Any Scotch/Whiskey Lovers?

[rfnel]

I'm curious - are there any uisge beatha lovers on the forum?

I never used to drink any form of "hard" liquor, until a couple of years ago. Bushmills ran a competition with a 1969 E-Type Jaguar as the prize - that was motivation enough for me to buy a bottle. I found it rather enjoyable, and I tried some other whiskeys (Irish, that is) as well. Somewhere along the line, I ended up buying a bottle of Scotch and then my preference started switching from the products of Ireland to the products of Scotland.

My current collection includes a near-empty bottle of Bushmills Black Bush, a bottle of Glenlivet 12, a bottle of Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban (highly recommended) and as of today, a bottle of Ardbeg 10. The Ardbeg 10 was Jim Murray's World Whisky of the Year in 2008, but I'm still trying to make up my mind about it. It's my first Islay, and I've never been to Scotland, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's the equivalent of diving into a peat bog head-first with your mouth open. Once I get past that, I'll probably be able to decide whether or not I like it. All I can say for now it that it's a world apart from anything else that I have ever tasted.

With the exception of a couple of drops of water with my whiskey, I shy away from mixers of any sort. What do you folks enjoy?

[tec0]

A proper whiskey doesn’t have to be an expensive one.
A few fine examples according to my personal taste;

J&B Rare (yellow label) (Highly recommended)
Johnnie Walker (blue label) (Highly recommended)
Famous Black grouse (Highly recommended)

Famous Grouse (very good)

Scottish leader (good)
White horse (good)

Chivas regal whisky (good)
Chivas regal whisky (Rare Old 18) (good)

Just remember to enjoy a whisky properly you need a very thin crystal glass with a thin base. This allows the warmth of the hand to heat the whisky “slightly”. The best type of glass is the lowball glass. The ball shape helps the hand to cradle it and if it is thin enough the heat will transfer correctly. “depending on the thickness of the glass” you can give it 3 minutes to 5 minutes but best results is about seven minutes “in your hand”

Try it yourself... take a sip from a glass “that is coldish” and then a sip when you held it for a few minutes.

Drink responsibly

[adrianh]

The only thing worth drinking is Jack Daniels

[solweb]

Three Ships

A proper whiskey doesn’t have to be an expensive one.
A few fine examples according to my personal taste;

J&B Rare (yellow label) (Highly recommended)
Johnnie Walker (blue label) (Highly recommended)
Famous Black grouse (Highly recommended)

Famous Grouse (very good)

Scottish leader (good)
White horse (good)

Chivas regal whisky (good)
Chivas regal whisky (Rare Old 18) (good)

Just remember to enjoy a whisky properly you need a very thin crystal glass with a thin base. This allows the warmth of the hand to heat the whisky “slightly”. The best type of glass is the lowball glass. The ball shape helps the hand to cradle it and if it is thin enough the heat will transfer correctly. “depending on the thickness of the glass” you can give it 3 minutes to 5 minutes but best results is about seven minutes “in your hand”

Try it yourself... take a sip from a glass “that is coldish” and then a sip when you held it for a few minutes.

Drink responsibly

I find the Three Ships 5 year old to be inexepsive and a great whiskey for everyday consumption.

[rfnel]

Just remember to enjoy a whisky properly you need a very thin crystal glass with a thin base. This allows the warmth of the hand to heat the whisky “slightly”. The best type of glass is the lowball glass. The ball shape helps the hand to cradle it and if it is thin enough the heat will transfer correctly. “depending on the thickness of the glass” you can give it 3 minutes to 5 minutes but best results is about seven minutes “in your hand”

I use a brandy snifter. The issue I have with a lowball glass is that it doesn't quite trap the aroma of the whisky like a glass with a more narrow top does.

Drink responsibly

This goes without saying. My self-imposed limit when driving is two Windhoek Lights - no whisky. It's just not worth risking your safety and (especially) that of others.

[pmbguy]

Here is the reality of alcohol: It is poisonous and the body recognises this, that’s why we mask it through flavour or produce it in a certain way to make it palatable. An alcoholic beverage only tastes good or bad compared to other alcoholic beverages. Essentially we don’t drink alcohol for its taste, we drink alcohol because of its effect. I know this might not sit well with some, but that is the reality. I easily reconcile this fact with the notion of connoisseurship, the reality of why we consume alcohol does not distract from or discredit connoisseurship. The reason I mention this is that I get a little annoyed when people say “Oh but I drink for taste only, not to feel the effect” you see I think the only reason we drink alcohol is essentially for effect, taste is a huge factor but always secondary to the underlying effect we seek, even if that effect we seek is implicit. Someone may argue that if what I stated is true why doesn’t everybody just drink straw rum? The simple answer is that this is where taste comes in. A fine whiskey is much more palatable than straw rum, it tastes better and you still get the effect you seek. I don’t want anybody thinking that I am accusing everybody who drinks of trying to get wasted, I simply want to allude to the underlying fundamental reality of why alcohol is consumed at all. I would bet that if alcohol had all the same properties it has now (taste, aroma, colour etc) but with the exception that it did not produce any effect, we would not drink it at all.

