Whiskey - It's the water of life!

[Boris Blank's glass eye]

Tomatin Legacy, also known as Tomatin Dualchas in the USA.

Bottled at 43% ABV, aged in used bourbon and virgin oak barrels, probably uncoloured, and I have no idea if it's chill-filtered. It's a pretty cheap single malt, I can buy it for less than JW Black (which I like quite a lot) or Chivas Regal (which puts bland in blended whisky), it's a good bargain in my opinion.

Both the cardboard box and the bottle label carry tasting notes which I found to be accurate. I smell faint vanilla, a bit overpowered by apple, lemon, and pineapple. Similarly, while there's a definite sweetness to its taste, I feel the sourness of apples, lemons, and pineapples is stronger, and it has the bitter aftertaste of pine. Taste mostly what you smell.
It's not very complicated, but there are layers to the taste, and the slightly higher than average alcohol content helps, too.

I think this will make a great whisky for hot summer days, with or without an ice cube. Probably without, since I like the undiluted taste very much.

Lastly, bottle and box design. I found their old line a bit too cold and "professional". These shorter, plumper bottles and pastel-coloured boxes feel friendlier, more attractive to me, even if I don't exactly agree with their motto "The Softer Side of the Highlands".

Try it if you want something to "just drink". It's certainly cheap without being actually cheap shit.

I'm going to try their older expressions, the bourbon/port matured 14yro and the limited, 12 yro amontilado finished 2006 sound particularly exciting.

 

[Boris Blank's glass eye]

While Corona-chan hadn't kissed me yet, the constant news are driving me crazy.
Losing a lot of my sanity points, I decided to try blending some whisky using this short "guide".

I'll mix one deciliter of Glenfarclas 105 with one deciliter of Tomatin Legacy, have them sit for three weeks, and see what happens. My goal is to give the Tomatin some depth, some punch, and have the Glenfarclas become a bit lighter and crisper. I guess. I might even post a photo or two.

 

[neverendingmidi]

Has anybody tried this yet?


It's aged in cognac barrels. I just wonder if the cognac overwhelms the scotch? I've had good bourbons that have been aged in casks used by other liquors, but Glenlivet has such a light taste I'd worry it would be overpowered.

Then again I'm also not a fan of cognac. The stuff I tried tasted like alcoholic raisin juice. Seriously, I tasted it and immediately thought of Sunmaid.

 

[Boris Blank's glass eye]

Has anybody tried this yet?
View attachment 1211160

It's aged in cognac barrels. I just wonder if the cognac overwhelms the scotch? I've had good bourbons that have been aged in casks used by other liquors, but Glenlivet has such a light taste I'd worry it would be overpowered.

Then again I'm also not a fan of cognac. The stuff I tried tasted like alcoholic raisin juice. Seriously, I tasted it and immediately thought of Sunmaid.

It's exclusive to the USA, so I haven't had it. Whiskey Exchange doesn't carry it, Master of Malt doesn't ship to most of Europe, so I won't have it for some time. Anyway, according to this press release, only the finish was done in cognac casks, regular aging was done in the usual American ex-bourbon casks and first-fill sherry casks. Glenlivet's site confirms this. The cognac finish will put a twist on the base whisky rather than overpower it.

First update on my unholy concoction:



Glenfarclas 105 in a Four Roses Single Barrel bottle on the left (time to transfer it again), Tomatin on the right (time to transfer it for the first time), blend in the center. Next update in a week.

 

[14YearOldLoliGirl]

Enjoyed a nice bottle of Lagavulin yesterday. Kinda pricey but definitely worth it.

Whiskey helps keep warm during this pandemic.

 

[Papa Adolfo's Take'n'Bake]

The Glenlivet Nádurra when i can get my hands on it is always worth a tippling or two, especially chilled with an ice cube.

Other than that I usually stick to An Fear Ciuinn 8 year single malt.

 

[neverendingmidi]

I bought one of the ginormous bottles of Maker's Mark, shortly after my state did the whole shutdown thing. They were out of Knob Creek, except the flavored ones which are a sin against man and god. I had forgotten how nice Maker's Mark is in a good Manhattan.

Also, props to Maker's Mark. They put a little flange in the opening of the large bottle, which makes pouring from it so much easier. When I buy the 1.75L of Knob Creek I have to use a funnel to fill a smaller bottle because pouring from that one is a bitch. The Maker's worked great straight from the bottle.

 

[mindlessobserver]

Just tried Johnnie Walkers game of thrones limited release House Targaryen whiskey. They essentially took their usual stuff a peat smoked it.

