Scotch Whiskey: A Rugged Drink for a Rugged Land

The NY Times ^ | 071603 | R.W. Apple

[zeebee]

The best I've ever had was not even single malt:
Ballantines Aged 30 Years

$478. USD/bottle

To me, the age is the most important. Different regions produce different tastes and that adds spice, but smoothness is first.

These days I settle for Oban (14 yr single malt) or Pinch (15 yr blend)
Both excellent but no match for that 30 year stuff.

[Mamzelle]

I do not like wine, either. Tastes like mildewy wood, except for the fresh young wines, or some folk wines, the ones that the snobs won't drink.

But, all you need to do to appreciate good Scotch, or Irish whiskey, or bourbon...is to invest in one excellent bottle, maybe eighteen years old. Unlike wine, which seems to get nastier with age, Scotch gets smoother.

[Mamzelle]

I see the Jameson...isn't that the Irish? How do you like it? I once had the opportunity to do a tasting and found that the less fancy-priced Jameson was actually better.

[AnAmericanMother]

Re: wine

Depends on your wine! Most wines do get nastier with age - they reach a point where they stop maturing and start breaking down. The soft Merlots and Cabernets that are fashionable right now do not generally age well, you drink them when they are 5-10 years old (depending) and that's it.

But a really good quality claret or Bordeaux (usually premier cru, but vineyards have changed around since the last classification, which was in 1855 IIRC) from a great vintage year will be absolutely undrinkable when young because of the harsh tannins. You have to wait about 20 years for the tannins to settle down and the flavor to smooth out. But it is really, truly worth the wait. We bought three bottles of 1982 Margaux back in 1984 purely on the prediction in the Wine Spectator that it would be a great year. (1983 which was unsung at the time has turned out to be as good or even better.) We opened one recently, and it's like drinking dark liquid velvet - rich, smooth, blackcurranty, spicy, with just the faintest hint of oak way in the background. They must drink this stuff in heaven.

Another drink that's worth the wait is vintage Port at 25 years plus. We laid down a case of Taylor Fladgate '85 for my daughter when she was born - it'll be ready when she turns 21.

[Mamzelle]

Years ago I tried to make something of a study of wine, mostly because I love to cook and have wine as an accompanyment. I even joined a club so that I could taste the really "good" ones without spending too much money.

The present fashion of merlots is almost funny--I used to try them and the general consensus of my "instructors" was that merlots were so bland and dreary that they were fit only to cut the harsher wines in a blend.

Never did develop a palate--and my preferred wines are some local "folk" wines that are invariably new, bright, and never spent much, if any, time in wood. If I serve wine with a meal, I try to have someone who likes it pick it out.

But I do like a nice old scotch/irish/bourbon. What tastes like mildewed wood in a cabernet (the varietal I've learned to hate), seems to taste very nice in a scotch. Maybe the increased alcohol % kills off some of the mildew fungus...(g)

[AnAmericanMother]

De gustibus non disputandem. (Actually all this wine snobbery can be counterproductive, if you wind up believing it to the extent that you drink what is "in" rather than what you LIKE. For heaven's sake, drink what you like. If you're ashamed of drinking Gallo or Thunderbird or whatever, put a napkin over the label. :-D )

But if somebody leaves you a good cellar in their will, call me! :-D

[Mamzelle]

BTW--one cabernet I could drink without puckering was a Kendall Jackson 97. I bought a little so I could have something "nice" to serve. Maybe you'd enjoy trying that one--it was dry without all that alum and strangeness. I do like some Spanish sherries, chiantis, and young German wines.

[Mamzelle]

Well, not quite Ripple...(g). Locally, I enjoy buying some scuppernong wines produced by a vineyard in Atlanta. Another place in NC produces some musky wild-grape wines. I'm a real sucker for "local".

[river rat]

Ah yes.....Scotland...
Ancestral home to some of the best men amongst us....

Also - one of the most underrated vacation destinations.
When my sainted wife suggested Scotland - years ago, I though - Oh hell, another boring vacation......
It turned out to be amongst my favorite 3 destinations...

