Gotta respect Ralfy's videography technique, its just him and his knowledge and thats why we come back again and again. Laphroaig 10 is just an amazing dram!
I went for a bottle of Johnnie Walker black in the US here because it has been years and I wanted to retry it, and I remember 10 years ago it being like $25 US and now local mom and pop stores sell it for $40-50, so i went nope, and bought a bourbon.
@@lqprimetime4169 I just watched Raiders of the Lost Ark yesterday and I think when Indy asks for whisky when he is fighting in the tavern in Nepal, it is Johnnie Walker Black. Just a fun fact. Still wouldn’t buy it though…..but it’s been around for a long time.
Now I kind of want to see a gag episode loaded with cuts, animations, and a heavily made up Ralfy. Call it the Macallan episode 😂. Sorry Ralfy, but it would be righteously funny. Keep it in mind for a future April 1 episode 😉
Ralfy rants are always warmly welcomed! Honesty is becoming quite the rare commodity in these times, so cheers to you Ralfy, for your knowledge, presentation, and integrity.
As a hard working guy with limited funds, Ralfy's presentation contained very useful and much needed information. Thanks Ralfy and keep the videos coming.
Thousands of us, cut through all of it and sit down with a dram to watch you; thank you! You’re proof that entertainment and information does not have to be flashy, it does not have to be sensational and there does not need to be click bait and all of what supposedly is the “modern world. Knowledge, common sense, humility and a good, albeit sometime ordinary, dram. Here is to you my dear friend from the distant land of Down Under.
Since I started watching Ralfy I have set up a barrel on my deck and I sit and sip many new bottles of Scotch (and Bourbon) that I would have probably never tried ! Thank you sir for a whole new experience. Craig Butler
I am so relieved that I am not the only one who complain the low quality of Clynelish 14. I move away from Clynelish (all sort of) because the price is not worth it now. I believe Clynelish is not making waxy whisky anymore. No Clynelish, no Brora (new one), avoid Diageos entirely.
The last good bottle I've had of Clynelish 14 (~2019 ish) I tried side by side with Pulteney 16 and if you can get the Pulteney for a decent price where you are, it's still more than a respectable alternative for those who long for the ol' C 14 (perhaps a teeny bit dryer IMO).
Maybe just avoid bad, soso and super overpriced whisky from Diageo and other producers, still have some worth buying/trying whisky that is not crazily priced from them I believe as they have a really big profile.
I recently stood in line, bottle of Torabhaig in hand, in front of me a person was was touting about the blue JW in his hand, what to mix it with,and I smiled and my first thought was “don’t choke on that ice cube.” I wish in my state of the USA, that the powers above allowed specialists shops. I found only one person in state owned liquor store that actually was familiar with scotch in such a way that ice cubes and ginger ale weren’t in the conversation.
Charles McLean told me they changed some pipe work at Clynlish and the waxyness went away for a while and it was noticed but after a few weeks it came back. Something to do with a deposit build up or something not sure it can be quantified.
This is pure cask strength Ralfy 🙌🙌🙌“Marketing people will literally gush on about the unique provenance and rarity of the finest hand selected casks which have slumbered all these long years under the loving care and the tender arms of the distillery” (Ps: I’m a marketing guy 😰😜luckily not a branding-copywriting-bs one 😅) Thanks again Ralfy 🥃
A very profound ending Ralfy, but so very true. Quality and simplicity works for me and whisky plays a marked, pleasurable role in those experiences too. Hoorah! 😄😸😸
Cheers Ralfy, keep sticking it to the whisky industry. The main reason to drink Scotch over other types of whiskey is for its flavor, if corporations cheapen the quality of their product too much, there are other options. We need to simply NOT buy 40%, chill filtered swill, unless you are using it to make cocktails. I certainly will not pay a high price for a 40%, filtered whisky no matter what it's other qualities are.
Agreed, last bottle of Clynelish 14 was very disappointing. One of the reasons for the ongoing Diageo embargo. Good stuff that man, keep up the good work :)
I don't buy any Diageo products.1. They've ruined some distillries,and two,I don't believe in what they do and the fact that they're a French owned company,and if they had their way all these distillries would have left Scotland.
I too have noticed a decline in the quality of Talisker 10. I just thought I got a bad bottle but the next bottle I purchased two years later was the same experience.
Make whisky drinking fun again! I completely agree with everything. What got me into whisky was sniffing my glass for 15 minutes and finding so many different scents.
My friend, keep the honesty and integrity videos, content, and opinions coming. I'm supporting you by watching your videos, and also by carefully picking and choosing, with my money, which whisky and distillery I'm supporting. Good job, and cheers!
