A Whiskey Recommendation

Absolutely, along with winter, spring and autumn.
And please, pander if you will to my delicate sensibilities – if its from Scotland or Japan its whisky. If its from anywhere else its whiskey. :wink:

Absolutely, along with winter, spring and autumn.
And please, pander if you will to my delicate sensibilities – if its from Scotland or Japan its whisky. If its from anywhere else its whiskey. :wink:[/quote]

And if you’d had a bit too much it’s whishkey. :slight_smile:

:blush: Sorry, Sandman. Whisky it should be. And whisky it shall be–tonight, as I go to pick up a bottle of the finest–or at least what I can get for NT$1185.

Thanks for the clarification.

Anyone know for how much the Macallans is available or goes for at the Duty free CKS airport? Just wondering if its worth planning to pick up a bottle on the next trip…

No idea, but FWIW, I just came from 7-11 and the 12-year Macallan is actually NT$1,280, so bear that in mind when you’re at the airport.
Grouse at 7-11 is less than NT$600, which is a stunning deal for one of the best blended malts on the market.

Macallan at the airport? Somewhere around $1140, if memory serves. Keep in mind that this is a 1L. bottle, rather than the 750 ml. bottles you find in shops around town. Definite value for your NT.

I checked out the whisky prices at Welcom today. Various blended brands including sandman’s Famous Grouse from the NT$500’s -800’s, Glenfidich (single malt) for NT$925 and Macallan, the most expensive, at $1270. But it really is better. I used to drink Jack Daniels on the rocks and would swirl it around in the glass to get it nice and chilled and watered down. One doesn’t need to – and shouldn’t – do that with Macallan. No water, no rocks, it’s really a superior drink.

I’m no expert on the stuff either, but here’s what I’ve learned from MJ’s book (greatly abbreviated here).

Definitions
Single: whisky from a single distillery. Single single is a term sometimes used to refer to whisky from a single cask, although most bottlings of single malt contain whisky from several different casks and batches.

Malt: grain that has been steeped in water, partially sprouted, and then dried. The grain used to make malt for whisky in Scotland and Ireland is always barley and that’s usually true in other countries too, although corn and rye are used in the US.

Scotch: Scotland has internationally protected this term. A whisky may not be labelled Scotch unless it is made there. Bushmills makes good whiskey, but they are Irish, therefore not Scotch. Nor do they taste the same, due to Scotland’s mountain heather, peat, seaweed, etc.

Blended Scotch: The original distillers in Scotland – monks and later farmers – made small batches of malt whisky and sold it to grocers and wine merchants, who sold it by the cask (before glass bottles were mass produced). At that time the idea of brands or trademarks was unknown. Gradually some shopkeepers, such as Johnnie Walker, George Ballantine, John Dewar and the Chivas brothers, dealt with lack of consistency in product taht was delivered to them by mixing it together to form their own house brands. Then maybe a half dozen whiskies might be mixed in a blend; today 10 - 20 distillates might be blended or even as many as 30 or 40. “Fearing isolation, the handful of independents, most notably Glenfiddich, began seriously to market their whiskies as single malts in the late 1960s and 1970s. What seemed like a lone gamble became an inspiration to others. Blended scotch is still dominant in volume, but single malts are gaining in sales and commanding far higher prices. The choice is between the orchestra and the soloist.”

Finally, if you do buy the 12 yr Macallan, here’s what he has to say about it:

Color: amber
Nose: sherry, honey, flowery notes
Body: full, smooth
Palate: the first hints of flowering currant. Altogether more expressive.
Finish: slightly more rounded.

By comparison, here’s what he has to say about Glenfiddich 15 yr (they don’t have a 12 yr old):

Color: full gold
Nose: soft, light, peat smoke
Body: smooth, lightly creamy
Palate: smooth. hazelnut. light cream. Dry maltiness.
Finish: Tasty, appetizing. Grassy notes and peat smoke.

Cheers. :slight_smile:

I’m enjoying a glass of same right now.

It is something else. :slight_smile:

Macallan’s a wonderful whisky. However, can’t anyone drink something else other than that around here?! There’s a whole Scotch world out there and it doesn’t revolve around Macallan!

I’m boycotting Macallan. Bourbon, the all-American drink. :stuck_out_tongue:

[quote=“Yellow Cartman”]Macallan’s a wonderful whisky. However, can’t anyone drink something else other than that around here?! There’s a whole Scotch world out there and it doesn’t revolve around Macallan!

I’m boycotting Macallan. Bourbon, the all-American drink. :p[/quote]
I’ll be having either some Balvenie port wood, Cragganmore, Talisker, Highland Park or Bowmore 30 year old tonight.

Well, I’ve got a cold, so its allowed – its MEDICINAL, damn you, I’m drinking it for the good of my health!

[quote=“Yellow Cartman”]Macallan’s a wonderful whisky. However, can’t anyone drink something else other than that around here?! There’s a whole Scotch world out there and it doesn’t revolve around Macallan!

I’m boycotting Macallan. Bourbon, the all-American drink. :p[/quote]

No, and I’m officially changing my name to jdmcsmith…do NOT argue with perfection

got a bottle of highland park for my bday last year - it was good stuff.

Bottle of Lismore 15 year old and a couple untouched bottles of the Balvenie Port Wood mentioned above in my cabinet at the moment. Both very fine and highly recommended.

hey thanks for the rec on the “grouse” not bad!

No idea, but FWIW, I just came from 7-11 and the 12-year Macallan is actually NT$1,280, so bear that in mind when you’re at the airport.
Grouse at 7-11 is less than NT$600, which is a stunning deal for one of the best blended malts on the market.[/quote]

grouse at 7-11 is less than 600??? wow. at the rt mart today it was 888.

I’m no expert but OLD Parr is a decent drink and at the price Famous Grouse Malt is a steal. I took a couple home and sold them at 4 times the price !

Well said…

Made in Kentucky, bottled in France and sold in Taiwan…Hill Billy Bourbon!

Bottle of rare Irish whiskey for sale at 100,000 pounds

[quote]The whiskey – spelled whisky in Scotland – dates from the late 1800s and is believed to be the last surviving bottle from the Nun’s Island Distillery in County Galway, western Ireland, which ceased production in 1913.

“It is a lot of money but it’s like looking for the last dinosaur really,” spirits expert Ken Thomas told Reuters on Friday. “This is surely one of the rarest bottles in the world.”[/quote]

Yikes! :astonished: I’ll take two!

RTMart/Carrefour is having a big alcohol promotion now with plenty of whiskey/whisky on sale.
Some of the brands I saw included JW, JB, Prime Blue, Famous Grouse, Dewar’s, The Macallan, Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie and MacKenzie.
I wanted to pick something up, but I didn’t even know where to start.
What’s a good 12 yr old for a beginner?

i like glenmorangie, the standard 12yo one, it has a to my mind “light” not overly peaty or sherry flavor. well worth a try