[Lancer409]

any recommendations on how to enjoy it? I'm tired of the usual vodka, rum, hennessy and remy martin type stuff... I was directed to the scotch isle. Anyone out here have any recommendations? feel free to share your alcohol stories, recipes, pointers.

Many thanks, your imput is much appreciated. -Will

[d4nth3m4n]

on teh rocks or nice and neat. just do it™

[Spliff]

Originally posted by Lancer409:
any recommendations on how to enjoy it? Anyone out here have any recommendations? feel free to share your alcohol stories, recipes, pointers.

Many thanks, your imput is much appreciated. -Will

Drink neat with just a bit of bottled water added. Adjust the amount of water you add to suit your tastes. I went to a bunch of distilleries in Scotland and they all recommended adding water to scotch because it "activates the volatiles," releasing fragrances in the whisky. You can add as little as a drop of water and as much as 1/3 of an ounce for every ounce of whisky.

Use a good bottled spring water (non-carbonated) like Volvic or Naya. Don't use that filtered tap water (Dasani or Aqua-Fina) that Coke and Pepsi put out.

Good blended scotch whiskies (like Johnnie Walker Black) and single-malt whiskies should be enjoyed neat or with a bit of water.

Cheap blends (like Black & White) can be mixed with soda or ginger ale or other mixes.

Rob Roy:

1.5 oz Scotch
0.5 oz sweet vermouth
1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir with crushed ice. Strain into glass. Serve in a martini glass. Garnish with cherry.

Rusty Nail
1.5 oz Scotch
0.5 oz Drambuie liqueur

Shake with crushed ice. Strain into glass. Serve in a rocks glass. Garnish with lemon twist.

[OldManMac]

On the rocks, let sit for about 15 minutes. Sip, letting it slowly glide over the tongue, and enjoy! There are no "recipes." To mix Scotch with anything other than a little water is sacrilegious. You can also do it straight, but I like it mellower. I had a friend once who got a bottle of some less expensive Scotch as a gift. I was at his house, and he pulled it out, then went to the fridge and pulled out a couple of Coke cans. He was going to mix each of us a drink! Damn near ruined a good friendship!

^Rusty Nail is an exception; I'd forgotten about that.

[khufuu]

I do the ice/water thing myself but...

Cocktail Times

[scaught]

Originally posted by KarlG:
On the rocks, let sit for about 15 minutes. Sip, letting it slowly glide over the tongue, and enjoy! There are no "recipes." To mix Scotch with anything other than a little water is sacrilegious. You can also do it straight, but I like it mellower. I had a friend once who got a bottle of some less expensive Scotch as a gift. I was at his house, and he pulled it out, then went to the fridge and pulled out a couple of Coke cans. He was going to mix each of us a drink! Damn near ruined a good friendship!

theres that old joke where someone orders something insane, like a hennesy and sprite or something, and the bartender says "in the same glass?".

i always use that line whenever possible.

[badidea]

You do NOT (and I mean NOT) put ice in Scotch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please!!!!!

If you want whisky on the rocks, then please use Bourbon!

Nough said.


edit: can't type whisky right

[Lancer409]

Originally posted by badidea:
You do NOT (and I mean NOT) put ice in Scotch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please!!!!!

If you want wiskey on the rocks, then please use Bourbon!

Nough said.

i almost iced it .. lol

[Captain Obvious]

Originally posted by badidea:
You do NOT (and I mean NOT) put ice in Scotch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please!!!!!

If you want wiskey on the rocks, then please use Bourbon!

Nough said.

ehh, its only a 12y/o scotch and he's trying to acquire a taste.
Try adding ice at first if you must but if you really want to learn to appreciate it you should try to get used to drinking it straight. If this was a more expensive bottle I'd say not to dilute it but if you cannot yet drink it alone try putting in the lowest amount of water or ice as you can.

[Chris O'Brien]

Johnnie Walkers, eh? Good choice - I'm from Kilmarnock

Have it neat or with a tad of water (maybe even ice if it floats your boat) but nothing else!

