Inspired by another thread - you can find it if you look - I discussed that I’m primarily a rum guy. Good for me.
But from time to time scotch does it for me. And I for it, for that matter. But not often. I have a nice bottle from someplace in the UK given to me by an elderly client as a gift but it’s about halfway done.
I have a party coming up and one of my attendees is a good friend of mine from Ireland. I thought I’d lay in a nice bottle of something to tempt him with. This man can drink me under the table and is experienced. So I thought I’d come to you fine people.
What can you recommend? Not more than $100 per bottle, please. I looked up some Macallan - Neil Peart recommended it - but am just unsure.
Yes, you’ll never go wrong with Laphroaig. They had a gimmick awhile back where you could claim a foot of land in Scotland. Or was it an inch? Not sure now, but I have my deed squirreled away somewhere.
Although it’s nothing fancy, I have a particular fondness for Glenfiddich.
I love the Ardbeg, but you gotta love your peat for that one. The Macallans are always a safer bet as crowd-pleasers, so I’d go with something straightforward like a Macallan 12. If you want to add some peat to the palette without getting overwhelming and staying in the same general price range, Oban 14 has always been one of my favorites, but that could also be because living near Oban for a couple of months was where I learned to appreciate my scotches.
Oh, no, no, no. I love Laphroaig’s line, but you absolutely could go wrong with it if you have no idea what to expect. The Islays are like the IPAs of whiskeys. You love 'em or hate 'em. I would strongly recommend visiting a good whisk(e)y bar and trying something like Laphroaig and Ardbeg before committing to a bottle of it.
If you get the “Classic Malts of Scotland” assortment, either boxed or at a whisky bar, you can taste different stuff including Talisker and Lagavulin to see if you like it.
ETA I don’t know if you can find Johnnie Walker Blue for $100, but you can try the Black or Double Black (or other colours), why not?
I like the Blue, but I wouldn’t pay Blue prices for it (typically around $180-$220). That said, the Green is rather tasty and usually found for around $70. It’s popped out of existence a few years back, and now seems to be selling again. I haven’t had the new version, but the classic green I felt was the best bang-for-buck in the line.
This is pretty much what I was going to add. Peaty Scotches are very polarizing, and unless the OP knows that his friend likes that style, it might be best to avoid it.
I like many of the ones already mentioned here, but I’ll add in Balvenie as another fine brand – it comes in a range of varieties and prices, but I’ve never had a Balvenie that I didn’t like a great deal.
I’ll second that, the 21 year old portwood is my treat of choice, that’s nearer $200 but lots of the more reasonably priced versions are still pretty darn good.
If you’re looking for an inexpensive Scotch with a bit of peaty smoke, Teacher’s is my favorite.
But that’s me. I think smoothness is an overrated quality in whisky. I love Laphroig, and I think the 10-year-old is better than the expensive 25 year old cask strength whatever it is. I think Johnny Walker Red is better than Johnny Walker Black, or even than Johnny Walker Blue, which is so smooth that it’s bland.
Laphroaig is great, Johnny Walker is much too over-priced, and Teacher’s highland cream is, by far, the cheapest scotch blend I get in my locality. I wouldn’t suggest Laphroaig as an intro due to the strength of it’s smoke/peat or Teacher’s due to it’s roughness. Maybe if they’re the type who enjoy their coffee black. (Johnny Walker is common enough that I would expect Jonathan Chance to already be well familiar with it).
Monkey Shoulder (or Black Bottle for an intro to peat) might be a better start as it is more likely to be inexpensive, inoffensive, and widely available. But everyone’s taste is subjective.