It probably depends how much you drank?
I remember reading about this ancient scottish bloke, who when asked about his whisky consumption said something like
"Aye, eight or nine is fine for refreshment, after that it descends into drinking..."
Glenfiddich any good?
- Thread starter Duncan Hill
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It probably depends how much you drank?
I remember reading about this ancient scottish bloke, who when asked about his whisky consumption said something like
"Aye, eight or nine is fine for refreshment, after that it descends into drinking..."
The problem with ice is twofold:
- the cold of the ice stifles the flavour (which can be a good thing with truly bad whisky, but a terrible thing with a good one!)
- the ice melts, watering down your bevvie
Adding just a wee drop of water to your drink releases the flavour without watering it down. This was something I was told while a grad student in Scotland, and since trying it, I haven't gone back to ice. Like anything else, try it out and see which you prefer!
As for Glenfiddich, it's OK but there are many that are much better (in my opinion of course!). The thing about Glenfiddich is that it has long had an extensive and highly successful marketing campaign that has expanded it to a global brand. It's kind of the David Beckham of whiskys: nowhere near the best, certainly not the worst, but made hugely successful through marketing.
If you are starting out, my suggestions would be Dalwhinnie (my all-time personal favourite - it is very smooth and mild), Oban, Talisker, Laphroig (be warned though: Laphroig is very peaty/smoky). Of the brands more readily available in North America, Glenmorangie is a better quality malt than Glenfiddich. Again, in my opinion!
Another option is of course to find yourself a well-stocked bar and do some research!
One last thing: if you are going to discuss single-malt whisky, please stop calling it Scotch! Scotch = blended Scottish whisky. So blends like Famous Grouse & Teachers should be called "Scotch" while single malts like Glenfiddich, Oban, Dalwhinnie, etc are either "malt", "single malt", or "whisky". I'm not hating on blends - I quite like some - it's just that Scotch is a different beast.
No dis, but re that last paragraph, do you have a citation for that? I would say that "single malts," etc. are a subcategory of "Scotch," or, if you will, under the applicable Scottish statutes, "Scotch whisky." I have never heard or read that single malts are not "Scotch" and that that term is limited to "blended whisky" meaning a blend of malt and grain whiskies. For that matter, other countries have "single malts," too, notably Ireland. I do not think that Scotland can lay claim that that term can only be applied to its products.
See http://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/swa/93.html#Single
- Thread starter
- #43
Well I tried Highland Park 12 years and glenfiddich 12.
The highland has a nice flavor but is very harsh not smooth at all. The glen is rather smooth but just tastes like regular whiskey to me and is not anything special.
Is the highland park 15 or 18 smoother than the 12?
The highland has a nice flavor but is very harsh not smooth at all. The glen is rather smooth but just tastes like regular whiskey to me and is not anything special.
Is the highland park 15 or 18 smoother than the 12?
You are correct sir. Single Malt Scotch Whisky is absolutely 100%, no argument Scotch. It is a type of Scotch as is blended Scotch Whisky.
No citation I'm afraid - just six years experience living in Scotland.
That is what I was told by the owner/operator of the best whiskey store in St Andrews (Luvians), and it was confirmed by friends, profs, students, barmen, the owner/operators of the other whiskey stores I visited throughout the country, and anyone else with whom I happened to discuss whisky...
I wonder if what we have here is a clash between industry terms and local usage?
I can confirm from experience though that walking into a pub and asking for a 'Scotch' will get a very different reaction from walking into a pub and asking for a 'whisky'. The former will get you pegged as even more of a tourist/foreigner, and the latter will at least get you a tiny bit of pub street cred. If you are walking into, say, the Horseshoe bar in Glasgow, this can make a significant difference to the course of the evening...
Also, I in no way meant to imply that 'single malt' applied only to products of Scotland. Rather it simply applies to whiskeys produced from a 'single malt'. Bushmills is the one Irish example I am familiar with - and it is very good!
One last thing, by 'blended' I did not mean a blend of malt and grain whiskys but rather a blend of whiskys from different distilleries. For example, if one mixed whiskey from the Tamnavulin and Oban distilleries, then marketed and sold the mix, the result would be a 'blended whisky' even though they are both malts. The difference here is between single malt and blended malt whiskys.
