So my wife is in Las Vegas, while I sit home with the cats in Quincy, MA. I figure what happens in Quincy stays in Quincy, so I cracked open the Glenlivet 12. I'm guessing this is a 25 - 30 year old bottle (not counting the 12 years casking), so I wasn't surprised that the cork had degenerated. I had to carefully fish most of it out of the neck, but some did get in the bottle. I can strain that out later. I had a rubber wine stopper that made a nice tight fit, so it will be OK.
So, how does it taste? Like Armagnac. Light, sweet and fruity with notes of pear and apple. If someone told me this was Armagnac, a drink I know far better than whiskey, I'd have believed them. It maybe has a bit more alcohol taste than Armagnac, but it's awfully close.
Obviously, I like Armagnac, so I basically like this. I definitely had better Speyside, or Speyside style, whiskey in Scotland. We did a nice tasting in Sterling on our last night, and the one I chose was super. The owner of the place who helped us select our whiskeys said this bottle was not imported, so I didn't even bother getting the name. But it was great. Much more complex and interesting than this Glenlivet. We were shocked when we got the bill for dinner with drinks, appetizers main course, dessert, and then the whiskeys that the whole thing came to under $100 USD. The Whiskeys were like $6 USD a glass. You don't get that kind of price for that quality in US restaurants.
But, back to the Glenlivet. It's very nice. Not overpowering, but very nice flavor. I'd probably experiment around with my next bottle, but I'm glad I have this around for when I'm in the mood.
Bill
Bill, I think I've mentioned it before either here or in the old thread, but be on the lookout for the Glenlivet 15 year old. It is a nice step up from the 12 year old and it goes on sale here every so often.
Think of a book as a vase, and a movie as the stained-glass window that the filmmaker has made out of the pieces after he’s smashed it with a hammer.
-- Russell Banks (paraphrased)
Just bought a bottle of that Lephroaig last night. Mmmmmm mmmm MMMMMM!!! DAMN that stuff is good...puts me in such a chill music listenin' mood too
"Who would have thought a whale would be so heavy?" - Moe Sizlak
Something old & bitter?
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.
Funnily enough, one of the dominant tastes in the Glenlivet is "vanilla" - or close to brown sugar! So, yes, definitely "vanilla"!
In Scotland, there are many malts that call themselves Glenlivet - including an excellent one bottled by Gordon & MacPhail. Similarly, there are many different ages, & "The" Glenlivet, at 15, is a fine whisky - significantly more complex than the 12.
If it's the sampling that you're after, often your best bet if you're in Scotland is to find a pub with a good selection. The Bow Bar on Victoria Street in Edinburgh, for instance, usually carries well over 200 malts. Most good drinking pubs will have at least 50 - so then the thing is to make sure you've got a barman or woman who knows their stuff, & is happy to talk you through the options!
I've drunk a fair few, but Mortlach was new to me when I tried it a few months back - & very good it was too.
A region that's often overlooked is Cambletown, in the narrow peninsula of the southern mainland more or less directly across from Islay. For a long time, there was only one working distillery left there, but it's back up to three now. The best is the Springbank - one of the absolute greatest malt whiskies.
Wouldn't that be the Habs fans' drink of the moment, though?
Vanilla is the common new oak cask flavor, though... It's really not difficult to bring out that aroma, but the actual talent is to get it to disappear for something else >> that's why of the "wood finish" in different casks
As for Glenlivet, I can't help but feeling that they copy Fiddich a bit... and both are entry-level malts, along with plenty of Speyside malts and, on the other side of the mainland, Oban
I'm not sure the Bow Bar existed on Victoria in the 80's (when my parents lived there for five years), but then again, I might've missed it, cos I couldn't afford hanging around them places.
I recently tasted Arran from the Campbeltown area, but it was just OK.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
The Bow Bar was a stunning renovation of a run down old boozer, done by Iain Whyte, something of a legend in Edinburgh - his first renovation was the Blue Blazer on Bread Street in around 1982 - I think he did the Bow Bar in around 1985/86. He's subsequently done The Cumberland in the New Town, & most recently, Thomsons out towards Haymarket (the latter named after the Glaswegian architect, Alexander "Greek" Thomson, a classicist contemporay of Rennie Mackintosh, & whose architectural style is evoked in the bar). Whyte developed the recipe for Deuchars IPA with the head brewers at the Caledonian brewery - who later left to set up the Innes & Gunn brand. The Deuchars transformed the beer drinking lanscape in Scotland, & then in the UK - preparing the way for the now seemingly omnoipresent golden, hopped, summer-style IPAs.
I agree - the Arran is nothing too special. By contrast, the Springbank is glorious - at 10 it's superb; older bottlings get better & better. If you can find somewhere that you can try a dram of a Springbank that's over 20 years old, be brave!
There's an old Scottish music hall song that goes:
Campbeltown Loch I wish you were whisky
Campbeltown Loch och aye!
Campbeltown Loch I wish you were whisky
I would drink you dry!
Also, Campeltown is just up the road from the Mull of Kintyre...so it's probably Paul McCartney's favourite whisky region too...
Quarter cask is a great value for the price. Ardbeg tends to be a little pricey in comparison; esp. since I'd recommend something higher up the food chain than their 10 year old. In a similar price range to the Quarter cask is the 10-year Talisker, which also has that salty, peaty, slightly medicinal taste. It's from the Isle Of Sky...
"Corn Flakes pissed in. You ranted. Mission accomplished. Thread closed."
-Cozy 3:16-
The jokes running through my mind about "not moving anything for 2 hours" are going fast and furious. But I'll just leave it with a hearty "Game On!".
I will stay with the MacCallan Gold that brought victory last round. My team is so inconsistent from shift to shift that I need something a little stronger than beer to calm my nerves.
Think of a book as a vase, and a movie as the stained-glass window that the filmmaker has made out of the pieces after he’s smashed it with a hammer.
-- Russell Banks (paraphrased)
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.
I just got meself Morangie's yearly special Bacalta private edition , matured in baked madeira casks that contained Malmsey wine
https://whiskygospel.com/2016/06/27/...ition-release/
https://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskie...dition-whisky/
Sounds like a delicious alternative to the Lasanta, Quinta Ruban or Nectar but at almost double the price (well I paid 79.00 instead 95.00)... I'll get to try that out late this evening.
Last edited by Trane; 04-26-2017 at 02:06 PM.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Almost the end of scotch (whisky) season for me (I usually drink in fall/winter), but in my cupboard at the moment:
Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban
Caol Ila
Bunnahabhain 12
Jura Superstition
Macallan 12
I do tequila in the summer, plus beers.
"Who would have thought a whale would be so heavy?" - Moe Sizlak
Think of a book as a vase, and a movie as the stained-glass window that the filmmaker has made out of the pieces after he’s smashed it with a hammer.
-- Russell Banks (paraphrased)
I find that this, along with the Bruichladdich, are pretty much the only Islays to which I turn nowadays.
Bruichladdich is also the home of The Botanist gin, which was at the vanguard of the renaissance in gin distilling in the UK. (The Botanist is quite delicate, & needs a very good tonic water; it is particularly well complemented by a slice of red apple, alongside a slice of lime.)
That said, I don't care for the new branding of the Laddie...
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