"the quality of our experience in life is directly influenced by the quality of what we connect with, the quality of what we introduce into our lifes and our awareness of that" - such a marvellous quote could be easily put in a frame on the wall
Great content as ever. The biggest issue I face now is that I only drink 1 single every week or two (and that’s all the alcohol I take), and that means a bottle lasts me 6-9 months! So when I get it wrong, it’s a long term mistake! It also means that even though I’ve only been buying a few months, I now have 6 (or is it 7?) unopened bottles, meaning I have about 5 years worth of stash already! I’m still buying an interesting bottle ever couple of months, but very soon I’ll be buying bottles that I’ll not get chance to try before I die 😂
If your worried about dying, then open a different bottle each time you drink...they wont go bad before you kick the bucket....and this way you get to find which ones you like the best and enjoy them more often before you pass!
Same problem, especially since I feel the need to check out as soon as possible. I wish more 2 dl bottles were available. I would buy a lot more whisky to sample.
I'm 34 and had my first scotch whisky in 2019 (Glenlivet 12). I immediately fell in love with the complexity of flavor and started collecting. I found your content shortly after and learned so much. My collection has grown over the years and I have around 100 unopened bottles (don't ask about the empty ones haha). I appreciate the knowledge you have shared and truly enjoy your content. Hoping to travel to Scotland someday to tour the distilleries. Hope you're doing well and thanks again for sharing your whisky journey. 🥃
Thanks, Ralfy. I'm 8 years into my whisky journey, which might not seem very long, as I'm past retirement age. I've found your channel a great help and, although I don't always share your taste (shock horror), I certainly value your reviews and advice. Apart from the effects of a jaded palate, the variability of a particular whisky, batch to batch, year to year, is often evident and actually part of the adventure. But, thankfully, there's always something wonderful waiting to be discovered. And, thanks to you, I've recently discovered Glen Scotia, Glenallachie and Glenfarclas. So, thanks again.
It is true, once you get your hands on quality, it gives back. Oh these days when Springbank 12 was in stock and underrated. Bought a 10yo recently along with Glenallachie 10yo cask strength. Thanks, Ralfy
The Bladnoch 10 was like that for me. At first I wasn’t that bothered about it, but when I came back to it after a couple of months it quickly became one of my favourites. Not only that, it opened up the world of Lowland-style whiskies that I’d previously ignored.
100% spot on about getting bored. Your brain has already had that dopamine release of experiencing that whisky over and over again, which is why it's so satisfying to try something new of a similar or higher quality. It's also why us whisky aficionados tend to have dozens and dozens of bottles hahaha.
Attended the NB Spirits Festival this past weekend. Drank about 30 whiskies. Mapped out everything I wanted to taste in order. A couple vendors commented they were happy to see me come back to their table for the peated whiskies and higher ABV’s. Very successful evening and I was also first in line to the on-site liquor store and was able to purchase three Hazelburn 10’s. They’ll last me seven to ten years. Cheers, Ralfy.
I found malt fatigue early on, because I would not open another bottle until the first one was empty. Twenty years ago I started opening multiple bottles and presently have as many as a dozen at a time. I’ve even played the game “it’s Tuesday, let’s open a bottle that starts with T” Thank you for another great video and not putting a brown paper bag on the alter with some obscure single malt in it.
Out of curiosity bought a NAS bottle of BLADNOCH ALINTA. A Lowland Peated dram of all things. NCF, no colour, bottled at 47%. My first Bladnoch, would not have guessed a Lowland whisky. Worth a try.
I watched a few of your reviews (so informative as always) and bought a bottle of 12 yr old Bunnahabhain 2022 edition. Loving it, but wanted to make it last so then ordered a bottle of 12 yr old Black bottle, a 12yr old anCnoc and a 12yr old Jura, to get some experience with that age of whisky, prices are great at the moment. Thanks for the great reviews and insight into the malts.
It's very rare I pick up the same whisky again, Ledaig 10 year is one that comes to mind. But I enjoy the exploration very much, including branching out with rum, armagnac, calvados and occasionally mezcal.
