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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 mimberman

mimberman
299 posts
 
I've been making a drink recently that's a modified version of an Old Fashioned, but instead of Bourbon you use a nice strong Islay (a single malt from Islay, for the uninitiated) and some fresh rosemary. I've named it: Old Smokey. I find the Orange and the Rosemary are great together, especially with the heat and smoke of the Islay. I do it with brown sugar for the ladies ;)

-m

BTW, the liquid smoke thing sounds interesting, and I may try it with some bruichladdich 10 someone gifted me with. Not that I think the Bruchlladich needs any help mind you, but it's the cheapest thing laying around that's not blended.
mimberman
299 posts
 
I'm a BIG fan of several types of whiskey, and while I agree that putting liquid smoke into scotch whiskey to give it a peteier taste is odd, I've heard crazier things. I consider myself somewhat knowledgable, and have taken vacations based around whisky (so something of an alcoholic too) When I enjoy my spirits, they're almost always served pure and neat, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to experiment every once in a while. I mean, if you can't have fun with booze, what can you have fun with (and "the wife" doesn't count here).
mimberman
299 posts
 
Edesliva,

I think I had the very springbank you mentioned, and my dear god was it good. I recently was given a bottle of the spring bank bourbon finish, but I'm not much on cask finishes myself. I have to say that I was impressed with the cask strength Arran when I was last drinking it. This is just a personal gripe, but I think Glen Rothes is a bit of nonesense. Sure, it's packaged nicely, but it's mighty thin, IMO.
mimberman
299 posts
 
If you like the madeira finish, look for the Isle of Arran port finish. It was a little flavored for my taste in terms of every day drinking, but it was impeccable after a rich meal.
mimberman
299 posts
 
Just got back from London and brought the following goodies back with me:

Lagavulin Double Matured Select 16 year
Cao Isla 18 (could be a 15 though, can't remember)
Talisker 15

Bring on the cold weather!
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