New to Scotch Whiskey

[Kplum]

First I want to say Hello, I am so glad there is a sight here.. I am in need of help of learning all the brands and figure out what exactly it is I like in the world of Single Malt Scotch..

I have had some examples of Single Malt Scotch.

I have had Glenn Fiddich 12 years old.. I had this on ice and cut with water..
To be very very honest.. I did not care too much for it.. I could sort of pick up possibly a smoked flavor.. this was years ago though.. Maybe thats why i didnt get into scotch then.

This last weekend I was introduced to few more.. I was having a few cigars.. and a friend pulled out a bottle of Macallan 25 years, I know the JW blue is blended, but a bottle happened to appear..

The Macallan 25 was heavenly.. I went to pick up a few bottles and saw the price tag, my mouth hit the floor... I would love to find something like that for a bit cheaper.. It was probably the smoothest whiskey i have ever had.. And was able to drink it neat..

The Johnny Walker Blue was a little over powering for my palate.. the flavors were ok.. I was not overwhelmed as others were..

That is my bio in Scotch.. I have not had a sip more.. Looking for someone to steer me in the right direction on what to try.. I am excited in this expierence.. I am not sure it matters, but I do smoke cigars alot and was hoping to have scotch with a cigar..

thanks in advance..

[Gary Wells]

I think that Macallan 12 priced at about $40 at the discount stores that handle it is a very good stand in, with Macallan 18 a tad better but also a tad pricier at about $140 at the discount stores that handle it.
HTH

[Theus]

Welcome to Malt World!

Since you already got a Speyside, I would suggest a Islay one.
Vast majority of them are peaty... this way you can first know if your palate goes to peaty or non peaty ones...

I dont smoke and dont know what goes better with a cigar.

I think you will have to find it by yourself!

Theus

[Kplum]

thanks for the input..

I got off of work today, headed to a few liquor stores to see what all they had..

I did get some help.,. The guy tried to sell me a $20 dollar bottle of something that I have never heard of (but then again.. did a little research eventhough I do not know what the hell i am doing) So i pondered and looked.. I about bought the Macallan 12 when I noticed the balvenie doublewood 12.. I thought I would try it, this weekend I am going to go back and get a few more bottles.. I am not sure i want to spend more than 50 a bottle..

[Gary Wells]

I have tried both and in my personal opinion, the Macallan 12 YO at about $40 is definitely a tad better than the Balvenie 12 YO DW, even though the Balvenie DW sells for only slightly less $. I recently purchased Balvenie 12 YO DW at $ 33.95, which I figure was a "mismark", I think that they took it for the non DW, but I still prefer Macallan 12 YO at about $40. Thank the good Lord that I only have 2 bottles left of the Balveenie DW.

[Kplum]

Here the cheapest I can find Mac 12 is 47.,. across the street it was 55.. I will get a bottle of it this weekend.. Really the balvenie doublewood 12 is not offensive.. It really is pretty decent.. I am happy with it.. I think your right though Gary.. I will probably enjoy the Mac 12 better..

It was hard to pass up the good deal on the balvenie doublewood retailed for 55, i paid 35 for it..

[Gary Wells]

A new Wine & Beverage discount store just opened up last month in the Republik of So kali, Orange County, and they have Macallan 18 YO at $129.95. I picked up 2 bottles. Macallan 12 YO at the same store goes for $37.95 or $38.95. Another store that I know of has Glen Grant 1977 Scott's Select 26 YO sherry, cask strength 110.80 Pf, Distilled in '64 by North of Scotland. As much as I can't afford it, I think that I will pick up a bottle of that & cry later. Bruichladdich Black Art 19 YO sells for $149.95. That sounds very interesting. And I wonder why I am broke?

[Kplum]

haha.. the only time you will cry about that decision is when your looking down the bottle and last drop is already gone..

[Gary Wells]

I just blew $425 on only 4 bottles of this stuff about Friday or so. I better enjoy this while I can because eventually I have to come to my senses. I need to go buy that Glen Grant 1977 before that happens.

[Kplum]

If your going to get it.. That is pretty hard to come by around here..
then again, I was going to buy a bottle of Glen Garioch 12, but the liquor store had no idea what that was..

