Mates birthday this weekend and I cannot get to any decent shops. Best I can manage is Sainsburys. Can anyone recommend a suitable bottle of whiskey?

Not sure what he likes, just know he does enjoy a drop.

How much are you looking to spend ?

They're like chalk and cheese, personally I'd not bother unless you know the sorts he likes, otherwise it may be wasted.

whiskey or whisky? 😉

Co-op has Jura for about £16 at the moment. Highland Park is a nice 'all-rounder' imo as well.

I'm less than impressed with Highland Park – it's rather nondescript.

Something light like Talisker or Dalwhinnie normally goes down well.

Agree with the comments above though – there is a huge range of flavour and some idea of your mates preferences would help (any chance of a sneaky peak in his drinks cabinet, or maybe ask his partner?)

Can you find a Waitrose?

Abelour Abundah @ £25, which is a serious, serious bargain (consider that a PSA for all of you!)

Under £25 to spend. Will try an email to his misses to see what he likes.

Co-op has Jura for about £16 at the moment. Highland Park is a nice 'all-rounder' imo as well.

Yep, about to pop over the road and get a Christmas bottle of Jura.

Highland Park is a good bet though; I don't agree with coffeeking; I find HP a nice subtle malt. These boozers agree too.

As a whisky drinker, these are the things that would disappoint:

Supermarket own brand
Blended or vatted malt – always go for a single malt
Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie or Jamesons.

Nothing wrong with any of the above, its just like getting a Halfords bike when you wanted a Santa Cruz

Get one that's got a lot of money off.

It doesn't matter if its an acquired taste, there'll be time to acquire it.

I drink a lot of the stuff and IMO Talisker and Dalwhinnie are too bloody firery, My mate who works in the whisky shop in glasgow agrees saying that most islay malts are that way due to the water up there, so you need to be sure he like that style of malt, my suggestions are Laphroig, Aberlour as these arnt quite as TCP like

Just go to sainsburys and buy nice bottle and I'm aure he will like it….! golden rule tho!! NEVER buy a blend only every buy single malt

you need to be sure he like that style of malt, my suggestions are Laphroig, Aberlour as these arnt quite as TCP like

😕

Laphroaig is about £25 and is a bit different and pretty classy!
I have an awesome bottle of Talisker Distiller's edition (15yrs old) at the mo, that was a pressie for my 30th, it is super-nice.
£33 at Waitrose on offer at the mo I think

Highland Park is a good bet though; I don't agree with coffeeking; I find HP a nice subtle malt. These boozers agree too.

I like this quote 🙂

After my first glass, I wasn't sure how I felt about this whisky, but by the end of the bottle it became one of my favorites.

Laphroig not TCP-like? That was the first word my other half used to describe it! Now Ardbeg, has all the flavour and less of the TCP nature. Laphroig is a notoriously hard drink to get into.

HeathenWoods – very few of the different malts on that site have lower ratings, or higher – that would suggest all are equally good. I'm not claiming to be an expert, but as an all-rounder the HP really is non-descript by definition. It's just a boring middle-of-the-road everything that isn't unpleasant.

>my suggestions are Laphroig, Aberlour as these aren't quite as TCP like<

I think the word you are looking for is Iodine 😉 BTW Laphroaig is about as Iodine tasting as it's possible to get – yoo could make a grave error gifting that to the uninitiated! Some say it's more suited to soaking medicinal bandages…

Wouldnt agree with either of the comments above about Highland Park or Glenmorangie – both excellent malts…

Try Tullamore Dew. Nice drop of Irish.

Anyone tried that welsh Whisky "Penderyn", I am intrigued.

dalwhinnie too firey?

you know its a ladies whisky right?

Really depends on the age of the malt I suppose, had a Laphroig that was a special edition think it was an 18yr old ( I forget it was a long time ago) and it was like slik in a glass

Current open bottle is a 12yr old Aberfeldy, pretty nice

[/quote]Anyone tried that welsh Whisky "Penderyn", I am intrigued

If it aint from Scotland it aint Whisky

My two favouries are Dalwhinnie and Laprohaig. You can't get much farther apart on the spectrum. Laphroaig is like TCP and Ribena. mmmm.

Go into a Threshers and ask for a Glen Campbell or Glen Miller. They're sure to have heard of them.

OK news from other half is;

he likes Old Poultney, and Talisker… or something unusual but
not too peaty…

most islay malts are that way due to the water

Also not true. The water makes very little difference to "peatiness" , the most important factor is the level of phenols in the malted barley from drying it over peat smoke.

>Go into a Threshers and ask for a Glen Campbell or Glen Miller. They're sure to have heard of them.

More likely to know them as Country singer / band leader;-) Campbells a Chivas thing iirc – furryboots is Glen Miller distilled?

enduro-aid – Member

I drink a lot of the stuff and IMO Talisker and Dalwhinnie are too bloody firery,
Are you sure? Dalwhinnie is about as delicate as it gets!

My mate who works in the whisky shop in glasgow agrees saying that most islay malts are that way due to the water up there

Get your mate to enrol on a training course – Dalwhinnie is a Highland malt.

The Speyside's are quite a safe bet. Also consider "Rocks" by Bruichladdich. Available in Sainsburys around £20 – £25 and bloody lovely.

Slightly lesser known stuff (but not 'niche') – Scapa is bloody lovely. As is Arran.

Auchentoshan, which Sainsburys in Dundee have, really nice.I prefer Ardbeg or Highland Park, but Auchentoshan is really sweet, very toffee-ish.Other than that,If he likes Talisker, what about Lagavulan?

Anyone tried that welsh Whisky "Penderyn", I am intrigued

penderyn whiskEy is quite nice ,a little sweet

I think Penderyn is easy to drink. And if I'm hazarding on something I don't already know, anything from Islay tends to be ok! (and there was some on special offer in tesco last time I was there)

Unfortunately not in time for this weekend – but I was recommended this site by a friend… http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/

coffee king is IMO correct? and to say that

my suggestions are Laphroig, Aberlour as these arnt quite as TCP like

is about 100% of target! if he is a whisky man any half decent bottle would be appreciated i am sure.

I like The Glenlivet. They had the 15 year old on offer in Waitrose so i bought that but the 12 yr old is good, too (if not better, from memory). The 18yr old is a joy to behold. I did like Jura a lot, too.

I'm not a huge whiskey fan and make no claims to being a konnerserr.

If he likes peaty but not too peaty, how about Bruichladdich or Bunnahabhain

The northern Islay distilleries – Bruichladdich (the 'ch' is silent) and Bunnahabhain ('Boona-hah-ven') are, by contrast, much milder. These draw their water direct from the spring, before it has had contact with peat, and use lightly or un-peated barley. The resulting whiskies are lighter flavoured, mossy (rather than peaty), with some seaweed, some nuts, but still the dry finish.

Bowmore

I drink quite a lot of the stuff, from blendeds right through to tar.
But my favourite is Bowmore.
It's a lovely drink.
Not to dark.

SB

tesco had a deal on Quinta Rubain recently. It's a Glenmorangie but finished in a port wood barrel which gives it a lovely chocolatey finish.
Sufficiently unusual he'll think you spent some time on making the decision.

the last of my Bruichladdich went into the Christmas cake at the weekend , but my own favourite is Macallan I keep it hiden from the wife.

feenster – which "ch" is silent?

The second one.

Brook laddie

The last one = Bruichladdi. The first ch is that back of the throat sound used in Loch that spanish also use for j, eg Trabajo (incase you didn't know) – Not k 🙂

You'd best go and tell the people who run the distillery then – when I went to a party there as part of Islay whisky festival that's how they pronounced it. 🙂