You get standard whisky by diluting what comes out of the cask. It seems like it’s generally up around 55% alcohol/volume, and has a much stronger flavor than you get with the normal variety.
“Cask Strength” is just what is says…bottled directly from the cask, with no dilution or chill filtering. Most of the stuff you get at the store has had one or both done to it before bottling. Cask Strength gives you a chance to taste everything the whiskey has to offer. These are the ones that really open up with a splash of water in the glass.
Some like them because you can dilute them to your preference, not the companies, but I always figured they knew better than I did what proof tasted best. Then I tasted a few. Now I get them whenever I can. Awesome flavors and aromas.
Either way. The notion is that you get to decide what’s to your taste, versus having the Corporate Scotch Bottling Cabal decide for you. I don’t always water the same Scotch to the same extent; it depends on time of day, what else I’ve been eating or drinking, etc.
My collection is bare bones right now. All I have is Lagavulin 16 and Lagavulin Distillers Edition (1988). I also have an minibar sized bottle of Skibo 12 year old. I sense a trip to the liquor store in the near future.
To be honest, I was never much of a fan of the Scot’s whisky. Until one day, stuck in the middle of a frozen lake, ice fishing with a friend that had brought a flask of Bunnahabhain. I was hooked and I still love that whisky. I believe I am inclined toward Islay scotch because of it.
I’ve made my imbibing decisions based on that study, and I think their classification is pretty far off. Does anyone really think that Aberlour is much more similar to Laphroaig than Caol Ila is?
Exactly. It depends on your tap water. Personally I use bottled water, but that’s because we have it around the house, not as a slam on my well water. If your tap water is very hard or reeks of chlorine, use bottled. If you drink tap water all the time because it tastes so good, use tap.
Has anyone used the Riedel nosing glasses? I hate to say it, but I think they do make a positive contribution to the thing. Michael Jackson touts a similar glass, with a lid.
I have a couple of tasting glasses that are shaped like the Riedel. Pretty much anything that narrows towards the top will concentrate the aromas. If I’m tasting a new malt for the first time, I’ll usually use a Sierra Nevada snifter. Large, narrow top, perfect for swirling around the malt and getting at all the nose has to offer.
I have a set of these- they were a gift, but man, I think they do add to the experience. Although, I think you’d probably get the same effect with a brandy snifter, which can multitask. But, it works for me cause I don’t like brandy.