Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler What scotch/whiskey/bourbon did you drink last ni?

Cool. I'll definitely look that up. Thanks.

I made it out to Forty Creek last week and picked up a couple of bottles of this year's limited release, Three Grain Harmony. Tried a couple of previous limited releases, Double Barrel and Confederation Oak (which were pretty well reviewed) and thought they were OK, but this one I *really* like.

All of the limited releases seem to be "unusual in different directions", ie not necessarily mainstream. Three Grain Harmony had mixed reviews, mostly criticized for being unbalanced due to a slug of young corn whisky mixed in with the older rye & barley whiskeys, but to me the "unbalance" was fantastic. It gets a real kick from the corn whiskey, which I don't normally like, but there's enough "rich and smooth" behind it that the result is a strong, delicious taste. Maybe the first thing I've tasted in ~20 years that has the same impact as the first time I tasted really good cognac (after which VSOP always tasted watery).

Anyways, new favorite whiskey, at least while it lasts.

I used to really like Wisers Deluxe back when it had a 10 year label and was pretty spicy. At some point they reformulated it and dropped the 10 year label - I can live with losing the 10-year but seems that they took out some of the younger rye whiskey as well because the new blend is "smooth" in a not good way except that everyone buys "smooth" I guess.

Go-to replacements these days are Forty Creek Barrel Select and Canadian Club 100% Rye... neither is "just right" but they're wrong in different directions so guess I should try blending them next time.

From michael_d's list I much preferred Lot 40 over Pike Creek, probably because it had more of a rye taste that I really enjoy. From Forty Creek I found I generally preferred Barrel Select over Copper Pot Reserve (surprise) because the Copper Pot seemed to sometimes have too much corn whiskey taste. Yeah I know that's hard to reconcile with (a) really liking Three Grain Harmony and (b) liking Jim Beam, but Jim Beam seems like a "lighter" kind of sweet and neither of them have the moonshine-y taste that sometimes popped up in bottles of Copper Pot Reserve.

That said, recently I haven't detected the moonshine taste in Copper Pot Reserve so these days I'm preferring it over Barrel Select. Never sure if the blending varies between batches or my taste buds are changing randomly.

My future Son in Law brought a bottle of The Macallan 12 year over on Christmas eve for after dinner. I'm no connoisseur but know what I like when I taste it. This seemed a balanced single malt, with just a hint of dried fruit (aged in previously used oak casks for sherry?) and a slight smoke impression. I liked/enjoyed it, will probably purchase it for myself.
/Jeff

Prior to Thanksgiving, we were in Arizona, visiting some friends. My friend travels to/from Europe for work. He brought back a bottle of 25 year old
Bunnahabhain. Wow....If all scotch was this good, I think I'd be in trouble. Good thing this one isn't available in the US.

Your pocket book would fight back. Last time I looked, Bunny 25 was ~$300/750 mL.

It is very good, though.

My brother bought himself a Lagavulin 16 for Christmas. Since I was visiting him for the holidays, I brought my own bottle of Laphroaig Triple Wood. We did a head-to-head tasting. Both are excellent scotches, and while the Lagavulin is lovely and smooth and fat and round, the Laphroaig just edged it our because of its constantly evolving flavor. It's slightly cheaper than the 16, too. Highly recommended!

Time to knock the dust off this old thread.

I'm still trying to enjoy "Scotch" whiskey. I found one I really like, a lot. It:s a Dalmore, 12 year old. Not expensive in the world of Scotch, but not cheap either. About 75 USD.

Just a hint of peat. No smoke to speak of. But there's no denying it's from Scotland.

For the folks who know this liquor, why do I like it and what other whiskey's should I be trying?

Your reviving this thread just in time ... l've been getting into whiskey lately ...
Too busy to add much since I'm still in the middle of moving ...
but nice to get a few ideas to try ...

michael_d. The best I can offer is a bit of knowledge. The scotch from each of the regions have their own characteristics. Like if you go with an islay, you are going to get a stong smoke bold taste, than you will from say a Spayside. Dalmore is a highland scotch that is very close to the Spayside area.

It was easier when Jon, Mark and Robbo was in business.

Not only were their different whisky blends named for their taste rather than their pedigree, but the pictures on the front of each bottle looked a lot like me and my hunting buddies Mark and Rob.