[Phsstpok]

I discovered The Macallan through a series of books by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris, The Adept series, about an "occult detective." Think Sherlock Holmes dealing with a black magic Moriarty. The hero was a Scottish psychiatrist (I picture Pierce Brosnan). Good books, but I enjoyed them most for the "atmospheric" descriptions of Scotland and England. Early on they spent a good bit of time on the merits of The Macallan.

During the time I was reading these books I was taken to a nice restaurant in Raleigh, North Carolina, by IBM on a business trip. They prided themselves on a great cellar for both wines and whiskeys. Since it was on the vendors dime I asked if they had this single malt I'd heard of. It turned out they did and it was one dollar per year of aging, per shot. I went with the 18 (which turned out to be the best available at the time) rather than the 25. I was hooked!

I've since learned more about all whiskeys and have found the consensus of Scots is that the Famous Grouse is the one they choose, if they're having a blend.  That's good enough for me.  Of the American whiskey's I prefer the "sippin whiskeys" like Old Weller and the previously mentioned Jack Daniels, but it's too expensive for normal consumption.  I compromise on a Kentucky Bourbon whiskey, Evan Williams (neat, of course).

[AnAmericanMother]

The Macallan is a very good whisky, I will grant you that.

But try Laphroaig, my personal favorite. It's an Islay malt without being too Islay, I think. They make a 30 and a 15, but my favorite is the 10. A little iodinish and sweet, but a nice well-rounded Scotch flavor. I much prefer it to Lagavulin, which tastes like paint thinner to me. On the other hand, my husband likes the Lagavulin better. You could throw a rock from one distillery and hit the other, if you had a major league arm . . .

[mathluv]

Isn't Famous Grouse the libation of choice in the W.E.B. Griffith books?