Its...its really good. Good as a whiskey and not just a meme. Bottles are dirt cheap too thanks to season 8 being a literal shit show

 

[Boris Blank's glass eye]

Today was a sad day: Corona-chan cucked me out of Dalwhinnie 15yro. I ordered a bottle last week, and the store called me today: they sold out, and the importer won't be able to get any more in the foreseeable future, either.
Oh well. Told them to get me a bottle of Arran Sauternes Cask Finish instead, that should be exciting.

A friend of mine wanted to get into bourbon, and boy he did. Dumb fucker bought the most expensive shit he could find: Hudson Baby and Hudson Manhattan Rye, priced at €80 for a half-size bottle. No, not half liter, half-size: 375ml. Don't ask me how the $50-ish price becomes €80 by the time it gets here.
Both are aged in very small "baby" barrells, 18 and 24 gallons IIRC. The bourbon is made of a 100% corn mashbill, which wouldn't be a problem, normally, but the baby barrells ruin the whole thing. It's just too fucking oaky. The Manhattan Rye is actually decent, but I'd expect more than "actually decent" at that price. Told the fucker he should buy a bottle of Wild Turkey Master's Keep if he was going to spend that much, or a bottle of Old Overholt, a WT Rare Breed, and a WT Forgiven. Worst thing is, these Hudson whiskeys are getting rave reviews, from, I assume paid shills and inner city wankstains who couldn't recognize a decent bourbon anyway. It was an expensive lesson learned. For him.

Spoiler: rum sperging 'cuz the other booze thread is dead

I celebrated my birthday on this past weekend, had a small party. Grill some meat, have some booze, cut a cake, then clean up and get the fuck back home to practice social distancing some more.
I treated those interested to some well-aged rum, and it was a liquid of wonders. Its spicy sweet scent filled the air around the table out in the yard. Layers upon layers of fruit: plums, prune, raisins, dates, figs, dried apricots and quince, with faint cocoa, vanilla, some cinnamon, and other spices lingering in the background. It was very sweet without being sickeningly so, great balance, without any burn. The finish was more vegetal, like green tobacco. Spicy green tobacco.

I can't understand why it was so cheap. Comparably old rums usually cost at least twice more than this, with the base price being €60 and the clearance price being more like €45. I suspect there's no demand for this particular brand right now. 'Member those times you could get an 18yro Macallan for around €80? I think this might be a similar case.

I was also given a bottle of Chivas Regal 12yro. While I appreciate the gift, I was reminded why I don't like it: it's just so bland. I can get a number of better bootles at its price point (often somewhat cheaper), and I can get mostly the same - Ballantine's 12yro - quite a bit cheaper (which I sometimes do). It's better than the Ballantines, just not that much better, and the former fits the theme of ordinary, boring days for ordinary, boring people a lot more.

I can appreciate the gift, and even appreciate CR12 for what it is, though. A mild, inoffensive, maybe a tad bit overengineered, but ultimately perfectly decent whisky. The first decent whiskey you drink after a youth filled with cheap blends you chug down just to get hammered, at least for me. And it's the thought that counts, anyway. Thank you again, dear sister, and cheers.

 

[Man vs persistent rat]

If we're rumming, Cadenhead's Green Label Guyanan 15yo is impressing me - it's a whole different profile to what I'm used to - more bitter, pineapple, deep fruit flavours than the Jamaica/Barbados style I am used to where you sometimes find yourself battling through the sugar just to taste anything else. Their Foursquare is impressive but perhaps a bit much for me at the moment. I wish rum developed more of a distillery rather than label culture, it would make it easier to find things like this.

While Corona-chan hadn't kissed me yet, the constant news are driving me crazy.
Losing a lot of my sanity points, I decided to try blending some whisky using this short "guide".

I'll mix one deciliter of Glenfarclas 105 with one deciliter of Tomatin Legacy, have them sit for three weeks, and see what happens. My goal is to give the Tomatin some depth, some punch, and have the Glenfarclas become a bit lighter and crisper. I guess. I might even post a photo or two.

I wish you luck - I also use your method: combining two that I think would compliment each other, it feels fussy at best to try to add more. My last one was Ardmore with Arran to try to replicate a Highland Park-type fruity/smoky flavour (1/4 57% Ardmore 14, 3/4 46% Arran 18.) The results are probably as I should have expected, nice, but nothing like Highland Park. I like trying to create fake versions of excessively-priced higher vintages, Caol Isla unpeated and Ardbeg 10 sorta-kinda emulates an older Ardbeg.

 

[Rafal Gan Ganowicz]

An

If we're rumming, Cadenhead's Green Label Guyanan 15yo is impressing me - it's a whole different profile to what I'm used to - more bitter, pineapple, deep fruit flavours than the Jamaica/Barbados style I am used to where you sometimes find yourself battling through the sugar just to taste anything else. Their Foursquare is impressive but perhaps a bit much for me at the moment. I wish rum developed more of a distillery rather than label culture, it would make it easier to find things like this.


