Whisk(e)y Recommendation

MagicMarker

Hi folks, I'm looking to pick up a bottle this week and was just hoping for some guidance, I've been scouring the celtic whiskey/whiskey exchange sites for ideas but there's just so many options! :eek:

My experiences so far only lie with Jameson, Bushmills Blackbush and Johnnie Walker Black, my favourite of which was the Black Label (yum!).

I was thinking of a single malt? I haven't had one before so would like to try one out, I really like the fruitiness of the JW Black although I do find it a little dry, plus I love the burning sensation in the throat which I found very weak in the Jameson and Blackbush.

How about the Tyrconnell Single Malt & Lockes 8 Year-old as the cheaper options?

Brockagh

MagicMarker wrote: »

Hi folks, I'm looking to pick up a bottle this week and was just hoping for some guidance, I've been scouring the celtic whiskey/whiskey exchange sites for ideas but there's just so many options! :eek:

My experiences so far only lie with Jameson, Bushmills Blackbush and Johnnie Walker Black, my favourite of which was the Black Label (yum!).

I was thinking of a single malt? I haven't had one before so would like to try one out, I really like the fruitiness of the JW Black although I do find it a little dry, plus I love the burning sensation in the throat which I found very weak in the Jameson and Blackbush.

How about the Tyrconnell Single Malt & Lockes 8 Year-old as the cheaper options?

Personally, I prefer the Lockes to the Tyrconnell (the standard single malt).

JW Black has Caol Ila and Talisker in it. And Cardhu. Maybe you'd like those single malts? Or you could go for the JW Green, which is a all malt vatting (now you have to call it blend in Scotland, but there's no grain whisky in the vatting). I think it's very nice.

Heroditas

Tyrconnell is very nice. Well worth getting.

johnnyskeleton

Try redbreast, balvenie or talisker.

Rangi

Try Monkey Shoulder if you can get hold of it,just finished one. It's from William Grants,and is a malt blend,their Scottish brands being Glenfiddich,Grants and Balvenie.
Areally good bottle is the Bowmore Tempest,you said you liked the burning of the throat,so this,or anything from Bowmore,or indeed Islay,would be a good choice.

RTT

Rangi wrote: »

Try Monkey Shoulder if you can get hold of it,just finished one. It's from William Grants,and is a malt blend,their Scottish brands being Glenfiddich,Grants and Balvenie.
Areally good bottle is the Bowmore Tempest,you said you liked the burning of the throat,so this,or anything from Bowmore,or indeed Islay,would be a good choice.

Makers mark is delish. Glenfiddich also

Shhh

If you like Johnny Walker Black.. you should love Johnny Walker Blue.. but it doesn't have a strong throat burn - I don't get this from JWblack either. They are in my mind the best scotch blends in existence (smoother and more flavourful than Chivas).

For a great irish blend try to swing a taste of Midleton somewhere (or better still a bottle).. It is expensive (on par with JW blue)

Malts - there are soo so many and with such subtleties of flavour, and then some really strong peaty ones like Laphroaig, Ardbeg and lagavulin which some people just love... I think it could be an expensive mistake to buy a bottle to discover you don't like the iodiny peaty flavours..

MY pick of an interesting tasting malt would be Cooley's Connemara Turfmore. I find it alot more subtle than the big scottish peaty malts.

Have fun!

johnnyskeleton

Shhh wrote: »

Malts - there are soo so many and with such subtleties of flavour, and then some really strong peaty ones like Laphroaig, Ardbeg and lagavulin which some people just love... I think it could be an expensive mistake to buy a bottle to discover you don't like the iodiny peaty flavours..

This is a good point, so if you are going to buy a bottle why not taste a few whiskies in a good pub eg l mulligan grocer or ask the Celtic whiskey shop for a few samples. You can also buy 50cl minis in the celtic whiskey shop for about €5, 14 of which would be the equivalent of a full bottle and would coat 70-85 quid. However, the extra you pay is made up for by getting such a wide variety.

Cavehill Red

Everyone's palate is different, and there is a whiskey for everyone, if not many.

The problem is often where to begin. I second the suggestion of speaking with the well-informed lads at the Celtic Whiskey Shop, and would go further and suggest you drop along to one of the tastings at the Irish Whiskey Society, who do monthly tastings of 6 to 8 whiskeys in Dublin.

It's a great and inexpensive way to experience a wide range of whiskeys without breaking the bank.

In the past they've served up rare Irish whiskey that was a century old :eek: and innumerable highly expensive whiskeys that would be prohibitive to buy by the bottle just to try. They also tend to get sneak previews of new Irish whiskeys before they hit the market.

They do regular scotch and world whiskey tastings too, so they're not partisan (though I am and I believe no country can match the quality of Irish whiskey, not even our cousins over the water.)

MagicMarker

Thanks very much for all the suggestions, I shall make it my duty to try all that have been mention.

Impulses got the better of me though, was in the shop for lunch and a Glenfiddich 12 Single Malt caught my eye and the next thing I knew I was walking out the door with a bottle in my bag.

RTT

MagicMarker wrote: »

Thanks very much for all the suggestions, I shall make it my duty to try all that have been mention.

Impulses got the better of me though, was in the shop for lunch and a Glenfiddich 12 Single Malt caught my eye and the next thing I knew I was walking out the door with a bottle in my bag.

Nice...mmmm...you did pay for it first though right?

MagicMarker

Unfortunately, yes.

Just reading a bit about it here, seems to be an ''entry level'' single malt, so seems idea for someone like myself.

emmet the rover

its a lovely fresh fruity appley peary whisky. i like it but prefer glenmorainge whitch is more of a honey sweet malty affair.

both are gentle whiskys in my opinon unlike the smokey islays and the connemara peated whitch may be more of a aquired tast.

also for a decient price you can pick up a bottle of black bush by bushmills whitch i love. not single malt but loads of flavours

Sarky

+1 on Monkey shoulder, I was quite surprised by it, it's lovely stuff.

They're all good suggestions though. whiskey.

Cavehill Red

I mentioned these in a different post earlier in the week - all Irish and may be of interest to you:

As for recommendations:

Black Bush, Jameson Gold, Redbreast, Green Spot, Powers John's Lane, Bushmills 16 year old, Connemara cask strength, Tyrconnell port finish, Tullamore Dew Black 43, Writers Tears - all relatively inexpensive.

MagicMarker

Just finishing off the Glenfiddich this evening, have to say it's grown on me quite a lot! I'll be buying again, but not before I try a few of the suggestions on here.:)

RTT

MagicMarker wrote: »

Just finishing off the Glenfiddich this evening, have to say it's grown on me quite a lot! I'll be buying again, but not before I try a few of the suggestions on here.:)

Yeah its a nice one alright. Did u have it on the rocks?

emmet the rover

RTT wrote: »

Yeah its a nice one alright. Did u have it on the rocks?

nnnnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooo ice

MagicMarker

Actually I do prefer ice with my beverage.