WhiskyIsrael - Latest Comments

Re: New Jura : Turas-Mara

Jonboy — Sat, 25 May 2013 17:11:48 -0000

I just picked up a bottle at the airport - do you know what age it is? I can't seem to find any information on this... I make a wild assumption it's a 10 year finished for another couple in the port/sherry/bourbon barrels...?

Re: Tasting the Tweeddale blend batch #3

Jason B. Standing — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:07:22 -0000

Hi David,

Thanks for that - interesting stuff, and would probably be relevant if my question had been "Which do you prefer out of the Tweeddale Blend and the Johnnie Walker range, and are there any production or marketing factors which influence your decision?".

I'm not for one minute arguing the superiority of one of the other - I was lucky enough to try Tweeddale batches 1 & 2 at The Whisky Lounge Fest in Edinburgh recently, and enjoyed them both immensely (and can happily report that Alasdair's a splendid fellow!).

I was asking Gal which whiskies he meant in his statement "all those boring JWs", and trying to get an understanding of what's meant here by "boring".

I don't really have any interest either way - other than clarity.

Although a good question for you would be: if the natural colour of a whisky doesn't influence your decision to buy it, what does it matter whether it's got E150a?

Carry on!

Re: Tasting the Tweeddale blend batch #3

Gal(WhiskyIsrael) — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:34:19 -0000

well said.

Re: Tasting the Tweeddale blend batch #3

David — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:12:04 -0000

Not to mention the fact that Tweeddale is bottled at 46 %, no E-150 added, unchillfiltered and you are given information as to the age of the casks and the malt to grain ratio.
I will take a well crafted small batch blend over a Johnny Walker any day of the week.

Re: Tasting the Tweeddale blend batch #3

Gal(WhiskyIsrael) — Tue, 21 May 2013 09:50:42 -0000

haha.
good points, as you can see nothing is "scientific" and this is one reason i have been thinking of dropping the scores altogether.
price is not a factor in the score. so if a great K scores 92 and costs 2000 quid it will not be penalized, but BFYB factor is low.
some blogs have a few rating scales, one for pure merit and one with price taken into consideration.

to your original question : black,gold and platinum are nice but i like them less than this one, and i find them rather boring.
no whisky is penalized if a lot of people drink it. and of course JW master blender is a master after all, creating consistency is very hard. but again, i think he has to keep it consistent, which allows for less flexibility. where here, Alasdair sells only a few 1000's so he can be more experimental and batches do vary, with intent.

Hope it's clearer. I am enjoying this, mate ;)

Re: Tasting the Tweeddale blend batch #3

Jason B. Standing — Tue, 21 May 2013 09:13:20 -0000

7 points is less than 10% of the scoring margin, and you've gone from "good" to "belter" in that window. There's 11 points left between 89 and 100, and you've already hit "belter".

I'm trying to understand what you mean - are you saying that Jim Beveridge is a less skilful blender than Alasdair because Jim uses a much bigger bucket and produces a much higher volume with consistency (and therefore less batch artisanal variance), or because he's been using the same recipes for AAAAAGES now (and we're all bored of drinking the same whisky after 200 years)?

Does a whisky score less because it pleases more people?

I wasn't sure how price affects ratings, and I'm still not, because though you're saying Platinum's too expensive at ~£65, you're yet to score a Karuizawa less than 92 (and the cheapest one's been 2.5x more).

HOWEVER:

This is all noise & distraction, when my original question was WHICH Johnnie Walker blends do you find boring? I was just curious.

Cheers!

Re: Tasting the Tweeddale blend batch #3

Gal(WhiskyIsrael) — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:35:13 -0000

7 points is a lot ...
JW DB is 85 = very good. and 82 is Good. and this one is almost a 90... so it's significantly better.
i think JW blends are mass market blends, and as such please a lot of people, however i think this one is much better, and it does cost a whole less than that platinum..

Re: Tasting the Tweeddale blend batch #3

Jason B. Standing — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:04:24 -0000

I'm not convinced I do need to rephrase - you talked about "all those boring JWs", but the ones you've reviewed on your site scored 82 (Gold Route) and 85 (Double Black): both within 7 points of this whisky, which is a "belter". You also tasted the Platinum which you appeared to like but disagreed with the price (not sure if price is factored into a scoring scenario), and the Gold Reserve didn't invite any critical words either.

I'm not arguing - I'm asking you to clarify your position, which at the moment is slightly confusing to me as a reader.

Re: Tasting the Tweeddale blend batch #3

Gal(WhiskyIsrael) — Tue, 21 May 2013 05:30:00 -0000

Jason, I think you need to rephrase. which JW are NOT boring.
i like the double black, and liked Green label (RIP).
i think this one is far better than the platinum, and 18 etc.

