old - Fazer Owners Club - old
General => General => Topic started by: lew600fazer on 24 December 2014, 11:49:21 am
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I collect malt Irish whiskey and malt Scotch whisky. Some are silent stills and hard to come by now.
I recently opened a 15 year old Balvenie single cask, bottle No 41 of 650 bottles. This whisky was laid down in 1986 and bottled in 2001. I bought it in 2004. The idea being when I retired and could perhaps not be able to afford and buy a decent bottle on a whim I already had good stuff put by for special occassions.
Imagine my annoyance when a week or so back I opened the above mentioned bottle and the top of the cork came off in my hand. Only way to get a wee dram for me and my mate was to remove the rest of the cork with a corkscrew. The cork was that dry it broke up and ended up in the bottle. Okay just decanted the rest via a strainer into a decent whisky decanter.
I took a few photographs of the cork and the bottle details and sent an email to Balveine with attached pic's. They contacted me within 24 hours and offered a replacement bottle. A day later they contacted me again saying that that 15 year old was no longer in stock. They asked if another 15 year bottling would be acceptable, this one is a 15 year old that has been matured in Sherry casks and is again a limited bottling. If acceptable please forward my home address.
Now I am thinking as I live in Spain this maybe a problem. Just had an email my whisky is on it's way now via DHL, result ,and well done Balvenie on there excellent customer care. Just checked the Balvenie site this 15 year old retails at €99.99. Now I may have a wee dram from that one to see the new year in. :)
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you know that room to rent,,,well, now wheres the calender
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Yeh when are we organising the foc-u spanish whiskey tour? :)
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Yeh when are we organising the foc-u spanish whiskey tour? :)
A Scotsman that can't spell WHISKY....foccing shocking :lol
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Maybe Noggy is after the Irish malts :)
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good do. I have been known to have a sip of single malt myself here and there lol
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Makes a change from moaning aboot Scots.
One day every bottle will have a screw top.
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Sounds like a good results there Lew.
I tried a "malt of the month" last week in a pub in glasgow, called "Heavy decent". It would have been more aptly named "heavy rotten" :lol. Never tried anything from balvenie, how was it, chunky bits aside?
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This calls for a snap or two,
I really liked this stuff from the Springbank distillery, must get some more sometime,
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7228/6860825788_6276caf04d_z.jpg)
Oh and I think Tesco are shifting the stuff below for 18 quid a bottle - that's a steal for one of the best drams out there. Hard to beat a bottle of Black, it is complex though so can be lost on some folks,
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6495213341_95c4107cf4_z.jpg)
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Ay op.......whats going on here, vna and lew got something in common... must be the season, good will to all men and all that, go on raise a glass to each other :D
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Spring bank stuff looks nice VNA. Nice and light looking. Not a fan of Johnny walker myself, but I know it's well regarded.
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Sounds like a good results there Lew.
I tried a "malt of the month" last week in a pub in glasgow, called "Heavy decent". It would have been more aptly named "heavy rotten" :lol . Never tried anything from balvenie, how was it, chunky bits aside?
The first dram I made the mistake of not adding a wee drop of spring water, this whisky was coming in at 50.9 proof. Nearly blew me head off. Quite a peaty taste and scent to it on the dry side. Added a drop spring water and this smoothed it out and it was a lot better on the pallet. Put the decanter away when my mate asked me if I had any ginger, fecking savage. :eek
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I tried not to buy JW or any Diageo products after they took JW out of Kilmarnock - dirty bastards, all they care about is money. But they own so many distilleries, and well how can you not buy one of the best drams there is when it's going for only 18 quid a bottle?
That Springbank was lovely. They carry out the whole process too from malting to bottling (I think there are only two now that do that) and use a lot of local barley. Proper old fashioned whisky and no chill filtering either. Sort of oranges, pears, dark chocolate, coffee and sweet rich barley with a slight acid edge. Not one you would describe as smooth, it's more of a mad taste explosion in yer gob. And at 57 proof it's gives you a good wee hit. That's the way it's bottled, so that's the way I drink it, nane o Lew's poofy spring watur fae me :lol
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Anyone who can describe neat whisky as smooth,orange and pears,chocolate, sweet etc really has no tasty buds left in the toothless mouth :eek
makes my eyes water to think about it. :lol
I mean why would you spoil spring water or american ginger by adding whisky to it?
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Yeh when are we organising the foc-u spanish whiskey tour? :)
A Scotsman that can't spell WHISKY....foccing shocking :lol
Oh foc!.....I musta copied Lew.
anyway im more of a Tartan Prince fan :)
P.S - Slim....it aint Ginger........it's "the Ginger!"....the one and only.......& whisky spoils it's complex character :)
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Now now VNA, I was just following the tasting notes and the poofy spring water was from heather bank in Scotland.
