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Anyone into whisky/ey?
Just wondering if people here like whisky/ey. I recently discovered that I actually enjoy Irish whiskey more than scotch even. What are your favorites? Do you like all kinds or just a kind in particular? Favorite brands there? Any particular whisky you've tried that is not common and you'd like to recommend? Microdistilleries that you really like?
I'll start:
For some reason, I think it's hard for rye to distinguish itself. I've had some good ones from small distillers but all the widely distributed ones, to me, seem to taste similar and boring. It's not bad, just not all that complex or especially great.
I'm turning 50 next year and my hope had been to hike the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. But with a daughter in high school I realized I should wait a few more years before I'm gone from her for 5 months.
So instead I've been looking at hiking across certain smaller countries. Lebanon has an amazing 275 mile north-south trail in the mountains. South Korea and Portugal and Greece all look good.
But the current frontrunner is Ireland. I haven't been in 25 years and they have recently connected four distance paths across the heart of the south, from Dublin to Dingle. I visualize stumbling from brewery to distillery to pub and remembering precious little of the adventure. About five weeks, I figure.
So, yes. I like whiskey.
Big fan of whiskey but a total novice, only started last year after finding this youtube channel:
Whiskey Vault
My favorite scotch is between Glenfiddich 12 (Grandma's scotch ya, ya) and Monkey Shoulder.
Irish is definitely Jameson, me and the lady have a thing where we try a green tea shot at every new bar we visit.
I'm not a huge bourbon fan but I do love me some Four Roses small batch.
Also I don't really mind crown for a mixer whiskey.
I'd really like to try one of the more expensive japanese whiskeys but just haven't had the spare cash for it.
Suntory Toki is reasonably priced as Japanese whiskey goes, about the same price as a middle-shelf U.S. bourbon like Maker's Mark (approx. $40 US). It's exceptionally smooth, very slightly caramel-sweet, and my favorite after Suntory Hibiki. There are no peat, iodine or smoke notes whatsoever, if those things turn you off.
When I want peaty, classic Islay whiskey, it's straight to the oldest Laphroig, Talisker or Lagavulin I can afford.
But my favorite of all time, the one bottle-a-year treat, is Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or, a Highland whiskey aged in Sauterne casks - not to get graphic, but two fingers lasts all night and it's a mind-bomb of taste.
There's a tiny distillery in Royal Oak, Michigan, USA called Two James, which makes a rare bottling called "The Grass Widow", and it's another fave.
My wife bought me a bottle of this for my birthday last year, it is excellent! I have been hoarding the last few fingers in the bottle for special occasions and sticking with Glenlivet 12 or The Balvenie 12 for normal events.
My kinda tipple! I guess I'll have to try this Nectar d'Or you're all raving about.
Have you tried Glen Kinchie?
I don't recognize the bottle, but it is possible I tried it in a whisky bar. I will have to check it out.
I've had a bottle of Suntory Toki, it was pretty decent but, personally, I wouldn't say anything stood out about it that made me say "oh this is Japanese Whiskey!". It was just kind of standard whiskey, one-note to me. Not that it was bad in any way, but that was my impression of it.
Suntory Toki is just a good all-around sipping whiskey for a reasonable price. Hibiki and The Yamazaki are distinctive, but more expensive and difficult to source.
Suntory Hibiki Harmony is probably my favorite "nice" bottle of Japanese whisky. I like Suntory Toki for a cheaper, easy to drink alternative because I tend to prefer the simpler and smoother whiskys.
I did get to have a drink of the Suntory Hibiki 21 as my first Japanese whisky and that definitely spoiled me.
I was purely accidentally in the presence of Suntory Hakushu Distiller's Reserve, in a cigar bar around Asheville, NC. Bought a glass from somewhere close to the end of the bottle, and the bartender said, "No one orders this and it's just going to sit..." So I wound up spending 4 hours smoking quite decent maduros and ecstatically consuming 200 ml of the most amazing whiskey I'm likely to ever have in my life.
Glenfiddich 12 was my go-to for a while! Really good.
If you find the Writers' Tears please try it!
I'm really into local/small distilleries, and I'd encourage everyone to see if there are any near them. There's a higher level of creativity, as the distillery is able to experiment more with flavors and components, and I like supporting small businesses. I picked up a bourbon made from a rare red corn when I was in Charleston, SC (Jimmy Red Bourbon from High Wire distillery). There's a place near me in central NC that does a nice bourbon liqueur and a strong single cask bourbon too.
I've gone to a few local distilleries but haven't found anything that memorable (all in northern US/Canada). Then again most of the whiskies they were selling were rye and I am not that excited about rye whisky.
I love whiskey, specifically bourbon. If I’m buying for myself at home, I just get Jim Beam. However, as gifts I’ve received various scotch whiskeys and I definitely enjoy those as well. I have a horrible sense of taste and smell, so all the expensive ones taste pretty similar to the cheap ones.
