whiskey

had a pour of the Colonel E.H. Taylor single barrel bourbon tonight and really enjoyed it - 100 proof, opens up w/ a little water, spicy kick in the middle with a sweet butter finish

picked up a bottle of no-name 18-year speyside single malt from trader joe's for $25.99. i was a little unsure about it, but that's a great price for 18-year scotch, and i was curious. the verdict... not bad, and as good as any other scotch you'd get in that price range. pretty simple, easy drinking and smooth, though not much of a finish. thinking of other bottles in this range (macallan 10, glenfiddich 12, jw black), this is definitely better, although it's a miss if you like more full-bodied or smoky stuff.

TJ Scotch (man, I wish our TJ sold spirits) is bottled by Alexander Murray, fwiw: http://alexandermurray.com/. Same people handle Kirkland brand for Costco. I do know their no-brand liquor has a god reputation across the board. Tequila, vodka ...

correction: bulleit bourbon nearly$25 at Costco now

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdfz64dPd41qz6f9yo1_1280.gif

yeah yeah yeah yeah

the online service of waitrose have discounted a lot of whisky so if you use their first-time signup offer of £20 off £100 you can get like four bottles of laphroaig 1/4 cask delivered for fractionally over £20 each

http://www.waitrose.com/content/waitrose/en/home/groceries/offer_aff.html

bulleit bourbon went up to $20.99 at Trader Joe's

awesome insight from toothpaste for dinner.com

no one who is truly into booze should front on the martini, its true

sarahell otm about price change, but it's like $24 here now (maybe I already posted that?)

oh sorry, I meant at costco, here. no TJ liquor section locally

so i got a bottle of buffalo trace discounted, it's now bottled at 40% abv here and some people seem to be unhappy about this (also 700ml as standard rather than 750ml in america i'd imagine?)

could benefit from the extra alcohol but it's very nice and makes a change from laphy taphy

Wow, 40% is pretty low.

40% abv and 700ml? they are disrespecting your country and your personal integrity

yeah reducing spirits to the legal minimum is pretty common, although most of the better single malt scotches seem to be bottled at 43-46% which is alright but even at 40% scotch doesn't lose as much as bourbon

I just picked up a bottle of BT the other day, now I'm paranoid that it is lower % than previously.

nah i'm pretty sure this is a specific to the uk and the shitty market for imported liquors that ensures i only ever buy them at unusual discounts

the price of yamizaki seems to have skyrocketed too cuz i was going to get a bottle but it's into ardbeg territory now

only offender of perpetual proof-lowering in the US is JD, I think

those fuckers

me mum surprise me with a bottle of jefferson's rye last night.
yum!

ooh lagavulin 16 on deal at waitrose, finally time to try it

it was pretty outrageously expensive for what it was, but i just enjoyed a mini bottle of highland park 30 this week. it's a shame more distillers don't do mini bottles of their more expensive versions, since buying a full bottle would just be impractical, though it's fun to see what you'd be paying for.

Thanksgiving dinner with the whole family is great but when my aunt unexpectedly produced a bottle of 1792 Ridgemont Reserve, it got even better.

cool aunt imo

xps,

Not mini-bottles, as such, but Masters of Malt sells whiskey by the 30cl measure which makes sampling rare / old stuff much more affordable.

3cl, rather, 30ml.

wow, do they ever.

STRANDED ... NO WHISKEY ... DESPERATE ...

Snagged a bottle of Pappy 15 today. Mission accomplished.

well done

On Thanksgiving morning Dad produced a bottle of Knappogue Castle, which is an excellent breakfast single malt from Ireland.

Picked up the Lagavullin 16 yr old in Waitrose today. So tempted to get a couple of other bottles while there. The Lagavullin is excellent.

Recommend me an Islay scotch to get for a good friend (and ex)'s 50th birthday? I know he likes Laphroaig. I'd like to get him something that he'd be unlikely to buy for himself. $100 is my limit.

The Lagavulin just mentioned may fit the bill?

Was not paying attention! Good candidate.

lagavulin distiller's edition or ardbeg corryvreckan maybe

but the entry level (16 yr and 10 yr old respectively) versions of those are both excellent and i would always get two of them rather than a single premium whisky

i feel like this recently acquired bottle of rittenhouse has a mustier, more vegetal taste than i am used to.
is this a recent trend among current batches? was my palate misleading me? i'm not complaining, i like it, but it doesn't taste quite like i'm used to.

ian, can you check the back of the label where it says "distilled by kentucky d.s.p." and then there will be a number--let me know what that number is.

backstory: there was a change in where rittenhouse was distilled and i'm curious if you got one of the new bottles.

ardbeg uigeadail is amazing too, my favourite ardbeg I've tried

mine is 354 - is that a good #

354 is the old stuff...i believe the new stuff will be d.s.p. 1

I will never drink from this bottle again

to be clear i don't know if there are d.s.p. 1 bottle out there *or* if they taste different, but it would be mighty interesting if they did.

Q: If Dickel 12 is called a sipping bourbon how come I want to gulp it?

I've never had Dickel before, so I bought a bottle of 12 today. Not bad at all! Not a huge fan of Tennessee whiskey, and I do taste a hint of the charcoal, but for the price this might be one of the better bargains short of Wild Turkey 101.

I need a good bourbon or rye in the UK to make WHISKY SOURS. Any suggestions that aren't (a) majorly expensive or (b) Jack Daniels?

Dickel Sour Mash makes a tasty Whiskey Sour, not as deep as the 12 and it sits nicely with all the other elements.

Its $20 a bottle round here, don't know how much of a mark up you'd be paying in the UK.

it's hard to say w/out knowing much about what you can get in the uk. buffalo trace is available just about everywhere and is good. or pretty much any rye you can get your hands on since rye would be my preference for whiskey sours.