OT: Scotch thread | Page 5 | The Boneyard

OT: Scotch thread

HuskyHawk said:
Yes, like most craft it is way overpriced for what it is. Very young, which is its downfall. Needs a lot more time in barrel, and the new charred oak adds a lot of wood, without the effect of time. It's drinkable, but not a great use of $65.

Mad River in Vermont makes a single malt too, they distill beer. So it has hops in it as well. The latest one is v3 and they distilled a pretty good Double IPA (Tribute). Pretty unique profile.
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No Mad River in PA. Would be interested in trying that. Agree with general point on Westland being "young", but I believe they'll get better, perhaps a lot better, in coming years. We've got a local distillery, Wigle, that's been producing various things for about a decade now. Early stuff was not all that great, and a lot of what I'd call "hipster experimentation", but the brown stuff they've held for aging keeps getting better.

HuskyHawk said:
At the risk of ridicule, I post my Scotch reviews on Reddit at r/Scotch (Bourbon too, and Rum on occasion). Scotch Whisky My handle is WildOscar66.
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Never even thought to look for a scotch sub. Has to be less depressing than r/worldnews...
 
8893 said:
That's begging for explanation.
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I am and was a fan of Oscar Wilde. When HuskyHawk was taken years ago as I tried to come up with an Xbox gamertag, I kept trying to find something that wasn't "word1234" or gibberish. I inverted the Oscar and the Wilde...omitting the e and Microsoft accepted it. Reddit presented the same issue, and even worse, I still needed numbers. Those you can guess I am sure.
 
storrsroars said:
No Mad River in PA. Would be interested in trying that. Agree with general point on Westland being "young", but I believe they'll get better, perhaps a lot better, in coming years. We've got a local distillery, Wigle, that's been producing various things for about a decade now. Early stuff was not all that great, and a lot of what I'd call "hipster experimentation", but the brown stuff they've held for aging keeps getting better.

Never even thought to look for a scotch sub. Has to be less depressing than r/worldnews...
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Some of these distilleries will survive, some won't. Try Balcones Texas Malt if you want the closest comparator to Westland. Shanahans in Colorado is decent too.

The craft distilling world is a mix of people distilling well, but selling young (Westland), selling absolute garbage (many of them, look for "cardboard" flavors and smells), and others who are keeping the lights on by selling Gin or Vodka while whiskey ages. But the good ones are doing creative things. Westland has one aged in a unique local oak vessel for example. Some are finishing bourbon, as you might Scotch, in wine, port or sherry casks. Mad River distills beer (made popular by Charbay Distillery – 13 Generations of Distillers) That's the creativity they will need to compete. If you like rum, Privateer in Ipswich MA is phenomenal. Woman distiller named Maggie Campbell. Maggie's Farm is a rum distiller in PA that is supposed to be good too. Pittsburgh's Craft Rum Distillery ~ Maggies Farm Rum ~ Official Site
 
HuskyHawk said:
Some of these distilleries will survive, some won't. Try Balcones Texas Malt if you want the closest comparator to Westland. Shanahans in Colorado is decent too.

The craft distilling world is a mix of people distilling well, but selling young (Westland), selling absolute garbage (many of them, look for "cardboard" flavors and smells), and others who are keeping the lights on by selling Gin or Vodka while whiskey ages. But the good ones are doing creative things. Westland has one aged in a unique local oak vessel for example. Some are finishing bourbon, as you might Scotch, in wine, port or sherry casks. Mad River distills beer (made popular by Charbay Distillery – 13 Generations of Distillers) That's the creativity they will need to compete. If you like rum, Privateer in Ipswich MA is phenomenal. Woman distiller named Maggie Campbell. Maggie's Farm is a rum distiller in PA that is supposed to be good too. Pittsburgh's Craft Rum Distillery ~ Maggies Farm Rum ~ Official Site
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Having spent most of the past 15 years in various segments of the food industry, a key consideration for folks 3-4 decades younger than myself is "local". Sometimes (actually, often) local trumps "good". And younger folks of any generation always feel a need to "change the rules".

