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Help me buy a whisky?

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I’ve just finished a delicious bottle of Scala – The Orcadian which Mrs. T gave me for my birthday which was about perfect – single malt with a touch of peat but didn’t leave residue on your tongue, its only problem was you always want a drop more. Anyway, I can’t have one as it’s all gone now. So, recommendations please. Quite interested in some of the new interesting ones if anyone has experience? I had a nice bottle of Welsh single malt my (Welsh) mum bought me. Norfolk whisky? But what’s your favourite tipple?

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Comments

  1. I’m never sure how to drink single malt whiskey.
    Do you drink it neat? Or maybe add some water to it ? Do you add an ice cube ?
    Would be interested to hear opinions on this.

    • They told us at the Talisker distillery that it’s best with a “drop” of water to open it up – and they really meant a drop, having pipettes there to administer.

      • What @Chrisf said – my late father in law a proud Scot would be turning in his grave if you added ice and would come back to haunt you if you added anything like Ginger ale.
        My favourite is a 12 year old Dalwhinnie. Smooth.

    • I’d suggest no ice, just add a little water to loosen it up – 50% water is a bit dilute for me, but whatever floats your boat…a character from one famous whisky company used to shock the tourists when he said you could Irn Bru in it for all he cared, as long as you kept buying the stuff…

    • The distillers generally recommend six drops of water in a pub measure, “to open it up”. At whisky festivals, they provide pipettes for the precise drinkers.

      Depending on the ferocity of the Whisky, some drams benefit from more water than that. And some people like it wetter, anyway.

      • Ahhh….Lagavulin, my current favourite….

        I tend to go for big, peaty island whiskies – so it’s the Islay southern trio plus Talisker – but an interesting one to try is Bowmore 15 year old – used to be marketed as Bowmore Darkest. Very impressive, certainly a big improvement on the standard Bowmore (not that there’s anything wrong with it…)

        • I’m also a peat-y man, but agree that some are a bit too much.
          I’ve just acquired a G&M independent bottling of 10yo Bunnahabhain, which is very nice indeed, so far.
          I’d also recommend Caol Ila, as above. Reading below, I’ve also fairly recently had a Ledaig, which is also very nice indeed. I was also once bought a bottle of 21yo Springbank (a long while ago), which was a special occasion whisky, and Longrow is the peated version of Springbank; quite rare, I believe, and very easy on the tongue when I had one.
          I’ve also recently had a bottle of the peated edition of Cotswold whisky, which was a bit fiery to start but got much better, and just finished off a Ballechin, which is a fairly well peated version of Edradour, one of my fave highlands. Enough peat to taste, but not like Lagavulin peated. (To me , anyway)

          Looking back, this post makes me sound like a total alky… And a big fan of peated whiskies, which I am.

      • When I come to power, the peoples hauf will be a measure of Bruichladdich every day. On bank holidays (ONLY Scottish bank holidays though) you’ll get a wee Springbank.

        As an aside, the farmer who supplies the water for Bruichladdich is one James Brown. Godfather of Malt.

    • Partial to Laphroaig myself. Lot of people screw up their face to it but I quite enjoy that deep peaty goodness. It’s the Marmite of widely available malts.

      • I was ‘given’ a large 21 year old Caol Ila as a ‘one for the road’ drink after a special birthday meal at one of Edinburgh’s best restaurants. I was told later that it would have cost me £60 if I had had to pay for it.

        I assume that everyone has seen the film ‘The Angel’s Share’? If not, you need to watch it. Unknown Scottish actors, and it’s one of the funniest films I have ever seen. It’s about whisky obviously.

        Warning – if you don’t live in the west of Scotland, subtitles will probably be needed.

  6. Aside from the standard Macallan and Glenlivet that I always seem to have (usually picked up at airports), i currently have a Talkisker (from Skye, not very peaty), the above mentioned Bruicladdich (Islay) and a Japanese Yamazaki, which if you have never tried Japanese whiskies before are well worth trying – the 18yr is the best, but often hard to find, but the 12yr is still good.

