Scotland may break up from UK

Well they can rest assured that the whiskey drinkers already know the difference between Scotland, Ireland, and Kentucky.

 

Are they planning on giving it another go at the next election?

 

The independence question is dead for a while, with the oil price going down recently Scotland's biggest natural resource is worth less and less at the moment. Scotland is quite socialist in its outlook which naturally costs a lot of money, money they really don't have at the moment. Besides as I mentioned in another post some of Scotland's biggest Banks owe the UK taxpayer a fucking fuck ton of money that they took in bailouts during the 2008 crash.

The joke was that the SNP wanted and probably still do want a currency union/sterling zone with England, Wales and Northern Ireland.This would have meant that Scotland's interest rates would have been set by the central bank of a foreign country (Bank of England).

 

Lol.
Did you catch 60 Minutes this past Sunday?

Bob Simon just before he died was doing a story on Whisky Island in Scotland. It was awesome. You seriously should check out the segment if you didn't see it.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/scottish-island-islay-whisky-60-minutes/

 

Got to see that piece from 60 Minutes. Cameron is making big promises on mo devolution to Scotland.

 

This is a good article. My only gripe would be when he expressed the importance of the barrel and where they come from without elaborating a bit more.

Scotch is more subtle and complex, and the profile of bourbon is more straight forward and bold. Both can be quite robust, but in different ways. By the time Scotland gets the barrels they are better suited for the purposes of subtlety because the barrel is used and no longer capable of producing the same level of boldness as it could when it was new, perfect for their purposes; thus both countries have a the perfect incentive to maintain the current relationship in the barrel market. That however is only one of the many differences between Scotch and Bourbon.

Knowing about the different regions of Scotland is one of the major keys to understanding Scotch. Islay whiskey is for those that have already developed their palates and are quite familiar with Scotch whisky, because it requires a sophisticated palate to taste past the smokiness of the peat they use and pick up on the remaining subtle favor and complexities of the whisky, but that doesn't mean that every seasoned scotch drinker should like Islay whiskies. Those that are new to scotch are better off starting with the Speyside distilleries (a subdivision of the highlands). That's just a more plausible way to develop your palate.

I have had whisky from most of the distilleries that were mentioned and I have to say that Lagavulin is my favorite distillery of all Islay, no doubt about it. The 16yr edition is lovely in every since of the word and worth the $90+ retail that it sells for in the US. Even my dad liked it and he doesn't even drink liquor, let alone whisky. The distillery will be my first stop when I get around to visiting Islay.

I do plan on watching the segment.

 

That was a great read. I didn't realize the depth of affection you have for good Whiskey. Have you ever considered moonlighting as a critic on a whiskey blog? I'm not a whiskey drinker in general, but it makes me wanna try it after seeing the segment and reading your opinions, just to see whether I really can appreciate good whiskey other than JW red or black , or Jim B. bourbon with coke. (<-- blasphemy in the Scotch world, l know)

 

You right about the Jim Beam, anything you need to mix with coke is a waste of time, so the red label can kick rocks too. JW Black is acceptable and I do engage it from time to time especially when I'm out and about.

The Jim Beam distillery does have a good product line called Knob Creek. The original Knob Creek is good, but for about 5 bucks more you can get a considerable step up in quality by getting the Single Barrel Knob Creek which is actually one of my preferred whiskies when I'm in the mood for Bourbon. Anytime you get a single barrel whiskey from a major distillery like Jim Beam you can count on the fact that the whiskey comes from one of the highest quality barrels available to the company. The only slight catch is that the whiskey can vary a bit more than the original brand because each barrel is somewhat different, but it still will be of the highest quality.

Normally it would take a specific whiskey product (don't matter if it is Scotch or Bourbon) about a decade or so to evolve into somewhat of a different product for better or worse. (example Macallan 15yr is not the same as it was 10years ago) You can generally count on the whiskey produced by a given distillery to be the same within a large time frame unless it is a Single Barrel. With that said you can still count on a single barrel whiskey to be of a generally higher quality than the original brands of a given distillery.

