Anyone had Macallan Select Stock? Saw it at the duty free shop in the airport.

Opened my Talisker 18 and was completely blown away. Very complex and perfectly balances light smoke, peat, and a touch of sweetness. Overall, it's luxurious.

Talisker is my favorite scotch distillery. I have the 10 yr., the Storm, The Dark Storm, the Distiller's Edition, the 57 Degrees North, and the Port Ruighe on hand.

The 18 is the only one in their lineup that I've never had, but I will be sure to try it soon.

Opened my bottle of GlenDronach 15 tonight - I'm no expert but this stuff is pretty damn good.

Question from a non-scotch drinker...
I have several unopened bottles of Chivas 12 that were bottled in 1967 (tax stamp still in place). Is it still drinkable? Is it worth more now?
TIA

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Question from a non-scotch drinker...
I have several unopened bottles of Chivas 12 that were bottled in 1967 (tax stamp still in place). Is it still drinkable? Is it worth more now?
TIA

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where was it stored?

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Anyone had Macallan Select Stock? Saw it at the duty free shop in the airport.

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Late reply here.....but, do you mean the Select Oak? 1824 Collection? I've had the next step up, the Whisky Maker's Edition, and it's fantastic.

What is the MaCallan Rare Cask? I've heard plenty of the CS, but only seen the Rare Cask around and the price tag has scared me away. Big fan of MaCallan, prefer the sherry to the fine. Currently stocked with the 12, 18, and 25 though the 25 RARELY gets taken out of the box. Also, seen a few posts about Balvenie Caribbean - it is all over the place up here OTL come visit the new Costco in Woodlandia.

I went to a Macallan tasting at a whiskey bar a few months ago. Rare Cask is from sherry barrels, but it does not have an age statement. Macallan has moved away from age statements in Europe and is trying to get away from them in the US. This way they can blend younger barrels with older barrels to get the taste they want. And it allows them to overcome shortages in their supply of older barrels.

It is a solid pour. I think it's better than the 18. I've seen it at some places for $275.

Favorites: Lagavulin 16, Chivas 18
Easy Go to: Macallan 12, Aberlour 12, Johnnie Walker Black.
Celebratory/Gift: Johnnie Walker Blue

Have a friend visiting Aberdeen next week. He's going to be near Glenlivet, Cragganmore, and Glenfiddich.

Of those three I've only been interested by Cragganmore, but don't know enough to ask for something specifically.

Anything he'd be able to easily find that I can't get here? All I could think of was Green Spot.

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Have a friend visiting Aberdeen next week. He's going to be near Glenlivet, Cragganmore, and Glenfiddich.

Of those three I've only been interested by Cragganmore, but don't know enough to ask for something specifically.

Anything he'd be able to easily find that I can't get here? All I could think of was Green Spot.

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no one has any suggestions?

Also looks like I'm headed to the UK in a few weeks. I'll be headed up to Inverness and thought about swinging through Dufftown. Best distillery tours?

Most of what's easy to find in Scotland is the same stuff you see on your local liquor store shelf here, and usually about the same price as well.

Pretty much all of the distilleries in Scotland are owned by a handful of huge parent corporations. So when you walk into one distillery gift shop, you'll find whiskies from a number of other distilleries for sale in addition to the products made at that particular location.

Some distilleries offer products at their gift shop that aren't available in retail stores. I got a bottle of something at Dalwhinnie from one of their sister distilleries that operated primarily for production of blending whisky. They had bottled a limited amount as a single malt, and sold it only in their distillery gift shops. I gave it to my Father as a gift and can't recall the name of it right now, but I don't know if it was any good or not, I just got it for the "you can't get it in the States" factor.

So I would have your friend just ask at the distillery gift shop if they have anything not widely distributed for sale at the moment. They may, or they may not.

As for alternative options:

There are a few whiskies in regular retail whisky shops that aren't distributed to the US, but they're few and far between, and the only way to really go about this is to know of a specific UK-market-only product that you want ahead of time, and go looking for it. That's how I got my bottle of Talisker Port Ruighe, but even that took some effort and a modicum of luck to come across.

