Scotch or Bourbon?

[Elgarian]

So it's actually 16 men and one old lady? She should demand equal prominence on the label!

If they always counted them after a few drams, there would always tend to be mistakes - and even misidentifications!

McCheers.

[kishnevi]

The only distillery I've ever visited was the one just down the road from Balmoral (I don't remember the name at the moment--I do remember that at one point Queen Victoria paid them a quick visit and ever since they've been allowed to call one of their products "Royal").  Having done the standard distillery tour, we were treated to a "wee dram" as promised in the brochure (we were on a  Globus package tour*).  I'm not sure why they call it 'wee'--it was at least three or four shots that filled a medium sized glass--and remember wondering aloud what size a "non-wee" dram must be if a 'wee" dram was that big....

*This involved hitting as many of the big name tourist spots in Scotland and England as can be conveniently down in 11 days or so.  The first day we spent in London, the next we left London, stopped at Hampton Court (the maze was closed),  then Stonehenge, and ended up at Exeter for the night, then to Bath via Plymouth and Glastonbury, and so on for the rest of the tour....The pace of this always seems to astonish British folks when I describe it, although in US terms the distances are relatively small: the north south axis of my home state, Florida, is about equal to the distance between the southern coast of England and the northernmost tip of mainland Scotland.

[Elgarian]

The first day we spent in London, the next we left London, stopped at Hampton Court (the maze was closed),  then Stonehenge, and ended up at Exeter for the night, then to Bath via Plymouth and Glastonbury, and so on for the rest of the tour....The pace of this always seems to astonish British folks when I describe it, although in US terms the distances are relatively small: the north south axis of my home state, Florida, is about equal to the distance between the southern coast of England and the northernmost tip of mainland Scotland.

Perhaps it's not the pace of travelling in terms of distance that seems astonishing, Jeffrey, but the rapid succession of varieties of experience and the difficulty of taking them in. When I go to Bath, for instance, I need at least a couple of days to settle in, slow down, and soak up the multiple histories associated with the place; steep myself in tea in the Pump Room; linger in Abbey Green; wander around the Circus remembering Gainsborough had walked the same pavement. Maybe this slow osmosis is part of our national character!

But back to distilleries. I remember one trip to Scotland that was taken under a dark cloud. A lot had gone wrong during the preceding weeks; we were worn out; but we'd planned the trip and we went, even though we found ourselves driving around mentally, spiritually, and physically exhausted. None of the landscapes that usually wowed us were impinging on us at all, and we were thoroughly miserable.

In this mood we happened to drive past the Dalwhinnie distillery, and we wondered about stopping to visit, and neither of us could be bothered and we drove on. A mile down the road I said 'Stop! This is crazy. We've come hundreds of miles to be here - let's go and visit it anyway even though we know we're too tired to get anything from the experience.' So we did. And during the next hour everything changed. It was the turning point of the whole holiday. We bought a bottle of Dalwhinnie and one of their whisky glasses. The whisky isn't a very interesting one, really, and the glass not particularly attractive, but they rescued us from ourselves, and I've regarded them with gratitude ever since.

[Sergeant Rock]

The only distillery I've ever visited was the one just down the road from Balmoral (I don't remember the name at the moment--I do remember that at one point Queen Victoria paid them a quick visit and ever since they've been allowed to call one of their products "Royal").

The wee dram you had was Royal Lochnagar. A whisky I really loved but it hasn't been available in my locale in many, many years (I don't even know if the distillery is still operational). In his Malt Whisky Companion Michael Jackson rated it quite highly. Of the royal connection, Jackson says, "Queen Victoria is reputed to have enjoyed this malt, and to have used it to lace her claret, thereby ruining two of the world's greatest drinks."   

A bottle from my collection:






Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Perhaps it's not the pace of travelling in terms of distance that seems astonishing, Jeffrey, but the rapid succession of varieties of experience and the difficulty of taking them in.

If it's Tuesday, this must be Bath 

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

If it's Tuesday, this must be Bath 

Sarge

Better than: If it's Tuesday, take a bath . . . .

Perhaps it's not the pace of travelling in terms of distance that seems astonishing, Jeffrey, but the rapid succession of varieties of experience and the difficulty of taking them in. When I go to Bath, for instance, I need at least a couple of days to settle in, slow down, and soak up the multiple histories associated with the place; steep myself in tea in the Pump Room; linger in Abbey Green; wander around the Circus remembering Gainsborough had walked the same pavement. Maybe this slow osmosis is part of our national character!