When it comes to alcohol, having the cheap ones taste similar is a pretty good thing! Do you notice any difference in the amount of burning as it goes down? In other words, do you find any particularly smoother than any other?
I can tell the difference between really bad stuff and good stuff, but not much between okay stuff and good stuff. I tend to notice sweetness more in some than others. I can't stand Jack Daniels for instance because it tastes so sweet to me.
I don't know much about whiskey but I know I really like Knob Creek.
I love the drink and I like to make sure I've got a bottle at home whenever possible, but I've never been very good at distinguishing between many of them. I can tell the difference between an earthy Irish whiskey and a Tennessee bourbon just fine, but I tend to lose the finer nuances that those with better palettes might find.
Right now I've got a bottle of Four Roses in the cabinet that just replaced the Bulleit Rye I finished right before it. Nothing special, but I really enjoy trying new whiskeys, especially bourbons, that don't break the bank. Every time I end the day with a splash in a glass it feels like a treat.
Most of the finer notes come from the smell of sipping it, then letting it rest on your tongue for a few seconds while taking deep breaths, then swallow.
At least, that's what I was taught at a Whiskey Museum in Ireland, but it seemed to work for me. Before that I would just kind of drink it without a lot of intention.
I do a clumsier version of that, and I have managed to establish a few favorites from the many whiskies that I've tried. I've just always compared what I taste to the frilly descriptions of things I've found online, which are usually lost on me - "notes of vanilla, cactus root, twenty-five-year-shingles and kitten breath."
At the very least I'm going to take your advice as a great reason to have a glass tonight and give refining my palette another try, and for that I owe you thanks in advance.
Honestly, my pleasure. Those fancy liner notes are also gibberish to me, so you're not alone!
The only exception being when I describe Campari (a bitter alcohol that goes into making an negroni), I say it's like licking the bottom of an old, dirty, rubber shoe. 10 times out of 10 it doesn't get anyone to want to try them, so that's more for me.
I love bourbon and whisky/ey.
I'd say my favorite right now is Willett Pot Still Reserve. It's smooth, yet has the faintest sweetness and vanilla on the backend. As it opens up, the oak and spice starts to appear, and the flavors will subtly change on you. An excellent beverage to sip on all evening and just relax.
If I'm going cheaper, I'll usually go for Woodford Reserve or Four Roses. Both are solid, but a little rougher around the edges than the Willett. If I'm making a mixed drink like a Julep or Old Fashioned, this is what I reach for. Also good for baking/cooking applications.
If I'm going rye, I really like WhistlePig. Really high on the peppery / spice profile, but somehow not harsh. I'd love to try the WhistlePig Farmhouse release someday, but that's a lot of $.
I've adored every Japanese whisky/ey I've been able to try, but hell if I know what I was drinking. All the labels were in kanji with no English to be found. If you're ever offered any, definitely give it a go. I wouldn't think Japan and whisky/ey, but they really seem to have some great distillers over there. If there are any suggestions as to what to look for (and maybe pics to help me ID the bottle), that would be appreciated.
I would like to try any small, craft distillers people here might like. I find it hard to get any information on the small guys, so I never really know what to look for.
I’d like to get into whisky, any drink recommendation? I don’t really have a preference arpart from no Malt please.
The classic Old Fashioned was my gateway to whiskey. Super easy to make too, just sugar, bitters, and whiskey, with options for fruit if you want (I do cherries or orange).
What other drinks do you generally enjoy?
I’m a fan of Witbier. Hoegaarden and Erdinger’s Weissbier are the ones I tried; stuck with Hoegaarden.
I love me some Hoegaarden and a lot of Belgian whites.
I've said it a few times this thread, but I feel like you might enjoy rye whiskey (I find it more smooth than non-ryes) and it'll give you a bit of similar 'light-notes' that some witbiers have going on, but while being more caramel-y and oak-ier.
What /u/nepeckman said in terms of an Old Fashioned might be a good start, and you can specify that you want a Rye Old Fashioned.
Yeah I mean to be honest there are some whiskies that burn a lot and taste really alcoholic (and I'm sorry Russian friends but I really don't like vodka). That's in part why I really like the Writers' Tears I've mentioned a couple times in this topic, it's really easy to drink (I mean, as a sipping whiskey, not a bottle a day lol). If I may ask, have you tried good rums? There are really fantastic rums (my second favorite after whisky), and I've found rum in general smoother (plus you can make some mean tiki cocktails that your partner shall appreciate much more than a manhattan or a whisky sour if they're not into liquors).
I definitely don't want to push you into drinking if you are concerned about addiction; alcoholism is one of the worst addictions and if there are genetic traits, then it is something you should consider carefully.
There are a lot of alcohol that have that odd-medicine taste, but that can generally be indicative that it was made using poor-quality stuff.
Start out with some things that can mask that alcohol flavor and be sweet, while still smelling like a neat experience. I suggest trying a Cosmopolitan for people just getting into drinks (Vodka + Triple Sec + Cranberry Juice + Simple Syrup + Lime Juice (optional)) but you can ask your server to make it a bit weaker if you'd prefer to mask the alcohol taste more.
