Talking about Whisky

[Richard Tarleton]

Personally I’m not so bothered, but there are offers on Irish whisky at am.uk today. I don’t know if these are good offers.

Whiskey (a pedant writes )

I do like Bushmills - went to the distillery many years ago....came away with the perfect recipe for hot whiskey (any Irish pub will serve you a 'hot half'un').

But not sure these "offers" are anything special. For a comparison I checked the price of 10-year old Talisker single malt - £38.85. I bought a bottle for £30 in Tesco this morning ...

[Dave2002]

Whiskey (a pedant writes )

I do like Bushmills - went to the distillery many years ago....came away with the perfect recipe for hot whiskey (any Irish pub will serve you a 'hot half'un').

But not sure these "offers" are anything special. For a comparison I checked the price of 10-year old Talisker single malt - £38.85. I bought a bottle for £30 in Tesco this morning ...

I can’t comment on the situation “today” or “yesterday”, but at the time of writing there might have been a good or reasonable deal.

Sometimes the daily deals on Amazon (on any particular product) are good, though sometimes they are perhaps only marginally better than on other days, and sometimes there are offers from other vendors which are better.

Today (11/8/18) there is a book by Bill Bryson for 99p in the Kindle version. There is also a partial eclipse which won’t be visible for almost everyone in the UK.

[Vox Humana]

I see you can currently get Lagavulin 16yo for £25 on Amazon. That's an excellent price for this single malt which normally sells for around £58 these days (though Waitrose have it for £49).

Edit: Argh! Just noticed that this is the 20cl bottle! The 70cl is £49.

[Richard Tarleton]

Today (11/8/18) there is a book by Bill Bryson for 99p in the Kindle version. There is also a partial eclipse which won’t be visible for almost everyone in the UK.

[Dave2002]

This is one offer from Amazon today - 27th March - https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Strathisl...A3P5ROKL5A1OLE Strahisla.

I may have had one of those bottles in the past - not sure if it's really of interest - but I'm putting it out there in case someone fancies one.

Whisky making seems to have become highly technical these days. Went round Raasay distillery recently - seems mostly computer driven.
I suppose people must like whisky, because the lead time to saleable output is a minimum of 3 years, and most distilleries sell stock which is 10+ years old.
No wonder gin became popular in Hogarth's time - much quicker to produce - makes sense economically.

Many of us don't think about production and stock when buying products, but computer chips are an interesting case. Intel actually decommission factories for chip production after a few years, and builds new ones. This is because the precautions against contamination during manufacture are very stringent, and it's cheaper to build new plants rather than trying to rescue older ones - plus the technology moves on every few years. Producing a computer chip can take between 25-50 days (it was around 30 when I last checked) and the potential value of the stock in the production line can be immense.

The value of stock in a production line and in warehousing (still part of the process) can be very considerable - particularly for items such as wine and whisky.

According to the guide at Raasay, a lot of whisky sold at auctions is not drunk. The value for collectors is the bottle, and the design. He said that a bottle of Macallan whisky went for £400,000 recently at auction. This article maybe relevant - though at a slightly (!!!) higher expected price - https://www.scottishfield.co.uk/home...alf-a-million/

[Vox Humana]

I suppose people must like whisky, because the lead time to saleable output is a minimum of 3 years

That's because you're not allowed to call it whisky until it's three years old. Younger than that, it's just spirit. Most distilleries' standard expressions are still a minimum of 10 years old, but in the last decade or so there has been a distinct move to marketing younger expressions, especially, I think, on Islay, and many malts now are sold without any mention of age at all - which is a sure sign that it contains young whiskies. That's because even single malt whiskies are blended from different barrels of different ages to ensure consistency of character and the age expression is merely the youngest whisky used.

[Dave2002]

That's because you're not allowed to call it whisky until it's three years old. Younger than that, it's just spirit. Most distilleries' standard expressions are still a minimum of 10 years old, but in the last decade or so there has been a distinct move to marketing younger expressions, especially, I think, on Islay, and many malts now are sold without any mention of age at all - which is a sure sign that it contains young whiskies. That's because even single malt whiskies are blended from different barrels of different ages to ensure consistency of character and the age expression is merely the youngest whisky used.

Indeed. Thanks for the clarification re blending. Certainly the lower limit for alcohollic beverages to be called whisky is 3 years.
I am not sure that there is a legal market for spirit, except perhaps for industrial purposes, or for use in gin production.

