Food, Drink & Dining Out The Scotch thread

[Engimal v3]

Potentially controversial opinion: Ballantines sits perfectly on the border of being decent quality but also being cheap as chips

 

[cartel]

I like Ballantines. Great mixer, the rest of their range I enjoy as well

 

[Norwegian Blue]

Seems to be genuine...

 

[phantom13]

Going to whisky live in Sydney tomorrow, will report back.

 

[PoppedCorn]

Ballies 17 and 21 year olds in my cupboard
Never cracked

 

[Norwegian Blue]

Ballies 17 and 21 year olds in my cupboard
Never cracked

I've got a Ballantine's 21yo in my cupboard too. I'm torn between drinking it myself or giving it to my daughter's boyfriend on his 21st later this year.

 

[PoppedCorn]

Think ive got ballies brazil too as well as a 300ml Limited thats numbered in a little blue bottle.

 

[cartel]

Anybody had the more aldi premium scotches?

Their wine is generally good value, beer not so.

https://www.aldi.com.au/en/special-buys/special-buys-liquor/

 

[phantom13]

So whisky live was fantastic, they have a few other spirits on show now (rum, gin, vodka and tequila) only did the rum (as it’s a whisky inspired rum) and gin.

The scotch whisky highlights for me

Redbreast - Irish 10 year old (15 year old coming soon) great flavor, traditional Irish whisky without that smack you in mouth harshness most of them get
Rampur - another Indian whisky (Paul John was the highlight of the last whisky live) great flavor, super smooth
Bruichladdich Octomore 7 - got a bottle of this, worlds peatiest whisky, like chewing a steak
Berry & Bros 7 year old single malt - think this was a small batch grain, but it’s almost a summer whisky, drop an ice cube or some rocks in this one and sip on it all day
Starward Old Fashioned - this is basically a pre mix cocktail (old fashioned) in a bottle, and it’s exceptional
Naked Grouse - same dudes who do the famous Grouse but this one is a $50 bottle and it far exceeds what you expect for a $50 bottle

There were so many distilleries there including a lot of the big ones (glenlivet, macallan, talisker) so if you haven’t gotten your tickets for Melbourne yet I’d suggest looking into it soon!

 

[PoppedCorn]

I'm trying to get a redbreast thru work to add to the cupboard

 

[RU_]

I've got a Ballantine's 21yo in my cupboard too. I'm torn between drinking it myself or giving it to my daughter's boyfriend on his 21st later this year.

Better yet.. drink it was the daughters boyfriend!

 

[phantom13]

I'm trying to get a redbreast thru work to add to the cupboard

I got a bottle of the Octomore because its so different and I love some peat. If I was to buy one from that group I recommended from Whisky Live it would either be the redbreast (at $105) or the Naked Grouse (at $50).

The redbreast is a 12 they are releasing a 15 soon.

 

[PoppedCorn]

Ill keep my eye out for the 15 as well.
Its one of the spirits i cant get on my allowance for some reason

 

[Anzacpaul]

So whisky live was fantastic, they have a few other spirits on show now (rum, gin, vodka and tequila) only did the rum (as it’s a whisky inspired rum) and gin.

The scotch whisky highlights for me

Redbreast - Irish 10 year old (15 year old coming soon) great flavor, traditional Irish whisky without that smack you in mouth harshness most of them get
Rampur - another Indian whisky (Paul John was the highlight of the last whisky live) great flavor, super smooth
Bruichladdich Octomore 7 - got a bottle of this, worlds peatiest whisky, like chewing a steak
Berry & Bros 7 year old single malt - think this was a small batch grain, but it’s almost a summer whisky, drop an ice cube or some rocks in this one and sip on it all day
Starward Old Fashioned - this is basically a pre mix cocktail (old fashioned) in a bottle, and it’s exceptional
Naked Grouse - same dudes who do the famous Grouse but this one is a $50 bottle and it far exceeds what you expect for a $50 bottle

There were so many distilleries there including a lot of the big ones (glenlivet, macallan, talisker) so if you haven’t gotten your tickets for Melbourne yet I’d suggest looking into it soon!

