Did You Get Whiskey For The HOLIDAYS?

[kevinbrink]

1 hour ago, FasterHorses said:

Ooh you think JW Green tastes like crap? I thought it was incredible. Not trying to be a smart a at all but..please recommend one I should try next that will make me feel that way about JW Green Label.  I havent had too much experience with scotch but have had a few stinkers. I dont really mind the black label either.. but would be thrilled if there are some that are the next level ( especially in the $50-$70 range. 

I would probably pick Green and then maybe Double Black if I had to drink JW. It's been a good while since I have had either and I've never had the platinum though I was gifted a 375 of it and Gold that are unopened on my shelf. I'll agree with the other posts here regarding the OP's comment on JW Red, and say it is in no way representative of scotch as a whole, really nothing is. Scotch has a pretty broad range of flavors compared to bourbon, but with some of the craft stuff and the rise in popularity of "finished" bourbons the gap is closing a bit.

Edited December 28, 2017 by kevinbrink

[Kepler]

My CHRISTMAS present.  Needless to say, it was a surprise.

[smokinjoe]

27 minutes ago, kevinbrink said:

 Scotch has a pretty broad range of flavors compared to bourbon, but with some of the craft stuff and the rise in popularity of "finished" bourbons the gap is closing a bit.

Nice observation.  The real range of scotch really is all about the barrel finishing.  Though the regional differences between highlands, lowlands, speyside, etc., are professionally and heavily marketed, it's as much a slim differentiation between them as the differences between Kentucky distilleries (Save, Islay peats...though that can be replicated anywhere).  The real range exists in the finishing, which the scotch distilleries and IBs continue to perfect, the bourbon distilleries are just scratching the surface of.  For me, I look forward to bourbon distilleries to continue expanding in this area.  

[kevinbrink]

2 minutes ago, smokinjoe said:

Nice observation.  The real range of scotch really is all about the barrel finishing.  Though the regional differences between highlands, lowlands, speyside, etc., are professionally and heavily marketed, it's as much a slim differentiation between them as the differences between Kentucky distilleries (Save, Islay peats...though that can be replicated anywhere).  The real range exists in the finishing, which the scotch distilleries and IBs continue to perfect, the bourbon distilleries are just scratching the surface of.  For me, I look forward to bourbon distilleries to continue expanding in this area.  

Thanks, I will say though even with Peat, the source of Peat and the place the Whisky was aged really make a difference as well, the peated Highland stuff (Highland Park, Ballechin, Ardmore, Etc.) doesn't really taste the same to me as an Island whisky since they don't have the more maritime type notes. All of this can be buried by a really wet Sherry Cask though!

[smokinjoe]

8 minutes ago, kevinbrink said:

Thanks, I will say though even with Peat, the source of Peat and the place the Whisky was aged really make a difference as well, the peated Highland stuff (Highland Park, Ballechin, Ardmore, Etc.) doesn't really taste the same to me as an Island whisky since they don't have the more maritime type notes. All of this can be buried by a really wet Sherry Cask though!

Terroir differences in scotch are overplayed, but indeed, the finishing types are game changers.  

 

 

[kevinbrink]

Just now, smokinjoe said:

Terroir differences in scotch are overplayed, but indeed, the finishing types are game changers.  

 

 

You are probably right for the most part, I do think the source of the peat is a bigger factor though than where a barrel is aged. What is funny is I'm kind of done with PX finished scotch, it all kind of tastes the same to me just different level's of over the top sweetness, but I'll be damned if I didn't love the PX finished American whiskey's I've had this year. One of my favorite pours this year was a cheap Glen Moray 10 with full maturation in Chardonay Casks, as Much as I feel like Bourbon needs it's rules (ie: New Charred Oak Cask) I would love to see what a Bourbon or Rye mash would taste like in full maturation in interesting casks used for other wines and spirits.

[DCFan]

7 hours ago, FasterHorses said:

Ooh you think JW Green tastes like crap?

I was speaking more of the red that was shown in the pic. But in any event I've only ever tried the red and black. 

[BigRich]

Terroir differences in scotch are overplayed, but indeed, the finishing types are game changers.  
 
 

Yes and no. In the same terms as wine then probably so. However, there is an overall taste of "place" that many scotch distilleries have that encompasses the distillate, water, location, warehousing, etc. that I never really appreciated until I was there. And having been to every major bourbon Distillery my opinion is that it is not the same. Scotch carries more of its sense of place than bourbon. I


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[tanstaafl2]

On 12/27/2017 at 11:13 PM, kevinbrink said:

Thanks, I will say though even with Peat, the source of Peat and the place the Whisky was aged really make a difference as well, the peated Highland stuff (Highland Park, Ballechin, Ardmore, Etc.) doesn't really taste the same to me as an Island whisky since they don't have the more maritime type notes. All of this can be buried by a really wet Sherry Cask though!