In terms of whiskey, you might want to try something like a Whiskey Smash (Whiskey + Lemon Juice + Simple Syrup + Mint Leaves) if you don't mind things that are a bit tart from lemon. If the first sip burns, you can let the ice in it melt a bit more and that will further mellow it out. It's really refreshing on a hot summer day.
Absolutely. It's also just important to remember that making cocktails is not an absolute. A cosmopolitan from one place might be very different than a cosmopolitan from some other place due to things like temperature, age of the liquor, types/brands of liquors used, if they measure or shudders eye-pour, the ice that went into shaking it, even the shape of the glass plays a role (due to the smells it lets off).
That's one of the reasons I like doing it myself, because you have a lot more control over what you're doing and can make it the way that YOU like it
Hahaha I'm a whisky first rum second person as well.
I'll have to keep an eye out for that Writer's Tears to try as I've not had that one yet. I struggle with Irish sometimes because of a particularly foolish night that involved taking shots of Jameson cask mate for every home run of the 9-6 Royal's win over the Astros in 2015. Which according to Google was also a Monday.
I enjoy whisky a lot and have a half decent collection. I'm not at home, but off the top of my head, I have:
I also have three tiny bottles whose names elude me, but my sister bought them for me when she went to Scotland. When I say tiny, I mean "all three of them can fit on a dime". She told me she bought me three bottle of scotch - I was so excited. Then it's like... 3 mL.
I also enjoy whiskey, but don't really have any kind of collection of it. I have a bottle of Wiser's that my sister-in-law got me as a joke because at their wedding I drank all the whiskey. I have a bottle of Jameson's which is pretty good stuff, and a few other bottles of rye. I don't think I have any bourbon at the moment.
I love a good whisky! And a whiskey at that, although I'm not too experienced with those, in comparison.
I got into whisky when I was 18, I remember having tasted a sip from my dads whiskies now and again, and always thought it was like getting perfume in the mouth. Needless to say, I wasn't a big fan.
One day, he let me try a Laphroaig 10 years, and I've been hooked ever since. Shortly after there was a local tasting focusing solely on Islay's that we went to together. I was the youngest there by far, and I still remember a guy around 60 commenting how the smokey whiskies were an acquired taste that you had to strive to learn to enjoy. For me, it was just love at first sip!
Among others we had a Port Ellen that day, which was nice, but I definitely wouldn't pay as much as they cost.
I've tried a dozen or so different whiskies, as well as doing tastes tests at a Whiskey Museum in Dublin. Without a doubt, I'm a big fan of Rye over all other varieties.
Can't say I've tried many fancy expensive kinds though, beyond a sip or two of some aged Irish whiskeys. I could go without Scotch my entire life and be pretty happy, but I'll still sip Cutty Sark now and then thanks to my boy Haruki Murakami.
Any Rye in particular that you like?
Actually, yes! It might be sacrilege to some, but the Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye that won Whisky of the Year in '16 (I think) was one of the most enjoyable alcohols I've ever had. It's one of the few that I really taste a lot of the different notes of flavors in, and it's smooth all the way down.
Other then that, I just try to stick to mid-range stuff, nothing fancy. Bulleit Rye, Makers Mark. I'm working my way through a bottle of Wild Turkey right now for cocktails mainly (Sazerac, Old Fashioned, Whiskey Smash). I hear good things about Mitchners, so that's probably the next bottle I try.
Yourself?
I posted my favorites earlier in the thread! I still haven't had a rye whisky that I really liked though, I'll have to try the one you recommend! Bulleit Rye kind of had a bitter aftertaste that I wasn't too fond of (I'm no expert so maybe that's the appeal haha).
Oh yeah, good call. I think you'd dig the Crown Royal northern harvest rye, then! I wouldn't say a bitter aftertaste is common in most ryes, though, so I encourage you to try around, too!
What really got me into rye was cocktails, specifically the ones I listed: Sazerac & (rye) Old Fashioned. If you ever go out, be sure to ask which rye they're using and see what you think!
I'll have to delve into the cocktails then! Thanks for the recommendations!
My pleasure -- I'm a novice when it comes to cocktails, but I really enjoy talking about them
I love it, but sadly can't justify the price as a stereotypically broke uni student. My local hairdresser is from the UK and has a shelf full of bottles he's brought back from his trips home, and I die a little inside whenever I see them.
I think the last bottle I actually bought was when I was studying in Japan a few years ago, and found a bottle of Hibiki Harmony for an insanely good price.
When I was in uni (that's 10 years ago) I bought a Signatory Vintage bottle (it wasn't 15EUR cheap but it was maybe around 40 and lasted me a year haha). They do independent bottling sourcing from different distilleries and they are generally (at least were in that time) cheaper than the "same" with the actual brand name. Not exactly the same because they'll make single cask, single distillation from casks that usually go to blends etc. But still it was a pretty good deal!