For regular drinking there is always good old "Black Label" and for when I'm feeling a little rich (by saving money on pizza....lol), I sip on to "Gold Label". Love the woody ones :)
There's three great whiskies in the world and the all come from the same small island of Islay -- Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg. After those, there's a lot of empty space till the fourth comes in (for me, personally, that would be Balvenie's).
I haven't seen Ardbeg, but yeah, give me the peaty stuff. I'm a Laphroaig girl myself.
My husband loved whisky so for his birthday this year I took him to the home of several of his favourites - Islay! His birthday falls on a bank holiday so that's the weekend we chose and what good fortune - it was the week of the Islay Festival of Whisky!
I don't like whisky but I still enjoyed the trip and hubby really did!
An American whiskey distilled from a fermented mash of grain that is at least 51% corn. Bourbon is aged for at least two years in new charred oak barrels. Bourbon, a true American whiskey, originated in Bourbon County, Kentucky, and even today, most bourbon distilleries in the United States are located in kentucky. Jack Daniels is a high quality Bourbon that is filtered through maple charcoal befor aging.
There's three great whiskies in the world and the all come from the same small island of Islay -- Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg. After those, there's a lot of empty space till the fourth comes in (for me, personally, that would be Balvenie's).
I would place Bowmore's (15 year or older) and Caol Illa in 3rd and 4th with Ardbeg 5th, but Laphroaig (when we can find it)is our favorite hand's down. My husband likes Taliskers too, but it is a bit fiery raw for me. Islay rules!!
I'd really struggle to draw up a top 5 because it depends a lot on mood and temperature; I love peat and until very recently I'd have put Caol Ila at number one (right up until I first tried some 21yr old Port Ellen...), but on the other hand the lighter stuff like Glenmorangie or Cragganmore work as nice light summer drinks.
On the water front; I always used to drink it neat until Kavey took me off to Islay; after some serious tasting sessions in Lagavulin and Caol Ila I was converted and now add a splash of water.
A hint to Londoners - there's a small but great whisky and cigar shop called Vintage House at 42 Old Compton Street, W1V 6LR, where you can acquire just about any whisky produced in the UK. Plus you can get single barrel single malts, undiluted and with a strong character. The oldest single barrel that I noticed was about 85 years of age.
As I understand, the owners of the shop travel around the islands each year, acquiring barrels left over after blending of big batches. If you're a connoisseur, that would be the place to visit.
For regular drinking there is always good old "Black Label" and for when I'm feeling a little rich (by saving money on pizza....lol), I sip on to "Gold Label". Love the woody ones :)
The Glenfiddich you have is very nice, however you can't tsay it's 21 now since the maturation happens in the cask and not the bottle, unlike red wine wichi can still mature after being bottled.
To all those who think they know what their favourite whisky is, I recommend what I did a year ago: invite some friends to your place, each has to bring what he considers a good and a bad whisky. Make a blind degustation and describe what you taste. It was a hilarious evening. And my favourite whisky has changed since ;-)
I agree each of my favourites has on ly lasted till the next really good one, but still there are some names that always come up in my mind like the ones I mentioned earlier. Really being able to TASTE single malt whisky is an art/science that take a long time to develop and it'a a great ride. :)
We recently did a tasting of the Classic Single Malts of Scotland and it was a great time. Personally, the Lagavulin 16yr was my favorite, but probably not something I would drink everyday. For more of a 'drinking' whiskey, I would go with the Cragganmore 12yr.
I was doing a little digging around the interweb after tasting a lovely 18year old Macallan
What a coincidence that this thread would pop up now. I just bought a bottle of 12 year old Macallan for a friend's 50th birthday this weekend. I hope he enjoys it! I've never tasted whisky.
