whiskey

just opened a glenlivet founders reserve and it smells as christmassy as anything ive ever had but the taste is much thinner, smoother and higher than expected

very good tho

The Onion's video "Jim Beam Releases New Whiskey Specially Made For Knife, Gun Wounds" is still one of my favorite things ever and I think about it a lot more than I probably should.

irish version would be for toothache

bottle of redbreast 12 made its way back onto my shelf for first time in years lately and its better than i gave it credit for, a richer and sweeter green spot would be a fair guideline

treated myself to a bottle of yellow spot right before xmas but haven’t dug into it yet.

hmmm

ive always found it skippable tbh

for the money, green spot (i recall you are well acquainted with btw) is better, in particular the leo bartonville version is a nice twist

otoh, i treated meself to a bottle of red spot this winter just to see whether that would also disappoint, and imo its right up there with midleton, so....no knowing til you try

Plenty of offers all year so the shelf is in good shape. Polished off my midleton last night which hit me as a little higher and lighter than id remembered

Redbreast 15 is sweet, rich and a match for midleton in type and quality, its priced between that and green spot and is worth the extra on the latter

Glenmorangie quinta ruban is disappointing, fair bang of the oak barrels still in it which id describe as roughly blended rather than having character

Currach single malt is aged in seaweed casks and is very curious indeed. Would be rough enough without that but the salt comes in at the end and really makes it interesting. Im drinking it with ice to soften it which id never usually do but it works

Highland park valknut which is a pretty close runner to glenfiddich 12, maybe a richer, sweeter finish

Green spot, perennial good house whiskey

Jameson, xmas donation from in laws, perennial ok house whiskey (tho black bush preferred for that purpose)

i swear highland park used to be peatier

used to have a better bottle, too

Lol i was reading through the thread last night and every six months or so you pop in to type Highland Park

Very very very curious about the currach reading that writeup

That is intriguing indeed

Intrigue/curiosity would be about right i think, because i could easily see where someone wouldnt like it at all

If you saw it where you could get a shot without committing id think that the best approach

Goes really well with good chocolate, if that lessens anybody's risk factor

(This reminds me, I sent the aul fella a box of chocolates from the place you got yours at Easter and he was so happy, was like “where did you hear of this crowd”)

Does the Currach also have strong peat flavor? I could see seaweed/salt playing well with peat.

Was that skelligs or somewhere else, gyac- been a good year for ordering chocs tbh

xp nope not at all, the harshness is more of what id associate with american oak rather than anything smokey

Wilde irish, i remember now.

Just1ne discovery, that

Yep that’s the fellas! I think they deliver here but I’ll save that for a later point in the year when we’re on lockdown ten and in the pits of despair

once upon a time the customs and duty imposed on our expats was more figurative alas now youll be paying a nice packet on trve ngael chocs

As far as I can tell, Currach is not available in the US, so won't be testing it out too soon.

xp you forget of course I can get them delivered to the parents and collect them when I’m next over

Pick moodles up a bottle so willya

Solid plan

lol deems has my number

am currently drinking what i can only describe as “hipster whiskey”, some supposedly mysterious 10 year single malt from islay called “Seaweed&Aeons&Digging&Fire” and you know, it’s pretty good

next to it is an unopened bottle of what i’m tempted to call “tory whiskey” - a 12 year talisker

The three whiskey men in my circle have or will all miss their 40ths because of covid and the plan is to do some cycling/ferrying through the island distilleries once this is all over to make it up to ourselves

Im not mad on peaty tbh but can get into it with a bit of practice so for the group etc....

i love the stank

lagavulin or springbank probably my favourites

Love the peat, my go to for intense flavor is Port Charlotte. Laphroaig for something a bit lighter.

Working through a bottle of Ardbeg 10 yr right now, which is surprisingly mild.

laphroaig so good

fuck me, just looked at what springbank costs. i swear they used to have normal-ish bottles for sale!

I got a bottle of craft-distilled rye as a gift. I'm a bourbon drinker typically, and I take it meat. Do ppl drink rye neat? I always thought it was more popular in cocktails.

🥩

it's worth a shot! there's a pretty broad range of ryes these days taking all the craft stuff into account.

I got a Writers Tears Copper Pot Irish Whiskey for xmas, not sure if it gets more hipster than that, but it's good. Rather mellow with a slight honey tone. Sweeter and 'warmer' than I usually enjoy, but it's a good one.

Its excellent

One of those that emerge every year or so to muscle in, and like the irishman has been very good at making the most of the cheaper end of the market (tho writers tears have quickly ascended, deservedly so imo)

Very representative of what id consider irish vs scotch too- clear, sweet, warm, spiced, hits quite high quite early, no peat

Someone picked well for you!

Ashamed, upon reading the thread back, to admit that ive been enjoying sipping neat makers mark this winter.....

Was on islay in the autumn of 2019 and really enjoyed it. I think there's 8 distilleries there (or possibly 9) and with the isle of jura and it's distillery just across the way would be cracking for a whiskey tour.

I think there's a couple non-peaty whiskies on the island, bruichladdich definitely.

Did the ardbeg tour - not out of a preference, the laphroaig tours were full for the day iirc - and it was decent, the grub in their cafe was not bad too.

Weather was atrocious the 3 nights we were there but it's a lovely wee spot

Nice, that sounds the ticket

It was the missus, Deems! Admittedly, it was the hipster component that made her (not a connaisseur by any means) pick it, it came in a Ulysses-inspired festive packaging. I'm really pleased w/ it though, it's very warm and spiced indeed.

I'm def gonna get the Currach. Trying more/different whiskey is a good new years resolution imo.

As someone from the bog, admit to being slightly upset that peat is Scotland’s flavour, not ours.

That cannot stand. And I say this as someone from a bog myself.

I think I'm right in saying a large proportion of the island of Great Britain is peat bog.

Blanket bog mainly rather than raised bog iirc?

We *can* do it (Connemara a fine example) but whether through history or tradition its never really been a characteristic of what we produce (possibly because production of the initial spirit was geared for blending as a major feature of our production process back at the peak of the industry, not sure tbh)

I poured a little rye, neat. It's pretty good! It's from 11 Wells, part of the Minnesota rye trend, I guess? https://www.growlermag.com/a-pocket-full-of-rye-how-a-lowly-northern-grain-is-mounting-a-comeback-through-whiskey/

I have had Roknar once before, I realized after reading that article. It was $50+ at the store though.

the classic laddie thenight. an islay but not one of the better ones

I've been curious about that because I like Port Charlotte. Not too great?

... only for an islay. when your peers are ardbeg, lagavulin, caol ila, laphroaig etc, it's a tough gig

Finished a Glenlivet founder's reserve (which i don't think I'd mentioned above) and the gap annoyed me so I took a chance on Teelings small batch trusting that the rotgut theyd sold me when they first started out would have improved with time, experience and the few awards id seen them garner

Very typical irish pot still to start, maybe not as gentle as the others, but where its quite notable is that it doesnt come sweet at all despite a long enough finish. Cant see it becoming a favourite because i like em sweet, but certainly in no way a bad effort in the thirtyish quid bracket

Couple of sips later and i take it back about the sweetness, tho not as deep or rich as youd be used to

what the

https://thewhiskeywash.com/whiskey-styles/american-whiskey/baudoinia-the-fungus-that-stopped-jack-daniels/