Training Wheels Whiskey

[Murph]

After drinking single malt Scotch, and Irish Whiskeys for a while, I now refer to bourbon whiskey as "Training Wheels Whiskey", since, to me at least, bourbon is just too sweet in finish.

[Archie Pellagio]

As a long time scotch, irish and rye whisky drinker I've gotten into bourbon a lot in the last year.

I find gentleman jack to be a good balance between cheap and nasty and pleasant on the palate.

[Mr King]

I think it is one of those things that is really hard to nail down because it is so subjective.

[Rick]

I'm pretty sure the last whiskey I had was in 1980--Jack Daniels Green Label.

[chino]

I am not much of a whiskey drinker and have never quite got used to the taste of single malts. But I recently discovered Macallan 12 years. In that same bar there are also 18 years. Gorgeous.

 

There's a Whiskey Bar in Macau with a collection of vintage whiskey worth several million USD. Some dating back to 1939. The rare botlles go even further back.

 

But disturbingly, Macallan has stopped putting the age of the whiskey in their bottles. So you can no longer find bottles labeled 12 or 18 years etc. I wonder why...?

 

When I lived in Shanghai, I discovered Japanese Whiskey. There are many Jap Whiskey bars in Shanghai. My favourite is Yamazaki 12 years. 18 years is a little too strong (and of course pricey). Japanese Whiskey is very aromatic and they serve it in a tumbler with a single large ball of round icel

 

 

"This weeks product profile features one of our favourite single malts… Not your typical single malt the Yamazaki 12YO hails from the land of the rising sun… Japan.
With a warm amber colour it has delicous sweet vanilla and fruity notes with full bodied sweetness and rich flavour.

Serving suggestions: Neat or on the rocks with one of our hand carved ice cubes"

[DB]

In the UK at least The Macallan website lists their "Sherry Oak" Collection as 12, 18, 25 and 30 years.

 

They do seem to have gone a bit, well, trendy, with limited edition series of all sorts. I'm not entirely certain that producing more styles improves quality.

[JasonJ]

I don't drink much and when I do, it's just beer, but I'm a bit interested in trying some various types of drinks. I've had some shots of something that I don't even know what it was in Austin 6th street on a couple of occasions. Also have tried red wine and it didn't agree with me.

 

Chino, the Yamazaki 12YO sounds like a good starter that I'll have to try someday.

[Murph]

Japanese Whiskey is very much Scotch like, and as a rule the better brands are pretty darn good.

[Mike Steele]

You do know that really good scotch requires good bourbon barrels? So without bourbon you have no scotch.

[Guest Jason L]

Macallan is only replacing it's core age group of 10, 12, 15 with no age statement.

 

They trialed no age statement stuff a few years ago and it started outstripping sales of age statement stuff, so the market is obviously very favorable to the change. Other distilleries (Ardbeg, etc) have also been hugely commercially successful with no age statement stuff. The Ardbeg has been profesionally well received as well.

 

The obvious reasoning is that composition, processing and blending make a far greater difference to the bouquet/taste than a mere 5 years gap in aging - they also claim, as do other distilleries, that color is a better indicator of product than age. The price-value curve being defined by age has always been suspect anyway, especially for core age ranges.

 

Practically speaking it may just be a logistic issue - Scotch demand is rising, and distilleries probably cannot maintain supply of good aged casks to sustain a well stratified core age range.

 

I've always been disappointed by the Japanese Whiskeys, their price point around here puts them in serious competition with what is arguably higher-tier Scottish stuff. I've really been enjoying the Balvenie Rum cask aged stuff though.

[chino]

Japanese Whiskey is very much Scotch like, and as a rule the better brands are pretty darn good.

The few Scottish single malt that I've tried I found quite unpalatable.

 

Blends like Chivas Regal (scot?) I found more agreeable.

 

(In short I am no whiskey drinker.) So Yamazaki fits in beautifully really is my "training wheel" whiskey.

 

My drinks of choice are usually wheat beer like Hoegaarden。

 

And sake - especially this one (name translates to Kubota in English. I used to know a cute Jap girl whose family name is the same:

Edited April 13, 2015 by chino

[chino]

Macallan is only replacing it's core age group of 10, 12, 15 with no age statement.

 

They trialed no age statement stuff a few years ago and it started outstripping sales of age statement stuff, so the market is obviously very favorable to the change. Other distilleries (Ardbeg, etc) have also been hugely commercially successful with no age statement stuff. The Ardbeg has been profesionally well received as well.

 

The obvious reasoning is that composition, processing and blending make a far greater difference to the bouquet/taste than a mere 5 years gap in aging - they also claim, as do other distilleries, that color is a better indicator of product than age. The price-value curve being defined by age has always been suspect anyway, especially for core age ranges.

 

Practically speaking it may just be a logistic issue - Scotch demand is rising, and distilleries probably cannot maintain supply of good aged casks to sustain a well stratified core age range.

