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Aye, I think its about £24 in my favourite whisky shop in Huntly...
Just opened it and first impressions are pretty positive, still perhaps slightly sweet for my liking but certainly avoiding the sickly cloying side of the 21. Nice sharp fruit on the nose which helps the balance. Slightly short finish but there's enough complexity there to make it worth another one (probably without any water next time)
Certainly the best of the 3 'fiddichs in my collection.
Just opened it and first impressions are pretty positive, still perhaps slightly sweet for my liking but certainly avoiding the sickly cloying side of the 21. Nice sharp fruit on the nose which helps the balance. Slightly short finish but there's enough complexity there to make it worth another one (probably without any water next time)
Certainly the best of the 3 'fiddichs in my collection.
Edited by Lefty Guns on Monday 16th March 14:23
Lefty Guns said:
Aye, I think its about £24 in my favourite whisky shop in Huntly...
Just opened it and first impressions are pretty positive, still perhaps slightly sweet for my liking but certainly avoiding the sickly cloying side of the 21. Nice sharp fruit on the nose which helps the balance. Slightly dhort finish but there's enough complexity there to make it worth another one (probabbly without any water next time)
Certainly the best of the 3 'fiddichs in my collection.
Excellent news! As I said previously the 18 is like the 12 on steroids so if complexity is what you are looking for then that is the way to go but the 12's pretty good for a £25-ish whiskyJust opened it and first impressions are pretty positive, still perhaps slightly sweet for my liking but certainly avoiding the sickly cloying side of the 21. Nice sharp fruit on the nose which helps the balance. Slightly dhort finish but there's enough complexity there to make it worth another one (probabbly without any water next time)
Certainly the best of the 3 'fiddichs in my collection.
Also whilst Middleton may not be whisky it is whiskey... I've not tried it but do like the Jameson's 12 which is from the same distillery.
George 500 said:
Lefty Guns said:
Aye, I think its about £24 in my favourite whisky shop in Huntly...
Just opened it and first impressions are pretty positive, still perhaps slightly sweet for my liking but certainly avoiding the sickly cloying side of the 21. Nice sharp fruit on the nose which helps the balance. Slightly dhort finish but there's enough complexity there to make it worth another one (probabbly without any water next time)
Certainly the best of the 3 'fiddichs in my collection.
Excellent news! As I said previously the 18 is like the 12 on steroids so if complexity is what you are looking for then that is the way to go but the 12's pretty good for a £25-ish whiskyJust opened it and first impressions are pretty positive, still perhaps slightly sweet for my liking but certainly avoiding the sickly cloying side of the 21. Nice sharp fruit on the nose which helps the balance. Slightly dhort finish but there's enough complexity there to make it worth another one (probabbly without any water next time)
Certainly the best of the 3 'fiddichs in my collection.
Also whilst Middleton may not be whisky it is whiskey... I've not tried it but do like the Jameson's 12 which is from the same distillery.
As for middleton, it is one of my favourite Irish drams, again from the hotel bar when I spent 6 months working in Dublin. It was a step up in quality (and price!) from eg Bushmills 16, but worth it. Not sure which bottling that was though. Had a bottle of it once upon a time but just went to look and it must have been finished a while ago, it's nowhere to be seen!
Edited to add: oh and if you are into irish whiskey then I would reccomend trying the connemarra, it has the smoothness of irish but with peat, yum. Only tried the standard bottling though.
Edited by MickC on Monday 16th March 16:04
I'm ashamed to say that I've got no Irish in my collection, except for whatever is vatted in Jon, Mark & Robbos Smooth Sweeter One... 
I was on an oddbins special bottling, Against the Grain, last night, followed by a sherry finish Ledaig (which I didn't really enjoy) and then Highland Park 12.
Yum.
I was on an oddbins special bottling, Against the Grain, last night, followed by a sherry finish Ledaig (which I didn't really enjoy) and then Highland Park 12.
Yum.
I had an email from a ph'er who read this thread and had some questions, I hope he won't mind if I post some of the questions in case anybody else was wondering:
Q I've been reading your thread about whiskey and wanted to ask a few questions. I am no conossieur and think I miss the point.
A If you enjoy it, you're not missing the point! I don't consider myself an expert by any means but I do love whisky and I love learning more about it.
