Some hard choices. Went the  Derwent  simply as I haven’t had it before. 

On 31/01/2024 at 6:09 PM, tripitaka said:

Cheers, gentle folk of StereoNet

🍷🍷

 

Humble apologies, I'm in the whisky thread😊

 

 

it's never too late!

Grabbed a small bottle of this yesterday, as it hasn't been bottled and labelled yet and I'm doing the Red Hill Market tomorrow. I am always getting the question 'is there a Port Cask aged whisky?' - well now there is.

Quite a hot nose, but a lovely maple jaffa smell. But the taste is sooo smooth. If no-one asks for a taste on the weekend, I may have to finish it myself!

Glorious

Had a tastings the other Weekend with my long time mate...who is organizing a Whisky Blog...called a "HardMalt"...he's going to try and organize this Whisky Blog after he comes back from a trip to Scotland the next month! Looking forward to what he does declare from his return trip! 😉

Okay pictured is the Glendronnach's and the beautiful chilled Bent Spoke Beers in chilled glasses to start the night of...

 

 

Well the agreed winner on the night was a sue-prize...the Middleton won...without any argument and silly qualifications!...bouquet, taste...in a canter!

It was the smoothness on the palette without burn that gave the Middleton(mine!) the edge over all the others!

Now to the Glendronachs...I am at a loss as to how to explain their tastings!

We were both looking forward to tasting the 21yo Parliament...it was a first time for both of us imbibing the 21yo!

Matured in a combination of Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks for a minimum of 21 years.

Well it tis at that!

21 years also sounds like a heavy Jail sentence! 

We poured a glass each in great anticipation...and let it breath...well I reckon it didn't breath on first release!

It gasped, coughed and spluttered like a cat with its first coughed up and then down fur ball!

The better half walked in...sniffed the air appreciatively...and commentated with...is that sherry your both drinking?!? not whisky?!?!?...

Man talk about a sherry bomb! Ka-booom...shaka shakka...wham bang...diddley umm dumm...phew!

All I can say after my first quaff...is that ...Well this could be the last time This could be the last time Maybe the last time I don't know Oh no, oh no...definitely the last time I try the Glendronachs!

So heavy on the nose...so heavy in fact that after a while of poking your nose into the glass and sniffing it all in...your nose canna make sense of anything...it's been subdued and temporarily put out to pasture!

(Now I know how a blind person feels when first walking into a darkened room...your out of whack...totally disorientated with no reference points to guide you along...arms waving frantically in front of you...help!)

Your total environment is just black...and for the nose, its a similar experience, its  just sherry!

Now for the taste...have we all been here before?!? Its just sherry!

Heavily sherried, slight burn, unpleasant to drink...and so not for me!

I look at my mate and I say...is this a whisky for the Australian climes?!?...not sure!

I look at my mate and I say...is this a whisky for snowy winters and slow imbibing by a scottish wood burning fireplace?!?!?...maybe?!!!

Its just sherry!

Let me repeat!

 

 

Edited April 22, 20241 yr by BLAH BLAH

 

A couple of purchases from a recent trip to Japan. I wanted to buy something reasonable to remember the trip by, without forking out the crazy dollars that many Japanese whiskies are commanding these days.
 

Nikka Miyagikyo was a bargain at $75 tax tree from a supermarket! It is typically $150+ in Oz. 
 

I also stumbled upon the Port Charlotte PMC01 in BIC Camera and had to have it - I just love the PC cask expression series and this will be my third. 

 

The Yuzu sake on the right is just delicious - $70 a bottle in Oz, or $25 in Japan. I should have bought three.

 

 

I’ve also included a few general pics of what I found for sale at various places - mainly supermarkets or large discount department store places (BIC Camera, Don Quixote etc). I didn’t include pics of the higher-end stuff which was quite pricey still due to demand. Anything Japanese with an age statement on it is not cheap. A lot of the "Japanese" whisky shown is also not necessarily 100% Japanese, and can't be named as such under recent changes to Japanese whisky rules. You will see a lot of Japanese "world blend"whiskies these days, and even the Nikka From the Barrel 50% expression is no longer "Japanese whisky" as it has always contained a large proportion of Ben Nevis spirit from Scotland.

 

However, when you consider the current exchange rate is 100 yen to 1 AUD, much of this stuff is very cheap!