While my wife shopped, ENDLESSLY --- I "sampled" the various single malt adult refreshments.... I concluded there is no bad Scotch....Although some are far finer that others....
Fine Scotch appears to be one of those cases of where "you get what you pay for".....
And, for the best Scotch, you must be willing to part with the coin of the realm....
Speaking frankly - if you have to ask how much the drink costs - perhaps you shouldn't be drinking...

Word of experienced advice....
Do NOT send your wife to the store to buy your preferred bottle of Scotch..
There is NO way you can explain to a woman, WHY that "little bottle" is worth more that you earned per week as a young man...

Semper Fi

[cowtowney]

'I drank single malt for ten years...then I heard my doctor's terrible words.."you are allergic to iodine..." '

That's funny, I tell my wife I'm allergic to ice when I wake up with a hangover. I've never thought of getting my doctor involved, though. I'll keep that in mind.

[Meglos]

I see the Jameson...isn't that the Irish? How do you like it? I once had the opportunity to do a tasting and found that the less fancy-priced Jameson was actually better.

Yup. Funny you should ask. The 12 yr. Jameson ("Jameson 1780") is usually what I drink when I can't decide what I want, probably because it tastes kind of like the single malts I prefer.

[Meglos]

Noticed your Balvenie Portwood -- my personal all time favorite. The flavors it has picked up from the port casks make it incredibly smooth and rich. Looks like you haven't opened the bottle yet. You'll enjoy it.

You know, I just noticed that about half the bottles in that photo are unopened. That's for two reasons: (1) I just happened to restock a couple of weeks ago, and (2) also because I often wait for a special occasion to pop the really good ones (especially since a few of them were gifts), and then wind up not doing it. So... I think tonight's the night. I'm going to open a few and have a little tasting.

[PJ-Comix]

Another of Speyside's stars is Glenfiddich, the largest-selling malt worldwide, which is owned by William Grant & Sons, an independent company.

Glenfiddich! Great stuff. I drank a bottle of it once. Passed out. And when I woke up the next day, didn't have the slightest hangover. SMOOOOOOOOTH!!!

[PJ-Comix]

One of these days I plan to take one of those delightful Scotch tasting tours where they drive you from distillery to distillery, out there among the heather and the sheep.

Say hello to the drunk Germans passed out along the road. I read that German tourists LOVE visiting the distilleries in Scotland, drinking themselves senseless, passing out nearby, and when they recuperate, go on to another Scotch distillery. The odd thing is that it sort of sounds like fun.

[PJ-Comix]

I've found some very good 12 year old single malt scotches at Trader Joe's in the $10-12 range.

You just hit my jealousy button. I used to go to Trader Joe's alot when I lived in La-La Land but we don't have them here in South Florida. I remember buying 6-packs of my beloved Asahi beer for just $3.50.

[Hokie Bird]

I'll be looking forward to your report on the Portwood.

[PJ-Comix]

I have my asbestos suit on - as I couldn't stand scotch!

Maybe you were drinking bad Scotch. Try Glenfiddich.

[Meglos]

We went on a driving trip through England, Wales, and Scotland five years ago. We did manage to visit two distilleries — Glenlivet and Glen Ord — and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I've still got great memories, especially, of the Glen Ord tour because of an 80+ year old woman from Bath (pronouced "baahhhth") whom we decided to accompany on the tour because she had a little bit of a hard time keeping up with the rest of the group, but was delightfully entertaining and a pleasure to talk to. She spent some time explaining to us that she preferred whiskys other than Glen Ord, which she found too sweet.

If you can handle a reversed world (driving on the left), a driving tour of Britain is an absolute delight. One of our favorite trips ever. We logged about 2200 miles and enjoyed just about every minute of it. Well... the first day or two of learning to drive on the left in London, perhaps, was a bit stressful.

[livius]

Yes, Germans are pretty awful about that, in any country. I was in a town in Mexico once when a tour bus disgorged a bunch of Germans at a nearby bar, all of them yelling in their hideous accent, "Cerveza, cerveza, rapido, rapido," which sounded like "wapito, wapito" and made all the Mexicans laugh.

But we can just step over them and head on to the next distillery. If we get there first, there's more for us...

[jjbrouwer]

Jameson's is easily my favourite whiskey. Not so keep on the Scottish varieties.

I quite like Canadian whiskey too. Crown Royal (coke) and Canadian Club (ginger ale) are very good.