Foreign Whisky of the Month

[WhiskyRI]

Is there any interest in a Foreign Whiskey of the Month? I really enjoy reading through the BoTM threads - even given the number of different bourbons featured at this point. I personally drink whiskies across the spectrum - or wondered if there would be enough appetite or interest in picking a foreign dram to focus on each month. My thought is that there are at least 30-40 whiskies readily available, in almost all markets, which would support at least three years of FWOTMs. Of course there are hundreds of choices and variations so that we could feature a new FWOTM every month and never repeat one. Not sure what should be the first one - Macallan 12? Laphroaig 10? Talisker 10? Glenmorangie? Islay Mist? Amrut? The list could be endless. What do you think?

[WAINWRIGHT]

I have been on a kick of Lag 12yr.CS since I received a few samples,I decided to open a bottle of my own an '11 and have been hooked ever since.So that would be my indefinite vote,carry on.

[Lost Pollito]

Could be pretty fun , for followers of the dark side. Certainly an enormous amount to choose from. Perhaps we could orchestrate each monthly choice to take us on a longer journey. To include some geographical, an historic information.

[squire]

That would require a scotch drinking moderator to set it up

[WhiskyRI]

Lost Pollito - that is exactly what I had in mind. Slowly building knowledge outwards from the compulsory core whiskies. Now what those are is a matter of discussion that will prpbably never get settled.

[MyOldKyDram]

My collection is small, my bank account...but the body is willing!

[p_elliott]

That would require a scotch drinking moderator to set it up

I don't think any of the moderators are scotch drinkers

[Lost Pollito]

I don't think any of the moderators are scotch drinkers

[squire]

That was kinda my point Paul.

[callmeox]

The selection each month can be crowd sourced and I would be more than happy to sticky the thread when it is opened.

Do we have any volunteers from the SB dark side membership to curate this?

[Lost Pollito]

I would love to contribute to this thread. Probably enough of us on here to rotate.

[squire]

I expect the interest is there, just how to structure the forum.

[AaronWF]

I like the idea, and would like to participate, but I would imagine it ain't gonna be cheap...

[Virus_Of_Life]

How about we just turn the Ardbog thread into the first of them since it is obviously drawing the most interest for now? I have no problem posting a thread monthly for this, but as for doing it in some structured way, well that I cannot promise as I dove in head first to the peat and loved it ever since. That said I can pick things other than peat that I am interested in as well as take suggestions.

[squire]

I vote for suggestions.

[WhiskyRI]

My thought is initially we start with the reference drams that you can find most places, are somewhat affordable and may even already be in many people's cabinets - Laphroiag 10, Springbank 10, Talisker 10, Edradour 10 (okay not common but so tasty), Macallan 12, JW Black (it sells so much it's hard not to include it), Glenmorangie classic, or one of the finishes from Glenmo, Highland Park 12, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Caol Ila, Bruichladdich Laddie 10, and so on.

I love peat but I think we should also make sure to rotate through a variety of styles - heavily peated, sherried, triple-distilled, Irish, Indian (the Amrut Fusion is really tasty), Canadian, etc. Also we shouldn't leave out the new style blends like those from Compass Box, Monkey Shoulder, and Cutty Sark Prohibition. I like the special releases as much as the next guy but they can be very expensive and hard for people to get in many states. Besides we could pick a new whisky each month and not run out of regular offerings for several decades.

Here is one quick list of drams for this month and the next 12. My thought is by putting the dram of the month out there in advance people can look for them when they are on sale and have them standing by ahead of time ready to crack open on the 1^st of the month.

What does everyone think about this list? It has something for almost everyone – peat heads, sherryphiles, whisky from the 5 regions, Irish, blends, etc. I chose Glenmo to start this month because it is so ubiquitous and relatively inexpensive.

June – Glenmorangie Classic -

July – Macallan 12 -

August – Red Breast 12 Year Old Pot Still Irish Whiskey

September – Laphroaig 10

Oct – Edradour 10 (formerly the smallest distillery in Scotland)

Nov – Talisker 10

Dec – Springbank 10

Jan – Caol Ila 12 –

Feb – Glenfiddich 12 -

Mar – Highland Park 12 –

Apr – Johnnie Walker Black

May – Glenlivet 12

June – Auchentoshan Three Wood

Let me know what you think.

[squire]

A few others come to mind, Ardmore, Auchentoshan (distillery expression), Aultmore, Balvenie, Black Bottle, Blue Hanger, Bowmore, Bruichladdich, Bunnahabhain and I'll stop with Cragganmore before I run out of breath.

[Yeti]

My only concern with that is that it's a bit pedestrian, and that having such a rigid list loses some of the excitement. I mean, other than maybe Edradour, Springbank, and Auchentoshan who would have much trouble finding any of those on extremely short notice?

I also don't know how much discussion Glenlivet 12 would get, and we just had a rather extended discussion of Macallan 12.

I'm 100% on board with the idea, and would gladly revisit something like the old Glenlivet 12 for this purpose, but a lot of the members here are regularly drinking more interesting (and thus, more expensive) bottles IMO. If this gets up and running, how about announcing next month's selection at the end of the 1st post. Everyone who is interested in participating would have 30 days to obtain whatever they need, and we won't be sitting around for a year waiting for the Auchentoshan Three Wood.

Is there some way to have a lottery for selection leader each month? Or is that too complicated to be worth it?

My 2 cents.

[squire]

Toss the Irish and Canadians in the mix and the water is deep as well as broad.

[ChainWhip]

Toss the Irish and Canadians in the mix and the water is deep as well as broad.

Also: English, Taiwanese, Japanese, Australian, Swedish, etc., etc., etc.,

There's plenty of OB expressions in various age statements to provide content for some time. I'm personally more interested in independent/uncommon bottlings these days and would like to see a mix of "standards" & "exotics".

[AaronWF]

Along the lines of Yeti's point, maybe the whisky of the month could be broadened to include discussion on any and all expressions from the distillery. We could do a distillery of the month, and we could talk about anything from their standard entry level 10/12 yo up to older and/or LE/CS/independent bottlings we have or have had. I honestly don't have room in my bar to go out and buy - as Yeti put it - the pedestrian expressions from a given distillery every month.

[Yeti]

We could do a distillery of the month.

This. This is the right idea. Some people can talk about the 12/15/18/etc. Some about the Distiller's Edition, or cask strength, or independent bottled single casks. Everyone can have their cake and drink it too. Plenty of distilleries around the world to keep this going indefinitely.

[squire]

That idea has merit, either distillery or brand (thinking Middleton here) would be suitable for discussion which is kinda the point of the proposed forum.

[MyOldKyDram]

Distillery/brand is a brilliant idea.

[WhiskyRI]

Interesting idea. Distillery/Brand of the month would allow people with different budgets to participate if they want and also provide a lot of variety discussed. In Scotland alone there are enough distilleries to keep going without repeating for at least 10 years, add in the European, Irish, Indian, American Whiskies (that aren't bourbon), Taiwanese, Australian, etc. I vote for that idea. Can we still have a schedule at least a few months out to give people a head's up so if they are shopping and only buy 2 bottles a month they can pick up something? Maybe 3 months out adding a new one at the end of each month so it's always a 3-month window.