Friday Night Drinking Thread - Favorite Whisky Edition
Didn't see one posted so I thought this might be interesting...What is your favorite Scotch; American whisky/bourbon or rye; and playing the field, favorite outside those two regions? Here are mine…
1. Scotch - anything Ardbeg
2. American - Two James (out of Detroit) any of their ryes
3. World - Waubs Harbour a relatively new distillery in Tasmania
August 25th, 2023 at 8:57 PM ^
I swear I just poured my first glass! Sorry for the double post!
August 25th, 2023 at 9:07 PM ^
1) Scotch - Rosebank - previously defunct distillery, recently revived
2) American - William Larue Weller / Any of the Old Fitzgerald bottles from before ~2015. Really like the older stock wheated bourbons
3) Suntory Hibiki Harmony - really well-balanced whiskey
August 25th, 2023 at 9:23 PM ^
Hibiki Harmony - I see you're a man of substance.
August 25th, 2023 at 9:22 PM ^
1. Scotch --> idk if this is actual scotch but I really like Laphroaig. It's super peaty and the 10 year has more value than Lagavulin, IMO.
Edit - found out via google that the qualification for scotch is that the whisky be made in Scotland. Makes sense.
2. American --> I'm assuming it's American but Buffalo Trace for sure.
3. World --> definitely Hibiki Harmony. Really good shit. Their mountain water source is the alleged secret.
Currently sipping a Hail Michigan IPA by North Peak 🙌 😌
August 25th, 2023 at 9:35 PM ^
I like the way you roll - Buffalo Trace is really underrated and one of the best widely-available bottles that you can actually still find and buy.
I see you, too, are a man of substance. I raise my glass to you!
August 25th, 2023 at 9:43 PM ^
Weller Special Reserve is such a great daily sipper
August 25th, 2023 at 9:38 PM ^
Laphroaig is an excellent choice. There are several great distilleries on Islay including Ardbeg. A lot of people don’t like the very heavy smokey flavor and for me took some time to get used to.
August 26th, 2023 at 9:10 AM ^
It's like sipping a campfire and I fucking love it.
August 25th, 2023 at 9:40 PM ^
1. Scotch - Oban
2. American - Bourbon - William Larue Weller or EH Taylor 18 Year Marriage. Parker's Heritage Heavy Char #14 is up there as well.
Rye - Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye (2021)... it's like bananas foster syrup
3. World - Yamazaki 12 or 18 with Hibiki Blossom Harmony as a runner-up. Light, sweet, floral Japanese Scotch imitations
August 25th, 2023 at 9:52 PM ^
Moar Jack Daniel’s! I could’ve sworn I already posted that. Moar Jack please!
Do-Be Do-Be Do
August 25th, 2023 at 9:55 PM ^
Scotch - Balvenie Doublewood
American- Bulleit
August 25th, 2023 at 10:34 PM ^
Whatever I am drinking and whatever you are drinking, we should all mourn the loss of the SFAS post. Though its life here was brief, I believe it will go down in infamy along with eating lemons and the Counterstrike guy.
August 25th, 2023 at 11:04 PM ^
Not much of a scotch drinker. Just tried Elijah Craig bourbon for the first time, and I like it a lot. Buffalo Trace is a favorite, as is Basil Haydens.
Speaking of Tasmania, they have special dish there that also sounds like a whiskey:
"Wild Turkey Surprise"
Watch out though, it hits you with a blast!
August 25th, 2023 at 11:33 PM ^
Scotch: Dalmore, anything from the Badenoch, plus anything Islay, really.
World: Brugal 1888. It's not a whisky, but they've been aging it in Jack casks since forever.
August 25th, 2023 at 11:42 PM ^
1) Oban - so delicious and a beautiful small coastal town too
2) too many good options but Booker’s is a personal favorite
3) Lots of good options posted already. I’ll go with Suntory Ao - a blend of many things. And Ao in Japanese is “blue”.