The Springbank is on my list to try,
Try this one but is hard to come by. Edradour most northernly distillery in Scotland. Just one problem with it very very hard to put the cork back in the bottle.
Sorry but a screw top on a bottle of whiskey is a no no for me just the same as wine should always have a cork, I understand the practicalities of the screw top but !!!!!!!!!!!!
One of my favourite blends for day to day nips is Ballintines or an Irish Tulleymore dew
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Edradour most northernly distillery in Scotland.
Bollox, the edradour distillery is in the hills above Pitlochry!
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Indeed richfzs, been there. It did claim to be the smallest, but then Kilchoman on Islay opened, a wee farm distillery, and I think they are the only other distillery after Springbank to do the whole process on site, except of course they are taking it one step further - they grow their own organic barley.
Ballantines is cracking blend - nice fancy screw top on the new bottle too! Not tried the 17year old blend, that's supposed to be a stunner.
Most northerly I think is Highland Park, just a tad further north than Scapa.
My tip if you are splashing the cash is to go for unchillfiltered stuff, and consider some of the Signatory independent bottles.
Got a nice 3 year old bottle of this that I can't bring myself to open (I think the first time I've had a problem opening a bottle)
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2247/1732872780_67117cc34a_z.jpg?zz=1)
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Edradour most northernly distillery in Scotland.
Bollox, the edradour distillery is in the hills above Pitlochry!
I stand corrected , but have you ever tasted it, a drop of good stuff.
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I have lew, bought a bottle at the distillery (that's how I knew where it is ;-) ) - and yes, tis a lovely drop.
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Yup been to the distillery too.
Bought a bottle for my old boy years ago of which I had a dram or two of.
One of those enlightened distillers that have pretty much dumped the chill filtering.
Anyway opened a bottle of the hard stuff the other night - Ardbeg 10yo. I hate Laphroaig but I love the stuff that comes out the place next door - Ardbeg.
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Have to admit I am not a fan of Laphroaig myself or Ardberg, maybe I did not give the Ardberg
Uigeadial a chance someone bought a bottle for me son and we tried in November but to me it was like drinking old leather. I have a fondness for Jura Superstition and the Origin both bottles have been presents and have been shared in good company.
Is it just me or when you have a decent drop do you have a wee nibble of dark Chocolate. My wife says I am an animal as I have short bread sometimes as well, even have been known to dunk me short bread as well. Now it is her fault as she makes her own and never found anything to beat it.
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I love jura. I have a bottle of superstition that was a gift from my old man before he passed. Saving that for a VERY special occasion, obviously.
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I love jura. I have a bottle of superstition that was a gift from my old man before he passed. Saving that for a VERY special occasion, obviously.
A wee dram on his birthday, and another on the day when he passed on, just think on the good times
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The problem with a good whisky is that its top hard to have a solitary dram. Often becomes 5 :lol
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Mick I know were you are coming from. :)
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An old distiller once told me there was no such thing as a bad whisky, only some better than others, Balvenie Double Wood is an excellent dram and Aberlour's A'Bunadh is really mellow, I live right in the heart of Speyside so am partial to quite a few of the local spirits.
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Think I'll take a dram tonight. Happy Christmas all. Seems like a good reason for a dram.
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Have to admit I am not a fan of Laphroaig myself or Ardberg, maybe I did not give the Ardberg
Uigeadial a chance someone bought a bottle for me son and we tried in November but to me it was like drinking old leather.
Both are hard core. Uigeadial I thought was something special, combining the hard core smoke and peat with softer sherry hues.
Laphroaig 10yo in my opinion is just disgusting, I mean why not lick a well used ashtray then have a swig of some meths - same taste, roughly the same effect.
The Ardbeg though, it's heavy on the smoke and peat, but the peat, though heavy, is not stale and overly bitter plus you can taste light barley bree and citrus fruits, there is a lightness to go with that OTT peat and smoke. It's a big hitter but it works.
I actually bought this over priced bottle of Ardbeg (as sadly it is now overpriced in the UK) just to make sure that I really did (still) like it, as my recent purchase of one bottle of Laphroaig made me wonder if after a few years away from the hard stuff that maybe I had gone off it. But no if you wanna try some hard core smoke and peat then I suggest giving Ardbeg a bash and maybe steering clear of Laphroaig (thought some folks have said to me that the younger unchill filtered Laphroaig's that are now available are far better than the older offerings and one wonders if Laphroaig may be in the process of dumping the chill filtering).
Anyway here's my Flickr review of one of the least good drams I've tasted for a long time.
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3956/15499893288_c24ef8f22a_z.jpg)
Laphroaig 10 year old.
One of the biggest peat monsters on the block. A great many claim that this is the finest single malt whisky in the world.