    On the radar is the Sullivan’s Cove from Tasmania, although not been able to source yet.

    If you really enjoy single malt whisky, it’s worth joining the Scottish Malt Whisky Society – they take casks direct from the distillery and bottle them as single cask, single malts (at cask strength which is usually nearer 60% than 50%). They can’t state what distillery it is, so there is a code – which are all easily available online……

    https://www.smws.com/

  7. On reflection, Twang, if you enjoyed the Scapa then maybe try Highland Park, the other Orkney whisky? Prize winning, very highly thought of…an easy drink and an interesting “compare & contrast” exercise with the Scapa…

  8. I’ll take pretty much anything me, though I have a permanent soft spot for Ardbeg 10-yr-old. But I’ve made a couple of discoveries recently.

    First, Ledaig 10-yr-old. This was a new one on me when I came across it on special at my local Dan Murphy’s, and it’s a cracker. From the Tobermory distillery on Mull, it’s 46.3% ABV, which possibly accounts for its wallop – lovely, earthy and smoky, and described by Master of Malt as ‘brawny’, which seems about right. Promotes quiet reflection like nothing I’ve had for ages.

    The other one was a complete surprise, a gift from a friend, delivered by a cheery AusPost lady who appeared out of the night and said, ‘You’ll enjoy this.’ It’s the first Aussie (as opposed to Tassie) whisky I’ve tasted – Starward Solera, Starward being the distillery in Melbourne. This is much more delicate and fruity, matured in sherry barrels and hinting at damsons, blackcurrants and dried figs (allegedly). I’m not a particular fan of sweetish whisky, but this hits the spot beautifully. Not easy to get in Blighty I would imagine, and pleasingly (since it was a gift) expensive.

    I had one of each last night – the situation seemed to call for it.

  11. I had a whisky head (it’s a recognised medical condition) yesterday having had a slightly too large slug of Scapa myself.

    For a special drop, Oban is a class above.
    For a quaffing whisky, you might like Old Pulteney, just over the water from Scapa. Not demanding, but still tells you that you’re having a proper drink.

    • Ah, finally, someone mentions Old Pulteney, a splendid drop that is. Not quite up there with a 14 year old Oban (eyes the spirits cupboard, licks lips) but damn fine whisky all the same. Most northerly mainland distillery, IIRC.

  12. The cat knows the water of life: I’ve seen his stash!!! Ahead of reading, and I am guessing you aren’t a peat monster, I too would be suggesting Oban or Wick’s Old Pulteney. They have affordable end bottles in supermarkets. Of course there are newbies aplenty just coming into fruition, as decade new distilleries achieve the required maturation. I’m awaiting the ones from Raasay and Harris with interest, but I expect them (hope) they will be peaty. You can’t go wrong with the Macallan, leader of the Speyside legion. Glengoyne, I think the most southern Scottish lowland one, is interesting and very light, both in taste and colour.
    Me? I’ll have a large Laphroaig with a wee drappie watter, which I’ll add myself, thank you. The amount akin to vermouth in a martini, more a promise than a presence.

    • Oooh no, quite fond of Islay as well, more so than the better known Speysides, though my sideboard is light on them at the moment.

      The current stocktake reads :
      Scapa Highland Park (Dragon Legend) Old Pulteney regular Old Pulteney ‘Navigator’
      Ledaig Tobermory Oban
      Bruichladdich
      Deanston Aberfedly Tullibardine Fettercairn
      Speyburn Tamnavulin Ancnoc Glen Deveron
      Penderyn regular Penderyn ‘Legend’

      This is useful for telling me what I need in for Christmas for balance – a Campbeltown, another Islay and I’m very fond of a Tomintoul, if Booths are obliging.