Solid video! Solid message! I always look to your vast vids for reference when i look to new bottles to add to my collection. Always there for the average guy and always have our backs. ✌🏾
I don't have much confidence in reviews from an online retailer but I scroll right down to the customer comments and that where you find out what regular folks really think.
Always a useful opinion! Just found replacement bottles of Ledaig 10, Bunnahabhain 12 and Deanston 12 on offer 42, 51 and 48 euros respectively. Value and quality thanks 🙏 Ralfy. Kindest regards, S.
Thanks for creating all of these videos. I’m fairly new in this world of Whisky and each video there is a nugget of info that lays the next stone for the road in the journey of discovery (or is it another spade depth of the well ) of whisky 🎉
Was hanging on every word Ralfy then unexpectedly lights out! Thanks so much for this and all reviews. I'm with you on everything except maybe we are back in the gilded age?
Everyone, whether they're whisky drinkers or not, should watch your videos. There's so much more than just whisky talk here. Ralfy is dishing out real wisdom.
Unfortunately, there are many more people that believe JWBlue deserves praise and envy if not even a swig at a party once in a while. In my book the word is simply NO.
Great mentions here as always, ralfy! Thanks for your voice. It’s easy. Years ago, as the prices where more fair I bought a lot more single malts than now, since the prices are going up and up and up. I almost lost the pleasure drinking scotch. The industry really should think about that. The secondary market prices are beginning to fall already.
Guru-esque that last comment Ralfy and very true ..... the whole circus of marketing bullshit, relentless/brazen hollowing out of product quality ( by certain entities) and plain greed highlights what you, Roy, Dramface, Vin PF and many others I can't remember are doing ...... I appreciate it very much ... Cheers 🥃
I had a Flora&Fauna Blair Athol that was truly a gem, very nice! a few years after that, I went and bought a few bottles of the newer bottling of the same Blair Athol and it was at most mediocre... I didn't enjoy it.. luckily the shop owner swapped them for some Deanston 12 (same sort of price), which I enjoyed! edit: this came to my mind when you talked about the color, the Blair Athol color was nice to the eye, but the taste lacked aromas...
Well said Ralfy. I now only buy integrity bottles from the likes of Deanston plus the plethora of excellent independent bottlers. Thesr include A,D Rattray, Firkin (Top Whiskies), Glaschu (Damn Good Spirits), Ocatves from The Spirits Embassy to name but a few.
Ralfy - Another great video as usual. I have a review request here (a Scot in Brisbane) for the Bowmore 18 Aston Martin Edition. Not sure how easy it is to get hold of. Limited research says airports are the easiest way to get it. I believe it's an absolute belter and it's knocked Lagavulin 18 off top spot for me (which Lagavulin held for 4-5 years). If you do happen to get hold of one, I'd love to know if there is something very similar that is easier to get hold of i.e. online or physical shops - not airports!
Thanks for a great video! Where do you store all your whisky bottles, I am sure you empty a few of them but since you are not a consumer but a connoisseur I imagine a ginormous warehouse of bottlings on the go ;) I am very happy btw with my purchase from the recent London trip, Cadenhead´s Ardmore 12 yo!
I will have to take your word about Springbank since it seems to be impossible to get hold of a bottle these days ! Frankly i am fed up with bottlings being released only for them to be bought up within minutes the resold online at 4 or 5 times the price. surely Even Springbank can be overpriced
Oh wow, I wonder if I got one of those un-waxy Clynnelish?!😮 I got a bottle around the holidays a couple years ago curious about this 'waxy' taste I had heard about and there was no waxiness that I could detect. I was pretty disappointed by the bottle. I won't gamble on trying it again. There are much more interesting offerings from other distilleries at that price point. But I also would love a tasting of a genuinely waxy one.
Try to get your hands on some independently bottled Clynelish (sometimes marketed as “Secret Sutherland”). Those are usually non-chill filtered. However, I am not familiar with those, so if the owners actually decided to change something about the spirit itself, the IBs won't have the waxiness either.
I love a bit of marketing and sales flannel. My dad was in Frankfurt for work while the Frankfurt Auto Motor Show was on. So he decided to go along. My dad was talking to this one rep. He was asking quite simple questions.. But to every line he'd respond with a cliche.. "this is the ultimate driving machine", and so on.. Now me and my dad have an in-joke, where if one of us doesn't know the answer to a question we'll say "errrr ummm... This is the ultimate driving machine". Though on whisky. It's such a pain in the arse to do so much research into how its made. It's why I tend to drink more bourbon these days. I know they can water down or filter their spirit. But there is zero colourant. So at least I can be sure of that.
I always thought of scotch being a rich man’s hobby. It’s great but with the prices I can’t enjoy the same ones I used to. Thank you Ralfy for all the honest advice. Been watching you for 10 years. I know you don’t like NAS, but you haven’t aged.