When I exited high-end coffee, there was a ton of experimentation going on with yeast fermentation (as opposed to natural fermentation all coffee beans go through for at least a short stage). Purpose was to augment inherent flavors. Funny thing was, not even half a generation ago, prolonged natural fermentation was seen as bad, and a cheat to make lousy coffee taste good. Now that the 20-30 somethings understand the science, it's become a desireable thing to play with. This resulted in a lot of crap thrown against the wall and sold as "premium" coffees. This was also the case in brewing technologies (many former "industry darling" devices didn't last more than a year or two). Basically a lot of Emperor's New Clothes, which I find a ton of in everything from nanobreweries to tacos.

Anyway, that was a long way around to saying that patience will prove out what and who were worth following and consuming. Yes, Wigle gets a ton of bad reviews and the price points on many bottles are wacky compared to other quality major regional brands, but there are some gold nuggets in their product line. Maggie's Rum is good - if you really like rum and are willing to pay for it (I generally only use it for a mixer and the only bottle in my cabinet is Cruzan Gold, which is perfectly fine for my needs.) There are maybe three categories where I go as top shelf as I can afford, the rest are "popularly priced" (e.g. Evan Williams, which makes a perfectly fine Manhattan, or Luksosowa, because who really needs Tito's if you're doing shots?) Another Pittsburgh local is Boyd & Blair vodka, which I don't own as it goes for $30+, but was the star in probably the best vodka martini I've ever had.

That said, you should be hosting a video podcast. I wish I had the time/stamina/money to drink as much as you :D. I appreciate the knowledge drop.
 
8893 said:
I don't know how or why this happened, but two weeks ago I found Lagavulin 16 at my local for $61. I bought two bottles. The first is almost gone already. Wish I had bought more.
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I got this in NH a couple weeks ago with a mail-in rebate. Love it.
 
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junglehusky said:
I got this in NH a couple weeks ago with a mail-in rebate. Love it.
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8893 said:
Cracked open the second bottle last night. It is going down way too easy.
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I am almost finished with my Lagavulin 12. Unfortunately, at a normal retail of $150 I won't be replacing it. I'm going to try a few Port Charlottes from Bruichladdich to see if they can satisfy my smoke fix. Maybe grab the Lagavulin GOT bottle. Sadly, my Scotch tastes are trending in increasingly expensive directions.
 
8893 said:
I don't know how or why this happened, but two weeks ago I found Lagavulin 16 at my local for $61. I bought two bottles. The first is almost gone already. Wish I had bought more.
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Good find. I would have brought at least 4 at that price. Best price locally I found was $90 last month, and that was a sale price.
 
This past weekend a friend of mine poured me a fine glass of Lagavulin Game of Thrones, House of Lannister Whisky. It was outstanding. I don't really know the terminology, cask strength or smokey, but you could taste the barrel, loved it.
 
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Generally not a fan of Irish or Scotch whiskies (whisky's??).

Did try some Jameson Black Barrell on the rocks this morning. About as good as it gets for me. Normally the peat smell is what off puts me.

I'll gladly wearthe light weight or newby label if I have to choose and this is my choice.
 
Scotch in CT has gotten so expensive but when I was buying regularly, McCallan 12 was a clear go to. Tried the 15 but couldn’t taste a difference. I’ll have to try the 18 one day. Can never go wrong with McCallan in my opinion.
 
tentoes4rings said:
Scotch in CT has gotten so expensive but when I was buying regularly, McCallan 12 was a clear go to. Tried the 15 but couldn’t taste a difference. I’ll have to try the 18 one day. Can never go wrong with McCallan in my opinion.
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Friend of mine just have me a bottle of the McCallan 21! It's delicious!
 
Chin Diesel said:
Generally not a fan of Irish or Scotch whiskies (whisky's??).

Did try some Jameson Black Barrell on the rocks this morning. About as good as it gets for me. Normally the peat smell is what off puts me.

I'll gladly wearthe light weight or newby label if I have to choose and this is my choice.
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Very little Irish is peated and most Scotch is not peated. Irish tends to be “smooth”, which is a code word for approachable by the non hard core whiskey people.

@B1GEast The Lagavulin GOT is good. Suggest getting the regular Lagavulin 8 year which is very similar and much cheaper.

I’m having some Loch Lomond 18. Really nice Stuff.
 
I was a huge scotch fan, especially Islays. Ardbeg, Laphraiog, and all the rest.

I find myself not enjoying it too much anymore, or even whiskey, but much preferring a quality, aged tequila. Casamigos Anejo is my current go to. Anyone else enjoy a glass of tequila over scotch?
 
