Why is the taste of a single malt superior to a blend?

I bought a bottle of glenlivet last night and it took my breath away. It was excellent. I just don't know WHY it is so much better.

American Oyaji wrote:Why is the taste of a single malt superior to a blend?

I bought a bottle of glenlivet last night and it took my breath away. It was excellent. I just don't know WHY it is so much better.

I like malt as well, but both are all right if you're buying.....

Greji wrote:I like malt as well, but both are all right if you're buying.....

I'll take a Laphroiag's, double please.

American Oyaji wrote:Why is the taste of a single malt superior to a blend?

I bought a bottle of glenlivet last night and it took my breath away. It was excellent. I just don't know WHY it is so much better.

It depends on your tastes. I personally like Jamesons (a blend) better than their single-malt Jamesons 12 or 18 year olds, even though the blend is supposed to be based on the single-malt. I'm sure you'll find some blends that are more palatable than some single-malts. I've tried some Glenlivet special 30 and 50 year old single malts that were almost undrinkable due to the intense oaken taste, but I love the regular 12 year old single malt.

But as I always say, the best whiskey is the one being served to you now.

It's hard to say AO. I tend to like single malts, but I don't usually drink whiskey that's more than 12 years old because of the cost. However there are some blends like Johnnie Walker Blue Label that will blow a lot of lesser single malts away. I have to agree with Charles about which whiskey is best though.

To keep this Japanese related, some of the Japanese single malts are damn good.

Hell, even the cheap Japanese whiskeys aren't bad at all. I know a lot of folks hate 'em, but Torys, for example, works just great for a scotch & soda, with a little ginger ale, or even mizu wari.

Samurai_Jerk wrote:It's hard to say AO. I tend to like single malts, but I don't usually drink whiskey that's more than 12 years old because of the cost. However there are some blends like Johnnie Walker Blue Label that will blow a lot of lesser single malts away. I have to agree with Charles about which whiskey is best though.

To keep this Japanese related, some of the Japanese single malts are damn good.

Best whiskey I ever had was Suntory's Yamazaki. The Glenlivet 12 comes close. That Yamazaki is expensive as HELL. I saw a small bottle and it cost 8000 yen. I wanted to know what kind of whiskey was 8000 yen for a quarter of a fifth. I had the cash and I was gonna blow it on booze that night anyway. Plus I was already drunk. Stuff was so good, that I waited until the next day to finish it.



I mentioned the Yamazaki before, but I didn't realize until now that it is indeed a single malt.

American Oyaji wrote:Best whiskey I ever had was Suntory's Yamazaki. The Glenlivet 12 comes close. That Yamazaki is expensive as HELL. I saw a small bottle and it cost 8000 yen. I wanted to know what kind of whiskey was 8000 yen for a quarter of a fifth.

For that kind of money, the whiskey ought to crawl out of the bottle and give you a blow job. I just don't know if any liquor on earth is worth that much money. But if someone else is buying..

To be called a single malt whisky, a bottle may only contain whisky distilled from malted barley produced at a single distillery. If the bottle is the product of single malt whiskies produced at more than one distillery, the whisky is called a vatted malt, blended malt, or pure malt. If the single malt is mixed with grain whisky, the result is a blended whisky. Single malts can be bottled by the distillery that produced them or by an Independent Bottler.

In many cases, Jack D for example, the distiller is looking for a certain taste that is only produced in maybe 5% of the casks. This is the "single barrel" or "single cask" the rest get mixed together to the head distillers taste and the good barrels go back for longer aging. These are by far the best whiskys that you can get. Many single malts are highly over rated and over priced.

The thing that I never really understood is why japan tries so hard to produce the scotch style.

Nonjatta has a nice little review of Torys, as well as a whole barrel full of other J-skys...

I've heard of Tory's. It's like Noriko.
You don't touch her yourself, but you'll pawn her off to your desperate (cheap) friend.

American Oyaji wrote:I've heard of Tory's. It's like Noriko.
You don't touch her yourself, but you'll pawn her off to your desperate (cheap) friend.

I'm cheap, send her over...
The Torii family were the original founders of Sun Tory

Greji wrote:I'm cheap, send her over...
The Torii family were the original founders of Sun Tory

You may be cheap, but you're not desperate. Just greedy.

As for Torii family being the original founders of Suntory, I'd read that somewhere before.

American Oyaji wrote:You may be cheap, but you're not desperate. Just greedy.

Does that mean I get her?

As for Torii family being the original founders of Suntory, I'd read that somewhere before.

Right, they also used the name for several brands of blend whiskey with the "Tory" westernization of the spelling, later named it Suntory, but continuing the name with some of the whiskeys.

Also, it was always the dream to produce a Japanese scotch, which is why all of their blends are made like a scotch and even have a bit of taste. I had a Suntory exec tell me one time that the reason they did not age booze for very long is that the demand for booze in Japan prevented them from doing any long aging among other things. This is why they haven't had any old age malts until recent years. Don't know if he was telling me the truth, but is definitely believable!

That Yamazaki 12 is something special I tell you. I want to try the 18 now.

