Jump to content

whiskey/scotch/bourbon


Recommended Posts

Everyone took their notes home with them, so I only have mine :o

 

Anywho:

 

Highland Park 12 year:

  • Nose - red apple and clove
  • Palate - clove, oak, smoke
  • Finish - loooong finish, "band-aids" and rubber

Aberlour A'bunadh batch 53:

  • Nose - chocolate, cherry, coffee beans, maple syrup
  • Palate - cherry, sherry, smoke, brown sugar
  • Finish - short finish, pipe tobacco

Oban Little Bay:

  • Nose - Brown Sugar, molasses, mapel (after adding some water)
  • Palate - very medicinal, slight brown sugar
  • Finish - peat smoke, "band-aid"

Clynelish 14 year:

  • Nose - citrus (grapefruit?), brown sugar, smoke, overripe cherries, cotton
  • Palate - maple, hard pretzels, cinnamon
  • Finish - briny, pickling spices?

Lagavulin 16:

  • Nose - bike inner tube, medicinal taste, peat smoke, swamp water
  • Palate - grass, pipe tobacco
  • Finish - long finish, lots of rubber taste

 

Everyone was kind of all over on these, seemed like one of my buddies preferred the A'bunadh, and one really liked Lagavulin. I have to say I'm not sure I had a favorite. Everything tasted so different. I did really enjoy the Clynelish, but I could see liking certain ones more than others depending on the night. All delicious.

 

I'm going to try to do the bourbon tasting next time, so that should be sometime in May. Hopefully I'll be able to get it scheduled around Derby time. :)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, birdwell said:

This rules 

It was super fun, everybody got a little tipsy and enjoyed some cheese and stuff. I'm definitely glad I ended up doing it this way. After I finish the original planned four if I'm going to keep going I'll have everyone bring their own bottle of something though so it'll be less expensive ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, The Ghost of Randy Savage said:

It was super fun, everybody got a little tipsy and enjoyed some cheese and stuff. I'm definitely glad I ended up doing it this way. After I finish the original planned four if I'm going to keep going I'll have everyone bring their own bottle of something though so it'll be less expensive ;)

I think that's an excellent idea

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, noone77 said:

im typically an irish whiskey drinker, but do enjoy some blended scotch...saying that,  i have about $80-$90 (canadian) that im willing to spend on a single malt...any suggestions on where to start...im not into anything over "peaty" or smokey...any starting points would be great.

 

I'd imagine you should be able to grab a Highland Park 12 year at well under that price point. It's not really peaty at all, but I found it super enjoyable.

I don't quite recall what my price point was for the Aberlour A'bunadh, but you'd enjoy that as well I imagine. I think you should be able to get it under your price range. If you haven't, check out the tasting notes I posted above on this page and see if any of that applies to you. The last two are definitely going no to be above the price range listed, but the first three may be in range.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, The Ghost of Randy Savage said:

I'd imagine you should be able to grab a Highland Park 12 year at well under that price point. It's not really peaty at all, but I found it super enjoyable.

I don't quite recall what my price point was for the Aberlour A'bunadh, but you'd enjoy that as well I imagine. I think you should be able to get it under your price range. If you haven't, check out the tasting notes I posted above on this page and see if any of that applies to you. The last two are definitely going no to be above the price range listed, but the first three may be in range.

i actually just read your notes, and instantly looked up the Aberlour A'bunadh...only an extra 20, and your notes on that jumped out at me...thanks a lot, i will most likely pick up a bottle this weekend.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, noone77 said:

i actually just read your notes, and instantly looked up the Aberlour A'bunadh...only an extra 20, and your notes on that jumped out at me...thanks a lot, i will most likely pick up a bottle this weekend.

 

 

It was one of my buddies' favorites at the tasting. I think you'll really enjoy it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, noone77 said:

what do you mean by "band aid" finish?

Tastes kind of like how adhesive bandages smell. Kind of an iodine-y, medicinal, adhesive flavor. To be fair, the other gents I was tasting with got a lot less of that than I did from the Highland Park, but they all got it on the other ones I mentioned it on.

Edited by The Ghost of Randy Savage
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, noone77 said:

got it...and sorry, one more question.

 

any thoughts on the balvenie Doublewood 12 Year Old ?  it also looks tempting to me.

I haven't tried that one yet. I'm assuming it's aged in one type of wood and finished in another? Let me do a quick google ;)

When I'm getting ready to buy something if I haven't tried it before, I usually read about 4 or 5 reviews to see what folks have said about it. When you read the reviews, try to make sure it's from a site that allows comments, because often the comments below from folks who aren't being paid to taste something are a little more open and honest about whether they think it's worth the money.

 

Looks like these are finished in sherry casks, so I'd imagine that if you liked the sound of the Aberlour taste profile you'll probably enjoy this one too.

 

Often if I see too many mentions of "smooth" I've realized it may not be my cup o' tea, as I like my liquor to have nice distinct flavors, but I also like it to slap me in the face a little bit. Saw a few mentions of smooth, but not too many, also saw a few mentions that it was "too sweet" which...could just be that they're a peat lovers, but overall this is looking like it wouldn't necessarily be one I was super interested in.

 

I can't give any first hand recommendation, but it looks like the consensus is that it's a relatively good scotch, maybe a little on the sweet side, looks like overall people rate it around a B, B-, which isn't bad at all. I don't think it would be one I'd grab off the shelf, but if it were a bourbon with those tasting notes, bottled at cask strength to give it a little kick I'd probably consider it.

 

Sorry, that ended up being kind of long-winded!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, noone77 said:

awesome, thanks so much...really appreciate the help, and sorry to bother will all the questions.

No problem. :)

Honestly I'm not the most knowledgeable dude about these liquors, but I do my research (because it's fun to try them all!) and I'm always down to talk about this stuff. I've been really hoping some other folks would chime in and make this thread more lively for a while. I love chatting about stuff with @birdwell, but I want to get more people in here talking about my favorite spirits! I seriously didn't think I was going to be able to pick out any real noteworthy stuff when I did my tasting, but I found myself getting notes that were very distinct. It just takes a little practice, and then trying to find the word to describe what you're smelling/tasting. Have fun!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, noone77 said:

any of you guys get into a cigar with your whiskey?

I don't mind having a little smoke post whiskey, but especially if I'm doing a tasting I don't like to muddle my palate with the cigar taste. It's actually been quite a long time since I've had the pleasure though. Maybe at my bourbon tasting next month :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×

AdBlock Detected

spacer.png

We noticed that you're using an adBlocker

Yes, I'll whitelist