Gracious, Peter, those prices! Bet that's some good stuff there. I'm sure you are quite right, that's it's far better not to drink. I didn't really (after high school, when we would drink when finer things were unavailable) until moving to the country a few years ago. My wife drinks though, and in order to sing like a broken angel it seems to help- I can't do that, I have to open the door to roaming spirits to get the job done. (Pun noted.) Ah, the sacrifices we make for art!
PRobb wrote on Sun, 08 August 2004 20:58 |
Welcome to the wonderfully world of malts! First, Scotch is regional, like French wine, and each region has it's own characteristics. For people just discovering malts, I usually recommend a good Lowland whiskey like Glenkinchie (not sure of the spelling) The Lowlands are very smooth and don't have the strong peaty bite of some of the other regions. Personally, I like the ones from the isle of Islay, on the other end end of the spectrum. Lagavullin, Talisker actually from the isle of Skye- or Ardberg are great examples. They are huge tasting whiskeys and each sip takes a minute or two to fully develop. Find a bar with a good selection of malts and taste, in order, a Lowland, a Highland, a Speyside and an Islay. If you are still conscious, you should have a pretty good idea of where your tastes lie. Enjoy!! PS- reading your post caused me to pour a glass of Ardberg. MMMM- wow thats good.
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Yes, doubtless a good call on the bar... I'll take a hard-drinking friend to help me out, that way I can sample a few and live to tell the tale.
I'm intrigued that you like the peaty smoky stuff. I have an inclination that I might. The Jim Beam rep who gave me an oral history of such things prefers American rice beer to the room-temperature British "Black Breakfast" stuff I love, so I had to consider I might be looking for something woolier than his preferences in whiskey too.
" Personally, I like the ones from the isle of Islay, on the other end end of the spectrum. Lagavullin, Talisker actually from the isle of Skye- or Ardberg are great examples. They are huge tasting whiskeys and each sip takes a minute or two to fully develop."
That sounds promising! Won't be quite like living in a pile of boulders with an open fire, but ah well... Thanks for the names, I've been wondering which of the Islay style things to attempt.
In the meantime, I've located a local 3rd generation (at least) bootlegger who makes her own organic whiskey- this I have to try. I've tried her cherry wines, and they are unbelievably fresh and wholesome. Mmmm.