Was it worth the money? How many did you get to try? I'm thinking of going to it in Adelaide.

Do they try and sell you bottles etc, or is it just walk around and try at your leisure?

 

[drd23]

Was it worth the money? How many did you get to try? I'm thinking of going to it in Adelaide.

Do they try and sell you bottles etc, or is it just walk around and try at your leisure?

I went to one in Melbourne 3 or 4 years ago and it was pretty good.

Tried over 20 whiskies (you get maybe 1/2 shot each tasting) iirc and all of the people at the various stands were very nice and not pushy at all.

 

[phantom13]

Was it worth the money? How many did you get to try? I'm thinking of going to it in Adelaide.

Do they try and sell you bottles etc, or is it just walk around and try at your leisure?

Absolutely worth it. It’s a three hour session and you cruise around at your leisure, they explain the differences in distilling and flavours and you sample whatever they have going. In Sydney my brother in law and I counted up the next day 55 that we tried (as mentioned you get about half a standard shot, so two decent sips) and we only got through about half the total whiskies there. No one is pushy but they do have a store, they usually have decent deals on all the stuff the vendors have (a bit cheaper than say a Dans) and they usually do some cool whisky live only stuff too.

In short great way to try a lot (which is great cause you don’t want to be trying something by buying a $100 bottle) and a great way to learn more about the process and the distilleries.

 

[cartel]

15 or so standards in 2 or three hours would have me plastered

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

 

[phantom13]

15 or so standards in 2 or three hours would have me plastered

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

I was pretty drunk but still coherent afterwards, different energy there where it’s relaxed and you’re not up and about. Brother in law was puking our the front of my place at 6pm

 

[juss]

Definetely recommed Yamazaki whisky.
Big fan of the Japanese stuff, building my collection Ive got Hibiki 17 year old and a Kirin one I got in Japan for about $200AUD.

I try and buy a new bottle each month to add to the shelf.

Next one up is the Crown Royal Maple Finish from Dan Murphy's.

Where do people buy their bottles from?

 

[juss]

Funny how after downing a whole bottle of scotch in one night can turn you off for life.

Makes me ill even looking at these, what would have otherwise been lovely scotches, in this thread. Oh well.

The first time I downed a whole bottle in one night I was 16 years old. No word of a lie that night I lit my singlet on fire, cried, and woke up at a local primary school. The rest of the night is a mystery to me.

The drinks that Im off for life because of really bad nights are Cougar bourban and bundaberg rum. Its hard to drink any bourban actually because of the cougar.

 

[wal]

Definetely recommed Yamazaki whisky.
Big fan of the Japanese stuff, building my collection Ive got Hibiki 17 year old and a Kirin one I got in Japan for about $200AUD.

I try and buy a new bottle each month to add to the shelf.

Next one up is the Crown Royal Maple Finish from Dan Murphy's.

Where do people buy their bottles from?

https://www.nicks.com.au

 

[juss]

https://www.nicks.com.au

Just having a look at their prices, might be good for the rarer hard to find stuff, but for the general stuff it's just more expensive.

Go to Dan's lol

 

[wal]

Just having a look at their prices, might be good for the rarer hard to find stuff, but for the general stuff it's just more expensive.

Go to Dan's lol

Sign up to their mailing list, they have regular specials better than Fan Murphy prices and they import direct rare and limited releases.

 

[juss]

Sign up to their mailing list, they have regular specials better than Fan Murphy prices and they import direct rare and limited releases.

Ah nice, yeh specials must be where it's at.
Yeh assumed it would be better for the rarer stuff too.

 

[HomerThompson]

I use Nicks (www.nicks.com.au), Dan's or GraysOnline.