It's been awhile since I've posted, but I had a great scotch experience while visiting Tokyo in may. Finished off a night at the NY Bar (Bill Muray's hangout in "Lost In Translation")and treated myself to a glass of 1984 caol ila. Amazing stuff!!!
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Single Malt Scotch!
- Thread starter tombowlus
- Start date
So what were some of your other favorites? If I remember he was pushing Hibiki 17 which is pretty good, but I like the 12 even better.
you know, i like to call my self a fairly experienced malt head, but i've never had a bottle of HP 12 year.
that and some old pulteney 12 should do me well for the summer (and of course evan williams single barrel bourbon!)
I actually havnt tried any of the hibiki stuff yet, but I did buy my father a bottle of hibiki 21 that he loved. I have some of the 12 waiting to be opened as well. The cao ila 1984 was unbelievable! Here's a pic. Gorgeous view of Tokyo, and a lovely bottle of malty nectar!
Nice pic and it looks like the kind of place that could end up costing a bit at the end of the night.I actually havnt tried any of the hibiki stuff yet, but I did buy my father a bottle of hibiki 21 that he loved. I have some of the 12 waiting to be opened as well. The cao ila 1984 was unbelievable! Here's a pic. Gorgeous view of Tokyo, and a lovely bottle of malty nectar!
One of my friends brought a bottle of Hibiki 12 back from Japan with him and made a few converts with it - I think you'll really like it too.
Caol Ila 1984 now officially on my watchlist.
Definitely worth putting on any scotch fan's watch list! Not cheap though...I believe the pour wound up costing around 38,000 yen or 40 usd.
The 12 is nice (but a little bland, like they were shooting for something in the middle, IMO), the 18 is incredibly good.
I guess you meant ￥3,800 and compared to what I've got to pay for other drinks I like it's a pretty good deal.
Most of my preferred Japanese whiskies are 10 year versions but I liked the Yamazaki 12 best of all their offerings.
This opinion, just like mine, is just an opinion and I highly recommend the 12 while the 18 and 1984 were too smooth and sweet for my tastes.
I popped into Highland Park today, as you do. Limited funds kept me from getting too carried away - I just bought 5cl miniatures of the 15 and 21 year olds, which I haven't tried before.
Interesting bottles I considered included a 35cl 10-year old (apparently produced for the Netherlands market only) and a 1 litre bottle labelled as Drakaar, with a Viking ship graphic (produced for the duty free market). I don't think I'd find either of these anywhere else but couldn't quite justify buying them, particularly as the salesman/tour guide couldn't tell me what they tasted like! The 35cl cask strength (53%) bottle was tempting. Must save up more for next year!
If anyone finds themselves in Orkney (not something you'd do accidentally), I highly recommend visiting Highland Park - the tour and the very reasonably priced shop are both excellent. The whisky... well, that goes without saying.
Interesting bottles I considered included a 35cl 10-year old (apparently produced for the Netherlands market only) and a 1 litre bottle labelled as Drakaar, with a Viking ship graphic (produced for the duty free market). I don't think I'd find either of these anywhere else but couldn't quite justify buying them, particularly as the salesman/tour guide couldn't tell me what they tasted like! The 35cl cask strength (53%) bottle was tempting. Must save up more for next year!
If anyone finds themselves in Orkney (not something you'd do accidentally), I highly recommend visiting Highland Park - the tour and the very reasonably priced shop are both excellent. The whisky... well, that goes without saying.
I go to Edinburgh frequently as my family is from there, and I always make it a point to try special bottles that we don't get in the USA.
I will be there for three nights. What would you recommend as I am not a regular scotch aficionado. I heard to make sure while I am there to have a scotch (several) and a steak.
Try Kyloe or Steak Edinburgh for the meat fix, however, I'm not sure what their whisky selection is like.
There aren't many distilleries in or near Edinburgh, well, none that are good or worth the visit (more of the industrial grade blend stuff), the North British Distillery is essentially over the road from me, on the upside, the Caledonian Brewery is just up the road!
However, the chances are you'll have a pretty good selection in most pubs. Best thing to do is try a few from different regions and see where it takes you. Different regions generally (generally) have different characteristics. A nice Speyside malt would be my choice for a beginner, or a Highland. The aforementioned Highland Park 12 year old is a good choice and is much more like a Highland type whisky than it's location would imply. Dalmore 12 year old.
Of course, you could just go off the deep end and try some of the Laphroaig or Ardbeg 10 year olds. I'm currently having a small thing with Caol ila, it's like a liquid BBQ!
I wouldn't worry too much about trying the much older and more expensive whiskies right away, get a feel for the differences first
There aren't many distilleries in or near Edinburgh, well, none that are good or worth the visit (more of the industrial grade blend stuff), the North British Distillery is essentially over the road from me, on the upside, the Caledonian Brewery is just up the road!
However, the chances are you'll have a pretty good selection in most pubs. Best thing to do is try a few from different regions and see where it takes you. Different regions generally (generally) have different characteristics. A nice Speyside malt would be my choice for a beginner, or a Highland. The aforementioned Highland Park 12 year old is a good choice and is much more like a Highland type whisky than it's location would imply. Dalmore 12 year old.
Of course, you could just go off the deep end and try some of the Laphroaig or Ardbeg 10 year olds. I'm currently having a small thing with Caol ila, it's like a liquid BBQ!
I wouldn't worry too much about trying the much older and more expensive whiskies right away, get a feel for the differences first
that's funny - I Just had Ardbeg for the first time this past weekend and it blew my mind! It was my first time having a rreeeeeeally smoky scotch. Was freaking delicious. I was trying to remember what it was called and just knew it was some "Olde English sounding name in a green box..." I come in to the scotch thread and it's in the second to the last post! Ardbeg!
