Anybody here ever try Glenfiddich??

[goinbroke2]

Or however you spell it?

I thought I'd start a new thread after what I wrote in another forum.

I went to the inlaws who had a bottle given to them.

I tried it.

It is the most vile, putrid, disgusting, horrible, foul, (did I mention vile?) crap that I have ever had the misfortune of putting to my lips! I've never had a more horrible taste experience in my life! I hate gin and almost puked the first time I smelled that..but this was worse!

Seriously, anybody like this shit? Is my pallette too red-neck to appreciate the finer things in life? Is it me? All I could taste is the perfume like smell/taste of heads. It says on the bottle it's 51% and can be watered down to release more aroma and body...YEAH RIGHT!! It reminds me of if you soaked a glade air freshener in vodka and then sucked on it.
I'm queesy just thinking of it.
Oh yeah, the inlaws have had it for a while because they don't like it either and try to pawn it off on visitors.


blech!

[Hack]

Oh yeah, the inlaws have had it for a while because they don't like it either and try to pawn it off on visitors.

I got nothing on Glennfiddich but... It reminds me of one Thanksgiving at my aunt's house. She asked me if I would like a beer. I said sure and she brought me a warm can of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Utterly Vile.

[Dutchmancreek]

Most everybody I know drinks either Jack and Coke or Bud Lite. I won't have either at my house. People who drink Bud Lite dont really like beer, they just like to pee a lot.

[BW Redneck]

Most everybody I know drinks either Jack and Coke or Bud Lite. I won't have either at my house. People who drink Bud Lite dont really like beer, they just like to pee a lot.

Same here.

[billy_bob_95]

Perhaps this is what your talking about

http://www.glenfiddich.com/lda.html?red ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[goinbroke2]

Yeah that's the disgusting crap I'm talking about.
Ever try it?

[wombat_831]

i recon its a nice scotch my mistake was not using fresh ice and that tainted the flavour my other favourite scotch is the glenlivet but mabe ive just got expensive taste as here in kalgoolie just the 12yr is $70 so its not verry often i get it

[blanikdog]

I thought it was just me but obviously not so. I can smell heads in all store bought spirits these days. I guess that's a problem with making ones own, we make it correctly.

blanik

[The Chemist]

Do you like Scotch at all, goinbroke? Some people just don't. I don't care for Glenfiddich, but it's certainly not the worst I've ever had...unfortunately...

My fave? Laphroig for a peaty one and The Balvenie otherwise. Talisker's damn good, too...

[goinbroke2]

Do you like Scotch at all, goinbroke? Some people just don't. I don't care for Glenfiddich, but it's certainly not the worst I've ever had...unfortunately...

My fave? Laphroig for a peaty one and The Balvenie otherwise. Talisker's damn good, too...

Well, you know that could be the problem. I probably don't if they all taste like that. I know just smelling gin makes me want to puke. Tried a martini just because I never had one before...nope don't like it either.

Either I'm too fussy...or a low brow redneck.

(I drive a diesel 4 door f-350 to go to work, dragrace and make my own shine) hmmm, if it walks like a duck,

[Fourway]

Lots of home distillers lose their taste for commercial spirits.
Glenfiddich is hugely popular and was one of the first three single malts with brand recognition in the USA.

It's not very good. It's okish scotch... but it's nothing to write home about... there are plenty of cheap blended scotches that make a better daily drinker.
Glenfiddich is also famous for producing world class, eye bruising, brain crushing, ear bleeding hangovers. The sorts of hangovers that make you rethink your will to live.
So yeah... lots of heads.

There are worse scotches.
Much worse.

A lot of scotch whisky tradition is the enshrining of bad methods and accidental additions to process.
Even stuff like peat smoking the malt... they didn't do that for flavor... they did it because they dried the malt at night to hide from the law and they used smoldering peat instead of open fire.... to hide from the law. At some point it became the taste people wanted.

[big worm]

Lots of home distillers lose their taste for commercial spirits.
Glenfiddich is hugely popular and was one of the first three single malts with brand recognition in the USA.

It's not very good. It's okish scotch... but it's nothing to write home about... there are plenty of cheap blended scotches that make a better daily drinker.
Glenfiddich is also famous for producing world class, eye bruising, brain crushing, ear bleeding hangovers. The sorts of hangovers that make you rethink your will to live.
So yeah... lots of heads.

There are worse scotches.
Much worse.

A lot of scotch whisky tradition is the enshrining of bad methods and accidental additions to process.
Even stuff like peat smoking the malt... they didn't do that for flavor... they did it because they dried the malt at night to hide from the law and they used smoldering peat instead of open fire.... to hide from the law. At some point it became the taste people wanted.

sorta like what moonshine runners did for nascar....lets stick'em on a track and folks will pay to see'em crash

[goinbroke2]

Very interesting! I guess I won't have to buy a bottle of scotch now just to "see" if I like it.

