DOTD! What are y'all drinking on today.

I should have added above that last night I had a sip of both the Starward Wine Cask, and the Naked Grouse.
I didn't get enough of the Starward to form many opinions, but it did seem a bit young, however it made the naked grouse feel thin and watery afterwards. That's a shame a shame, as the Famous Grouse is one my Mum and Dad used to drink a lot in the 70s and 80s and we all thought it would be better. Admittedly this is a different tipple, and Famous Grouse was never a top shelf whisky in the first place, but I think for a $50 malt blend monkey shoulder is head and (you've guessed it) shoulders above it in taste.

P.P.S. A'bunadh is going up 32 quid in price in the UK so if you like it, it could be beneficial to get yourself a bottle now.
I wasn't going to buy one but am hopeful a later batch is better than the sample I had previously.
 
@eggbert Sheesh mate. Your becoming more knowledgeable by the minute. (y) Probably can taste more than I can at the moment.

I read somewhere that older bottlings are better than their current iteration. My dad used to say that red label in the 80-90s were better than black today

If your ever in Sydney let me know and I will shout you a dram. And talk whisky
 
Today I went back to the cheaper blends and bought a bottle of JW Black Sherry cask.
I sometimes have days when whisky doesn't do it for me, but after today's tasting i think i can confidently say this is the 2nd bottle I have bought that I definitely won't be replacing.
I found it to be very generic whisky tasting with a tiny hint of sherry. The first (non heavy smoke whisky) I have tried that is definitely unpleasant.
I splashed a teaspoon or so of Starward wine cask in there and the drink was transformed into something at least palatable.
I have all but run out of the other cheapy blends I bought, so decided to make a blend (solera?) bottle out of all of the odds and ends with a few drops of single malts to improve it.
Like @Drubbing's mate has done with a barrel, but without the benefit of wood to five more flavour.
Surprisingly the blend bottle seems to be greater than the sum of its parts which currently sit at around 1/3 bottle jw black sherry, and about 50ml each of ballantines 12, teeling Irish whisky, naked grouse and monkey shoulder, teachers highland cream and vat69.
I've not been brave enough to date to add a single malt to the equation but seeing how much difference a small amount of Starward made to the JW I will have to adjust my thinking soon.
 
vYfNgZxl.jpg

Ever since I bought their whisky I've been eying off their Overproof Rum. Perfect for a winters evening. Actually the tasting at smoko time wasn't too bad either.
 
Pbgoose said:
vYfNgZxl.jpg

Ever since I bought their whisky I've been eying off their Overproof Rum. Perfect for a winters evening. Actually the tasting at smoko time wasn't too bad either.
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I'd like to give them a go, but for very young whisky they (like several other Australian distilleries I could mention) are prohibitively expensive
 
eggbert said:
Today I went back to the cheaper blends and bought a bottle of JW Black Sherry cask.
I sometimes have days when whisky doesn't do it for me, but after today's tasting i think i can confidently say this is the 2nd bottle I have bought that I definitely won't be replacing.
I found it to be very generic whisky tasting with a tiny hint of sherry. The first (non heavy smoke whisky) I have tried that is definitely unpleasant.
I splashed a teaspoon or so of Starward wine cask in there and the drink was transformed into something at least palatable.
I have all but run out of the other cheapy blends I bought, so decided to make a blend (solera?) bottle out of all of the odds and ends with a few drops of single malts to improve it.
Like @Drubbing's mate has done with a barrel, but without the benefit of wood to five more flavour.
Surprisingly the blend bottle seems to be greater than the sum of its parts which currently sit at around 1/3 bottle jw black sherry, and about 50ml each of ballantines 12, teeling Irish whisky, naked grouse and monkey shoulder, teachers highland cream and vat69.
I've not been brave enough to date to add a single malt to the equation but seeing how much difference a small amount of Starward made to the JW I will have to adjust my thinking soon.
Click to expand...

I grabbed a bottle of this, and while I wouldn't buy it again, I don't find it that bad. But it's a long way off being a sherried whisky. It isn't sherried. They seem to have tried to emulate it with sherried whiskys in the blend. They just ended up with something that says JWB on the label and tastes nothing like it. Easily fixed by adding a whisky you do like to it.

And while JWB has been my go to for quite a while, I find I'm preferring Glen Moray 12yo single.
 
While I am not drinking it tonight, I did sip on a very nice 'whiskey' in NZ last weekend.

Bought a bottle of this while I was there, it is quite young at 1 year old although the fact it is aged in a warmer climate means that aging goes faster (about a 3-3.5x ratio, so 1 year in that climate is similar to 3 years in Scotland). This one is also quite different as it is coopered into a Manuka barrel with a fairly heavy toasting, and also raw Manuka chips. It does have a high ethanol note to it but below that the remainder is quite smooth with a different flavour profile, I think 18 months in the barrel would get it to the right age for the standard bottling. There is quite a bit of sweetness on display, but I believe it is coming from the mashbill (80% corn, 20% malt).

After sitting there trying a few things (Gin, Rum & this whiskey) and pontificating on the subject (mashbills, still shapes, various barrels used in AU like port, peated malts, addition of rye etc etc), he tells me about another barrel out the back that has just ticked over 4 years. And off he went to find a sample.

I have to say it was utter dynamite. Smooth, lovely hit of wood with a different spice and the sweetness has really come on. Honestly it should not be called a whiskey but something else entirely. I really loved it, and he will let me know once it has been bottled (I will get a bottle sent to our NZ office).
 
Monsta_AU said:
While I am not drinking it tonight, I did sip on a very nice 'whiskey' in NZ last weekend.

Bought a bottle of this while I was there, it is quite young at 1 year old although the fact it is aged in a warmer climate means that aging goes faster (about a 3-3.5x ratio, so 1 year in that climate is similar to 3 years in Scotland). This one is also quite different as it is coopered into a Manuka barrel with a fairly heavy toasting, and also raw Manuka chips. It does have a high ethanol note to it but below that the remainder is quite smooth with a different flavour profile, I think 18 months in the barrel would get it to the right age for the standard bottling. There is quite a bit of sweetness on display, but I believe it is coming from the mashbill (80% corn, 20% malt).

After sitting there trying a few things (Gin, Rum & this whiskey) and pontificating on the subject (mashbills, still shapes, various barrels used in AU like port, peated malts, addition of rye etc etc), he tells me about another barrel out the back that has just ticked over 4 years. And off he went to find a sample.

I have to say it was utter dynamite. Smooth, lovely hit of wood with a different spice and the sweetness has really come on. Honestly it should not be called a whiskey but something else entirely. I really loved it, and he will let me know once it has been bottled (I will get a bottle sent to our NZ office).
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Paste and cut has a NZ office?
 
Had a sip of the Aldi 8 year old highland black.

Not bad sipping whisky. Very good value for the 30 odd dollars I paid.
 
Korbz said:
Been going back and forth trying to decide between a bottle of this, and Highland Park 15YO. Not a huge scotch drinker yet, so any advice would be appreciated :) (can get both cheap through work).
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I think you have answered your own question!
 
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