Today I wrapped presents, made a stew that promises to be the best yet, talked bollocks and listened to some incredibly good music. A normal day, in other words. Apart from the talking bollocks bit, naturally.
Hope you're not including Teachers and Bell's in that .... YUK ...... I have a 15yr old Singleton and Glenlivet oh and an 18yr old bottle of Glenlivet too
JWBL - as we always termed it - is a top whisky. In fact, it's the best whisky. That is to say, it is the most prized whisky in the world - the one that has won the most prizes in all competitions. It is the distiller's choice. Believe me: I know a lot of distillers. If you could only have one whisky in your cupboard (which is currently my sad case), JWBL is the one to have. Yes, I know. The malt whisky snobs will be out telling you that there are better things and in some respects they are not wrong. You can't argue with Talisker, or Lagavulin - unless you don't like strong, smoky whiskies, I suppose. But JWBL is suitable for all occasions; you just never get bored of it. Whereas sometimes a Talisker or a Laga is just a bit too full-on. And don't be fooled. Drink a dram of standard 12 y.o. Glenfiddich, the world's biggest-selling single malt, and then sip a JWBL. It may be a blended whisky, but it is miles ahead in terms of complexity, smoothness and interest. Don't knock blended whisky. Champagne is blended, perfume is blended. Top blended whisky is a symphony. Single malt is only ever a concerto. For info, I spent 12 years marketing single malts and I love them. But for me, JWBL is still the daddy.
They are fine when mixed 50:50 with another alcoholic drink: Green Ginger Wine i.e. Whisky Mac - never waste a decent whisky to mix and don't be a poof by adding ice or water
I like Bell's. In fact I rather like Teacher's. You're not going to compare your easy-drinking Malbec with a bottle of Lafite Rothschild. Horses for courses (and purses).
Oh I had no idea , I'm not a big whisky drinker turns me well mean Brandy and southern comfort do me these days -
You can put water in them if you like. It's not a crime. For info: whisky (or new-make spirit as it is then) comes off the still at 70%. It is then watered down to about 63.5% to be put into cask (to get optimal ageing speed vs the amount of casks you need and the acres of space they take up). Then at bottling time, it will be probably still be about 60-ish %. It is brought down to 43% normally at bottling (more watering down). So there is no reason on earth why you would not dilute it again to taste. The industry professionals I know laugh their heads off at people drinking cask strength whiskies without adding water. For tasting purposes, professionals dilute all whiskies to about 25% where the maximum of aromas are released for nosing. I'm not suggesting you do this - they become watery and disappointing on the palate (the professionals aren't drinking them obviously). But at say 38%, they can be more aromatic and fun to drink. Conduct some of your own tests.
pretty much always put water in, you can deffo put to much in and you will know straight away. dont think i have ever had a bad one, some seem to go better with others, i generally go west to east, if only for my hart burn.
