Do you have a favorite whiskey?

[sweetheart]

It seems that someone's taste in whiskey reflects their political values. I'm a big fan of single malts, especially islay (pronounced "aye-lay") highland ones... like lagavullin (my favorite standard). At the moment, i'm drinking a 15 year old "caol ila" malt from islay. It has a full palate, with a lovely peety aftertaste that only the west coast malts really develop well.

Growing up in america, i always hated whiskey thinking the standard jack daniels to be representative... (like saying you don't like wine after drinking a cheap white). Now having discovered the deep range of whiskeys in the world (comes from the gaelic for "aqua vit" - water of life)... it is such a fine taste... ahhh... :-)

What is your favorite?

[JVS]

1. Imperial

That's my favorite blended whiskey. And I like drinking it with seltzer or Iron City Beer. Knob Creek is a good Bourbon. Old overholt is a nice Rye.

Imperial is also nice, easy to drink, and cheap.

[Nlighten1]

2. Maker's Mark

[Bake]

13. Another one for Makers!

Kentucky's finest. And for those who think Jack Daniels is crap, try a sip (not mixed!) of Gentleman Jack.

Bake

[opiate69]

22. yet another

Maker's Mark is currently my favorite. They also make very good cigars. There's a cigar lounge not too far from me, where I love to go and sip on MM, while smoking a fine maduro....

[Aristus]

3. Cutty Sark.

Smooth as a varnished plank.

[HEyHEY]

4. Tullamore dew or Jameson

Tullamore dew or Jameson

But if you're talking SIngle Malt, it's Glenmorangie port wood finish

[sweetheart]

6. 16 men of tain

i drive by the glenmorangie distillery on the way to inverness airport... i learned it is said with the accent on the "mor" rather than on the "glen" as most people non-scottish pronounce it. If you like the wood finishes, surely you would love the islay malts... have you tried lagavuin?

[sasquatch]

5. Knob Creek

It is real smooth and has a good flavor.

[Capn Sunshine]

17. I'm with YOU.

Knob Creek kicks ASS.
Try that instaed of Daniels.

Also some of the LTD barrell Daniels is not bad :toast:

[Exultant Democracy]

7. I like them all

I like the good stuff and some of the cheep stuff too, somedays I want something smooth, and other I just want a shot of Jim Beam Rye to burn it's way down.

[Kenneth ken]

8. Jack Daniel's

is my favorite whiskey. I am fully aware there are smoother whiskeys, but I like knowing that I'm drinking. Also, once Jack starts going down like water, I know it's time for me to stop.

[Bake]

14. And if you like Jack (and I do...)

Seriously, try Gentleman Jack.

Bake

[Kenneth ken]

23. I have tried it.

It falls under the heading of smoother whiskies; for me, the smoother the more dangerous, so I don't drink it often.

[Pert_UK]

9. Do you mean LagavuLin WHISKY? Whiskey is generally Irish.....

and it's only one L I believe....Sorry for the pedantry, but you know, it's important...

:-)

http://www.scotchwhisky.com/focus/lagavulin.htm

I had the privilege of working in Stirling last year (mid Scotland) and got to try an AWFUL lot of whisky...well actually, it wasn't awful at all.

Lagavulin is lovely, but very peaty which isn't to everyone's taste. Bunnahabhain (Bunn-a-harv-enn, apparently) is also very nice. If you haven't tried Highland Park (it's a very common whisky) it's a nice one to start with - smooth and quite sweet.

Re: American stuff.....I love Maker's Mark. And as for Irish Whiskey, well.....Bushmill's and Black Bush are pretty good IMHO!

P.

[LisaM]

10. Or Scottish.... I THINK...

But (see previous post) in my capacity of supporting the French wine industry, I may be unable to say...

[sweetheart]

12. found that mispelling a moment ago...

I know the peety west coast malts are really for the hardened palate, and that newcomers are less inclined towards the heavy stuff... sort of like starting a red wine drinker on barolo or amarone... a bit strong for the white zinfandel drinker... ;-)

I've never had a good irish whiskey.... given my inclination, have you a recommendation? Does Black Bush really keep up with islay malts?

