Show us your whisky! Vol 2

[SD_1]

Did anyone manage to get some Campbeltown malts in the latest madness release? I managed a Kilkerran 16, Springbank 10, and Campbeltown Loch. Don't think I am going to bother next time to be honest, it is just becoming frustrating seeing it all go straight onto auction sites. Got a decent backlog in the stash which will satisfy that flavour profile for the next few years!

[Last Visit]

Picked up a bottle of Dalmore Regalis on the ferry coming home from France. No idea how it will taste but I just fancied a bottle!

[LeighW]

SD_1 said:

Did anyone manage to get some Campbeltown malts in the latest madness release? I managed a Kilkerran 16, Springbank 10, and Campbeltown Loch. Don't think I am going to bother next time to be honest, it is just becoming frustrating seeing it all go straight onto auction sites. Got a decent backlog in the stash which will satisfy that flavour profile for the next few years!

I entered ballots for the Springbank 18, but no joy.

The auction prices are softening a bit, I just picked up two bottles of Glenallachie CS 10 batch 7 for £50 and £55. With fees and postage it's £125 for both, so just about RRP. The £50 bottle has a dented box, but it doesn't matter as they're for drinking. The other one is a 50th birthday present for a mate who I've converted from a 'don't like whisky' person, to a 'I'll drink Glenallachie Cask Strength' person.

[MickC]

Lagavulin 16. or Ardbeg 10. In the summer. Over Ice. Sacrilege? Yum? Discuss!

[MickC]

eein said:

The Glendronach 21 sticks out as the more premium among that bunch. What age is the Glengoyne?

With so many open you'll need to be careful of any with poor seals as the'll go off quickly.

That's an interesting observation. How does Whisky 'go off'? Sure it will absorb water from the air if the seal goes, but given we usually add water to a decent dram before tasting, is that a killer? Asking with morbid interest, as i have about 50 bottles currently open, stored upright(!) and yes sometimes (often?) I get a cork disintegrate which required a quick strain and rebottle, I've never really noticed a whisky go off.

[eein]

MickC said:

eein said:

The Glendronach 21 sticks out as the more premium among that bunch. What age is the Glengoyne?

With so many open you'll need to be careful of any with poor seals as the'll go off quickly.

That's an interesting observation. How does Whisky 'go off'? Sure it will absorb water from the air if the seal goes, but given we usually add water to a decent dram before tasting, is that a killer? Asking with morbid interest, as i have about 50 bottles currently open, stored upright(!) and yes sometimes (often?) I get a cork disintegrate which required a quick strain and rebottle, I've never really noticed a whisky go off.

It goes off in that some of the alcohol evaporates. So you end up with a weaker whisky. If it started as a cask strength then you can afford for a fair bit to burn off. But once they drop, I estimate to <30% then you can taste it, and <20% is quite disgusting. You can experiment with watering down not-yet-gone-off whisky to different percentages and tasting.

Adding water can be useful if the whisky is very strong in flavor, or over-dominant in one aspect of the flavor, or the high strength of alcohol is over-bearing (more often in a cask strength, but not always). You'll find that most drinkers will not "usually" add water, more likely just 'when needed'.


If the corks in your bottles are giving a good seal then you'll happily get many, many years. You can usually tell by how easily or not they rotate while inserted.

Oh and note that you are not supposed to store them horizontal, so upright is right (unlike wine). Liquid on the cork will not help it in any way, indeed it will degrade it over time and cause more problems.

[NRS]

MickC said:

That's an interesting observation. How does Whisky 'go off'? Sure it will absorb water from the air if the seal goes, but given we usually add water to a decent dram before tasting, is that a killer? Asking with morbid interest, as i have about 50 bottles currently open, stored upright(!) and yes sometimes (often?) I get a cork disintegrate which required a quick strain and rebottle, I've never really noticed a whisky go off.

Oxidation - basically the more volatile parts evaporate and react to the air so disappear. You lose some of the complexity over time. It’s worse if it’s 40% compared to higher abv ones. That said, some whiskies do very well with some air. A few friends tried a Karuizawa in a bar (when they were cheap!) freshly opened - it was apparently not great. A few years later it had opened up and the nasty stuff was reacted away and it was amazing.

[C70R]

MickC said:

Lagavulin 16. or Ardbeg 10. In the summer. Over Ice. Sacrilege? Yum? Discuss!

I wouldn't put a heavily peated whisky over ice, in the same way that I wouldn't keep it in the fridge. It's just going to dull down the interesting bits of the flavour profile. Feels like a bit of a waste of money.

I'd stick with cheaper blends and bourbons if you really have to drink over ice.

[MickC]

C70R said:

I wouldn't put a heavily peated whisky over ice, in the same way that I wouldn't keep it in the fridge. It's just going to dull down the interesting bits of the flavour profile. Feels like a bit of a waste of money.

I'd stick with cheaper blends and bourbons if you really have to drink over ice.

I would not do so either, but I prefer the more peated whiskies so in the summer i sometimes do, and I still enjoy it for the peaty flavour even if it's now colder and maybe a bit dulled. But yes feels a bit wrong which is why I am asking if anyone else does it.