I wish you luck - I also use your method: combining two that I think would compliment each other, it feels fussy at best to try to add more. My last one was Ardmore with Arran to try to replicate a Highland Park-type fruity/smoky flavour (1/4 57% Ardmore 14, 3/4 46% Arran 18.) The results are probably as I should have expected, nice, but nothing like Highland Park. I like trying to create fake versions of excessively-priced higher vintages, Caol Isla unpeated and Ardbeg 10 sorta-kinda emulates an older Ardbeg.

Any idea how to replicate old-school Cardhu, now that they went and ruined the brand a few years back?

 

[Boris Blank's glass eye]

Caol Isla unpeated and Ardbeg 10 sorta-kinda emulates an older Ardbeg.

That sounds intriguing. A good plan for the future, assuming we all don't get COVID-19 and die a gruesome death.
And that I can get my dirty hands on some of that limited release unpeated Caol.

 

[Man vs persistent rat]

Any idea how to replicate old-school Cardhu, now that they went and ruined the brand a few years back?

Do you mean when they changed from single malt to a sort of disguised blend (which they called "pure malt")? The single malt is still available and I think less confusingly presented now, unless you mean there was also a decline in quality of the single malt, which while a shame, I have less experience with the subtleties of that distillery. If you want more fruity/confectionary complexity, small amounts of Clynelish, Bladnoch, Deanston or Dufftown might be in the right direction, although the one fundimental principle of blending is that quality-in leads to quality-out, and if the base Cardhu isn't very good, it might be a challenge to do very much with it. It's why I wouldn't recommend using single grain for bulking even though the Scotch industry loves it, because that's part of the reason people don't enjoy the blends any more.

And that I can get my dirty hands on some of that limited release unpeated Caol.

An alternative is Benrinnes, as it has some of the crisp sweetness of unpeated Ardbeg, but without some of the dry fruit. Benrinnes is great stuff and higher vintages should be widely available on Signatory at the very least. Oban and Hazelburn are also the same type of abstract flavour to unpeated Caol Isla, but the lack of any available older versions makes the whole thing moot.

 

[Crass_and_Champ]

Are we still rumming? Anybody a fan of Rhum Agricole from Martinique? I think it's one of my new favorite styles, it drinks much lighter and "younger" than British-style rums. That being said, Pusser's Royal Navy is still my number one.
On the topic of whiskey: mixed Evan Williams and Cheerwine the other night. Remembered a girl I went out with once who smuggled bourbon into concerts by stuffing it down her panties. The trashiest ones are sometimes the best (I mean, the trashiest whiskeys, that is).

 

[ExceptionallyExceptional]

Fucking love a good barrel aged whiskey. Scotch, bourbon, rye, Irish, Canadian, don't care just gimme.

 

[Kornheiser]

Are we still rumming? Anybody a fan of Rhum Agricole from Martinique? I think it's one of my new favorite styles, it drinks much lighter and "younger" than British-style rums. That being said, Pusser's Royal Navy is still my number one.
On the topic of whiskey: mixed Evan Williams and Cheerwine the other night. Remembered a girl I went out with once who smuggled bourbon into concerts by stuffing it down her panties. The trashiest ones are sometimes the best (I mean, the trashiest whiskeys, that is).

I got some Depaz vsop years ago and it’s like drinking high end whiskey. The normal rhum agricole is needed to make planters punch and with summer approaching it’s time for summer drinks.

 

[ERROR 1404]

Jack Daniels is my life companion, I’ve been drinking it since I was young and I’ve had better but it’s still my favorite (that is affordable).

Maker’s Mark isn’t bad, just recently tried 1792 and it’s pretty good stuff. I’ve had High West Whiskey but didn’t care for it. Blanton’s is very nice but price means I don’t touch it often.

A friend got me Colonel E.H. Taylor small batch and my gods it’s my favorite but not affordable here for my drinking habits.

I like scotch alright but never really got into it.

The existence of this thread made me happier than perhaps it should have.

Edited for spelling.

 

[Crass_and_Champ]

I got some Depaz vsop years ago and it’s like drinking high end whiskey. The normal rhum agricole is needed to make planters punch and with summer approaching it’s time for summer drinks.

Planter's Punch, love the stuff! Patrician taste! I made a Ti'Punch Vieux last night to celebrate summer. Of course, down here it's always summer.
Cheers friend!

 

[Boris Blank's glass eye]

So, uh, rate me late and dumb, but I just learned Jura dropped their old range, including Prophecy, which I'd like to try before it sells out everywhere. Does anybody have any experience with it? According to the reviews I've read, the best of the new range is Seven Wood, the 18yro is utterly unremarkable and a waste of good money, and the rest is just bad.

 

[Aberforth]

My current go to whiskey is Jim Beam Extra Aged Black.