Am I right in thinking that mixing malt and grain whiskeys is more common in Ireland? Not sure why I think that is the case...
OK. I'm going to get back to doing what we should all be doing when reading/writing this thread: enjoying my whisky! Tonight's malt is Lagavulin. Mmmmm...
Cheers!
... glasses or bottles?
<No citation I'm afraid - just six years experience living in Scotland. >
Hard to argue with that! When in Rome. I have read up a lot on Scotch and had never heard this, but it is good to know the local customs. Actually, I suppose the concept of asking for a beverage in a country by a reference to the name of that country does seem a little weird, as "you are in Scotland, mate, it is all Scotch!" Although, I guess "Scottish" is really the word, there!
Good call re Bushmills as a single malt. It is. Distilled from 100% malted barley at one distillery. From there is gets complicated, as I understand it, and I probably an relying too much on Wikipedia, but it seems to correspond to my recollection of the various alcoholic beverage "porn" I read. Traditionally the thing that has been a hallmark of Irish whiskey is the use of both sprouted (i.e., malt) and unsprouted barley, and the use of a pot rather than columnar still, as well as, I suppose three distillations rather than the two that is most typical of Scotland. I think Scotland uses a pot still exclusively for malt whisky, too, but uses only sprouted barley in its malts (which of course makes undeniable sense as sprouted barley is malt). Both use columnar stills for grain whiskey/whisky which cannot be made from whatever is least expensive in the way of grains. Still must be aged, etc.
Pure pot still Irish whiskey is mixed sprouted and unsprouted barley all in a pot still and I suppose all from one distillery.
Single malt, like I indicated, no unsprouted, all from one distillery.
Generally "blended" is going to be a mix of single malts and grain whiskies in both countries. I do not know which country puts out more blended. Certainly most of the Scottish whisky drunk in the States is this kind of blend of malts and grain whisky. All of the Johnny Walkers except the green, as I recall, and this includes the blue, are blends of malts and grain whisky. I think Pinch is too.
Then it gets really confusing. The blends that have no grain but are blends of all malts seems to go by at least three names: vatted malt, pure malt, and apparently the latest term blended malt. Relatively few vatted malts have been available at least in the states. Sheep Dip is one. The various Compass Box whiskies in all of their glory, and probably most famous though most recent is Johnny Walker Green.
I do not know of vatted malt Irish whiskeys. Part of the problem there is there are ony three distllaries in Ireland (or it is three companies?) and the two largest by far, Jamerson's and Bushmill's are both owned by Ricard-Pernod, and Jamerson's does not even make a single malt as far as I know!
The diversity of distillers in Scotland is a wonderful thing and should be a tremendous source of pride. Ireland's letting its whiskey industry come down to basically one big company owned by the French ought to be a source of humiliation!
Scotch is one of the supreme alcoholic beverages and a tremendous gift to all of mankind! Lagavulin. Mmmmm...
Hard to argue with that! When in Rome. I have read up a lot on Scotch and had never heard this, but it is good to know the local customs. Actually, I suppose the concept of asking for a beverage in a country by a reference to the name of that country does seem a little weird, as "you are in Scotland, mate, it is all Scotch!" Although, I guess "Scottish" is really the word, there!
Good call re Bushmills as a single malt. It is. Distilled from 100% malted barley at one distillery. From there is gets complicated, as I understand it, and I probably an relying too much on Wikipedia, but it seems to correspond to my recollection of the various alcoholic beverage "porn" I read. Traditionally the thing that has been a hallmark of Irish whiskey is the use of both sprouted (i.e., malt) and unsprouted barley, and the use of a pot rather than columnar still, as well as, I suppose three distillations rather than the two that is most typical of Scotland. I think Scotland uses a pot still exclusively for malt whisky, too, but uses only sprouted barley in its malts (which of course makes undeniable sense as sprouted barley is malt). Both use columnar stills for grain whiskey/whisky which cannot be made from whatever is least expensive in the way of grains. Still must be aged, etc.