 

If you're a bulk whisky highball kind of guy, why not buy your mixing whisky as you would your engine oil? 2.7L or 4.5L jugs if you please!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 20241 yr by pete_mac

Outstanding pictures--I feel as if I've been there too...

https://hiconsumption.com/vices/the-macallan-time-space-scotch-whisky/
 

 

1 hour ago, cafe67 said:

https://hiconsumption.com/vices/the-macallan-time-space-scotch-whisky/
 

 

It's a lovely, pretty thing. I'm just having trouble believing that it's been aged for 84 years in any sort of wood - as the colour is so light. I mean, I had a bottle of 50YO Armagnac (actually about 50 years and 8 months in the barrel) that you could barely see through (it was a clear liquid, just very dark. So either it was kept in a temperature controlled environment or the barrels were super-charred and it was still stored in a very low temperature variation place.

Would love to taste it - but only if offered!

On 06/09/2024 at 10:15 AM, cafe67 said:

https://hiconsumption.com/vices/the-macallan-time-space-scotch-whisky/
 

 

 

Hope someone doesn't mistake it for a frisbee! The landing will be expensive!

Well, what can I say about this lot...it just does not appeal to me etal...nix, nadda, nope, no way Jose... It has what I was looking for in a whisky...non-chill filtered and cask strength...and has spent some time in the old Spanish Oloroso sherry cask. How much time is the question...it's a bit of a sherry bomb, not quite as intense and/or devastating as the GlenDronach's. As a consequence, the flavour is awkward to discern...IMO just an unappealing sherry taste...if it was tinned fruit from the supermarket one would be checking the use by date in a hurry. This one and the Glen's have both put me off sherry bombed whisky for now, I'm totally back on the oak barrels, ex-bourbon American if possible.

The alcohol, under the sherry cover, hit my poor old tummy immediately and rather savagely...like a burly smithy's hammer hitting his anvil...but the afterglow was enjoyable. Much like the warming and agreeable heat from the Smithy's forge fire on a cold, miserable day. Though, I don't think I could take too many blows on the anvil/stomach before the knockout blow came.

Don't be put off by the low level of whisky left in the bottle...if I enjoyed draming it...it would have been emptied and disposed of, clinking the rubbish bin's sides, easily by now. So I have decided it's a dram only for rainy days...and wouldn't you know it...rain is falling outside!

Edited October 8, 20241 yr by BLAH BLAH

I love Glenfarclas 15 as well.

Laga Vulin 16 y old

Glengoyne 15y old

 

my favourite is Aberlour A’Bunadh.

but be careful, cask strength.

Cheers Kev.

I have a bottle of this Australian whisky which is drinking well 🥃

 

A nice way to spend a Saturday night on a long weekend… sipping some peaty Islay beauties and listening to great tunes.  
 

On 10/02/2023 at 12:04 PM, Jake said:

This lot just in. I'm preparing for the next pandemic.

 

Talking about pandemics, there was one fine soul on this very forum who actually dropped off a sampling bottle of cask strength unpeated Bruchladdich in my letterbox during the height of Melbourne lockdowns. And those days were pretty shitty for many of us, so any bright spots counted for a lot.  I've long lost track of the chap's forum handle, but what a fellow!! 🙏🙏🙏

https://www.worldwhiskyday.com/eight-worlds-best-whisky-bars/#google_vignette

On 06/10/2024 at 12:11 AM, David A said:

I have a bottle of this Australian whisky which is drinking well 🥃

 

I was given a bottle of this earlier in the year - wasn't sure what to expect. Turns out its a superlative quaffing whisky, as such it's all gone.

 

Had a little whiskey tasting session last night with me ol' mate who hosts the Hard Malt on Youtube.

It was the best tasting we have ever had in my opinion...

Started off the evening with a super smooth stout from the right hand side...the chicory/chocolate flavours were subdued but the creaminess and head was to die for, superb!

The stout on the left it's flavours were a tad abrupt/short and unlike the Cranberries song...did not linger...almost watery...pass!

The Grain Barn...non-chill filtered, natural colour, 48%...not a malt whisky but a single grain. Phew...where to start...bouquet of perfumed flowers on the nose...very floral...once the liquid hit the mouth it was silky smooth and honeyed...with the floral tones just subduing a very slight hint of alcoholic rough and burn at the tiny end... This whisky is the closest to a thick liqueur that I have ever tasted ...in a word delightful.

