Official PCF Whisk(e)y Thread (27 Viewers)

jbutler

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I can't pretend to know much, but I do drink a lot of it, so I think I'm qualified to start the thread at least.

Currently killing off a bottle of Woodford Reserve, but my preferred drink over the past year has been Elmer T. Lee, which I think has to be the best bourbon for the dollar. I was primarily a scotch drinker until approx 18 months ago when I started delving into bourbons and i've found it very rewarding with the aforementioned Elmer being my happiest discovery (via recommendations from friendly users on that other site).

I know there are certifiable whiskey snobs on this board, though, so I'd love to hear what everyone is enjoying these days.
 
Noah's Mill is a staple. Had gotten my hands on a beautiful bottle of Black Maple Hill, but I had no restraint and killed it and now am lamenting the fact that I can not buy more. Old West Whisky Rendezvous Rye is a nice one as well. I bought it for chip pictures but it turned out to be pretty tasty stuff.
 
Noah's Mill is a staple.

i picked up a bottle of this a year or so ago at JM's suggestion and i've definitely gone through a few since that time. really nice.

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lol at my typo in the thread title. i PMed Tommy to correct it. :D

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Tommy to the rescue - he's quick, folks.
 
Thanks very much for the recommendations, guys.

Here's a giant "Mmmmm!" for Woodford's Reserve. Love the bite. For something on the opposite end (crazy smooth), Blanton's. For something a bit different, Bulleit Rye.

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p.s. While I certainly enjoy an occasional glass of good scotch, I hope the serious scotch snobs don't visit this topic and start telling us that the correct spelling is "WHISKY" again... I have several fine bottles of WHISKEY (three pictured above), but I also have a bottle of scotch WHISKY called "Monkey Shoulder". Now, comparing names like Blanton's and Woodford's with a name like "Monkey Shoulder", you tell me which spelling should command more respect! :)
 
Just killed a bottle of Balvenie 14-yr. Caribbean Cask last week up in DC. I don't usually care for rum cask finishes, but this is really nice whisky.

Now cracking a bottle of Springbank "Wood Expressions" 12-yr. sherry-finished 1990, bottled in 1993, @ 52.4% abv. 1799 bottles produced.

Whatever all that means...
 
As of right now my rankings of top three would be
1. Noah's Mill- Can't get it on the shelf in Kansas for some damn reason....Found a bottle in Sonoma valley while on wine tastings and had it shipped back with a case of wine. This is unbelievable
2. Blanton's - this was what got me started searching for great bourbon
3. Angel's Envy - Very close third here.....on any given day I could probably bump this to the number 2 spot depending on my mood.

A few notable's not in any order
Johnny Drum
Basil Haydens
Woodford reserve
Eagle Rare
There are many more but these are what come to mind

I have an unopened bottle of jefferson's reserve that my brother gave me..... I'll have to get back to you on that
 
Just finishing a bottle of Woodford Reserve tonight. Definitely has a bite that I enjoyed. Basil Hayden is a repeat bottle at my house. I have yet to try Noah's Mill or Elmer T. Lee. Need to run down a bottle of each of those.
 
Another vote for Basil Haydens and Eagle Rare (especially that special "silver" edition or whatever it is) being on the top 20 list.

I got an opportunity to try Jefferson's Reserve at a friend's poker night a couple weeks ago, but I wasn't too impressed. Your mileage may vary, as I think it's a quality bourbon, but it just wasn't in my wheelhouse.
 
NO SCHLITZ MALT LIQUOR?!?!




Back in the day I was a Mad Dog 20/20 aficionado (it's cheap and it goes down easy........and comes back up the same way!)

md2020.jpg



Nowadays I generally buy Disaronno

disaronno2.jpg



Now that I've gone off on a complete tangent, I guess I generally prefer a smooth liquor, so what do you guys recommend in the Whiskey/Bourbon/Scotch camp?
 
NO SCHLITZ MALT LIQUOR?!?!




