for what it's worth you can get a bottle of scotch that is off. it can have this sulphury taste, which is usually a sign of a bottle that isn't right.

but the fact you reported this with an Islay malt implies you probably just don't like them very much, they are apparently very strong.

I never knew that. What is it that makes the bottle "off"? I always thought that the whisky itself couldn't go off as it is strong alcohol and is therefore unaffected by bacteria. Is it contamination at bottling?

jihad, fwiw i really like islay scotches but not a huge caol ila fan. it's not really that it's too strong but it just feels very sharp and shallow to me. a good islay lives up to its burn with complexity and depth imo. i'm far from an expert on this kind of thing, and i suspect it's mainly preference, but you're not totally alone on this one.

I enjoy Jack Daniels as my regular... Never went "to deep" about it but I know people usualy discuss is it whisky or burbon?? So can someone clarify this for me please? And also - where JD stands in world of whiskey? Is it like average or upper/lower than that?

Jack Daniels is a Tennessee whiskey, to be bourbon it has to come from Bourbon County, Kentucky. Tennessee whiskey is more similar to bourbon than it is to scotch, which makes a lot of sense given the geography. Bourbon is a type of whiskey, just like scotch is. Scotches are whiskeys from Scotland.

Whiskey ratings depend a lot on personal preference, but I would say it is similar on the spectrum to where budweiser is for beer. There are plenty of beers of higher quality / better tasting than Budweiser, but it's not terrible.

the cask that is was aged in. or just **** quality control, because not all product produced is good enough to be sold.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ralfystu...58/bN-1mNqCLpc

watch this vid, the guy knows what he's talking about.

edit: fwiw i would more find it more probable this would happen with, as he said, an independant bottler, because the company size probably creates a situation where 1 or 2 people check quality and if they have an off day it could happen that one bottle slips through the net.

edit: if you liked his fix in 85, watch 86 it has an awesome winter scotch recipe that i'm dying to try one time if i have some whiskey to spare :P.

Jack Daniel's Single Barrel is getting towards high class whiskey. It's creamy and buttery and doesn't burn like Jack Daniel's No. 7 does. Off on a tangent here but I had an "old man moment" with it once. Sitting in my friend's dorm's common room at 2am talking about the political and economic state of China while 2 of us were sipping JD Single Barrel and the 3rd was sipping wine.

Well about my whisky drinking. I drank a lot of Jack Daniels No 7 in high school. It was partly because of the badass factor and partly because it gets you drunk really fast. Because of that, alcohol burn doesn't bug me anymore. Then in university, someone suggested that I start trying scotch and I'm off on a whisky adventure. I've tried Glenfiddich, Macallan, Aberlour, Bowmore, Talisker for single malts and Ballentyne (blech), Grant's (blech again), and Johnnie Walker (I hate Johnnie's guts) for blended scotch. My favourites are probably Macallan and Talisker, Macallan for the honey and sherry palate, it's smoothness, and that warm feeling and the after taste that makes losing 400 dollars seem not too terrible. Talisker for that distinct smokiness and punch-in-the-face taste that you expect from whisky (yeah, I'm not that good at describing the palate and aftertaste).

Has anybody here tried this:



I've never tried a rye whiskey and the store I buy from online highly recommends it.

I'm a bit unsure of my next purchase though. My bottle of Caol Ila is almost finished and it's one of the the ones that I want to always have in stock however I really want to try some different Scotches, and I would really like to try a rye.

okay whisky lovers finish this sentence for me, if you please

if you recently discovered (and enjoyed) basil hayden, next you have to try ______

PR: Sazerac is great. Rye is a little "harsher" taste than other whiskeys, but it has a great flavor and makes great classic whiskey cocktails - manhattans, sazeracs, etc.

LML: Baker's and Blanton's. Booker's if you want to try something a little stronger. Noah's Mill, Rowan Creek, Old Rip Van Winkle, Pappy Van Winkle.

I've ordered a bottle of the Sazerac, and also a bottle of this 1996 independent bottling of Caol Ila....



Should be getting it delivered tomorrow or Wednesday hopefully, so will report back here when I've given them a test drive.

I gave up whiskey and beer on Jan. 1 and lost 25 pounds eating normally.

Still haven't managed to crack open the Laphroaig yet, but will do.

I'm making a trip with some college friends to Ireland and Scotland in mid-June and we're all big whiskey drinkers. Can anyone recommend any distillery tours they may have done or heard were especially cool? Since there aren't many left in the Lowlands we're looking to drive up to the Highlands (not sure if we'll hit Speyside yet).

El Diablo:

What are your thoughts on the Eagle Rare?

For someone who drinks mostly Jack and Cola is there a better Whisky to mix with thats common or should I just stick with normal Jack?