Whiskey Clique

SVRDhand13

mca47 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

RS151862 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Cliffy6745 said:

What’s the deal with that one? All the whiskey memberships I’ve done I’ve felt to be a bit underwhelming, but I’d definitely be interested in a scotch one 

You are better off going to your local and talking to them and buy your own.  I do that with Bourbons.

Locals don’t get anything near what SMWS has to offer. 

So I just looked into this.  These are barrel picks?  That is what I am seeing.

Yeah, kinda.  They select barrels from pretty much every distiller in Scotland.  A lot of the barrels they select are the off-profile ones that don't fit the norm of their common releases, or an experiment that was tried 20 years ago that is now a beautiful thing but the distiller can't do anything with it because of the limited quantity.  They are all single barrel and cask strength.  Not impossible to find but most Scotches you find at the liquor store are not cask strength and many that will put you back $200 are sitting at 80 proof.  I purchased a 19 year old, single barrel, CS, Laphroaig from the SMWS a couple of months ago.  Easily the best Islay scotch i've ever had and it's not even something you could get from Laphroaig if you wanted to.  I've had some of the best bourbon you can find...not necessarily owned, but have had....and none of those even come close to some of the Scotches I've gotten from SMWS.  I'm not even joking.  I have a 33 year old Glen Moray that I consider to be the best whiskey I've ever had.
Now, it is expensive.  $100/year membership and the low end bottles will cost you about $100, but it's amazing.  

mca47 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

RS151862 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Cliffy6745 said:

What’s the deal with that one? All the whiskey memberships I’ve done I’ve felt to be a bit underwhelming, but I’d definitely be interested in a scotch one 

You are better off going to your local and talking to them and buy your own.  I do that with Bourbons.

Locals don’t get anything near what SMWS has to offer. 

So I just looked into this.  These are barrel picks?  That is what I am seeing.

Yeah, kinda.  They select barrels from pretty much every distiller in Scotland.  A lot of the barrels they select are the off-profile ones that don't fit the norm of their common releases, or an experiment that was tried 20 years ago that is now a beautiful thing but the distiller can't do anything with it because of the limited quantity.  They are all single barrel and cask strength.  Not impossible to find but most Scotches you find at the liquor store are not cask strength and many that will put you back $200 are sitting at 80 proof.  I purchased a 19 year old, single barrel, CS, Laphroaig from the SMWS a couple of months ago.  Easily the best Islay scotch i've ever had and it's not even something you could get from Laphroaig if you wanted to.  I've had some of the best bourbon you can find...not necessarily owned, but have had....and none of those even come close to some of the Scotches I've gotten from SMWS.  I'm not even joking.  I have a 33 year old Glen Moray that I consider to be the best whiskey I've ever had.
Now, it is expensive.  $100/year membership and the low end bottles will cost you about $100, but it's amazing.  

Do they do samples or only full bottles? 

mcgruff10

SVRDhand13 said:

mcgruff10 said:

@SVRDhand13 what s your top five under $100?

Scotch I’m not knowledgeable enough to answer yet. But bourbon/rye I’ll go:

Old Forester 1920
Makers Wood Finishing Series (currently FAE-02) 
Barrell Dovetail (blended whiskey that’s sweeter) 
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof
New Riff Rye (Malted or Balboa if you can find them but small batch and single barrel are also great) 

I’m realizing one of these is 100 proof and the rest are 110 and up lol. 

What exactly does barrel proof mean?

Looks like a solid list to me! I'm heading to Wegman's today, hoping to get Ardbeg 10.

RS151862

mcgruff10 said:

SVRDhand13 said:

mcgruff10 said:

@SVRDhand13 what s your top five under $100?

Scotch I’m not knowledgeable enough to answer yet. But bourbon/rye I’ll go:

Old Forester 1920
Makers Wood Finishing Series (currently FAE-02) 
Barrell Dovetail (blended whiskey that’s sweeter) 
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof
New Riff Rye (Malted or Balboa if you can find them but small batch and single barrel are also great) 

I’m realizing one of these is 100 proof and the rest are 110 and up lol. 

What exactly does barrel proof mean?

Looks like a solid list to me! I'm heading to Wegman's today, hoping to get Ardbeg 10.

Barrel proof means they don’t water it down to reach 80 or 86 proof which it seems like most scotches are bottled at.. whatever proof it is out of the barrel is what it’s bottled at. 

markymark550

mcgruff10 said:

SVRDhand13 said:

mcgruff10 said:

@SVRDhand13 what s your top five under $100?

Scotch I’m not knowledgeable enough to answer yet. But bourbon/rye I’ll go:

Old Forester 1920
Makers Wood Finishing Series (currently FAE-02) 
Barrell Dovetail (blended whiskey that’s sweeter) 
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof
New Riff Rye (Malted or Balboa if you can find them but small batch and single barrel are also great) 

I’m realizing one of these is 100 proof and the rest are 110 and up lol. 