Back in the day I was a Mad Dog 20/20 aficionado (it's cheap and it goes down easy........and comes back up the same way!)

md2020.jpg



Nowadays I generally buy Disaronno

disaronno2.jpg



Now that I've gone off on a complete tangent, I guess I generally prefer a smooth liquor, so what do you guys recommend in the Whiskey/Bourbon/Scotch camp?

Amaretto used to be my father's after dinner drink of choice!

Pappy Van Winkle, but make sure you bink a meaningful tournament before buying or take out a home equity loan [emoji33]
 
definitely worth checking out. it has lately been my second go-to behind elmer t. lee. quite smooth.

Elmer T Lee looks to be about 50% more expensive than the Baltons if I did my searching right. I'm wondering if any of the rinky-dink liquor stores around here carry any of the good stuff, or do you guys usually purchase online?
 
Have not acquired the palette to appreciate Single Malt Scotches (yet). I like Still Waters Distillery in Concord Ontario. They started out making a Single Malt Vodka, while laying down barrels of whisky to age. In Canada, Spirits must be aged for a minimum of three years before you can legally call it Whisky. They have been bottling their Single Malt Whisky and their blended Whisky for about a year now, to very good reviews. The Single Malt is still a bit "much" for me, but their blend is smooth as silk. They recently bottled off their first cask of 100% Rye grain Whisky, and it is AMAZING. Spicy, with sweet notes on the end. REALLY enjoyed that.

The Whisky products they sell go under the label "Stalk and Barrel". You can peruse their site here . . .


https://www.stillwatersdistillery.com/

cheers.
 
Elmer T Lee looks to be about 50% more expensive than the Baltons if I did my searching right. I'm wondering if any of the rinky-dink liquor stores around here carry any of the good stuff, or do you guys usually purchase online?

elmer is cheaper than blanton's in nj at least. they're about $30 and $45 respectively. i have a couple of good, well-stocked stores around me that carry most of what i'd want. only thing i couldn't find reliably until lately was rowan's creek, but that's been regularly stocked for the past year.
 
Have not acquired the palette to appreciate Single Malt Scotches (yet). I like Still Waters Distillery in Concord Ontario. They started out making a Single Malt Vodka, while laying down barrels of whisky to age. In Canada, Spirits must be aged for a minimum of three years before you can legally call it Whisky. They have been bottling their Single Malt Whisky and their blended Whisky for about a year now, to very good reviews. The Single Malt is still a bit "much" for me, but their blend is smooth as silk. They recently bottled off their first cask of 100% Rye grain Whisky, and it is AMAZING. Spicy, with sweet notes on the end. REALLY enjoyed that.

The Whisky products they sell go under the label "Stalk and Barrel". You can peruse their site here . . .


https://www.stillwatersdistillery.com/

cheers.
i really want to try there whiskey and vodka
 
Back in the day I was a Mad Dog 20/20 aficionado (it's cheap and it goes down easy........and comes back up the same way!)

md2020.jpg

Gnu, is that MD20/20 stuff like alcoholic fruit juice? If it's the same stuff I'm thinking of, in the UK, it's what all the underage girlies used to drink about 25 years ago - never tried it myself.
/ back to normal programming

This thread has reminded me that I haven't had a single malt in a couple of years. I liked to try as many different ones as possible but my favorites tended to be Balvenie Double Wood, Highland Park and Dalwhinnie 15.

Someone mentioned Monkey Shoulder before, I'm sure that this is a blend rather than single malt but haven't tried it yet.
 
Gnu, is that MD20/20 stuff like alcoholic fruit juice? If it's the same stuff I'm thinking of, in the UK, it's what all the underage girlies used to drink about 25 years ago.

mad dog 20/20 in the uk 25ish years ago? sounds familiar...

 
Best I've tried is Highland Park 18.

Really like the Noah's Mill but it's $75/bottle in the UK :(
 
Russel Reserve 10
Bookers
Eagle Rare
1792

Those are some of my favorites. I like barrel proof and single barrel get a little different flavor on each bottle.
 
I would recommend Auchentoshan or Glenlivet for a smooth scotch. These are not as strong/smoky/peaty as some of the other scotches available on the market.

I'm not a Scotch snob, but probably the smoothest scotch I've had is the 16 year single malt Glen Moray. Really excellent stuff!

