I’ve only had the doublewood too. Thought I’d try this one, it’s like 15 bucks more, why not. I’ve had Dalmore but years ago. Don’t think I’ve ever bought a 50+ scotch that I didn’t like, although I’m not a huge fan of smoky scotches. Lagavulin is the exception, it’s smoky as hell but it’s a smooth smoke because it’s so old and underneath it all it’s as sweet and fruity as Speyside scotch.
I like the Dalmore and the Lagavulin. Never had the other. Currently sipping on Glennfiddisch 14 year old bourbon barrel reserve I really like.
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I almost bought that today!
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I like it. I may have had the other one in your photo before too and not remember it. At my liquor rep friend and old roommate’s bachelor party and wedding he had a ton of scotches and open bars. Since then I usually don’t have many on stock and am realizing I really need to do side to side taste tastes more often now that I’ve had a few bottles here to try from. He and I drank this one night a few years ago and I loved it too.
The Balvenie has a big dry nose. It’s got a big bourbon-y roughness. It’s reminiscent of the doublewood, which is one of the rougher single malt scotches I’ve tried, but even more so. I’m trying it straight, and it’s 47%, so I’ll add a bit of water and see how that changes it.
Ahhh, that opens it up. Still dry, but kind of flowery and fruity. The roughness is almost all gone. Bit of smoke and astringent.
I like it but it’s not something you can just pour in a glass and bottoms up. For sure needs water. Which, I’m honestly not a fan of. I like whiskies that are bottled at the abv that they should be drank at.
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The Dalmore
Big, caramel, malty nose. Maybe some nuts? Walnuts? I don’t know.
Palate: balanced, a bit of rye spiciness (I know there’s no rye in here, don’t @ me), but not a lot going on. Pleasant enough but after the Lagavulin and Balvenie don’t really taste much of anything. Definitely tried these in the wrong order. Don’t want to try the mild, easy drinking scotch after the challenging Balvenie and the intensely smoky Lagavulin. I’ll try the Dalmore first tomorrow.
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I am a fan of the Balvenie single barrels, as I think they highlight the honey taste characteristic of the distillery. They used to have a 15 year single barrel which was awesome. I still keep an unopened bottle in my stash.
Regarding water, I actually really like to add some regardless of the strength of the whisky. Even a few drops help break the surface tension and allow the flavor molecules to come to the front which results in an even better testing experience imo.
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Yeah but with a 47.8% scotch you’re gonna need more than a few drops.
Do people here care about what glasses they drink out of or are they more along the lines of believing that a Mason jar is perfectly fine?
For beer I find that it does help a little, when I found some of these glasses it definitely brings a little more out of some good beers.
But the benefit is pretty marginal, I also drink beer out of plastic cups all summer by the pool so its not like a good glass will make a bad beer good, or vice versa.
Riedel for red.
Was given this bottle as a gift recently and damn it is incredible.
Unfortunately this is the type of bourbon that’s impossible to find on a shelf. Only 14k bottles made, retail $150 and quickly gets grabbed up and sold for over double on secondary markets. Great pour if you ever see it though.
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It can be a few drops with a 43% scotch or it can be a spoonful or more with a cask strength one. My point was, water can really help bring out the flavors in the drink, and it’s really up to you on how much to add without drowning the scotch.
I used to play with that a lot. Pour a 1-1.5oz drink. Take a sip or two neat, write notes. Add a couple of drops of water, cover for ~10 minutes, take a sip and write notes. Repeat until the drink is gone or until it’s too watery. The one pour would last for an hour or more, and I would really get to know the whisky, its flavors, the distillery’s character, and how much water was needed to hit the sweet spot.
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Oh boy. The best beer you can get from here is at Guggman Haus although it won’t be in a store. They are open Thursday - Sunday if you want to swing by there and grab cans/bombers.
If we are limiting it to only in a liquor store / grocery store I would look for anything from Black Acre, Daredevil, or Indiana City. Some liquor stores carry M-43 and Boss Tweed from Old Nation which are elite. 3 Floyd’s is worth grabbing too and it’s pretty widespread here.
You are better off stopping by any of the breweries I mentioned above and grabbing their good stuff directly.
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Haven’t had anything from them in years, but always enjoyed their stuff when I had a chance to try them. (I don’t think we have any distribution of them in the northeast.)
I drank them way more when I first moved here. They increased distribution a ton. It used to be a rare thing to find Zombie Dust in the wild, but almost every store has it now.
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Thank you! Need to do some research. Staying over by the airport.
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Deviate is another great brewery on the west side (airport). I don’t think they have cans though. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Happy to answer.
Tried these in reverse order and that’s the way to go. Woke up with a headache this morning for some reason, probably coronavirus or something.
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