A wee drop of whisky

[woollypigs]

Can you guess which island I'm on today, here's a clue

[Wowbagger]

Barra?

[andrewc]

Barra?

That's what Peli had to carry him home in..... 

[Clare]

That is THE BEST CHAIR EVAH.

[Tigerrr]

I have probably posted this before but you can make a completely wonderful version of Macallans finest sherry aged Malt by slipping a spoonful of cheap cooking PX sherry into Lidl's Highland Malt.
Its a 'known' fix and PX/prune juice is used to 'push' Scotch flavour. Its basically what e.g. Glenmorangie do in their 'finishing' process, using casks. 
You can also achieve remarkable effects with fresh oak shavings left in a bottle of indifferent scotch, or a drop of vanilla essence to save time.
Appreciate it doesn't have the magic of the branded versions but always worth playing about. The results can be quite amazing, replicating taste profile of products that cost hundreds for a few pence.
There are some lovely ways to use products like Talisker with e.g. JW Black/Red Label to create a super smooth blend with a heavy peaty base kick - essentially the delivery of JW Double Black.

[rogerzilla]

That is THE BEST CHAIR EVAH.

Is it a shark or Domo-Kun?

[Clare]

That is THE BEST CHAIR EVAH.

Is it a shark or Domo-Kun?

Sorry, missed this.

It must be a shark, the mouth shape is wrong for a Domu-Kun

[woollypigs]

A wee rant: I have noticed over the last few years quite a few distilleries have gone tru a re-branding both of the packaging and the lovely stuff within the bottles.

Like Highland Park, I have lost count of how many models there is and they haven't made it easy to figure out which is which either. Same goes with Glenfiddich and I'm sure there is others that have done the same, just can't think of them atm.

In them there good old days you knew that this distillery got a peaty taste, they have 3-4 for ages or what kind of barrels the drop was aged in. Now they mix it all up and you are not even sure they are Highland or Islay etc.

I fell in love with the Strathisla 12 year old, sadly after a lot of searching I have found out that they are now discontinuing it. I contacted the distillery and the reply filled me sadness. Cause the person writing the reply spend a lot of time talking about the branding (I don't care about the colour or the font on the label, I drink it because what's within the bottle). And they also said they are changing the name of the whisky along with recipe - they are doing a New Coke on it.

This also make it harder to remember if you have tried X or Y.

I do like what is happening with micro breweries as I like to try different beer flavours, but not my whisky I want the same old

Signed Gutted

[andrewc]

You'll have to start doing your own mate!   Afterwards you might need to drive to Barnard Castle to check your eyesight..


I remember a pleasant weekend in Clapham with Wowbagger & Canardly (& Kim as responsible adult).  I think we got through 2 bottles of Highland Park (amongst other stuff) and they were both different editions.   Scapa is a lovely dram, but I've not had it for ages.


Did you ever read "Raw Spirit" by Iain Banks ?  His mission to taste as many malts as possible.  I seem to remember a Porsche being flipped at one stage......

[woollypigs]

You'll have to start doing your own mate! 

It's crossed my mind to try make some, but it a struggle to wait 4 weeks for my home brewed beer. So there is no way I can wait 12 years for a drop LOL

[Hot Flatus]

A wee rant: I have noticed over the last few years quite a few distilleries have gone tru a re-branding both of the packaging and the lovely stuff within the bottles.

Like Highland Park, I have lost count of how many models there is and they haven't made it easy to figure out which is which either. Same goes with Glenfiddich and I'm sure there is others that have done the same, just can't think of them atm.

In them there good old days you knew that this distillery got a peaty taste, they have 3-4 for ages or what kind of barrels the drop was aged in. Now they mix it all up and you are not even sure they are Highland or Islay etc.

I fell in love with the Strathisla 12 year old, sadly after a lot of searching I have found out that they are now discontinuing it. I contacted the distillery and the reply filled me sadness. Cause the person writing the reply spend a lot of time talking about the branding (I don't care about the colour or the font on the label, I drink it because what's within the bottle). And they also said they are changing the name of the whisky along with recipe - they are doing a New Coke on it.

