[Archangelsk]

Belly up to the bar.

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[Malacoda]

Laphroaig bump!

[livius]

Interesting. Of the blends, I like Johnnie Red (not Black). I also like the Balvenie Doublewood, and the smokier Islay single malts.

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.

[Polonius]

Having a Highland Park to get the whole sensory experience while reading this article. For some reason, I have the sudden urge to go to Scotland ...

[Hugin]

Fortunately a lot of Scots migrated to Virginia and thence to Kentucky where they invented Bourbon.

The hard times for small Scotish distilleries is our good fortune though. I've found some very good 12 year old single malt scotches at Trader Joe's in the $10-12 range.

[fourdeuce82d]

I've never regretted not being a Oeniphile- but I feel I've missed out not developing a taste for Scotch. Alas alack...I'm a double shot of well vodka & splash of seven for color kind of guy. Does the job, minimal hangover, but 0 on the panache scale.

[Liberty Valance]

Well I've got Dewars but I WANT The MacAllan.
Thanks for posting this. Sounds like a fine place to visit.

Regards,
Liberty

[pgobrien]

Dalwhinnie for this lad.....a fine post....inspirational!

[Eala]

Obh, obh, mo chreach 'sa thainig! (Tr: "Jeeeez...!")

The word whiskey, after all, evolved from the Gaelic word usquebaugh

It's "whisky", not "whiskey." The latter stuff's Irish, and significantly different. (Though with all due respect to my Irish friends: De gustibus non dispudandum est.)

And where that spelling comes from, the Good Lord only knows. It's "Uisge beatha" (pn., to an American, "oosh'ka bay'ah). "Water of-life."

But Laphroaig ("la'froik") is, to me, best.

[djf]

When I was a young man, I drank quite a bit of Dewars an Passport. I graduated to Glen Livet and very occasionally, Glen Fiddich. Have yet to savor the pleasure of Glan Farclas.

And it goes without saying they are accompanied by an Ashton Cabinet, which, when they get down to about two and a half inches, turn on my telepathic powers and X-ray vision!

[gc4nra]

"Scotch Wiskey, it's not just for breakfast anymore!"

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Elgin and Banff, two fine places for a drink, though the Egg and Dart in Aberdeen remains my favorite in the lowlands.

[chuknospam]

I'll bump for The Balvine single malt and the Balvenie Doublewood. Enjoying some right now, straight up no ice.

[Celtic Conservative]

One word : kardhu. scottish single malt. Wickedly smooth, and d*mn hard to find.

[concentric circles]

MaCallan stills, uisge beatha, fhuair mi mo neamh an seo's an aite.

[Cogadh na Sith]

It is the most wonderful thread ever.....

[Intolerant in NJ]

...what kind of cask is used (old bourbon barrels, old sherry butts, new oak), how long the whiskey is kept in wood (once it is bottled, the maturing process stops), where (a damp cellar or a dry one)...have seen a couple of good programs on the production of scotch recently on cable - the most fascinating part of the process for me is aging - while it "matures" in barrels some of the whiskey is actually absorbed by the wood, where it starts to pick up its unique flavoring - and over the course of years, with changes in weather, humidity levels, and other factors, some of the liquid is forced back into the barrel, then back into the wood again - it's this migration in and out of the wood from which the barrels are made which actually "ages" the scotch, thus making the time in barrels, the kind of wood used, and even outside factors such as the "saltiness" of the atmosphere critical in determining the eventual quality and taste of the whiskey.....

[djf]

Gentlemans bump, as there are still over four hours here on the west coast to indulge! (And I plan to!)
Love these threads where people just show they are happy to be alive.

[wideminded]

The "sour beer," known as "wash," is then run successively through a pair of heated stills, bulbous at the bottom, narrow at the top, with a swan's neck extending down to a coiled copper pipe in a tank of cold water that converts the resulting vapor back into liquid. The first part of the run (the foreshots) and the last (the feints), both full of impurities, are eliminated.

I'm not much of a drinker, but I have always been curious about the distilling process. If I understand the description correctly, whiskey must be composed entirely of volatile compounds. And these must tend to be driven off at varying rates so that the composition of the final whiskey changes as it is collected. Is it necessary to add water to adjust the proof or does that all come throught the tube?

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Scotland: Home of rugged men, homely women, strong whiskey and a bunch of sheep.

No wonder the sheep are nervous.