Need recommendations on scotch

[OCgirl]

I enlisted your help earlier this year to get my fiance a bottle of cognac. It was a great sucess. He LOVED it. I got him a bottle of Martell Cordon Bleu as many recommended here. Turned out to be something he's always wanted to get but couldn't bring himself to (he thinks it's expensive).

He mentioned recently that he wants to get a bottle of scotch to add to his small but growing collection (I got him a bottle of Remy Martin XO a few months ago for his birthday). He got promoted last month but hasn't gotten anything for himself to celebrate this important event. I want to see if you guys have any great suggestions so I can surprise him with a bottle.

I know he mentioned glenlivet and macallan. He also said he prefers glenfiddich over glenlivet. He doesn't like Johnnie Walker. I know the higher the years the more expensive it is. What's a good pick if my price range is $80 - 100?

Thank you!

 

[Dee*Jay]

There are SO many Scotches to choose from! Just based on the info you gave, i.e., his preference for Glenfiddich over Glenlivet, and his mention of MaCallan, it sounds like his preference is not toward the heavily smokey varieties. Glenmorangie Nector D’or (which is about $70ish at Binny's) may be a good option.

 

[Jennifer W]

Why hello there. You're talking my language...

If you're going for a fine bottle of whisky, I'd look to a single malt. You're on the right track with Macallan, or Glenfiddich, but there are many more and each one is quite unique. This page gives a good description of them, and it really is just a matter of preference.

Johnnie Walker is I believe a blend (or vatted) malt, with more than one whisky blended in it for consistency. It isn't as fine as a single malt. The main love / hate issue is peat - the island and some highland malts have peat flavouring in the water they are made from and will have a delicate or strong peaty, slightly iodine note. If you enjoy that (or were brought up on it from an early age like I was) it is exquisite. If you aren't fond of it, or are trying it for the first time, it can be somewhat challenging.

Take a look at some of the tasting notes here, and see what might appeal:
http://www.whisky.com/single_malt.html

This one gives you a 'map' of malt flavour:
http://www.malts.com/index.php/en_gb/content/view/full/133

Of course, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society is pretty much the authority on the topic, so it's well worth a look at their site (and a visit to their premises, if you're ever in Scotland. Well worth a visit, and I'm willing to meet you there if you insist... )
http://www.smws.co.uk/

So, find out what other malts are in the flavour family of the ones he likes, and see what fits your budget. I don't know how much it retails for in the US, sorry.

Of course, you'd be hard pushed to beat a bottle of Macallan, so if he likes that, there would be nothing wrong with getting a bottle of it, nothing at all.

The age of the whisky describes the time it spent ageing in a barrel, picking up the flavours of the cask - once it's bottled, it shouldn't change any further, so drink it up! None of the single malts are sold too young, so if you pick a single, you'll get a good whisky. The older the better, theoretically, but again, it's a personal preference. I rather like the bite of a younger malt over the smoothness of a cigar malt.

My all time favourite is Bruichladdich, a classic peaty malt from the Hebrides. I also love Highland Park, and that is one of the most consistently rated single malts - it would be hard to go wrong with a Highland Park. It's from Orkney, and although there is some peat in there, it doesn't predominate. A really lovely malt.

Hmm. Did I just expose myself as a raving alcoholic?

 

[TravelingGal]

Johnny walker is blended, so I assume you're talking Single malt.

Based on what you are saying, I'd say speyside. Macallan 18 would be in your budget, and most people wouldn't turn up their nose at that. What is available is part of the equation and around here, Macallan, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet and Balvenie are easy to find, among a few others.

Personally I love a good Islay whisky. Bowmore, Laphroaig, Lagavulin. Yum.

And of course there is always Oban!

 

[TravelingGal]

Ha, Jen beat me to it...lots of good advice for her.

Also, just a fun little note...it's Whisky, no "e" for what Americans know as "Scotch". Irish is whiskey with an "e".