This also make it harder to remember if you have tried X or Y.

I do like what is happening with micro breweries as I like to try different beer flavours, but not my whisky I want the same old

Signed Gutted

Simple answer to this one...  NAS whisky.

Massive upsurge in Far east and Indian markets over the last decade and stocks of older whisky are depleted and distilleries can't keepupwith demand. Therefore, they are abandoning age statements and going for Non Age Statement, which means rather than having a number on the bottle there is now a name.Or indeed many names.

Coupled with this is the popularity of cask expressions, whereby they fuck the whisjkyn into a port/sherry/bordeaux cask after the obligatory ex-bourbon Oak cask. These oak casks are cheap, because the US law requires them to be replaced. Therefore glut of barrels on market. Sherry/port etc less so.

Ditto peat. Speyside used to be peated many years ago, then wasn't and became known for astringent clear flavours. Now some of the progressive distilleries like Ben Riach are producing peated and unpeated whiskies as well as a dazzling array of cask expressions.

Anyway, if in doubt the answer is always Macallan 12.

[Mr Larrington]

You'll have to start doing your own mate! 

It's crossed my mind to try make some, but it a struggle to wait 4 weeks for my home brewed beer. So there is no way I can wait 12 years for a drop LOL

Isn't there a law against that sort of thing?  My grate frend Al used to roll his own, but he's USAnian.

[andrewc]

You'll have to start doing your own mate! 

It's crossed my mind to try make some, but it a struggle to wait 4 weeks for my home brewed beer. So there is no way I can wait 12 years for a drop LOL

Isn't there a law against that sort of thing?  My grate frend Al used to roll his own, but he's USAnian.

I was following my instincts M'lud...

[Wowbagger]

You'll have to start doing your own mate! 

It's crossed my mind to try make some, but it a struggle to wait 4 weeks for my home brewed beer. So there is no way I can wait 12 years for a drop LOL

Isn't there a law against that sort of thing?  My grate frend Al used to roll his own, but he's USAnian.

I was following my instincts M'lud...

When I used to wear a CPAP mask at night, I bought my own still for distilling water to put in the humidifier unit. The same company sold stills suitable for ethyl alcohol.

https://www.braumarkt.com/en/liqueur-distillate/alcohol-equipment/distillers/still-spirits-air-still-distiller?gclid=CjwKCAjw26H3BRB2EiwAy32zhaWTWMdWrCXPI8l2e-oHBCSGlVWtDwQJSjkwNO7bHpOH311qGD_kDBoCTnkQAvD_BwE

That sort of thing.

[woollypigs]

A wee rant: I have noticed over the last few years quite a few distilleries have gone tru a re-branding both of the packaging and the lovely stuff within the bottles.

Like Highland Park, I have lost count of how many models there is and they haven't made it easy to figure out which is which either. Same goes with Glenfiddich and I'm sure there is others that have done the same, just can't think of them atm.

In them there good old days you knew that this distillery got a peaty taste, they have 3-4 for ages or what kind of barrels the drop was aged in. Now they mix it all up and you are not even sure they are Highland or Islay etc.

I fell in love with the Strathisla 12 year old, sadly after a lot of searching I have found out that they are now discontinuing it. I contacted the distillery and the reply filled me sadness. Cause the person writing the reply spend a lot of time talking about the branding (I don't care about the colour or the font on the label, I drink it because what's within the bottle). And they also said they are changing the name of the whisky along with recipe - they are doing a New Coke on it.

This also make it harder to remember if you have tried X or Y.

I do like what is happening with micro breweries as I like to try different beer flavours, but not my whisky I want the same old

Signed Gutted

After some emails to and from Peron Richards aka Chivas Brothers aka Strathisla, I managed to hunt down of two bottles direct from the horses mouth, who let me know that they only had about 50 bottles left and only shipped within the UK. I had to talk them into accepting a bank transfer as they normally didn't do that for a small order. It kinda sounded like the Strathisla wasn't on the books in the store anymore.