Q What is it that you like about your favourite whiskeys?
A Well, the thing is that you can split the tasting sensation of whisky into quite a few categories. There is the nose, the palate and the finish and you can generally appreciate different flavours in each of the stages.
Experts will generally go one step further and examine the balance and this is a much harder thing to understand - basically it looks at the complexity of a whisky and how different flavours develop. For example, a whisky might have a huge Sherry nose and palate but if it drowns out everything else (malted barley, fruit, smoke etc) then it may be described as having a poor balance. See what i mean? It's generally the malts that display a large number of flavours that will come in and out at different points that achieve true greatness.
Q How do you drink yours, i.e. glass, temp, quantity etc
A I use a tasting glass which is similar in shape to a brandy snifter but smaller scale and with slightly less of a rounded base and a narrower neck - it focuses the aromas. I always drink at room temperature. And absolutely no ice! Regarding water, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. If I've just bought a new bottle of something I'm hoping to be special, the first dram I have will be neat, the next with a drop or two of cool (not cold) bottled water and then the third with approximately half the amount of whisky added as water (so say 30ml whisky, 15ml of water).
If I'm drinking purely because I fancy a dram, it depends on the whisky as to whether or not I add a drop of water. I rarely add more than a drop or two.
Adding water does release aroma but you need to be really careful to add too much.
When you drink it, hold the glass right under your nose and really inhale the aroma. Then do it again. Then taste it, don't gulp it but let it roll around your mouth because you'll taste different flavours in different areas of your mouth. Nose again. Repeat.
Q What can you taste as seperate flavours?
A Oh, loads of things. For example, last night I tried 3 or 4 Ardbegs (I love Ardbeg!). Trying not to sound like a w
ker here but:
Peat smoke obviously, salty sea air, frying bacon (Honestly! Ardbeg Very Young and Corryvreckan both have this!), citrus fruit and hints of caramel or toffee.
Other flavours you'll find in other malts are:
Oak (obviously), wood smoke, coal smoke, honey, tar, apples, cream (really - Macallan 15yo Fine Oak is really creamy to me!), grass, diesel fuel (!), demerara sugar, molasses, heather, butter etc etc etc. There's a huge variety really.
The flavour depends so much on so many factors:
Age of the oak casks
What was in the casks and for how long
How the malt is dried and what fuel is used
Location of the warehouses
Length of time in different casks
Overall length of time in cask
Location where the barley was grown
etc etc etc etc
Generally, you're going to taste oak (from Bourbon casks) and many malts may have Sherry, Port, other Wine or even Rum finish which comes through in fruit flavours.
Sorry for the perhaps long-winded answers but I do get carried away talking about whisky sometimes. it's such an exciting and wide-ranging hobby, there's always soemthing new to taste and I find that my tastes certainly change over time so there's always soemthing different.
Can I suggest you buy Jim Murrays Whisky Bible and have a read. Try reading some his entries on a whisky you've got and see where he's coming from.
Don't let somebody else's opinion cloud your own though. Jim dislikes a few malts which I love and I dislike lots that he loves! I agree with a lot of his tastings but he has a far more developed sense of taste than I do (and probably ever will).
Taste whisky, a lot! You don't need to get drunk while doing it, don't feel you need to pour huge measures. Drink different ones after each other and see what differences you can find. Find out what you really like and explore more expressions from the same distillery or region. It's a very personal thing, others can help you but ultimately it's down to you.
Good luck and slainte.
Iain
Q I've been reading your thread about whiskey and wanted to ask a few questions. I am no conossieur and think I miss the point.
A If you enjoy it, you're not missing the point! I don't consider myself an expert by any means but I do love whisky and I love learning more about it.
Q What is it that you like about your favourite whiskeys?
A Well, the thing is that you can split the tasting sensation of whisky into quite a few categories. There is the nose, the palate and the finish and you can generally appreciate different flavours in each of the stages.
Experts will generally go one step further and examine the balance and this is a much harder thing to understand - basically it looks at the complexity of a whisky and how different flavours develop. For example, a whisky might have a huge Sherry nose and palate but if it drowns out everything else (malted barley, fruit, smoke etc) then it may be described as having a poor balance. See what i mean? It's generally the malts that display a large number of flavours that will come in and out at different points that achieve true greatness.