Hi Ralfy, sorry if I Tod you this before about how my whisky journey started. I got a job in 1985 (I was then 30, married since 23). I had to go up to Scotland for a week every 4 -6 weeks and said to my wife we will educate ouseves on Malt Whiskies. I mentioned this to an Aberdeen lawyer who told me to look in on him the following morning. He kicked me off with a 25 year old McAllen. That became very much an unforgettable benchmark. However, I purchased a different bottle every time I went up to Scotland, purchasing from Whisky shops, not supermarkets. I must have tried 40 -50 in that period which lasted about 10 years. I tried the full scale of tastes and the knowledge has never left me. That is why I always watch your posts! Nick from York
I only became a serious Malt Mate three years ago when I discovered this channel on You Tube. I had always enjoyed Scotch and had been buying the occasional single malt but I really didn't know how to properly enjoy them (yes, ice cubes were involved)..Now there are around a half dozen quality bottles in the cupboard and they are enjoyed in small quantities periodically as I work to get comfortable with all they have to offer. What's the next bottle? I'm not sure but I do have a short list from watching weekly.
Hi Ralfy, I stopped by to listen to your extras this week as I prepared a batch of pasas de Malaga raisins soaked with some terrible run of the mill blended whisky from the 80s called Desmond&Duff, some blenders in Edinburgh quite common on the Italian market. They say it's 12 years old but it's sharp and fiery as hell. Thanks to you I do know which whiskies I will not buy ever again.
Xmas I always buy myself a selection of whisky's I've not tried before, my list this year is Arran Machrie Cask CS, Arran Quarter cask, Benromach CS, Port Charlotte 10yo, Glenfarclas 105, Highland Park CS.
Love it! I'm recognizing all the stages in my own whisky journey as you list them out. My current Flavor Chases are unpeated bitter/sour and whatever that kind of peat is that gives it a leather taste/smell.
This advice applies to any sort of alcoholic beverage, and also to many foods, such as cheese or chocolate. I find that the prerequisite for an exploration like this is a sense of adventure and a desire for variety in life. Some people simply don't have this; they like to find something familiar and stick with it. I go to wine bars regularly, and I always try whatever they happen to have for their tasting flight. It is a great way to discover new wine. Some of the people who turn up at these wine bars ask for one specific wine. Sometimes, it is a particular varietal and region (Napa cabernet sauvignon is a popular one), and sometimes it is a particular brand. If the bar doesn't have that brand, they are disappointed, and they will ask for something similar to it, but they don't want to move far from that familiar center. They like what they like, and they have no desire to try anything new. I don't understand this mentality, but then, they probably don't understand my desire to blunder around and try everything, with the constant risk of getting something that doesn't taste good. I suppose my response would be that even the failures are often interesting, and there is a great deal of enjoyment to be found in the process of exploration. For me, the pleasure comes in mental stimulation, so I can enjoy something that doesn't taste good but that I find interesting. Then, finding it interesting might cause me to appreciate the flavor, and after I've spent some time experiencing it, it tastes good to me even if it didn't at first. Having gone through this process frequently over the years, I love all kinds of flavors, and if I don't like something nowadays, the usual reason is that I find it boring. The bartender/owner at one of the bars with a more adventurous than usual selection of spirits explained to me a dilemma that she has. She wants to have an interesting selection, but the booze that is a bit off the beaten path doesn't move very quickly, so she is limited as to how much money she can have tied up in it. She can count on me and a few other adventurous customers to order from the more interesting portions of her stash and to try anything new that comes in, but the vast majority of her customers are the sort who order something like Macallan every time and have no desire to try anything else. The next time you go to a bar and wonder why they have a few interesting things but their selection isn't better, this could be the reason. Given the realities of the business, I am grateful that there are a few bars that will take the risk of stocking a few unfamiliar and interesting bottles.
So, it happened to me twice: I was saving for months towards a bottle of Glen Scotia Victoriana and it got sold out. The first time I decided to try Bruichladdich's... The Botanist Islay Dry Gin - what a splendid malternative! This time around, I will get myself a bourbon (probably some Wild Turkey) and a "Japanese" whisky (like Nikka From The Barrel). I mean, one year of delayed gratification deserves, well, gratification. I reckon one has to be open-minded and don't get overly fixated with a given bottle - or a spirit type altogether - however tasteful it sounds. The variety is out there, and variety is the spice of life. Cheers!
Brandon Sanderson, one of the best modern authors of fiction, has a course on how to write an interesting book. He says the exact same thing - the formula is you need something familiar and something new.
I also tend to get comfortable and go back to my favorites. It is just such a gut-punch to invest in a bottle that just is off-putting, especially one you've paid dearly for. I try to balance, something new to experiment with, with something I enjoyed before. Back and forth to avoid a two disappointments in a row.