Pure pot still Irish whiskey is mixed sprouted and unsprouted barley all in a pot still and I suppose all from one distillery.
Single malt, like I indicated, no unsprouted, all from one distillery.
Generally "blended" is going to be a mix of single malts and grain whiskies in both countries. I do not know which country puts out more blended. Certainly most of the Scottish whisky drunk in the States is this kind of blend of malts and grain whisky. All of the Johnny Walkers except the green, as I recall, and this includes the blue, are blends of malts and grain whisky. I think Pinch is too.
Then it gets really confusing. The blends that have no grain but are blends of all malts seems to go by at least three names: vatted malt, pure malt, and apparently the latest term blended malt. Relatively few vatted malts have been available at least in the states. Sheep Dip is one. The various Compass Box whiskies in all of their glory, and probably most famous though most recent is Johnny Walker Green.
I do not know of vatted malt Irish whiskeys. Part of the problem there is there are ony three distllaries in Ireland (or it is three companies?) and the two largest by far, Jamerson's and Bushmill's are both owned by Ricard-Pernod, and Jamerson's does not even make a single malt as far as I know!
The diversity of distillers in Scotland is a wonderful thing and should be a tremendous source of pride. Ireland's letting its whiskey industry come down to basically one big company owned by the French ought to be a source of humiliation!
Scotch is one of the supreme alcoholic beverages and a tremendous gift to all of mankind! Lagavulin. Mmmmm...
A few months back one of my local supermarket chains had a sale, Glennfiddich was on special for thirty dollars a bottle (It is normally $60 here). Gangbusters! Buy a case, right? No. One catch. Only one bottle per customer.
Long story short, my mate and I spent the afternoon walking between the three outlets of this supermarket in my area, in the rain, buying one bottle each, moving to the next supermarket, buying another bottle, and so on.
By the end of the afternoon we were drunk, cold, soaking wet and had spent about three hundred dollars each.
Because of this sort of behavior the supermarket had run out of stock by the second day when we decided it was essential to restock our supplies. Luckily one of the local bottle shops has a policy that says they will not only match a competitors price, they will beat it by 5%. Back in business! We got another days shopping from them until they realized we were scamming them and their competitor had no stock.
So yes. I guess you could say it's an OK scotch.
Long story short, my mate and I spent the afternoon walking between the three outlets of this supermarket in my area, in the rain, buying one bottle each, moving to the next supermarket, buying another bottle, and so on.
By the end of the afternoon we were drunk, cold, soaking wet and had spent about three hundred dollars each.
Because of this sort of behavior the supermarket had run out of stock by the second day when we decided it was essential to restock our supplies. Luckily one of the local bottle shops has a policy that says they will not only match a competitors price, they will beat it by 5%. Back in business! We got another days shopping from them until they realized we were scamming them and their competitor had no stock.
So yes. I guess you could say it's an OK scotch.
Glasses, but that can cover a lot depending on who's pouring.
I think another thing is that Irish stuff is distilled 3 times whilst the Scots distil twice.
Yep, generally very true. I can't think of a triple distilled Scotch I have a slight recollection there may be a couple. Not sure whether there are 2x Irish.
It's possible. But the vast majority (if not all) of Scotches are double distilled while Irish is triple.
And to clarify things from earlier Single Malt Whiskies produced in Scotland and under Scottish guidelines are Scotch. They are a variety of Scotch just as is blended. One may and probably does receive a blend when ordering only "A Scotch" because it is cheaper and more common, but this is nothing do with the definition.
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I am embarassed not to have remembered this but rather famously Auchentoshan is triple distilled. I think is the only currently made single malt to be triple distilled.
On the Irish side, it turns out that all expressions of Michael Collins and Tyrconnell (sp?) are double distilled. Apparently these brands make a big deal of being distilled only twice.
Glenfiddich is a nice single malt but there are much nicer single malt scotches out there like:
The Singleton
Knockando
Cragganmore (my personal favorite)
Oban
The Singleton
Knockando
Cragganmore (my personal favorite)
Oban
I think that it's important to distinguish between the various expressions of Glenfiddich - for instance, the 15 Solera Reserve is a very different whisky than the plain old 12 year (the whole solera vatting thing) The 18 and 21 are really, really good whiskies that easily hold their own against the competition. The 12 Caoran is great as well (but unfortunately not really available in the US). There's even some CS versions floating around if you go that way.