 

[Jennifer W]

Johnny walker is blended, so I assume you're talking Single malt.

Based on what you are saying, I'd say speyside. Macallan 18 would be in your budget, and most people wouldn't turn up their nose at that. What is available is part of the equation and around here, Macallan, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet and Balvenie are easy to find, among a few others.

Personally I love a good Islay whisky. Bowmore, Laphroaig, Lagavulin. Yum.

And of course there is always Oban!

Oh yes. The Islay malts are wonderful. Do you fancy going out and drinking whisky some time soon?

 

[Enerchi]

Johnny walker is blended, so I assume you're talking Single malt.

Based on what you are saying, I'd say speyside. Macallan 18 would be in your budget, and most people wouldn't turn up their nose at that. What is available is part of the equation and around here, Macallan, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet and Balvenie are easy to find, among a few others.

Personally I love a good Islay whisky. Bowmore, Laphroaig, Lagavulin. Yum.

And of course there is always Oban!

TGal - I think I'd be very happy with you as my bartender!!! My DH and I have tried ALL that you've listed and would concur that ALL are amazing. LEts invite Jennifer W to join us - she seems like quite the expert, too!!!

For affordability in my neck of the woods, Balvenie is a very good compromise - good value and great non-peaty flavour. Macallan and Laphroaig are also reasonable around here.

 

[TravelingGal]

Johnny walker is blended, so I assume you're talking Single malt.

Based on what you are saying, I'd say speyside. Macallan 18 would be in your budget, and most people wouldn't turn up their nose at that. What is available is part of the equation and around here, Macallan, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet and Balvenie are easy to find, among a few others.

Personally I love a good Islay whisky. Bowmore, Laphroaig, Lagavulin. Yum.

And of course there is always Oban!

Oh yes. The Islay malts are wonderful. Do you fancy going out and drinking whisky some time soon?

Ha! Sure! I say we all make a date of it!

 

[Jennifer W]

Yay! Let's have a great big drunken PS GTG in Scotland and see off many bottles of Scotch.

 

[TravelingGal]

Johnny walker is blended, so I assume you're talking Single malt.

Based on what you are saying, I'd say speyside. Macallan 18 would be in your budget, and most people wouldn't turn up their nose at that. What is available is part of the equation and around here, Macallan, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet and Balvenie are easy to find, among a few others.

Personally I love a good Islay whisky. Bowmore, Laphroaig, Lagavulin. Yum.

And of course there is always Oban!

TGal - I think I'd be very happy with you as my bartender!!! My DH and I have tried ALL that you've listed and would concur that ALL are amazing. LEts invite Jennifer W to join us - she seems like quite the expert, too!!!

For affordability in my neck of the woods, Balvenie is a very good compromise - good value and great non-peaty flavour. Macallan and Laphroaig are also reasonable around here.

If you like Balvenie and want to try something interesting, try their limited Caribbean Cask 14. TGuy also likes rum to sip, so we saw this and thought...hm. It's pleasant drinking and something a little different. It's about $60.

 

[TravelingGal]

I just realized the budget is $80-100, so scratch the Macallan 18, which I believe is quite a bit more.

 

[ksinger]

Yay! Let's have a great big drunken PS GTG in Scotland and see off many bottles of Scotch.

My husband would think he'd died and gone to heaven!

 

[Dancing Fire]

I enlisted your help earlier this year to get my fiance a bottle of cognac. It was a great sucess. He LOVED it. I got him a bottle of Martell Cordon Bleu as many recommended here. Turned out to be something he's always wanted to get but couldn't bring himself to (he thinks it's expensive).

Thank you!

today that same bottle of 750ml Cordon Bleu will cost you $160.. up like 90% in a yr.. talk about inflation...

 

[ksinger]

And for those of us who don't care for heavily smoked and peaty scotches, here are some that are good IMO....

I like ABERLOUR 12 YR DOUBLE CASK MATURED SINGLE MALT SCOTCH, it's cask strength, as I recall, so it has to be watered.

