I have to agree with the others who said Lagavulin. It’s my “special occasion” scotch.
Any Islay malt (single malt) is good with me. Some of the Highland malts are a little “petey”, but I’ll happily quaff them 
I’m a dedicated Keeper of the Quelch.
I had a 1985 Sassacaia, 1991 Dominus and 1965 Vega sicilia last night and missed my morning bike ride…
The red wine has caused a bit to of that this winter…
there are some mighty tasty bourbons out there
Being from the Bluegrass state, I’ll second that. there’s nothing like a nice glass of 23 y/o Van Winkle on the rocks…I think I’m gonna cry.
whoa whoa whoa. are we talking about American 3.5% useless yellow water or actual (canadian 6%) beer!
Laphroaig is my scotch. I love the peatyness. Also a huge fan of Lagavulin but harder to find and at $80 bottle harder to justify.
Now you have two questions that need answering here. I cut back on scotch due to not being made of money. The cheap good stuff is more than $50 a botttle. The nicer stuff is way more.
The other question about cutting back on alcohol, well that is just silly. Something as painfull as training should never be allowed to get in the way of a good glass of gold.
Oh, and ice belongs on your shins, not in your glass. Dont ruin a good scotch by putting it on the rocks. Neat is the only way to go.
t
I rarely drink scotch, I’m not much for the hard alcohols, but when I do, I like it with one, and only one, ice cube.
John
Try it at room temperature. The cold numbs your taste buds and takes away some of the flavours (which is why the crappier the beer, the colder they serve it…). Adding a bit of water (absolutely no more than 50:50 ratio and preferably less than that) can also bring the flavour out, particularly if you don’t drink spirits much in which case the alcohol levels can overwhelm your palate.
**there are some mighty tasty bourbons out there **
I am by no stretch of the imagination a connoisseur, but I really like Maker’s Mark. How does it stand up in Bluegrass country?
Laphroaig is my scotch. I love the peatyness. Also a huge fan of Lagavulin but harder to find and at $80 bottle harder to justify.
Now you have two questions that need answering here. I cut back on scotch due to not being made of money. The cheap good stuff is more than $50 a botttle. The nicer stuff is way more.
The other question about cutting back on alcohol, well that is just silly. Something as painfull as training should never be allowed to get in the way of a good glass of gold.
Oh, and ice belongs on your shins, not in your glass. Dont ruin a good scotch by putting it on the rocks. Neat is the only way to go.
Totally agreed on most points…except for the $50 thing! Laphroaig 10yr around here is $32 and Ardbeg 10yr is $40. For less expensive check out John, Mark and Robbo’s “The Smoky, Peaty One.” It normally runs about $25 a bottle or less ($22 at Total Wine) and is a vatting…not a blend. I can’t even drink blended scotch anymore, the grain just really bugs me. Plus the grain whiskys tend to give me a headache, sort of like the corn sugar they use in cheap beer as a fermentation “filler.” Another normally good but variable by bottle is the Peat Monster, which is normally around $40.
Anyway, on the OP, nope. Never let training get in the way of a wee dram. In fact, I find that sitting out on the back porch with a nice glass (you have to have the right shape…the tulip style) of Ardbeg is a great way to get the muscles to relax after a hard day of training.
You guys will probably think I am nuts, but I currently have 85 bottles of single malt open, and 20 more bottles of various ages in storage. My favorites are any of the Islay malts (which I originally hated) but I have a good selection of highland and a few lowlanders as well. My favorites by far are the Ardbeg 1977 and the Ledaig 1972, but that Ardbeg isn’t available anymore. The current 10yr is amazing though. Off the top of my head I think I have 12 Ardbegs ranging from the 10yr thru the “Lord of the Isles” (which I bought at the distillery), 6 or 7 Lagavulins, 10 Bowmores, 6 Laphroaigs (the 1/4-cask is great!), 7 Taliskers (the 18 and 20yrs are incredible), and a pretty wide range of Bruichladdich and Caol Ila. My highland favorites are the Aberlour Abunadh series, Highland Park 12 and 18 (the 15 sucks), The Macallan (not MacCallan dammit!) 12yr and Cask Strength, and the occasional sampling of the last of a couple of bottles of the Glenmorangie finishes series (Fino Sherry, Port, Madeira). It’s kind of sad in a way, my scotch cabinet is worth more than my bike!
