Whisky

[Will]

Hi chaps,

I'd like to get my father a nice bottle of whiksy for Christmas - he rather likes a good whisky. Either something that I'm likely to be able to get from a wineshop type of place or something I could order online.

He quite likes Irish Whiskey, but he also does like Scottish Whisky - but I thought I'd either treat him to a few smaller sample bottles of each or a very good one from either.

I know nothing of it and don't drink it so I see things like aged 15 years and lots of big foreign sounding words and think "great!" - but for fear of a Stan - "it's ****E!" sort of reaction I'd rather get something which is decent.

Ta. :)

[Burble]

Is he a blend or single malt sort of man? Does he like the smoky/peatier ones or the sweeter ones?

Something like a Balvenie Double Wood or Dalwhinnie 15 yo are usually a safe bet. I'd stay away from Laphroig, Octomore and so on if you don't know if he likes the smoky ones.

[Will]

He doesn't like Laphroig, but loves Black Bushmills which I know is an Irish Whiskey. However he always has it so thought maybe get something else. Not sure what sort of whiskey black bushmills is.

[Burble]

Black Bush is a blend but from what I remember it's mostly a single malt matured in sherry casks with a small amount of blending.

Glenmorangie do a really nice sherry cask single malt so that's worth a look as is Abourlor double wood (matured in oak and sherry casks).

[Will]

Cool - will look at those - thanks old bean.

[Stan_Lite]

Another point of Irish whiskey is that it is usually triple distilled whereas Scottish whisky tends to be double distilled.

One of the few Scottish whiskies to be triple distilled is Auchentoshan - a Lowland malt. The Three Wood expression is finished in sherry casks and is, in my humble opinion, an excellent whisky. The standard expression and the 12yo are also very good.

Also, if you're looking at the sherry cask Glenmorangie, you might want to check out the Port cask version as well. I'm not a huge fan of standard Glenmorangie but I quite liked the Port wood expression. The Aberlour recommended by Paul is another excellent whisky.

[Burble]

Funnily enough I was going to suggest Auchentoshan too :)

[Will]

Thanks for the info chaps - I shall see what I can find! :)

[Jonny69]

What sort of prices are these out of interest? Family usually want to get me something and I prefer something I can put in my stomach :)

[Joe 90]

I was at the Bushmills distillery recently - brilliant place.

I've been told that Dalmore 12 year is well worth getting at the moment and keeping for a few years - http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-7217.aspx
I've never tried it, but I'm certainly tempted at £29 a bottle.

Obviously might not be to his taste if he's a fan of blends, but looks like a pretty good single malt.

[Muban]

Funnily enough I was going to suggest Auchentoshan too :)
Thirded. Lovely stuff :)

[Burble]

What sort of prices are these out of interest? Family usually want to get me something and I prefer something I can put in my stomach :)

£30 or so a bottle each I think.

[Stan_Lite]

What sort of prices are these out of interest? Family usually want to get me something and I prefer something I can put in my stomach :)

As above, mostly around the £30 mark although the two cheaper Auchentoshans are in the mid 20s.
If buying online, the Whisky Exchange (http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/) are pretty good on price and reliable (I've used them myself).

[Psymonkee]

/ninja thread hi jack :D

Really need to start looking now but it's my parents 35th wedding anniversary next summer....How doe one go about finding a good 35yo whisky? :confused:

[Will]

Thanks for the recommendations - I'm going to go onto that site and order a selection of minatures to try and give him some more ideas for Whisk(e)y in the future. I'll also buy his favourite.

[Stan_Lite]

/ninja thread hi jack :D

Really need to start looking now but it's my parents 35th wedding anniversary next summer....How doe one go about finding a good 35yo whisky? :confused:

You have a couple of options. You can either get a 35yo malt or one which was distilled in 1976 (assuming my early morning arithmetic is correct). You may be lucky in that one of the distilleries may bottle a whisky distilled in 1976 next year and you'll get both. More likely however, you'll have to plump for one or the other.

A good start would be simply Googling whichever option you choose i.e. "35yo whisky" or "1976 whisky" and seeing what comes up.

A quick Google shows me there are several options for 1976 whiskies. At first glance, the best of the reasonably priced stuff (<£200) would be a Bunnahabhain or there's a Macallan which would probably be good. To be honest, I'm struggling with 35yo whiskies. I've found mention of a few but nowhere to buy them as yet. If you let me know which route you prefer to take, I'll be happy to do some research to help you out.

To be honest, I'm tempted by the 1976 Bunnahabhain myself. It's matured in Fino sherry casks. I've had Bunnahabhain matured in sherry casks before and it was divine. I don't think it was the same stuff but this bottling at £125 seems like a bargain.
Be aware that Bunnahabhain is an Islay malt and not to everyone's taste. It's not as intense as other Islay malts like Laphroaig or Ardbeg or Bowmore but is still smoky and peaty and can be an acquired taste.

Do you know what type of whisky your parents like? A price limit would be handy as well.

[Matblack]

Stan pretty much covered what I was about to say, a search on Whiskey Exchange brings up 1976s and 35yos

http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/SearchDetail.aspx?txtKeywords=35yo%201975

http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/SearchDetail.aspx?txtKeywords=1976

There are a couple there with really nice bottles too, so if its a display piece you might want to compromise between the taste and the look, others may not agree and it were me drinking it I wouldn't agree either but you never know :)

MB

[Stan_Lite]

From looking at Matt's links, I've just noticed Whisky Exchange have a Birthdays and Anniversaries function that allows you to search by vintage or age - really handy http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/VintageAndBirthdays.aspx.

[Matblack]

http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/ProductImage.aspx?pc=GRSSIG1972&w=540

Now that is very tempting

MB

[Psymonkee]

Ta for the help guys :)

As for parents tastes? My dad loves the peaty/smoky Bowmore and my mum is completely the opposite :p

Also looking to keep it under £200. They'd kill me if I spent more than that on a Whisky. Hell they'll probably kill me I spend more than £30 on a whisky :p

[volospian]

The Aberlour recommended by Paul is another excellent whisky.

I have a bottle of this on the side, my second bottle of 16yo, but was drinking the 15 year old before.....

http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/ProductImage.aspx?pc=ABLOB.16YO&w=540

This is perfect for me. I went into one of the shops in Dufftown a few years ago over the new year week and it was dead, so the guy said "right, we'll find your perfect whisky" and produced bottle after bottle, with me saying "hmmm, I like the sweetness of that, but it's a tad too smokey..." or "nice amount of smoke, but too sweet..." and so on while he whittled the choices down.

I can now say that this is the best whisky I have tasted.

[Psymonkee]

I may have just placed an order.....oh my! :)