Scotch recommendation
 

I was just wondering if any Scotch-ophiles, not to mention UK residents, have any thoughts.

When last Mrs. Dallas graced the British Isles with her presence, she very thoughtfully stopped at the duty free shop to get me a bottle of Scotch. She asked for suggestions of things that were not available in the US, not wanting to get something I can buy any time.

She ended up with a bottle of Balvenie 15 year, and was quite taken aback when I took one look at it and said "Wow, thanks, I love that stuff!"

When she returns at the end of July, she is determined to get something that's REALLY not available in the US. So she's soliciting suggestions in advance.

Any thoughts?

As one might well guess, I do appreciate a good whisky. I'm hardly an expert, however. While I can't give you a direct and definitive answer, I can provide the url for a site that just may help.

The Whisky Guide

The 'Selected Whisky' link on the left of the page has shown me some brands that I have not seen in stores here. Perhaps you will have some luck there. Good hunting!

Tell her to get anything with a price tag over $100 US. That should do nicely.

I'm not a Scotch-ophile by any stretch; I prefer Bourbon if I'm going to drink whisky/whiskey. That being said, I have enjoyed tasting some fine single malt Scotch whiskies, the older the better.

But being a Bourbon fan, I've especially liked Johnnie Walker Swing, a sweet-smokey blend with just a touch of that Scotch bitterness. Not available in the states, as far as I know. Cool bottle, too; meant to sit on a boat bar.

Well, I was going to recommend the Balvenie too -- their Doublewood is perhaps the most complex Speyside malt I've ever tasted. It's like a wine -- a red, a cabernet.

You might have her search out the sort of bottlings that have hand-signed, hand-numbered labels. I once encountered a Glenrothes (another Speyside malt), serial-numbered, and old enough for a driver's license. Nice and smooth, and it presented as a Speyside usually does, with a sweetness and a grainy quality.

Is it just me or are there more and more Islay malts showing up? Seems like it's boom times for Scotches.

My apologies, it appears I've been propping up the market lately.

Sorry Steve, I can't really help unless you can front me an airline ticket and a modest stipend.

I can thoroughly recommend the local product. Don't know if it's regularly available in the States.

No peat? I thought the peat is one of the prime reasons Scotch is Scotch?

Scotch reminds me of a certain crazy, red-headed, Sgt in the Marine Corps Reserve , that was built like a peat outhouse, and drank Scotch in milk.

What, no photos? :)

Maybe they mean "no peat in the process" i.e. artificially added. The water up there certainly runs through peat bogs, that's where they all are on Arran.
The island malts tend to be more peaty (that oily flavour): the highland ones less so.
[hic]

So the peat flavor comes from the water and the island water has a stronger flavor than the highlands?
Do they char the barrels with a peat fire?




No SD, no pictures. Ya pervert

No, the smokiness comes from smoking the barley malt over a fire fueled by peat. The heat kills the germinated barley which in its turn holds it ready for fermentation.

Charred barrels are more for adsorbing unpleasant-tasting cogeners, leaving the resulting spirit smooth of taste -- bourbon whiskey style -- or is this techically Tennessee sour mash?

The barrels do have their effect. Aside from the oaken barrel both reacting gently with the spirit inside it and coloring the resulting liquor, which color may not be the tea-colored thing we expect in whiskeys but can sometimes come out a greeny-gold, the practice of reusing barrels that previously aged bourbon or sherry each give their savor to the finished whisky.

The Island malts (Islay and I think a few other tiny ones) get smoked over a peat that has a fairish inclusion of seaweed and is also productive of a very intense smoke, which smokes the barley malt to a greater degree than anywhere else. To put it mildly, Islay malts are emphatic. Sip 'em slow, or your wig will do two and a half flips before it lands again.

I like Scotch, but prefer Bourbon. Have had some good US and other Scotch. It has been a long time and I have no idea how to get my hands on it again (and I could not have afforded it to begin with). Also, sorry, I cannot remember the names.
But, it is not that different, IMO, than Irish.
"Any Glen will do".

*technically

Huh?