For me Whiskey is a story of people and places in time. No selfies. A memory of who and where…my memory of Ralfy is a poor connection at the Bastards Ball on Roy Duff’s phone. Make your own memories!
We need to be careful not to mistake a whisky we are having trouble understanding for a bad whisky. I got the GlenGarioch 12 and I really disliked it... at first. Still not my favorite, but I can absolutely appreciate it today. I'm staying away from it as much as I can because I want to try it after a long time and see how my perception changes.
Ralfy, your comparison to the decline of the quality of food is most appropiate! As I usually eat more than I drink (😅), seeing the poor quality every day in shops really bothers me. Good food is not and must not be expensive per se - it's rather the quality of the ingredients that matters, where you buy and: how informed you are. Lots of parallels to our whisky realm for sure!
A new batch of Clynelish 14 seems to arrived down here in West Victoria (aka Western Australia - insider political joke) so appreciate the heads-up on the character shift on that one.
Dalmore makes me chuckle every time I see it on a store shelf. The bottle and that plasticy little deer trying to look like jewelry. I’m embarrassed for it.
Hey Ralfy what do you think of A.D Rattray cask whiskey? I find they have a quite unique whiskey for the money. I got a bottle for my birthday and I like it. They have many in there cask collection that look very good and interesting.
I was acquainted with whisky back in 1999 when I went to study in Aberdeen. To me the first drams did not feel sanitized, they did not feel polite or vanilla. Complex? Yes. Mysterious? Absolutely (I still marvel at how water, grain and wood can produce such complexity, under the care of passionate master distillers). Challenging? Without a doubt. To this day I still know very little and it has become hard to keep up. I visited a few distilleries. They did not feel sanitized either (I know we are not discussing H&S here). Heck, Scotland is not a sanitized part of the world! In the words of Neil Gaiman "...Scotland, where the bones of the earth show through". This is the whisky I remember and want to drink. Hopefully there will always be whiskies that escape the scrubbing, polishing and cliche'd promotion that profit margins and consumerism impose on most spirits.
I bought a cheaper bottle due to tight finances a month ago and was bitterly disappointed as it had quite a hype ; Monkey Shoulder. It’s not terrible but I just find it lacking in depth and finish. Went back to my Deanstons 18 and what a difference, great whisky and loved the walk around when I was up that way.
Also Ralfy is not the whole idea of "malternatives" to keep one's horizons open? This has recently happened to me, too many (not necessary poor) but simply called in whisk(e)y's were getting consumed. The enjoyment level took a big downturn. When this occurs, I simply move to maternatives now. Mainly armagnac/cognac the first runner up to malt-whiskey. But of late, its been the lovely arrays of mezcal's. Bottom line look around and drink and enjoy the other nice things the world has to enjoy. Cheers - Victor
As long as they sell it in the UK @40%, that will never happen BTW @70cl 4% is 28ml of water, to go down from 50 to 46. The taxman, I believe, dictates a number that really impinges on profits near 50%. So let's see 49%. I don't have any infatuation with Scottish spring water that a need a dram or 2 in my whisky. I am just beginning to accept Ralfy's watering style, especially in the summer. In the past, for every teaspoon he would put in I would do 5 drops. Hahaha
In respect to the big boys, of which i have never participated with, i have a question about Glenfiddich. For travel retail they present some high abv age stated bottles. Is that going to get the wary traveller turned on to a product that does not exist in the real world? Or I dont know, it seems backwards. PS. I live in the smoke zone south of eastern Canada. They are certainly ruining our summer
Laphroaig? Still enjoy the picture of its distillery i bought from you ( sent the money in a card of condolence to the Whisky store in Glasgow, so nobody stole it) Greets from munich!
I live in the USA, so domestic whiskey is usually dramatically less expensive than malt whiskey from Ireland and Scotland. I’ve never had a bad bourbon, and there are a lot of really good bourbons for less than $50 a bottle. I have had some bad malt whiskey, and when mid level scotch starts around $40 to $50, I’m not buying a lot When I started enjoying whiskey correctly, about 12 years ago, I could buy 75 cl bottles of all kinds of things for $4 to $6, and have a neat little collection of sample bottles, but no one sells them anymore. The only ones available are cheap stuff where the full size bottle is $25 or less. Feels like the distilleries don’t have to try as hard these days so are spending less on marketing
Never seen you as feisty as in this one Ralfy ......... couldn't find a single wrong word though in what you said. Still the best in the field you are my old friend.
My first video I’ve ever seen of yours and 45 seconds in I know I’m in the right place, I’m a Laphroaig NUT! Sub’d I guess not since I see I’m already subscribed. Getting old & senile is fun.
