A question for the Single Malt crowd

[David Thorpe]

I found this helpful.

[chewse]

I found this helpful.

Great site!

[creagdhubh]

I found this helpful.

***

Oh and Kenneth, Dalwhinnie 15-year (or older) is absolutely my favourite single-malt. And not only for the simple fact of the distillery's beautiful location near the River Spey in Badenoch, but more because of the grassy, herbal, and lighter notes. Dalwhinnie pours a fine dram indeed!



Slainte,

[SlackerDrummer]

Thanks, everyone. I am looking more forward to sampling these now. Now, if I could just get the kids to bed a little earlier.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

The Islays are -- emphatic, to varied degrees. They exhibit that characteristic scent of smoke and Band-Aids, which they make, well, wonderful on the palate. Laphroaig is like the Myers' Dark Rum of whiskeys, extremely strong and heavy flavor. Lagavulin and Bowmore come in the middle of the Islay spectrum, and Bruichladdich markets itself as "the gentle Islay," all the characteristics in a smooth, milder, lighter fashion -- ingratiating rather than overwhelming. Islays are all heavy on smoke and something oceanic. Some call it iodiney. I haven't ever met an Islay I did not like.

There are other regional styles of single-malts. The Speyside malts like Glenkinchie, Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie and on and on, are produced in the broad valley of the north-flowing river Spey in what seems like hundreds of distilleries from the headwaters to the seaside and up every tributary stream. These are much lighter style, and have a faintly sweet, grainy quality that is utterly obscured in the Islays. Very hard to go really wrong with the Speysides, and they are very accessible to the new guy's palate. I'd start a fellow on Glenlivet or the regular Glenmorangie -- the new man should find these pleasant. (Glenmorangie comes in numerous varietals, as they enjoy finishing the maturing and rounding of the flavor profile in casks that previously held various different whiskies, or even port and sherry, as well as the standard Glenmorangie, finished in recycled American bourbon barrels like most whisky.) I've not been a big fan of Glenfiddich, as it has a bitter finish taken straight up, neat that is. I find a few drops of designer water improves Glenfiddich no end; the bitter finish departs, leaving good ol' Speysideness.

My very favorite Speyside, with all the character of the breed, is Balvenie Doublewood. They finish the stuff in two different flavors of cask before it goes in a bottle. The result is a Speyside whisky as layered and complex as a red wine, and is it ever yummy. And from Trader Joe's, very reasonably priced too.

There are Northern whiskies, Campbelltown whiskies -- very small number of these, as this style is produced only in and around that city in a very small area. Highland Park single malt is made in the Orkneys, and I don't know if one distinguishes so separated a whisky production from Northerns, or what -- otherwise, Northerns start near Loch Ness. A few Lowland whiskies are emerging, or re-emerging. It can be hard to say. Lismore's an example; comparatively low price too.

So, yeah... Scottish barley, Scottish peat, pure Scottish water... and skilful Scots who can make booze. Wherever they can put all these together, they are distilling whiskies these days. Even if not very many distilleries are making and peat-smoking their own malt any more; that part of it is getting centralized and the smoked malted barley goes out to the distilleries for their wort. Some still malt their own over the drying peat fires, and they charge more for their product too.

Not to take away from the extraordinary developments nowadays in other parts of the world. The Japanese have been making Scotch of their own for a century, having picked up a taste for it when creating a modern Navy, for the knowledge of which they went to Great Britain. The rest easily follows, doesn't it? Most of the Japanese whiskies come off as light-bodied, blend-y kinds of whisky, but they are trying for premium, particularly special runs now, and essaying single malts. Even more astonishing, there are peat-smoked single malts in production in the US and Canada, and it looks like big things will come of these happy few. They're not numerous, but they are winning awards and medals and are beating the original Scottish product on points. Watch out for them.

[ForresterModern]

Smart idea doing a sampler pack of some of the more popular if not altogether mainstream malts, a nice variety that is not too generic. No doubt there is some objective nature to describing the various single malt whiskies out there, there is IMHO a lot more subjectivity and individuality to taste testing them. Also realize that other environmental factors can also cause you to experience different tastes from the same malts at different times---time of day, recently ingested food or drink (including other whiskies), how much you have already drunk, smoky bars, even your own personal mood and surroundings. I can tell you that the same whiskies I drink at home taste entirely better when I was with fun friends in Scotland sitting in the hotel restaurant overlooking the setting sun on the 18th hole of the old course at St Andrews.

My suggestions? First, never trust the first taste--fine scotch comes off very strong with the first taste as it kind of startles the taste buds with its strength of full flavor. Trust the second taste which will settle much more comfortably on the palate and tongue. Second, dont take solid food with the whiskies you are tasting as these can leave residues on the tongue and palate that can mask or alter the actual finer flavors in the whisky. Fatty things like milk, cheese, cooked meats and oils in salad dressings and butter can be particularly troublesome. Third, always cleanse the palate between tasting different whiskies (I prefer to think of it as refreshing rather than cleansing---kind of like recalibrating a scale between weighings to make sure you are back at a consistent baseline), preferably with a nice spring or branch water swish and swallow or two. Lastly vary the order in which you compare the various whiskies as anything tasted after a powerful whisky will by comparison come off as exaggeratedly mild, and vice versa. Mix it up, remembering to refresh between each time.

