Need Suggestions for Whisky brand as a Christmas Gift!

Hi, Stephanie.

This group deals mainly with single malt Scotch whisky, and Crown Royal is a Canadian blended whisky. I wouldn't want to recommend a single malt for someone who drinks only one brand of Canadian; it might not be his cup of tea.

There are some very interesting Canadians that are not terribly expensive, however. I don't know where you are, so don't know what kind of selection is available to you. But my first choice, if you can find it, is a Canadian called Lot No. 40. It's a lovely complex drink but with enough "rye" elements that it won't be a completely foreign taste.

Other very nice and out of the ordinary Canadians are Forty Creek Barrel Select and Forty Creek Three Grain; Century Reserve 21 year old, a little more expensive but quite exquisite, and the 15 and 13-year olds are not bad either; Pike Creek; Gooderham & Worts.

There are others but that's a good start.

If you're in Canada, you should have no problem finding most of those. If you're in the U.S. it might be another story. But there are some American rye whiskies that others in this group have written about and may again if they're still lurking out there that might be worth considering.

Finally, if you're in the U.S. and there's a dusty corner in your neighbourhood liquor store that has a bottle of Bush Pilot's Private Reserve in it, grab it, fast. It's a long-out-of-production Canadian whisky that was sold only in the U.S., and it's a beauty, eh?

Cheers.

bill

"Bill Van" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@news.telus.net...

That might very well be true. A single malt scotch will generally be more intense in flavour than a blend. But then again, they are usually so much better! And it's allways possible to drink it with water or (God forbid!) ice. So if you want to take a chance and go for it, here are a few that are not extreme in any way, not among the most expensive, and at the same time are considered good choices by most, I believe:

Cragganmore 12 years old Dalwhinnie 15 yo Highland Park 12 yo The Glenlivet 12 yo Glenmorangie 10 yo The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 yo

Gunnar

Excellent choice. And how about a bottle of Black Bush (Bushmill's)? Blended Irish, and very good!

Marjon

Jameson's is now my preferred Irish. Excellent neat, with a Guinness chaser!