(Last post for today)
A while ago I'd said that I picked up a good smattering of rather inexpensive whiskies from the local shop. I'd promised a review post about it, but never quite got around to it. Hopefully this (it'll be long) post will true that up.
Here is the current state of my liquor cabinet:
Scotch Aberlour 10 Bruichladdich 15yr Cragganmore 12 Talisker 10 Tormore 14yr (Signatory 1989/2003) Bourbon Buffalo Trace Elijah Craig SB 18yr Evan Williams SBV 10yr Van Winkle 12 Lot B Irish Black Bush Connemara Pot Still Jameson Canadian Forty Creek Premium Gibson's Finet Sterling Tangle Ridge DC 10yr Japanese Yamazaki 12 Non-Whisky Barbancourt Haiti 15yr Rum El Tosoro Platinum Tequila Lorenzo Inga Grappa Ron Matusalem Platina Rum
Observations:
Scotch - Of the three I picked up during the binge a few weeks ago, I think I prefer the Aberlour the best. Actually I can say that with certainty. The Cragganmore is decent and I do appreciate it, but the Talisker is a bit too strong for my tastes. Yes, I know it's regarded quite highly, but it turns me off like Lagavulin turns me off. Ultimately I would buy the Aberlour again, I'd appreciate the Cragganmore as a gift, but the Talisker... probably collect dust and I'd drink it when I start dreaming about my long-lost days of when I was a smoker.
As for the Buichladdich and the Tormore, those were purchases I made in Toronto and have not opened them yet. I had a Buichladdich IB and I enjoyed it. The Tormore is an unknown, and I bought it because it was a lowland. I just don't think the lowlands get enough attention in this world.
Bourbon - This is probably the most disappointing of the four regions I collected in the last few weeks. Of them, the Buffalo Trace is probably the most drinkable. I sometimes have the Elijah Craig, but it's just pale compared to some of the Bourbons I've had. The Evan Williams is just undrinkable. Not in a "this isn't my thing," sort of way. It's literally painful to drink. Lucky for me I found a nice BBQ ribs recipe that calls for whisky, so I think I know where good ol Evan will be this summer.
For this reason I am holding on to my unopened bottle of Van Winkle with increased vigor. I know that, in the worst circumstances, I have my bottle of Van Winkle sitting in the back of the cabinet waiting to save me.
Irish - All three are very pleasant additions to my cabinet. The Connemara is quite the find, and I enjoy it like I would a good Scotch. I hear that Connemara and Redbreast are close competitors and I think I prefer this over the Redbreast. For the Jameson/Black Bush pairing, I wish to avoid any cross-border favoritism and say that both are quite good. The fact that Black Bush is high-end Bushmills but the Jameson is the baseline for their brand I have positive feelings for the Jameson. Not to discount Black Bush, though, it's quite good.
Canadian - First, I'd like to say thanks to the Canadians who helped me with the LCBO website and sending me to Summerhill. I felt like a bookworm in a library. Each cove had new, beautiful bottles to marvel upon. I managed to score three bottles of Dievole (hard to find down here), the two bottles of Scotch noted above, a bottle of Rum I gave as a gift, some Heather Cream (soon to be in an ice cream), and the three whiskies noted above. I would like to say that all three are fascinating, and I would say that Canadian Whisky is the best of the four regions so far. It's not necessarily that the Forty Creek is better than Highland Park. It's just that it's an under appreciated whisky region. If I were to place the three I got in an order, it would be Forty Creek, Tangle Ridge, and then the Gibson's.
Japanese - still holding on to a few drams of this until I can get a replacement...
In toto - If you couldn't tell from the lists, I was attempting to find "bargains at the bottom of the barrel" for whiskies. Sure you can find REALLY good Scotch at $200 a bottle. I'm sure you can find an incredible bottle of Bourbon for $75. But what about the other end and are there "finds" for the cheap end of the spectrum... less than $30 a bottle. I also had a sinking fear that if the economy really did hit the skids, could I still be drinking whisky if I had to take a steep pay cut? So that's a big reason for the experiment - to see if I'm keeping a job like this to pay for my whisky habit.
For Scotch, I'm not sure if it's possible. The three that I picked up were great, but maybe I've been exposed to the higher priced bottles and know what can be had for a little more lucre.
For Bourbon, I lay the blame at Maker's Mark and Knob Creek. They utterly dominate the market below $30. Sure there's REALLY cheap Bourbon at the $15 a bottle or less, but between $20 and $30 it's pretty much those two. As evidenced by what I got during my travels, that means that bourbon is either REAL cheap, Makers/Knob, or expensive.
Irish, the cheaper of the two Euro-priced regions, survives quite nicely in that $30 or less range. A coworker once said that Irish is so smooth and cheap because the Irish drink so much of it. I don't see that as a bad thing.
Canada really wins in this kind of competition. I was literally buying the top shelf selections for under US$20. The top of the line was a single cask whisky for CAN$70. It looked rather new and I'm sure there will be newer, higher end whiskies soon enough. I hope this means that Canadian Whisky starts to pick up because it really deserves a renaissance similar to Bourbon.
I think the next time I buy alcohol, it'll be more based off of reputation and personal experience rather than price.