Cheaper blends and bourbons get mixed with coke in the summer anyway, i would not usually drink them either neat or just over ice.

[SD_1]

LeighW said:

I entered ballots for the Springbank 18, but no joy.

The auction prices are softening a bit, I just picked up two bottles of Glenallachie CS 10 batch 7 for £50 and £55. With fees and postage it's £125 for both, so just about RRP. The £50 bottle has a dented box, but it doesn't matter as they're for drinking. The other one is a 50th birthday present for a mate who I've converted from a 'don't like whisky' person, to a 'I'll drink Glenallachie Cask Strength' person.

Thats a great deal on the Glenallachie, it's a cracking dram. It's funny how it has that affect on non whisky drinkers - I have a very similar story with a mate of mine when we stumbled across a bottle of last years 14 Sherry cask in a local shop!

[eyebeebe]

I have a bit of a (very nice to have) dilemma...

As a leaving gift my very generous colleagues gave me a bottle of Glenfarclas 25 and a voucher for about £400 (CHF 450) for this shop https://ullrich.ch/de/sortiment/whisky/?p=1

Question is should I buy a few decent bottles, go big on one bottle or go really big and add to it. It will certainly be for drinking not collecting. Historically I've been fine spending up to £200 of my own money on a bottle to drink and my favourite whisky was one that I got in a Black Friday 50% sale from Master of Malt and added I think £100 or so to a £200 voucher.
https://whiskyauctioneer.com/lot/283241/ardbeg-27-...

If I went for one bottle, I was maybe thinking of this
https://ullrich.ch/de/sortiment/whisky/single-malt...

I have every regular Ardbeg plus Blaaack on the shelf already, so buying a "vertical" doesn't make sense. Equally I'm not wed to Ardbeg and have examples from all regions on the shelf that I enjoy, as you can see below.

WWYD?

[Pflanzgarten]

When it’s free money go big!

[lemmingjames]

Guess it depends on if you can taste the extra x amount of money over a sub £50

My palate isn't sophisticated enough to be ae to detect all the different smells and flavours of even £40 bottles so it'd be a waste. Especially if it was one to be drunk

[eein]

I would normally recommend that 100-200 GBP/CHF is a good range for particularly good special bottles, and above that is more down to taste preference. However, as you already have a few from that range, and a large number open anyway, and this gift was a special occasion, I'd suggest matching the special-ness by getting one bottle. That way when you drink it this will remind you of that workplace and your colleges and make you feel grateful for the opportunity to have something more that you usually have.

[Richieboy3008]

[Got4wheels]

Richieboy3008 said:

Richie! Welcome to the club! What’s the one on the left/bottom?

With my own collection, I decided not to give Cardhu Gold a second chance and gave it to some friends, who aren’t whisky enthusiasts like us, but I knew would appreciate the bottle more than I was ever going to.

Michael

Edited by Got4wheels on Tuesday 23 August 23:01

[Puddenchucker]

Tonight's tipple:

It gets mixed reviews but I thought I'd give it a try.

[C70R]

MickC said:

C70R said:

I wouldn't put a heavily peated whisky over ice, in the same way that I wouldn't keep it in the fridge. It's just going to dull down the interesting bits of the flavour profile. Feels like a bit of a waste of money.

I'd stick with cheaper blends and bourbons if you really have to drink over ice.

I would not do so either, but I prefer the more peated whiskies so in the summer i sometimes do, and I still enjoy it for the peaty flavour even if it's now colder and maybe a bit dulled. But yes feels a bit wrong which is why I am asking if anyone else does it.

Cheaper blends and bourbons get mixed with coke in the summer anyway, i would not usually drink them either neat or just over ice.

I'd be less worried about dilution (whose drams last that long anyway?), and more concerned that you were killing the flavour by chilling. Horses for courses, I guess.

[ChemicalChaos]

Went into Liverpool town last Thursday with a monarchist pal, to raise a glass or two to the Queen and the new King.

Inevitably we ended up at Hop/Scotch, where they had an intriguing selection of Israeli whisky newly arrived, from a distiller called Milk and Honey.

I tried this one, it had an amazingly oaty/butterscotch flapjack taste to it that was a complete novelty to me but highly enjoyable. Though, being quite a young spirit ("aging" much more quickly in the desert heat) and a cask strength of 57%(!) it was definitely quite alcohol-forward and responded well to a drop or two of water to calm it down. Would definitely recommend though!








Meanwhile, on a previous trip last year, I'd sampled some Carn Mor bottled Auchentoshan finished in a rum caskk, and had been simply blown away by the flavour explosion of vanilla and tropical fruits
Unfortunately, I was informed at the time that being a very limited run, I'd struggle to get hold of any - and I did indeed. However, my persistent searching finally paid off and at the end of August I managed to buy a bottle from Drambusters, which turned up just in time to sample over the bank holiday

[vixen1700]

Got a John Lewis voucher for my birthday the other day and went into Waitrose for a bottle of something and saw that Lagavulin 16 was over £70. Looked online and it seems that's the normal price now. When did that happen, it used to be around £42.

Picked up a bottle of Glenlivet 15 btw