Nevertheless, the point made is that assuming there is demand for whiskies with a significant age - which I assume there is - then to supply the demand a lot of stock has to be be kept in the production and supply chain for a considerable period, which is going to represent a significant investment by the producers and investors alike. In that respect gin has a much shorter lead time, and product is not locked up for lengthy periods, so returns on investment can be obtained much sooner. Note though that some (many?) distilleries are now producing spirit for gin, and in the case of new startup distilleries, this may provide them with useful funding for future production and developments until the minimum period for sale is reached, or until product sales can be profitably embarked upon.

[pastoralguy]

When Mrs. PG and I got married almost 9years ago, I gave my best man a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label which, iirc, cost about £140. Since he has a significant birthday coming up soon, I'd thought of buying him another to commemorate this. However, I looked up a review site and found some VERY lukewarm opinions. The general consensus was that the quality had really slipped and it was vastly overpriced.

Does anyone here have any opinions about this? I also notice that Tesco are selling Japanese whisky. Any opinion?

[Dave2002]

Do you happen to know what kind of flavours your best man likes? Is he a whisky connoisseur? If peaty I'd suggest Lagavulin or Laphroiag, but some people hate those. Some malts are "smoother" - but some are perhaps just bland. I was given a book on whiskies some while back, so I could look a few up, or simply recommend the book. As I recall Highland Park and Bowmore seem to be highly rated by those who don't veer towards smokier flavours. I always wondered what made the smoky flavour of some whiskies - and thought it came from the barrels, but our recent distillery visit mentioned that smoke is used in the process for some of the peatier recipes.

[Vox Humana]

I also notice that Tesco are selling Japanese whisky. Any opinion?

I have virtually given up on supermarket whiskies. It's not that they are poor quality - they're not (mostly) - but they aren't exceptional either and I have become picky. My limited experience of supermarket Japanese whiskies is that, as one might expect, they do what they say on the tin and do it well. They are efficient, pleasant and middle of the road. The best ones are by all accounts excellent, but difficult to find.

I find Jim Murray's opinions (he of the Whisky Bible) generally reliable. He rates Johnny Walker Blue Label at 88/100 (not too a bad score at all, although the best whiskies weigh in at 90+). However the "Casks Edition" of the Blue Label he rates at a whacking 97/100. I've not checked the price though! (And it is a cask strength whisky so best watered down a little to a less fierce abv.)

[HighlandDougie]

When Mrs. PG and I got married almost 9years ago, I gave my best man a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label which, iirc, cost about £140. Since he has a significant birthday coming up soon, I'd thought of buying him another to commemorate this. However, I looked up a review site and found some VERY lukewarm opinions. The general consensus was that the quality had really slipped and it was vastly overpriced.

Does anyone here have any opinions about this? I also notice that Tesco are selling Japanese whisky. Any opinion?

He might enjoy some - what I think of as HiPP - whisky, such as Glenfarclas or Springbank rather than a luxury blend which I always associate - wholly unfairly - with Yakuza crime bosses. As far as I know, they are still essentially family-owned enterprises, producing and maturing whisky in the traditional way and have avoided the nonsense coming out of Diageo and other conglomerates - Talisker "Storm"; Jura "Journey" etc. Eh? - pure marketing keech, in my unhumble view. I should admit a bias in that Springbank is my favourite whisky, at least on Wednesdays. Age/size of bottle/strength all dependent on your budget but I cannot imagine anyone being disappointed.

[BBMmk2]

What’s the best Belveini?

[Richard Tarleton]

Talisker "Storm"

Have enjoyed a couple of tots of Talisker Storm this very evening. I love it - smoke but not too much, and such body you can practically chew it. I always grab it when it is on offer in Tesco - at around £30.

I was given a half bottle of Welsh whisky for my birthday a couple of years ago - I won't name it, it's the best known Welsh whisky, begins with a P - and found it disgusting and quite undrinkable. Hard to believe it was made in roughly the same way, from the same ingredients - more like something you'd get on prescrition from the chemist.

[Vox Humana]

Talisker "Storm"; Jura "Journey" etc. Eh? - pure marketing keech, in my unhumble view.

Got to agree with that. Undistinguished drams too, both of them.

My favourite whisky at the moment is Port Askaig 100% proof. Technically it's a "mystery malt" from Islay, but it's very obviously a Caol Ila in all but name and an exceptionally fine one too. It's lightly peated, but not offensively so. Mr Humana junior was very impressed and he doesn't normally like peated malts.

One of the "cleanest" tasting (and looking) malts out there is Glencadam 10 year old. Not only is it delicious, it's one of the best value malts you can buy (or was last time I checked).

[Vox Humana]

What’s the best Belveini?

If you mean Balvenie, it's probably the Aged 21 Years Port Wood expression.