To further complicate matters, the basic expression (the 12 year) has changed quite a bit over the years (it has been a 5, 8, and no age statement at various times during its history) and often when somebody trashes Glenfiddich they're thinking of the NAS (what the 12 was up as recently as the 1990's if memory serves) which wasn't the greatest dram around. Today's 12 is a perfectly good inexpensive malt at $20, and its light profile makes for a nice glass as the weather starts warming up.
I'm not actually sure why I'm defending Glenfiddich, just that it seems that it gets a bad rap ("beginner's dram", "mass-market") that is really undeserved. The Balvenie (from the same distillery) seems to avoid this for the most part...
To further complicate matters, the basic expression (the 12 year) has changed quite a bit over the years (it has been a 5, 8, and no age statement at various times during its history) and often when somebody trashes Glenfiddich they're thinking of the NAS (what the 12 was up as recently as the 1990's if memory serves) which wasn't the greatest dram around. Today's 12 is a perfectly good inexpensive malt at $20, and its light profile makes for a nice glass as the weather starts warming up.
I'm not actually sure why I'm defending Glenfiddich, just that it seems that it gets a bad rap ("beginner's dram", "mass-market") that is really undeserved. The Balvenie (from the same distillery) seems to avoid this for the most part...
I like Cragganmore, too. My impression is that it is much more popular outside the States. Rarely hear about it in the States. Wonder why that is? Highest selling single malt is Australia, if I recall. Among the four named single malts going into Johnny Walker Green.
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Good post. I think I said it before at some point, but the difference between the Glenlivet 12 and the Glenlivet 18 is remarkable, too. To me both Glenfiddich and Glenlivet are pretty mass market and suffer in reputation because of it, although I am not sure not rightfully so.
<The Balvenie (from the same distillery) seems to avoid this for the most part>
It does avoid it. And I do not have any great complaint against The Balvenie, but it strikes me as consistently overrated.
<The Balvenie (from the same distillery) seems to avoid this for the most part>
It does avoid it. And I do not have any great complaint against The Balvenie, but it strikes me as consistently overrated.
wait till you get to the holy grail, lagavulin 18 yo. Smooth as drinking water
keeping it on topic, the solera reserve i feel is much better then the 12yo offering. However, for that price (bevmo selling it at $35), I would go for either the macallan 10, balvenie DW or my current personal fav Highland Park 12yo (sometimes you can get good deals at your local alkie store, I got my highland park with a decanter gift set for $35 in the liquor store by ga tech near the midtown marta station)
My only experience with the Lagavulin 18 was doused when the scent caught me the wrong way just as I sipped, and I ended up with a great deal of it in my windpipe. For a few seconds I thought I was going to die
Back to the Glenfiddich, I have both the 15 year Solera Reserve and the 12 year and I have the exact opposite opinion. The Solera just doesn't do much for me, where the 12 year has some wonderful tasting notes if you drink it neat. It's definitely not as smooth that way but it's great for the price.
My 2 pennies....YMMV
Yes, Glenfiddich is good.
Tim
Tim
You can buy a litre of glenfiddich in the states for $20!
I like Glenfiddich, my favorite malt at the moment is Glenmorangie. The malt I drink on a day to day basis is Glen Moray, just becuase it is the cheapest malt available to me, I quite enjoy it. I believe it is aged in wine, and not bourbon, barrels.
I haven't found a malt whisky I don't enjoy yet, in fact, The Famous Grouse is the only whisky I wouldn't spend money on unless it was the only thing on offer.
I like Glenfiddich, my favorite malt at the moment is Glenmorangie. The malt I drink on a day to day basis is Glen Moray, just becuase it is the cheapest malt available to me, I quite enjoy it. I believe it is aged in wine, and not bourbon, barrels.
I haven't found a malt whisky I don't enjoy yet, in fact, The Famous Grouse is the only whisky I wouldn't spend money on unless it was the only thing on offer.