  14. After years of swearing by Ardbeg’s spectacular peated single malts, my current favourites are from the Arran distillery (just across the water from where I live now). Their “basic” 10-year-old is delicious, with the elusive sweetness that’s present in all their expressions. The 14-year-old is even better (though oddly absent currently from their webshop, but can still find bottles in whisky shops). If you like smoky/peated whiskies, as I do, then Arran’s “Machrie Moor” is for me the best whisky I’ve tasted, especially the cask strength version. As for water, I usually go for about one-third to one-half water, depending on the ABV of the whisky. Strong enough to burn nicely, dilute enough to taste everything that’s going on.

  16. I buy a bottle of single malt every other week. I have done for many years. I used to have a nice collection in my cupboard because I had an upset stomach for a couple of years, which meant they weren’t being drank. They’ve nearly all gone now, though 6 or 7 are still there. There’s a Lagavulin, Glenfiddich and Penderyn(Welsh), which were all recent birthday presents. Ardbeg was a present too, and there’s an Ardmore and an Auchentoshan. The last two there are regulars in my cupboard because Tesco discounts them massively every so often. In fact, that’s how I choose my whisky these days. My Tesco has about 25 or so different single malts. Three or four of them are discounted every couple of weeks, so I always choose from one of these. I am not paying £50 for a bottle when I can get a very pleasant one for £18-£25. Glad to accept the expensive ones as presents still.

    Ice is just frozen water, so if you like it like that, then good for you. There is a whisky that they tell you to keep in the fridge, as it improves the taste. Marketing bollocks of course, but if that’s the way you like it, then go for it. When I was younger, I used to drink it on the rocks, but as I got older, I couldn’t handle it. Pished far too quickly, and massive hangovers. These days I measure out my whisky and my water. 50ml whisky and 50ml water. I can handle it much better watered down like that. That’s 40% stuff. The 43% and 46% stuff gets 75ml water.

    Never came across one I didn’t like, but I did struggle with Bowmore for a while. A month or so back, I finished off a Ledaig that I’d had for well over 10 years. They don’t make that one any more, so the prices are stupid, and I won’t be buying it again. That was probably my favourite.

    • @bigsteviecook see above! Glad to find a fellow Ledaig enthusiast…I pay $90 for the 10-yr-old here in Oz, which is about 50 notes at the moment. A bit steep, but I think it’s worth it – like you, I get through a bottle every 2 weeks or so. I think I’m worth it too.

  17. I used to love a Lagavulin, but I’ve found that it’s gone a wee bit too peaty; it’s verging on TCP at times. It’s also nearly doubled in price in the last 10 years! If I find one under the Christmas tree this year, however, I probably won’t complain vociferously.

    I went to a wedding last year and bought two double Lagavulins; my mate asked for some cola with his…after that, I happily informed him I was sleeping with his wife and mother – generally at the same time.

    For a more affordable, but still peaty, drop, I favour a Laphroaig: crisp, but still earthy.

  18. I like Irish whiskey. Can anyone of you describe what Scots whiskies might be close in taste to a Jameson’s? And why do some distilleries produce pearted and non-peated versions? Dropping in a handy link to a useful resource to save your typing fingers would also be welcome 🙂

      • These days, the only one freely available seems to be Auchentoshan (currently discounted in your local Tesco…) – the article in the link seems to suggest some more coming to market soon? Might have misread…

      • Love a Jameson’s but for reasons I no longer understand I always drink it at the French bolt hole (or Paddy’s ) but a drop of the Dew is fine. I must get a bottle in as companion to whatever I pick from this splendid thread. Lots of great ideas and some of my favourites evidently shared here so this weekend I shall be doing some short listing then pay a trip to the Trose as they have given me a batch of £11 quid off shopping over £70 vouchers which I think I can manage by simply buying more red wine until I hit the magic number.

        • One of my associates is a whiz at ‘playing’ those grocery store threshold-based offers. On one occasion she needed to get over £50 to get £X off, and added a whisky that she had a separate voucher for (hence, even more £X off). The whisky voucher, though, wasn’t valid until a couple of days later… So, she got the £50+ deal by including the whisky (sans whisky voucher)… and then returned the whisky later, got a refund for it… and then returned two days later for the whisky when its specific voucher was valid. There may have been even more layers to it that that – but it was impressive.