But back to distilleries. I remember one trip to Scotland that was taken under a dark cloud. A lot had gone wrong during the preceding weeks; we were worn out; but we'd planned the trip and we went, even though we found ourselves driving around mentally, spiritually, and physically exhausted. None of the landscapes that usually wowed us were impinging on us at all, and we were thoroughly miserable.

In this mood we happened to drive past the Dalwhinnie distillery, and we wondered about stopping to visit, and neither of us could be bothered and we drove on. A mile down the road I said 'Stop! This is crazy. We've come hundreds of miles to be here - let's go and visit it anyway even though we know we're too tired to get anything from the experience.' So we did. And during the next hour everything changed. It was the turning point of the whole holiday. We bought a bottle of Dalwhinnie and one of their whisky glasses. The whisky isn't a very interesting one, really, and the glass not particularly attractive, but they rescued us from ourselves, and I've regarded them with gratitude ever since.

A lovely story, Alan.

[kishnevi]

The wee dram you had was Royal Lochnagar. A whisky I really loved but it hasn't been available in my locale in many, many years (I don't even know if the distillery is still operational). In his Malt Whisky Companion Michael Jackson rated it quite highly. Of the royal connection, Jackson says, "Queen Victoria is reputed to have enjoyed this malt, and to have used it to lace her claret, thereby ruining two of the world's greatest drinks."   

A bottle from my collection:






Sarge

Thanks!

It's still active and available, although Wikipedia's article says most of what it produces is used for Johnnie Walker's black and blue label blends.  But Google shows a price for the 12 yo  of $38US and $225US for the "select reserve".
The entry on Whiskeynet
http://www.scotchwhisky.net/distilleries/royal_lochnagar.htm

[bwv 1080]

IMO the best inexpensive bourbon around, plus its a cool bottle.  Used to be Keith Richards favorite and Billy Idol was drinking the stuff with the Stones when he got the inspiration for the song

[Elgarian]

I don't think anyone's mentioned my very favourite whisky yet: Aberlour A'Bunadh. The bog-standard Aberlour (a long way down my list) gives absolutely no hint of what this magnificent beast can offer. Each sip is not just a journey, but a journey through rich landscapes, lush and golden. It's a good deal more expensive than our usual affordable staples (Glenmorangie, Bowmore, Ardbeg - this last not so affordable these days); but oh boy. When visitors taste it for the first time, we can see them transformed into A'Bunadh-obsessives within seconds. It makes all our favourite malts seem like second-best, so we tend only to open the bottle on special occasions. And of course only closest family members and friends are ever told that we have some!

[Todd]

Mediocre Bourbon Alert

There's an ever expanding variety of small batch bourbon and ryes around these parts, and I decided to try one named after the shortest serving president.  It's an Indiana bourbon (yes, I know, that makes little sense), and it's just not very good.  It's lacking in sweetness compared to other bourbons, which is a plus, but it lacks spice, and it has a rough flavor, with a peculiar, almost charcoal-like aftertaste.  I believe they use new or at least newer casks to age the whiskey, so maybe that accounts for part of the flavor.  It didn't even work well in an Old Fashioned.  Maybe I got a bad batch, who knows, but this isn't on my buy-again list.

[Sergeant Rock]

I don't think anyone's mentioned my very favourite whisky yet: Aberlour A'Bunadh. The bog-standard Aberlour (a long way down my list) gives absolutely no hint of what this magnificent beast can offer.

I used to drink the "bog-standard" Aberlour quite a bit...and liked it. It was available for a decent price in France at the Cora supermarché. We haven't shopped there in recent years, though, and have not found a German distributor. I'd like to try the Aberlour A'Bunadh you recommend. Perhaps available online.

Sarge

[Scarpia]

Perhaps it's not the pace of travelling in terms of distance that seems astonishing, Jeffrey, but the rapid succession of varieties of experience and the difficulty of taking them in. When I go to Bath, for instance, I need at least a couple of days to settle in, slow down, and soak up the multiple histories associated with the place; steep myself in tea in the Pump Room; linger in Abbey Green; wander around the Circus remembering Gainsborough had walked the same pavement. Maybe this slow osmosis is part of our national character!

