Basil Hayden great for the price. Not everything beam puts out is bad.

ya basically want something as far away from the jack/jim/bushmill flavor and lil more sweet/spicy.

other than that I'm not too particular.
I'll def check out the stuff you guys have recommended, tho I feel like there is a chance I'm just not manly enough for whiskey

Buffalo Trace is a pretty great starter bourbon and a good value

Stranahan's is a small distillery here in Denver that makes a smooth whiskey that I really like for about $60. Total Wines also carries it in other states. I just noticed that Foobar has a bottle in his collection from the pictures he recently posted.

Yeah, was gonna mention strannahans but didn't because:

1) don't think it would be good fit for rbk given his description
2) I'm a curmudgeon and feel like the whiskey was better prior to them being acquired. That said, I have no proof that the recipe changed, so this could totally just be bias on my end.

lol, entry level Jameson literally tastes like vomit to me.

Bernheim Original is very good, which is probably expected since it's a wheater

Rye fans,

A friend got me this bottle of Willett Exploratory Cask Finish



7yo rye finished in curaçao barrels. It's definitely a rye, but there's an orange, almost rum-like sweetness to the finish. Very smooth. I enjoyed this quite a bit.

Also tasted angels envy rye, finished in rum barrels. Was not a fan of that at all. Very sweet, very little rye character, heavy coconut and tropical fruit nose and flavor. Muddled, overly sweet mess IMO.

Rbk,

Old Scout is a very good suggestion, I reviewed a bourbon and rye recently itt. Blanton's is also a solid choice, plus it has a cool horse thingy on the stopper.

sweet thanks.
I will report back when I'm back from Vegas and have a chance to try some of these out.
my fiance can drink me under the table and likes all kinds of whiskey/bourbon so I can buy a few of these and not worry about them going to waste if I don't like them.

worst case I'll just keep drinking the makers mark american honey n pretend it's 18yr old single malt

Rbk,

Buy the following:

One or two of the recommended bourbons/ryes

Balvenie 12 doublewood scotch

Lagavulin 16 scotch

Devil,

Re: willett exploratory and angels envy rye.

Weird, I'm the exact opposite. I like the angels envy as an after dinner drink, was seriously disappointed in the willett all around.

Foo,

I can def see not being into the XCF. I think I give it some extra credit for uniqueness, but it lacks spice and full flavor to stand alone as a great rye.

Just wasn't into the overpowering coconut rummy sweetness of the AE.

Peat lovers,

Picked up a bottle of the Perpetuum ($100), which has been getting really rave reviews. Did a tasting with a few other ardbegs I have.



From least to most favorite:

Perpetuum 47.4%: lightest of the bunch. Tastes a little young and thin. Almost like a peated Spey or highland rather than a classic rich Ardbeg flavor. More lighter citrus fruit notes and a little maltiness. A solid whisky, but not near the top of my Ardbeg list.

Uigeadail 54.2%: well, this shows how good these whiskies are. It's #3 of this group, but I still love it. This tastes the hottest of the bunch and also the most pronounced sherry sweetness. Nice classic Ardbeg peat, but a little less smokiness than the next two.

Corryvreckan 57.2%: This is a little sweeter, a little smokier, and a little more balanced than the Uig. Surprisingly drinkable at 57%. Just a super smooth classic Ardbeg, love it.

Ardbog 52.1%: my favorite of this bunch. Really rich and full-bodied flavor. The peat character comes through in a rich smoky, meaty, bacony way, it's great. Nice sherry fruit sweetness to go along with that, but a little less sweetness than the last couple. Just enough to add great complexity and balance. An exceptional islay.

It seems like women like to do pickle back shots or I have just been running into some crazy ones lately. Not that I hate them.

AF,

Do you live in NYC?

man, I really enjoy the Quinta Ruban as an after dinner drink

El D,

I live in Denver. People were also drinking them when I was recently in Maryland. Some people love them and some people hate them. It is good for entertainment value.

****ing FINALLY my Kavalan VB gets cleared. Now the question is if I should get a second one, a second 4R SBLE for £79.50, or Laph 18

Pretty excited to attend a IW Harper release tasting later this week

Those of you under 40 likely have never tried it. The iconic well dressed butler has been #1 in Japan for 20 years and Diageo is bringing it back to the USA after a long hiatus. This was my go to bourbon in college

It's always a pleasure...

Doc,

Enjoy! And please post tasting notes.

Early reviews are positive on this guy. Not sure what retail is, but people are already flipping the 15 year for $150ish on the secondary market. I only mention because this likely means it will be difficult to find bottles at retail, at least for a while. Recommend picking up a couple at the release if you like the whiskey and have the option.

Devil,

Re: xcf

Late reply, but I have an extra unopened (I was super psyched for this one prior to release) that I'm likely never gonna drink. Happy to ship your way in consideration for similarly awesome gesture on your end at some point in the future

PM info if interested.

Diablo, you've made me realise I need another bottle of Ardbeg desperately.

Great post!

I do love my Ulgeadall but now have to try the Corryvreckan and Ardbog… never felt a need to go beyond Ulgeadall but now I'm kinda feeling it.

At our office we have a longstanding Stanley Cup Hockey Pool that involves: picking the winner of each game throughout the playoffs; predicting the winner of each playoff game; predicting the number of games to win each series; predicting the winner of each playoff series; and finally, predicting the Stanley Cup winner before the start of the playoffs. It is a massively complicated and long drawn out affair that culminates with the winner of the prize pool ($560 this year — entry is only $20 to maximize participation) having to spend at least $100 per bottle for two bottles of scotch to share with the "losers" of the pool. So, all in all, everybody wins.

This years winner (no, it wasn't me but I have won it before) presented the following two bottles for sipping today:



48.0% Laphroaig Triple Wood $120 CAD
Apparently they mature this in bourban barrels, transfer into quarter casks and then finish in sherry oak butts. Surprisingly, at least for me, I found this to be quite smooth — I was expecting more peat and smoke. Very nice, all in all.



59.6% Caol Ila Unpeated Stitchell Reserve $160 CAD
Found this to be kind of interesting as I am definitely more of a peaty kinda guy and tasting a scotch promoted as "unpeated" was kind of a bit of an odd concept for me! Anyway, had a couple of three shots or so of this whiskey, straight up, no water and found it to be quite smooth and not as firey as I would have expected. All in all pretty decent though the flavours were a bit too straightforward and lacked complexity, such that I can't see myself running out to get a bottle. I'd rather have a run at the Ardbegs!

Speaking of the Ardbegs, I haven't tried the Perpetuum but there was talk of it today during our tasting of the Laphroaig Triple Wood and the Caol Ila Unpeated and it was generally positive. However, after reading El D's review I'm gonna go with the Corryvreckan and Ardbog first.

Still haven't opened my latest bottle of Caperdonich… starting to feel the itch though!

From the youtube videos I have searched, reviews have been generally negative for Ardbeg Perpetuum. An upgraded 10yo expression was the general consensus. Ardbog is good stuff.

@TensRUs
it´s not really bad,just not worth the $$ they are demanding for it,in my eyes.