A whisky recommendation

[Profpointy]

Picked up a bottle of Penderyn madeira in Tesco the other day when I was doing a very infrequent but very successful yellow-sticker raid. A bargain at £26 - had a few previously at that price, there are now 4 in my select but very limited cellar. Offer ends quite soon, I think, so grab them while you can. Highly recommended. Also currently on offer for £26.50 in Waitrose; worth the extra 50p to avoid the riff-raff, but the nearest big Waitrose is about 30km away, compared with 1/2km to Tesco!

I guess they over-produced that flavour despite it being rather good presumably didn't sell as well as planned.

The distillery tour is interesting as their main still is a clever looking oil refinery style fractionating column which does away with the need double or triple stills of more traditional makers. Their still was designed by a Doctor Faraday, a descendant of Michael Faraday, one of the true giants of science - which is quite some heritage to live up to, but he clearly knows about industrial chemistry as far as whisky is concerned.

They've now added a pair of Scottish style pot stills but it'll be a few years before that product is ready to sell but it'll give them different options I guess.

Interestingly one of our mates had previously been a bit pooey about Penderyn whisky but came along anyway, but was quite favourable about their current product. We'd assumed he was just a whisky snob but it seems that their current offerings are rather better than their early stuff.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Blends you can’t go far wrong with Grouse or Black & White
Malts I love Lagavulin, Talisker, Laphroig.
ive heard that ALDI's Malts are very good.

I'm more into my beers than whisky, but nonetheless I know what I like and don't like.
I'm not into having my throat burned by the real harsh stuff, and experience has taught me that Bells and Teachers is best avoided. Grouse seems decent enough though.
The really smoky peaty varieties appeal to me more though, and the bottle of Lagavulin I was gifted a year ago blew my socks off. I've twice recently walked past Lidl's own brand Islay malt and thought "shall I give it a try or not?". Third time round it was on special offer at £16.49, so I thought what the hell it's got to be worth a punt so I got one.
Considering it's only a quarter of the price of the Lagavulin, I reckon it's a pretty decent tipple. Not as powerfully peaty or as complex in flavour, but way better than the budget blends. No mention how long it's aged, I would suspect the bare minimum duration.
I'll be stocking up on a couple more to stick in the cupboard to keep me going.

 

[simongt]

Taste is a very personal thing. For me, I won't touch anything that isn't a single malt, preferably Irish. The GLW, a Scot born & bred couldn't stand the taste of whiskey until I introduced her to single malts; Irish & Scottish. Now she appreciates the fine range of tastes - !

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

There's a lot of subtleties with all sorts of alcoholic drinks, apart from the heavily promoted big branded fizzy stuff where undiscerning punters generally just neck it in bulk as quickly as possible to get pissed. Unfortunately the majority of people are introduced to the mass market tasteless stuff, and think that's as good as it gets. I've always been an ale drinker, perhaps unusual as a youngster. It opens your eyes to the huge variety of booze there is out there, if you haven't just started out on only the same three or four mass market taps on the chilled fonts.

 

[simongt]

Agree Skipdiver. Our local is a haven for the discerning beer drinker. It provides a frequently changing menu of excellent beers, mostly from micro brewerys, all served from gravity, handpump and yes, even carefully selected keg - ! Also has a modest, but very good top shelf range. The fact that it's by far the busiest pub of several in the vicinity speaks volumes for the standards, the landlord and the staff who serve there.

 

[Paulus]

My particular favourite is Glenmorangie, a Highland malt. I was given two bottles for Christmas.
Sainsburys own Highland Malt is so very close to Glenmorangie that it could be from the same distillery.
I, like @SkipdiverJohn am really a real ale drinker, my local pub, The Mitre being well known for it's range of ales, 4 regulars and 6 ever changing specials. I just hope Gary the landlord can weather the lockdowns and closures.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Our local is a haven for the discerning beer drinker.

When I've been in Norwich, I've always patronised the 'Spoons in the city centre, the Fat Cat in West End Street, and one other excellent ale establishment nearby whose name escapes me. The beer quality in the Fat Cat was outstanding.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

am really a real ale drinker, my local pub, The Mitre being well known for it's range of ales, 4 regulars and 6 ever changing specials. I just hope Gary the landlord can weather the lockdowns and closures.

I'll check it out next time I'm around there and things have reopened. Have been in the Railway Bell many times, always good beer.

 

[Salty seadog]

Elvis Mcgonagalls ode tae the Laphroig.

View: https://youtu.be/NTHB7_ILleg

 

[MrGrumpy]

For info and to save you £24.99 but don’t bother with the Kyasuku Japanese Whisky from Aldi , rank !!! That is all .

 

[Blue Hills]

For info and to save you £24.99 but don’t bother with the Kyasuku Japanese Whisky from Aldi , rank !!! That is all .

my grumpiness would save me from that anyway - especially at that price.
How's their chinese sherry?

 

[MrGrumpy]

my grumpiness would save me from that anyway - especially at that price.
How's their chinese sherry?

hmm might take one for the team . Will report back

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Chinese Sherry??. The mind boggles. Whatever next. I've worked my way through a couple more bottles of Lidl's own Islay malt recently and it seems pretty consistent flavour-wise. No, it's not as good as the Lagavulin I've tried, but just like bikes it's a case of diminishing returns. Maybe 80% as good but at 25% of the cost, I'll settle for that.

 

[Poacher]

How about these two, which came up for auction today locally. Estimate £30 - £50 (plus 28.8% premium ).
Ten years old The Macallan, nothing particularly out of the ordinary to my eyes, both matured in sherry oak casks.
Hammer price £800. Did I miss something? Someone paid at least £1030.40, much more if bidding online.
Mellors & Kirk Live Auctions | Antique and Collectors Sale | Lot 1707 (mellorsandkirk.com)

 

[MrGrumpy]

How about these two, which came up for auction today locally. Estimate £30 - £50 (plus 28.8% premium ).
Ten years old The Macallan, nothing particularly out of the ordinary to my eyes, both matured in sherry oak casks.
Hammer price £800. Did I miss something? Someone paid at least £1030.40, much more if bidding online.
Mellors & Kirk Live Auctions | Antique and Collectors Sale | Lot 1707 (mellorsandkirk.com)

I’ve got a 12yr old bottle of MacAllan but not that one sherry oak cask . MacAllan is a fav of mine