Any scotch drinkers here?
I’ve got my 3 favorite single malts and while I’ve ventured out of the price range a few times I consider $60 a bottle to be about the max without getting hoity-toity.
I’ve been looking into blends lately and have found a few great ones that pound their competitors. Black Grouse and Johnnie Walker Black are both excellent and can be found in the vicinity of $25 if you really search. Bank Note is no joke and that’s even cheaper (and significantly stronger). Famous Grouse is the #1 brand sold in Scotland. It’s dirt cheap and pretty good too, but not really in the league of the Black Grouse. I've enjoyed lots, including many of the popular, sometimes legendary blends like Chivas, Teacher’s and Buchanon’s, but if stepping up to more expensive blends that start competing in price with single malts I'll generally leave them alone in favor of the latter.
My favorite scotches break down like this:
Single Malts
Highland Park 12 (~$50) – Honey, leather, smoke and peat with a spicy finish a mile long. Hands down the greatest scotch I’ve ever had (better than the HP 18 which runs ~$150). If you are stranded on an island for eternity, this is what you want.
Talisker 10 (~$60) – Strong, peaty, smoky, lovely. A must to have around. It's sharp and exacting, and I’m not sure I’d like it any smoother (though I’ve yet to try the further aged lines—this is already pricey).
Glenlivet 15 (~$50) – To me, the Glenlivets taste like life itself. The 12 is amazing, but the 15 refines the brand’s punch perfectly and smooths it to a finely-tuned orchestra, superior to the much more expensive and silky 18.
Blended Whiskeys
Black Grouse (~$30) – This one’s just really hard to beat in its class. You’ve got the smoke and peat that makes it an outstanding follow-up to Highland Park or Talisker, but as a blend it’s much smoother than either. This stuff is no joke and I’m not far from calling it the perfect, affordable blended Scotch whiskey (it’s currently being rebranded and repackaged as Famous Grouse Smoky Black and I’ve not tried the new one).
Johnnie Walker Black (~$35) – This one’s kind of a gold standard. Everyone knows it as an outstanding drink containing much of the smoke and peat of Black Grouse but it doesn’t finish as long and is even smoother. You can’t go wrong with it.
Bank Note (~$20) – This one seems to be a secret that no one yet knows, but it’s a monster of a scotch. It doesn’t have the smoke that I like so much but makes up for it with a sweet spice and a finish that takes all night.
That’s my list, those are my favorites, and it took me years to get that far. Below is what I'd consider the perfect scotch bar without going crazy on prices. If anyone's hording knowledge of favorite brands that have just got to be tried to be believed I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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I’ve got my 3 favorite single malts and while I’ve ventured out of the price range a few times I consider $60 a bottle to be about the max without getting hoity-toity.
I’ve been looking into blends lately and have found a few great ones that pound their competitors. Black Grouse and Johnnie Walker Black are both excellent and can be found in the vicinity of $25 if you really search. Bank Note is no joke and that’s even cheaper (and significantly stronger). Famous Grouse is the #1 brand sold in Scotland. It’s dirt cheap and pretty good too, but not really in the league of the Black Grouse. I've enjoyed lots, including many of the popular, sometimes legendary blends like Chivas, Teacher’s and Buchanon’s, but if stepping up to more expensive blends that start competing in price with single malts I'll generally leave them alone in favor of the latter.
My favorite scotches break down like this:
Single Malts
Highland Park 12 (~$50) – Honey, leather, smoke and peat with a spicy finish a mile long. Hands down the greatest scotch I’ve ever had (better than the HP 18 which runs ~$150). If you are stranded on an island for eternity, this is what you want.
Talisker 10 (~$60) – Strong, peaty, smoky, lovely. A must to have around. It's sharp and exacting, and I’m not sure I’d like it any smoother (though I’ve yet to try the further aged lines—this is already pricey).
Glenlivet 15 (~$50) – To me, the Glenlivets taste like life itself. The 12 is amazing, but the 15 refines the brand’s punch perfectly and smooths it to a finely-tuned orchestra, superior to the much more expensive and silky 18.
Blended Whiskeys
Black Grouse (~$30) – This one’s just really hard to beat in its class. You’ve got the smoke and peat that makes it an outstanding follow-up to Highland Park or Talisker, but as a blend it’s much smoother than either. This stuff is no joke and I’m not far from calling it the perfect, affordable blended Scotch whiskey (it’s currently being rebranded and repackaged as Famous Grouse Smoky Black and I’ve not tried the new one).
Johnnie Walker Black (~$35) – This one’s kind of a gold standard. Everyone knows it as an outstanding drink containing much of the smoke and peat of Black Grouse but it doesn’t finish as long and is even smoother. You can’t go wrong with it.
Bank Note (~$20) – This one seems to be a secret that no one yet knows, but it’s a monster of a scotch. It doesn’t have the smoke that I like so much but makes up for it with a sweet spice and a finish that takes all night.
That’s my list, those are my favorites, and it took me years to get that far. Below is what I'd consider the perfect scotch bar without going crazy on prices. If anyone's hording knowledge of favorite brands that have just got to be tried to be believed I'd love to hear your thoughts.
SAM_6682.jpg
). Anyway, they let us sample some tequilas and we learned the same thing. Tequila isn't meant to get yourself hammered and do shots. The higher end tequila (which we brought a bottle home with us) is meant for sipping, and it also doesn't have the high sugar content like the cheaper party type tequila does. It was quite fascinating and we really enjoyed it.
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