 

I've always been disappointed by the Japanese Whiskeys, their price point around here puts them in serious competition with what is arguably higher-tier Scottish stuff. I've really been enjoying the Balvenie Rum cask aged stuff though.

Does that mean that every bottle of Macallan contain at least 10yo whiskey?

[DB]

You'd have to read the blurb, and as Jason mentioned, they are moving to change the judgement of quality away from being simply a number to being something more complex. It makes sense.

 

Scotch single malts fall broadly into two categories (a simplification, but it's a good start). The two categories are nominally "Highland" and "Island". these have quite distinct flavour differences. Highland malts taste rather more like the blends to my palate, island malts are often described as "peaty" though I don't know anyone who has sucked peat enough to tell for sure

 

Of the more common (aka cheaper) single malts, Glenfiddich is a Highland type, Glenmorangie and Lagavulin are Island types.

 

technically, Scotch Whisky is made in oak barrels. Mike's comment notwithstanding, there is no prescription on the nature of the rotgut stored in the barrels before it is purified by having the privilege to be used for maturing Scotch

 

(The Macallan I mentioned before is described as "sherry oak", which may suggest the source of their barrels, and it's quite a long way to the east of the home(s) of bourbon.)

[EchoFiveMike]

Don't be a pussy, jump right in with Laphroaig. S/F....Ken M

[Murph]

LOL. I converted one of the Scotch drinkers at work from glenlivet to Laphroiag.

 

 

Don't be a pussy, jump right in with Laphroaig. S/F....Ken M

[Archie Pellagio]

Laphroaig: Liquid barbeque for vegetarians...

[sunday]

I reckon that I've got a weird fondness for the wooden-railway-sleeper-in-a-hot-day taste of Islay malt...

[Corinthian]

And sake - especially this one (name translates to Kubota in English. I used to know a cute Jap girl whose family name is the same:

 

 

 

I know one too (not personally know)! A cute/gorgeous Filipina-Japanese with that surname.Here's Exhibit A. Possibly NSFW.

[Mr King]

 

And sake - especially this one (name translates to Kubota in English. I used to know a cute Jap girl whose family name is the same:

 

 

 

I know one too (not personally know)! A cute/gorgeous Filipina-Japanese with that surname.Here's Exhibit A. Possibly NSFW.

 

 

 

All the Kubota's I know are bright orange tractors. Yours looks a lot more fun to take for a spin.

[Guest Jason L]

 

Macallan is only replacing it's core age group of 10, 12, 15 with no age statement.

 

They trialed no age statement stuff a few years ago and it started outstripping sales of age statement stuff, so the market is obviously very favorable to the change. Other distilleries (Ardbeg, etc) have also been hugely commercially successful with no age statement stuff. The Ardbeg has been profesionally well received as well.

 

The obvious reasoning is that composition, processing and blending make a far greater difference to the bouquet/taste than a mere 5 years gap in aging - they also claim, as do other distilleries, that color is a better indicator of product than age. The price-value curve being defined by age has always been suspect anyway, especially for core age ranges.

 

Practically speaking it may just be a logistic issue - Scotch demand is rising, and distilleries probably cannot maintain supply of good aged casks to sustain a well stratified core age range.

 

I've always been disappointed by the Japanese Whiskeys, their price point around here puts them in serious competition with what is arguably higher-tier Scottish stuff. I've really been enjoying the Balvenie Rum cask aged stuff though.

Does that mean that every bottle of Macallan contain at least 10yo whiskey?

 

 

No, 3 yr min. That isn't to say they impose an age on their own but you'll never know.

[Brian Kennedy]

Don't be a pussy, jump right in with Laphroaig. S/F....Ken M

Love Laphroaig except I can still taste it for like days after.

[Corinthian]

 

 

And sake - especially this one (name translates to Kubota in English. I used to know a cute Jap girl whose family name is the same:

 

 

 

I know one too (not personally know)! A cute/gorgeous Filipina-Japanese with that surname.Here's Exhibit A. Possibly NSFW.

 

 

 

All the Kubota's I know are bright orange tractors. Yours looks a lot more fun to take for a spin.

 

 

Better headlights, too!

[sunday]

 

Don't be a pussy, jump right in with Laphroaig. S/F....Ken M

Love Laphroaig except I can still taste it for like days after.

 

 

Now I recall of another bourbon with memorable taste. It has even a song.

 

Lyrics very, very NSFW

 

https://youtu.be/2bqx2wIQtKo

[shootER5]

I have to agree with Murph's "training whiskey" assessment.

"When I was a child, I drank as a child..."

I'm a huge fan of The Macallan, especially the 18. Pure awesomeness in a bottle.

As I get older, though, I find myself drinking more and more good tequila and less whisky.

Edited April 21, 2015 by shootER5

[Murph]

Tequila, I love tequila (or Ter Kill Ya as some call it), but it does not love me back.....