Auchentoshen is good, and Dalwhinnie too. Milder, all of them.

Pretty much all the smokier ones are, to me, like drinking a house fire.

I'm more into rums, honestly. Finally snagged a bottle of 1919 by Angostura. Only took 3 states to find the stuff. Worth the hunt - some fine sippin' rum for certain.

 

[OCgirl]

Thank you all for the great advices here. I looked at a few charts showing rich vs. light, smoky vs. delicate and where all these fall. I've narrowed it down to three choices:

Oban 14 years
Balvenie 15 years single barrel
Bruichladdich 16 year

Which one would you pick or am I just throwing different things out there and totally not making sense?

 

[Jennifer W]

Bruichladdich would be my choice from that list, but it is a little more smoky. It's a lighter peat flavour, none of the medicinal or iodine notes that characterise the heavier peats, and honestly, I think it would be hard to dislike this one.

Many of the malts are sold at cask strength, and generally always benefit from a drop or two of water to bring out the flavour notes. My dad used to work for a whisky company, and we used to get a case of quarter bottle tasting malts ever few weeks. Oh, that was an awesome job! Whisky is colourless naturally, and gets its tones from either the cask is it aged in (and some of its flavour too) or from the addition of commercial caramel. Blends / grain whisky have caramel added. You can totally still drink it though.

Ksinger, Aberlour is just delicious. I love that one (struggling to find one I hate, mind you...) You and your husband should come over. Seriously, a PS GTG in Scotland would be awesome!

 

[JulieN]

I love Martell Cordon Bleu, so happy that he's happy with it.

For Scotch, my favorite in your range is Laguvulin 16. It's an Islay, and it is like drinking peaty velvet. Someone mentioned Auchentoshan, which is also nice, Go for the 18 year. Can't really go wrong with any of the suggestions.

From your list, they are all good, can't go wrong.

 

[lovebug1031]

Johnny walker is blended, so I assume you're talking Single malt.

Based on what you are saying, I'd say speyside. Macallan 18 would be in your budget, and most people wouldn't turn up their nose at that. What is available is part of the equation and around here, Macallan, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet and Balvenie are easy to find, among a few others.

Personally I love a good Islay whisky. Bowmore, Laphroaig, Lagavulin. Yum.

And of course there is always Oban!

ohhh i bought my bf a bottle of Laphroaig for our anniversary this year! I'm not really a drinker period, but that stuff smelled so good and smokey! He absolutely loved it, and thought it was really cool that you can send in the info from the case to get a "piece of land"!

 

[kelpie]

My husband's favorite is Lagavulin 16, but he says he likes Scotch that tastes like John Wayne's saddle.

 

[TravelingGal]

TGuy loves Aberlour too. I don't love it as much from the ones I've had.

Lagavulin 16 is my normal scotch whisky of choice. Probably because it's available at Costco and reasonably priced.

 

[OCgirl]

I did some reading on Lagavulin 16 since it appears to be a favorite here. It appears the taste is a bit strong for some of the "beginner" scotch drinkers.

"Lagavulin is NOT a beginner's scotch. It's just a Peat Beast. Most beginners are only going to taste Iodine + Sea Water + Smoke. It's one of my favorites and I keep a bottle at all times, but it's a monster by any standard."

What would be a safer choice? Would any of the ones I listed above be okay? I'm not sure about my fiance but I am definitely a beginner and I would love to have a sip if I'm buying

 

[JulieN]

For my money, I personally would rather drink good American whiskey than a Highland scotch.

Lagavulin is not a peat beast. Doesn't a peat beast just sound like some abominable bog monster? As I said earlier, its peaty /velvet./ It is chockful of flavor, but very balannced.

I've had the Oban and Balvenie, but not yet the other one. They're both fine.

 

[TravelingGal]

I did some reading on Lagavulin 16 since it appears to be a favorite here. It appears the taste is a bit strong for some of the "beginner" scotch drinkers.

