Old Scotch Whiskey?

[CAustin]

I've got a few bourbons, nothing unusual, but these are most of my favorites.

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you have some good ones there sir!

 

[Trogon]

you have some good ones there sir!

Thanks, CAustin, your selection looks pretty good to me, lots of nice choices on your shelves. My any day picks are Weller Special Reserve or Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star.

 

[Trogon]

I wouldn't sell them full online unless you wanted to take the chance of spending the weekend in jail. Barring state/local laws, you can probably trade alcohol as that is quite popular among enthusiasts in different distribution areas. Just don't trade it for money unless it's the empty bottle

To my taste buds, corn Bourbon is by far an inferior product to scotch. Like Budweiser, Miller, Coors, etc the use of inferior ingredients gives that alcohol a very sweet but plain taste. Scotch is made of high quality barley, though the taste will vary greatly by region.
Even the American whiskey is starting to get more and more rye and wheat added to it to boost the complexity.

Imo, no $50-100 bottle of bourbon can beat a bottle of highland scotch of the same price point.

The peaty scotch is just terrible though

Based on shelf space allocation at liquor stores local to me, bourbon overwhelms the scotch offerings. I'll agree to disagree on the superiority of scotch taste over bourbon. I'd have to try some competitive liquors of both. Problem is, I don't know many scotch whisky drinkers.

 

[CAustin]

Thanks, CAustin, your selection looks pretty good to me, lots of nice choices on your shelves. My any day picks are Weller Special Reserve or Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star.

my father drank Ancient Age as far back as I can remember and so I keep a bottle on the shelf in his memory!

 

[curtism1234]

Based on shelf space allocation at liquor stores local to me, bourbon overwhelms the scotch offerings. I'll agree to disagree on the superiority of scotch taste over bourbon. I'd have to try some competitive liquors of both. Problem is, I don't know many scotch whisky drinkers.

American drinkers have been conditioned to accept inferior alcohol for 100 years, particularly when it comes to beer. For hundreds of years the world and US drank so called "sissy beer" until the major beer companies got together, bankrupted the thousands of small breweries across the country, and then made their beer with corn/rice.

With whiskey, I concede the ingrediant is corn because of local agricultural capabilities.

American drinkers typically buy cheap alcohol and mix it with soda/other mixers. I think that is the reason folks don't know people who buy scotch as the import costs drive up the price a few dollars more than Old Crow, Jim Beam, Evan Williams, etc.
Also, people buy what is familiar to them. With Euro whiskey being very complex based on region, we have no idea what to buy for that next step up. We stand there in the scotch dept, get scared, and buy a bottle of Wild Turkey 101 instead.

I think people who drink whiskey neat are much more apt to buy scotch. I suspect American drinkers in that category ($50 and up a bottle) probably buy 50/50 scotch/bourbon.

 

[BeeMaa]

I like how the OP had a simple question about the price of a few old bottles of Scotch...
...and we just run with it like a bunch of raging alcoholics.

That's why I like it here.

 

[Trogon]

I appreciate all of the advice and opinions put on this thread, thanks everyone. We're close enough to wish everyone "Merry Christmas" as well.

 

[BeeMaa]

I appreciate all of the advice and opinions put on this thread, thanks everyone. We're close enough to wish everyone "Merry Christmas" as well.

And a Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.
Top up a glass and toast to your next safari.

 

[CoElkHunter]

A good, dark, stout ale! Merry Christmas!

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Just come back from a project in Scotland, tough with all the closures, but we did manage a day in Oban. Found an old pub by the wharf, you could only enjoy a pint if you had a hearty meal, no problem, their fish and chips was excellent. Then a slice of apple pie and a dram of Oban 14 year old to wash it down. Well that now becomes my favourite Scotch, plums, sherry, in fact call it Christmas cake flavours. Off we went to the distillery, right there not even 100 yards away and stocked up with a few bottles.

 

[JPmbogo]

Try Ardbeg 10yr from the remote Scottish Isle of Islay. Looks almost gin clear until you add a splash of H20, then it gets nice and cloudy and tastes like you are sucking on the end of a wet, burnt stick. Good sh**t, mon.

 

[curtism1234]

Oban is the best kept secret of scotch - mild peat, big flavor, and good value on price

 

[BeeMaa]

Smokey and peaty are where it's at for me.
I'm all in on the Isla Scotch Whisky.

Oban is the best kept secret of scotch - mild peat, big flavor, and good value on price

If you like Oban, give Caol Ila a try.
I believe it's an excellent value too.

 

[Ray B]

a dram of Oban 14 year old

How much is that?? with regard to gunpowder a dram was 1/16 of an ounce, so I hope you're getting more than that.

 

[TOBY458]

Smokey and peaty are where it's at for me.
I'm all in on the Isla Scotch Whisky.

If you like Oban, give Caol Ila a try.
I believe it's an excellent value too.

It's amazing how your taste buds grow to enjoy the smokey taste so quickly. When I first bought a bottle of Laphroaig, I hated it. However, since I didn't want to waste it, I started mixing a little of it in with more friendlier Scotch, and before I knew it, I was using more Laphroaig per drink than the other brands. Now I can drink it and actually taste the other flavors underneath the smoke and peat.

 

[BeeMaa]

It's amazing how your taste buds grow to enjoy the smokey taste so quickly. When I first bought a bottle of Laphroaig, I hated it. However, since I didn't want to waste it, I started mixing a little of it in with more friendlier Scotch, and before I knew it, I was using more Laphroaig per drink than the other brands. Now I can drink it and actually taste the other flavors underneath the smoke and peat.

Laphroaig is great.
Big fan of Ardbeg as well.
Lagavulin 16 is my #1 Isla, with Caol Ila being #1a.

Who am I trying to fool...I love 'em all.
But you are right...it takes time to develop a taste for it.
And some never do.
I feel sorry for those people.

 

[fourfive8]

I don't know the nuances to the palate of alcoholic beverages nor their "notes" nor the snobbery of the culture of same. I like an occasional drink for sure and feel soooo verrrry lucky to have zero propensity toward alcoholism to which I thank the genes of my ancestors. Occasionally a shot of good bourbon on the rocks maybe with a dab of water is a treat to me. Not much of a wine drinker- never have been. If the weather is HOT, a single Corona with a slice of lime or a really cold San Miguel in an iced mug does me fine. The rest of the year I'll have a single bottle of creamy Guinness or a Belgian dark like 1554. Long ago and every once in a while I have tried a sip of one of the more expensive, theoretically better Scotch varieties and as was posted in another thread, always tasted like poor whiskey strained through a dirty sock! Sharp taste with a bad after taste! Then, out of the blue- a few years ago tried an inexpensive blended single malt, The Famous Grouse. Voila! Nice, better than any mild bourbon- to me. Single shot over ice, sipped- perfect. The subject of what tastes good, I've learned, is 100% subjective and may have little or nothing to do with cost. For me, doesn't get any better than this.

 

[Ray B]

, The Famous Grouse.

Isn't that the brand that all the protagonists (heros) in W.E.B.Griffins books drank?

 

[jeanes]

The characters in M.C. Beatons Hamish McBeth series drank "the Grouse". I've heard its the best selling scotch in Scotland. I like it for Rusty Nails. I also enjoy Laphroaig and Glenlivet, among others. Dewars 12 is good, as well.