What Water of Life/Scotch are drinking or purchased 2025?

[rzelinka]

23 minutes ago, Scotch_Collector said:

Do you mean malted bourbons or American single malts?

 

To answer your question, no, peat is a scotch thing. The peat is grown there. American Malts, both bourbon and single malts, in my experience, can have some smokey characteristics, but I have not experienced peat flavor. 

 

I have several high malt bourbons and probably 10 different American Single Malts. I have to experience anything like peat flavor. 

 

The closest I have come is some medicinal/herbal and peppery ryes. Not a fan of those, but don't find them often. 

 

If you are looking at something in particular, ask, maybe someone has tried it. However, I would not be too worried about it.

My inquiry was related to Single Malt Whiskey/ Bourbons. Jack Daniels, Stranahan's come to mind

[Scotch_Collector]

I revisited my Springbank 12 Year Cask Strength bottle I bought years ago. 

 

I forgot how good it is. 

 

Rich and sweet malt with just enough peat. The mouthfeel is dense and the flavors are strong, except the peat. It is noticeable on the nose and the palette, mostly the end and finish, but it is more vegetal and smoky, and not really medicinal and herbal. It is also about a 4 or 5/10 in peat (Laphroaig being a 10). That is enough peat that I can handle it and even enjoy it and still get the underlying malt and whiskey characteristics separate from the peat. 

 

Really nice pour. 

 

8.5/10.

 

[rzelinka]

On 6/1/2025 at 10:47 PM, Scotch_Collector said:

I revisited my Springbank 12 Year Cask Strength bottle I bought years ago. 

 

I forgot how good it is. 

 

Rich and sweet malt with just enough peat. The mouthfeel is dense and the flavors are strong, except the peat. It is noticeable on the nose and the palette, mostly the end and finish, but it is more vegetal and smoky, and not really medicinal and herbal. It is also about a 4 or 5/10 in peat (Laphroaig being a 10). That is enough peat that I can handle it and even enjoy it and still get the underlying malt and whiskey characteristics separate from the peat. 

 

Really nice pour. 

 

8.5/10.

 

Years ago, my dad would drink Glenfidich, I could never get beyond the peated taste, still can't. Are all Scotch Whiskey's peated?

Edited Wednesday at 10:43 PM by rzelinka
Corrected misspelling

[Scotch_Collector]

2 hours ago, rzelinka said:

Years ago, my dad would drink Glenfidich, I could never get beyond the peated taste, still can't. Are all Scotch Whiskey's peated?

No, many are not peated. 

 

I usually prefer unpeated scotch/single malts. Bourbon cask can be amazing, but I have a lot of sherry/port/wine cask stuff. 

 

Unpeated and cask strength single malts can be great for bourbon drinkers, especially those who do not like peat. They can be rich and flavorful and take on a lot from the casks they are aged in and/or finished in.

 

If you want some suggestions, just ask. 

[rzelinka]

Just now, Scotch_Collector said:

No, many are not peated. 

 

I usually prefer unpeated scotch/single malts. Bourbon cask can be amazing, but I have a lot of sherry/port/wine cask stuff. 

 

Unpeated and cask strength single malts can be great for bourbon drinkers, especially those who do not like peat. They can be rich and flavorful and take on a lot from the casks they are aged in and/or finished in.

 

If you want some suggestions, just ask. 

I would welcome any suggestions. Thank you in advance 

[Scotch_Collector]

12 hours ago, rzelinka said:

I would welcome any suggestions. Thank you in advance 

Do you prefer smooth or rich (you can have both) and, I assume from other things you appear to drink,  cask strength okay.

 

What is your price range? 

 

I would recommend a sherry cask finish and also a bourbon cask aged single malt to try. I love both, but I'd be curious to see what your preferences are.

 

For readily available sherry casks: Macallan 12 (not cask strength), the Glendronach Cask Strength (Batch 10 and 11 are out now I think), or the Aberlour A'bunadh Sherry Cask.

 

For Bourbon Cask: Aberlour A'bunadh Alba Bourbon Cask (which is cask strength) is a great place to start. 

 

There are also many independent bottlers that bottle amazing single malts, but hard to recommend one bottle since they are often single barrels. I do like Blackadder and Single Cask Nation as well as many other independent bottlers. I can discuss this more if you are interested. 

[rzelinka]

1 hour ago, Scotch_Collector said:

Do you prefer smooth or rich (you can have both) and, I assume from other things you appear to drink,  cask strength okay.

 

What is your price range? 

 

I would recommend a sherry cask finish and also a bourbon cask aged single malt to try. I love both, but I'd be curious to see what your preferences are.

 

For readily available sherry casks: Macallan 12 (not cask strength), the Glendronach Cask Strength (Batch 10 and 11 are out now I think), or the Aberlour A'bunadh Sherry Cask.

 

For Bourbon Cask: Aberlour A'bunadh Alba Bourbon Cask (which is cask strength) is a great place to start. 

 

There are also many independent bottlers that bottle amazing single malts, but hard to recommend one bottle since they are often single barrels. I do like Blackadder and Single Cask Nation as well as many other independent bottlers. I can discuss this more if you are interested. 

Thank you for responding and for the recommendations. Cask Strength is more than okay! I like rich whiskey/ bourbon. I've been debating the concept of Single Malt whiskey's. Stranahan's keeps coming to mind. Having never tried them before, I don't know if I will like them or not. The Sherry cask or bourbon cask seems intriguing.