The middle two whiskies, superb floral nose and flavour...good value for money...very competitive. The Bushmills wasn't bad for spending time in a sherry cask...not a sherry bomb...but quaffable.

Spent the evening quaffing drams and watching videos of Ralphie discussing whiskys on his YouTube channel called  Thewhiskybothy...only to discover Ralphie also does an entertaining channel describing his life experiences as a funeral director...'fitter philosophy' very entertaining it is too!

https://hiconsumption.com/vices/buffalo-trace-experimental-collection-26-grain-and-hops-whiskey/
 

 

Very smooth. 

If you're ever in the area, I'd recommend a visit to https://www.ballindallochdistillery.com/  

I called ahead and said I didn't want to do a tour but would like a tasting, they said to come in and they offered the four of us a free tasting of their range. There are only two variants that can be bought online (sadly they do not ship here), and a number of other bottles that can be bought at the distillery and nowhere else.  All very good stuff, but you'll have to go to Speyside to find out more. 

 

 

 

 

Very nice nightcap. Happy the son-in-law is paying 😂

Ahhh just remembered...

A subtle attack of a senior moment...now recalled...

Had and enjoyed a Whiskey tasting last weekend...with the old mate Hardmalt...

Opened up as per usual with stouts...

The first a Japanese Asashi Stout...

Very nice dark colour, good lingering fizzy Coke Cola head, lotsa, lotsa tiny brown bubbles! Reminiscent of a Guinness with strong flavours...that did not over stay their welcome.

The second...

A Porter, very thin flavour, head disappeared quicker than Anne Boleyn's...nice darkish colour, nothing to write home about...

Then onto the main event...

What a line up of fine Whiskies...

And you'll have to forgive me here...from memory (what survived that night!)...

The first two...great taste...suitable for Australian heat and hot Summers...light in flavour, no heavy Sherry Bombs here as ye can tell from the colour...alcoholic burn on both the nose and throat kept to a minimum...and very good value for the wallet. Recommended!

The Glencadam was enjoyable as well...one that I am not too familiar with...a definite foreigner in my part of the World...and after a few wee drams we were conversing like old friends.

The Blue Spot was my favourite...any Irish Whiskey of Cask Strength, non-chill filter and natural colour is always a favourite and welcomed. A smooth heavy hitter from the Irish...more drinking damage done here...than a mad Irishman would do swinging a shillelagh made from Blackthorn wood. 

One to be wee drammed rather than guzzled.

Spesh at its price.

And lastly, the Longrow whisky from the Campbeltown region of Scotland...famous for its funkiness... Well this was my first taste of this well known Campbeltown funk...immediate impression was...WTH, it's off!...but no I was assured it was "FUNK"...

A very savoury unsweet flavour and so different to the more usual Sherry and Vanilla bombs...

And after a few drams we were like old friends... there's Peaty and then here's Funky and good old Sherry flavour of Chrissy...

 

Edited March 10, 20251 yr by BLAH BLAH

13 minutes ago, BLAH BLAH said:

 

And lastly, the Longrow whisky from the Campbeltown region of Scotland...famous for its funkiness... Well this was my first taste of this well known Campbeltown funk...immediate impression was...WTH, it's off!...but no I was assured it was "FUNK"...

A very savoury unsweet flavour and so different to the more usual Sherry and Vanilla bombs...

 

 

Oooh, I've never Longrow'd yet and I love me a good barnyard-funk Campbeltown malt! Very jealous. 

19 minutes ago, pete_mac said:

 

 

Oooh, I've never Longrow'd yet and I love me a good barnyard-funk Campbeltown malt! Very jealous. 

 

Hi Pete

Yes, the Longrow is as rare as hen's teeth in good old Oz...

My mate Hardmalt was lucky to snaffle a bottle when he visited a few Whisky Distilleries in Scotland last year. He raves non-stop about this Funkiness and shared a few drams with me from his precious! 

As for me, I'm a tad fussier, prissier and temperamental with my whisky drinking... 

While the Longrow funkiness doesn't perturb me in particular, it is notably different to Peat and both Sherry/Vanilla styles!...and maybe not for all.  

Its savoury tones would make it ideal, for me, for cooler weather drinking...if available here!

Check out Hardmalt here...and there is the bottle from our tasting!

 

Edited March 10, 20251 yr by BLAH BLAH