The Whisky thread - The Bear and Badger

Paul the sparky

Yeah, all gin tastes awful to me. Just can't get on with it.

poprock

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Rum tactics if you ask me.

Rum’s an interesting one.

There’s a bit of a slow revolution there, because of a new type of (relatively) small still that came on the market a few years ago. It’s able to switch between working like a pot still and a column still, and basically allows people to cost-efficiently make small batch rum.

Ageing rum properly requires a hot, humid tropical climate, but if you want to create a flavoured or spiced rum then you can work around that. So you’re starting to see artisanal rum come to market in the same way gins did over the last 10/15 years. There’ll be more of those showing up.

The gin market is completely saturated and a lot of the small distillers are seeing flavoured rum as their potential next big thing.

nick_md

I love a gin and tonic, delicious and refreshing, but I can't drink that shit neat, no way. Can happily drink whisky and (dark/spiced) rum neat.

g.man

Never liked gin. Fecking foul stuff.

poprock

I only take gin neat if I’m actually tasting/comparing gins. First take a nip of it neat, then a nip 50/50 with tonic.

If I’m drinking it at home, it’s more like one part gin to four parts tonic.

Like Nick says – it’s a refreshing thing.

g.man

Gives me the boak.

kneecap

It'll put you in touch with your emotions.

Envy, Rage, Anger and Despair.

davyK

I used to drink a lot of gin but rarely touch it now.

When i do it's simple - Plymouth or Beefeater with Schweppes Tonic (or Fever Tree if Wifey has bought it). Plenty of ice.

Maybe a wedge of lemon or lime but that's it.

However if I am in the right establishment - a proper Martini goes down well.

Moot_Geeza

Love those Fever Tree ginger beers/ales. No point in me buying them to stick in the cupboard for mixers because if they're in the house I'll drink them.

The Daddy

Makers Mark 46 is £30 on amazon today. Rude not to.

The Daddy

Whisky fest yesterday. After a dip in form a few years back it seems to be back on track for quality, largely through a few relative newcomers putting the effort in to what they make available as part of the cost.

Kilchoman was a standout, some really nice whiskies, only one of which required a special token.

The stingiest stand was the Suntory group, who own Bowmore, Auchentoshan, Laphroaig etc. Mostly supermarket whiskies available from them, and anything better than a bottom shelfer needed a token. The glenlivet lot were much more generous.

There was a stand from “Whisky Works”, who I’d never heard of. Basically it’s a hipster offshoot from Whyte & Mackay. The sort of stuff that’s style over substance, and priced at a level that I’d never buy. Having said that, all four of their selections were available without a token, and were all very different and pretty nice.

This £150 one was a standout:

https://www.thewhiskyworks.com/our-whiskies/20yr-speyside/

There was also a Swedish stand, they were surprisingly good. The guy running the stand really new his stuff. Was also impressed with the Cotswold stand, they seem to know their stuff.

The Daddy

Also, I have a bad head.

davyK

Tried Jack Daniels single barrel.

Nonplussed - but I wasn't paying attention - just drinking it socially with ice and water. Need to sit down and try it again slowly.

Webbins

I once plumped for a bottle of Gentleman Jack but found it to be no upgrade on OG Jack. I think I actually preferred the latter. Never tried SB.

GooberTheHat

The only JD I've tried that I've got any time for is their rye whiskey.

Moot_Geeza

I'm a fan of the single barrel, occasionally grab one when it's on offer. Someone on here was saying it's not as nice as it used to be, haven't had it for a while, but defo liked it last time I did. The rye JD I was oddly not keen on, given that Bulleit Rye is one of the tastiest things around. It's very nice in an old fashioned, but I mostly drink the Bulleit neat and the JD rye didn't do it for me with nothing in it unfortunately.

GooberTheHat

I'd take bulleit rye over JD, but I'm not averse to the JD stuff.

Webbins

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51695464

Saw this and thought of you today, Goobs. I dare say you won't be shedding a tear.

cockbeard

Not seen it in ages, but found some Crested Ten last night. Ciaron picked some up by accident years back at Ryans but kept it in stock forever as it's bloody lovely. Still bloody lovely, will recommend. Probably my second favourite blend after Johnny Black

GooberTheHat

Webbins wrote:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51695464

Saw this and thought of you today, Goobs. I dare say you won't be shedding a tear.

Haha, I read that earlier and my first thought was "good".

davyK

Webbins wrote:

I once plumped for a bottle of Gentleman Jack but found it to be no upgrade on OG Jack. I think I actually preferred the latter. Never tried SB.

I actually quite like Gentleman Jack and expecting better from the single barrel.

The Daddy

I think Single Barrel has gone downhill in recent years. Used to be a pretty hard to get hold of £50 bottle. Was lovely. Now it’s more of a mass-market thing it’s not as good.

davyK

That explains it. Got it in a deal - wouldn't have paid the full price which was nearly £30 higher.

Gremill

The Daddy wrote:

Whisky fest yesterday. After a dip in form a few years back it seems to be back on track for quality, largely through a few relative newcomers putting the effort in to what they make available as part of the cost.

Kilchoman was a standout, some really nice whiskies, only one of which required a special token.

The stingiest stand was the Suntory group, who own Bowmore, Auchentoshan, Laphroaig etc. Mostly supermarket whiskies available from them, and anything better than a bottom shelfer needed a token. The glenlivet lot were much more generous.

There was a stand from “Whisky Works”, who I’d never heard of. Basically it’s a hipster offshoot from Whyte & Mackay. The sort of stuff that’s style over substance, and priced at a level that I’d never buy. Having said that, all four of their selections were available without a token, and were all very different and pretty nice.

This £150 one was a standout:

https://www.thewhiskyworks.com/our-whiskies/20yr-speyside/

There was also a Swedish stand, they were surprisingly good. The guy running the stand really new his stuff. Was also impressed with the Cotswold stand, they seem to know their stuff.

I stopped going a few years ago because it had been really shite for the last three I'd been to. But then I looked up this year's line up and felt regret, because it looked great. Glad it was.

Lord_Griff

Slim pickings but grabbed an Aberlour 12 for 30 quid in sainsburys

Lord_Griff

Fyi, a pleasant tipple.

Moot_Geeza

Ardmore Legacy is down to £20 on Amazon (from £32 I think). Never had it, but I'm out of peaty stuff so I bought two.

nick_md

Co-op still have plenty of their own brand stuff in.

Webbins

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Ardmore Legacy is down to £20 on Amazon (from £32 I think). Never had it, but I'm out of peaty stuff so I bought two.

Had a bottle a good while back. A NAS replacement for their 10yo which was pretty good. Don't remember it being as good due to its youth but still a tasty drop and great value at twenty notes.

Moot_Geeza

Bottles arrived. It's....okay. Worth the £20 niceprice and it's good to have some peatiness to hand after a hiatus, but I wouldn't pay £32.

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