  19. What I am about to recommend could be regarded as sacrilege, but I do mean it when I say that at this time of year, when supermarkets put out the good/expensive whiskies you could do a lot worse than the 25 year old single malt from Aldi, I still have some of last years left in the cupboard & to (sort of) paraphrase Crocodile Dundee (Paul Hogan), himself, “it’s like a Scottish angel crying on your tongue”

    IIRC they bang it out for £40.

  20. I can’t say I’m particularly well travelled when it comes to exploring whisky but that in part is due to having stumbled across the Benromach distillery about seven years ago when on holiday up there and having drunk little else on the whisky front ever since. If you’re after a single malt with a touch of peat you can’t go far wrong.

    It’s a Speyside distillery but they describe themselves as ‘old school’ Speyside insofar as their whiskies are far more complex than Glenfiddich and other mass produced Speysides. The barley is malted with a little peat smoke and they only produce relatively small amounts which is why you won’t see it in the supermarkets.

    When I went on the tour of the distillery, they pointed to the barrel with the one millionth litre they had produced since the distillery had reopened and said it had taken them 8 years to produce that much. They then compared that to the million litres a month that Glenfiddich produce.

    Their 10 year old is their best seller and a steal at around £30-35. They also now do a 15 year old which spends a bit of time in sherry casks and is complex and smooth at the same time. Again, a bargain at around £50 and a beautiful drink.

    Well worth seeking out.

      • Come to think of it, Glenfiddich has definitely got worse over the last decade or so…I’m sure it used to taste better than it does now, don’t think it’s just faulty memory…

        • I have a lot of affection for Glenfiddich as my Dad liked it and I’d grind up the M6 in the rain for hours and finally arrive in Cheadle and we’d have a couple of large ones together before bed. He wasn’t a big drinker but knew what he liked. I’d give main body parts to be able to do that one more time.

          • @Twang – No better reason to have one than to think of your dad and remember those drinks together – I’m sure the reason I always have Glenfiddich in the house is that it was what my dad used to drink and thus was the first whisky I ever had with him. It wouldn’t be my first choice these days, but a taste of Glenfiddich can transport me back home like nothing else…

  21. I love whisky and my left field recommendation is Nikka Coffee. I love it, Japanese ya know!

    On the water / ice thing, I sometimes keep whisky in a fridge, especially in the summer. I love the way the taste changes as it warms up and I would much rather have it too cold than too warm. Yeah OK, sue me!

  23. Has anyone tried Black Bottle recently? I’ve not had it for a few years but I remember it as being a real pleasure for a blended whisky and great value for money. But online reviews now seem to suggest that it’s a new blend and a shadow of its former self.

    • My bruv gave me a bottle for my birthday two years back, and I initially thought he was being a tad abstemious, seeing as how I found it was less than 20 sovs a bottle. However, once I’d cracked the seal and tried the stuff I realised he was in fact tipping me off to a fine dram for a very fair price. Excellent stuff, miles better than the Grouse I keep in stock so that the wife can lay the f*ck off any of my malts when she glugs Ginger Wine into her tipple. I bought several more bottles after that, but haven’t tried any this year. I’d be heartily disappointed if it has been messed about with to it’s own detrement; maybe I’ll venture a bottle for the Crimble bloatfest and see what I think.

  25. Surprised El Hombre hasn’t dropped in to give us the benefit of his whisky wisdom.
    Come to think of it, he’s late with November’s Blogger Takeover thread too.

  26. I’m most of the way through a Highland Park ‘Dragon Legacy’ at the moment. I’ve visited HP twice (on Orkney) – and a load of other distilleries! They’re all the same (i.e. the distilleries) really, but I still enjoy visiting now and again… Mrs H bought me an extraordinary blended whisky recently – Chivas Regal. To me, it tasted like a malt – and had the unusual (for me) distinctive of being really good to savour – one decent double with a tiny splash of water (I prefer an ice cube, but only get these in pubs) was enough, I found. Whereas with Glenfiddich, Jura, Glenmorangie, HP, et al. I’m usually drawn to having a second. Don’t know if that is useful to you, Twang. I’d say if Chivas Regal was on offer round your way, give it a punt.