Thanks for another sharing of your wisdom ralphy really enjoying the extra so much more than even the reviews😀. I would be much interested in an overview of the Scottish distilleries by region. I have visited Scotland ten years ago visiting the Highlands and want to plan an Islay trip and then another one to revisit Highlands but would love to see your perspective in certain distilleries and which in your opinion would.give a more down to earth experience closer to us than the average customer. Thanks again for all you do for the community and all those moments we share together half a continent apart
Imagine going to a whisky festival and, between tasters, Ralfy gives a dialogue like this one to a group of seekers. All on a journey to the right malt. Bliss.
Couldn't agree more. I'm that "Lagavulin guy". Never experienced that same "dark" peat taste any other whisky. Killed my 8yo Laga saturday and for refil I bought today Port Charlotte 10 which I've never tried before. Also Bunnahabhain fan(12 and Moine) ... Most unpeated Speyside and Highland whiskies seems to me a bit dull, but I never have had those "unicorns". Waiting weekend to come so I can taste my PC 10. Greetings from Finland.
Keeping an open mind about whiskey and alcohol in general is a good message that needs to be pushed I think. Flavor chasing is important, but combine that with an open mind. So many people get stuck on particular flavors and never branch out.
Very true Ralfy on all fronts It takes time lots and lots of mis.steps And lots and lots of cash invested , but when ya find what ya like and you understand which brands are ripping you off and simply fashion brands ..It’s a wonderful hobby Thanks for the thoughts 👍
Fair, sincere and based on years of experience, thanks Ralfy! To be honest, I will not buy any more whisky this year or next year or the year after that because I have enough, more than enough. But your advice will be helpful in my choosing which bottle to open next. Kindest regards as always. Ciao 👋 S.
Good luck with that neighbor 😀 I thought I would stop getting any more this year, but when you get Springbank 18 for 230 euro offer, you can't say no to that 😆
Apparently the law of diminishing is starting to kick in... Lately I been asking some importers to expand the range of expressions of their brands so I can do that much needed exercise of familiarizing with the producer's profile, hopefully 2023 will be more favorable for that. Understanding why we don't like a whisky will be a long work in progress here, hehehe.... The good thing is that nothing could be more fun!!! Cheers 🥃🥃
Just managed to get myself a Hazelburn 10 which I tried at the Balmoral Scotch bar last month, delicious by the way. Also the new Springbank 10 PX arrived today!!
Quality always trumps Quantity! Not sure if I can ask you this here Ralfy? Planning my first trip to Scotland with my son in Sept 2023. We are both peat heads so spending most of our time on Islay. Spending 2 days in Glasgow and wondering what your favourite pub is there? What about best two distillery tours in Glasgow in your opinion?
I know you asked for Ralfy's suggestion, but if you buy and read his first book, Search for a Whisky Bothy(I think) he mentions the Bon Accord and maybe others. Regardless, I plan to visit the Bon Accord whenever I finally get to visit next year. Hope you have a great trip.
I definitely had the this doesn't taste as good as the last bottle with glenmo ten, but today I got a bottle of their limited edition winter tale and its just superb. It has all the lovely soft cloud mouth feel of the ten while being sixth per cent stronger and the flavours are a lot more complex with brazil nut and chocolate and cloves and the taste lingers so long in the mouth. In truth im in heaven :)
Hello Ralfy. Thanks a lot for shine our minds!! Again, 100% agree whith you. I feel inside me your speech because i am a flavors malts chaser and try the challenge buying and opening news bottles to growth this wonderful hobbie.
I'm staying on Islay. One or two drams in the Uigeadail and I'm off to the store for a bottle of Laphroaig Cask Strength if it's still there. Nearly finished with 'Search For A Whisky Bothy' and next the 'Story's' book. I'm going to read the chapter about the philosophers again in case I missed something. I may have- P.S. ralfy, could you expound some time about the importance of water in Scotch Whisky?
I am so excieted, when you open your reviews to NAS whiskys in 2023. I can follow the philsophy and practicality behind that. But on the other hand there are some wonderful bottles out there. Said that I am sipping a Paul John indian whiskys.
Ralfy, many many thanks for your interesting lecture. Recently i saw "Torabhaig Single Malt Legacy Series 2017 in one of a liquor store shelves. Before that moment i'd never heard 'bout such a distillery. I look it up on the net and found out t'was the second distillery to open in the Isle of Sky in 2017 after Talisker. Whaddaya think of it (if you've tried this) Is it worth buying? It's only four or five years old but the characteristiс's very optimistic-non chill filtered, uncoloured and 46% ABV.
