A whisky recommendation

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Pale Rider

Pale Rider

Legendary Member
My go-to cheap ‘cooking’ whiskey is Jamesons.

Sainsbury had Jameson on offer at £20.

I was tempted, although the only bottles left were at the back of the top shelf so I would have to have summoned assistance to get one.

The reason I fancied it was because I became fond of Irish whiskey for a brief period about 40 years ago.

Me and a couple of mates took to drinking Bushmills for a few months.


There are two reasons for adding water:

Literally a drop or two will release aromatics with out diluting and much enhances the flavour profile (most tasting is in the nose)
Demonstration on distillery tours a few years ago demonstrated that very clearly

1:1, or even more, cuts the bite or power - horses for courses on that.

The finer the whisky, the less water I add.

I suspect cutting the bite is what appeals to me, although I've not analysed why I use a relatively large amount of water.
 

glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
No, no you can't.

Maybe I should have put a smiley after that.
(And I speak as a fan. I have a bottle in my cupboard.)
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
Another vote for a 10 year old Talisker here.

Once took a tour of the distillery at 10am in the morning, which included a tasting session. That was interesting, seeing as I hadn't had any breakfast first :cheers:.

10 year talisker is one of my favourites. Likely mid £40 but not silly money. Much nicer than Talisker <insert silly name of the week>. Been caught by a bargain bottle Laphroig "select" which isn't terrible but not a patch on Laohroig 10 which is fantastic - at least if you like very peaty whiskys. Old Pultney, Jura, Balvenie, Knocando are all a good tipple and often with a deal on at the supermarket
 

oldwheels

Legendary Member
Location
Isle of Mull
PK99 has the right idea about adding water in very small amounts.
Mention was made about colour by somebody. At one time caramel was the preferred colouring agent. For one customer we made the colour pretty dark as they said Americans thought that the darker the colour the better the whisky. On one occasion they complained that I had not made it dark enough. Turned out they had misread their chart. After my time a dye was used but then discontinued I think because it was reckoned to be potentially injurious to health.
We were once given six casks to blend for a customer as one had a raspberry flavour. He ended up with 6 casks of raspberry flavour whisky. No idea what he did with them when he got them back.
One day I may write a book on my experiences. Did you know that most of the distilleries at one time were owned by mafia bootleggers? These characters are all dead now.
 

Slick

Guru
I was given a bottle of Laphroig 10 for Christmas.

Is it better with Coca Cola or Ginger Ale? :whistle:
You would need to do something with Laphroaig to make it palatable.

I'm not a great advocate of this but some friends meet quarterly and try different types but coat their mouth in real chocolate, not the cadburys stuff, the real cocoa stuff which does bring out different flavours in some.

Probably take a lot to get rid of that Laphroaig though.
 

Oxford Dave

Senior Member
Location
West Oxfordshire
I can recommend the 85% cocoa plain chocolate from the Co-op, part of their Irresistible range - perfect with a glass of single malt.
 

Justinitus

Warning: May Contain Pie
Location
Wiltshire
I’ve been an occasional drinker of decent rum for a few years, since a good friend gave me a taste of Don Papa from the Southern Philippines. Luckily, Mrs Justinitus is from an island near Negros so I can sometimes get hold of a bottle quite a bit cheaper than trying to find it here.
What got me ’into’ whisky (I’m very much a novice) is when one of our elderly neighbours gave me a bottle as a thank you for doing some small jobs for her. She’s 93, hardly speaks any English and is a renowned tightwad - so I wasn’t expecting it to be much.
I cracked it open one night with a mate and we couldn’t believe how lovely it was. It was a 18yr Auchentoshan from the mid 1980s. A quick google found a few bottles at a specialist for... £180 each! Goodness knows how she came by it!
In the cupboard right now are:
3 x bottles of Don Papa rum of various vintages (the std 7yr old is my favourite).
1 x Talkisker Skye (unopened).
1 x Cardhu Special Reserve. I’m on the fence with this so far, I was hoping for something more special.
1 x Glenfiddich 15yr single malt - very nice!
 
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