I guess that would explain Ardbeg tasting like bandaids.
By the way, we have a running topic for general whisk(e)y talk. Just tooting me own horn and whatnot.
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I havent had Ardbeg for a while, but I don’t remember bandaids… Everyone has slightly different tastebuds tho.
I personally can’t eat olives, ever. For some reason the taste is overwhelming to me, faintly like gasoline. However I love olive oil and cook with it all the time.
The phenol scale is something that exists too, but I might be wrong on the tasting like peat part. Octomore is the highest peated scotch I know of, there are others too, but its off the charts on phenol scale. But- it doesnt taste as peaty as some Laphroaigs Ive had. Id say I remember hay more than anything, alfalfa.
Nosing glasses are just what Glencairn glasses are, and they are whisky glasses too. They work for all whiskys, and they arent very expensive man. If youve never tried using one, or something similar, youre missing a lot of the tastes and smell in your whiskey. Of course, I drink out of normal tumblers occasionally too. But I spent 10$ online and got a Glencairn glass.
Id say anyone drinking scotches and debating their merits is already pretentious, but that includes everyone here that does regularly, including me.
True pretentiousness? My spanish uncle, related to the royal family, a Cornell educated nuclear engineer. He almost always only drinks spanish Rijoha, and only the ones he brings to family gatherings himself. He turns down Glenfarclas 21 for Johnny Walker Black. And only drinks Johnny Walker Black if he drinks scotch.
I was going to say, go-to Islay? It’s not Bowmore? That’s one of my favorites.
Is Shakelton’s whiskey commercially available yet? It is! I mean to try it and watch Herzog’s documentary on McMurdo Station characters. I think that’s as close to the Antarctic as I’m going to get.
I have to admit that I’m also a bit of a cretin when it comes to certain tastes. “Band-aids” really doesn’t sell it for me. Also runny cheeses that taste like various biological excretions or meat gone south…
Ah. A whisky. Let’s do science to it.
http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/home/jhb/whisky/lapointe/text.html
(Just FTR, this one is truly Legenderey.)
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Ardbeg is my least favorite, too much iodine.
Although I was watching Keanu Reeves "John Constantine " and noted that he was drinking Ardbeg, so it’s the go-to for accursed demon hunters.
A couple of years ago (make that more than a decade… deepsigh), a friend had a limited Aardbeg, probably from the Signatory series, which was mellowed by a Port cask. Heaven.
I started drinking whisky with Talisker. I made my way through Laphroaig and Lagavulin to Aardbeg and back - nowadays, I prefer the only slightly peaty ones. Sauternes and Port casks, sometimes a Oloroso cask.
However, I have neither the time nor the liver to really enjoy whisky often. I can’t even remember if I had more than a dram in 2018. Would have to check the Whisk(e)y topic to look for my last post, I think.
Thanks to @beschizza, I am tempted to have one dram tonight, to get this sucker of a year out of my system.
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From their website
" The smoke from this peat, found only on Islay, gives Laphroaig its particularly rich flavour."
Please abstain from using any product which uses peat. Peat is almost impossible to replace, is critical to the ecosystem, and alternatives are available.
Herzog documentary on south pole? Interesting…
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If you like Herzog’s stuff, you’ll like Encounters at the End of the World.
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TBF, the peats of Islay - and in fact the largest parts of the Isles, including Ireland - are long drained and thus a lost case anyway.
If you want to worry, also as per your links, worry about your potting and garden soil, and about any products containing palm oil. Which is basically everything edible and basically all cosmetics, plus a lot of other stuff. The peat forests of SE Asia are what fucks us up. And since the permafrosted peats of the Northern parts are already documented to be thawing in several different places…
Fuck it, I would need a drink right now.
But I will just log off and go to bed, trying to mildly asphyxiate my fears by putting a pillow on my head until I fall asleep.
Goodnight.
I’ll read some of you next year. May it be better than this.
Clearly you’ve never had Grand Macnish, Piper’s Clan, Glen Logie or Carlyle.
For the record, Grand Macnish is what I will guess Trader Joe’s bottles as its $10 scotch. Similar crappy cheap flavor. Good only for cooking.
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Cooking?? I’m intrigued. What would you use whisky for?
That’s more a figure of speech, although there are some whisky recipes that use bourbon (“whisky chicken” comes to mind, and some cakes.) I was borrowing the phrase from wine drinkers.
Mostly desserts, in my experience.
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Whisky is great for flambeeing fruit. For example, thinly slice up a tart apple, fry in half a cup of butter and a few tablespoons of sugar (more or less to taste), and when the sauce is gooey add a shot of whisky and ignite. Serve over ice cream after the flame is gone.
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I just made pulled pork in a crock pot last night, with maple syrup, honey, dr. pepper, and 100 proof Evan Williams bourbon. Turned out ok. Bourbon is great to cook with, and a great marinade for ground beef for hamburgers.
Sherry is great in deserts like flan, all kinds of liquors are great to cook with.
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