Somewhat on the other end of the scale, someone recently left a bottle of Tomintoul single malt scotch at my place on poker night. I've never had Tomintoul before, but it's one of the few scotches that have a fairly strong peaty flavor that I really like.

BTW, the Monkey Shoulder scotch I mentioned earlier is a blended malt, and I didn't think it was very good. It's just that when I saw something actually named Monkey Shoulder on the shelf, complete with a metal insignia of three monkeys on the bottle, I HAD to try it!
 
I'm not a Scotch snob, but probably the smoothest scotch I've had is the 16 year single malt Glen Moray. Really excellent stuff!

Somewhat on the other end of the scale, someone recently left a bottle of Tomintoul single malt scotch at my place on poker night. I've never had Tomintoul before, but it's one of the few scotches that have a fairly strong peaty flavor that I really like.

BTW, the Monkey Shoulder scotch I mentioned earlier is a blended malt, and I didn't think it was very good. It's just that when I saw something actually named Monkey Shoulder on the shelf, complete with a metal insignia of three monkeys on the bottle, I HAD to try it!

I'm not a scotch snob either, but I've been known to indulge. :) I don't know if I've had Glen Moray before, but I'll have to give it a go if I can find it.
 
My personal favorite right now is Auchentoshan. The Balvenie is a close second, ..

Just killed a bottle of Balvenie 14-yr. Caribbean Cask last week up in DC. I don't usually care for rum cask finishes, but this is really nice whisky.

Now cracking a bottle of Springbank "Wood Expressions" 12-yr. sherry-finished 1990, bottled in 1993, @ 52.4% abv. 1799 bottles produced.

Whatever all that means...

These four are easily my favorites with Macallan along for the ride. I have in stock Auchentoshan 3 different years, Balvenie, at least 6 different years, and Springbank with is a killer good single malt.

JM and I tried two bottles of Four Roses last year at Bergs which JM recommended in a thread at CT. It was a very smooth Bourboun and definitely worth trying.
 
These four are easily my favorites with Macallan along for the ride. I have in stock Auchentoshan 3 different years, Balvenie, at least 6 different years, and Springbank with is a killer good single malt.

All good choices. Auchentoshan is triple distilled, like Irish whiskies, so it's a very interesting Scotch for comparison purposes. And they make a "Triple Wood" expression that has a very complex taste.

There are so many Balvenies that you could probably drink nothing else and still be well satisfied. The Doublewood is one of the great all-rounders, as well as an excellent introductory Scotch. The 21-yr. Port finished bottling is top-notch. And the Balvenie Islay Cask at 17 yrs. is flat out superb, IMO.

Macallan is one of the all-time greats. It's not an accident that Michael Jackson gave the it a perfect rating in every one of his Scotch whisky books. It was a disaster when they ran out of old stock about 20 years ago, and doubled the prices of the 12 and 18 yr. bottlings overnight, but they're still worth it. Coincidentally, our wedding dinner Scotch was Macallan 30-yr. There's still a little left...8)

One of the best points about living in Sarasota is that our favorite downtown outdoor restaurant and live music venue pours three fingers of Macallan 12 into a large snifter for $10 a pop! :cool:

And if I had to choose my favorite all-round Scotch whiskies, the top choices would be Springbank 21 and 25 yr (the 30 is a bit tired), and Ardbeg 1974. If you like sherry-finished whisky, Springbank is the nuts. (And in their abbreviated off-season, they also produce Longrow, an outstanding throwback whisky.)

Time for a taste of ... Glen Scotia (aka Glen Scrotum) 17 yr. Mmmmmm....
 
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I've become a bit of a Scotch snob, but mainly because my wife is British, and every trip to visit her family I acquire another unusual (and usually unavailable in the US) whisky.

I favor the peaty, smoky drams, and my favorites (in no particular order):

Longrow CV (if you see this, buy it immediately)
Lagavulin 12 y.o. Cask Strength (the 16 is also excellent)
Talisker 18
Oban 14 and 18
Dailuaine
Rosebank
Highland Park 21

Now...off to have a little nip.
 

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