Otherwise, your best bet for unique products is at independent bottlers like Cadenhead in Edinburgh, who purchase hand picked whiskies from all over Scotland, age or finish them on their own, and bottle them as unique products. Some of the best whiskies I've ever had have been from Cadenhead. I'm not sure if there are any such bottlers in Aberdeen or not.

lastly you may look into some "duty free only" products that interest you, and see if your friend can pick it up in the airport (The liquor portion of Heathrow's Duty Free in particular is like Christmas morning for grown-ups), I got Taliskers 57 Degrees North, and Dark Storm that way last time I passed through (if you haven't guessed, I really like Talisker products).

Hopefully that was helpful to you. Your friend is going to love Scotland, it's a magnificent place.

Also, Inverness is a great town. Check and see if a bar called Hootinany is having one of their Traditional Folk Music nights while you're in town. It's literally just a bunch of locals that get together at the big table in the middle of the pub and play traditional Scottish folk music on their own instruments. It's a very cool way to spend an evening away from the touristy stuff.

I went by specs in college station yesterday and they had johnnie walker green, the packaging has changed a bit but it tastes like what I remember, though I don't have an old bottle for reference. I hear it might be a test market thing to see if they should sell it again, or it could be a secret stash??

Just had a glass of Macallan 25. It is fantastic.

Pretty hot compared to 18, but still smoother.

Makes me think the price for a bottle may be worth it.

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Just had a glass of Macallan 25. It is fantastic.

Pretty hot compared to 18, but still smoother.

Makes me think the price for a bottle may be worth it.

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Macallan 25 is very $.

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Just had a glass of Macallan 25. It is fantastic.

Pretty hot compared to 18, but still smoother.

Makes me think the price for a bottle may be worth it.

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Macallan 25 is very $.

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Indeed it is. The bar had a bottle of Macallan M as well. Too bad a glass of that was nearly as much as a bottle of 25.

I've had Highland Park 12, 15 Macallan 10, 12, Glenlivet 12 , Glennoringie, and Tomintoul 12, 16 and for me the smoothest has been the Tomintoul 16. What else should I try?

Laguvlin 16

I've got a Talisker 18 that's pretty darn tasty.

Ended up stopping by the famous grouse distillery. It was more to pick up something for a friend than for me. But they have a single malt there. Glen turret. Most of what they make is for blends so the single malt is hardly ever available for retail.

Ended up doing a "bottle your own" deal, which I geek out for more than I should.

So I came home with that and a bottle of green spot.

Had some Tomatin 43 year last night from independent Lonach. That stuff was candy.

I love glen turret. When my brother lived in Scotland I always had him keep an eye out for it.

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Ended up stopping by the famous grouse distillery. It was more to pick up something for a friend than for me. But they have a single malt there. Glen turret. Most of what they make is for blends so the single malt is hardly ever available for retail.

Ended up doing a "bottle your own" deal, which I geek out for more than I should.

So I came home with that and a bottle of green spot.

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I love Glenturret. Have two small sample bottle right now. Need to get back to Scotland.

another worth trying is Glendornach

Dear lord yes. Glendronach is the nectar of the gods.

If you're ever in Edinburgh, stop by Royal Mile Whiskies and buy a bottle of their Glendronach Single Cask line. It's hand selected and bottled only for Royal Mile, so that's the only place you can find it, but I've had the 1990, 1992, and 1994 bottlings, and they're hands down the 3 best whiskies I've ever had of any kind. Especially the 1992.

I've only had Glendronach 12, but it's amazing.

PSA - just went to Spec's on Weslayan in Houston. They have Glenturret 10 yr and also 27 yr (locked in case by front door for $200). 10 yr was low $40's

grabbed a bottle. Just had cabin fever and saw the break in the rain to go replace the bottle of Green Spot I finished last night. Glad I went.

Laphroaig 10 is also a great Islay thats easy to find. Delicious smokiness.

My liquor store offered me a two for one deal on these, so I took them without any prior research. anyone tried them? Are they any good?

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Laphroaig 10 is also a great Islay thats easy to find. Delicious smokiness.

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Be forewarned that if you're not used to smokey Islays it's a kick in the nuts.

I like it but I have buddies that compare it emptying an ashtray into your glass.

Yeah, that's not one that I would haphazardly recommend.

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My liquor store offered me a two for one deal on these, so I took them without any prior research. anyone tried them? Are they any good?

http://i.imgur.com/AmC8gWI.png

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I've had the 10 and 17 yr, they're both quite good. I think you got a great deal.

Highlands....single malt....aged over 15 years is aways going to be amazing.....