    • I had a significant birthday a couple of years ago and some wonderful person gave me a bottle of Chivas. There’s a major problem with it though. Every time I got the bottle out, significant amounts seemed to have evaporated. Bad cork or something. Before I knew what was what it was gone.

  27. One of my oldest friends is a bit of a whisky connoisseur- his tastes have certainly improved since when we used to get pissed on pints of Tetley when we were in the 6th form. For my 60th three years ago he bought me a bottle of Edradour 12 year old natural cask strength. It was utterly gorgeous – smooth, and subtle – and I spun it out til a few months ago. At nearly 60% (and a hefty price tag too) it’s certainly to be taken in small doses.

  28. Not greatly experienced with the malts but Talisker, Lagavulin and Highland Park all get my seal of approval. The couple of Jura malt bottles I’ve had were OK, but a bit ordinary. Laphroaig was much too peaty for my taste.
    I have unopened bottles of Lagavulin and Bunnahabhain. Not tasted Bunnahabhain before but my curiosity has been whetted by this thread. Maybe tomorrow night.

    • I did experience one Bunnahabhain which tasted to me as if it had been filtered through shredded discarded bicycle inner tubes – not an obvious one for your tasting notes – but the distillery has since redeemed itself.

      • Funny you should say that while I’m reading the latest Whisky mag. One of the tasters of a Glen Moray has this to say: “A big rubbery note to start, like a bicycle inner tube, easing into polished mahogany, worn leather, walnut shells and dried fruit.” That’s quite a journey!

      • Me too really. Leaves a fur on your tongue which demands a pint of cold Aspels Premier Cru cider to clear it, and let’s face it, that way lies ruin.

  30. I have bottle of Octomore, a present from my son, following us both reading about it and buying a dram each on a night out. As the peatiest of the peatiest, despite the crazybad price, we just had to try it. As then the chef of a trendy Shoreditch smokehouse, he engineered for it then to be available on their drinks list. When he and the owner closed it down, a year or two back, pre-Covid, lo an behold, he liberated a bottle for my stocking. Glorious oily unguent, I dare less than one sip a month.

  31. Hi gang – sorry for being late to the thread, been a busy month!

    I like the young Islay Malts best of all – the Laphroaig 10 year old is a perennial favourite.

    Bruichladdich have a very wide range of special editions – generally worth a punt

    A recent favourite from Master of Malt :

    https://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/seaweed-and-aeons-and-digging-and-fire/seaweed-and-aeons-and-digging-and-fire-10-year-old-whisky/?srh=1

    I generally take whisky with a tiny wee splash of water. I worked in control systems for the whisky industry for a few years, and the Master Distillers recommend a tiny splash in a pub measure – just enough to open it up. I occasionally enjoy a Cask Strength whisky, and I have found that they need a bit more water to open it up.

    I am not such a big Speyside fan but everything that I have tried from Tomatin has been very good.

    Tesco currently have excellent deals for Clubcard Members with (as an example) Talisker Skye , a smoky beauty, for £25

    Smokehead is also well worth a look – their sherried edition was great – Sherry Bomb!

    • I can confirm the Seaweed, aeons etc is a decent bottle, and, given the (relative) cheapness i am getting another, as I had that Twang evaporation problem with the first bottle.Must be loads of blimmin’ angels in my house……
      That Masters gof Malt have sussed me and turn up every other post on my fb page, between the firms selling T shirts with pictures of Our Wullie and the Broons. fb clearly see me as a cliche.
      Good name and a nice label.

  32. As an aside, I did a tour of the Bushmills distillery a while back (Ireland’s oldest) and did an extensive tasting. For me, the 10-year-old was the standout – more so than the 12, etc. The difference seemed to be the casks it was stored in for a while – which were different from all the other vintages (can’t recall if it was sherry or bourbon casks, though).

