Whiskey recommendation thread

[scaryjim]

... Keep meaning to try Monkey Shoulder. ...

... Someone else mentioned Monkey Shoulder to me. ...

The wife and I were lucky enough to be wandering through Selfridge's once when they were doing a tasting of Monkey Shoulder, mixed - oddly, we thought - with a little apple juice. It was absolutely heavenly - and I'm usually a neat whisky person myself.

Not sure if all whisky would be as good with apple juice, but that one works beautifully.

[TeePee]

Jack Daniels isn't whisky, it's bourbon. I suppose you could call it a whiskey made by strange people who like corn too much.

I like a nice single malt whisky. I like Glenlivet, less keen on Islays. Jameson's is also a pretty good whiskey, and I had one of my students give me a bottle post checkride (A long standing tradition I've been trying to start). The most common whisky here is probably Crown Royal, which is best mixed with something. Crown and Ginger is common.

The other mixer you could try is a Sweet n Sour mix, basically sugar and lemon juice, that is available as a premade mix here. It's called a whisky sour. Use a blended whisky.

[Hoonigan]

Jack Daniels isn't whisky, it's bourbon.

I thought bourbon was a type of whiskey? I may very well be wrong, and I'd appreciate someone proving me wrong, but I'm pretty sure JD is a whiskey.

I'm quite happy with all the replies so far, many, many different types have been stirred up [Pun intended] so far.. I'll try my very best to source them and try them all at some point.

ATM, Zak's entry is winning for "top-stop-to-try"

[ik9000]

I thought bourbon was a type of whiskey? I may very well be wrong, and I'd appreciate someone proving me wrong, but I'm pretty sure JD is a whiskey.

I'm quite happy with all the replies so far, many, many different types have been stirred up [Pun intended] so far.. I'll try my very best to source them and try them all at some point.

ATM, Zak's entry is winning for "top-stop-to-try"

JD is a bourbon and as it's made in Tennessee it can be called a Tennessee whiskey (with an e) but this does not make it a whisky.

[Rave]

Lidl's Bourbon is surprisingly palatable for a tenner a bottle.

[TeePee]

I thought bourbon was a type of whiskey? I may very well be wrong, and I'd appreciate someone proving me wrong, but I'm pretty sure JD is a whiskey.

I'm quite happy with all the replies so far, many, many different types have been stirred up [Pun intended] so far.. I'll try my very best to source them and try them all at some point.

ATM, Zak's entry is winning for "top-stop-to-try"

It's a bourbon, by virtue of being made mainly from corn. It's a Whiskey, because it's made in the USA.

Scotch Whisky is made in Scotland mainly from Barley.
Jameson's Whiskey is made in Ireland from Barley.
Crown Royal is Canadian Whisky, and tastes like it's made from rainbows and unicorns.

[g8ina]

My faves include (but are not limited to) :

Islay and Islands _

Laphraoig
Talisker
Bruichladdich (currently - "Peat", some great limited eds since they took over in 2001))
Jura
Leadaig (wow !! what a surprise, from Tobermory)

Highland-

Glenmorangie (Banks House Malt, very solid)

Im not a fan of Speysides

[Bluecube]

I always thought whiskey related to Irish and American abominations

Anyways, nice easy drinking starter whiskies are Jura and Highland Park. Once you get a taste for whisky you'll probably enjoy most malts. Blended whiskies always seem rougher on the palate to me and I don't enjoy them at all.

[blueball]

Has anyone tried this: http://www.scotchwhisky.net/grain/invergordon.htm

It is not a malt and not a blend, it is a single grain whisky.


Edit: Having looked around it now seems impossible to get the 10 Year, although they have some older bottlings if you want to pay £100 for a bottle of scotch!

[billythewiz]

I used to be one of those whisky drinkers

At the time I was a big fan of Glenturret (as well as many of those already mentioned).

One thing to remember, it's only worth paying a lot for the first 2 or 3 glasses. After that you could be drinking Teachers and you probably wouldn't notice (try a blind taste test if you don't believe me).

[hnosyalnif]

So many whiskys, so little time. Try each one neat by the measure in better pubs till you find one you like.

Certainly the best way to do it with single malts. The range is so wide that you'll neat to try a fair few.

[nibbler]

Got a bottle of Talisker 10 years at the moment, and it's very good. Stay away from cheap blends like whyte and mackay and bells. Famous Grouse is a decent blend as is johnny walker but still not as good as a nice single malt.

[hnosyalnif]

Got a bottle of Talisker 10 years at the moment, and it's very good. Stay away from cheap blends like whyte and mackay and bells. Famous Grouse is a decent blend as is johnny walker but still not as good as a nice single malt.

Yeah Talisker 10 is a good one. Got some Laphrioag 10 lying around, a couple of Highland Park 12's, a Jura 12 and a few others.

Had a Lagavulin 16 the other day and that was perfect.

[ik9000]

Keep meaning to try Monkey Shoulder.

Someone else mentioned Monkey Shoulder to me. Unfortunately when I hear the name I find myself just drifting off to memories of Monkey Island and the monkey wrench and the resultant nostalgia trip means I forget what we were talking about in the first place...

The wife and I were lucky enough to be wandering through Selfridge's once when they were doing a tasting of Monkey Shoulder, mixed - oddly, we thought - with a little apple juice. It was absolutely heavenly - and I'm usually a neat whisky person myself.

Not sure if all whisky would be as good with apple juice, but that one works beautifully.

So in the bar tonight I browsed the whisky rack and lo and behold they had Monkey Shoulder. So, turning down the Glenkichie and the Talisker, the Laphroaig and the other one I plumped for the only blend on the rack in the name of science and all. Wasn't impressed tbh. In my g/f's words it's a rather uninspiring, generic kind of a whisky, and I know what she means. It's too inoffensive that it actually becomes offensive. Like beige walls - there's simply nothing that leaps out at you, and it just becomes slightly annoying. It's whisky sure, and while it has a dark orange colour this is sadly the only interesting thing about it; a bland taste and a shadow of a single malt that I'd enjoy savouring. It was getting late and we left the last 1/4 of it rather than down it. Had I had more time I would have asked for a mixer to add to it. It would do well at this I think, as it would certainly add a whisky twist to a whisky and coke etc. To think i could have paid less for a Talisker... Ah well - if it saves another hexite some money then I've done my bit

[cv1324]

Jack Daniels it's my favourite.

[Galant]

Suntory Yamazaki.

Discovered it by chance. Rather than go for favourites all the time I enjoy trying new drinks when I find them. This was one of those times. Saw a single-malt whisky bottle on the top shelf with Japanese script on the front. Couldn't resist and am glad I didn't. Really enjoyed it. Tasted sort of like honey and then a sort of 'outdoorsy', woody flavour.

I'd never heard of Japanese whisky before then. Sounded like some sort of minority thing or a gimmick. Turns out, that very whisky had won several awards, and Japanese whiskys in general have been becoming dominant in terms of whisky prizes and awards.

So now I keep my eye out for any chance I get to try a new Japanese whisky. They're not easy to come by where I am.

Oh, and as regards Jack Daniels, it's a bit of point of contention, but technically speaking it's not a bourbon, and of course, it's not a scotch. That's why they call it Tennessee whiskey. To be recognised as bourbon there are certain procedural requirements to be met and JD doesn't follow them strictly enough - so they can't put 'bourbon' on the bottle.