Some of my favourite whiskies
As we all know; you can't discuss taste.
However, the good thing about a personal website is that
you can write about your own taste as much as you like....
And that's just what I'm doing! On this page I introduce some
of my favourite whiskies to you, the reader. By-the-way;
there are quite a few whiskies I like so please come back
from time to time.... Cheers!
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For centuries whisky has been distilled from
fermented barley mash, all over the Highlands of Scotland
and I won't bore you with details about the various ingredients
or techniques that are used. For me personally, there
are a couple of brands which stick out like an "one legged
man in a bum kicking contest" and which can do with a
bit of extra attention. (It's still quite a few because
there's so much to choose from...) Glenmorangie was the first brand of whisky I
learned to appreciate. (I think I was about 18 years
of age -yes, that's legal in The Netherlands- when
I started to drink my first glasses of whisky.) A fishing
pal introduced me to the wonderful combination of "a-
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| Glenmorangie |
beer-for-thirst" (Grolsch
from a...plop... swing-top bottle) and "a-wee-whisky-for-the-extra-taste".
Normally he would poor me a more affordable blend like
Famous Grouse (very nice) or an Irish Jameson (also
quite nice) but sometimes, on the right moment, he
would bring
out a bottle of Glenmorangie. What a treat !
Glenmorangie is a very smooth whisky with
a lovely "nose" to it. You should only drink it from
an oversized sherry glass or medium sized wine glass
to get the wonderful rich "perfume" coming out properly.
(This goes for all malt whiskies) Next to the standard
Single Malt, Glenmorangie also produces some wonderful "specials" like
the "Sherry Wood Cask" and the "Port Wood
Cask". The malt whisky has been ripened in oak
barrels which use to hold sherry or port and it gives
it a really sensational special taste to the final
product. Purists detest those "tricks" but personally
I don't care about that, do you ?
Whisky of this quality will cost you some extra pennies
but I think it's worth it. I agree with one of my best
friends, and great whisky lover, who use to say; "I'd
rather have less from better".
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Black
Bush isn't only a special whiskey because it
comes from Northern-Ireland (Ulster) but also because
of the wonderful smooth taste. Every time when we
do a "blind tasting" at my favourite local pub, even
the more experienced whiskey drinkers don't know
what to make of it. Besides, this whiskey allows
me to "pull their leg" a bit when they ask; "Is it
from Ireland ?" because
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| Black Bush |
, officially, it isn't, Ulster
is (still) British.....just kidding. (Fortunately
it looks like it will all change soon) But I won't
make the mistake to talk politics here, there's not
much I know about it. The distillers of Black Bush, "The
Old Bushmills Distillery Co." are officially
the worlds first distillery who got their license
in 1608 and therefore call themselves the "oldest
licensed whiskey distillery in the world".
As mentioned before, Black Bush is a very
smooth whiskey with a very gentle taste, the "nose" makes it very difficult to give it a place (hence
the confusion during the blind tasting sessions) and the colour is a wonderful
dark amber. Most people know the Bushmills Malt but, personally, I think
that one is a lot less interesting, though not bad at all. Black Bush whiskey
is quite affordable, in Holland a bottle of 70 cc will cost around Fl 35= (about
20 US dollars) and that's not a bad price for such a wonderful bottle of whiskey.
At least, that's what I think.
By-the-way,
maybe you are asking yourself; "why does he write whiskey and
not whisky ? Well, WHISKEY is the way they spell
it in Ireland (for Irish whiskey !) and the rest of
the world says; WHISKY. Just for your information. |
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Through the years I have had the luck to be able to
taste quite a few delicious shots of whisky and again
and again
this divine liquid manages to surprise my nose and taste
buts. Well, there are a few whiskies on the market to
which even I say; No thank you very much, you can fill
in the
names/brands yourself. But I have to say that I do like
quite a good many different kinds and brands.
However, if I have the free choice (which I do have thank
God) I keep coming back to the 2 same brands. Both are
very famous.
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| Higland Park |
The first one known under the noble name of; "The
MacCallan" and
I will definitely write about that one sooner or later.
The second one must be my absolute favourite whisky
in the whole wide world and is called; "Highland
Park" but
I think that this was getting clear already...
I have thought long and hard who I have to thank for introducing this whisky
to me and I think this honour goes to mr. Jos Peters. Jos is a good
friend of mine for many, many years and he enjoys good food, good cigars
and a good
glass of whisky just as much as I do. I was mainly drinking Glenmorangie
(especially the Portwood Cask version) when Jos suggested to try a glass
of Highland
Park (And that happened in our favourite Folk
Pub "Terminus",
our usual place 's-Hertogenbosch, right next to the Central Station,
where they offer over 400
different whiskies!.) That was a bulls eye!
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| Highland Park |
This is such an unbelievable complete and complex
whisky. Highland Park has really got everything you
can expect from a whisky and is right between the sometimes
just too subtle highland whiskies and the sometimes
too
heavy Islay whiskies. (This is my own opinion of course,
everyone has the full right to think differently about
this of course.)
Highland Park has got it all, a little bit of
turf, a bit smoky with a long smooth "after drink". And
the colour, ahh..a beautiful bronze.
If I'm drinking Highland Park I spend a lot of time "nosing" the tulip
shaped glass, my nose deep into it, inhaling the wonderful aroma.
Just like with most other single malts, I add a tiny bit of water to Highland
Park. Not too much of course, that would ruin the taste and texture, just a few
drops, that will bring out the taste and odour even more.
Highland Park has a really nice website which can be found here HighlandPark maybe
a a good idea to have a look around. (At the same time you will find the source
of
the photo's I used on this page :-) |
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