Although single malt scotches are generally classed by distillery locations--Lowland, Highland, Island or Islay, and the large group of Speysides--each having its "classic" or "stereotypical" flavor descriptions, although these are very arbitrary and by no means absolute. Lowlands are typically describes as light and mild and sweet and smooth without peaty overtones or heavy smokiness. Speysides next are more bold and spicy but usually still relatively sweet and smooth with varying degrees of peat and smoke but generally either or both in moderation. Highlands typically add more strength of flavor, more spice than sweet, tending towards more smoke than peat but generous amounts of each usually evident. The Islays or Islands are IMHO generally the boldest and more powerful malts, full bodied and flavorfull with strong aftertastes, tending toward heavy peat and varying amounts of smoke and spice and only rarely sweet. There are definitely outliers in each category, like Tobermory from the Isle of Mull which is minimally pleated if at all and tastes more like a Lowland than an Island. The Islay brand Bruichlaiddich makes its basic peaty smoky stock but also a couple totally unpeated versions as well that taste more like Highland or even some Speysides, etc., etc., etc....

Then there are the whiskies that are "finish" cashed for their last few years (or more) in various casks that previously held wines like Sauternes, port, Madeira, Ximeniz, sherry, Tuscan and other wines or even rum casks, each of which add those additional flavors on top of the basic stock whisky that went into the second barrel. I particularly like these for their variety and complexity. But these are yet another interesting and exciting kettle of fish to deal with. Another time perhaps.

Try them all and make up your own mind and your own personal descriptions--yours will different than anybody else's , and after all that is really what matters, your tastes. A nice way to try several whiskies without having to buy them all yourself only works if you have several friends who also like or at least are interested in trying different single malt, is to have each buy a bottle of their favorite and then gather the group for a "co-op" style tasting event---most cost effective way for a bunch of folks to try a bunch of different malts in one sitting. Just make sure there won't be any duplications.

Or you could just stop by my house some weekend and we could crack open the whisky vault and see how far down the scotch cabinet alphabet we can get before we need to start calling taxis.

[creagdhubh]

Smart idea doing a sampler pack of some of the more popular if not altogether mainstream malts, a nice variety that is not too generic. No doubt there is some objective nature to describing the various single malt whiskies out there, there is IMHO a lot more subjectivity and individuality to taste testing them. Also realize that other environmental factors can also cause you to experience different tastes from the same malts at different times---time of day, recently ingested food or drink (including other whiskies), how much you have already drunk, smoky bars, even your own personal mood and surroundings. I can tell you that the same whiskies I drink at home taste entirely better when I was with fun friends in Scotland sitting in the hotel restaurant overlooking the setting sun on the 18th hole of the old course at St Andrews.

My suggestions? First, never trust the first taste--fine scotch comes off very strong with the first taste as it kind of startles the taste buds with its strength of full flavor. Trust the second taste which will settle much more comfortably on the palate and tongue. Second, dont take solid food with the whiskies you are tasting as these can leave residues on the tongue and palate that can mask or alter the actual finer flavors in the whisky. Fatty things like milk, cheese, cooked meats and oils in salad dressings and butter can be particularly troublesome. Third, always cleanse the palate between tasting different whiskies (I prefer to think of it as refreshing rather than cleansing---kind of like recalibrating a scale between weighings to make sure you are back at a consistent baseline), preferably with a nice spring or branch water swish and swallow or two. Lastly vary the order in which you compare the various whiskies as anything tasted after a powerful whisky will by comparison come off as exaggeratedly mild, and vice versa. Mix it up, remembering to refresh between each time.

Although single malt scotches are generally classed by distillery locations--Lowland, Highland, Island or Islay, and the large group of Speysides--each having its "classic" or "stereotypical" flavor descriptions, although these are very arbitrary and by no means absolute. Lowlands are typically describes as light and mild and sweet and smooth without peaty overtones or heavy smokiness. Speysides next are more bold and spicy but usually still relatively sweet and smooth with varying degrees of peat and smoke but generally either or both in moderation. Highlands typically add more strength of flavor, more spice than sweet, tending towards more smoke than peat but generous amounts of each usually evident. The Islays or Islands are IMHO generally the boldest and more powerful malts, full bodied and flavorfull with strong aftertastes, tending toward heavy peat and varying amounts of smoke and spice and only rarely sweet. There are definitely outliers in each category, like Tobermory from the Isle of Mull which is minimally pleated if at all and tastes more like a Lowland than an Island. The Islay brand Bruichlaiddich makes its basic peaty smoky stock but also a couple totally unpeated versions as well that taste more like Highland or even some Speysides, etc., etc., etc....

Then there are the whiskies that are "finish" cashed for their last few years (or more) in various casks that previously held wines like Sauternes, port, Madeira, Ximeniz, sherry, Tuscan and other wines or even rum casks, each of which add those additional flavors on top of the basic stock whisky that went into the second barrel. I particularly like these for their variety and complexity. But these are yet another interesting and exciting kettle of fish to deal with. Another time perhaps.

Try them all and make up your own mind and your own personal descriptions--yours will different than anybody else's , and after all that is really what matters, your tastes. A nice way to try several whiskies without having to buy them all yourself only works if you have several friends who also like or at least are interested in trying different single malt, is to have each buy a bottle of their favorite and then gather the group for a "co-op" style tasting event---most cost effective way for a bunch of folks to try a bunch of different malts in one sitting. Just make sure there won't be any duplications.

Or you could just stop by my house some weekend and we could crack open the whisky vault and see how far down the scotch cabinet alphabet we can get before we need to start calling taxis.

***

[Professor Mac X]

Also, check out the following article on American single malts:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/di...anted=all&_r=0
Here in Virginia we've got Wasmund's single malt (not peated, but applewood and hardwood-smoked as a kind of substitute). Another forum from a couple of years ago gives details about a visit to Wasmund's home, Copper Fox Distillery. I've tried Wasmund's and found it quite nice. (Though my favorites are still all true Scotch single malts.) I have not tried Virginia Distillery Company's whiskies, which are mostly double malt Scotches but finished in Va.