Big Whiskies, Big Pleasure

@Astroke

I'm setting my sights on 1792 Full Proof Bourbon at 62.5% abv. Thanks for the heads-up!

The BIGGER the whisk(e)y, the better, but I still want value for the money I am spending.

@paddockjudge if they (1792 FP) fail to show up in your area, let me know. I know they take some time to get up north but these are falling under the Vintage tag which means no online.

My biggest Whisky and on any given night my favorite.

@Astroke, thanks for the kind offer, but I have one in my sights and should be able to pull the trigger tomorrow.

My biggest whisky is currently WLW 2014 ...BIG in every way imaginable!

@paddockjudge I have the 2015 WLW and is a challenger for my favorite Whisky. My goal is to find backups for both the WLW or GTS.

Over 70% abv. Wow!!!

There I was thinking I was 'proper hard' drinking Lagavulin 12 CS without water at 57%ish

I agree higher ABV often equals better, BIGGER flavor. Two examples I have great experience with are A'bunadh and Amrut peated CS.

I agree that these huge whiskies are wonderful. I love Stagg and Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, I love Maker's Cask Strength, I love Octomore and other cask strength Scottish malts as well.

But I find that after 10 years or so of hunting these big boys, I am really finding equal or greater pleasure most days now with subtle, more delicate whiskies. Intricate, elegant flavours as opposed to bold, aggressive flavours.

I'll always love these ferocious drams, but I must say they hold slightly less sway over me now than they used to.

@Alexsweden Less DILUTION equals more flavour, to be precise. The issue is how much water is added to the spirit after it comes out of the cask.

In the US, because of the climate, many bourbons go up in ABV as they mature. In Scotland the ABV tends to decrease.

If you control for specific strengths of certain flavours in the spirit, and you took 2 expressions at 50%, the one from Scotland may have less water added than the one from Kentucky.

@OCeallaigh Interesting point. I'm just shy of 7 years into my formal education in whisky, and I'm finding the same thing.

I fell in tremendous like (I reserve falling in love for other aspects of my life) with Aberlour A'Bunadh the first tasting I hosted. And I've been going for cask strength or high proof most of my "career", with some exceptions, but those exceptions spend a long time opened on my cabinet.

In the last year or so, I've noticed I'm able to appreciate some of the subtleties in lower proof expressions. At first I thought it was the rye in Canadian blended whiskies, but my real AHA! moment came in March when I tried 2 Macallans (12 and 18) at 43%. Then the Benromach 10 at 43% came along and it is also very fine.

At the same time I have solidified my understanding that all that is CS does not impress. From my experience with Arran 12 CS batch 5 that I was keen to stock up on at "only" $100 (and a MoM sample set me straight) to the recent Deanston PX.

One of my friends attributes it to the maturation of my palate and suggests I'm finally "grown up".

I still like a lot of CS stuff, but I now have a whole new world to explore.

I don't know if you can relate, but it's like listening to Italian opera for years and then finally "getting" Benjamin Britten....

@Nozinan I love Britten! hahaha I have actually had a similar relationship with classical music as I have with whisk(e)y. In my early years of study I was very passionate about Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Strauss, etc.

My primary interest now as a professional is more in the Mozart, Schubert, Rossini spectrum... and of course, Britten. ;)

@OCeallaigh I took a "World of Opera" course in undergrad (on a background of high school orchestras and choirs) where we not only listened to operas but studied the libretto and analyzed the music. I'd performed Britten in orchestra and choir before but this opened a whole new realm.

As a performer, I always found his pieces difficult to approach and quite dissonant, until I would "get" it and it all came together, and then I would suddenly look forward to playing or singing it.

I could do a whole thread on Britten... but since this is a whisky site I think the best analogy I can think of is something like Springbank, or anything that you might personally consider a "challenging" dram that may be harsh or off-putting at first but as you get to know it becomes complex and greatly enjoyable (as opposed to JW Red which is just harsh).

@OCeallaigh

Excellent point!

Big and bold dominate with their cask strength; however, some of my favourites are at the lower end of the "abv spectrum". Elegant is a word I too use to describe these wondrous creations. Rare gems with their soft features, delicate yet incredibly complex.

Here are a few I find captivating:

Century Distillers 25 YO Calgary Stampede 100th Anniversary Ltd Ed 2012 40% abv.

Glenlivet Archive 21 YO 43% abv.

Elmer T Lee Single Barrel Sour Mash 45% abv.