This video reminded me of this hobbit quote. "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world" Reallygreat
I’m a person on a budget. I value my hard earned money. Ralfy, would you consider making a video recommending a bottle at the $30, $50, $75, $100, & $120 range? I would immensely appreciate it.
How come the Chinese don't seem to pay tax on whiskies? As an Aussie expatriate currently living there I can't understand how I am now quite literally paying half the price for whiskies in China that I bought in Sydney! Lucky me, for now I guess!
Ralfy, has there ever been a whisky that before you tried it you where a bit skeptical of then when you tried it you where really surprised how nice it was?
I don't know anything really about Bowmore but Dalmore has always struck me as pretentious. It strikes me as a truly gilded whiskey, a term Ralfy mentioned late in the video. Because here's the thing about gilding: when you gild something, what you're really doing is covering with gold something that is of little actual worth.
Guess the biggest problems in the IDDUSTRY are them shareholders! They don´t care about quality just quantity. Thank god for independent bottlers! Drank a very interesting bottle of Dalmore from Lady of the Glen. Unique colour smell and taste and that is what i look for. These are hard times for an enthusiast plowing through the gibberish to find it´s bottle! Slainté.
I've tried a few big brand 12 year Olds and was very disappointed , the only one I didn't feel cheated on was the black label johnny walker . The dalmore was one of those disappointments.
Indeed. Some of the big brands were good once and changed but our own taste on our journey also changed. Perhaps even more so. Still I am glad that I have some of my old favorites in the cabinet. When I liked a bottle I usually bought one or two extra ones. Back then often for a decent price. And some beginner's (or now better explorer's) whiskies which are now waiting to be tried again: a 1970s Johnnie Walker Black, an old JW Swing, two 1970s Glenlivet 12 and a 1980s Macallan 12.
I think chill filtration and colouring has its place because the people who dont care that much about drink will not listen to education about how it looks pale and hazy being a potentially good thing. The blend market props up the malt market and so we can enjoy what decent bottlings are released, i say cherry pick the good stuff and rocking the boat could bring it all crashing down like the 80s. As for the investing its totally dumb.
I bought a bottle of Talisker 10 recently from Amazon as it was around 30 pounds, but it is terrible, I'm so disappointed, I'm sure 5 or so years ago it was great
Gotta respect Ralfy's videography technique, its just him and his knowledge and thats why we come back again and again. Laphroaig 10 is just an amazing dram!
Diageo executives view the world through chill-filtered lenses in their caramel colored glasses.
Chill filtering hurts me more than colouring. Colouring doesn't really change the flavour.
I think Diageo doesn’t give a dang
I went for a bottle of Johnnie Walker black in the US here because it has been years and I wanted to retry it, and I remember 10 years ago it being like $25 US and now local mom and pop stores sell it for $40-50, so i went nope, and bought a bourbon.
@@lqprimetime4169 I just watched Raiders of the Lost Ark yesterday and I think when Indy asks for whisky when he is fighting in the tavern in Nepal, it is Johnnie Walker Black. Just a fun fact. Still wouldn’t buy it though…..but it’s been around for a long time.
@@djscottdog1 Coloring is still a deceptive marketing tactic though.
No cuts, no make up. Just straight to the point.
Now I kind of want to see a gag episode loaded with cuts, animations, and a heavily made up Ralfy. Call it the Macallan episode 😂.
Sorry Ralfy, but it would be righteously funny. Keep it in mind for a future April 1 episode 😉
@@djsaunter 🤣
Very very wise words Ralfy! People should go back and listen to this over and over again. Cheers!
Ralfy rants are always warmly welcomed! Honesty is becoming quite the rare commodity in these times, so cheers to you Ralfy, for your knowledge, presentation, and integrity.
"We always get to know the light by the tone of the shade around it." profound!
As a hard working guy with limited funds, Ralfy's presentation contained very useful and much needed information. Thanks Ralfy and keep the videos coming.
Thousands of us, cut through all of it and sit down with a dram to watch you; thank you! You’re proof that entertainment and information does not have to be flashy, it does not have to be sensational and there does not need to be click bait and all of what supposedly is the “modern world. Knowledge, common sense, humility and a good, albeit sometime ordinary, dram. Here is to you my dear friend from the distant land of Down Under.
Hi from Canada! How’s the whisk(E)y in Australia?
Hear, hear! Greetings from the Marmite side of the planet mate.
@@user-hb1ve6mc6f I am a traditionalist of sorts, so I don’t enjoy it as much as it’s scotch brethren.
Thank you Ralfy for saying what need to be said. Cheers (with a dram of Deanston 12)!
Ralfy, like my dear old no-nonsense dad born in 1903 used to say: "When you're right your're right". And Ralfy you are definitely right.
