THE MACALLAN -- Cask Strength (and sundry booze discussion)

[genocidal tendencies]

^I'd take the quotes out, let alone a whisky it's not even a spirit. Good stuff though, if a bit sugary.

Have unfortunately discovered a taste for malts recently. Proving to be quite an expensive one, and I haven't even looked beyond supermarket level yet. Particular favourites are glengoyne and royal lochnagar.

[Henk]

I have found myself being unable to 'really' appreciate the subtle differences in whiskey being a smoker. Also i am a grape drinker and not as much a wheat drinker, so i am more the cognac kind of guy or a good bottle of wine offcourse.

Actually i even like the eau-de-vie(unmatured cognac) and schnapps even more, it has a young and fruity quality i think is very nice.

I do drink whisky at times and just a simple Jameson is fine with me. Often i am more happy with less taste than more, who wants to know what soaking in an oak cask tastes like anyway........  :roll:

[Antag]

Have unfortunately discovered a taste for malts recently. Proving to be quite an expensive one, and I haven't even looked beyond supermarket level yet.

Yes, it can get a bit out of hand.  I realised that mine was out of control when I found myself seriously considering paying £185 for a bottle of 32yo Glenrothes that had been distilled in 1972 (year of my birth) & bottled in 2004 (year of my wedding) :lol: (no, I didn't buy it ;))

Particular favourites are glengoyne and royal lochnagar.

Glengoyne 17yo is my absolute favourite scotch of all.  Absolutely gorgeous.

I had a good Christmas for whisky - received a Glenlivet 18yo & Cardhu 12yo as presents :)

[genocidal tendencies]

^got my dad a glengoyne 17 for christmas, he's up here in a couple of days so it's still sitting on my desk, mocking me while I finish off my 10yo bottle so I can justify buying one for myself.

[Kilby]

^I'd take the quotes out, let alone a whisky it's not even a spirit. Good stuff though, if a bit sugary.

Tis a spirit, though it's only grain spirit (as in the cr@p used in alchopops), with whiskey (and asstd other) flavourings & sugar. However I find it does work well on ice.

Southern Comfort Special reserve is based on a Bourbon though (5 or 6 year old I think), but still too sweet.

If I'm going for sweet (at the end of a meal or evening) I tend to switch to liqueurs such as Drambuie or Glayva

[genocidal tendencies]

^it's a liquer itself, is it not? Don't have a bottle to hand...

[Henk]

Bourbon(or USA made whiskEy) base is (partly) destilled from corn which has that sweet taste, wheat or malt whiskeys have a more sharp flavour.

Note that they also destill ethanol car fuel from fermented corn, so unless you are a car i suggest you should leave the bourbon or tennessee(so also jack daniels) stuff for what it is, carfuel. :lol:

[Johnny Mac]

I got a bottle of Glenmorangie as a present. Also I'm going to try my best at giving up cigarettes as a present to myself. After cutting down to around 2-3 a day for the last month I've now not had one for 48 hours. I've got to say it feels good!

[Kilby]

Note that they also destill ethanol car fuel from fermented corn, so unless you are a car i suggest you should leave the bourbon or tennessee(so also jack daniels) stuff for what it is, carfuel. :lol:

TBH I havn't found an American whiskey that I like (I can tolerate JD in Coke if it's on expenses), but I am prepared to continue with the quest :)

Personally I prefer Irish whiskeys (something to do with geography) ;)

I'm not sure what people count as spirits or liqueurs but, where I come from a liqueurs are some form of proper spirit such as brandy, whisky and the like with additional favourings (herb, fruit etc) and usually sweetened (with sugar or honey).

Any distilled alcohol can be counted as a spirit, such as methylated spirits (wood alcohol to the US contingent) aka methanol, or surgical alcohol (ethanol).

