Show us your whisky! Vol 2

[Nurburgsingh]

Popped into Milroys while I was in town this week for a chat and a sneaky dram.
Lovely if you’ve got a sweet tooth

[eein]

Popped in to The Single Cask bar in Singapore at the weekend. Some amazing whiskies and knowledge of the staff - despite not having been there since Feb they remembered me and my preferences!

They do a 4 whisky flight for SGD$99 (£60), but half price (£30) until 7 pm. So hit up a couple of them.

[C70R]

Nurburgsingh said:

Popped into Milroys while I was in town this week for a chat and a sneaky dram.
Lovely if you’ve got a sweet tooth

I've had that exact drop there, and it's a peach. As someone who's been visiting for a decade or so, I get the feeling that it's dropped off a little over the past year. A few of the staff I'd built up a good relationship with have moved on, and the replacements don't seem to have the same sense of fun. Maybe it's confirmation bias, but I'm also seeing increasing numbers of tourists walking in off the street and asking for stuff like "a Macallan please". Perhaps it made some sort of TimeOut list of 'best bars in London', which would be the death knell for us regulars?

[bigandclever]

C70R said:

Maybe it's confirmation bias, but I'm also seeing increasing numbers of tourists walking in off the street and asking for stuff like "a Macallan please". Perhaps it made some sort of TimeOut list of 'best bars in London', which would be the death knell for us regulars?

C'mon, it's hardly a secret bar reserved for the cognoscenti

Maybe Simo's new place in Denmark Street will be more up your street but it's going to be quite different. Worth giving a go though

[TameRacingDriver]

I've just started drinking Whisky, so was wondering if you fine PHers may chuck some recommendations my way?

I've tried "Smokehead Single Malt" - didn't like and smelled of disinfectent!

I recently bought one called "The Busker Irish Whisky" - that one is quite drinkable I have to say. Reasonable price too.

It seems fairly clear I'm not a fan of the peaty ones. I have a bit of a sweet tooth if anything. Any recommendations for something reasonably priced I could try?

[ZedLeg]

I can’t remember the name now but my favourite was aged in bourbon barrels. You want to look for that or sherry barrel aged if you like something a bit sweeter.

[akirk]

TameRacingDriver said:

I've just started drinking Whisky, so was wondering if you fine PHers may chuck some recommendations my way?

I've tried "Smokehead Single Malt" - didn't like and smelled of disinfectent!

I recently bought one called "The Busker Irish Whisky" - that one is quite drinkable I have to say. Reasonable price too.

It seems fairly clear I'm not a fan of the peaty ones. I have a bit of a sweet tooth if anything. Any recommendations for something reasonably priced I could try?

do some searching on Speyside whiskies as they tend to be sweeter and more sherry like in their flavours...
https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/discover/enjoying...
shows the main regions - lighter whiskies and less peaty tend to be more from lowland and speyside. Islay is generally peaty / islands and highlands can vary, but tend to be less sweet - obviously all generalisations!

[C70R]

akirk said:

TameRacingDriver said:

I've just started drinking Whisky, so was wondering if you fine PHers may chuck some recommendations my way?

I've tried "Smokehead Single Malt" - didn't like and smelled of disinfectent!

I recently bought one called "The Busker Irish Whisky" - that one is quite drinkable I have to say. Reasonable price too.

It seems fairly clear I'm not a fan of the peaty ones. I have a bit of a sweet tooth if anything. Any recommendations for something reasonably priced I could try?

do some searching on Speyside whiskies as they tend to be sweeter and more sherry like in their flavours...
https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/discover/enjoying...
shows the main regions - lighter whiskies and less peaty tend to be more from lowland and speyside. Islay is generally peaty / islands and highlands can vary, but tend to be less sweet - obviously all generalisations!

100% agree on the Speyside suggestion.

Anything that's been part-matured in a sherry cask will give you that sweetness to complement the alcohol warmth. I personally find lowland drams that have only been oak matured to be pretty bland, but that just my palette.