Since I started watching Ralfy I have set up a barrel on my deck and I sit and sip many new bottles of Scotch (and Bourbon) that I would have probably never tried ! Thank you sir for a whole new experience.
Craig Butler
The wisest man on youtube. Cheers Ralfy!
I am so relieved that I am not the only one who complain the low quality of Clynelish 14. I move away from Clynelish (all sort of) because the price is not worth it now. I believe Clynelish is not making waxy whisky anymore. No Clynelish, no Brora (new one), avoid Diageos entirely.
Thank you! I thought something was wrong with by taste buds after all the praise for it.
Brora (old) was a tad overrated. Clynelish was the better of the two. A shame Clynelish is no longer what it was and should be.
Agreed. The classic waxy profile of Clynelish is now lost. Without that, it’s simply not Clynelish 🫤
The last good bottle I've had of Clynelish 14 (~2019 ish) I tried side by side with Pulteney 16 and if you can get the Pulteney for a decent price where you are, it's still more than a respectable alternative for those who long for the ol' C 14 (perhaps a teeny bit dryer IMO).
Maybe just avoid bad, soso and super overpriced whisky from Diageo and other producers, still have some worth buying/trying whisky that is not crazily priced from them I believe as they have a really big profile.
Who has ears to hear! Dear Ralfy, I am grateful for
your interest and contribution on whisky knowledge,and life generally. Keep up the good work!❤
I recently stood in line, bottle of Torabhaig in hand, in front of me a person was was touting about the blue JW in his hand, what to mix it with,and I smiled and my first thought was “don’t choke on that ice cube.”
I wish in my state of the USA, that the powers above allowed specialists shops. I found only one person in state owned liquor store that actually was familiar with scotch in such a way that ice cubes and ginger ale weren’t in the conversation.
Charles McLean told me they changed some pipe work at Clynlish and the waxyness went away for a while and it was noticed but after a few weeks it came back. Something to do with a deposit build up or something not sure it can be quantified.
This is pure cask strength Ralfy 🙌🙌🙌“Marketing people will literally gush on about the unique provenance and rarity of the finest hand selected casks which have slumbered all these long years under the loving care and the tender arms of the distillery” (Ps: I’m a marketing guy 😰😜luckily not a branding-copywriting-bs one 😅) Thanks again Ralfy 🥃
Wise words and an intellectual feast. Thank you Ralfy!
Came for the the whiskey, stayed for the wisdom.
A very profound ending Ralfy, but so very true.
Quality and simplicity works for me and whisky plays a marked, pleasurable role in those experiences too. Hoorah! 😄😸😸
Cheers Ralfy, keep sticking it to the whisky industry. The main reason to drink Scotch over other types of whiskey is for its flavor, if corporations cheapen the quality of their product too much, there are other options. We need to simply NOT buy 40%, chill filtered swill, unless you are using it to make cocktails. I certainly will not pay a high price for a 40%, filtered whisky no matter what it's other qualities are.
Agreed, last bottle of Clynelish 14 was very disappointing. One of the reasons for the ongoing Diageo embargo.
Good stuff that man, keep up the good work :)
I don't buy any Diageo products.1. They've ruined some distillries,and two,I don't believe in what they do and the fact that they're a French owned company,and if they had their way all these distillries would have left Scotland.
Well spoken my friend. Bring more care and quality back to the industry.
Well done. Well said. Please keep up the good work! Carry on sir.
I too have noticed a decline in the quality of Talisker 10. I just thought I got a bad bottle but the next bottle I purchased two years later was the same experience.
Make whisky drinking fun again! I completely agree with everything. What got me into whisky was sniffing my glass for 15 minutes and finding so many different scents.
My friend, keep the honesty and integrity videos, content, and opinions coming. I'm supporting you by watching your videos, and also by carefully picking and choosing, with my money, which whisky and distillery I'm supporting. Good job, and cheers!
Solid video! Solid message! I always look to your vast vids for reference when i look to new bottles to add to my collection. Always there for the average guy and always have our backs. ✌🏾
I don't have much confidence in reviews from an online retailer but I scroll right down to the customer comments and that where you find out what regular folks really think.
Ralfy one more time thanks a lot for the quality time and information, Top notch 🤘🤘🤘
Always a useful opinion! Just found replacement bottles of Ledaig 10, Bunnahabhain 12 and Deanston 12 on offer 42, 51 and 48 euros respectively. Value and quality thanks 🙏 Ralfy. Kindest regards, S.
Thanks for creating all of these videos. I’m fairly new in this world of Whisky and each video there is a nugget of info that lays the next stone for the road in the journey of discovery (or is it another spade depth of the well ) of whisky 🎉
Was hanging on every word Ralfy then unexpectedly lights out! Thanks so much for this and all reviews. I'm with you on everything except maybe we are back in the gilded age?
