Quote:
Originally Posted by Lem_Ferrow
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.
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.