Q How do you drink yours, i.e. glass, temp, quantity etc
A I use a tasting glass which is similar in shape to a brandy snifter but smaller scale and with slightly less of a rounded base and a narrower neck - it focuses the aromas. I always drink at room temperature. And absolutely no ice! Regarding water, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. If I've just bought a new bottle of something I'm hoping to be special, the first dram I have will be neat, the next with a drop or two of cool (not cold) bottled water and then the third with approximately half the amount of whisky added as water (so say 30ml whisky, 15ml of water).
If I'm drinking purely because I fancy a dram, it depends on the whisky as to whether or not I add a drop of water. I rarely add more than a drop or two.
Adding water does release aroma but you need to be really careful to add too much.
When you drink it, hold the glass right under your nose and really inhale the aroma. Then do it again. Then taste it, don't gulp it but let it roll around your mouth because you'll taste different flavours in different areas of your mouth. Nose again. Repeat.
Q What can you taste as seperate flavours?
A Oh, loads of things. For example, last night I tried 3 or 4 Ardbegs (I love Ardbeg!). Trying not to sound like a w
ker here but: Peat smoke obviously, salty sea air, frying bacon (Honestly! Ardbeg Very Young and Corryvreckan both have this!), citrus fruit and hints of caramel or toffee.
Other flavours you'll find in other malts are:
Oak (obviously), wood smoke, coal smoke, honey, tar, apples, cream (really - Macallan 15yo Fine Oak is really creamy to me!), grass, diesel fuel (!), demerara sugar, molasses, heather, butter etc etc etc. There's a huge variety really.
The flavour depends so much on so many factors:
Age of the oak casks
What was in the casks and for how long
How the malt is dried and what fuel is used
Location of the warehouses
Length of time in different casks
Overall length of time in cask
Location where the barley was grown
etc etc etc etc
Generally, you're going to taste oak (from Bourbon casks) and many malts may have Sherry, Port, other Wine or even Rum finish which comes through in fruit flavours.
Sorry for the perhaps long-winded answers but I do get carried away talking about whisky sometimes. it's such an exciting and wide-ranging hobby, there's always soemthing new to taste and I find that my tastes certainly change over time so there's always soemthing different.
Can I suggest you buy Jim Murrays Whisky Bible and have a read. Try reading some his entries on a whisky you've got and see where he's coming from.
Don't let somebody else's opinion cloud your own though. Jim dislikes a few malts which I love and I dislike lots that he loves! I agree with a lot of his tastings but he has a far more developed sense of taste than I do (and probably ever will).
Taste whisky, a lot! You don't need to get drunk while doing it, don't feel you need to pour huge measures. Drink different ones after each other and see what differences you can find. Find out what you really like and explore more expressions from the same distillery or region. It's a very personal thing, others can help you but ultimately it's down to you.
Good luck and slainte.
Iain
Edited by Lefty Guns on Wednesday 1st April 21:02
Just a couple of quick things to add to the above
In terms of tasting one neat little trick is to open your mouth when you inhale. It opens up your olefactory glands and softens off the spirit. Try it!
Furthermore don't do what you would do with wine and stuff your nose deep into the glass and inhale. If you do this the spirit will anaesthatise your senses and it is neither a pleasant experience nor one that helps you to appreciate the subtelties within
MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL ENJOY IT!!
People will tell you to do this or do that but you MUST just stop worrying about what you "should" do and just enjoy it.
Frankly find out how it best suits your palate and don't let anybody convince you that it is "wrong" to drink it in this way. If you want to drink Glenfiddich 50 (at £7,500 per bottle) with coke we would far rather that you did this and enjoyed it than drunk it neat because that was "the done thing". After all it is all about enjoyment- you wouldn't let someone tell you how to cook your steak so don't let them tell you how to drink your whisky!
A final suggestion would be that if you are finding Scotch Whisky challenging how about trying a few other things. I have a number of friends who have come into Scotch through Bourbon and Rum which have a less challenging flavour profile but which help the palate to appreciate aged brown spirit.
In terms of tasting one neat little trick is to open your mouth when you inhale. It opens up your olefactory glands and softens off the spirit. Try it!
