Any Scotch drinkers in the house?

[cavalera403]

I am needing to replace my HP18 so I will try and run into Coop tonight and hope they still have that on.

The Tomatin bottling that I am talking about is a specialty bottling for Willow Park exclusively. http://www.whiskybase.com/whisky/46140/tomatin-1993

[Badger Bob]

Johnnie Walker green is a nice "comfort drink" before a hardy dinner on a Saturday evening.

[Murrfk]

For a pretty good scotch that won't break the bank and should be readily available, try Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban. Finished in port giving it a unique taste. I wrote details about it in my blog singlemaltscotches.blogspot.ca. I think it is quite good. I am anxious to compare it to the Glenmorangie Lasanta when I get a bottle of Lasanta.

[Iggy Snipe]

If you like a smoky scotch taste which I love, Lagavulin and Laphroig are my two picks, with Laphroig being my favourite. Be careful not to buy the Laphroig quarter cask as it doesn't have the same appeal to me as the Laphroig 10 year.

They sell both at Co-op liquor stores.

[t0rrent98]

I just had my first scotch drink yesterday and I gotta say I think i might stick to drinking beer but will try the occasional scotch drink if offered.

[Daryei]

anyone seen Longmorn in YYC? How about anything from Compass Box?

[Daryei]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

That's not a reasonable generalization. Islay whiskeys differ significantly across the board. Laphroig, Bunnahabhain, Ardbeg, Caol Ila and Talisker are all very peaty and salty, but have little richness from the cask taste. They do change towards milder and more pronounced taste with age (starting at 18-yrs old), as the Scotch loses cask alcohol strength, mellows and becomes more saturated with the cask original beverage notes (bourbon, sherry or port).

Lagavulin and Bowmore Scotches are also very smokey and peaty in line with the Islay traditional distilliery practices but they are, as a rule, richer in original cask beverage notes.

Bruichladdich is technically an Islay Scotch too, but it is not really a solid product by any Scotch standard these days after losing all of their stock of aged single malts due to bankruptcy and subsequent takeover. It is more affordable and they do market it very well to young drinkers, yet, it is nothing to write home about, imo. It is mostly very young, rough and shallow in taste.

not to nitpick, but Talisker is not an Islay whisky. still darn nice stuff though.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by 19Yzerman19

6. Glendronach 12

This is my absolute favourite and would like recommendations on something similar.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Daryei

not to nitpick, but Talisker is not an Islay whisky. still darn nice stuff though.

OK, it's an Isle of Skye distillery, not Isle of Islay... But you are nitpicking.

[Daryei]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

OK, it's an Isle of Skye distillery, not Isle of Islay... But you are nitpicking.

Probably. I've spent a fair few mini breaks up in Scotland ( this is the first Easter in 4 years I've not gone). Love the place.

Islay is considered a style of whisky all it's own, alongside Highland, Lowland, Speyside, and Campbelltown. The other style is Island whisky - which is basically all of the non-Islay islands grouped together, like Skye, Mull, Arran, Jura, etc.

I'm hoping I can find whisky I like when we move back to Calgary, but I tend to prefer single barrel cask strength if I can get it, or non chill filtered (46% abv or better) if I can't.

[CaptainYooh]

Good single malts are expensive here but the prices are surprisingly close to the prices in UK. I've got back from Scotland a few months ago and was quite surprised by the high Scotch prices over there. Even at the distilleries, the prices are close to what we've got in Calgary. Lagavulin 16 was £35 at the distillery. It sells at Costco for $78, which is about £42 at today's exchange rate. Heathrow Duty Free prices were even worse than that. Prices are much better in US.

[LChoy]

My cousin found out I liked the Macallan line and got me 2 bottles from the 1834 collection.

Anyone on CP ever tasted the Select Oak and the Whisky Maker's edition?

http://www.themacallan.com/the-whisk...24-collection/

[fulham]

Received a Bottle of Highland Park 18 after closing my first deal at work, not a scotch drinker, any CP'ers interested?

[troutman]

Came here by mistake - thought it was about Scorch.

[Slava]

^Yup! What do you want for it? (Feel free to PM me)

[fulham]

Its listed at 150 plus or minus like 10 bucks on a dozen sites, is 100 bucks fair?

Also is it a waste to start drinking expensive scotch without any scotch tape experience? Should a beginner to the scotch game start with junk scotch so the learn to appreciate the little things that make a scotch great?

[Slava]

I don't think that you have to start with junk to appreciate good Scotch. I do think that just cracking open a bottle of really good Scotch might be somewhat lost on someone who has never had any Scotch, but if you know what terrible alcohol tastes like then you already know what you don't want! The thing with scotches is that there are so many. They really are very different and so if you know you like a peaty Scotch or something smoky then you have a good idea about whether you will want to buy an expensive bottle in the first place. Part of the enjoyment though is trying a lot of different varieties, at least in my opinion.

[evman150]

When starting out, just try different mainstream ones. Nothing cheap, nothing expensive. Cheap stuff will turn you off, and expensive ones will be a waste.

[kermitology]

I'd hold onto that Highland Park 18 and try some entry level good quality scotches (like the Highland Park 12) and if you don't get into scotch, then sell that puppy. The price is always rising on scotches too I'm noticing.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by kermitology

I'd hold onto that Highland Park 18 and try some entry level good quality scotches (like the Highland Park 12) and if you don't get into scotch, then sell that puppy. The price is always rising on scotches too I'm noticing.

IMO no more than beer or anything else rises, but that's just anecdotal I guess.

Just a bit of advice from when I and a few friends started getting into scotch: When first starting out, look for a balanced scotch like Mcallans, Glenrothes, etc. Hell even the Johnny Walker Platinum if you want to splurge a bit. Much easier to get into. I know a few people go too peaty/smokey off the hop and get turned off for a long time, and IIRC even the Highland 12 is pretty smokey (but it's been a while since I've had it).

I've found that there's $30 bottles out there that I like better than bottles at a much higher price point if they have a flavour I don't enjoy.