…the ultimate from my friend’s felt lined coffer, the one and only Johnny Walker Blue. WOW.
And stop slandering the stuff as “whiskey.” Its called scotch for a reason!
Ummm, the scots call it “whisky” or so it’s hardly slander. In fact if you are in Scotland and ask for “scotch” they look at you like you are a stupid American. And they are right! I agree that JW Blue is good stuff, but there are tons of bottles of quality single malt that are half the price. Even the Green Label is a better blend (being much higher percentage malt than grain) and is 1/3 the price. When Blue was $100-125 it was an okay deal, though Macallan 18, Lagavulin 16 and Glenmorangie 18 were still better IMO. At the current $175 or more it’s almost insulting.
The really scary thing is that I think JW Red Label is still the best selling scotch in the world. That stuff tastes like gasoline (don’t ask me how I know)!
Makers is very good…not too expensive. I like it. Woodford Reserve, as well. Blanton’s is quite nice but $$$$$, as is Pappy Van Winkle.
You guys will probably think I am nuts, but I currently have 85 bottles of single malt open, and 20 more bottles of various ages in storage. My favorites are any of the Islay malts (which I originally hated) but I have a good selection of highland and a few lowlanders as well. My favorites by far are the Ardbeg 1977 and the Ledaig 1972, but that Ardbeg isn’t available anymore. The current 10yr is amazing though. Off the top of my head I think I have 12 Ardbegs ranging from the 10yr thru the “Lord of the Isles” (which I bought at the distillery), 6 or 7 Lagavulins, 10 Bowmores, 6 Laphroaigs (the 1/4-cask is great!), 7 Taliskers (the 18 and 20yrs are incredible), and a pretty wide range of Bruichladdich and Caol Ila. My highland favorites are the Aberlour Abunadh series, Highland Park 12 and 18 (the 15 sucks), The Macallan (not MacCallan dammit!) 12yr and Cask Strength, and the occasional sampling of the last of a couple of bottles of the Glenmorangie finishes series (Fino Sherry, Port, Madeira). It’s kind of sad in a way, my scotch cabinet is worth more than my bike!
Will you marry me? I put out! You can have my wife too! Please invite me over! Please! Pretty please? I will bring a high priced hooker, I know one in NY that comes with good references. I will pay rent and clean your toilet. Does your car need polishing? How about laundry, I am great at that too. I will cook for you good meals. Just let me be your friend. Please, please I want to hang out with you.
t
The really scary thing is that I think JW Red Label is still the best selling scotch in the world. That stuff tastes like gasoline (don’t ask me how I know)!
I assume there must be a “Pepsi Challenge” story to go along with this?
~Rob
Will you marry me? I put out! You can have my wife too! Please invite me over! Please! Pretty please? I will bring a high priced hooker, I know one in NY that comes with good references. I will pay rent and clean your toilet. Does your car need polishing? How about laundry, I am great at that too. I will cook for you good meals. Just let me be your friend. Please, please I want to hang out with you.
Post of the day, made me spit my water out laughing. I was waiting to see what the response to the other post was going to be since that is quite the collection. I used to work in a package store that carried a lot of high-end wines and liqours and recognize most of the names in the list. Good stuff.
They serve Woodford Reserve on Delta flights - not too bad and was surprised to see it on the menu.
Give them up 1 at a time and just rotate through your bar.
You need to save the stuff that is older than you are for special occasions. Also the cask strength is not an every day drink.
