It's Friday! Let's Drink Some Whisk(e)y!! (Responsibly, Of Course)

by Low-Key Lysmith 121 Replies latest jw friends

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  Low-Key Lysmith

  Tonight's whisky is a single malt from a tiny island off the Western Highland Scottish Coast called Islay (pronounced EYE-luh). The Islay malts all tend to be very hearty and heavily peated.Tonight, I choose Lagavulin Distillers Edition.

  Just pulling the cork on the Lagavulin Distillers Edition fills the immediate area with the smell of rich peat smoke. On the palate, the peat reek is nicely balanced by a sherried sweetness. This whisky is aged 15 years in an ex-bourbon cask, then finished for a year in a Pedro Ximinez sherry butt before bottling.

  The Spanish sherry oak adds fruity complexity to the caramel & vanilla notes that the whisky gets from the bouron barrel.

  One word to describe this whisky would be "robust". The initial sweet smokiness becomes a briny finish with a hint of iodine. very complex.

  
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  ziddina

  What the hell is it about whiskey, bourbon, vodka, and all those other tasteless liquors???

  If I'm going to run the risk of a hangover in the morning, there had BETTER be some FLAVOR to the booze, dammmit!!!

  

  

  

  Actually, I'd prefer tea or carbonated fruit drinks....
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  Low-Key Lysmith

  Zid:

  Whisk(e)y has NO FLAVOR?!?!?!?

  Surely, you jest!

  I could see your point with vodka. Vodka is intentionally distilled so as to be neutral in flavor and aroma. But whisky?

  Whisky obtains a variety of flavors and aromas, not only from the oak, but from the grain, as well as the yeast. Even the copper that the stills are made from can impart certain flavors.
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  Open mind

  Fantastic thread LKL.

  My wife and I began our whisky(ey) education about a year ago.

  Laphroig, Ardbeg, Bushmills (12 yr) & Bulleit Bourbon are the only ones here that I know we've tried.

  For any JWs who would like to smoke a cigar without risking a Judicial Committee, try the Laphroig. It's a campfire in a glass.

  Thanks again Low-Key.

  om
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  ziddina

  Meh...

  People keep telling me that wines have "flavors" - I haven't found that to be the case, at all...

  For me, the burning sensation that the whiskey would generate, would totally distract me from detecting any light and delicate "aromas" in the booze...
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  heathen

  my whiskey of the week is a bottle of canadian mist . very affordable and always a minimum of 3yrs old so it does get some flavor from the barrels and they always use top grains . ohhh canada ...........
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  Low-Key Lysmith

  Hi Heathen,

  I get the question all the time, "what's the best whisky"? The only correct answer to that is that the best whisky is the one that YOU like best. There are too many differences in styles and characterisitics to pin one down and call it "the best".

  If you like Canadian Mist, then it's a perfectly good beverage. I tend to like more robust, full-bodied whiskies. Doesn't mean I'm right & you're wrong, just that we have different palates.
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  heathen

  I do know that the older it is the smoother and more flavor from the barrels it soaks in , I'm not saying canadian mist is the best just saying it's good for the price and gets the job done as far as no hang overs when using little discretion .LOL
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  Low-Key Lysmith

  When I first started drinking as a young man, my favorite thing to make at parties was a punch that i devised using a half-gallon of Canadian Mist, a fifth of Triple Sec, and equal parts OJ, lemonade, & 7-Up. Did the trick, for sure.
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  Low-Key Lysmith

  Today's libation is one from from the Good Ol' USA. A single barrel Kentucky Bourbon.

  This one comes from the Buffalo Trace Distillery, which is Kentucky's oldest operating distillery.

  Bourbon: Col. E.H. Taylor, Jr. Single Barrel Bourbon

  Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, Kentucky

  Age: 11 years and 7 months old

  Proof: 100 Proof, 50% ABV

  Color: Medium to deeper amber

  Nose: Deep Oak, plums, and buttery. The nose contains much the signature oak DNA of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection and other Buffalo Trace Bourbons.

  Taste: Enters sweet and buttery, goes to a mild zesty citrus character and the swallow is a prevalence of “smokiness” reminiscent of a Scotch. The acidic nature plays against the smoke in a strange fashion at first, but after more sips becomes an interesting journey.

  This kind of smoke is rather unexpected flavor coming out of a Bourbon and delivers the the depth of the barrel in a fashion that we don’t taste often.

  Finish: Long finish of serious oak stays firm on the tongue along with citrus, bitter, and tobacco.