I just tried some single-cask malt today, and was tempted ta get some at cask strenght, just i din't feel like settling that credit card bill later.. ;-)

Sterling? Perthshire... what drew ya up ta them parts? I never thought i'd think of sterling as "down south" but that is pretty much my thinking on reading your post... the cliffs of orkney (hoy) were very brilliant today at sunset... like the island is over 20 miles away and the cliffs look huge with the air so clear i could reach out and touch orkney... ablaze...

So what malts do you have in your home right now. I have some cheap islay knockoffs for when i'm not feeling rich, and just 2 premium ones... bunnahabain is "ok" IMHO, i like unfiltered "poit dubh". but i benchmark a peety malt on lagavulin... oh, too bad this hobby is expensive or i'd have a house full of various islay single cask bottles.. :-D

[Pert_UK]

19. No...STIRLING, not Sterling....heh heh heh.....sorry!

I really am VERY sorry about that, but I couldn't resist....

Last year I was living and working in London but my company asked me to go and do some work at their offices in Stirling, so each week for about 8 weeks I'd fly up on Sunday evening and back on Wednesday/Thursday. Of course, one of the key benefits of going Business Class on British Midland was that the Business Lounge at Edinburgh Airport provides limitless free malt whisky....heh heh heh. The number of times that I arrived "tipsy" back in London doesn't bear thinking about!

This meant that I had ample opportunity to get to know the local bars and try some whiskies, which was nice.

At the moment I'm afraid that I have no whisky in the house, as I'm currently on a "working holiday" and living in Australia......however, I do have a bottle of Hardy's Black Bottle Brandy which I rate quite highly. To be honest, I would say that I prefer a good Calvados (French apple brandy) to most whiskies, but I do enjoy Lagavulin, Highland Park, Bunnahabhain and several others whose names currently escape me. I'm not so keen on Laphraoig (sp?), and as for Bell's, I'll follow the advice of a Scottish friend and say "I wouldn'a put it on ma chips!"

The Irish malts can be nice, but I don't know enough about them to make any recommendations....I like Bushmill's but it is a little harsh, and to be honest I'd go with a Scottish malt over the Irish ones I've tried, as a general rule.

However, I'm no expert!

Please feel free to check my post for spelling errors and grammar!

:-)

P.

[Maeve]

20. If you hadn't, I would have...

We used to drink scotch, but I prefer my Irish (Bushmill's or Jameson's are both good). I still buy Hubby a bottle of Abelour, Glenfiddich or Glenlivet single malts as a treat, but for my money the triple distilled whiskey is the way to go.

I've heard there is a finer Bushmill's sold in Ireland than is generally available here in the states and I plan to search out the truth of the matter next month...

[redwitch]

21. Hubby drinks Bushmills too

and their Black Bush is his fave.

[Catshrink]

11. Wild Turkey

n/t

[sasquatch]

15. EWWW.... I had a bad experience with Wild Turkey

I drank a half bottle of it(all I could stomach) I was half drunk went to bed and had a BAD HANGOVER!!! couldn't undrstand it I've drank fiths of jack and jim never had any hangover but a half a bottle of turkey and I wasn't really that drunk and had a hangover the next morning:hangover:

[sweetheart]

18. wild turkey was that bottle...

that i was handed staggering between frat parties in texas... it might as well have been everclear given how we were drinking it to get knackered.

My memory of that bottle was "hangover". indeed... :-)

[Catshrink]

24. demon rum did me in

The piña coladas were delightful, the hangover was dreadful. Since then, the very thought of rum makes me turn green. The smell of it makes me gag.

It's gin or bourbon now. I make killer bourbon balls at Christmas time, too!

[Blue-Jay]

16. Maker's Mark!

Also Elijah Craig, for when I'm feeling not-poor. What can I say? I love bourbon. Having some MM right now, coincidently.

mmmmm.