In good news, Australia and UK's trade deal is resulting in a dropping of a 5% tariff for us Aussie Malt Mates!
Trust me you won't see any of those savings 😂 (coming from a fellow Aussie)
Let's hope that at least it slows down the price hike for you guys (not an Aussie here, but our women glow and men sometimes plunder, too).
The middlemen will eat it.
I just tried a French whiskey and impressed. Bastille 1789
Everyone, whether they're whisky drinkers or not, should watch your videos. There's so much more than just whisky talk here. Ralfy is dishing out real wisdom.
Unfortunately, there are many more people that believe JWBlue deserves praise and envy if not even a swig at a party once in a while.
In my book the word is simply NO.
Speaking my of that old adulterer when are we getting more special Royal additions of malts with limited editions and elevated prices?
Great mentions here as always, ralfy! Thanks for your voice. It’s easy. Years ago, as the prices where more fair I bought a lot more single malts than now, since the prices are going up and up and up. I almost lost the pleasure drinking scotch. The industry really should think about that. The secondary market prices are beginning to fall already.
Guru-esque that last comment Ralfy and very true ..... the whole circus of marketing bullshit, relentless/brazen hollowing out of product quality ( by certain entities) and plain greed highlights what you, Roy, Dramface, Vin PF and many others I can't remember are doing ...... I appreciate it very much ... Cheers 🥃
I had a Flora&Fauna Blair Athol that was truly a gem, very nice! a few years after that, I went and bought a few bottles of the newer bottling of the same Blair Athol and it was at most mediocre... I didn't enjoy it.. luckily the shop owner swapped them for some Deanston 12 (same sort of price), which I enjoyed!
edit: this came to my mind when you talked about the color, the Blair Athol color was nice to the eye, but the taste lacked aromas...
Well said Ralfy. I now only buy integrity bottles from the likes of Deanston plus the plethora of excellent independent bottlers. Thesr include A,D Rattray, Firkin (Top Whiskies), Glaschu (Damn Good Spirits), Ocatves from The Spirits Embassy to name but a few.
Ralfy - Another great video as usual. I have a review request here (a Scot in Brisbane) for the Bowmore 18 Aston Martin Edition. Not sure how easy it is to get hold of. Limited research says airports are the easiest way to get it. I believe it's an absolute belter and it's knocked Lagavulin 18 off top spot for me (which Lagavulin held for 4-5 years). If you do happen to get hold of one, I'd love to know if there is something very similar that is easier to get hold of i.e. online or physical shops - not airports!
Fine bit of philosophy at the end there Ralphy.
Thanks for that view!!
From the USA and who knew!!
Cheers!!
Thanks for a great video! Where do you store all your whisky bottles, I am sure you empty a few of them but since you are not a consumer but a connoisseur I imagine a ginormous warehouse of bottlings on the go ;) I am very happy btw with my purchase from the recent London trip, Cadenhead´s Ardmore 12 yo!
I will have to take your word about Springbank since it seems to be impossible to get hold of a bottle these days
! Frankly i am fed up with bottlings being released only for them to be bought up within minutes the resold online at 4 or 5 times the price. surely Even Springbank can be overpriced
Oh wow, I wonder if I got one of those un-waxy Clynnelish?!😮
I got a bottle around the holidays a couple years ago curious about this 'waxy' taste I had heard about and there was no waxiness that I could detect. I was pretty disappointed by the bottle.
I won't gamble on trying it again.
There are much more interesting offerings from other distilleries at that price point.
But I also would love a tasting of a genuinely waxy one.
Try to get your hands on some independently bottled Clynelish (sometimes marketed as “Secret Sutherland”). Those are usually non-chill filtered. However, I am not familiar with those, so if the owners actually decided to change something about the spirit itself, the IBs won't have the waxiness either.
Loch Lomond 12 in my glass now and I think I got this bottle for under 40 usd. Wonderful value. I enjoy the videos thanks and Cheers!
I love your honesty Ralfy, your are the GOAT of Scotch 😉
I love a bit of marketing and sales flannel.
My dad was in Frankfurt for work while the Frankfurt Auto Motor Show was on. So he decided to go along.
My dad was talking to this one rep. He was asking quite simple questions.. But to every line he'd respond with a cliche.. "this is the ultimate driving machine", and so on..
Now me and my dad have an in-joke, where if one of us doesn't know the answer to a question we'll say "errrr ummm... This is the ultimate driving machine".
Though on whisky. It's such a pain in the arse to do so much research into how its made.
It's why I tend to drink more bourbon these days. I know they can water down or filter their spirit. But there is zero colourant. So at least I can be sure of that.
