advertisement


Whisky II

Weekender said:
Well E150 is basically caramel so, in theory, it should be present as a taste component.
More to the point the Signatory has 3% more alcohol and is over a tenner cheaper!
Bourbon vs sherry cask matured though...
Click to expand...
You can't taste caramel at the levels used if it's in water, let alone whisky.

Toasted barrels are a confection too. Whisky is a manufacture d product. The whole thing is engineered. Yet caramel is beyond the pale? Get out of it.
 
stevec67 said:
You can't taste caramel at the levels used if it's in water, let alone whisky.

Toasted barrels are a confection too. Whisky is a manufacture d product. The whole thing is engineered. Yet caramel is beyond the pale? Get out of it.
Click to expand...
It’s often used to deceive people over the age of NAS whisky. Or by distilleries who mass produce and want consistency in appearance because their target customers would baulk at colour deviations between bottlings.
Some distilleries are more transparent. They also often produce better quality whiskies.
 
jimbob75 said:
I’d put money on betting that the head distiller at Lagavulin thinks Lag 16 would be even better non-chill filtered, natural coloured and 46%...but, it’s a huge brand, and too popular to rock the boat. People expect consistency, they aren’t aiming Lag 16 at the whisky geeks. How many whisky drinkers understand a Scotch mist is a ‘good thing’?
Click to expand...

If I recall correctly from the tasting I did at the distillery, the Lagavulin Distillers Edition doesn't have added colouring. It's still "only" 43% but it's even better than the already superb 16. Double the price though.

There is of course a huge amount of bullshit and snobbery involved in whisky, but people like Ralfy (who imo is actually very fair) should be applauded.
Click to expand...

I like Raphy but you have to read between the lines of the personal bias he brings to his reviews - and his reviews don't always match my own experience of the whiskies being reviewed. There are some distillers he clearly doesn't like, and if there is even a suspicion of chill filtering or artificial colouring it's usually not worth watching the review.
 
jimbob75 said:
It’s often used to deceive people over the age of NAS whisky. Or by distilleries who mass produce and want consistency in appearance because their target customers would baulk at colour deviations between bottlings.
Some distilleries are more transparent. They also often produce better quality whiskies.
Click to expand...

At Lagavulin they were open about their being colouring used in the 16 and said it was because the US market liked darker whiskies.
 
SteveG said:
At Lagavulin they were open about their being colouring used in the 16 and said it was because the US market liked darker whiskies.
Click to expand...
Americans are used to dark whiskies because the spirit is aged in new charred oak barrels as opposed to used barrels for Scotch. I still think Lagavulin should have the confidence to present a natural product.
The Lagavulin 8 looks interesting, bottled at 48% so presumably no need to cf. I think Weekender linked to it earlier? One for hifilover1979 shortlist?
 
jimbob75 said:
Americans are used to dark whiskies because the spirit is aged in new charred oak barrels as opposed to used barrels for Scotch. I still think Lagavulin should have the confidence to present a natural product.
Click to expand...

I got the impression that if they were doing it again now they would, but with the 16 being so well loved and established they've left it as it is. I think that might be the only one of theirs that has colouring added though. The 9 and 11 year olds I have are much lighter, and while the distillers edition is darker I think that comes from the sherry casks rather than from colouring.

The Lagavulin 8 looks interesting, bottled at 48% so presumably no need to cf. I think Weekender linked to it earlier? One for hifilover1979 shortlist?
Click to expand...

I've only tried that as part of the tasting I did at the distiller and while it was nice, the 16 was a good bit better IMHO.
 
I got an email through from MoM saying they had Angel's Envy bourbon in stock so I've ordered a bottle of that. Not had it in ages, as it was difficult to find anywhere in the UK that had it - so hope it's as good as I remember!
 
Nice to have a bourbon mention on this thread, looks interesting. Whilst checking it out on MoM I discovered a new release of Bookers bourbon- I had a bottle 6 years ago and had given up finding another affordable bottle in the UK. Result!
 
Have gotten into the Cadenhead 7 star (average), Glen Grant 12 yo (also Cadenhead) a bit better and a lovely Glentauchers from SMWS that is sublime.

If anyone is passing through Edinburgh, I've got a bottle of Laga 8 from their 200th anniversary release that is collecting dust(along with a distillers release from the same year).
 
pawnshop92 said:
Have gotten into the Cadenhead 7 star (average), Glen Grant 12 yo (also Cadenhead) a bit better and a lovely Glentauchers from SMWS that is sublime.
Click to expand...

Which SMWS bottle is that? I'm planning to have a browse of their listings sometime and order a bottle from them today, as I've been impressed with the other bottles I've had from them so far.
 
It was a 63.49 from a few years back, I had bought three bottles at auction over a space of time, I was impressed by it that much when I had it at queen st, probably paid over the odds though. They do some decent stuff, recently finished a duilaine that was pretty decent as well but not as good as this one.
 
pawnshop92 said:
It was a 63.49 from a few years back, I had bought three bottles at auction over a space of time, I was impressed by it that much when I had it at queen st, probably paid over the odds though. They do some decent stuff, recently finished a duilaine that was pretty decent as well but not as good as this one.
Click to expand...

I've had a Campbeltown (Glen Scotia), an Islay (Bunnahabhain) and a Speyside (Glenrothes) from them so far (and enjoyed them all) so might go for a different region this time.

The shop along the road from me has a lot of independent bottlings as well so I might take a little wander along there this afternoon and see if anything takes my fancy.
 
Nipped along to the Whisky Castle and bought a bottle of the Hepburns Benrinnes 9-year old, a recommendation from the guy that runs the place. Will report back this evening when I've tried it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top