So I'm a happy bunny and this drop is only going to be drunk on VERY special occasions, cause this is going to last.

Since they are playing around with the recipe on this one, I wonder how their Chivas Regal 12 years "normal" blend is going to taste. Cause the Strathisla 12 year old, was/is a big part of that blend. Also further along with the rant, I see that Chivas now got 10 different flavours and their websites talks about making cocktails and such things with their drink. Not that I care much cause the Regal never fancied my tickle. Just funny that their main ingredient was so good. 

[Tigerrr]

A wee rant: I have noticed over the last few years quite a few distilleries have gone tru a re-branding both of the packaging and the lovely stuff within the bottles.

Like Highland Park, I have lost count of how many models there is and they haven't made it easy to figure out which is which either. Same goes with Glenfiddich and I'm sure there is others that have done the same, just can't think of them atm.

In them there good old days you knew that this distillery got a peaty taste, they have 3-4 for ages or what kind of barrels the drop was aged in. Now they mix it all up and you are not even sure they are Highland or Islay etc.

I fell in love with the Strathisla 12 year old, sadly after a lot of searching I have found out that they are now discontinuing it. I contacted the distillery and the reply filled me sadness. Cause the person writing the reply spend a lot of time talking about the branding (I don't care about the colour or the font on the label, I drink it because what's within the bottle). And they also said they are changing the name of the whisky along with recipe - they are doing a New Coke on it.

This also make it harder to remember if you have tried X or Y.

I do like what is happening with micro breweries as I like to try different beer flavours, but not my whisky I want the same old

Signed Gutted

It's the business model. The basic problem in Scotch is the cost of ageing (think what a 15yo wine would cost - at a quarter of the alcohol content - it's insane) and in Malt the limited supply at age. The route to profit is in brand recognition, age reduction, and range proliferation to use recently increased production capability.
Most premium UK drinkers are malt focussed but brand promiscuous.
The objective of the brand is to increase brand loyalty so releasing variants encourages experimentation within the brand rather than exploration. It's no coincidence that almost every release de-emphasises ageing which is the biggest cost factor. It's all about locking the drinker into the brand and trading up in value while down in cost.

[ian]

You'll have to start doing your own mate! 

It's crossed my mind to try make some, but it a struggle to wait 4 weeks for my home brewed beer. So there is no way I can wait 12 years for a drop LOL

Isn't there a law against that sort of thing?  My grate frend Al used to roll his own, but he's USAnian.

You can buy stills but you can't legally use them – if I recall, it's actually impossible to do so, since the dark powers of C&E will only judge your application for a licence if you're distilling some specified number of hectolitres. That's the sort of thing you'd regret the morning after the night before. Basically no one much cares if it's home use and you don't attempt to sell it down the market.

A Serbian friend of mine turned up the other year, opened his suitcase and handed me a five litres jug rakija he'd boiled up in his back garden. He'd apparently made 250 litres that year.

As for whisky, it'll be fun when everyone realises that most of the malt comes from the EU.

[Hot Flatus]

Not so sure storage cost is the reason behind the proliferation of NAS whisky. Industry voices (often those insisting on age statement) say it is almost entirely down to running out of stocks.

Loads of distilleries have been de-mothballed because there is a resurgent whisky market (particularly US, India and EU). The old whisky has run out*



* Jaded drank most of a beautiful 30 yr old Strathisla I had about 6 or 7 years ago. It cost me £105.  Now, if you can find one it is £600.

[Hot Flatus]

You'll have to start doing your own mate! 

It's crossed my mind to try make some, but it a struggle to wait 4 weeks for my home brewed beer. So there is no way I can wait 12 years for a drop LOL

Isn't there a law against that sort of thing?  My grate frend Al used to roll his own, but he's USAnian.

You can buy stills but you can't legally use them – if I recall, it's actually impossible to do so, since the dark powers of C&E will only judge your application for a licence if you're distilling some specified number of hectolitres. That's the sort of thing you'd regret the morning after the night before. Basically no one much cares if it's home use and you don't attempt to sell it down the market.

