Time for the first review of a whisky from my collection.

Oban 14yr old:

Having visited the distillery myself, I have a bit of an affinity with Oban. This is the flagship whisky from suprisingly one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland. Part of the reason that it is so much smaller than other distilleries despite being a very well known brand around the world is that 100% of it's output is sold as single malt in contrast to other distilleries that sell a lot of their whisky to blenders to continue it's life anonymously as part as a blend. They also only (afaik) only produce two expressions, the main one being the 14yr old, and the other being the Distillers Edition, which is created by taking the 14yr old and aging it for another 6-9 months in a sherry cask (review will come soon). The most suprising fact that I learned on the distillery tour was that the 1m bottles of whisky that they produce every year are made by only 7 people that work in the distillery.



Appearance: Light amber

Nose: A malty sweetness with some honey and a just a hint of peat smoke.

Taste: Rich and smooth, the sweetness of the malt continues through in the taste, and is joined by a woody flavour. The hint of smoke is also still there in the taste.

Finish: Woody, sweet and slightly spicy. The peat smoke also becomes more apparent in the finish.

Excellent collection you've got there.

From your reccommendations I've decided to add some more American whiskey to my collection. Went out today and bought a bottle of Makers Mark....



Will give it a go later and maybe try it alongside the Rowan's Creek to compare the two. I have pretty much zero experience of bourbon past that one bottle of Rowan's Creek, so will be interesting to see how the different brands match up to each other. Where would you suggest I go with my next purchase?

I am a big bourbon fan but mostly drink Maker's which I really like. I've also tried Woodford reserve, Bulleit and Buffalo Trace all of which I also liked although Bulleit was a bit harsh.

Any other reccs that aren't too expensive?

edit: pretty much asking what he is asking ^^

I've only had one try of the Maker's so far, but from first impressions it seems extremely smooth, but nowhere near as complex as the Rowan's Creek.

My screen name suggest my love for gin but I think I love whiskey more.

I'm glad to see so much Oban and especially Ardberg love itt. I can not find one person who likes really peaty scotches near me so I have to keep a bottle of Glenlevit or such around.

Also, Yamazaki is a pretty damn good drink. When it comes to single malts made outside of Scotland, this is my go to.

"""Any other reccs that aren't too expensive?""

People always look at me crazy but you should try Old Forester. I like Makers and all the other named bourbons as well, but OF is really bad ass for the price.

Alcohol thread

Elijah Craig 12
http://bourbonobserver.blogspot.com/...ar-review.html
it goes for about $20 for a 750ml and is quite good. IMO it is a step down, small step, from Woodford or Knob Creek. It has, I would say, the best quality to price ratio in bourbon.

My go to bourbon is Woodford. Peppery, oily, really long finish. Nice stuff.

I had one bottle of Knob Creek and I dont remember much except I liked it quite a bit, great mouth feel, buttery. Pricey, though.

El D, the George T Stagg is probably the 2nd best bourbon I've ever had. It is incredibly strong due to the high alcohol content, but a few drops of water does wonders. The only bourbon I have had that is better is the Pappy Van Winkle 23 year, which is outrageously expensive, and probably not worth the coin if you can find the 20 yr or 15 yr, which are not quite as good as the 23, but amazing none the less.

I prefer high quality to bourbon to scotch for the most part, but my go to single malt is



The stuff cannot be beat for the money

I actually was going to mention this in a separate post.....tbh, I prefer it to all the other bourbons you mentioned too. Anyone looking to try some good bourbon without spending too much money should certainly give the Elijah Craig a shot.

I just received my first bottle of single malt a Glenmorangie original 10 year old. before this i've only drank several blended whiskys and am excited to try this one. From what i have looked up on the internet it is quite good, but i will probably let you know when i open it (most likely thursday.).

as a follow up to my last post i'll post my thoughts on the whisky which i just tasted for the first time here.

the whisky is a little less dark then the usual blend i drink (famous grouse), but this single malt and the blend both contain E150a (caramel to color the whisky) this is not very useful.

then onto the nose, it's a very fresh vibrant scent, with a lot of fruitiness and citrusy like smell, maybe slightly peppery, not much smoke. as you let it sit longer it starts getting a little more woody / smoky taste.

taste: very nice, i taste some apple / pear, and as yu hold it in your mouth a few seconds maybe some honey, sweetness. also some citrus.

finish: the finish is once again the fruity sweet taste, but the wood comes through more.

general thoughts: i liked this whisky a lot, for someone not very into single malts it had a lot going on and was definitely a step up from normal blended whiskey's i drank before this.

johnnie walker black baby

jw black is dog piss.

I went to a bacon and bourbon festival thing last night.

I suck at discerning tastes and subtleties but had a lot of good bourbons, American whiskeys and ryes.

Most makers had different varieties, ages, barrel types etc.

Some I tried: Black Maple Hill, Evan Williams, Maker's, Wild Turkey, Michter's, Four Roses, Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare and a few others that I can't recall.

I pretty much liked them all. The Black Maple Hill blend was quite good and the Eagle Rare.

Wild boar bacon is pretty amazing.

No, but Glenfarclas and Glenfiddich is all you need

Quick question how do you American's pronounce Glenfiddich?

like the rest of the world im guessing. phonically it sounds like Glen- Fid-ick

Good review, I haven't tried Glenmorangie yet but may give it a go this weekend as I was already planning to buy another scotch.

That's how I would say it (English) but I suspect the scots probably make some unintelligible throaty cough noise at the end of the word

i still like glenlivet over glenfiddich. both are good but just something always draws me to the 15 or 18 year is about the best thing imo.

now bourbon is a totally different topic. best thing imo is pappy van winkle 15 year. nothing comes close

Yeah :P

Pappy 20 and 23 yr say Hi. But yes, all 3 are friggin incredible and pretty much better than anything else other than maybe the George T Stagg.

yeah i agree all the pappy's are really good

I was out for lunch this week and realized I was next to a state store (lol PA liquor laws, don't ask...) and this thread popped into mind.

I picked up a bottle of The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year, which is an old favorite and has been mentioned or shown in this thread. This is the bottle I recommend to friends mostly familiar with bourbon or blends such as JW or Dewars' since its combination of smoothness and value makes it one of the most appealing entry points for single malts.

http://www.thebalvenie.com/en-us/our...rrentRange.php

Also, since I have no self-control, I picked up a bottle of Laphroaig 18 Year since I've thoroughly enjoyed the 10 & 15 (which the 18 is replacing) in the past. Will post some thoughts when I crack into this one.

http://www.laphroaig.com/whiskies/18...ed=18_year_old

hi guys.
i am new BUT
i found some kind of whisky in the closet.
its a johnie walker black label. i still can remember it was bought 10 years ago. it means it is at least 22 years old.
the bottle is half full now. and it was stored darkly within the black metal package.
do you think it is still good?

AAA just drank 4+cl
this **** is strong

99- it doesnt age once it is outside of the barrel and its still only 80 proof and it doesn't go bad. its alcohol.