Emil St-Hilaire

UnkieTrunkie

Well. . . as was stated to us repeatedly on Islay, in the early '80s, everybody (except you) went to clear spirits. Many distilleries shuttered (Port Ellen and Bruichladdich as were the Islay examples) or were acquired.
. . . and then the brown booze sales picked up in the 90s between Bourbon and Scotch, with the Chinese middle and new upper class leading the buying. . . and Macallan struck:
https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/artic...on-tough/67715
And as far as the "tip," it starts in this video at 36 seconds:

dlq04

I have to laugh, I was at relatively new bar in town - a 'smokehouse' that also billed themselves as having 29 bourbons - this past Friday. They handed out this really large bourbon menu that describes in table form all these bourbons -- one box on how they look, another on how they smell, another on how they taste, and whatever. So much BS there I honestly laughed out loud. So, after reading down the list which was decent, they had an option of getting three 4 ounce samplers -- based on a price per bourbon shown. The cheapest would be three $3 samples or $9. Or you could toss in one $5 sample for $11. Nice touch to sample new stuff with individual samples going up to $6 or $7 each. I wasn't in the sampling mood, so I ordered a Bulleit and they didn't have it!! Said they were out. I said the heck with it and ordered a CEO stout from a local brewery.

BTW, I did watch a video from the boys above and got a kick out of it. Especially as they came up with their BS about how they thought each one tasted.
If you don't want to spend the time watching them get buzzed and describing each, here's their list:
Monkey Shoulder,
Highland Park 12,
Glenfiddich 12,
Jameson,
Bulleit Rye,
Elijah Craig Small Batch,
Buffalo Trace,
Macallan 12,
Four Roses Single Barrel,
CaolIla 12,
and finally Japan's Hibiki Harmony.

UnkieTrunkie

"BS" or not, I've gotten some superb recommendations. . . and their beginning whisk(e)y recommendations were way better than anything I would have thought of on first pass; my recommendations for years were the equivalent of driving off a pier to see if you enjoy swimming.

Lovetodrive2000

Always chuckle how these types of reviewers pick out different flavors in different bottles. Their descriptions crack me up.

Yes, I get some different flavors, but I doubt my descriptions would be close to theirs.

V3rtigo

Since nobody seems to care about it, I'll take that bottle of Stagg off the OP's top shelf.

S2KRAY

Not a big bourbon drinker but when I do indulge I like JB. I drank a lot of Jack Daniels in the Navy. I do like Gin, Tanqueray or Bombay.

Lovetodrive2000

Already 1/2 gone..... so is 1/3rd of the Stagg Jr..

So is 1/2 of the Pappy's....

Been together with family over the holidays!

UnkieTrunkie

Picked up a bottle of Black Bottle per our "research" in Scotland. If your area has it (none of our big stores had it, we found it in a random liquor store on Nob Hill, SF), it's another good "bottom shelf" blended Scotch. Easy going, approachable, but doesn't have any "cheap heat" or anything out of whack. Scotch and sodas, or first-time sippin', it's good.

kgf3076

Glenfiddich 12 - Way too young. The 25 is good, the 30 year old is excellent (and no, I'm not bringing it to share)
Jameson - Depends.
Bulleit Rye - Good, very smooth and easy to drink
Elijah Craig Small Batch - This.
Buffalo Trace - See above.
Macallan - If you can't afford real Scotch (if it's not even a teenager, it's iffy at best), this is okay.
Four Roses Single Barrel - Excellent old-timer cleaned up and brought back to it's former glory.
Japan's Hibiki Harmony. - Have a bottle sitting in my liquor cabinet. Very smooth for a blend, very drinkable.

All opinions are mine, your mileage may vary, close cover before striking and, last but not least, everybody knows what opinions are like...