What exactly does barrel proof mean?

Looks like a solid list to me! I'm heading to Wegman's today, hoping to get Ardbeg 10.

Barrel proof is the spirit bottled straight from the barrel. BP will be higher in proof...I'd guess 110 or higher for most. As such, it will be a bit more expensive than the same spirit tempered with water to a lower proof. Barrel proof selections are good choices to experiment with adding water a drop at a time to see how the flavors open up. I would start neat, then add drops one at a time until you get something palatable to you. And, you may like it just fine as it is without any added water.

mcgruff10

That makes a lot of sense, thank you for the explanation.

SVRDhand13

mcgruff10 said:

That makes a lot of sense, thank you for the explanation.

Yes, I see it's already been explained.  The EC small batch is good, but the non-watered down version is incredible.  To be honest I've heard the 2021 stuff wasn't as good as past years but still very good.  

Also have EC Toasted Barrel and the Rye.  Good pricing on their stuff.  

Enjoy that Ardbeg 10!!!

mca47

SVRDhand13 said:

mca47 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

RS151862 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Cliffy6745 said:

What’s the deal with that one? All the whiskey memberships I’ve done I’ve felt to be a bit underwhelming, but I’d definitely be interested in a scotch one 

You are better off going to your local and talking to them and buy your own.  I do that with Bourbons.

Locals don’t get anything near what SMWS has to offer. 

So I just looked into this.  These are barrel picks?  That is what I am seeing.

Yeah, kinda.  They select barrels from pretty much every distiller in Scotland.  A lot of the barrels they select are the off-profile ones that don't fit the norm of their common releases, or an experiment that was tried 20 years ago that is now a beautiful thing but the distiller can't do anything with it because of the limited quantity.  They are all single barrel and cask strength.  Not impossible to find but most Scotches you find at the liquor store are not cask strength and many that will put you back $200 are sitting at 80 proof.  I purchased a 19 year old, single barrel, CS, Laphroaig from the SMWS a couple of months ago.  Easily the best Islay scotch i've ever had and it's not even something you could get from Laphroaig if you wanted to.  I've had some of the best bourbon you can find...not necessarily owned, but have had....and none of those even come close to some of the Scotches I've gotten from SMWS.  I'm not even joking.  I have a 33 year old Glen Moray that I consider to be the best whiskey I've ever had.
Now, it is expensive.  $100/year membership and the low end bottles will cost you about $100, but it's amazing.  

mca47 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

RS151862 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Cliffy6745 said:

What’s the deal with that one? All the whiskey memberships I’ve done I’ve felt to be a bit underwhelming, but I’d definitely be interested in a scotch one 

You are better off going to your local and talking to them and buy your own.  I do that with Bourbons.

Locals don’t get anything near what SMWS has to offer. 

So I just looked into this.  These are barrel picks?  That is what I am seeing.

Yeah, kinda.  They select barrels from pretty much every distiller in Scotland.  A lot of the barrels they select are the off-profile ones that don't fit the norm of their common releases, or an experiment that was tried 20 years ago that is now a beautiful thing but the distiller can't do anything with it because of the limited quantity.  They are all single barrel and cask strength.  Not impossible to find but most Scotches you find at the liquor store are not cask strength and many that will put you back $200 are sitting at 80 proof.  I purchased a 19 year old, single barrel, CS, Laphroaig from the SMWS a couple of months ago.  Easily the best Islay scotch i've ever had and it's not even something you could get from Laphroaig if you wanted to.  I've had some of the best bourbon you can find...not necessarily owned, but have had....and none of those even come close to some of the Scotches I've gotten from SMWS.  I'm not even joking.  I have a 33 year old Glen Moray that I consider to be the best whiskey I've ever had.
Now, it is expensive.  $100/year membership and the low end bottles will cost you about $100, but it's amazing.  

Do they do samples or only full bottles? 

I don't believe I've seen them offer any samples.  They have monthly and  bi-monthly outturns where you can go on their site to see what they are releasing.  Each release has very detailed nosing and tasting notes, so you can read through those and get a bottle that might fit whatever profile you are looking for.
I have a bunch of bottles from them and they've all been amazing.

mcgruff10

Love it.  Not as intense as laphoraig 10 but really really good. 

SVRDhand13

mca47 said:

SVRDhand13 said:

mca47 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

RS151862 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Cliffy6745 said:

What’s the deal with that one? All the whiskey memberships I’ve done I’ve felt to be a bit underwhelming, but I’d definitely be interested in a scotch one 

You are better off going to your local and talking to them and buy your own.  I do that with Bourbons.

