peat (I've slowly grown into not disliking it than tolerate it, as long as there is something more in the spirit), but the smoke that really turns me off, so the ArdLagaPhroig trilogy is simply out of my reach....
But yeah, Jura I can dig in small amounts, but Bowmore is a little too much for me.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Yeah Jura Superstition is a nice light peater - I like that bottle a lot. I know Ardbeg 10 is a peat monster but does it really have a heavy smoke flavor? Regardless its become a top 5 bottle for me, and Lagavulin is in that list too, so the Islays do it for me! I seem to recall Talisker 10 being pretty smokey, yeah? I went through a peat "snob" phase when I told myself that I'm not into Speyside non-peaters anymore - glad that phase didn't last long - I Love it all - I just wish it wasn't so damn pricey! I've actually done both "Peat" and "non-peat" snob phases
BTW, my wife's cousin who is a whisky fanatic and has visited the islands and the whiskey trail a few times - his number one desert island dram is Talisker 18. I've never had it but now I want to try it. I"ll be at the distillery next July so hopefully I can try something special there, we'll see.....
If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.
"And it's only the giving
That makes you what you are" - Ian Anderson
OK you bastards, I just plunked down $100 on a bottle of Glenmorangie 18 and I'm gonna try it out tonight while watching Fear the Walking Dead. If I don't like it there will be hell to pay! I'm talkin' chaining you all to my basement poles and forcing you to listen to Rockwell's 'Somebody's Watching Me' on a loop from my old boombox for 4 straight days.
"Who would have thought a whale would be so heavy?" - Moe Sizlak
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Picked up a Lagavulin 16 in Heathrow for the trip home, just heading back home from RIO and a boys canal trip. The 8 of us got through 4 bottles of whisky in two nights playing poker. My cobtribution was a Balvenie Double Wood.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
Bookmarks