I am going to have to shop around to find the best selection of scotches in the area..

[Gary Wells]

Probably another "to die for" for me SMSW would be "North of Scotland 64" @ $ 229.99. It seems to me that I saw a bottle or 2 of that for about the same price over where I bought the 4 bottles.

[oscarswanson]

I find cigars kill my taste buds for drinking scotch. I always have a supply of Hemmingway short story's on hand as my favorites and do drink and smoke at the same time sometimes. Just saying I can taste better without the smoke
.
I would love to have the oppertunity to taste a Mcallan 25.

I would go with a Ardbeg Uigeadail. Best bang at any price. great stuff.
Sherry, smoke, peat, sweet wood, or if you don't want the sherry influence get at Correvreckan which is my current fav.

[Brussell]

Yeah, Macallan is obscenely expensive older than 12 year, but I wouldn't know if it's worth it seeing as I cannot afford to try it.

I am also quite new to scotch and whisky. I live in The American South so the first whisky I ever had was bourbon and then rye, followed by Canadian whisky. I wasn't that impressed.
Then I had scotch and I've been obsessed since. There's some kind of unique, underlying sweetness I can't quite put my finger on, which is what I love about scotch.

In my 3 months drinking scotch I've had about 25 varieties (a lot considering I've had to buy an entire bottle of every one).

If you didn't like JW Blue then Id skip blends, although that's a good place to start. Next I'd go with the basics, such as glenfiddich 12, glenlivet 12, balvenie 12, macallan 12, highland park 12, dalmore 12, ardbeg or laphroaig 10, talisker 10, lagavulin 16, oban 14, so on.

I wouldn't spend that much on an older or rarer bottle until you know the basics of regional variation and your personal tastes. If you find an old or rare bottle cheap then buy it quick, but save it back - put it out of your sight. I know it's hard to spend money and not see it, but right now your palate won't appreciate it as much as it might in 2-3 months.

Once you get some good 12 years down target your favorites and step up to the 15 year expressions. Then the 18, then 21 and so on. It's good to step it up.

My personal favorite brands are highland park, glenfiddich, balvenie and Yamazaki (Japanese). My least favorites are laphroaig and ardbeg (love the nose, hate the taste), followed by glenlivet and macallan fine oak series (the 10 year is criminally bad and overpriced).

Hope you stick with the clan of Scottish drams!



PS, Id like to know which cheeky devil gave me the buffalo picture. I just noticed.

[Islay Peat]

Yeah, Macallan is obscenely expensive older than 12 year, but I wouldn't know if it's worth it seeing as I cannot afford to try it.

If you didn't like JW Blue then Id skip blends...

I wouldn't spend that much on an older or rarer bottle until you know the basics of regional variation and your personal tastes. If you find an old or rare bottle cheap then buy it quick, but save it back - put it out of your sight. I know it's hard to spend money and not see it, but right now your palate won't appreciate it as much as it might in 2-3 months.

Once you get some good 12 years down target your favorites and step up to the 15 year expressions. Then the 18, then 21 and so on. It's good to step it up.

My personal favorite brands are highland park, glenfiddich, balvenie and Yamazaki (Japanese). My least favorites are laphroaig and ardbeg (love the nose, hate the taste), followed by glenlivet and macallan fine oak series (the 10 year is criminally bad and overpriced).

PS, Id like to know which cheeky devil gave me the buffalo picture. I just noticed.Great early post and don't worry about the buffalo - they gave me something comical too but I just replaced it with my own the next day.

I feel like agreeing regarding Macallan, although I've only tried the 12 year Fine Oak. Didn't care for it at all and while I plan on trying some others in the future, it's not at all close to the top of the list.

Regarding Blue Label and blends, I have to disagree. I don't care much for the JW either, particularly at its price point, but definitely think that Taketsuru 17 (WWA winner for 2012) is much better drink.

Going up slowly in years is definitely great advice too, particularly since some people won't care for them as well as middle aged bottlings, and I'm one who generally prefers 10-12 scotch, with few exceptions.

Yamazaki 12 is my favorite out of their whole lineup, although do like the Hibiki 17 and the Hibiki 12 (both blends) even better yet.

[Reimius]

What is your price range?