It's time to talk Whisky

I will spell it WHISKY and I prefer mine to be a single malt.

Currently I am relieving two bottles from their contents, Dalmor and Aberlour, but I thoroughly enjoy a bit of Oban.

Over ice, please, with just a splash of water.
 
Single malt from the highlands, the lowlands. speyside, the isles, any where from Scotland. Found a wonderful Irish, Connomara, pot made peated Irish! What can I say?
 
fdigital said:
JACK DANIELS!
Just kidding.
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I'm not. Jack Daniels is exceptional. Often mistaken for Bourbon, it is a Tennessee 'sour mash' whiskey, which differs primarily from Bourbon by being filtered through maple charcoal - not to mention that Bourbon must be made in Bourbon county, Kentucky to be so-called, regardless of how it is made.

I find this interesting, because it ties in to some of my experiences with photography.

One always thinks that the most expensive things are therefore the best. One strives to gain an appreciation of the finest things, and relies upon the advice given by others.

My friends of cultivated taste encouraged me to take the time to learn to appreciate fine single-malt Scotch whisky, and to train my palette along the way. I bought the books and the magazines to teach myself about the differences in the single malts from the highlands versus the single malts from the lowlands, the islays, the campbelltowns. I bought and tasted dozens of bottles of the most highly-renowned single-malts I could find. I cleansed my palette, I optimized my tasting environment, I sought isolation to think about what I was tasting. You'd have thought I was trying to learn Latin.

I tried. I tried as I have seldom tried to learn to like things that I otherwise found distasteful upon first encounter. After years spent in company and alone with a bottle and contemplation, I have come to one conclusion.

Single-malt Scotch whiskies taste like crap. Despite their many differences, they uniformly taste like fire mixed with lighter fluid and they cause my gorge to rise in self-defense. I don't have a strong 'gag' reflex, but Scotch brings it out in me.

Blended Scotch is only slightly better, the best of them being somewhat like having my tongue staple-gunned to the south end of a north-bound cat.

Canadian whiskey, the less said about that, the better. They should stick to brewing beer, which they do phenomenally well.

I like Bourbon. And I love Jack Daniels.

Plebian taste? Perhaps. But it was arrived at by careful consideration over the years, and I intentionally did NOT want to come to this conclusion, as I was lost in the quagmire of 'being one' with the 'smart people' the 'cool people,' the people of taste and culture. I knew Jack Daniels was 'low brow' and 'frowned upon' by people of taste and culture.

Ironically, I have found the same to be true of my photography, regarding the tools I use. The only thing I have that says "Leica" on it is an old Hektor 135 in LTM. I prefer Cosina Voigtlander and old Canon LTM lenses. I use multiple fixed-lens rangefinders of no particular pedigree, because I have found through experimentation that they work well. I have yet to find a removable lens capable of out-resolving a Yashica Lynx 1.4 when used with a lens hood.

I listen to other's opinions, and then I try to find out if it works for me. I tried very hard to learn to like single-malt Scotch and failed. I now realize that the stuff just isn't for me.

About the only thing in my life that I enjoy that is 'upscale' is my coffee, about which I am admittedly a snob.

Other than that, give me a Bessa R with a Canon 50mm f/1.4, a bratwurst on the cheap charcoal grill, and a Jack-n-Coke on a hot summer day, and I'm straight.

Ya'll can take your glen-tulla-wulla-morangie-dipsydoodle and drink it in good health. Me and Jack are fine right here on the porch.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm heading north today, to take some photos of an Indian Pow Wow. I'm shooting .... digital. Sorry.
 
My father didn't drink but he had a basement full of liquor which business associates gave him at Christmas, etc, since the 1950's. He would just take the unopened bottles of Scotch, Benedictine, wine, etc and store them in his cool basement. Since he had lots of business friends, he had hundreds, maybe thousands of bottles. He was a packrat.

In 1997, I went to his house and found an old unopened bottle of Laphroaig bottled in 1956.

I always liked the Islay "peaty" styles, and had sampled most of them. Laphroaig was one of my favorites at that time.

After a short delay, thinking I might leave it unopened, I opened the 1956 Laphroaig and tasted it.

I was astonished. It was superb. Like NOTHING I had ever tasted. The "new" Laphroaigs I had tasted, bottled in the 1980's or 1990's, even the 15 year old ones, tasted NOTHING like this bottle of 1956 Laphroaig.

The newer ones tasted like a cruel imitiation of the real thing, a sissified simulacrum of what it should taste like.

I don't know if sitting in the bottle made it better, but I doubt it.

