Your favourite, most special dram?

As I was celebrating the passing of another year I had one of the few remaining drams of a very special whisky of mine - 31yr old GlenLivet. rich powerful, with a lingering changing aftertaste, very special.

As the bottle is nearing its end can you recommend a replacement that you've tried. I won't say money is no object, but as its a special occasions drink it may not be the prime concern.

A belated happy birthday to you.

So many drams, so little time. I have a friend who hoardes near-empty bottles of beloved vintages because he feels better knowing that he has at least a nip left. Personally, I'd rather clear the bottle out and look forward to the next new one. I do understand your dilemma, however.

If your heart lies in Speyside, the most recent bottling of the Macallan 30 may be to your taste.

My favorite thus far is a Longmorn distilled in 1963, bottled in 1993, that I had at a whisky tasting in San Francisco many, many years ago. It will be a while before I'll be able to afford to actually buy any whisky of that quality, but damn was it tasty. Until then, my favorite just barely affordable is the Lagavulin 16.

I absolutely love Oban, Macallan Fine Oak 15 and Balvenie 12. This is my first posting here and I must say I never thought I could combine my love of books with my love of scotch, at least not on a website! This is really great.

Welcome, Carioca!

It has been a little quiet here recently. We must have all been tippling... and reading.

Talking of favourite drams, I am off to Kentucky on Friday to pay a visit to the Buffalo Trace, Four Roses and Wild Turkey distilleries. I hope to get a taste or two along the way as well, of course.

The priciest whisky, and probably the best whisky that I have had was from a bottle that a friend of mine and I split on, and that was a Springbank 30 (at the time it was about $370/bottle). That said, the difference, to me, between a $370/bottle Springbank 30 and an $85/bottle (at the time) Macallan 18 is not a $285 difference.

As for my favorite whiskey, I think my favorite is Wathen's (Charles Medley Distillery, Owensboro, KY), although I am hard pressed to find it in Seattle. For the best taste at the best price, though, I love Bulleit. Bulleit is not the best bourbon, but compared to everything that is in its price range, it is far superior, and more than drinkable.

Bulliet is being promoted strongly in retail outlets in the UK at the moment, and yes, it is a pleasant drink. In an environment where Tennessee whisky is usually called 'Bourbon', it's nice to have a real bourbon to drink in the pub.

We've just had to place our first order for bourbon subsequent to our relocation back to the UK from NYC, and whilst the drinks themselves will be palatable as ever, the price has stuck in our throats: $40 for a bottle of Jim Beam Rye, about the same for Wild Turkey and $66 for Four Roses Single Barrel....

...and $12.50 per UK gallon for gas. :)

$40 for a bottle of Beam Rye is highway robbery. If you can find it, try Old Overholt Rye. I think that it is much better and mixed with ginger ale (about 1 to 1) it can be consumed all night long. No one should spend any money on Wild Turkey, ever. That stuff is nasty and gives worse hangovers than cheap tequila. I imagine that Four Roses Single Barrel is tasty stuff, though.

I am working on a bottle of The Glenlivet Archive 21 that my youngest son gave me for Father's Day. I drink it neat, or should I say "Sip It" neat. Of all of the single malts that I have had, this is the best. Sit back on a Sunday afternoon with a cigar and my Scotch, it is heaven.
Bob
Edit to add; I think it goes for $140 a bottle here in California.

Ah...Glenlivet Archive 21. Never tried that one, but I'll bet it's top notch. Their 12 year old is pretty tasty. My favorite ever is Macallan 25. That was good stuff. Unfortunately, I shared some with my brother (not a real Scotch man) and he had his with water!

Having been exposed to a bewildering variety of aged and ferociously strong bourbons over the course of the last couple of years whilst living in America, I came to shed my personal animus against adding a drop or two of mineral water to open up the nose and cut the strength by a point or two.

Elijah Craig 18 and this year's George T Stagg are two cases in point. At 72.4% proof, your palate and the back of your throat won't thank you for trying to drink the latter neat, and you won't taste much for the rest of the evening if you do.

I received a CD from Crown Royal on a tasting they had with their master blender of their various lines and one of the things he stressed was to add a drop or two (literally by the drop) to open the nose of the whiskey similar to the way air "opens" a good red wine. I had never heard of this but it really works.

It's really odd. As a chemist whisky is already 60% water, and adding even as much as another 5% should make absolutely no difference to the taste or smell. But it undoubtably does - for some. It improves some, but for others it can bring out a harsh salty flavour, yet others it does very little. In Scotland they do routinely add water, and you'll be offered a jug to add to taste when you order a malt.

Indeed. I picked up a small glazed jug in 'Ardbeg green' from the distillery shop last month which will see good use.

It has rather brought out the mad scientist in me (no offence, R_F :) ) and I am now experimenting with drops of mineral water and slivers of mineral water ice.

The highlight thus far has been nursing a single chunk of ice in a (very) generous measure of Wild Turkey Rare Breed, and enjoying the variations in nose (less so in taste and finish, it has to be said) as the glass came back up to room temperature over the course of a couple of hours. Fascinating!

I used to be a super stickler to the idea of I-will-only-drink-Scotch-neat. Then I learned the concept of "barrel strength." I had previously thought that liquors were distilled to the strength they were bottled at... not the case. The fact is that they already add a bunch of water to the finished product to bottle it, and they have to bottle it at a proof that it will keep well at. So, for me, the purist in me insists on adding a little bit of water to open it up, and to (if I can) add water from the region in which the whisk(e)y was produced. I keep a bottle of Scottish spring water in my fridge exclusively for my whisky... unfortunately, it is pretty hard to come by Appalachian branch water in a bottle for my whiskey.

Wow...I can't imagine trying to get water from the whisky's region! That would be something. I have to settle for grocery store-bought, bottled spring water if I use water at all. With most Scotch or Irish whiskys I'll stick to neat, or a couple of little mineral water ice cubes. With Bourbon, I prefer on the rocks.

Mostly I have to settle for typical bottled spring water... except that I have Scottish spring water in the fridge. I do, however, find ice cubes in whisky to be sacrilege. Ice kills the flavor. With good bourbon I am hard pressed to put in ice, but, knowing that Booker Noe prefers his whiskey with ice, and he makes some of the best whiskey around, I can accept it. If I drink either of them neat, it is usually the bourbon.

#15 - that is hardcore! I salute you.

My dad used to say "there are no bad whiskys but some are better than others": those might be...
18 year old Highland Park
21 year old Aberlour
18 year old Caol Ila

Got a very nice Jura at the duty free coming home from England this autumn.