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Really, maybe the best thing about whiskey is you can't talk and sip at he same time. So just keep your mouth shut and swallow. That's what she said. Bingo! Ala Michael Scott!
"Best Selling" and all that, but I realize that the masses may not know any better.
As others have noted, blended whiskeys and single-malts are completely. The latter is definitely an acquired taste and, while sublime (in my opinion) it best to start with blended. That being said, I’m not a fan of either Dewar’s or Johnnie Red. If I’m drinking a mass-market blend I prefer Irish (specifically Jameson) to Scotch. I think it’s smoother and has better balance.
If someone tried to start my path to Scotch appreciation with a bottle of Laphroaig, I would've become a bourbon drinker.
Still, I guess my Scotch education was backwards. I used to hate the stuff. But I had a Brit boss who felt compelled to convert me. He didn't start me on blends, rather it was the 'classic malts' and a Campbelltown, so I could learn the differences. I found I liked Oban best, so he bought me a bottle.
Three years later I'm on vacation in Scotland, visiting distilleries, learning more about the process, why blends exist and the philosophies behind blending. Since that time I've almost always had a bottle of Famous Grouse in the house and while I can enjoy almost any single malt, my favorite these days is Lagavulin - although I rarely buy it as it's $80+ here in PA (I'll often get a bottle when in the NYC area as it's only mid-$50s there).
Still can't stand Laphroaig though. Which is a little odd since you can literally jog between the Laphroaig and Lagavulin distilleries.
If someone tried to start my path to Scotch appreciation with a bottle of Laphroaig, I would've become a bourbon drinker.
Exactly!
Quote:
I found I liked Oban best, so he bought me a bottle.
Yes, that's a great choice. And Oban (pronouced OH bun, not oh BAHN) Distillery is a great one to visit, in a picturesque little Harbor Village, with a half moon bay, a large flock of swans swimming as a traditional piper walks the waterfront, piping the sunset. The distillery is the second oldest working (Strathisla in Keith is the oldest), and I talked to still workers there who were 5th generation employees. I went for a day, but stayed three because it was so magical and gorgeous there, and I came home with a bottle of Oban Distiller's Reserve that was too rare to ever show up on a shopkeeper's shelf.
OpenD, you are like our own personal Scotch-specific version of Three Sheets.
Thanks, I just love to share some of my fun experiences.
Matt Smith, the British actor who is the outgoing Dr. Who, was on the Craig Ferguson late show last week, and at some point in the conversation he mentioned that he likes to have a piece of shortbread when he's enjoying a glass of Laphroig. And Ferguson agreed that was a tasty combination... and I flashed back to my visit to Oban, when I was first introduced to the custom.
Actually, my first round was a kind of crumbly oatmeal biscuit that are nearly impossible to find in the states, and it was recommended and paired with a local sheep's milk cheese by a knowledgeable purveyor in the village. I took them with me, my whisky in a fine Dalvy flask, with an ingenious telescoping glass in the side, and I hiked up to the hill to an old folly, overlooking the village and the bay and the ocean beyond, and proceeded to drink whisky and snack on biscuit and cheese and watch the sunset.
The next day, I went back to the shop and raved to the proprietor about how much I had liked that combination, and he said then I should try the shortbread next. And I loved it too, maybe more. And I continue to love it years later. I often put out shortbread when I'm entertaining a friend with a wee dram, and I just bought some shortbread the other day, just because... heh.
But I was surprised to hear Matt Smith raving about it, because I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone outside of Scotland mention nibbling a bit of shortbread while sipping on a fine old malt.
Bit it's definitely worth trying. They go so well together.
I'm a man who appreciates fine spirits, including both Scotch and tequila. While some tequilas have a slightly smokey aroma, it's not as common or as evident as it is in Scotch. A good tequila should have more of a slightly spicy, fruity, almost citrus type scent. Scotch should have that smokey, aged-to-perfection, woody fragrance.
Both wonderful spirits, but both somewhat plagued by reputations arising from experiences by many folks with the cheap bottom shelf varieties of both. Like so much in life, quality doesn't come cheap in spirits.
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Laphroig and shortbread