Yamazaki ain't bad. But my favorite is Lagavulin. Given that it's distilled in the same region as Laphroaig, my tastes must be along the same lines as 2Triky's.

Greji wrote:Also, it was always the dream to produce a Japanese scotch

Pretty tough since scotch has to be from Scotland.

Samurai_Jerk wrote:Pretty tough since scotch has to be from Scotland.

Have you broke that news to the Irish yet?

Greji wrote::rofl:
Have you broke that news to the Irish yet?

Irish "Scotch" is called Whiskey (as opposed to Whisky).

kamome wrote:Yamazaki ain't bad. But my favorite is Lagavulin. Given that it's distilled in the same region as Laphroaig, my tastes must be along the same lines as 2Triky's.

I'm not a single malt connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination but I'd like to give your recommendation a try one of these days.

Charles wrote:Irish "Scotch" is called Whiskey (as opposed to Whisky).

How would you know? Iowa's a dry state, right?

Ok, I bought a Laphroaig 10 tonite.

First impression. Fucking nasty shit. That's on the first taste.

It tastes like the inside of a fucking chimney. I'll finish the bottle, because I don't want to waste my money, but DAMN it's nasty.

It has a oily smoky mediciny taste.

I've never met a liquor I couldn't finish. This may be the first.

American Oyaji wrote:Ok, I bought a Laphroaig 10 tonite.

First impression. Fucking nasty shit. That's on the first taste.

It tastes like the inside of a fucking chimney. I'll finish the bottle, because I don't want to waste my money, but DAMN it's nasty.

It has a oily smoky mediciny taste.

I've never met a liquor I couldn't finish. This may be the first.

Obviously, we are all entitled to our own impressions, but I thought I would emphasize that Laphroaig recommends adding water at a 2 to 1 ratio. 2 parts water, 1 part scotch. Did you drink it full strength or did you add the water to release the peaty flavor?

Laphroiags

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2triky wrote:Obviously, we are all entitled to our own impressions, but I thought I would emphasize that Laphroaig recommends adding water at a 2 to 1 ratio. 2 parts water, 1 part scotch. Did you drink it full strength or did you add the water to release the peaty flavor?

I did both.

*ok, I lied*

I just did the two for one instead of 1 for 1. It's better.

I think I might prefer Glenfiditch. BUT, it's much more tolerable now. Thank You.

2triky wrote:Obviously, we are all entitled to our own impressions, but I thought I would emphasize that Laphroaig recommends adding water at a 2 to 1 ratio. 2 parts water, 1 part scotch. Did you drink it full strength or did you add the water to release the peaty flavor?

I personally prefer whiskey on the rocks, as long as the ice is made from quality water (I like to make ice from Evian). The coldness numbs the taste buds initially, then as the ice melts it dilutes the whiskey. But this presumes you are a slow drinker who barely has any ice left when the glass is empty. If you're a gulper, you might as well drink Canadian Club.

American Oyaji wrote:I did both.

*ok, I lied*

I just did the two for one instead of 1 for 1. It's better.

I think I might prefer Glenfiditch. BUT, it's much more tolerable now. Thank You.

No need to thank me...I'm just trying to share what I've learned myself. Again I'm not a single malt connoisseur...I'd also like to try a Yamazaki in the future so as to expand my horizons.

I understand your consternation tho'...Glenfitch is a fine drink in any case.

Charles wrote:I personally prefer whiskey on the rocks, as long as the ice is made from quality water (I like to make ice from Evian). The coldness numbs the taste buds initially, then as the ice melts it dilutes the whiskey. But this presumes you are a slow drinker who barely has any ice left when the glass is empty. If you're a gulper, you might as well drink Canadian Club.

You hit the sticking point...ice made from quality water...I've had such a whiskey in Japan...but in the States they aren't so fussy about such details to the detriment of the flavor, as you alluded to.....

2triky wrote:You hit the sticking point...ice made from quality water...I've had such a whiskey in Japan...but in the States they aren't so fussy about such details to the detriment of the flavor, as you alluded to.....

Well it's a big thing here in my town, where the tap water is totally toxic, I won't drink it let alone make ice from it. Even bathing in it makes my skin burn.
But you have a point. Only in Japan have I had a whiskey served with glacier ice. There's no sense putting anything but the best quality ice in a quality whiskey.

Anyway, it will probably horrify everyone to learn of my favorite whiskey concoction, I call it "Rocket Fuel." Take a large cup of solidly frozen Cherry Garcia ice cream and add a splash of Jamesons. Stir rapidly with a spoon until it is thoroughly mixed, the alcohol will dissolve the ice cream but supercool it so it's still below freezing point but slightly soft like soft-serve, but it stiffens when you stop stirring. The amount of alcohol added is crucial, it may take repeated experimentation to get the right proportions in your rocket fuel formula to attain proper supercooling. Keep stirring as you eat it. Yum.

What do you guys call those 375 mL bottles of whisky? Where I grew up, we called them "a mickey", and the hip pocket on your jeans was called "a mickey pocket". Went out East, and they called those little single-shot airline bottles "mickeys". You?