[Scotch_Collector]

5 hours ago, rzelinka said:

Thank you for responding and for the recommendations. Cask Strength is more than okay! I like rich whiskey/ bourbon. I've been debating the concept of Single Malt whiskey's. Stranahan's keeps coming to mind. Having never tried them before, I don't know if I will like them or not. The Sherry cask or bourbon cask seems intriguing.

American single malts can be good, and Stranahan's is fine. I like it at the price point but I am not sure it is representative of what you would get from Scotch or even single malts from some other countries. 

 

Until recently there was no standard for American single malts so the differences between distiller A and distiller B can be drastic. Frankly, they can still be pretty different although it isn't a free for all anymore. 

 

If you want to know what scotch is like, I would stick to some of the bottles I recommended, or ask about some others, even independent bottlers.

 

If you want a good American single malt, Stranahan's is a good place to start. New Riff makes a cool single malt at a similar price point, as does Old Line. Westward does as well, but I have not tried any of their bottles yet. Westland can be good as well, but it depends on the bottle. 

[smokinjoe]

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[rzelinka]

On 6/5/2025 at 5:02 PM, Scotch_Collector said:

American single malts can be good, and Stranahan's is fine. I like it at the price point but I am not sure it is representative of what you would get from Scotch or even single malts from some other countries. 

 

Until recently there was no standard for American single malts so the differences between distiller A and distiller B can be drastic. Frankly, they can still be pretty different although it isn't a free for all anymore. 

 

If you want to know what scotch is like, I would stick to some of the bottles I recommended, or ask about some others, even independent bottlers.

 

If you want a good American single malt, Stranahan's is a good place to start. New Riff makes a cool single malt at a similar price point, as does Old Line. Westward does as well, but I have not tried any of their bottles yet. Westland can be good as well, but it depends on the bottle. 

I did try the Jack Daniel's Single Malt last night at a tasting. I did not care for it. Will try another and see if I feel differently

[Skinsfan1311]

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[Kepler]

8 hours ago, rzelinka said:

I did try the Jack Daniel's Single Malt last night at a tasting. I did not care for it. Will try another and see if I feel differently

 

I've seen that one for $70 but did not purchase it.  I can't imagine that that young whisky could be as good as a Scotch single malt for the same money.  For that money you could purchase a 12 year age stated Glendronach, GlenAllachie or Tamdhu.   

[Kepler]

On 6/4/2025 at 5:42 PM, rzelinka said:

Years ago, my dad would drink Glenfidich, I could never get beyond the peated taste, still can't. Are all Scotch Whiskey's peated?

 

I've only been drinking scotch for a few years, but I didn't think Glenfiddich was peated.  Are you sure you aren't confusing "peat" with just the normal malt flavor that all scotches have (including non-peated)?  Just wondering.

 

Even non-peated scotch can have a malt flavor that just smells and tastes off-putting to a bourbon drinker.  

 

I would recommend the Glendronach 15 Year.  It probably has the most "neutral" (for lack of a better term) malt note that I tried when I was first discovering single malts.  It's a sherried whisky.  I found it very approachable.

Other bottles that you might find appealing are Balvenie Sweet Toast of American Oak 12 yr, Balvenie 12 Year Doublewood, or the Balvenie 12 Year "First Fill" Single Barrel.  

Or another good choice for a bourbon drinker is the Deanston Virgin Oak.  I really like the caramel  and vanilla notes that the ex-bourbon casks provide.  It's a little rough around the edges from the young whisky (NAS) but it has familiar flavors for a bourbon drinker.  Good luck!

 

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Kepler

[rzelinka]

24 minutes ago, Kepler said:

 

I've only been drinking scotch for a few years, but I didn't think Glenfiddich was peated.  Are you sure you aren't confusing "peat" with just the normal malt flavor that all scotches have (including non-peated)?  Just wondering.

 

Even non-peated scotch can have a malt flavor that just smells and tastes off-putting to a bourbon drinker.  

 

I would recommend the Glendronach 15 Year.  It probably has the most "neutral" (for lack of a better term) malt note that I tried when I was first discovering single malts.  It's a sherried whisky.  I found it very approachable.

Other bottles that you might find appealing are Balvenie Sweet Toast of American Oak 12 yr, Balvenie 12 Year Doublewood, or the Balvenie 12 Year "First Fill" Single Barrel.  

Or another good choice for a bourbon drinker is the Deanston Virgin Oak.  I really like the caramel  and vanilla notes that the ex-bourbon casks provide.  It's a little rough around the edges from the young whisky (NAS) but it has familiar flavors for a bourbon drinker.  Good luck!

 

My dad would drink Grants regularly. For a special occasion, he'd drink Glenfiddich. I didn't care for either. Someone gifted me a bottle of Royal Crown Single Malt, I didn't care much for it. Then again last night, I tried the Jack Daniels Single Malt and didn't much care for it either. Perhaps, I just don't like Single Malt? 

 

 

[Kepler]

1 hour ago, rzelinka said:

My dad would drink Grants regularly. For a special occasion, he'd drink Glenfiddich. I didn't care for either. Someone gifted me a bottle of Royal Crown Single Malt, I didn't care much for it. Then again last night, I tried the Jack Daniels Single Malt and didn't much care for it either. Perhaps, I just don't like Single Malt? 

 

Yes that's certainly a possibility, and absolutely nothing wrong or unusual about that at all.  You might want to hold off and just try a single malt here or there at a bar and don't purchase a bottle yet.