My new job involves working with alcohol and I often get people asking me for recommendations for “A good Scotch” that isn’t $80 a bottle from some obscure distillery on the Isle of Skye.
The problem is that I’m a bourbon drinker (when I drink, which is very rarely), and while I’m up on most of the different bourbons (and mine’s a Woodford Reserve if you’re buying, thanks), the only Scotches I know anything about are Johnny Walker Red (foul, IMHO), Johnny Walker Black (same stuff, different label), Chivas Regal 12yo (not bad at all), The Glenlivet (not bad either), and Glenfiddich (Very nice indeed).
Canadian Club gets an honourable mention (not a Scotch) for being very nice in coffee and quite smooth on the rocks, too.
My brother reckons Teacher’s Highland Cream isn’t a bad drop, and if you’re truly desperate, The Black Douglas or Vat 69 can be mixed with Coke or Dry Ginger Ale.
I see Ballantines once held a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and Grant’s seems to be reasonably popular as well, but I have no idea what they taste like or if they’re what might be considered “drinkable” by someone who doesn’t want to simply mix them with Coke and get shitfaced as fast as possible.
So, can anyone suggest decent, drinkable “Everyday” (ie not more than about AUD$50/bottle) Scotches that can be enjoyed straight (or on the rocks)?
You can’t go wrong with The Famous Grouse. It’s a splendidly blended whisky. Since it’s very popular, being a blended, and very smooth, you’ll get a lot of “pff” from snobs. (Many whisky snobs believe that more taste is better taste.) But The Famous Grouse is in fact a very complex, well balanced whisky with Highland Park and Macallan, amongst other fine single malts blended, and, well, it simply tastes so goood. It’s the everyday whisky in Scotland, by the way.
Bushmills is a good Irish whiskey, if you’re not being too pedantic.
They do a basic blend (white label) a nicer blend (black label “Black Bush”), and 10, 16 and 21 year old single malts, so there’s something for most budgets.
Black Bush is the whiskey I keep in the house, although I don’t often drink it myself.
Dewar’s White Label. This is a truly unique Whiskey, it has a flavor unlike other scotch whiskeys, and those that do like this Whisky tend to stick to it. Reccomend it while mentioning the fact that it’s a little different.
Grand Old Par. It’s aged for 12 years and is a bit more expensive than the other two, but its also nice.
It’s an everyday whisky in Scotland - old guys who like their whisky tend to drink Black Label, Black Bottle etc which are a wee step down in quality and price. Famous Grouse have done great though - they changed the blend about, err, ten years ago? and it’s a decent half, but they are far from unique in being a blend that sources from some of the exalted malt distilleries.
I’ve posted this before, but here’s by far the largest whisky bond in Scotland:
here
Those buildings are huge, many stories high. If you scroll further into the map you’ll see the 45 ton lorries used to transport the stuff for a sense of scale. There are several overspill bonds within a few miles too. When this bond is full, and it frequently is, it contains the majority of the Scotch Whisky in the world. The buildings have the construction ethos of your average nuclear bunker.
This is me, right here. I’m hoping for a bottle of the 21-year for Christmas, actually.
That said I am definitely looking to get some experience in on the Scotch side of things, so I will definitely be watching this thread for some drinkable and affordable places to start . . .
I don’t care for the “white label” Bushmills myself, but Black Bush is my standard drinking whiskey; very nice, as is the 10 Year Old Single Malt. These are, of course, Irish whiskeys and not at all like your peaty Islay Scotch whiskys or even Highland-type Scotch.
My drinking Scotch is Macallan 12 Year Old; it’s nice enough that (unlike Dewars or Walker Black) I feel bad about pouring it over ice. It’s not the Glenmorangie 12 Year Old Cask Aged Scotches, but quite good. You also might look for the John, Mark, and Robbo whiskeys; I’ve been meaning to try them as they’ve been recommended to be by a number of reasonably reliable sources.
Sorry, Frustrated Wonderer, but J&B is about half a notch above Glenrotgut 12 Week Old Grande Reserve Especiale. I guess it is suitable for mixing with cola or as an end of evening mixer in Rob Roys when the customers are too drunk to know that you’ve run out of Johnny Walker, but I wouldn’t drink it neat on a dare for fear of bespoiling my palette.
Can’t say I’ve seen them for sale here, unfortunately; the cheapest Single Malt I’m aware of is The Glenlivet which is about AUD$35-$39/bottle the last time I checked. I might look into it the next time I’m at work and see what Single Malts (besides The Glenlivet and Glenfiddich) are available, though.
For a blended Scotch go with Famous Grouse, Johnny Walker Black (sorry but red smells like an open sewer to me) or Chivas Regal. No one will complain.
for a single malt, there are tons, but for reasonable price I go with Glenmorangie in particularly the port wood or sherry wood finish versions.
There are some Islays that I am exploring, but I don’t feel confident enough to recommend them.
I spent my whole afternoon yesterday drinking Old Crow from a big plastic bottle that had been sitting in my hot car all day. But that’s the exception, not the rule.
My standby drink is J&B. You can’t go wrong with the drink of choice of Patrick Bateman, Truman Capote, and Shelly Levene from Glengarry Glen Ross.
I was reading the blurb on the back of a bottle of Bailie Nicol Jarvie today, which mentioned something about it being a popular Scotch with British soldiers during the Boer War (and presumably through WWI).
This interested me, because- having an interest in Colonial British Military History- I was surprised I’d never heard of the stuff before.
I’ve done a bit of research on Teh Intarwebs and it’s supposed to be a very smooth blend, but I’m not keen on spending nearly $30 on a bottle of something that it’s likely to take me a year to drink if I even like the stuff… Anyone tried it?