whiskey

You know what sucks? Cutty Stark. Boo.

Just got a bottle of the small batch Black Maple Hill last night. I really like it. A lot.

Cutty Shark goes down rough even cut with water. Almost finished my bottle of Russell's Reserve Rye, it's not bad.

Good call somewhere up there about the Jim Beam Devil's Cut. Not generally a Beam fan, but this is good stuff.

it was "call all destroyer"s recommendation. a good one

glad u liked, bill.

speaking of russell's reserve rye, i dont know if anyone here is a fan of regular wild turkey 101 proof rye, but if you are you may want to grab the next couple bottles you see. there's an 81 proof wt rye expression coming out soon, and while the 101 isn't going away completely, it's going to get a lot tougher to find.

How does the Wild Turkey Rye compare to Russell's Reserve or Jim Beam ? Is it as sweet? I've never been a fan of WIld Turkey.

i've never had the russell's reserve rye so can't make that comparison but wt rye is for sure better than any of the current beam ryes and imo not as good as rittenhouse. it's too hot for me but some people swear by it.

Anyone tried Angel's Envy bourbon? Heard nothing but good things.

at home lately been drinking rittenhouse (available again in local spots! hurray!) and a bottle of rebel reserve i bought on a whm; it's not bad.

hah when rittenhouse came back to mass last month i went a little nuts; now have 5 unopened bottles to get me through the lean times.

I think Ritterhouse is one of the only Ryes I haven't tried. Maybe it's not stocked in the south.

where are you, jacob? rittenhouse availability varies wildly from state to state but most places get a little bit i think.

Texas

I got a bottle of Jefferson Presidential Select for my birthday. Never heard of it but can't wait to try!

After a small birthday taste with my dad that wasn't really enough to judge by, I had a glass last night. Outside of high-end scotch this is the most complex drink I've ever had. Amazingly smooth and it seems to activate all the different taste areas of my tongue. So good I almost feel bad about consuming it.

wow, that's quite a recommendation!

Rittenhouse abounds here. Surprise twist: Old Overholt makes a better Old Fashioned!

xp i'd agree, i love my jeffersons 18!

Went to a tasting last night, got to try some rare/expensive stuff, some faves were:

Strathisla 40
Talisker 30
Laphroaig 25

The Laphroaig in particular was a revelation because I don't like the standard one at all. Much smoother and the peat wasn't obnoxious anymore. Lovely aftertaste. Could never afford a bottle though!

I'm quite tempted to join one of the Master of Malts tasting clubs, or at least get some of their sample sets.

Just read a book by some woman food blogger who goes to Europe to learn about whiskey (it ends with what I felt was a cursory take on bourbon). Anyway, I was surprised to learn that the Scotch and Irish whiskey was just as corporate and incestuous as the American whiskey industry, owned by the usual multi-nationals and rarely owned by a company of the same nationality (ie French company owning Irish whisky company, etc.). As always, there are exceptions. But still, for example, Laphroaig was for a long time owned by Pernod Ricard. Now it's owned by Beam, Inc.

yeah pernod ricard still owns a couple of brands i think?

http://www.pernod-ricard.com/en/pages/282/pernod/Brands/Whiskies.html

Just read a book by some woman food blogger who goes to Europe to learn about whiskey (it ends with what I felt was a cursory take on bourbon). Anyway, I was surprised to learn that the Scotch and Irish whiskey was just as corporate and incestuous as the American whiskey industry, owned by the usual multi-nationals and rarely owned by a company of the same nationality (ie French company owning Irish whisky company, etc.). As always, there are exceptions. But still, for example, Laphroaig was for a long time owned by Pernod Ricard. Now it's owned by Beam, Inc.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, March 7, 2012 8:12 AM (34 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

99 drams of whiskey, right? i read this, it was ok. she def did not do justice to bourbon. but she also got most of her facts right which is hard to do in this industry.

Yeah, that book. Was OK. Better is "And a Bottle of Rum," which I'm reading now. Very informative and entertaining.

To access the Brands section of Pernod Ricard website, you must be over the legal drinking age and legally permitted to view these pages in the country that you are in.

bump for cad, he seems grumpy tonight

I am digging this weller 107, it feels like I need to cut it w/ water but I am always too lazy to so maybe I am missing out on some flavor

thx buddy :)

i have an unopened barrel selection weller 107 that i'm v. excited about! i will probably end up cutting it a tiny bit but nbd.

i've been wanting to try some of the common, yet random, midshelf bourbons so i bought some 1792 ridgemont. it's pretty good! kind of a crowd pleaser in re: its sweetness level but i get a lot of grain character from it, in a good way.

ha. i'm always tempted by low-end whiskeys i've never tried before. that's how i ended up with this bottle of rebel reserve. it's not a bad bottle, i guess, but i'm not connoisseur. i always thought i didn't like wheated bourbons much, but this is alright.

I always appreciate when ILX tells me "whiskey has new answers", because yes it does.

Has anyone tried fighting cock bourbon? the name puts me off (animal fighting is wrong.) but it's aged 6 yrs and 103 proof and pretty cheap.

minor googling suggests that fighting cock has a high rye content & good reviews = i will try this.

try it! i had a glass in a bar once and thought it was pretty good.

i think at the proof + age + price it's a total winner.

i've had fighting cock! not bad for price.

ok, i'm legit curious here, hopefully i won't get zinged into oblivion... why american whiskey over scotch? i love me some scotch but don't have much experience with quality bourbon or rye. is it a taste thing, or are there cultural aspects as well? or is this literally the whiskEy thread, as opposed to whisky? /noob

ok, in anticipation of March 17, any recommendations on "high-end" and/or noteworthy irish whiskies beyond the usual suspects. i see that my local trader joe's recently started selling a house brand single malt irish but i am skeptical

xp I just don't dig on the peatyness of scotch as much as I do on the charcoalness of bourbon, I think

and I always thought the spelling of the thread was coincidence as much as anything, have seen plenty of ppl discuss scotch here

there's much more to scotch than peatyness, i find bourbon more one-dimensional (ie too sweet)

i kinda hate scotch, sorry, but i like bourbon

what harbl said. Most scotch tastes like plastic to me.

Don't know where you all are from, but in general American spirit tastes tend toward the sweet. Hence our national distrust of bitters, which abound in Europe (there's a good chapter on this in Jason Wilson's "Boozehound"). Not that scotch is bitter, but our tastebuds I think gravitate toward the caramel sweetness of bourbon. Also, made in America, USA USA USA!

Maybe I've been drinking the wrong bourbons but I always get sour, not sweet. Scotch 4 life.

Sour? Really?

xps,

It doesn't necessarily pay to be sceptical of house-brand Irish whiskeys. There are only three working distilleries in the country, as far as i recall, so the cheap stuff is going to be made by the same people who do the higher end bottling. The Sainsbury's supermarket own-brand Irish malt in the UK is made by Cooley and is pretty great. It's probably just one of their regular lines (most likely Tyrconnell) with a different label.

More generally, Redbreast 12 y.o is good, iirc.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2255/2348846991_ba64ef1aab.jpg

scotch is good tbh. so is bourbon. and irish too! getting drunk is amazing!!

oh my god xp

well it's prob more complex that 'sour' but definitely something far away from sweet that doesn't sit well with me.