"Lagavulin is NOT a beginner's scotch. It's just a Peat Beast. Most beginners are only going to taste Iodine + Sea Water + Smoke. It's one of my favorites and I keep a bottle at all times, but it's a monster by any standard."

What would be a safer choice? Would any of the ones I listed above be okay? I'm not sure about my fiance but I am definitely a beginner and I would love to have a sip if I'm buying

As I mentioned, Lagavulin is an Islay scotch. As a "beginner" you probably want to stay away from Islay.

I have not had the Bruichladdich. Balvenie 15 would be fine, and as a fun note, is one of the few distilleries in Scotland that still does its own malting.

 

[kelpie]

I did some reading on Lagavulin 16 since it appears to be a favorite here. It appears the taste is a bit strong for some of the "beginner" scotch drinkers.

"Lagavulin is NOT a beginner's scotch. It's just a Peat Beast. Most beginners are only going to taste Iodine + Sea Water + Smoke. It's one of my favorites and I keep a bottle at all times, but it's a monster by any standard."

What would be a safer choice? Would any of the ones I listed above be okay? I'm not sure about my fiance but I am definitely a beginner and I would love to have a sip if I'm buying

That must be why DH loves it. Maybe try a Dalwhinnie.

 

[OCgirl]

Thank you all for your great suggestions. I'm sure I'll be buying a lot of cognac and scotch for the years to come. I think my fiance's expression when he saw the martell cordon bleu is just as happy if not happier as I imagine what my face would look like when I get a beautiful piece of jewelry. It's something he enjoys and loves. It's priceless!

 

[natascha]

My SO won't drink blended either , high maintenance man. I think it is great that you are asking around and figuring out what he would like (see us girls can be romantic too).

Funny story was when my mom decided to buy my SO a bottle as a present. She does not drink whisky so she chose the one with the prettiest bottle and packaging, that just happened to be a blended .

My SO prefers pretty smokey single malts like Lagavulin 16 and Laphroaig, and I agree with PP that it might not be the best choice for a beginner. Personally I can't stand any peat at all so the only single malts I can drink are ones like lowland Glenkinchie. I guess I am about to get mobbed for admitting that .

If he likes his whisky cold a nice present for stocking stuffing, etc is whisky rocks (cubes of soap stone that you keep in the freezer to use instead of ice).

 

[natascha]

If you are open to Irish whiskey, you could try a Jameson. Supposedly smooth and easy to drink.

 

[TravelingGal]

If you are open to Irish whiskey, you could try a Jameson. Supposedly smooth and easy to drink.

If you're interested in the above, then I recommend the Jameson 18.

 

[AGBF]

I don't drink alcohol at all anymore, and when I did, I never drank it straight. My father, however, has always been a Scotch drinker. His tastes have evolved over the years. He used to drink blended Scotch and I remember him being very happy with a Christmas present of the best blended Scotches (Johnny Walker Red or Black or Chivas Regal). Now, however, he only has a sip now and then and he cannot tolerate blended Scotch. He absolutely loves the Glenlivet 21 I have been giving him most recently. (I learned about single malt scotches by reading since I don't drink 'em. He tested them out by taste over the years.)

Deb/AGBF

 

[AGBF]

He also said he prefers glenfiddich over glenlivet.

He doesn't like Johnnie Walker.

OCgirl-

I think these points were well covered in previous postings, but not addressed directly.

Point one: There are many vaieties of Glenlivet and many varieties of Glenfiddich although I, since I have not tasted any of them, cannot tell you whether all the Glenlivet single malts share a certain identifiable taste that scream "Glenlivet"and all the Glenfiddich ones share a certain identifiable taste that scream "Glenfiddich"to discerning Scotch drinkers!

Point two: Johnnie Walker is a blended Scotch so comparing it to a single malt is like comparing a steak to a cream puff. If you are researching blending Scotches like Johnnie Walker, make sure you are comparing similar products.

...and good luck!!!

Deb