August 26th, 2023 at 12:31 AM ^
1. Anything Oban (18 is phenomenal) but particularly Little Bay.
2. Chicken Cock Bourbon
3. Ocho Plata Tequila
August 26th, 2023 at 9:19 AM ^
1. Scotch, anything unpeated but as I cannot tell, my experience is limited to a couple gifted bottles.
2. American, Whistlepig 10y Rye, I think that they are partly Canadian.
3. World, Eddu, Buckwheat Whisky of Brittany. I am a bit surprised that Japanese has not made Whisky from their beloved soba. But this Brittany whiskey is very distinct, citric and a bit nutty.
August 26th, 2023 at 9:39 AM ^
Scotch: Oban is my favorite Highland dram, but I also like several Speyside whiskys.
Bourbon: Eagle Rare and many others from Buffalo Trace Distillery. I just tried Smoke Wagon (made in NV) for the first time. Very tasty.
World: Red Breast 12 Cask Strength (Irish whiskey). I prefer the 12 to the 15 or the 21.
August 26th, 2023 at 9:57 AM ^
Smoke Wagon is barrels sourced from Kentucky and Indiana. They are aged in Nevada. I have several of their offerings in stock.
Scotch: Macallan Sherry Cask
American: George T Stagg 2017
World: Red Breast 12 Cask Strength
Cheers 🥃
August 26th, 2023 at 11:24 AM ^
i don't care for scotch
William Larue Weller is about is good as it gets, Pappy 15 year is a close 2nd.
Whistlepig 15 year rye (its sourced from Alberta Rye, so its international)
August 26th, 2023 at 1:37 PM ^
Would love someday to try a pour of WLW or any Pappy 👍🥃😋
Whistlepig 10 is very good. Mammoth Northern Rye is also a wonderful pour.
Cheers Booted.
August 26th, 2023 at 3:43 PM ^
If you are in TX, nobody there seems to drink bourbon (at least less than everywhere else). A lot of the bars will have bottles of WLW open at sort-of-okay prices...well, cheaper than trying to buy a bottle these days. I think the last time I was there, I had a 1 oz pour for $40. Not something I would do every day, but was nice to have at the time.
Pappy used to be good when it was the older Stitzel-Weller stuff. The newer stuff hits different (and is overrated and not worth the $, in my opinion), and is sourced from Buffalo Trace stock, so it goes back to finding a store pick of Buffalo Trace for a great value bottle.
August 26th, 2023 at 8:14 PM ^
Thanks for the tip, I go to Texas every winter. Will look for WLW next year.
Where were you when you found the WLW?
August 28th, 2023 at 1:49 PM ^
Was at a corporate event at a local chain called "Whiskey Cake," in Plano. That specific location might be out because I had the last of their bottle, unless they had more not on the shelf. They did have a pretty extensive list of bourbons on menu (and a bunch on a separate menu as well).
August 26th, 2023 at 4:01 PM ^
Bonded with my father-in-law-to-be one cold night in '93 when we both got shitfaced at a whiskey tasting at the Gentleman's Club in New York, agreeing that Glenmorangie was the hands-down winner. Have since tasted lots of good scotches and whiskies but--although I was disappointed when the company removed the picture of the factory and workers from the label--have continued to have a bottle of Glenmorangie on hand, and--though I don't drink much--sip a glass in front of the fire a few nights a year and make a toast to Bob, may he rest in peace.
My new thing is, in fact, Laird's Apple Jack, which I started to drink after running through several dozen Maigret/Simenon mysteries and wanting to know what Calvados was. Laird's was around in G. Washington's time (YTGW), and then produced in Lincroft, NJ, down the road from Red Bank, my home town; we used to pass it as kids on the way to Delicious Orchards in the fall for donuts and cider. It's even less refined than Glenmorangie, but I like the Farmer John vibe apple jack gives off, and often use it in recipes where cognac is called for. Elective affinities.