Re: Tasting the Tweeddale blend batch #3

Jason B. Standing — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:59:15 -0000

Which Johnnie Walker blends are boring, out of interest?

Re: New Jura : Turas-Mara

Gal(WhiskyIsrael) — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:14:04 -0000

I envy you my friend. would love to go back to the island, where will you stay? at the hotel or on Islay? we stayed in the lodge it's amazing there. and u can see the distillery from your window.

Re: New Jura : Turas-Mara

Gal(WhiskyIsrael) — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:13:18 -0000

Cheers mate, it's a nice dram. ;) not their best, but well done!

Re: New Jura : Turas-Mara

Glenn Vanbellingen — Tue, 14 May 2013 06:31:16 -0000

Hope it will be August very soon. ;)

Re: New Jura : Turas-Mara

Johnny Houlind Berggreen — Tue, 14 May 2013 03:20:50 -0000

As a big fan of Jura's bottlings, I'm looking forward to getting a bottle of this. Your tasting notes made my mouth water.

Re: Lot No. 40 and the Canadian whisky Twitter event #DavintTT (Part I)

Gal(WhiskyIsrael) — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:10:06 -0000

10x for clarifying that Davin!

Re: Lot No. 40 and the Canadian whisky Twitter event #DavintTT (Part I)

portwood — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:35:37 -0000

Davin,
I should add that I'm grateful for your wonderful book and all you've done to promote quality Canadian Whisky. The book is well written and I have learned a lot from reading it and from all the discussions I've had with you.

My hope is that the discussions will lead to the improvement of the product and industry practices. I too would like to see Canadian Whisky rise from the bottom shelf and be taken as seriously as Scotch, Bourbon, Japanese, etc.

portwood

Re: Lot No. 40 and the Canadian whisky Twitter event #DavintTT (Part I)

portwood — Mon, 13 May 2013 09:25:52 -0000

Davin,

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that your research was faulty or that you have a hidden agenda.

I'm suggesting the distilleries have no real interest in pursuing visitors, therefore, they use the cross-border issues as easy justification for not doing it. The cross-border issues are obviously not much a burden for John Hall (maybe the difficulties are higher for bulk shippers which FC does not do - do they?).

Anyway, I still think that if Canadian distilleries were as quaint as those in Scotland - or even Kentucky - and not industrial complexes with column stills, they would put up with the hassles of the extra paperwork. Being in such a regulated industry they're already well accustomed to paperwork!

portwood

Re: Lot No. 40 and the Canadian whisky Twitter event #DavintTT (Part I)

DavindeK — Sun, 12 May 2013 18:34:14 -0000

If they are willing to spend endless hours at the border getting their trucks cleared they can allow visitors, OR if they do not ship bulk whisky they can allow visitors. BUT if they allow visitors they must go through time-consuming and expensive screening each time they cross the border. That is not my opinion. I did the research before i spoke.
Davin

Re: Lot No. 40 and the Canadian whisky Twitter event #DavintTT (Part I)

Gal(WhiskyIsrael) — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:47:26 -0000

oh really

Re: Lot No. 40 and the Canadian whisky Twitter event #DavintTT (Part I)

Gal(WhiskyIsrael) — Sun, 12 May 2013 14:47:18 -0000

I shall ask Davin that today

Re: Lot No. 40 and the Canadian whisky Twitter event #DavintTT (Part I)

portwood — Sun, 12 May 2013 08:21:49 -0000

With due respect to Davin I'm not sure I believe the story the distillers - gave him for not allowing tours. Forty Creek - whose whiskies are available in the USA - not only allows tours of the facilities they promote them!!!

IMO, the reason other Canadian distilleries don't promote tours is because they are INDUSTRIAL facilities with boring column stills and have as much charm as a slaughterhouse. If they had quaint pot stills and old stone warehouses you can bet they would welcome visitors.

portwood

Re: Lot No. 40 and the Canadian whisky Twitter event #DavintTT (Part I)

Steffen Bräuner — Sun, 12 May 2013 07:11:52 -0000

I had a tour at Forty Creek

Re: A Tale of two (Master of Malt) Springbanks

Nick — Wed, 08 May 2013 09:36:50 -0000

FYI They both got bottled

Re: Quick End of week Dram : Talisker 57’ North

WhiskyTimes - Dan — Wed, 08 May 2013 04:24:38 -0000

I have a bottle of the 10 yo at WhiskyTimes I am now looking forwards to trying. Pepper and peat, yummers!

Re: Amrut Greedy Angels

Gal(WhiskyIsrael) — Tue, 07 May 2013 08:41:44 -0000

Yes. Johnny. it's very limited and they lost a lot of whisky to evaporation... i'd go for the other expressions which are excellent. fusion and int. sherry are my favs