I think the older way it was made must have been far superior or some change must have occured with the peat, the water, the technique.

I have no idea.

But the dishwater they sell now is not even close to that transcendent bottle from 1956.

Every time I visit, I still find something interesting.
 
bmattock said:
Single-malt Scotch whiskies taste like crap.
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Ah ... why being provocative????? Did someone say Bourbons are crap?

bmattock said:
I like Bourbon. And I love Jack Daniels.
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Fine.

bmattock said:
Plebian taste? Perhaps.
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Ah again and again and again: the snob vs the humble; the pratician vs the plebeian; the people of taste and culture vs the ignorant ... I'm tired of that ... aren't you????

bmattock said:
Ironically, I have found the same to be true of my photography, regarding the tools I use. The only thing I have that says "Leica" on it is an old Hektor 135 in LTM. I prefer Cosina Voigtlander and old Canon LTM lenses.
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Yep, J9 better than the fat Elmarit; J3 better than the Summilux asph ... etc. Old story, boring story.
 
Marc-A. said:
That's very interesting. Thanks. I have another experience though; I started to drink neat whisky after my first visit to Scotland and followed the advice of guys met in pubs in Oban ... Besides, I guess I drink whisky like french liqueurs: Armagnac, Calvados, or Vieille Prune de Souillac (the best!); you have to drink those liqueurs neat.
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Depends on the whisky, and personal taste, but many whiskies are improved with a splash of spring water, to cut some of the fieryness and bring out some additional flavours. There are some I drink neat, and others I prefer with a little water. It's always worth experimenting :)

Ian
 
Marc-A. said:
Ah ... why being provocative????? Did someone say Bourbons are crap?



Fine.



Ah again and again and again: the snob vs the humble; the pratician vs the plebeian; the people of taste and culture vs the ignorant ... I'm tired of that ... aren't you????



Yep, J9 better than the fat Elmarit; J3 better than the Summilux asph ... etc. Old story, boring story.
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Marc don't take things so seriously. The man was just stating his opinion, which we all have the right to do, and I myself didn't find it boring, but quite interresting. As far as the topic about whiskeys go I no longer drink but when I did The smoothness of a shot of Wild Turkey can't be beat. Jack & coke runs a close second.
 
My uncle always ordered Jack Daniels. He ordered one day, took a sip and called the waiter over and told him it was NOT Jack Daniels. the waiter insisted, my uncle told him to call the bartender over. The bartender said he figured he could not tell the difference so he poured the house brand.

A guy at the next table asked my uncle if he REALLY could tell the difference? When he said yes the asked for his name and address.

A few months later my uncle received ownership in 1 square inch of the property where Jack Daniels is made. Each year he would get information regarding his TAX liability and profits for the year [they ALWAYS came out even :D]

Each year he also would have a package arrive. a big Jack Daniels mirror, various sets of jack daniels classes

Yeah Jack Daniels ain't that bad......
 
The Japanese are making some killer single malt these days. Yamazaki 18 year is an amazing single malt. Probably will be adding a bottle to my collection soon.
 
xtello said:
As a matter of fact, I think they call themselves "Scotts" rather than Scottish... (Is that true???)
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The Scots (one t) are Scottish. Likewise, the Scottish are Scots. They don't mind what you call them as long as you don't call them English :)

Ian
 
Scamper said:
The Japanese are making some killer single malt these days. Yamazaki 18 year is an amazing single malt. Probably will be adding a bottle to my collection soon.
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I drank a couple of very nice malts when I spent a month in Japan a couple of years ago. The good ones are very expensive in the UK though, priced with the best Scottish malts, which are always my first choice. But I should probably acquire a bottle at some point, the Japanese definitely have good taste in whisky.

Ian
 
gb hill said:
Marc don't take things so seriously. The man was just stating his opinion, which we all have the right to do, and I myself didn't find it boring, but quite interresting. As far as the topic about whiskeys go I no longer drink but when I did The smoothness of a shot of Wild Turkey can't be beat. Jack & coke runs a close second.
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Yes I found the bmaddox observations about scotch whiskeys to be right on the mark, at least for me. I tried mightily to enjoy scotch. I was always a bourbon man(since 15 or so..my dad liked Jack himself) but I tried to be more sophisticated. But no matter what, scotch whiskey always tasted like ****.

On another note, how many of us have been enjoying this thread that no longer drink? I noticed a few. Even though I stopped a few years ago, I still find myself reading threads like this, articles about wine and wine making, etc. Its funny how I can still appreciate the good things about the whole alcohol culture and still keep my on use in perspective.

Rex
 
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