[Lancer409]

Originally posted by Captain Obvious:
ehh, its only a 12y/o scotch and he's trying to acquire a taste.
Try adding ice at first if you must but if you really want to learn to appreciate it you should try to get used to drinking it straight. If this was a more expensive bottle I'd say not to dilute it but if you cannot yet drink it alone try putting in the lowest amount of water or ice as you can.

bingo, got my sentiments. trying to aquire a taste. i've noticed i dont like to drink til i'm wasted anymore. so .. if i'm going to drink to get mellow .. i might as well drink some better stuff than the usual club drinks. i was told to try scotch ... and i didnt wanna plop 86 dollars on a bottle of glenmoragne (not sure if i misspelled it) so i decided to drink a tried and true johnnie walker for a much lower price. i remember drinking red a long time ago. and i read that the better aged, the better the scotch (usually) and i heard good things about black label (smokey? .. hmm will find out). maybe if i like sipping scotch, i might see what else is out there.

side note. when you guys say neat, i assume that means straight. do i drink it like i would a shot (when i'm trying to get wasted) or do i sip it and let it stay on the tongue to get the taste? ... guess i'll do the second part .. i cant see a bunch of scotch connoisseurs downing shots .. lol. thanks for your input guys .. it's about time i head to bed, so i might as well give it a taste right now. (had a bottle of pilsner urquell with pasta for dinner so im gonna wait.

whoever said pilsner urquell is better than stella artois ...

you .. you twisted ... Stella all the way... definately

[Lancer409]

Originally posted by Black Book:
Johnnie Walkers, eh? Good choice - I'm from Kilmarnock

Have it neat or with a tad of water (maybe even ice if it floats your boat) but nothing else!

i hear red is nothing special. i hear black is an award winner, and that it was better than the gold label. (wierd) ... blue is astronomical in price ... and what the heck is green label? hehe .. anyways .. cheers!


good to see all these scotch drinkers! ... ugh ... stay away from jack daniels .. sour mash .. no kidding .... was the most vile thing i ever put in my mouth! ...

[Lancer409]

hmm .. had it neat, no water. if nothing else, i will say this. the taste is elusive ... i guess it'll take time for me to detect all the minute flavors ... what really caught my attention is how much smoother this was compared to johnnie walker red label. wow ... =)

[badidea]

I am far from being a scotch expert - it's rather true that I don't know very much about it because I actually don't like whisky very much....but that was until I once had a very good scotch with a friend who is very much into this!
The difference was unbelievable!!
Most rules that apply to red wine also apply to scotch:

- never drink it cold, has to be something like room temperature
- NO ICE
- the older, the better, the more expensive (with exceptions of course)
- ...
- and it can be even more expensive than you could ever imagine!!! ($1000/glass is possible, seriously!!)



(edit: can't type whisky...)

[G4ME]

couldn't find blue?

[Lancer409]

Originally posted by G4ME:
couldn't find blue?

find isnt the operative word. afford would be .. well .. not that i cant afford it. I wanted to make sure i like whisky. i would also like to know how to enjoy it before i spend that much on a bottle. sorta like apple computers ... and me being a former windows user (i still do have a windows box for gaming though)


you dont enjoy an apple machine nearly as much if you dont go through a lot of hell with pc's. i figured it'd be the same with whisky. drink some of the bad/ok stuff, before u taste the really good stuff and you'd be able to tell the difference. anyways ... *opens wallet* yeah .. couldnt afford blue ... haha ... and i'm not making a trip to the bank and a significant withdrawal to try it. There are a lot of top notch liquor shops in San Francisco

[acadian]

I'm somewhat of a scotch snob and my absolute favourite drink (which offends many scotch drinkers) is a nice big cup of EarlGrey with a shot of lowland single in it...heaven....

[MacNStein]

Yeah, I'm a Scotch "snob" too. And no, I won't drink blended Scotches, most are just nasty. Also, especially with cask strength bottles, a little pure water (just a dribble) really brings out the nose and flavor... served at room temp, of course.

My favorite lately has been Glenmorangie Port wood finish (it's aged in old port casks). I still can't believe it's less that $40 /bottle. It's an incredible steal for the price. My next favorite is Talisker 18 y/o, but that takes a bit of acclimation, the strong peat flavor is difficult for many to handle.