This sort of vacation sounds very attractive.  It is so rare that I feel I can take time off that the vacation turns into a race to experience as much as possible in the short time allotted.

[kishnevi]

I don't think anyone's mentioned my very favourite whisky yet: Aberlour A'Bunadh. The bog-standard Aberlour (a long way down my list) gives absolutely no hint of what this magnificent beast can offer. Each sip is not just a journey, but a journey through rich landscapes, lush and golden. It's a good deal more expensive than our usual affordable staples (Glenmorangie, Bowmore, Ardbeg - this last not so affordable these days); but oh boy. When visitors taste it for the first time, we can see them transformed into A'Bunadh-obsessives within seconds. It makes all our favourite malts seem like second-best, so we tend only to open the bottle on special occasions. And of course only closest family members and friends are ever told that we have some!

I bought a bottle of this at my local retailer, having remembered what you wrote above.  It is indeed more expensive than any other bottle I've purchased--$69.99 US--but I had a 10 percent off coupon from their loyalty rewards program to lessen the pain.   Jewish tradition says one should drink or eat something new (or at least, something one hasn't had in the last 30 days) on both days of Rosh Hashanah, so I'm going to practice kavod ha mitzvah (honoring the mitzvah with extra effort) and open the bottle then.  Will report my impressions after the holy day.

[mahler10th]

I'm going to practice kavod ha mitzvah (honoring the mitzvah with extra effort) and open the bottle then.  Will report my impressions after the holy day.

This is such an interesting thing to say, it makes me think that on a HOLY day you will solemnly open your Whisky and get stuck into it (to aid in the achievemnt of kavod ha mitzvah!)  No wonder you will report your impressions AFTER the Holy day.       
I hope I have not offended you religiously, your sentences there did make me have visions of that.   0:)

[kishnevi]

This is such an interesting thing to say, it makes me think that on a HOLY day you will solemnly open your Whisky and get stuck into it (to aid in the achievemnt of kavod ha mitzvah!)  No wonder you will report your impressions AFTER the Holy day.       
I hope I have not offended you religiously, your sentences there did make me have visions of that.   0:)

LOL!  No!  You did give me a good laugh, for which I thank you. 

The reason I will be reporting after the holy day is simply that I will be offline for those two days, so perforce I won't be posting until they're over.  The Whisky is at best supplemental to that.

[kishnevi]

Reporting in. 

Had two (shot)glasses of the Aberlour A'bunadh, and discovered Elgarian was quite on target, although I now notice he was not free with any specific adjectives in his praise.  So I'll describe it (tentatively) as robust,  dark honey tones,  with a slightly above average kick to it.  Certainly one to be reserved for special occasions and only for the best of friends, and this will not be the last bottle of A'bunadh I will be buying.


BTW--Elgarian seems to have been off for a week and a half now.  Anyone heard form him offline?

[North Star]

Apparently, this isn't wine:
Got this Wednesday. Only took a wee sip, but it's good stuff, and very dangerously drinkable for the ABV. (Un-chillfiltered @ 46.3%.)

[Sergeant Rock]

Apparently, this isn't wine:
Got this Wednesday. Only took a wee sip, but it's good stuff, and very dangerously drinkable for the ABV. (Un-chillfiltered @ 46.3%.)

This looks really interesting, and rare. (The distillery keeps closing down and reopening.) Jackson says the expressions he's tried are excellent examples of the island style: intensely peaty and "seaweedy." If the 10-year-old is representative, it sounds like my kind of single malt.

Sarge

[North Star]

This looks really interesting, and rare. (The distillery keeps closing down and reopening.) Jackson says the expressions he's tried are excellent examples of the island style: intensely peaty and "seaweedy." If the 10-year-old is representative, it sounds like my kind of single malt.

Sarge

That doesn't sound like it at all, I'm afraid. It's quite a light one, certainly not peaty. This review gets it pretty much right:
http://www.whiskyintelligence.com/2010/11/tobermory-10yo-463-ob-2010-scotch-whisky-tasting-note/

[North Star]

Apparently, this isn't wine:
Got this Wednesday. Only took a wee sip, but it's good stuff, and very dangerously drinkable for the ABV. (Un-chillfiltered @ 46.3%.)

This is quite summery stuff, I might have to drink it fast before it's too late in the autumn