A Serbian friend of mine turned up the other year, opened his suitcase and handed me a five litres jug rakija he'd boiled up in his back garden. He'd apparently made 250 litres that year.

As for whisky, it'll be fun when everyone realises that most of the malt comes from the EU.

One of my friends rode across Europe and into Asia. Whilst crossing Iran he noticed that every town seemed to have a plethora of shops selling laboratory equipment, often with a still in pride of place in the window display. His bafflement stopped when he started finding similar shops even in small villages.

[ElyDave]

A wee rant: I have noticed over the last few years quite a few distilleries have gone tru a re-branding both of the packaging and the lovely stuff within the bottles.

Like Highland Park, I have lost count of how many models there is and they haven't made it easy to figure out which is which either. Same goes with Glenfiddich and I'm sure there is others that have done the same, just can't think of them atm.

In them there good old days you knew that this distillery got a peaty taste, they have 3-4 for ages or what kind of barrels the drop was aged in. Now they mix it all up and you are not even sure they are Highland or Islay etc.

I fell in love with the Strathisla 12 year old, sadly after a lot of searching I have found out that they are now discontinuing it. I contacted the distillery and the reply filled me sadness. Cause the person writing the reply spend a lot of time talking about the branding (I don't care about the colour or the font on the label, I drink it because what's within the bottle). And they also said they are changing the name of the whisky along with recipe - they are doing a New Coke on it.

This also make it harder to remember if you have tried X or Y.

I do like what is happening with micro breweries as I like to try different beer flavours, but not my whisky I want the same old

Signed Gutted

Jura would be the one that springs to mind, used to be 12, 15, 18 YO etc, now it's all Journey This, Expression that... bollocks!

Dissapointed in Strathisla doing the same though, that was a nice dram, as long as they don't play with the contents.

[Hot Flatus]

Yeah Strathisla 12 was, about 7 or 8 years ago, an amazing whisky for not much money.

The 30 yr old I mentioned above was incredible. At its peak I think. Any more oak and it would have been shit.

[woollypigs]

ElyDave sadly this is from the horses mouth

We have changed over to a new packaging on the Strathisla 12yo hence why you are not able to purchase the old package anymore as it has been discontinued.

 

The new bottle is now available under a new Chivas Regal packaging and it is currently only available in Strathisla distillery Brand Home shop or Australia.

 

The recipe in the new one has also changed a bit as well, it is a bit more richer on the tasting notes.

Regarding the old package yes not much but we still have some stock left.  When this stock is finished we will not be able to supply the old package any more.

 

[Jaded]

Not so sure storage cost is the reason behind the proliferation of NAS whisky. Industry voices (often those insisting on age statement) say it is almost entirely down to running out of stocks.

Loads of distilleries have been de-mothballed because there is a resurgent whisky market (particularly US, India and EU). The old whisky has run out*



* Jaded drank most of a beautiful 30 yr old Strathisla I had about 6 or 7 years ago. It cost me £105.  Now, if you can find one it is £600.

It was rather good

[citoyen]

OK, connoisseurs, where's a good place to buy whisky online? whiskyshop.com looks like it has a decent selection but I've never used it and can't really claim to be knowledgeable enough on the subject to make a well-informed decision.

It's for a gift, budget is £35, so any recommendations would be welcome too. I thought this one looked decent - is it?
https://www.whiskyshop.com/laphroaig-select

(I have no idea where the recipient's tastes lie on the whisky spectrum.)

[woollypigs]

Have had great success with these two

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/
https://www.masterofmalt.com/

I haven't tried to order online here but this is my local shop for such things

https://wineandwhisky.co.uk/

As for recommendations it all depends, honestly, but for your budget you can get a good drop, so don't worry too much there. I for one don't like the Laphroaig much but I know others do.

Heck even from other places you can get a Old Pulteney 12 Year Old Single Malt for under £30 (on whisky shop it's £44). And for me that's an nice an easy drop.