I always thought of scotch being a rich man’s hobby. It’s great but with the prices I can’t enjoy the same ones I used to. Thank you Ralfy for all the honest advice. Been watching you for 10 years. I know you don’t like NAS, but you haven’t aged.
For me Whiskey is a story of people and places in time. No selfies. A memory of who and where…my memory of Ralfy is a poor connection at the Bastards Ball on Roy Duff’s phone. Make your own memories!
Malty Morgage VS Mortlach Mortifiers [Malt Mentions]. Lovely cat Ralfy!
We need to be careful not to mistake a whisky we are having trouble understanding for a bad whisky. I got the GlenGarioch 12 and I really disliked it... at first. Still not my favorite, but I can absolutely appreciate it today. I'm staying away from it as much as I can because I want to try it after a long time and see how my perception changes.
Had exactly the same experience with that malt a few years back. Anything in particular that you found iffy?
Ralfy, your comparison to the decline of the quality of food is most appropiate! As I usually eat more than I drink (😅), seeing the poor quality every day in shops really bothers me. Good food is not and must not be expensive per se - it's rather the quality of the ingredients that matters, where you buy and: how informed you are. Lots of parallels to our whisky realm for sure!
Is there anything nowadays that has the same waxiness as the old Clynelish? Used to love that note.
A new batch of Clynelish 14 seems to arrived down here in West Victoria (aka Western Australia - insider political joke) so appreciate the heads-up on the character shift on that one.
Dalmore makes me chuckle every time I see it on a store shelf. The bottle and that plasticy little deer trying to look like jewelry. I’m embarrassed for it.
It’s definitely not the whisky it should be for the price.
Thank you, Ralfy. Well said.
Sage advice , thanks Ralfy . If only they would give the marketing dollops a chill filter!
Agree!!! Knowledge is useful in all nooks and crannies :D
I like the some of the independent distillery’s more in my opinion.
Hey Ralfy what do you think of A.D Rattray cask whiskey? I find they have a quite unique whiskey for the money. I got a bottle for my birthday and I like it. They have many in there cask collection that look very good and interesting.
I was acquainted with whisky back in 1999 when I went to study in Aberdeen. To me the first drams did not feel sanitized, they did not feel polite or vanilla. Complex? Yes. Mysterious? Absolutely (I still marvel at how water, grain and wood can produce such complexity, under the care of passionate master distillers). Challenging? Without a doubt. To this day I still know very little and it has become hard to keep up.
I visited a few distilleries. They did not feel sanitized either (I know we are not discussing H&S here). Heck, Scotland is not a sanitized part of the world! In the words of Neil Gaiman "...Scotland, where the bones of the earth show through".
This is the whisky I remember and want to drink. Hopefully there will always be whiskies that escape the scrubbing, polishing and cliche'd promotion that profit margins and consumerism impose on most spirits.
I bought a cheaper bottle due to tight finances a month ago and was bitterly disappointed as it had quite a hype ; Monkey Shoulder. It’s not terrible but I just find it lacking in depth and finish.
Went back to my Deanstons 18 and what a difference, great whisky and loved the walk around when I was up that way.
Monkey Shoulder, once tried never forgotten.
It was my first and last bottle.
Also Ralfy is not the whole idea of "malternatives" to keep one's horizons open? This has recently happened to me, too many (not necessary poor) but simply called in whisk(e)y's were getting consumed. The enjoyment level took a big downturn. When this occurs, I simply move to maternatives now. Mainly armagnac/cognac the first runner up to malt-whiskey. But of late, its been the lovely arrays of mezcal's. Bottom line look around and drink and enjoy the other nice things the world has to enjoy. Cheers - Victor
Had an opportunity to try First Editions Clynelish 17. Thought is was very good.
I believe he misspoke ... it wasn't earthquakes, it was earth cakes. Meaning "mud pies".
I blended my bad bottles with cheap good whiskey to make it enjoyable again.
I would also love to see the regular Laphi10 bottled at 46% ncf even if they charged 10 bucks extra.
As long as they sell it in the UK @40%, that will never happen
BTW @70cl 4% is 28ml of water, to go down from 50 to 46. The taxman, I believe, dictates a number that really impinges on profits near 50%.
So let's see 49%. I don't have any infatuation with Scottish spring water that a need a dram or 2 in my whisky.
I am just beginning to accept Ralfy's watering style, especially in the summer. In the past, for every teaspoon he would put in I would do 5 drops. Hahaha
Good wise words as per usual ralfy😘
That dram too earthquakey for me tho!
HalleluJah ✅️ Aģape
In respect to the big boys, of which i have never participated with, i have a question about Glenfiddich.
For travel retail they present some high abv age stated bottles.
Is that going to get the wary traveller turned on to a product that does not exist in the real world?