I run a store in Poland. And I put so much afford and money in my staff education. But when a costumer comes by and says to the attendandant: "just give me what you think is right " this is a reward for me. I always say to all of my emploees that only measure of our sucess is getting a regular costumer. There is no school like oldschool :)
Ralfy, the law of diminishing returns is well known and quite accurate what comes to serious whisky drinkers. But so is law of higher volumes and lower quality, sadly that's what we can see in many scotch distilleries.
Watching this video I just realized that I always say, when I encounter a great whisky, "this I need to have in my cupboard all the time" but I rearlly buy the same whisky again as I encounter good whisky al the time, and as some one else said the bottles last a long time.
I can hardly go beyond the affordable whiskies... Fortunately there are enough of them. The next one on my list is Arran 10. 🙂 Then I would like to try one from Lowlands...
Wise words as ever Ralfy, but I'm a pensioner and can only look back to those days when I could afford a Springbank. Just enjoying my Glen Moray peated It does a job, and at £17:50 it's all can afford just now. Maybe Santa will be kind.
yes ralfy you are so right about Australia and its prices on Alcohol, it has gotten that bad here in Australia that i refuse to go to the bottle shop or the hotel, its not the hotels of the bottle shops fault, it the good old open your mouth and take you medicine, I cant swallow the Australian governments tax, so i refuse to buy any alcohol full stop.
Ralfy, I’ve always wanted to do a blind taste test with some of my (many) different bottles. Seems like a fun, but possibly meaningless exercise. Have you ever done this? How would you go about it? I’d love to see a video on your thoughts
I like your reviews. Be careful using analogies from other fields as a staple of quality. Using Rolex/Patek Philippe or Hermes as THE staple of quality for those fields, is the same as using Macallan and Johnnie walker as the quality whisky. You’re paying for the brand. There’s smaller brands that do exactly the same thing (design, manufacture) with better care than patek/hermes. But the public does not know them, because marketing. When you rant about the 40% chill filtered caramel coloured drams, I’d at least expect you to not make use of something comparable…
You mean Philippe Patak?? Haha, just kidding. I get your point but I also get Ralfy’s. You can hardly call PP THE 40%, CF, e150 of watches, right? More like the official bottling, cask strength, NCF, natural colour. It’s just maybe not as good as the independents and waaaay too expensive. But I get your point.
Sorry Ralfy, but not sure where your comments about pricing in Canada come from. The same Ledaig 10 Year Old that is currently £42.75 at TWE is cheaper in Canada at Zyn (CAD$67) while most gov't liquor boards here sell it for an average of CAD$75 or roughly £47. How is this affected by politics?
People have different tastes and ideas about the range of qualities of what we call a good whisky. Even within the same family and circle of friends. I would think about a universal "family whisky", which would fit the taste of most people, both men and women. I wonder if such recommendations would be possible?🤷♂
my goal next year is to buy NOT more than 20 bottles. I am drinking less than 10 bottles a year and planing to drink less than 6 bottles next year. I have been “saving” more than I need over the past so many years!? and I need to call it an end at some stage in the future just unsure how soon…
I never buy a same bottle. I can taste different whiskies with my whiskyfriends on our tastings. 8 whiskies every tasting, three times a year for 10 years now.
You recommend rocktown bourbon, oh boy, was that a duffer! It was horrible. The worst bourbon I've had. I'm half way through a bottle of Glencadam 10yo, and it's not good at all. I've drank many cask strength bottles, that didn't burn like this bottle of Glencadam. 🔥 Disappointed, after seeing many positive reviews.
I think whisky is disappointing. I started with scotch went to bourbon then moved to rye whisky. I then moved to mezcal, tequila and sotol. I then moved to rum and found some wonderful examples. I don't think I would ever go back to scotch whisky as it is not very good. There is more innovation in other spirits. I think they should close down the rubbish brands which don't offer anything fantastic.I am looking at Fortaleza tequila, reposado and three generations tequila .
Having seen about 400 videos from Ralfy, everything - besides some business news now and then - seems to be said. And 90% is repeated again and again and again. Okay, it is free content, so no reason to complain.
Uhm no Ralfy, must respectfully disagree with your assertion that the likes of Macallan 12 are suffering from the law of diminishing returns. If you've been drinking these malts for more than ten years then you're not delusional in noticing a decrease in quality, production has been scaled upward massively and quality has suffered as a result, particularly with respect to wood management.
