Any Scotch drinkers in the house?

[Red]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Yes. The giant long bottle. Not the stubby one which I believe is a blend.

I've purchased that giant thing 3 times in 2019 after first trying it in the summer. We thought it would be mediocre and were very, very wrong. My buddies and I now consider it an amazing baseline scotch to have on hand.

I thought that was a blend as well. It has some smoke and peat so Ive never tried it. How smoky is it?

The stubby bottle for $50 is excellent too. I was shocked when I tried it at friend's place. Great value. But it's no single malt and the finish is quite uneventful as is the case with blends.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Komskies

General scotch question: Do you keep your scotch in the boxes? I actually like the way they look in the boxes when displaying my collection. I guess another benefit would be keeping light off the liquor although I keep mine in the basement so that isn't a problem.

Nope, just adds steps to access!


I do have a few in really nice boxes that I keep them in, but those are the rare ones I don't touch often.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

What brand is the Kirkland one similar to?

I don't know how to describe the 20. But I'd say the 12 tastes like a less spicy Glenfarclass with a little more sweetness and the blend reminds me of a lighter version of Johnny Walker black with a bit of a different smoke/peat ratio... perhaps almost as if someone mixed a bit of Dewars or something into it.

Originally Posted by Komskies

General scotch question: Do you keep your scotch in the boxes? I actually like the way they look in the boxes when displaying my collection. I guess another benefit would be keeping light off the liquor although I keep mine in the basement so that isn't a problem.

Both for me. Bottles actively consumed are in front of the box. Bottles not actively consumed are in the box.

Originally Posted by bossy22

I ended up getting the Balvenie 14 year old carribean cask. I'm really enjoying it.

That's a great bottle. An interesting take for sure by doing the rum casks.

Originally Posted by Red

I thought that was a blend as well. It has some smoke and peat so Ive never tried it. How smoky is it?

The stubby bottle for $50 is excellent too. I was shocked when I tried it at friend's place. Great value. But it's no single malt and the finish is quite uneventful as is the case with blends.

It definitely has an age statement on the bottle. The smoke and the peat isn't a fixture in the Kirkland 12 but I'm sure there's some there. I'd say it's reminiscent of Glenfarclass, but less spice and more sweetness.

The Kirkland blended scotch tasted very light IMO. It was like a weaker version of Johnny Black and Dewars or something to me. I saw it at a theatre production and was the first guy to try the brand new bottle. It wasn't my thing. But at $50, I can see the value there for some and you can definitely do way worse by volume.

[Red]

I am pretty sure thats the one for $75. It is a blend as well, but with the age statement.



The cheaper one has no age listed.




I am going to get a bottle of the 12 next time I am there.

[MRCboicgy]

Originally Posted by Komskies

General scotch question: Do you keep your scotch in the boxes? I actually like the way they look in the boxes when displaying my collection. I guess another benefit would be keeping light off the liquor although I keep mine in the basement so that isn't a problem.

Only certain boxes - all the Springbank/Longrow because they tetris well together and then the fancy tins for Balvenie and Bruichladdich (esp. the Black Art tin). For some reason, the taller boxes annoy me, so I toss those (like Glen Scotia)

[Weitz]

Cracked this bad boy tonight. Really enjoying it.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

Better than Lagavulin 16? Can't be. No Lagavulin can top Lagavulin 16.

I would probably agree with that statement. I'll just say it's different, and therefore worth trying. Definitely a lot more wood flavor, but still tastes like a Lagavulin.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by bossy22

I ended up getting the Balvenie 14 year old carribean cask. I'm really enjoying it.

I've had that one before. It's quite good. Great chocie.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Red

I am pretty sure thats the one for $75. It is a blend as well, but with the age statement.



I am going to get a bottle of the 12 next time I am there.

Yup that's the one.

I brought it to a whisky night event where we did a blind taste test of 7 bottles between $60-100.

Without knowing what was what, everyone had the "Kirkland special" as some began to call it, in their top 3 that they enjoyed the most. We had other solid contributions like the Balvenie Rum Cask, Nikka Red, Auchentoshan triple wood, Machrie Moor and Gibson 18.

It wasn't everyone's hands down favourite or anything, but we were shocked that it was one that stuck out even in that pool of solid options. We thought this bottle punches above its weight class by price. But by volume, my friends and I all felt it was absolutely no contest.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Yup that's the one.

I brought it to a whisky night event where we did a blind taste test of 7 bottles between $60-100.

Without knowing what was what, everyone had the "Kirkland special" as some began to call it, in their top 3 that they enjoyed the most. We had other solid contributions like the Balvenie Rum Cask, Nikka Red, Auchentoshan triple wood, Machrie Moor and Gibson 18.

It wasn't everyone's hands down favourite or anything, but we were shocked that it was one that stuck out even in that pool of solid options. We thought this bottle punches above its weight class by price. But by volume, my friends and I all felt it was absolutely no contest.

I love that Machrie Moor. It's not my pure favourite (Caol Ila FTW!!), but it's a great scotch!

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Slava

I love that Machrie Moor. It's not my pure favourite (Caol Ila FTW!!), but it's a great scotch!