Furthermore don't do what you would do with wine and stuff your nose deep into the glass and inhale. If you do this the spirit will anaesthatise your senses and it is neither a pleasant experience nor one that helps you to appreciate the subtelties within
MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL ENJOY IT!!
People will tell you to do this or do that but you MUST just stop worrying about what you "should" do and just enjoy it.
Frankly find out how it best suits your palate and don't let anybody convince you that it is "wrong" to drink it in this way. If you want to drink Glenfiddich 50 (at £7,500 per bottle) with coke we would far rather that you did this and enjoyed it than drunk it neat because that was "the done thing". After all it is all about enjoyment- you wouldn't let someone tell you how to cook your steak so don't let them tell you how to drink your whisky!
A final suggestion would be that if you are finding Scotch Whisky challenging how about trying a few other things. I have a number of friends who have come into Scotch through Bourbon and Rum which have a less challenging flavour profile but which help the palate to appreciate aged brown spirit.
Lefty Guns said:
George 500 said:
In terms of tasting one neat little trick is to open your mouth when you inhale. It opens up your olefactory glands and softens off the spirit. Try it!
Yeah I thoroughly agree with this one, you just need to let a bit of air into your mouth while you're tasting.Wadeski said:
what do the PH whiskey drinkers think of Monkey Shoulder? Its the "non-traditional" whiskey from the W.Grant. I got a bottle today, I am a speyside drinker (Glenrothes and Benriach) but I thought I would give it ago tonight. I'd like to hear what others who have tried it think 
It's superb obviously 
Wadeski said:
I am a speyside drinker (Glenrothes and Benriach)
You sure Glenrothes is Speyside? 
I was having a Speyside evening last night actually - Balvenie 14 Roasted Malt, Mortlach 21 and Mortlach 16. And then a Johnnie Walker Black to finish off because I was still in the mood for it!
Wee bit fuzzy this morning it must be said!
Lefty Guns said:
Wadeski said:
I am a speyside drinker (Glenrothes and Benriach)
You sure Glenrothes is Speyside? I was having a Speyside evening last night actually - Balvenie 14 Roasted Malt, Mortlach 21 and Mortlach 16. And then a Johnnie Walker Black to finish off because I was still in the mood for it!
Wee bit fuzzy this morning it must be said!
Wadeski said:
Lefty Guns said:
Wadeski said:
I am a speyside drinker (Glenrothes and Benriach)
You sure Glenrothes is Speyside? I was having a Speyside evening last night actually - Balvenie 14 Roasted Malt, Mortlach 21 and Mortlach 16. And then a Johnnie Walker Black to finish off because I was still in the mood for it!
Wee bit fuzzy this morning it must be said!
Wadeski said:
what do the PH whiskey drinkers think of Monkey Shoulder? Its the "non-traditional" whiskey from the W.Grant. I got a bottle today, I am a speyside drinker (Glenrothes and Benriach) but I thought I would give it ago tonight. I'd like to hear what others who have tried it think
Did you like it then? I have abottle at home for when I want something soft, simple and easy to drink. It is only aged in Bourbon Casks and is designed as a bit of a first step on the whisky ladder and is a Scotch that mixes well.Don said:
My local Sainsbury's stocks a whisky called Glen Martin. Five year old.
I had to try it as it's a extraordinary reasonable 9.99 a bottle.
All I can say on the matter is when you think about trying it? Don't.
I'd rather drink rum. Really.
LOL good call - I don't think I would have bothered anyway, but nice to know just in case I am ever tempted I had to try it as it's a extraordinary reasonable 9.99 a bottle.
All I can say on the matter is when you think about trying it? Don't.
I'd rather drink rum. Really.
Lefty Guns said:
Wadeski said:
Lefty Guns said:
Wadeski said:
I am a speyside drinker (Glenrothes and Benriach)
You sure Glenrothes is Speyside? I was having a Speyside evening last night actually - Balvenie 14 Roasted Malt, Mortlach 21 and Mortlach 16. And then a Johnnie Walker Black to finish off because I was still in the mood for it!
Wee bit fuzzy this morning it must be said!
Its lovely stuff - the first I tried was their '74 (they go by annual vintage rather than in number fo years old) and it is still my probably my favourite ever whiskey. My budget sadly doesn't stretch to the older stuff but I've bought their 1987 and their Nonvintage and both are very good indeed.
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