On Scotch

[JRB]

I recommend the Dalmore 12yo. It's a great highland single malt and is usually extremely affordable when compared to comperable scotches. As for mixing...I would maybe mix it with a few drops of spring water (though I usually do not).

[Thunderbolt]

Single malts are a journey, not a destination.

Much of the advice given already is spot on.

Single malt is intended to be enjoyed as it is. Maybe with a bit of pure water. No ice, no soda and just at room temp. Once I learned what I liked in scotch, I never looked back.

There is no "everyday drinking" scotch, in my opinion. All quality singles are standouts on their own, and shouldn't be mixed or cut with anything, as with most any fine drink.

There are several regions, or "styles" of scotch. Which one fits you is your decision.

I personally like Islay malts, but they take a getting used to. Not for the first time scotch taster.

The lowland malts tend to be lighter and sweeter, with a fast finish. The opposite is the Islays'. Bold, smokey, peaty, medicinal, maybe iodine, oily and looong finishes. Most people who try an Islay malt for the first time turn their noses up at them. I did the first time I tried one...

Start with the lighter malts, like the lowland malts, then work your way to the Islay malts.

In other words, there is no easy answer to your question. You're just gonna have to try them all!

Like I said, it's a journey, not a destination....

T.

[English Bloke]

... The lowland malts tend to be lighter and sweeter, with a fast finish. The opposite is the Islays'. Bold, smokey, peaty, medicinal, maybe iodine, oily and looong finishes... T.

Very good advice. Look for Single Malts from Speyside to start with. Mellow and much softer than the Islays and Highland Malts. Once you've got your nose into those you'll be keen to venture into the heavier ones. Read up before you buy as well so you know what to expect. Fore-warned is fore-armed as they say.

You're going to love this road you just turned onto...

[Beertigger]

Famous Grouse is a fine blend (having a nip at the moment), and there are some great ones from Ireland: Bushmills, Jameson's (mmm) and Power's (if you're tired of feeling your lips).

The single malts are where it's at though; well worth the money, imho. You can make a splash last for an hour, savoring....

[Conroy]

Glenlivet with two to three drops of water per dram.

[Jerry]

For single malt, I prefer the Glenlivit, which I like to sip neat. But, my sister in law gives me a bottle of Chivas Regal every year for Christmas, and I drink that with 7 up and a twist of lime.

[PiobBear]

What recommendations are there? Keep in mind, I'm not looking for top shelf, single malt, single barrel scotch. I thinking more along the lines of an everyday drinking sort of scotch. You know, after dinner, mix up a drink and take a walk around the yard kind of scotch.

To start with, Scotch is a very broad topic, single malts (all malted barley, from one distillery), vatted malts ( a blend of all malted barley, from various distilleries), and blends (a blend of barley malt and grain alcohols. About 90% of single malt production goes into making blended whisky, most of which contain less than 30% single malt), from the Lowlands, Highlands, Speyside, Campbeltown, and Islay. Each has a very different and distinct character. I'd suggest going to a bar with a good selection (hard to find), and trying to narrow your search a bit. The most popular are the Speysides and Highland malts; Islay whiskies and Talisker from Skye may be a bit more of an acquired taste. You really can't say definitively "I don't like Scotch" unless you've taken the tour of all of the regions of Scotland.

If I can't have my nosing glass, I prefer a small tulip-shaped wine glass well tapered towards the top, or a small cognac or brandy snifter.
I like to swirl mine around a bit, and admire the color. Older whiskies may be darker (sadly, it might also be caramel coloring), but they come in "all the colors of the seasons, from palest yellow to the deepest gold"; I've even had one that's black (Loch Dhu). If it's a little cloudy (especially if it's cold), so much the better; it's "old school" and not chill filtered, which can remove flavors and bouquet as well as impurities. Single malts have an age on the label; the youngest whisky in the blend must be at least that old (it has to be 3 years old to be called Scotch, but nobody wants to drink 3 year old whisky), aged in the barrel (doesn't matter how old the bottle is; the maturation process stops when it's poured out of the cask. A 20 year old bottle of 15 year old Scotch is still only a 15 year old). The difference between a 10 year old and 15 year old whisky from the same distillery may be quite remarkable.
I also look for the "legs"; how the whisky runs down the glass. Heavier and older whiskies tend to have bolder legs, as well as unfilteredfiltered whiskies. Chill filtering can remove some of the oils that give some of the mouth "feel" you'd expect in a good Scotch.
I prefer to hold a stemmed glass by the base myself. I don't want to warm the whisky with my hands, as you do with brandy. I already know what alcohol smells like; what I'm looking for is everything else.
With my mouth open (getting a little less alcohol vapor, and perhaps bringing taste buds into play), a take a light whiff. What's the first thing that comes to your mind? Citrus? Flowers? a peat fire? Whisky is typically matured in second-hand oak casks which originally held American bourbon; some are poured off into sherry or port casks for some of their life, giving them a very distinct character.
Take a sip, and swirl it around your mouth and through your teeth; "chewing it". Different areas of your palate taste different things, and you want them all. Again, what comes to mind?
Add just a tad of water (good water!), and nose it again. Often this will really make the nose bloom. Anything different? Anything new you missed the first time?
Taste it again. any difference? It may be a bit less "hot", allowing some of the more subtle flavors to come to the fore (particularly if it's cask strength; bottled undiluted at whatever strength it came out of the barrel). Or do you just have watered down whisky?

My personal preferences vary with the weight of my sporran, but my favorite "take a walk around the yard kind of Scotch" is Laphroig 10 from Islay (about $40), or A'bunadh from the Aberlour distillery in the Speyside region (about $50). I'd like to find a bottle of Ardmore, a fully peated and non-chill filtered Highland malt I had at a tasting a few weeks ago. For blends, I like Black Bottle, a blended whisky incorporating the seven distilleries of Islay. Again, I personally prefer a robust heavily peated malt whisky, not to everyone's taste. If you try a few Islays at a bar and they're not to your liking, you're only out the cost of a few drams, not a $50 bottle, and you've advanced your own education.

Also, what would you recommend for mixing with scotch? I always found that ginger ale mixed well with whiskey, but only sweetened lime juice was good with tequila. So, what scotch would you recommend, and what would you mix it with?

It's your Scotch; drink it they way you want. I prefer mine neat, with distilled or spring water on the side that I can add to my liking. I don't care for ice in my whisky, and (in my humble opinion) if you must pour Coca-Cola into it...well, you might as well be drinking whiskey, a very young grain alcohol made of rye, corn, and who knows what (bourbon).

I prefer to mix my Scotch with a good cigar, and even better company.

[The Ulsterman]

I would usually only have a small drop of water with my whiskey, as i feel anything else takes the true taste away from the drink.
You may prefer Scotch whisky, but i would urge you to try Bushmills......it is a beautiful drink, and their Black bush is a much smoother drink, but probably the nicer of the two.
One thing though..........if you do mix Whiskey with your kilt, for goodness sake, wear something underneath it!!!!!

Just as a sub-note........Irish Whiskey is spelt WHISKEY...and Scotch is spelt WHISKY.

Neil.

[Jock Scot]

Talisker for a "warmer" and to wash down smoked salmon with and Jura for a gentle sip by the fire in the evening. No ice or water,but if you must add water then, NOT TAP WATER!

[PiobBear]

Talisker and smoked salmon...can I come over?