  33. It strikes me the world of whisky mocks music, ridiculing the paucity of out takes and remixes available, with their sherry, port, bourbon barrel iterations, with pipes, whatever they are, if you are over barrelled, let alone smart alecs doing beer and wine soakings, different ageing and dilutions. All costing way more than super deluxe bollocks box sets of Gnidrolog albums.

    • Of course it does. All the best stuff just comes straight out. The rest is just leftovers…….let’s call it seaweed/aeons or somesuch. It’s ok to like that too. I like the best stuff, and a little of the other, provided it don’t cost too much.

    • Some truth in that.

      But some of the ‘special’ stuff is really very, very, er, special.

      After sampling one of the Laphroaig Càirdeas bottlings some time ago, over subsequent years I’ve occasionally been tempted into grabbing a bottle each year when they are made available. I think I have about seven of them now.

      Last year I idly browsed the auction sites to find out how much they cost these days – turns out the few I have are collectively worth well north of a grand. Obviously, with this in mind, one confronts the same dilemma as the owner of a rare boxed set of Gnodrilog, er, Gindrogol, er, Franz Zappa bootlegs; if you open the thing up and actually enjoy the contents, you diminish it’s financial value considerably.

      Bollocks to that. I reserve the stuff for high days and holidays and wallow in its fabulousness on each indulgence.

  34. We’ve nearly got this vote, I mean, thread over the line. Imagine the glories of a whisky hamper.
    In preparation for the final push, I think we should consider the balance of content. Personally, I think this representative hamper should be limited to Scottish malts – sorry Penderyn. Whaddayareckon? Let’s say it includes 12 bottles. 2 Islay, 2 from Mull and Skye, 2 Speyside, 2 Lowland, 2 Highland, 2 Orkney. Hmmm, need space for a Campbeltown, so make that just 1 Lowland.

    • Bollocks to that, how’s about 1 each of Bowmore, Ardbeg, Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Kilchoman, Bunnahabhain, Bruichladdich, Caol Ila, Port Ellen, Port Charlotte, (both the last two closed but available), Ardnahoe (I had never heard of that till now, opened last year) and, a five minute ferry away, Jura.

      • I was a fan of Jura when they launched, but a few years ago they had a relaunch, and – as they described it at the Glasgow Whisky Festival – “consolidated the brand, because we used to be all over the place”. Sadly, I don’t like their new direction.

        Maybe we could add a Smokehead Sherry Bomb instead?

        • I’m not much of a whisky drinker but I have enjoyed Jura in the past. When they started launching new expressions with daft spooky names the first place I saw one was Stansted airport. I made some small talk about it with the chap behind the till and he said, ‘I don’t know if it’s too early for you sir, but I could range a little tasting?’ It was a kind offer, but I declined because I don’t regard half past six in the morning as whisky time.

          • They’ve all got daft names now, and stupidly shaped bottles…Penderyn?? I could probably blow it over. Does anything now come in just a bottle shaped bottle? You know what I mean.
            20 different finishes is unnecessary too. We know most of them can’t access old sherry casks anymore, and that bourbon casks are a 10th of the price, but do we need Madeira finish, or aged in French cognac oak, with exorbitant prices to match.
            I’m sticking to bog standard single malts, and if my family are daft enough to spend £100 on something that comes with a couple of commemorative glasses for my birthday or Xmas , then more fool them.

            Lang may yer lum reek!

    • Now that’s a challenge and off the top of my head (and I will undoubtably change my mind later)…..

      Islay – Bruichladdich, Laphroig (balance of non peaty and peaty)
      Mull / Skye – Talisker, Ledaig
      Speyside – I’ll go with the obvious choices of GlenlIvet and Macallan
      Lowland – I’ll have to get back to you on that – can’t think of any off the top of my head.
      Highland – Highland Park and either Singleton or Glendronach – let’s go Singleton.
      Campbeltown – Springbank

      • Whilst I like the idea of off (the top of) my head in association with whisky, as it feels I have then lost the top of my head in the morning, I avoid the risk. In moderation, children, Dr Dram knows best.