I thought the Machrie Moor was alright. It was good, but it wasn't something I was excited to have more of given the option. It was kinda simple and straight forward for a lack of better term. In a similar ranged area, I'd prefer something like an Ardbeg or something. Or the unique Islay flavours like the iodine/salt of Laphroaig, metal/pepper of Talisker or the oily, musky loft of Lagavulin... but I think I understand the appeal of it. Maybe one day I'll wake up and prefer to have something that isn't complex on the palette.

How's the Caol Ila? I've always wanted to try it and it's often a finalist, but it's never gotten into the correct range for me to take it home to try out.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I thought the Machrie Moor was alright. It was good, but it wasn't something I was excited to have more of given the option. It was kinda simple and straight forward for a lack of better term. In a similar ranged area, I'd prefer something like an Ardbeg or something. Or the unique Islay flavours like the iodine/salt of Laphroaig, metal/pepper of Talisker or the oily, musky loft of Lagavulin... but I think I understand the appeal of it. Maybe one day I'll wake up and prefer to have something that isn't complex on the palette.

How's the Caol Ila? I've always wanted to try it and it's often a finalist, but it's never gotten into the correct range for me to take it home to try out.

Well first, we can probably agree that there's really no such thing as "bad" single malt!

I just love Caol Ila. I think I have 3-4 "on the go" at this point. The plain jane 12yr is basically the nectar of the gods to me. Although, I'm hardly picky. I've bought some pretty cheap bottles in the past and thought that they were fine. the one outlier here is Trader Joes...I can't recommend that with a good conscience even in light of my earlier comment that there are no bad ones.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Slava

Well first, we can probably agree that there's really no such thing as "bad" single malt!

I just love Caol Ila. I think I have 3-4 "on the go" at this point. The plain jane 12yr is basically the nectar of the gods to me. Although, I'm hardly picky. I've bought some pretty cheap bottles in the past and thought that they were fine. the one outlier here is Trader Joes...I can't recommend that with a good conscience even in light of my earlier comment that there are no bad ones.

Agreed. It wasn't that I didn't like the Machrie Moor, it was just that given the options of Balvenie Rum Cask, Nikka Red, Auchentoshan and the Kirkland 12, I was more interested in having more of that rather than the Machrie Moor.

If I had a laid back evening to sip a scotch and Machrie Moor was the first one cracked open, I wouldn't complain and have a couple drams over the evening.

If you enjoy the Machrie Moor, have you tried Kilchoman? I picked up one of their early and young cask strength sherry casks and it was amazing for how young of a scotch it was. I tried the Machir Bay and it was good too. I'm guessing the Machir Bay and 100% Islay might be right up your alley if you enjoy Caol Ila.

[Slava]

I have tried some of the Kilchoman but I can't remember them specifically (lol). I stopped attending the scotch tasting events a few years ago because it was too overwhelming for me. Like I feel like I've tried dozens and can't really remember everything about every one. I did take some notes on a bunch, just so I could go back and remember my thoughts but apparently I didn't do that for anything from Kilchoman. I'll add it to my list and see though, because one can never have too many!

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Slava

I have tried some of the Kilchoman but I can't remember them specifically (lol). I stopped attending the scotch tasting events a few years ago because it was too overwhelming for me. Like I feel like I've tried dozens and can't really remember everything about every one. I did take some notes on a bunch, just so I could go back and remember my thoughts but apparently I didn't do that for anything from Kilchoman. I'll add it to my list and see though, because one can never have too many!

I agree. I've gone to those world of whiskey events a few times and I agree it's a bit much. First of all, you have people who have no idea what they're doing, pouring like they're handing you a beer taster. You get something like 20-30 tickets, but by the 4th or 5th one, taste buds are shot, probably tipsy and everyone is pulling out big guns like cask strength whiskey/scotches so it all blurs together. You're not really getting great value either IMO because it's just whatever is there, you stop tasting it quickly after you start and you can't remember what you had except for maybe a select 1 or 2 things. For the price I think it makes way more sense to go to somewhere like One18 empire or Buchanan's and drop that same money on things that actually seem interesting.

I've only really learned 2 things about whiskey at those events.

1. Wayne Gretzky's whisky approach is awful.
2. Adelphi is a pretty interesting independent bottler with some interesting approaches.

The Glover was an amazing bottle and their cheaper bottles are pretty good value too. That latter one is a pretty valuable lesson, I'll admit and well worth the price of admission. I would have never considered trying Adelphi had I not been so impressed by the Glover interpretation that they were serving at one of the World of whisky events.

https://thewhiskeywash.com/whiskey-s...brid-bottling/

I've seen $35 bottles of Adelphi blended scotch and it's just as good value as $50-60 bottles of whisky and cognac IMO.

[Fuzz]

I dropped off some old reno stuff at the Restore place, and looked around after. Found this nice little water jug, he gave it to me for free! I think they were $15-20 in the store at Bowmore. Score!

[CaptainYooh]

Yep. I paid about 20 pounds for a set of two Bowmore glasses and this same little water jug at the distillery. Funny thing, I never use it, because I drink single malts straight up.

[Fuzz]

I paid, I think 12 pounds for the 2 glasses. Didn't want to bring the jug home considering I don't think I'd use it much. But this one was free, and already in Calgary.

[CaptainYooh]

I bought these jugs at each Islay distillery we’ve visited - Bowmore, Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg.

[bossy22]

Balvenie 14 yr carribean cask is $84 at Superstore