Of the single malts recommended to me, which is the smoothest (least alcohol bite/face cringe) and least smokey overall? They pretty similar?

What do you guys think of J.W. Black-Gold? The standards of blended whisky. I smelt a Gold one time and thought it smelt like heaven.

All are around 80 proof, if u want to get rid of the booze cringe you coild basterdise it with ice, but it will also mask flavor and imo make it worthless to drink good scotch. Try it neat or with a splash of luke-warm water. The water must be luke warm, it will open up the whisky and make the flavor pop.

Now to j.w. so so called scotch... besides blue or green it is all dog crap. Blended scotch imo is just wrong and if im going to spend $ id much rather buy the good stuff. The j.w. smells good but that is where the goodness ends. Id go to your local specialty beer/ liqour store and tell them what u like and have them suggest you something to try.

The Glenmorangie 10yo, there is no 12yo

The glemonrangie is not alcoholic and full of flavour, you are going to like it for sure (I don't know about anyone who didn't enjoy this single malt)

JW Black is not great but it is a very nice blend imo, it is a bit smokey on the finish though. I'm looking forward to buy a Green label bottle very soon which is a blend made only with malt whiskys (no grain), I'll review it here since I don't recall about it being reviewed

JW is alright stuff. You have a bit of a snobby attitude.

maybe not in your supermarket, but i've seen many different ages at airports including 12yo

This, especially the bolded, is misconception, IMO. The cheapest, ****tiest Scotch available is mostly blended while it's relatively hard to buy a completely terrible single malt in a liquor store so I can see how this myth got started but it's just way off. There are many good Scottish single malts. There are also many good Scottish grain whiskeys. Why would blending them necessarily produce something that wasn't good?

I think JW Black is pretty tasty stuff, especially for the price range. If you don't like it, that's fine, but it's not objectively bad whisky. It's been a while since I've had any of them, but I recall liking green, gold, and blue quite a bit too.

Ballantine's Finest is pretty good and costs like $30 for a handle. It's a good bit pricier and harder to find and I haven't had a chance to try it, but Ballantine's 17 year won World Whisky of the Year from Jim Murray's 2011 Whisky Bible.

Compass Box makes a variety of very good blends (though only some of them contain grain whisky): http://www.compassboxwhisky.com

While I'm on the topic of Scotch that isn't single malt, I've recently tried a couple of single grains and may have found my new favorite whisky: Clan Denny Caledonian 45 year old



You could easily mistake it for a bourbon. Lots of oak and caramel and sweetness but also a rye-like fruity and medicinal edge.

ike,

Good post.

Black label and maker's mark are my two standard whiskey/rocks drink at bars.

http://www.kysela.com/liqueurs/couvreur.htm - this guy makes the best blends I've tasted and his blends are better than lots of single malts.

Really like rum, with coke...are there any whiskeys (will be the less $$$ categories obv) that go well mixed with coke?

IC5,

I don't know if it's ever been tried, but maybe Jack Daniels might go OK w/ Coke. Need to come up w/ a name for this new combo I've invented, maybe call this cocktail The Diablo.

Never tried it, but you should try bourbon and ginger ale. I LOVE Maker's Mark and ginger ale. I started mixing it about 50/50 but now I just add a splash of ginger ale. Probably my favorite drink.

Whisky and coke isn't new, whenever I get given something I woulddn't drink neat inc' Jack Daniels I drink it with coke. Been doing so for ~30 years and I didn't invent it either.

On JW, its very distinctive. All of the colours are and they even claim its designed for the American palate. Personally I hate it but will happily drink other low price blends - Old St Andrews is my favorite.

Same, though recently I've been going for knob creek sometimes, too.

what about woodford reserve?

This is a brilliant thread. It's my first time on EDF and it's certainly changed my perceptions of 2+2ers.
Anyway, I'm only 18 but I'm a big fan of Scotch, although my experience is very limited. My personal favourite (don't laugh) is probably 18 yr Glenfiddich, though I've never had anything older than 25 years. It'd be quite strange drinking something older than myself.
Recently, I was punched in the face and since then my sense of smell has been pretty screwed up. Consequently, I'm finding it very difficult to enjoy my whisky and it's really upsetting me. Hopefully it's only temporary though. I miss it dearly.

chez: LOL. no ****, sherlock

ike/amoeba: I think knob creek and woodford reserve are fine along with most others at that level. For stuff that's in the same general price point, I prefer Maker's 46 and Basil Hayden to those. I like Blanton's a lot but I think it's a little more expensive and it's not nearly as common in bars.

Gonna have to try those. Are Basil Hayden and Blanton both bourbons?

Hilarious.

I would call myself an intermediate when it comes to drinking whisky neat. I have a question though, how would you veterans describe the size of the sips you take? Just enough to swish around every part of your mouth? Sometimes I think I take too big of a sip, have to swallow too quickly and don't have long enough to enjoy the flavor.

If you find yourself in a liquor store looking to pick up a bottle of Makers Mark you should check and see if they have Old Weller Antique. Both are wheaters but the OWA has a lot more flavor. If you are at the point where you aren't adding much ginger ale you will probably like OWA neat or with just a few cubes of ice quite a bit. And even if you don't you may still find you like it more than MM when u mix it or try an Old Fashioned w/ it. It's in the same price range too.

BTW my progression to drinking whiskey neat was similar to your. Started out w/ mixed drinks that progressively got much stronger, then Old Fashioned's, then neat.

I take pretty small sips. like a single of whiskey probably takes me 10+ sips.

Lagavulin, Mortlach, Caol Ila - In that order.

I am kinda drunk atm, but had the privilege of drinking some caol ila 25 tonight and it was friggin incredible. also, anyone in vegas should probably go check out the freakin frog. It is a dive bar behind UNLV about 10 mins off the strip and they have 1100 beers and 600 whiskeys. Ask to talk to the owner if you go, he's a nut but knows his stuff.

im a super newbie with whiskeys, have only tasted Jack D, teacher`s and JW black label (which is the only one i currently have).

Previously i didnt like whiskeys at all and just forced myself to pour them down at some partys, but now im starting to like JW black label. Only problem is the alchohol burn i get when i drink them Is this something i get used to along the way? i know 40% shouldnt probably be so bad but im mostly a beer drinker.

Are any readers of this thread besides me and AAismyfriend in town for WSOP? Would be fun to put together an EDF Whisky Thread night at Freakin Frog.