Also, what are the main differences between single malts and malt blends? are malt blends closer to blended scotch?

I'm pretty sure that a "blended malt" will be a blend of any number of single malt whiskies, whereas a normal blended whisky is made up of (usually) inferior grain whisky mixed with some malt.

I'm sure you can get some excellent blended malts (also some good blended Scotch), but I would be way more inclined to buy normal single malts. This way you know exactly what you're buying, where it comes from, how it's made etc, and it's also interesting to find out about the distillery, whereas with a blended malt you don't know any of this.

Edit: Pulled from Wikipedia regarding the definition of blended malt:

Just finished a bottle of Black Maple Hill Small Batch last night:



Was reminded of what a great, funky pour this is. Strong fruit and citrus, a little sweet. Awesome, different, bourbon at around $30/bottle. Highly recommended.

Bit of a derail, but since Zacapa Rum seems to get a lot of love here....

Picked up a bottle of Ron Zacapa 23 (~$35) this weekend based on the recommendations in this thread.

As I also had a bottle of Flor De Cana 12 (~$35) handy, my father in law and I gave the two a taste test. Test is non-blind, so take results for what they're worth, but here ya go:

Methodology:
Non-blind, tasted 1 oz neat pours of each side by side.

Flor De Cana -
Nose: Sweet cinnamon
Taste: molasses, honey, cinnamon
Finish: very slight burn as it goes down the throat, but not in a bad way.

Zacapa -
Nose: Sweet with hints of spice
Taste: pronounced sweetness of molasses/brown sugar. Perhaps a bit oaky as well?
Finish: super smooth finish. feels good going down the gullet

Neither of the testers are master rum drinkers or anything, so forgive the spotty tasting notes. All in all, we both found both rums to be awesome, and would happily drink them neat, on the rocks, or with a splash of something. We thought the Zacapa was slightly sweeter than the Flor De Cana, and preferred the Flor overall. Note, however, that my father in law is Nicaraguan (country of manufacture of Flor De Cana), so there's likely so fairly significant bias on the "which is better" front. I suspect that if we did the taste test blind multiple times, it would be a toss up where we went back and forth on the winner.

In any case, the two rums are fairly similar and uniformly great. If you like Zacapa, strongly recommend checking out the Flor De Cana.

I'll have to keep an eye out for that (flor de cana), though I don't think I've ever seen it in a store.

I recently bought a new whisky, Glenmorangie 12 yr Quinta Ruban. It definitely has the most intense/complex flavor of any of the whiskeys I've tried. Not exactly sure how to describe the flavor since I'm pretty new at this, but there were 3 distinct stages and they were all pretty awesome. I hadn't heard of this particular flavor before in this thread, but it was right next to the Nectar D'or at the store and said it was finished in Port casks rather then whatever the ND is finished in. Sounded like I might prefer this one, so I grabbed it. 85$ or so (lol canada) but a great purchase.

Goose, that is actually the first single malt I ever tried. My parents have a bottle of it on hand at all times. Pretty good stuff.

http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-12865.aspx



Picked up a bottle of Bowmore Tempest Batch 2 on Friday night. Anyone here try it or have any experience with Bowmore whiskies? Will post a review using my limited skills tomorrow

wow just saw it won best Islay at the world whisky awards. Looking forward to it even more now

Never heard of that one, what makes it different to the standard 12yo? I've not had a bottle of Bowmore in for a while, but from what I remember it's quite fruity and rich (as well as smokey obviously). Definitely a very nice whisky.

Had a glass of this after dinner at a restaurant once. Really nice stuff. If you like it, try more whisky from port wood or oloroso sherry casks. Here are a couple I like:

Yea I already know this is going to be my favorite whiskey of all time.. Just haven't seen it for sale yet anywhere in Canada. I guess I'll have to wait for a trip somewhere. 150$+ is going to be steep too, but I love the doublewood so much that I know this will just be unreal.

Does anyone have any advice on buying whisky online?

I've used both of these places and been pretty happy with the selection, shipping time, etc:

www.thewhiskyexchange.com

www.thewhiskybarrel.com

Both are UK based, takes 2 weeks or so to get what you order, shipping is pretty expensive (good reason to buy a lot at once lol). Prices on American whiskey are ridiculous but a ton of the scotches and whiskeys from other parts of the world just aren't available from any American retailers I can find.

www.masterofmalt.com seems good too but I haven't used them yet

Royal Mile Whiskies are my usual pick for online purchases. They've got a nice selection, decent site and good support, not sure what their overseas shipping will be like, or how their prices compare to US prices. The main reason I chose these guys in the first place was because I visited their shop in Edinburgh a few years back and it was simply heaven.

i like the doublewood a lot but am not a fan of the portwood. obv that doesnt mean u wont like it but the flavor the port barrels add is very significant and just not to my liking so if u get a chance to try a pour of it before u actually pick up a bottle i would suggest that.

If he really likes the quinta ruban I think it's a safe bet he's gonna like the balvenie port wood.

oh ok. ive been drinking wayyy more bourbon than scotch lately but i did pick up a bottle of the portwood cause i liked the doublewood a lot and like port wines but just didnt care for it.

I found a video of someone tasting the Portwood. His appreciation is slightly amusing to me, but I'm not sure whether that's enhanced or diminished by not understanding German:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bclRb-b68Tg

Visited their shiop last month and was pretty dissapointed after the whisky exchange shop in london which had a far better range and was much cheaper.

Just looked up Highland Park 18 on both online sites and although the prices are closer its still a fair bit cheaper at the whisky exchange £58.25 vs £60.95.

Its all the same stuff and their both reputable so just go with the cheapest.

Thought I'd ask for a direct rec since wading through all the interwebs sucks and tasting is kind of out of the question.

Graduating undergrad in a month and want to get a nice bottle for myself and a couple of friends. We were all out a week ago and they (and I) quite liked the Macallan 18. I would like something like that four <$150 with that sweet honey taste and buttery feel. Nothing too peaty or strong. Would it just be best to go with the Macallan?

It may be worth mentioning I am a novice scotch drinker and they don't drink it except the aforementioned occasion.

I would just stick to the macallan if you all really enjoyed it.

Dalwhinnie is another good one if you want an easy-drinkin' scotch with a bit of a honey flavor. It's one of my personal favorites.

Finally got a bottle of Balvenie Peated Cask....drinking it right now to help cope with loss of online poker and possibly lots of my monies, and it is delicious. I suppose even if I'm poor, I have 20 bottles of whiskey and 350 bottles of wine in the cellar to help me cope with reality

Drowning poker sorrows with Macallan 18 tonight.

Dalwhinnie was a great suggestion. My novice palate got something of Glenlivet fused with honey. Very nice drink.

the past week i had bunkered 22 bottles of Pappy 15/20 and hadn't played a single hand of poker. i was pumped about how good of a week i was having then friday hit....such a bittersweet week for me but much more bitter than sweet.