Blue Label

[rajpoot]

A friend of mine recently managed to get his hands on a bottle...got it cheap at some duty free shop.
Anyway, he invited me over when he opened the bottle.

Now I'm not a connoisseur, and whiskey is not my preferred drink. And truth be told, I really didn't find Blue Label to be any more appealing than the other brands I've tried. (Ofcourse I had to pretend that it was the greatest thing I'd tasted, my friend would've been scandalized otherwise.....)

So I tried it, and I can't understand what is so awesome about it. That is my question, to all who have tried Blue Label....what's so special about it? I mean I was given to understand that it's nearly five times as costly as the more humble Black Label....which is quite a lot.

[stratigos vasilios]

(Ofcourse I had to pretend that it was the greatest thing I'd tasted, my friend would've been scandalized otherwise.....)

Ha! I've done that before, pretending to enjoy a new wine a friend had brought back from France.

[Fragony]

All whiskey is special once you poured cola on it

[rajpoot]

Where would we be without cola eh? Where would the dentists be?

[Kagemusha]

All whiskey is special once you poured cola on it

Heretic!

[Ser Clegane]

Heretic!

Indeed

Regarding the Blue Label - never tried this one, but generally I am not too fond of the blended Whiskys (they lack a bit of character). Considering that I get two bottles of top notch single malts (e.g. Ardbeg Supernova + Ardbeg Uigeadail) for roughly the price of a bottle of Blue Label, the choice is an easy one...

[Fragony]

I was kinda joking, naturally, as if I would ruin my cola with whiskey, inconceiveable. But what is wrong with blended, Dimple or Chivaz easily outclass many a malt, unless you go for the 50 euro+ ones

[Hosakawa Tito]

I'm not that fond of Blue Label, especially at that price. I'll take Crown Royal, Jameson's, or Jim Beam any day.

Gimme Cognac, Remy Martin 1738 please.

[Kagemusha]

Im a friend of Islay whiskey´s like Lagavulin and Laphroaig. Most blended whiskey´s taste just plain bland compared to these strong smokey whiskey´s. Once you go Islay there is not coming back. No need to drink mixture of bland tasting whiskeys when you can get strong flavoured and rich ones at the same prize. If i want my booze to taste neutral then i just drink vodka.

[Fragony]

They taste smoky because of the wood, has nothing to do with being blended or not.

[Ser Clegane]

They taste smoky because of the wood, has nothing to do with being blended or not.

Obviously you could also create a blend with more character - the point is that the main brands do not do it ... probably to appeal to a broader taste - most people will not like the strong flavor of the Islays when they first taste it (but as Kage said - once you got into it it is hard to go back)

[Fragony]

Obviously you could also create a blend with more character - the point is that the main brands do not do it ... probably to appeal to a broader taste - most people will not like the strong flavor of the Islays when they first taste it (but as Kage said - once you got into it it is hard to go back)

And despite it not being blended and thus dependant on season, weather conditions, poor/bad harvest, it's consistantly good no matter what? Achohol has no real taste it's the wood it riped in that gives it the flavour. More care to the riping proces makes a good whiskey good, not a particular grain-sort that only grows on middle-earth.

[Ser Clegane]

And despite it not being blended and thus dependant on season, weather conditions, poor/bad harvest, it's consistantly good no matter what? Achohol has no real taste it's the wood it riped in that gives it the flavour. More care to the riping proces makes a good whiskey good, not a particular grain-sort that only grows on middle-earth.

Sorry, but that is almost entirely incorrect. It is not the wood of the barrel that is exclusively (or even primarily) responsible for the flavor of the whisky. You are giving way too little credit to the actually distillation process if you think it is just about distilling alcohol (alcohol is just an excellent carrier of the ingredients that give the actual flavor). Where do you think the flavor of an Obstler comes from? Certainly not from a barrel.

The flavor of a Single Malt will indeed change when you compare batches from different years - nevertheless you will see that the products from a given distillery usually have a certain "base character" - this does not mean that I will like any Single Malt, but the Islay whiskys tend to have a character that I definitely prefer over other (a certain saltiness, usually very peaty).
The challenge of a good blender is to deliver a very consistent product by blending together a broad range of Single Malts that do not have consistent quality/flavor each year. IMHO, most (even expensive blends) lack the character of an Islay that I appreciate - the basic blends of e.g. Johnny Walker or Chivas are way too generic IMHO and lack any characteristic flavor.
Of course you will not get a proper Single Malt for the same price either - call it snobbish if you like, but either I spent some more money on something proper (same with wine) and drink less (or simply stay with a beer).