Try an Aberlour 12, available at sub-£50 in most supermarkets, as a low-cost gateway to Speyside whisky. Smoother, sweeter, and none of the iodine flavours you were getting previously.

Cheap smoky whisky is the worst starting point for getting a feel for the variety of drams available. It tends to prioritise smoke over flavour, often masking a young whisky that doesn't have much body without the peat.

[C70R]

ZedLeg said:

I can’t remember the name now but my favourite was aged in bourbon barrels. You want to look for that or sherry barrel aged if you like something a bit sweeter.

Technically the majority of scotch whisky is matured in (ex) bourbon barrels at some point.

The bourbon industry has hilariously wasteful laws that prevent (or at least did until recently) the reuse of barrels if you wanted to call the product "bourbon".

Their loss is proper whisky's gain.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 26th October 07:53

[MickC]

TameRacingDriver said:

I've just started drinking Whisky, so was wondering if you fine PHers may chuck some recommendations my way?

I've tried "Smokehead Single Malt" - didn't like and smelled of disinfectent!

I recently bought one called "The Busker Irish Whisky" - that one is quite drinkable I have to say. Reasonable price too.

It seems fairly clear I'm not a fan of the peaty ones. I have a bit of a sweet tooth if anything. Any recommendations for something reasonably priced I could try?

See if you can find some reasonably priced Springbank, or Balvenie do a good variety of bottlings (their 21yo Port Matured is great, but a bit expensive to gamble on).

LOL I've just looked at the price of Springbank, what on earth happened there? 90 quid for the 10yo, and more for 15. Worth a look though if you can find a bargain. Balvenie standard bottlings looks more reasonable, eg:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Balvenie-Double-Single-Sc...

[LeighW]

C70R said:

Try an Aberlour 12, available at sub-£50 in most supermarkets, as a low-cost gateway to Speyside whisky. Smoother, sweeter, and none of the iodine flavours you were getting previously.

As above, Aberlour 12 is a good starting point. For something a bit more outside the box, how about this? Under £50 at the moment, lovely stuff.

https://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/blair-athol-...

[TameRacingDriver]

Thanks very much for the advice I'll check some of these out!

[TheHighlander]

I have quite an extensive collection.

I am lucky enough that we do work for all the distilleries due to our location and I ended up buying an selling whisky as a bit of a hobby to pair for stupid vehicles/bikes I buy haha.

Currently sitting on around 51 bottles - Mainly Macallan limited collections and quite a few inaugurals which I have managed to get my hands on.

In this business for buying it and procuring it, it's all about who you know and or how much money you have to spend to get the limited editions as it's all cloak and daggar.

[ChemicalChaos]

A gift from a friend who is doing near-constant aid runs out to Ukraine with his charity* as thanks for my help with procuring a workshop for him.

A "Polish" whisky from Lviv in Ukraine - the distillery is Polish but was founded in Lviv back when this was a part of Poland in 1782.

Very, very drinkable - fruity/caramel overtones and very mellow, being "only" 43% there's no burn either. Reminds me a lot of a Speyside such as Tamnavulin Sherry cask.



(*search "Casus Pax")

[ZedLeg]

C70R said:

ZedLeg said:

I can’t remember the name now but my favourite was aged in bourbon barrels. You want to look for that or sherry barrel aged if you like something a bit sweeter.

Technically the majority of scotch whisky is matured in (ex) bourbon barrels at some point.

The bourbon industry has hilariously wasteful laws that prevent (or at least did until recently) the reuse of barrels if you wanted to call the product "bourbon".

Their loss is proper whisky's gain.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 26th October 07:53

Every day's a school day, I was more of a bourbon drinker tbh. I'd only just got into scotch when I quit drinking.

[21st Century Man]

ChemicalChaos said:

A gift from a friend who is doing near-constant aid runs out to Ukraine with his charity* as thanks for my help with procuring a workshop for him.