Highland Park (and Talisker as another example) are both also "island" whisky and Orkney, home of HP, is about as wild and woolly as Islay. Although the "terroir" of the peat is definitely different as they get peat that has a lot of heather content and much less of the more typical iodine/bandage character of heavily peated Islay whisky.

 

Although that said much of the peated barley on Islay is coming from the same source, the large industrial peating facility of Port Ellen. Only a few distilleries do their own peating and it is usually only enough to provide for a portion of their output. Whether all that peat is from Islay is not known to me. I think it probably is but I don't know. Islay is certainly a major source of peat. Peat for example is imported from Islay to Campbeltown for use by Springbank.

 

And while the terroir almost certainly has to play some role, perhaps a significant role, the "peatiness" may have at least as much to do with how long the barley is exposed to the peat smoke in the drying process as it does the terroir.

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2017 by tanstaafl2

[kevinbrink]

1 hour ago, tanstaafl2 said:

Highland Park (and Talisker as another example) are both also "island" whisky and Orkney, home of HP, is about as wild and woolly as Islay. Although the "terroir" of the peat is definitely different as they get peat that has a lot of heather content and much less of the more typical iodine/bandage character of heavily peated Islay whisky.

 

Although that said much of the peated barley on Islay is coming from the same source, the large industrial peating facility of Port Ellen. Only a few distilleries do their own peating and it is usually only enough to provide for a portion of their output. Whether all that peat is from Islay is not known to me. I think it probably is but I don't know. Islay is certainly a major source of peat. Peat for example is imported from Islay to Campbeltown for use by Springbank.

 

And while the terroir almost certainly has to play some role, perhaps a significant role, the "peatiness" may have at least as much to do with how long the barley is exposed to the peat smoke in the drying process as it does the terroir.

 

 

 

Amrut's peated offerings certainly reek (literally and figuratively) of Port Ellen as well and clearly the other variables are quite different when it comes to aging their whisky.

[Bill D]

On 12/22/2017 at 11:23 PM, kevinbrink said:

That would be a pretty great place to start your Single Malt Journey, you may not appreciate it to the point you would if you had consumed a fair share of Macallan 10, 12 and 15 already but that doesn't mean you shouldn't go with it anyway!

That might be setting the bar a little high!!!

the first Scotch I tried was a MacAllan 12... it was wonderful... it served as a great comparison for when I tried the 18. 

Enjoy it, it is a wonderful bottle. 

[graftonbc1]

I got a gift card to a great liquor store. I used it to get a 1792 BiB and a nice bottle of wine for my wife

[Jazz June]

I must have been good this year.

 

Rock Hill Farms and 1792 Full Proof store pick from the in laws. William Larue Weller from my brother.

 

 

 

 

[Clueby]

7 hours ago, Jazz June said:

I must have been good this year.

 

Rock Hill Farms and 1792 Full Proof store pick from the in laws. William Larue Weller from my brother.

 

 

 

 

Is that the same bottle pictured twice or did you get TWO WLW?!

[HoustonNit]

I must have been good this year.
 
William Larue Weller from my brother.
 
 

 
 

Need a brother like this.

[Clueby]

15 minutes ago, HoustonNit said:

 

 

Need a brother like this.

 

 

Yeah my brother wouldn't know the difference between William Larue Weller and Bruiser Larue. (Interested to know if anyone even gets that reference)

[fishnbowljoe]

5 minutes ago, Clueby said:

Yeah my brother wouldn't know the difference between William Larue Weller and Bruiser Larue. (Interested to know if anyone even gets that reference)

Related to Bruiser Larue..... "Yep. Yep. Couldn't live like that."     

 

Biba! Joe

[Swamp55]

10 minutes ago, Clueby said:

Yeah my brother wouldn't know the difference between William Larue Weller and Bruiser Larue. (Interested to know if anyone even gets that reference)

Wow, it's been a lot of years since I heard a Hudson & Landry reference!   (They were to sketch comedy what WLW is to bourbon.)

[fishnbowljoe]

3 minutes ago, Swamp55 said:

Wow, it's been a lot of years since I heard a Hudson & Landry reference!   (They were to sketch comedy what WLW is to bourbon.)

Yep. Ajax Liquor Store, and (referenced in my prior post) The Prospecrors were a couple of my favorites. 

 

Biba! Joe

 

 

[Jazz June]

1 hour ago, Clueby said:

Is that the same bottle pictured twice or did you get TWO WLW?!

Haha no, pic just posted twice by mistake. I am very much looking forward to drinking it.