[Fragony]

No your wrong, destilation is bringing it to the temperature where alchole veporates, 78 degree celcius exactly. You can make whiskey from strawberries if you want, just don't mix it with the recidu. It won't taste exactly the same but close enough, the taste comes from the barrel they pour it in, Jack Daniels is famous for torching the barrels, his way of speeding thigs up.

[Ser Clegane]

No your wrong, destilation is bringing it to the temperature where alchole veporates, 78 degree celcius exactly. You can make whiskey from strawberries if you want, just don't mix it with the recidu. It won't taste exactly the same but close enough, the taste comes from the barrel they pour it in, Jack Daniels is famous for torching the barrels, his way of speeding thigs up.

Seriously - I suggest some reading on the topic of how spirits are created. If you truly believe it is just alcohol with barrel flavor you are definitely consuming the wrong stuff.

[Kagemusha]

No your wrong, destilation is bringing it to the temperature where alchole veporates, 78 degree celcius exactly. You can make whiskey from strawberries if you want, just don't mix it with the recidu. It won't taste exactly the same but close enough, the taste comes from the barrel they pour it in, Jack Daniels is famous for torching the barrels, his way of speeding thigs up.

Not like that either. If i make moonshine from grain or potatoes, there is distinct difference in taste. The thing with blended whiskeys generally is that some of the blend is usually grain whisky which have lot lighter taste to it, which creates a different taste. Making of spirits its not making of pure ethanol, so the distilled product already have clear taste differences.

[Fragony]

Not like that either. If i make moonshine from grain or potatoes, there is distinct difference in taste. The thing with blended whiskeys generally is that some of the blend is usually grain whisky which have lot lighter taste to it, which creates a different taste. Making of spirits its not making of pure ethanol, so the distilled product already have clear taste differences.

Yes, alchole isn't the only thing that vaporizes so patatoes will taste differently. But single malt is a bit bull, a single malt it's just fashionable.

[Ser Clegane]

But single malt is a bit bull, a single malt it's just fashionable.

Have you ever tried a range of different whiskys in e.g. a whisky tasting*? What do you base this statement on?

* I used to also think that differences between whiskys were pretty marginal, based on drinjing e.g. Jack Daniels, Chivas, Ballentines, Dimple, Single Malts like the basic Glenfiddich etc. - I was quite astonished how huge the differences can be when trying a couple of "better" Single Malts for comparison (try a tasting with e.g. Springbanks, Highland Park 12, Talisker 10, Ardbeg 10, Lagavulin 16 to get a general impression - add a good cask strength Single Malt at the end)

[Fragony]

Seriously - I suggest some reading on the topic of how spirits are created. If you truly believe it is just alcohol with barrel flavor you are definitely consuming the wrong stuff.

And a crash-course in basic chemistry would look really good on you

[Kagemusha]

Yes, alchole isn't the only thing that vaporizes so patatoes will taste differently. But single malt is a bit bull, a single malt it's just fashionable.

If you agree that potatoes taste differently, then surely you agree that wheat,rye or maize which are used in grain whiskeys taste different then barley and all blended whiskeys have some grain whiskey, if it doesnt it is no more blended whiskey, but Vatted malt Whiskey.

[Ser Clegane]

And a crash-course in basic chemistry would look really good on you

OK - I got to hand it to you - that comment really had me spill my tea...

Again, the point is not the distillation of the alcohol (I wager that I am appropriately familiar with distillation processes) - the point are all the flavoring ingredients that are also included in the alcohol rich fraction that is used for whatever spirit.
It was your point that it is primarily the wood barrel that defines the favor of the whisky that is very wrong. The flavor of a spirit is (or at least it should be) however mainly defined by the ingredients that are part of the distillate (and we are BTW usually not looking at the 95.6% ethanol/water azeotrope when distilling whisky)

[Fragony]

You are welcome sorry about your tea. Nobody destilles whiskey, you can do it of course, and what you get is alcohol should you do it. The flavours are left behind. Yes all flavour comes from the riping, single malt is effectively total bull

[Kagemusha]

You are welcome sorry about your tea. Nobody destilles whiskey, you can do it of course, and what you get is alcohol should you do it. The flavours are left behind. Yes all flavour comes from the riping, single malt is effectively total bull

[Ser Clegane]

You are welcome sorry about your tea. Nobody destilles whiskey, you can do it of course, and what you get is alcohol should you do it. The flavours are left behind. Yes all flavour comes from the riping, single malt is effectively total bull

[Fragony]

Facepalm du jour! Anyway, kindly explain to me how the destilation-proces carries flavour.