A "Polish" whisky from Lviv in Ukraine - the distillery is Polish but was founded in Lviv back when this was a part of Poland in 1782.

Very, very drinkable - fruity/caramel overtones and very mellow, being "only" 43% there's no burn either. Reminds me a lot of a Speyside such as Tamnavulin Sherry cask.



(*search "Casus Pax")

£28 on Amazon, got to be worth a go after your review

[NRS]

ZedLeg said:

C70R said:

ZedLeg said:

I can’t remember the name now but my favourite was aged in bourbon barrels. You want to look for that or sherry barrel aged if you like something a bit sweeter.

Technically the majority of scotch whisky is matured in (ex) bourbon barrels at some point.

The bourbon industry has hilariously wasteful laws that prevent (or at least did until recently) the reuse of barrels if you wanted to call the product "bourbon".

Their loss is proper whisky's gain.

Edited by C70R on Thursday 26th October 07:53

Every day's a school day, I was more of a bourbon drinker tbh. I'd only just got into scotch when I quit drinking.

It's due to a law to protect the US coopers, it means there is more demand for barrels in the US due to not being able to reuse them. There often is rumours every so often about the law changing, potentially partly to do with the amount of oak trees available. A lot of the oak available was due to forests planted for making sailing ships back in the day, which has obviously decreased a bit on top of extra demand from a lot more people being around.

MickC said:

See if you can find some reasonably priced Springbank, or Balvenie do a good variety of bottlings (their 21yo Port Matured is great, but a bit expensive to gamble on).

LOL I've just looked at the price of Springbank, what on earth happened there? 90 quid for the 10yo, and more for 15. Worth a look though if you can find a bargain. Balvenie standard bottlings looks more reasonable, eg:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Balvenie-Double-Single-Sc...

RRP on Springbank is a lot lower than that, just during covid it got hyped like crazy and so now it's difficult to get for anywhere near rrp. A lot of the hype has fallen away again, but it's still around. Bit like NAS special edition Macallan - lots of prices collapsing these days on those, and the new versions not really shifting in the same way. At least Springbank has the quality behind it though.

[Philrose]

Anyone have any idea which distillery this is from?

[PushedDover]

First time in this here thread.
Partial to various whiskies and was looking for a surprise Whisky for a pair of pals - one of which bought me moons ago a birth year whisky.
When I looked for a 1973 whisky for them I was pretty shocked at the several £‘k these now command


As it happens, and we were away tasting UK wines in Kent (recommended) I went left field and bought very nice and pleasing…… Cotswold Whisky

To my point:
A bit of cash flow management ongoing here - and I have this bottle of numbered Whisky:





My 10’minute Google came up with nothing.
Is it a dud ? Or a dude?
Can I afford to replace SWMBO’s horse in its sale ?


Guidance please !!

[C70R]

PushedDover said:

First time in this here thread.
Partial to various whiskies and was looking for a surprise Whisky for a pair of pals - one of which bought me moons ago a birth year whisky.
When I looked for a 1973 whisky for them I was pretty shocked at the several £‘k these now command


As it happens, and we were away tasting UK wines in Kent (recommended) I went left field and bought very nice and pleasing…… Cotswold Whisky

To my point:
A bit of cash flow management ongoing here - and I have this bottle of numbered Whisky:





My 10’minute Google came up with nothing.
Is it a dud ? Or a dude?
Can I afford to replace SWMBO’s horse in its sale ?


Guidance please !!

It's rare enough, that's for sure. I can only find one place that has ever stocked it, and they don't appear to have had one for sale in a while.

This will tell you as much as there is to know about it, but I'd take the valuation estimate with a grain of salt, as Whiskybase tends to be on the high side in my experience.
https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/3832/gl...

I think your challenge in maximising sale price will be that it's neither a popular/well-known distillery or bottler. The market for it is pretty small, so you're banking on the right buyer being in the market when you're selling.

If you want/need to sell, I'd recommend putting it into an auction with a reserve of what it's worth to you.