[note to self..no gin, no scotch,]

[junkyard dawg]

goinbroke, I never liked a single scotch until a few weeks ago. Someone handed me a glass after working outside on a cold night. I've tried lots but that was the first one I thought was good... and it was very good.

[Usge]

Well now....scotch whisky is a very diverse subject. There are many scotches from different areas of Scotland that have entirely different flavor/tastes. There are sweet scotches, there are salty/medicinal/fishy/smokey scotches, there are salty/sweet scotches, there are very grainy/flowery ones. Most of this is derived from the area they come from and it's attributes. In other words, for the most part...scotch tastes like where it comes from.

Anything produced near the sea is going to usually have a natural saltiness to it. Anything near mountain run off is going to have a natural sweetness or flowery/heather like quality. How the malt is produced is a big part also. In Islay, pronounced (eye-lah),they produce some of the heaviest, salty/fishy/smokey/medicinal scotches. They smell like bandaides when you first open them (that's the peat). Peat, is basically decomposed dirt that they cut into bricks, dry, and use for fuel to smoke/dry the malting barley on the floor. They burn this oily, fishy, coastal peat, and it smokes the malting barley dry producing extremely high phenloics (the bandaide smell), and smokey taste that some describe as a "fishing boat on fire". This would be Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Ardbeg. There are regional varietals as well...such as Bowmore, which is very peaty/medicinal but sweeter and less fishy. Or Bruichladdich (brook-lah-dee), which looks yellow, like urine, comes from Islay near the sea (slight saltiness to it), but is produced from mountain/heather water run off and uses no peat whatsoever to dry the barley. It's fruity/sweet, etc.

To the other extreme would be highland scotch like "the macallan". Macallan has very little peat flavor, is very frutie and almost sickly sweet. It's extreme red color comes from it's aging in freshly used Euro Sherry Wine casks..which also imparts some if it's flavor. Another example of this (which I prefer to macallan) is Abelour Abunddah (a-boon-ack). It comes in a traditional medicine shaped bottle, is cask strength, very red, sweet and hot. There are many varetials on this theme as well. Springbank, which is in Speyside (north by on the coast), produces scotch which is both midly fruity and sweet, subdued peat, but has a slight salty tang to it because of it's proximity to the coastline.

GlenLivet, Glenfiddich, etc., are typical examples of the same school of scotch. The distilleries have been around a long, long time and they actually produce a fairly extensive line of scotches. They tend to be more even balanced between peat (medicinal taste/smell) and malt than the Islay scotches, but not as sweet as some of the northern varitals...but they have little more grainy bite to them. I "love" scotch...but have never really cared for these...even though they produce some fine examples that can cost a lot of money. They just aren't as interesting to me as some of the others.

Blended scotch...like Johnny Walker, etc., buy single malt produced lots...and blend it with grain alcohol. It's a much smoother drink than your typical single malt which tends to exaggerate the flavor and production varietals. These scotches tend to be much more "polite" and with less exaggerated flavor in any direction, grain, peatiness, etc., Because the blending hides a lot of the original flavor and varietals, its often the style that is used to produce "cheap" scotch. But, there are also some very expensive scotches produced this way (Johnny Walker "Blue" is about 200.00 U.S. and uses 30-40 year old vatted single malts to blend with).

So, dont' give up after having tried GlenLivet or GlenFiddich....or anything for that matter. There is an entire world of flavors in Scotland, and scotch whisky, to explore. That's what I love about it so much. The only drawback to it...is how expensive they are (particularly if you live in the states). You can expect to pay about 45-65 dollars for an average bottling. The older examples can be 100-500 dollars and up).

[Avatar]

Most of the scotches I have tried have (to me) have a sharpness or sour smell that triggers an automatic gag response, salivation etc.
I really WANT to like scotch but I just can't get past that smell. Reminds me of fresh puke somehow and I'm certain that I can still taste it the next day even after only one or two drinks, blah, nasty stuff.

What would people suggest as a gentle introduction into the world of scotch to avoid this ??

[big worm]

abstanance

[Adverse Effects]

abstanance

HAHAHAHAHA

[Avatar]

But I don't want to abstain!

[big worm]

then suck it up and be a man....sorta like marrage you'll get used to it or die

[Avatar]

So I just have to harden the f*ck up then.
Right, got it.

[junkyard dawg]

wish I had caught the name of the one I tried... He did mention it was a $60 bottle...

[Usge]

For Islay scotch try Bruichladdich. It has no peat (the medicinal taste/smell) and is more fruity/sweetgrass. The other I would recommend is Springbank 15. But it's rather pricey (about 80 bucks or so). You can try Abelour Abunndah is the one for the sweet/sherry cask school, but even though it's very sweet and fruity, it's also got a very sharp taste because it's cask strength (a little over 120 proof). You can also try some of the Macallan line...like fine oak, etc., They are all very sweet. The taste is still strong/concentrated...it just doesn't have any medicinal flavor/taste. I personally like the Abelour for that school more than the macallan. But, many people got their start on Macallan.

