I enjoy the Dalmore Cigar Malt and Glennfiddich 12 yo. Both very tasty with just the right amount of smokiness.
Johnie Black is a great choice for a blend. Blue is fantastic, but way to expensive. Around $160 per fifth. I've only ever had one bottle in my life and that's likely all I'll ever get.
One of the great things about Scotch is its variety. You can get vanilla, smokey, salty, oaky or just about any flavor characteristic you can think of.
I'd also recomed a glass of scoth on the rocks with a sloce of peach pie for dessert at dinner. It's a combinaiton that is damn tough to beat.
cheers
It depends on what you like. Smokey and peaty? Sweet and smooth? Do you want to taste honey or mint or pepper?
Laphroaig 10 year is affordable and delicious. Lagavulin is much more expensive but smoother. Ardbeg is a little meaner then Laphroaig but very much worth curling up in the corner with. All three are smokey to some extent, very peaty and wonderful.
MacAllen. Stay away from the oak crap. It's good scotch, but not worth what they charge for it. The 12 year is still affordable, and the flavor from the sherry casks it's aged in dominates. I don't think the 18 year is worth what they're charging for it now either. You're on the right side of the water though, it might be cheaper in your area.
Right now (well, last night) I'm drinking Auchentoshan 3 wood. It's confusing but I'm enjoying the befuddlement. Very sweet which usually turns me off but seems to work in this case.
The best bet is to save some cash and head to a bar that brags about their scotch selection. Get there in the middle of the afternoon when they aren't busy, and tell the bartender you want to learn about scotch. There's so much variety out there that there's something for everyone.
Earlie Cuyler: Allow me to explain the contamination process. Pine cones go in here, party liquors comes out here and proceed to here.
[points to mouth]
Earlie Cuyler: Fights begin, finger prints are took, days is lost, bail is made, court dates are ignored, cycle is repeated.
Good single malts will run you from $30-$60 US, and that's the affordable stuff.
Try a sherry cask conditioned single malt, 8-10 years. I recommend Aberlour. It's the Sailor Jerry of single malts.
Do some Intarweb research on highbrow Scotch sites.
Attend a Sotch festival.
For blended stuff, Glenfiddich is good, and Jonnie Walker is passable. A Rusty Nail will become a good friend fo yours if you pick up a taste for blended Scotch. I drank quite a bit of blended Scotch from 21-24, before I got the paychecks to afford single malt at the thirst for Wild Turkey destroyed all other hard alcohol tastebuds.
laphroaig (sp?), oban, balvennie are all fine choices. i think there's one called dalwhinnie or something similar...anyway, however you spell the fecker it's nice.
blended doesn't really cut it unless you want something cheap to have with ice...so in most ways it cuts it just fine. johnnie walker or bells ought to do it.
good luck son. you're on the path to righteousness.
From what I have seen in Heathrow, the prices in the UK suck. But the variety is killer. I remember in France in '85 it was cheaper to buy scotch there than in the UK. Sad.
junkman wrote:From what I have seen in Heathrow, the prices in the UK suck. But the variety is killer. I remember in France in '85 it was cheaper to buy scotch there than in the UK. Sad.
The price of everything here sucks. I just worked out that a box of smokes costs $10.40 (£5.30), that large bottle of good quality gin I bought cost $35.32 (£18) and a litre of petrol costs about 95p here, so if I convert that, there are 3.79 litres to the US liquid gallon making it £3.60 which is $7.06 per gallon. I may have the calculations wrong of course, because it's early in the morning and I have a raging hangover. However, if I'm right I'm betting that's way more than you guys pay. In conclusion, buy Laphroaig.
"Spiny norman wins on the bizzare terror stakes, if you haven't been stared at by a 40-foot hedgehog, you haven't lived." - Saltandgin
"Every time you don't get loaded, the terrorists win." - massivedrunk