For anybody (other than the large corporations trying to claim some form of credibility) liquers would tend to rule out products using the generic ethanol used in alcopops and Southern Comfort. It's OK for getting drunk, but all you are tasting is the after thought

Perhaps I'm a bit of a drinks snob, but if I am paying for a drink I want to taste a real flavour not some fruit juice and sugar

/rant off

[Henk]

Note that they also destill ethanol car fuel from fermented corn, so unless you are a car i suggest you should leave the bourbon or tennessee(so also jack daniels) stuff for what it is, carfuel. :lol:

TBH I havn't found an American whiskey that I like (I can tolerate JD in Coke if it's on expenses), but I am prepared to continue with the quest :)

Personally I prefer Irish whiskeys (something to do with geography) ;)

I'm not sure what people count as spirits or liqueurs but, where I come from a liqueurs are some form of proper spirit such as brandy, whisky and the like with additional favourings (herb, fruit etc) and usually sweetened (with sugar or honey).

Any distilled alcohol can be counted as a spirit, such as methylated spirits (wood alcohol to the US contingent) aka methanol, or surgical alcohol (ethanol).

For anybody (other than the large corporations trying to claim some form of credibility) liquers would tend to rule out products using the generic ethanol used in alcopops and Southern Comfort. It's OK for getting drunk, but all you are tasting is the after thought

Perhaps I'm a bit of a drinks snob, but if I am paying for a drink I want to taste a real flavour not some fruit juice and sugar

/rant off

Im not a snob, i just want the best bang for my buck

Im a fan of the irish whisky also. I came to Jameson as a gift from a friend who knows his drink and said it was the best 'budget' whisky there was.

The difference between the irish whiskys and the scottisch ones is that it is distilled three times instead of two, which makes it taste more pure and simple and certainly alot less sweet IMO. Also Jameson is the best selling whisky worldwide, probably not for nothing. Still i prefer a top quality schnapps, at least i do in the morning since i seem to suffer from headaches more when drinking wheat based alcohol. I dont drink often, but if i do i do drink :twisted:

[Kilby]

Im not a snob, i just want the best bang for my buck

Im a fan of the irish whisky also. I came to Jameson as a gift from a friend who knows his drink and said it was the best 'budget' whisky there was.

I often have to compromise on quality myself, just to have a drink (or 5) sometimes.

Unfortunitely I have never managed to get my hands on any schnapps except the ultra sweet varieties available here :(

Still I'm hopefully off to pick up a bottle that was a private reserve single malt in a few minutes (to see in the new year this evening). Though at  20 bloody UKP I'm thinking twice about it.

[_tom_]

I thought Southern Comfort was just whiskey with sweet flavourings added to it, guess I was wrong :P What does Jameson taste like in comparison?

Anyway, for christmas I got a big bottle of Sailor Jerrys spiced rum and a big bottle of Morgans Spiced, they're both amazing :D I definitely prefer spiced rum to "normal", its a bit sweeter and I just think it has more flavour, I even like it by itself. Oh and Sailor Jerrys makes a satisfying pop when you uncork the bottle :lol:

Oh and we found a really old bottle of german apple schnapps in the cupboard that we got from grandmas house last January, reckon itl still be ok to drink? It looks ancient :lol:

[shobet]

The difference between the irish whiskys and the scottisch ones is that it is distilled three times instead of two, which makes it taste more pure and simple and certainly a lot less sweet IMO.

There's a bit more to it than that!

I think you'll find that things such as the barley, water quality, the shape of the pot stills themselves can also effect the taste. One of the most important steps in creating my favoured taste in scotch is the peat that's used the drying of the germinating barley at certain distilleries.

The casks themselves also effect the colour and taste depending on what they were used for before having whisky matured in them. They are normally either used bourbon or sherry casks in the main but they do also use others such as port.  

Also triple distilling is not exclusive to Irish whiskey, if I remember correctly Auchentoshan is distilled three times.

Anyway I'll shut up now as I'm even boring myself...

[Philly Q]

I've gotta say, this thread's got legs!  But it's not giving me W.A.S. in the slightest.

[Johnny Mac]

Jamesons is filth!  :lol: