Hmm well this is anecdotal....but I love hoppy beer...and I cant stand peat (so far)....

I live in the heart of hoppy beer land.......surround by yummy hoppy beers....

I'll have to give Islays more of a chance, but I am skeptical....

Templeton Rye

Last time I bought a bottle a drank 4/5th of it on the rocks that night.

Simply delicious.

I'm more of a craft beer guy but when I do partake is usually JWBL.

http://www.apetogentleman.com/wp-con...lker-Blue1.jpg

I wouldn't add water. Seriously (unless you're drinking neat and just adding a couple of drops to wake it up).

Temper the speed at which you drink it. Slow. Slow. Slow. Tiny sips. Be in the right frame of mind and place for drinking it (I suggest a table with one other person in a darkly lit bar/restaurant perhaps after a nice, intimate dinner or sitting at home next to a fireplace with a book). One drink, when you first start drinking islay scotches, might take you 30 minutes to an hour to drink (I wish they still did for me). They're intense and can create an atmosphere unto themselves.

Once you acquire the taste, though... it's dangerous.

OOOh. Yes. Excellent.

I really like JWBL too, its a great blend.

Heck I will even drink the lesser JWs......love em.

If you haven't tried Glenlivet 18/21 I bet you would like them

That could be a commercial.

I feel like i need to go now, and do this.

Dude seriously a bottle would last me 5 years but I may pick up a bottle for a good customer of mine to try. :thumb:

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Nice tactic!!!!

That sure would win me over!

Macallan is the scotch of scotches.

Out west, the cheapest place to get it is at Trader Joe's. it's $34.99 for the Macallan 10 year (fine oak). I've found the 12 year (sherry casks) at CVS for $42.99 which is probably 15-20 dollars cheaper than anywhere else.

The best whiskeys I've had recently are Noah's Mill (kentucky bourbon), Westward Bourbon (Portland, OR), and Strannahan's (CO whiskey).

Stranahan's is THE. SHIT. PERIOD.

It's floral, complex, with a citrus finish that just cascades throughout your palate. I cannot recommend it enough.

The best thing to start doing is checking out if bars around town have a whiskey flight. After that, find the smallest town you can. Go to the diviest bar you can. And start ordering them with three ice cubes. You'll find your taste will adjust really quickly.

I like Scotch a lot, but I do prefer bourbons. To me, it isn't a one-or-the-other. I'm bi-whiskual.

My father-in-law is on the Johnny Walker Platinum lately. He'll pour me a finger or two before he heads off to bed.

The other night we spent the night at their house. When we woke up and were having breakfast I said, "Paul. I hope you don't mind, but I finished off the Johnny Walker last night after you went to bed."

I think he had a small heart attack.

You gotta work up to the peat, though. You can't go zero-to-Laphroaig.

That is some good stuff for a rye. My problem it is so limited and hard to find. You feel like an old prospector striking gold when you find a place that got its hands on some.

Yeah, I tried scotch once at a social gathering with my Texas socialite ex-girlfriend's family, and I ended up discretely tossing it down the drain (which I felt very bad about when I found out the cost).

I tried it again with same ex-girlfriend on a really nice date night at a great restaurant as we waited on our food, and I fell in love with Laphroig. It just had a whole mystique to it (we were dirty hippies at that time, and I think I felt like a cultured badass drinking it). Anyway, it stuck and became my drink of choice for years afterward.