      • Can’t think of a Lowland Chrisf? £1600 for a Rosebank! Doesn’t matter if you can or can’t afford it…..as it’s out of stock. Rosebank has a great story. Shut down and mothballed in the early ’90s, theives broke in and stole the stills and mashtun 15 years later. It’s up and running again, but it’ll be a while before it makes affordable stuff.
        https://www.rosebank.com/

        This one is brand new, and hasn’t produced anything for sale yet. I drive past it every day, and have watched it growing over the last 10 years (yes, 10 years! A brick a day it seems like). I hope to get a bottle some day.
        https://falkirkdistillery.com/index.php

          • But surely that defeats the whole purpose of his thread – asks what whisky to buy and then gets a whole damn hamper full of them.

            Perhaps I should start a thread on floorstanding speakers (do they fit in a hamper ?)

        • My ex partner was from Falkirk so I bought some Rosebank once. It was bloody awful I recollect.
          May look for the Falkirk one.
          Visited the Annandale distillery a few years back in October, but its whisky wasn’t going to be ready until that December so I don’t know how that tastes as I’ve not been able to return.

              • Perfect! Steely Dan and Falkirk linked in the same sentence. Hubes is talking about the village of California in Falkirk region.

                There was a distilery in Linlithgow too, which has long closed. Can’t remember the name offhand, but I bet their bottles fetch a pretty penny.

                I was given a bottle of Rosebank(in a wooden box) as a wedding gift(1990). Can’t remember anything about it.

                St. Magdalene was the Linlithgow distillery.

  35. What started me off on exploring whisky was Iain Banks’ travelogue, Raw Spirit. As much fun as the book was, are the outraged comments from readers wanting a properly annotated guide – it’s a chaotic ramble – I had to make my own index to the pages where he waxes lyrical about the drams he loves – fortunately he helpfully leaves several blank pages at the back of the book. My favorite of his books.

    • Some time in the 90s, me & Mrs Jim went to to an Iain Banks signing & Q&A at a London bookshop.
      I asked him if it was true about Whisky getting it’s colour from caramel (as alleged by a character in ‘Complicity’ I think) – he appeared secretly delighted to get onto the topic & away from fielding the slightly nerdy/inquisitorial questions of the SF wing of the fan club, & extrapolated at length. We were treated to a nice tangential holding forth on the fire water, before he was steered back to plugging the books.
      I can’t remember the answer to original question for the life of me…

  36. Inspired by this thread I thought I’d get in a bottle whilst doing the Saturday shop in Sainsbury’s today. And goodness me, if they don’t have Laphroig on offer at £22. Considered my duty to buy one.

  39. This is a wonderful thread. I have been shopping and bought a Jura 10 yo and a Bunnahabhain 12 to which I have now sampled (obviously). Reminded by @vuloes-vulpes I also ordered a Tullamore Dew off Dodgers on sale at 16 quid which it’s rude not to. I shall be rereading the posts to identify a nice Highland, Lowland and Speyside to complete the immediate collection. Any kind souls wishing to save me the effort, sigh heavily, go “tsk” and remind me below. 🥃

    Good starter for 10 from ChrisF

    Islay – Bruichladdich, Laphroig (balance of non peaty and peaty)
    Mull / Skye – Talisker, Ledaig
    Speyside – I’ll go with the obvious choices of GlenlIvet and Macallan
    Lowland – I’ll have to get back to you on that – can’t think of any off the top of my head.
    Highland – Highland Park and either Singleton or Glendronach – let’s go Singleton.
    Campbeltown – Springbank

    And the Cat

    Lowland whisky? Tullibardine or Fettercairn would be the contenders; Auchentoshan is everywhere nowadays.

  41. Another vote for Oban here. I usually get a bottle of the distillers edition this time of year. Haven’t been able to find it here in Ireland yet.

    While we’re at it, I’m trying to like Irish Whiskey but it just isn’t happening. Any advice would be deeply appreciated.

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