It's been many years since I've tasted it, and all I can remember was that I hated it. But that was many years ago, and considering it's huge popularity perhaps I was mistaken. Well the supermarket was doing another crazy discount, so why not.
On the nose it's unmistakeable peat and smoke. A quick taste is promising, a big spirity citrus peaty hit. But then you notice the bitterness, and that smoke is not bitter sweet, it's more half burnt anthracite mixed in with used diesel engine oil, the peat is shudderingly bitter and dry, oh and there's a hint of stale dentists finger whilst those initial citrus fruits on the tongue become softly stale rotting seaweed.
If you are fond of licking used ash trays then you might just like this.
As for all those who worship Laphroaig. Well I guess we are all different, some folks taste buds adore fresh mussels but I hate the things, some folks love mushrooms, but ah cannae stand em. And so it is, my taste buds dinnae care for Laphroaig wan wee bit.
3/10
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So asking as a non whiskey drinker
Do you drink it neat ? or with what ?
I add my Grouse to a Baileys, that livens it up nicely, but i just cant quite get any joy from drinking it neat. uurrrrrhhh, shivers down my spine :lol
Oh and i also gave the wife a bottle of Glayva,honey,orange liquer,we like that.
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partial to a rusty nails myself, someone gave me a bottle of J W red only way I can get it down me is a wee drop of Drambuie.
Has anyone ever tried Suntory japanese whisky. I was flying home from Tokyo after leaving my ship. So into the duty free and they had a wee taster stand setup The ships I sailed on were dry so no booze for 4 months. Well had a nip then tried another one , bought a bottle of 12 year old , think it was a blend, bloody expensive as nothing is cheap in Japan, had another nip. My flight was not for another 3 hours so took advantage and had a few more. By the time I boarded the flight I was ticking, good stuff, slept most of the 12 hours, only way to fly.
If you get a chance of a bottle at a decent price have a go you will not be disappointed, like most things the Japanese do it is good.
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There was a thing on the news a few weeks back, the Japanese cleaned up at the annual scotch awards!
They've been making good stuff for years, apparently - probably mostly in an attempt to get it cheaper than importing from Scotland. I recall when I was at the edradour distillery, they said the largest export market they have was Japan, despite the massive import tax that the punter in Japan has to pay. Think they said there was more edradour single malt sold in Japan than Scotland. Which is a little bit bonkers!
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Do you drink it neat ? or with what ?
Mostly neat. I'll add water, a tiny drop at a time, if I'm trying something new, helps you pick out the flavours.
Beware that if you cool whisky you much reduce the flavour. So ice can kill some drams dead, but some I do find can work with a drop of ice.
So yeah drink it as you please, but I mostly drink it neat even the cask stuff.
Has anyone ever tried Suntory japanese whisky.
Yes, I've had a few nips, it's good stuff.
The Japanese love whisky, they have been making whisky commercially for coming on 100 years. And it's Scottish whisky they are obsessed with and their distillers have gone to great lengths to emulate our dram.
There was a thing on the news a few weeks back, the Japanese cleaned up at the annual scotch awards!
Well strictly speaking that's not possible, as only whisky made in Scotland can be sold as 'Scotch'. But 'Scotch' is nothing but a cheap marketing term, a word I refuse to use, it's what Americans call our whisky. America is also why 99% of the whisky made in Scotland is chill filtered. Many moons ago a large consignment of whisky delivered to New York was rejected and returned to Scotland. It was sitting on the dock in New York waiting to be picked up. When the buyer inspected it one freezing cold morning he rejected it because it was cloudy. No amount of reassurance from the distillers and blenders would convince him that whisky turning cloudy in the cold was normal. Americans know best so they returned it. Also others in America rejected whisky cos it would go cloudy when ice was added. So the biggest customer got what the biggest customer wanted, chill filtering which removed all the oils and impurities from the dram (and along with it half the taste). Which meant we all got chill filtering. It wasn't until the mid 90's when Glenmorangie (who are also responsible for all the fancy wood tom foolery) bought the decommissioned Ardbeg distillery that we once again saw a distillery operating with a zero chill filtered output and Ardbeg went from bust to become a global cult whisky and 24/7 production.
Some would say that Glenmorangie are possibly responsible for the resurrection and wild success of not just Ardbeg but Scottish Whisky as a whole. They understood marketing, that fooling around with wine, sherry, port,run, fresh wood casks can make great whisky and also that chill filtering generally sucks.
Jim Murry. Self publicist, self appointed world whisky expert, brings out his 'Whisky Bible' each year and what better way to further publicise himself than to pick controversial whiskies for The Whisky Bibles global whisky of the year. Having shocked everybody by naming Ardbeg as the undisputed best whisky in the world, why the next year he decided that the Japanese made the best whisky in the world.