[Rhyfelwyr]

This thread just made me depressed since I realised I am Scottish and I have never drunk whisky... shame upon me!

[Fragony]

If you are Scottish you are supposed to be depressed, especially once you realise it, hence whiskey

[Ser Clegane]

Facepalm du jour! Anyway, kindly explain to me how the destilation-proces carries flavour.

I am still not quite sure where the misunderstanding comes from.

From what I gather it is the rather conceptual view you might have on the distillation process. I assume that you believe that if you have a mixture of two (liquid) components like water and ethanol with different boiling temperatures you can completely separate them via distillation by first bringing the mix to the temperature at which ethanol evaporates, thus completely removing the pure ethanol from the mix.

In reality this is not the case. Depending on the temperature you will actually (and I am somewhat simplifying) get mixes of varying compositions in your distillate and you will actually not even be able to completely separate water and ethanol by distillation. By the same logic distillation will actually carry over flavors from the mash together with the ethanol.

To perhaps illustrate that a little bit, here is a brief excerpt from the Wikipedia entry on whisky:

Chemistry

Whiskies and other distilled beverages such as cognac and rum are complex beverages containing a vast range of flavouring compounds, of which some 200 to 300 can be easily detected by chemical analysis. The flavouring chemicals include "carbonyl compounds, alcohols, carboxylic acids and their esters, nitrogen- and sulfur-containing compounds, tannins and other polyphenolic compounds, terpenes, and oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds" and esters of fatty acids.[44] The nitrogen compounds include pyridines, picolines and pyrazines.[45]

Flavours from distillation

The flavouring of whisky is partially determined by the presence of congeners and fusel oils. Fusel oils are higher alcohols than ethanol, are mildly toxic, and have a strong, disagreeable smell and taste. An excess of fusel oils in whisky is considered a defect. A variety of methods are employed in the distillation process to remove unwanted fusel oils. Traditionally, American distillers focused on secondary filtration using charcoal, gravel, sand, or linen to remove undesired distillates. Canadian distillers have traditionally employed column stills which can be controlled to produce an almost pure (and less flavourful) ethanol known as neutral grain spirit or grain neutral spirit (GNS).[46] Flavour is restored by blending the neutral grain spirits with flavouring whiskies.[47]

Acetals are rapidly formed in distillates and a great many are found in distilled beverages, the most prominent being acetaldehyde diethyl acetal (1,1-diethoxyethane). Among whiskies the highest levels are associated with malt whisky.[48] This acetal is a principal flavour compound in sherry, and contributes fruitiness to the aroma.[49]

The diketone diacetyl (2,3-Butanedione) has a buttery aroma and is present in almost all distilled beverages. Whiskies and cognacs typically contain more than vodkas, but significantly less than rums or brandies.

Flavours from oak

Whisky lactone (3-methyl-4-octanolide) is found in all types of oak. This lactone has a strong coconut aroma.[51] Whisky lactone is also known as quercus lactone.[52]

Commercially charred oaks are rich in phenolic compounds. One study identified 40 different phenolic compounds. The coumarin scopoletin is present in whisky, with the highest level reported in Bourbon whiskey.[53]

In this context some brief reading on azeotropes might also be useful.

Anyway, drink whatever you prefer since taste is obviously something that you don't have to justify to other people. This evening I enjoyed a sip of Ardbeg Uigeadail and Caol Ila 8y cask strength and feel fine with it.

NB: Today we got a leaflet with the offerings of a local supermarket - Chivas, JW Black Label, Laphroaig 10y all 20-24 EUR per bottle - if you see something like that I personally would strongly recommend to give the Laphroaig 10y a try and then decide for yourself.

[Fragony]

k pwnd gawd germans

[rajpoot]

I've seriously learned a lot.