Dave
That’s a nice collection! I’ve liked the Glenfarclas as well, I have the 17 but have tried the other two I see. Methinks I spy a Talisker 18/20/175th back there…good stuff! I stayed at the B&B run by the wife of one of the distillers there, trust me he had an amazing collection! I’ve never tried an ancient Auchentoshan, how do you like that, the Nadurra and the Usquaebach? I’ve seen Usquaebach fairly cheap around here but never decided to try one. There’s a lot of high dollar stuff there for a rotation!!!
And no prajna101 I’m not in need of a wife! Hilarious post though…I do think that my car needs a good polishing! I think the hooker would probably cost more than my collection though! I am NOT Client#9! I’ll have to take a pic when I get home.
To keep this in non-LR, I found that dehydration is the only serious problem with having a dram or two the night before a big workout. I’ve been over to friend’s houses on Friday night and brought “the girls” (usually a pair of Islay malts) for a bit of non-serious dramming. Single malts typically (with a few exceptions) don’t have the same level of fusel alcohols and other toxins (such as the foreshots and feints) that take a long time to flush out of the body. The foreshots are actually poisonous and when trying to extract the most usable spirit out of the distillation, some unscrupulous distillers will “push the envelope” of what is acceptable. Continuous column stills like when making grain whisky produce some (or more) of the same toxins and feints, which is one reason why cheaper blends tend to give people headaches. I figure that anything that gives me a headache is probably not something I’d want to drink, definitely not if I plan on working out hard the next morning.
"I’ve liked the Glenfarclas as well, I have the 17 but have tried the other two I see
Those are the Glenfarclas Cask strength (105pr) and the 12 year. Funny but I like the 12 better than th 17.
“Auchentoshan, how do you like that”
Its a 1966 so I only open it on special occasions because I could never afford to replace it. Good would be an understatement. Come to the bay area and my bar will be open for you. I like the Usquaebach but it isn’t one of my top 10’s. I also have a Glenkinchie 12 to cover the Low Land stuff. I much prefer the peatie highlands but I don’t discriminate. I used to have a ton more but I haven’t bought a new bottle in 7 years. That was about the same time I started tri training seriously. See, back to a tri related topic.
Dave
Laphroaig is my scotch. I love the peatyness. Also a huge fan of Lagavulin but harder to find and at $80 bottle harder to justify.
Now you have two questions that need answering here. I cut back on scotch due to not being made of money. The cheap good stuff is more than $50 a botttle. The nicer stuff is way more.
The other question about cutting back on alcohol, well that is just silly. Something as painfull as training should never be allowed to get in the way of a good glass of gold.
Oh, and ice belongs on your shins, not in your glass. Dont ruin a good scotch by putting it on the rocks. Neat is the only way to go.
t
Love Lagavulin (sp?) but Loch Du (the black scotch) is also very interesting.
If you want a really good scotch that isn’t pricey and tastes like a single malt, try Famous Grouse. Put it in a brandy snifter and sip away.
Definitely NO ICE!!! Not unless it’s a crappy Scotch.
“The really scary thing is that I think JW Red Label is still the best selling scotch in the world. That stuff tastes like gasoline (don’t ask me how I know)!”
It’s ok…MOST of us scotch drinkers probably started with that one. Then we try the Honda Civic of single malts, The Glenlivet 12yr…
After that…it’s a wild ride downhill to $100+ bottles of the Islay malts…
After all…to the uninitiated, Laphroaig probably tastes WORSE THAN gasoline!
Most people think Chivas is fantastic. I keep some for friends, but I don’t drink it.
FWIW, Trader Joe’s has some pretty good prices on a few Highlands but they don’t carry Lagavulin anymore, as far as I can tell.
A woman is just a woman but a scotch is a good drink.
I think there is nothing better on a hot day after a hard workout than a cold lite beer.
You know when water doesn’t go down? That’s when to replenish your fluids with something
that goes down well and won’t give you too much trouble tomorrow. But I digress.