But seriously, there is good whisky been made all round the world now. Certainly Scottish Whisky is massive cash rich industry and still expanding rapidly after decades of decline but yeah the distillers better watch out, quality counts more than anything, and there are plenty of countries round the world now producing top notch barley bree.
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I think whiskey/whisky as a whole is expanding there share in the drinks market, love them or loath them Diagio has had a hand in marketing. I know the likes of Bushmills and Jamesons are now Diagio brands and their sales are going through the roof.
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It is Lew, the quality end of the market has taken off. Scotland can't build the malt distilleries quick enougth.
But then if you compare Whisky to Vodka, well over the decades we have been left for dead. Missed opportunity.
Production is expanding now, but overall growth has been slow and the industry was almost on it's knees in the 90's.
Diagio suck. They just literally print cash with Johnny Walker, but they pissed all over their loyal workers when they turned their back on Kilmarnock (the home of JW). Not only that they stuck their fingers up at our parliament and Scots as a whole. And of course our parliament didn't have the powers to stop them and Westminster doesn't want to 'interfere' with the market.
Meanwhile one of the other big players the Edrington group (Grouse, Highland Park etc)continues to give away large proportions of it's profit to charity and good causes.
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A (very) small souvenir from Oban,west coast,Scotland.One of the most friendly & beautiful places I've been to :) .
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A (very) small souvenir from Oban,west coast,Scotland.One of the most friendly & beautiful places I've been to :) .
A souvenir bought in Oban, I think the Oban distillery is owned by Diageo, William Grants is part of the Glenfiddich group.
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A (very) small souvenir from Oban,west coast,Scotland.One of the most friendly & beautiful places I've been to :) .
A souvenir bought in Oban, I think the Oban distillery is owned by Diageo, William Grants is part of the Glenfiddich group.
Yeah,it came from the gift shop round the other side of the harbour.
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I am a Jock who canaae abide whisky....
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I know the Irish whiskey industry nearly went tits up as they thought the home trade was enough to support it, Also they thought with the mass exodus of Irish moving to America, Canada and Australia they could just start exporting to those markets. It took them that long to get off there backsides the USA had their own brands, mainly being made by folk who had moved from our own shores.
Living in Spain now I do find whisky hard to drink during the summer months, more of a G&T person then especially as I can stroll down the garden for my own lemons.
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daughter no1 bought me a bottle of 10year Glenmorangie :D ,Seeing off my 12 year Old Pulteney at the moment , Used to live in Campbeltown so Springbank is a particular favorite .
I prefer the lighter hue,s but be a cold day in hell when I refuse any single malt :evil
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Dunno if anyone's mentioned Aberlour in this thread, but bought a cask strength bottle to take round to friends last night - God but that's beautiful stuff. Best dram I ever tried.
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Aberlour?
The usual ten year old is, well not very good to honest.
Aberlour a'bunadh is gaining a lot of fans. They seem to be churning it out too as it's popping up in duty free and supermarkets. But it seems to appear in batches. I wanted a bottle for Christmas and I'd seen the stuff in the supermarket (thinking ah ken whit I'll get fae.....) but it vanished in the few weeks running up to Christmas.
Anyway the idea is to get back to basics, making proper whisky, no chill filtering, straight ot the cask (sherry butt) and no waiting donkies years to drink it, this is full strength, unfiltered young whisky matured in quality sherry casks. It sounds foccing great. Nor should it cost a fortune either (will attract extra tax sadly)
It will also vary from batch to batch, like proper malt whisky should.
So yeah lucky you richfzs. Darn it. Enjoy.
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Aberlour?
The usual ten year old is, well not very good to honest.
Aberlour a'bunadh is gaining a lot of fans. They seem to be churning it out too as it's popping up in duty free and supermarkets. But it seems to appear in batches. I wanted a bottle for Christmas and I'd seen the stuff in the supermarket (thinking ah ken whit I'll get fae.....) but it vanished in the few weeks running up to Christmas.
Anyway the idea is to get back to basics, making proper whisky, no chill filtering, straight ot the cask (sherry butt) and no waiting donkies years to drink it, this is full strength, unfiltered young whisky matured in quality sherry casks. It sounds foccing great. Nor should it cost a fortune either (will attract extra tax sadly)
It will also vary from batch to batch, like proper malt whisky should.
So yeah lucky you richfzs. Darn it. Enjoy.
Aberlour a'bunadh
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[/size]Aye, that's the stuff. Batch 49 I believe, at 60.1% straight from the cask. Wax sealed, with a wood top to the cork, made even opening it a nice experience - and then it was so smoooooooth, and wonderfully warming.
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[/size]Hope you find some, its well worth it. Cost me £41 for the bottle, in a shop not famed for being the cheapest around