Whisky / Whiskey / Bourbon

had a few nice ones sat night, some redbreast Irish stuff and a really nice bourbon, but I've forgotten the names as I was drinking them alongside many beers

couple of bottles on the go just now, both local (to me) distilleries, and very close to one another

Singleton of Dufftown 12 year old

Glen Garioch (pronounced 'Geery') 12 year old

The Singleton is ok, but the Glen Garioch is bloody lovely - very moreish!

I also bought a friend a bottle of Aberfeldy when I was back in Milton Keynes last weekend, and helped him make a fairly hefty dent in that - very tasty it was!

The Singleton - I dunno - it's very woody smelling but a bit non-descript

Would this be the Whisky (Irish Whiskey) thread? Like a dram or two myself!

Aldi = Glenmarnoch 12 yo malt is well worth a try. Excellent quality and taste.

Tulla More Dew - Irish Whiskey - this goes down far too easy, very mild in comparison to many other whiskies.

Glenlevit 12, yo is also one of my favourites. Tesco was doing this for £20, a bottle.

So many to chose from - and all very good whiskies, make it a pleasure working your way through many chosen brands.

At the moment I have two sat in my bedroom

Glen moray 10 year

Bruichladdich Rocks 10 year

I am a lover of the peaty Islay, hopefully will get a bottle for xmas

I've spent a bit of time in Islay visiting the distilleries. As has Cupcakes.

Ardbeg is peatiest, carries a lot of iodine too.

Speaking of Islay whisky, just supped my way through quarter of a bottle of a 27yo Caol Ila. Truly amazing. Its hard to find but Fortnum and Mason 27yo is Caol Ila rebadged if you fancy a try.

Has anybody done the share buying thing at Laphroaig? Its just a bit of fun but you get to own a patch of peat bog and can visit it any time you like. They provide you with a raincoat, some wellies and a hip flask for your walk up the hill to survey your 1sq ft of whisky land :D

Here's Christmas sorted.
£20 at Sainsbury's this morning.

^ Luci - be interested in what you think - it has a very strong pencil shavings aroma to me!

The 1 and the 2 are in the wrong order. :)

^ Luci - be interested in what you think - it has a very strong pencil shavings aroma to me!

I'll keep you posted on what I think. Bit early for a snifter right now, even for me! I'm guessing a splash of water might open up that strong flavour.

The 1 and the 2 are in the wrong order. :)

It's in the perfect order for my skinny wallet!

This is what I have around at the moment - left over Birthday present to myself with barely a dent in the level.

Glen Garioch is owned by the same group that run Auchentoshan and Bowmore. I'm not normally a fan of Islay malts but the Bowmore Mariner is very tasty.

Luci - next time you're in town the flask will be mine and the contents will be ^

Good man! I'll look forward to some Tweed clad sneeky sippage!

got a pair to savour:

1 - 54% isle of jura, #86 from a 313 private bottling in 2005

2 - 46% laddie blend from different years, matured in american oak

looking forward to sampling and comparing :)

^ Luci - be interested in what you think - it has a very strong pencil shavings aroma to me!

I've been grafting hard in the kitchen for the last four hours.

Ham boiled and prepped and ready for baking and glazing, turkey seasoned and stuffed, the legs removed and boned and filled with chestnut and pork stuffing.

I've earned a large Singleton!

I'm not getting any pencil sharpenings, but I get a very deep caramel, spicy odour, almost verging on brandy. Explosive flavour in the mouth but not challenging, fills every corner of the gob! Really gets the juices flowing, not a dry finish. A hint of smokiness without the odour detracting from 'whiskey', if you see what I mean. There is a lingering fire in the finish, I'm just getting it, with preserved fruit in it... like a dab of fruit syrup on the tongue, not cloying, just a hint. And majule dates!

Shit, that's worth £20 of anyone's brass! I might just have found my favourite malt!

Tullibardine aged Oak

Lovely.

The Singleton is destroyed, and so am I.

Quarter of a bottle left.

It's looking at me and calling me a filthy Philistine.

I should stock a bottle of Grouse for when I 'go off on one'.

I'm needing bacon.

That's why you shouldn't buy the 21. It all makes sense now. Bacon fixes everything.

Pride of place in my collection at the moment is a 31 year old Banff, bottled in 1975. Was born near there, so have a special affection for it. Lovely, warm and smooth, but I'm making it last given a) the price, b) the fact that it's a closed distillery and replacement would be difficult (and more expensive).

At the moment, though, my favourite is the older Highland Park bottlings. Very easy to recognise Highland Park, because of the faint whiff of white spirits (at least, that's what it smells like to me).

I've munched 3/4 the way through a laphroig quarter cask (my favourite for sure), and have their regular 10 year in reserve, plus a bottle of macallan fine oak (not something I would buy but but it's ok) and looking forward to sampling a bruichladdich rocks too... Nothing particularly old or rare but very tasty nonetheless. Christmas time is whiskey time it seems!

Thinking of planning a week on Islay for the end of feb/start of March to do some cycling and hit a few distillery tastings.

Pride of place in my collection at the moment is a 31 year old Banff, bottled in 1975. Was born near there, so have a special affection for it. Lovely, warm and smooth, but I'm making it last given a) the price, b) the fact that it's a closed distillery and replacement would be difficult (and more expensive).

At the moment, though, my favourite is the older Highland Park bottlings. Very easy to recognise Highland Park, because of the faint whiff of white spirits (at least, that's what it smells like to me).

Used to work in Oddbins in Glasgow and the Highland Park sales rep came in and let us sample some really nice drams including an 18 and 25... incredible how much richer and subtler they are compared to the 12. Wish I had that kind of coin to buy them for myself.

^^ I've always thought my home area (the Grampian Highlands) would be great for a cycling/whisky holiday. Highest density of distilleries in the world, beautiful countryside, gently rolling hills (ok, a few steep climbs around the coast but mostly not).

I'm sure it would too-I'm a Grant so it's where my folks would have been from originally at some point too so I'd love to go there at some point and drift around. I'm keen on Islay atm as I need to go there to get footage for a film I'm making anyway (and my favourite whiskies are from there too I suppose) and the last time I was there it was over a new year so they were all closed which was a bit galling.

On Skye now and the Talisker distillery is in a beautiful spot as is the Tea Bheag shop which is just around the corner, and I got some nice free samples when I went in even though i didn't shell out for a tour or anything. Love the smell you get standing outside too-all the wildlife in the area must be permanently pissed or hungover!

I've munched 3/4 the way through a laphroig quarter cask (my favourite for sure)

Have you ever tried Longrow? It's another whisky with "personality" but quite a unique one; salty like a Campbelltown, peaty like an Islay and not expensive. 14yo is rather better than the 10.

I've tried a Longrow special bottling when it was in the shop, and seem to remember it was a bit like old pulteney but a bit fuller, but I've not tried any of the regular ones so maybe I should make the effort-Springbank is definitely good value for money. Another one I had the other day was the Oban 14, now that is very nice too, sweeter and smoother than I normally like but it's got just enough leathery depth and fire to it to keep it interesting.