With all of that said, know that Single Malt reigns supreme in the world of scotch. All single barrels are single malts, but not all single malts are single barrels. Single Malt simply means that a given whisky was produced by one distillery only, and it is 100% malt whiskey (Made from Malted Barley). Blends typically are a product of several distilleries and usually have regular grain whiskey mixed in with malt whiskey.

I know that barley is a grain, but it is not referred to as a grain in the world of whisky. lol There is a good reason for that trust me. Anyway there are some really good blends out there but they are rarely as good as a single malt.

There are actually quite a few whisky connoisseurs on the net that write pretty good tasting notes for whisky. I usually take their opinions with a grain of salt, but I enjoy reading them and they do sometimes come in handy when you are thinking of trying a particular whisky for the first time and you have absolved your other sources of info. Just know that each persons palate is different to various degrees and if you discover someone of a similar palate then you are in luck. Anyway it helps to know their biases.

For Instance; I like Jason Delbys' blog and I tend to agree with him more often than not. I still know of his bias of generally not being crazy about Islay whiskies (he admits it) Still he has a very sophisticated palate even more so than my own and he is generally a good source of info for Highland and Speyside Scotch Whisky.

 

The primary difference between American whiskey, Irish whiskey ans Scottish whisky is that Irish is distilled 3 times, Nearly all Scottish 2 times and American once.

 

The Conservative UK Government only won 1 seat in Scotland.
So one could say that the Government does not represent Scotland.
Also some people in both Scotland and Northern Ireland are demanding a separate referendum on whether or not the Uk leaves the European Union.

 

Ahhaha!

Actually the most important difference between any whiskies is the type of grain that's used. In Bourbon or "American Whiskey" corn is the primary ingredient. In Scotch malted barley is the primary ingredient. Irish whiskey varies a bit more, but I stick to my particular brand of Irish because I know the best Irish Whiskies are typically not sold in the US.

Last year I became familiar with rye whiskey.

How many times distilled is important, but more so to Vodka drinkers. To whiskey drinkers not so much.

 

What is your favourite whiskey?

 

My personal favorite is 18yr Highland Park. It is a scotch island whisky. It has the perfect balance of peat smoke, oak, sherry, caramel and heather as the basic profile. I would recommend trying the 12yr first because it is similar but less expensive. If you like the 12yr you will absolutely love the 18yr. The 18yr has more depth in the flavor and thus the complexity of the finish is a lot more enjoyable. Whoever the master distiller was for this whisky is or was an artistic genius. Balvenie is also one of my favorite distilleries. It is a speyside distillery.

 

The alcohol chronicles continue

 

lol

 

The beauty of this forum is that you have aficionados of every thing here

 

True.

This round is on me.

"A double of captain and coke for broad street pls."

 

Lol

 

Another great read.
The barrel point you made is interesting because in the segment, they use American recycled barrels, they didn't discriminate.The pete and grain - another importance I was unaware of, per the story and your post.

You're reminding me of my whiskey-esque experience as a club hopper drinking Southern Comfort and coke. Loved it to bits. I know it's not whiskey but it flavored like it.

I never knew about single malt until years ago, while watching l think it was The Firm, and Tom Cruise was told to bring scotch as a gift to a woman character in the know....but single malt only...
(Or was it the Nicole Kidman, Alec Baldwin movie, Malice? ) Anyway, the 'single malt' line always stuck out to me, as that's how l learned the distinction in quality.

 

Single Malt is good quality but not hard to find in American Markets.

Single Barrel Scotch however is rare in American markets. The only people I know that have had quite a bit of it had it while they were in Scotland. Would only expect the most serious of connoisseurs to have a substantial amount of it here in the US. (Serious enough to have it listed on an insurance policy) The quality of those whiskies can reach vintage level. I have only had one Single Barrel Scotch whisky myself it was the 15yr Balvenie. (Not vintage though) Vintage level Scotch Whiskies have the year listed on the label and are listed at the top tier of the market.

Single Barrel Bourbon is more common in the American Market.

I guess I'll see what you were saying about not discriminating when I watch the segment.