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A trick with Scotch Whisky

OK.....it's the Holidays so let's lighten things up a bit.

When I listen to music I often like to garnish the experience with a good glass of Scotch or American single barrel whisky.

One of my favorite Scotch whisky's is Lagavulin 16 year old. It is very good Scotch with a pungent smoky flavor. That's the good part. The bad part is it costs about $65 to $80 a bottle. Recently, on a lark I tried to get the basic flavor of Lagavulin by altering a much cheaper Scotch whisky. The results were suprisingly good. I got about %75 percent of the flavor of Lagavulin for about %30 of the cost.

Furthermore all audiophiles have two things in common; they like to experiment and love to change things. So in the spirit of experimentation I offer the following "ersatz Lagavulin" recipe.

2 - "level" teaspoons of "Colgin Liquid Smoke, natural hickory orginal recipe.

1 - 750ml bottle of Aberlour 10 year old Scotch.

Blend them both together and be careful to only add two level teaspoons of the liquid smoke. Pour into your favorite whisky glass. Enjoy.

That's It! The "ersatz Lagavulin" has a smoky taste with hickory overtones and a smooth sweet finish. My friends and I drink this more than the real thing now.

I welcome any and all similiar experiments (for any liquor) or recipes for a favorite drink.

Cheers and Happy Holidays Audiogoners.

hank

Showing 5 responses by edesilva

edesilva
768 posts
 
Aie!

And I thought it was bad when some other A'goners talked in another thread about putting ice in your whisky!
edesilva
768 posts
 
Kennyt-

I'll certainly put a bit of spring water in cask strength malt... Otherwise its really too "hot"--I thought most of the cask strength bottles I had were actually more like 90% alcohol. Most "single malts" are actually watered down from cask strength to get to 82 proof.

But, ice is to be avoided because it dulls the taste buds.

Incidentally, the Macallan 15 year old cask strength is actually my present "buy" of choice for that precise reason--it is very price comparable to the 12 year old--but much nicer tasting--when you consider you are getting a bottle that can be cut with good water.

This whole conversation is making me wish I'd bought more than three bottles of an Adephia private label bottling I found about 10 years ago--32 year old Springbank at cask strength for $180 a fifth. Sadly, it is now all a thing of the past.
edesilva
768 posts
 
I've never been a huge fan of the bourbon finishes--think Macallan intro'd some of those as well. The goal seems to be to convert bourbonites into whiskyites. But, like Transnova, I had one of those bad experiences that leaves me unable to appreciate the finer points of bourbon. Or any other points of bourbon, for that matter.

On the other hand, I'm a big fan of aging whisky in old Madeira casks from Spain, the way Macallan does it. Seems to smooth things out very nicely--Springbank is aged in sherry casks as well. If I were to experiment with altering scotch, in fact, it would probably be to add a small dose of sherry to it... (I like lagavulin on occasion as something different, but the islays are too iodine-y for me. Hence adding liquid smoke doesn't do much for me, even if it was a perfect solution.)
edesilva
768 posts
 
I typically keep the 18yo around, but with the way Macallan prices have gone up the last 5 years, I'll switch to something else for the second glass. The reason I like the 15yo is that its significantly better than the 12yo, and the marginal price difference over the 12 isn't hardly anything--not like the 18--when you factor in that its cask strength...

Scotch must be a rough business. Trying to predict your demand 18 or 25 years in advance... Ouch.
edesilva
768 posts
 
Oddly, the Abelour 15 is the other standard fare in my cabinet. I also liked their cask strength offering--A'bundah (sp?)--but it seems to have disappeared from my retailers' shelves...
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