Locals don’t get anything near what SMWS has to offer. 

So I just looked into this.  These are barrel picks?  That is what I am seeing.

Yeah, kinda.  They select barrels from pretty much every distiller in Scotland.  A lot of the barrels they select are the off-profile ones that don't fit the norm of their common releases, or an experiment that was tried 20 years ago that is now a beautiful thing but the distiller can't do anything with it because of the limited quantity.  They are all single barrel and cask strength.  Not impossible to find but most Scotches you find at the liquor store are not cask strength and many that will put you back $200 are sitting at 80 proof.  I purchased a 19 year old, single barrel, CS, Laphroaig from the SMWS a couple of months ago.  Easily the best Islay scotch i've ever had and it's not even something you could get from Laphroaig if you wanted to.  I've had some of the best bourbon you can find...not necessarily owned, but have had....and none of those even come close to some of the Scotches I've gotten from SMWS.  I'm not even joking.  I have a 33 year old Glen Moray that I consider to be the best whiskey I've ever had.
Now, it is expensive.  $100/year membership and the low end bottles will cost you about $100, but it's amazing.  

mca47 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

RS151862 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Cliffy6745 said:

What’s the deal with that one? All the whiskey memberships I’ve done I’ve felt to be a bit underwhelming, but I’d definitely be interested in a scotch one 

You are better off going to your local and talking to them and buy your own.  I do that with Bourbons.

Locals don’t get anything near what SMWS has to offer. 

So I just looked into this.  These are barrel picks?  That is what I am seeing.

Yeah, kinda.  They select barrels from pretty much every distiller in Scotland.  A lot of the barrels they select are the off-profile ones that don't fit the norm of their common releases, or an experiment that was tried 20 years ago that is now a beautiful thing but the distiller can't do anything with it because of the limited quantity.  They are all single barrel and cask strength.  Not impossible to find but most Scotches you find at the liquor store are not cask strength and many that will put you back $200 are sitting at 80 proof.  I purchased a 19 year old, single barrel, CS, Laphroaig from the SMWS a couple of months ago.  Easily the best Islay scotch i've ever had and it's not even something you could get from Laphroaig if you wanted to.  I've had some of the best bourbon you can find...not necessarily owned, but have had....and none of those even come close to some of the Scotches I've gotten from SMWS.  I'm not even joking.  I have a 33 year old Glen Moray that I consider to be the best whiskey I've ever had.
Now, it is expensive.  $100/year membership and the low end bottles will cost you about $100, but it's amazing.  

Do they do samples or only full bottles? 

I don't believe I've seen them offer any samples.  They have monthly and  bi-monthly outturns where you can go on their site to see what they are releasing.  Each release has very detailed nosing and tasting notes, so you can read through those and get a bottle that might fit whatever profile you are looking for.
I have a bunch of bottles from them and they've all been amazing.

Thanks! I expect I’ll become a member at some point. 

SVRDhand13

mcgruff10 said:

Love it.  Not as intense as laphoraig 10 but really really good. 

I wish I could explain the difference between Ardbeg and Laphroig but I can’t put it into words lol. 

Bentleyspop

From last year's Ardbeg Day.....

mcgruff10

Daaaaamn

mca47

Bentleyspop said:

From last year's Ardbeg Day.....

That is awesome!

Bentleyspop

mca47 said:

Bentleyspop said:

From last year's Ardbeg Day.....

That is awesome!

Just realized this wasn't in the picture....

mcgruff10

SVRDhand13 said:

mcgruff10 said:

Love it.  Not as intense as laphoraig 10 but really really good. 

I wish I could explain the difference between Ardbeg and Laphroig but I can’t put it into words lol. 

Ardbeg is less sea weed and band aids.  Lol

Gern Blansten

I snagged a bottle of Stagg, Jr and a Weller Antique 107 last night at a local "Whiskeyfest"

They had about 200 bottles available for a randomly generated pick.  My wife got pick 23 (Stagg) and I was 104 for the Weller.

There were 3 bottles of Van Winkle in that mix that obviously went quick.  We were laughing that the Kentucky Owl (2 bottles both at $300 or so) and the Sweetens Cove (around $200 I think) were still available close to the end. 

They did an auction after the random picks that we didn't stick around for but the Pappy and Rip bottles started at $500

mcgruff10

Cheaper than ketel!  Let s go!!

bbiggs

^ And arguably better. You do know this is the whiskey thread right? 😂

mcgruff10

bbiggs said:

^ And arguably better. You do know this is the whiskey thread right? 😂

Whisky and vodka are the same thing.  

ketel is my absolute favorite, we will see if my opinion changes.  

Cliffy6745

Clear alcohol is for rich women on diets