Having said all this I enjoy whiskey, Jack Daniels off course. I drink my Jack with crushed ice. When it’s a very warm day I will use ice blocks instead. I just add ice, no water. I also like Black Label beer. It must be served ice cold, I mean Ice Cold. I leave it in the freezer until it has reached the point where tiny ice crystals form inside the beer...aah then its ready. If I neglected my beer because the wife “asked” me to clear all my fishing gear from the lounge and my beer gets warm I chuck it out. If it’s a very hot day and my beer gets hot and flat I usually don’t drink that last 10%. Drinking a warm flat beer is utterly unacceptable. At this point it would be irresponsible for me not to warn you about leaving your beer in the freezer too long. It may freeze over completely, it may even pop open and leak, and sometimes it may even blow up, imbedding shards of glass in your boerewors. It is a horrible thing to witness.

I drink with moderation, only on weekends and I never drink and drive. I only get ChevyChased on camping trips, bulls parties etc. I must admit that my wife/domestic manager also acts as my party police.

Bottom line...bottoms up

[tec0]

Well I am happy to proof you wrong. Some of my bottles are 4 years old others as old as 15 years. They are opened and I enjoy a double every now and then. I like the taste and don’t seek the effect. That said I am addicted to coffee... and my body is feeling the effects.

[pmbguy]

Tec0, you surprise me, I never knew you were such a cultured gentleman and connoisseur, a true renaissance man with sophisticated taste.
............

Having bottles stored for many years is great, but this does not in any way disprove my theory. It only proves you never have guests over

The fact that it contains alcohol is the primary (implicit) attraction and taste is the secondary attraction. If whiskey had no alcohol in it, it would not be sort after in the first place. It’s exactly like coffee, it is the small kick it gives you that is the main attraction.

But like I said in my first post this in no way detracts from the connoisseurship of whiskey or wine for that matter.

[tec0]

Tec0, you surprise me, I never knew you were such a cultured gentleman and connoisseur, a true renaissance man with sophisticated taste.
............

Having bottles stored for many years is great, but this does not in any way disprove my theory. It only proves you never have guests over

The fact that it contains alcohol is the primary (implicit) attraction and taste is the secondary attraction. If whiskey had no alcohol in it, it would not be sort after in the first place. It’s exactly like coffee, it is the small kick it gives you that is the main attraction.

But like I said in my first post this in no way detracts from the connoisseurship of whiskey or wine for that matter.

I get a lot of people over but they get the “special of the day”... I see no reason to squander a R2000 bottle just so that someone can get drunk. Like you said any type of alcohol can do that...

Truth is we are not the same...

[adrianh]

I think that wine really sucks and that 99% of people that claim to be connoisseurs of alcohol are mere posers. I bet my kingdom that 90% of people can't tell brands apart if they were placed in aa row in unmarked glasses.

[Justloadit]

I think that wine really sucks and that 99% of people that claim to be connoisseurs of alcohol are mere posers. I bet my kingdom that 90% of people can't tell brands apart if they were placed in aa row in unmarked glasses.

Absolutely, but what I could tell you is that I may like one more than the other, and on some occasions, it was a so called cheap borrel.
If it is smooth in my mouth, and leaves no crappy after taste like frot oak barrel, then to me it is a lekker wine

[adrianh]

Exactly, we drink what we like and 99% of us don't really care what's on the label. I like the taste of Jack Daniels and Castle beer. That's about it. If the Jack Daniels was swopped with something that tastes the same I couldn't care less simply because I like the taste.

[sterne.law@gmail.com]

Re the wine. Too much pretence pretence. Most blind tastings produce interesting results. Certainly people ccan differentiate between the types, chardonnay or sauv blanc etc, but actual types, hmm.
When I meet a wine maker I ask him (or her) not what the éxperts' think is best, but what does he drink at his braai, always an interesting answer.
Even beer, most people cant tell the difference, especially after the second or third. After the 15th, well....


Re - PMB, you are quite correct, except whisky deserves a pass. Good examples are cane and vodka, which when mixed, unless really strong, has almost no taste.
Even better, is non alcoholic beer. Bavaria and Becks, both taste exactly like their alcoholic version, so if you like the taste of beer, its perfect.

[adrianh]

I cannot stand all the pretence. The worst is listening to Johan Matham on Cape Talk about wine. They have their own absurd made up vocabulary that just sounds ridiculous. If they were able to smell and taste the things that they claim to then most wine would have been made from fruit salad!

[sterne.law@gmail.com]

Or cats pee!!!!!!