Alberta Premium Rye 25 YO 40 % abv.

@OCeallaigh, @Nozinan, as an opera buffa myself...make that opera buff myself, I think that a discussion pairing whiskies with specific operas would be entertaining to a few of us.

One could match composers with distilleries if one wanted, but I think that additional refinement would be achieved by pairing individual operas with individual whiskies. Some composers have a great deal of range. After all Der Rosenkavalier is not Salome.

@paddockjudge, lovely quartet, that.

@Victor Absolutely...food pairings too.
A thick steak with Rosenkavalier?

Salami for Salome?

The proof on those bourbons sometimes make my eyes water just looking at them, yet I know that many well constructed bourbons shine at higher abv.

I’m with some of you, the brutes tend to check all the right boxes yet I like the work that some of these more elegant spirits force us to do. You need to give them time and attention in order to appreciate what they have to offer, not to mention chameleon whiskies for example benromach 10 or Kilkerran 12 that seem to sometimes change personality depending of the days.

@Nozinan your Britten is a nice one, I don’t think I remember you mentioning your singing before, you’re like a true renaissance man.

@paddockjudge nice custome label on the Glenlivet 21

@Nozinan, I'm thinking tongue, cheeks, and maybe brains for Salome.

Sure, a steak would be good with Der Rosenkavalier.

It isn't opera, but I would want a very thick steak while listening to, and watching, Britten's War Requiem. Three different conductors at the same time makes it quite a show. A very heavy show, but a show nonetheless.

@cricklewood, the only way to it is to do it. If you haven't had the experience already you really need to try those high proof whiskies for yourself. I set the very high proof bar at 68% ABV minimum. 65% ABV is to me merely 'high proof'.

I didn't chime in earlier due to my limited experience in whisky with an ABV over 60%. I too have been enjoying whiskies bottled at a higher ABV than the standard 40 - 46%. As an aside, the typical % that standard spirits were bottled at in NZ used to be 37.5%. The samples single malt scotch bottled at 50 plus % ABV have all been worth the extra - but I've not (yet) had any of those American whiskies bottled at 60 - 70 plus %. Of interest to me is are the higher proof bottles worth the extra? As a whole, I would say yes they are. For example, the best prices here in NZ: Springbank 10 (46%) $89, Springbank 12 CS (50-58%) $110. Kilkerran 12 (46%) $72, Kilkerran 8 (56.2%) $96. Benromach 10 (43%) $73, Benromach 10 100 proof (57%) $103. In most cases I'd rather have the higher ABV version, and have the freedom to add water if I desire. You're not just paying for more ethanol - you're getting a higher concentration of flavours. That being said, the higher and lower proof versions are usually quite different beasts and not directly comparable. I haven't bought a bottle of anything with a ABV below 43% for quite some time now - maybe in time my palate will mature enough that I can appreciate the subtlety of these too.

@OCeallaigh Igor Stravinsky is still my favorite but I love playing Wagner. We did the Brandenburg when I was still in orchestra and so enjoyed it.

Almost all whisky I enjoy at the higher ABV. That is a recent development for me. Abunadh especially comes to mind as does a few Ardbegs. My Belle Meade single Barrel at 53% is delicious, my FRSBBS is good at 61% but I may actually enjoy the 100 proof SB better. We'll see it's a fresh bottle. Haven't opened the 16yo Nadurra yet at 55.7%.

my wife likes the stronger abvs like uigedail as well. she finds them to be mroe flavorful like that rather than watered down to a lower abv.

me, the alcohols too strong, i cant really enjoy it like that unless ive had a couple already.

@Victor

"I'm thinking tongue, cheeks, and maybe brains for Salome."

Isn't that what goes into salami?

Every photograph on this thread is gold. Great pictures!

Big flavour is one of the things I keep coming back and looking for

@Frost, there is no denying that big flavour keeps us coming back, or keeps us seeking big whiskies to get big pleasure. A recent release at 55% abv. takes flavour intensity to the BIG zone: Corby's Lot No 40 Cask Strength.

@paddockjudge I can only hope that Lot 40 CS makes it here. We have Wiser's officially distributed, so you never know

The thread reminds me of the New Orleans Hand Grenade (Four Seasons that was) - that was a dangerous mix...

@JayRain, at the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto? We've been there a few times. Four Seasons is my wife's employer.

An ambiguous, poor reference to Dec 1963 (Oh What a Night) that best depicts the night i had 2 Hand Grenades on Bourbon Street