I would also try Scapa from Orkney. It's very smooth, sweet/fruity. It's more like what the older macallan used to be. Now, macallan is more like cough syrup. The scapa (I believe it's either a 10 or a 12) is not that expensive either. Glenfarclas is also one that is more heather/sweet than peat. Glen Rothes as well

[goinbroke2]

UPDATE!!

I tried a scotch...no no no, wait, a "single malt whisky" (can't be called a scotch unless it's made in scotland, so they say)
I tried one that I like!!
GlenBreton from Cape Breton island (Canada)
The only single malt whisky distillery in north america.

I went to the farmers market in Halifax this weekend because I heard they were there. And sure enough they were giving out samples. I tried it and it was VERY smooth/cool tasting. Apperantly they use (another canadian first) Ice wine kegs from the Jost winery. So I tried GlenBreton Canadian Rare. Loved it. http://www.glenoradistillery.com/glenbreton.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Then I tried their "silver" which is "immature" or "unaged" whisky. It's clear whisky straight from the still like shine. I tried it and it was not bad, a little "grab you by the throat" but overall not bad at all.

So, I started talking to the guy with the table. He wasn't a distiller per se, but was certainly around enough and had lots of second hand info. Whenever others came around he gave them his speech then came back to me. He said he thought they single distilled. They started out at 64% and took off to 52.5% I commented ok, and the rest you call feigns and throw in the next batch? He got a blank look for a second. I said, you start at 64% on a single distill? Wow that's high, you don't do a stripping run first? He got a little uneasy, I think he started thinking I was a rival or something looking for secrets.
me: "So what kind of barley do you use, 6 row or 2 row"?
him: "Well, uh, we use a special blend from scotland....oh and canadian too of course, we use good canadian barley too".
me: "a blend of barley"?
him: "the recipe is a secret as you can appreciate"
me: "oh for sure, same as the type of yeast you use I would imagine eh"?
him: "yes"
It went on like that for a while. Some info but the deeper the questions got, the more guarded he got.

Then I went home and set up their whisky, my white dog, my shine with SS top shelf rye whisky essance, and canadian club.
Very interesting when you taste back to back like that. I liked them all except the canadian club which is what I used to drink all the time. They all had variations and differences but were all good in their own way. The CC though tasted watery and weak. No body, very thin. And I don't think it was because it was 40% and my stuff was 50% and the GenBreton rare was 43%.

A damn fine weekend over all...oops gotta go, boss is coming HA!

[Dnderhead]

"""The only single malt whisky distillery in north America.""I disagree ---that is a lye ---Iv made a bunch of it
do you thank he mite have just been a salesman? just schooled enough to answer basic questions?

[goinbroke2]

Quite possibly, it's not that big of a distillery so he probably speaks to most everybody every day.


Or


yeah he was just a salesman and knew the basic's and was winging it....seemed like a really nice guy though and I thoroughly enjoyed our talk.

[Ayay]

Glenfiddich, one glass neat with a cube of ice. Each sip had a clean sweet flavour that dissolved into other complex and pleasant flavours. The sweetness may be heads but ageing for however many years has removed all trace of bite or sharpness. I'm not a fan of Scotch whiskey but this is different...will be trying another glass one day.

My best product is as clean and smooth by making severe cuts, but the complexity is no comparison. There is something about years of ageing.

[Slow & Steady]

I have visited Laphroaig and I can promise you that there won't be a lot of heads in a bottle of any of their Scotch. The trick to Scotch is to drink a nice single malt. One that is the least objectionable to your pallet. Drink one dram every night for a month... drink it neat... smell it often.

It is an acquired taste and you need to develop your pallet to be able to truly appreciate the drink. Give it a month and you will appreciate it for the rest of your life.

S&S

[Kirko]

While Glenfidditch is not really something to write home about, I had a glass of scotch from that distillery that blew me away the other day. I happened to be in Philadelphia , delivering a load of herbs to Philadelphia distilling, the still master there, Robert Cassel, poured me a glass of single barrel, 27 year old GF that was so complex it had me oohin and awing for 20 minutes. It was something he picked up while attending a distilling class but he told me it's never been for sale. If they could make that and sell it on a regular basis, I'd be a confirmed scotch drinker, they don't, so I'm not but I do drink Irish whiskey when I'm not drinking absinthe or gin.

[Photonic]

There are some gorgeous whiskies out there, such as Islay single malts - they have a really smokey peaty taste.

Laphroig and Ardbeg are a couple that I like. I recenlty had a glass of "Port Charlotte" which is bottled at cask strength of 61% ABV - it was great.

That said, there are some really ropey thick whiskies out there that will give you a two-day headache!