HuskyHawk said:
Very little Irish is peated and most Scotch is not peated. Irish tends to be “smooth”, which is a code word for approachable by the non hard core whiskey people.

@B1GEast The Lagavulin GOT is good. Suggest getting the regular Lagavulin 8 year which is very similar and much cheaper.

I’m having some Loch Lomond 18. Really nice Stuff.
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Thanks for the suggestion. I will be picking up a bottle this weekend
 
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HuskyHawk said:
@B1GEast The Lagavulin GOT is good. Suggest getting the regular Lagavulin 8 year which is very similar and much cheaper.

I’m having some Loch Lomond 18. Really nice Stuff.
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Haven't had the Laga Lannister yet, but as the PLCB (PA Liquor Control Board monopoly) doesn't offer the 8 and the Lannister ($70) is $22 less than the Laga 16 ($92), I'll be checking it out.

While Laga remains my favorite, I usually get Famous Grouse as my everyday house scotch, but lately regular Loch Lomond "Original" has been on sale for $26 or so. Not remarkable, but easy drinking.
 
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Thanks to seeing this thread bumped I checked the price of Lagavulin 16 at Total Wine and it's all the way down $60.99!? What on earth happened? It's been ages since I've seen it under $75 in CT and it kept creeping up. Many stores had it for $90+. I'm going to pick up a few bottles today. Perfect timing with the cold weather here.
 
Lefty2one said:
Thanks to seeing this thread bumped I checked the price of Lagavulin 16 at Total Wine and it's all the way down $60.99!? What on earth happened? It's been ages since I've seen it under $75 in CT and it kept creeping up. Many stores had it for $90+. I'm going to pick up a few bottles today. Perfect timing with the cold weather here.
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Thanks for the heads up. My last bottle is running low.

I was told that the price inflation for Lagavulin was the result of huge purchases by the Japanese; if the price has dropped back down to Earth here I'm guessing it's because the demand dropped off in that market for one reason or another.
 
B1GEast said:
Thanks for the suggestion. I will be picking up a bottle this weekend
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Don't pay too much. This is one of the flier bottles from Diageo. They initially priced it at over $70 and it should now be about $40. Same happened to Oban Little Bay, Talisker Storm and a few others. Sometimes you'll go into a store that still has it at the old price.
 
storrsroars said:
Haven't had the Laga Lannister yet, but as the PLCB (PA Liquor Control Board monopoly) doesn't offer the 8 and the Lannister ($70) is $22 less than the Laga 16 ($92), I'll be checking it out.

While Laga remains my favorite, I usually get Famous Grouse as my everyday house scotch, but lately regular Loch Lomond "Original" has been on sale for $26 or so. Not remarkable, but easy drinking.
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Just checked the website. Your prices mostly suck, which is unusual for an ABC state. Usually the variety stinks, but the prices are good. Ardbeg 10 is the best fairly priced peated Islay. You have no Bruichladdich at all. Ugh. Could not live there.

But, if you want to take a chance, you have the brand new Lagavulin 11.
 
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Lefty2one said:
Thanks to seeing this thread bumped I checked the price of Lagavulin 16 at Total Wine and it's all the way down $60.99!? What on earth happened? It's been ages since I've seen it under $75 in CT and it kept creeping up. Many stores had it for $90+. I'm going to pick up a few bottles today. Perfect timing with the cold weather here.
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Total Wine in CT? I loved Total Wine when I lived in the South. There was always a deal on entry level single malt 12 years like Glenlivet or GlenFiddich for 26.99 and McCallan 12 for $40! Here I guess with state minimums, it’s harder to find great deals. Looking forward to trying Lagavulin, thanks!
 
Total Wine had a single malt tasting the other day. Found out about it a bit late and it was sold out. :( Good to hear that Laga prices are down. If I can find a good deal, I'll stock up for the holidays!

EDIT: Right now $85.99 for the 16-yr at TW. Still, it's less than I paid last year.
 
SoFla Steve said:
Total Wine had a single malt tasting the other day. Found out about it a bit late and it was sold out. :( Good to hear that Laga prices are down. If I can find a good deal, I'll stock up for the holidays!

EDIT: Right now $85.99 for the 16-yr at TW. Still, it's less than I paid last year.
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That’s crazy. It’s $60 at TW in CT right now.
 
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