Or
I dont know, it seems backwards.
PS. I live in the smoke zone south of eastern Canada. They are certainly ruining our summer
Deep Ralfy 👍
Laphroaig? Still enjoy the picture of its distillery i bought from you
( sent the money in a card of condolence to the Whisky store in Glasgow, so nobody stole it)
Greets from munich!
I live in the USA, so domestic whiskey is usually dramatically less expensive than malt whiskey from Ireland and Scotland.
I’ve never had a bad bourbon, and there are a lot of really good bourbons for less than $50 a bottle. I have had some bad malt whiskey, and when mid level scotch starts around $40 to $50, I’m not buying a lot
When I started enjoying whiskey correctly, about 12 years ago, I could buy 75 cl bottles of all kinds of things for $4 to $6, and have a neat little collection of sample bottles, but no one sells them anymore. The only ones available are cheap stuff where the full size bottle is $25 or less. Feels like the distilleries don’t have to try as hard these days so are spending less on marketing
Never seen you as feisty as in this one Ralfy ......... couldn't find a single wrong word though in what you said. Still the best in the field you are my old friend.
My first video I’ve ever seen of yours and 45 seconds in I know I’m in the right place, I’m a Laphroaig NUT! Sub’d
I guess not since I see I’m already subscribed. Getting old & senile is fun.
If it tastes of earthquakes, does "No Shakey Shakey" still apply?
This video reminded me of this hobbit quote.
"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world"
Reallygreat
Hi Ralfy. Apologies if I have missed it somewhere, but is there an update on your infinity bottle that you started about a year ago?
. . . it now features as part of my Patreon page.
RALFY unchained!!! Briliant speech, especially last thing of the clip! Thank You, Ralfy!
I’ll only be buying quality, integrity bottles, especially with the prices going the way they are.
No shy this Ralfy fella!
Dear Ralfy, what's Your opinion on Lagavulin 8?
I find it a little smokier than the 16...and at half the price it is a good buy!
Better than the 16 IMO!
Hey Ralfy, can you review Big Peat, To be honest it's one of my favourites, it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on it.
I’m a person on a budget. I value my hard earned money. Ralfy, would you consider making a video recommending a bottle at the $30, $50, $75, $100, & $120 range? I would immensely appreciate it.
It's not just malt whisky, we've got a bunch of bullshit in the Bourbon and Rye market here in the USA.
How come the Chinese don't seem to pay tax on whiskies? As an Aussie expatriate currently living there I can't understand how I am now quite literally paying half the price for whiskies in China that I bought in Sydney! Lucky me, for now I guess!
. . . global commerce is a LOADED dice. It's deliberate.
Ralfy, has there ever been a whisky that before you tried it you where a bit skeptical of then when you tried it you where really surprised how nice it was?
. . . Edradour.
Ralfy unleashed!
I don't know anything really about Bowmore but Dalmore has always struck me as pretentious. It strikes me as a truly gilded whiskey, a term Ralfy mentioned late in the video. Because here's the thing about gilding: when you gild something, what you're really doing is covering with gold something that is of little actual worth.
Dalmore wants to be Macallan in the same way that Glen Rothes wants to be Dalmore.
Guess the biggest problems in the IDDUSTRY are them shareholders! They don´t care about quality just quantity. Thank god for independent bottlers! Drank a very interesting bottle of Dalmore from Lady of the Glen. Unique colour smell and taste and that is what i look for. These are hard times for an enthusiast plowing through the gibberish to find it´s bottle! Slainté.
I've tried a few big brand 12 year Olds and was very disappointed , the only one I didn't feel cheated on was the black label johnny walker . The dalmore was one of those disappointments.
Indeed. Some of the big brands were good once and changed but our own taste on our journey also changed. Perhaps even more so. Still I am glad that I have some of my old favorites in the cabinet. When I liked a bottle I usually bought one or two extra ones. Back then often for a decent price. And some beginner's (or now better explorer's) whiskies which are now waiting to be tried again: a 1970s Johnnie Walker Black, an old JW Swing, two 1970s Glenlivet 12 and a 1980s Macallan 12.
Awesome content ❤️
Sad thing is I get a nice advert for a cask investment scheme under the video
. . . oh ! the irony 😊
I think chill filtration and colouring has its place because the people who dont care that much about drink will not listen to education about how it looks pale and hazy being a potentially good thing. The blend market props up the malt market and so we can enjoy what decent bottlings are released, i say cherry pick the good stuff and rocking the boat could bring it all crashing down like the 80s. As for the investing its totally dumb.
I bought a bottle of Talisker 10 recently from Amazon as it was around 30 pounds, but it is terrible, I'm so disappointed, I'm sure 5 or so years ago it was great
nice one 😎
What is the difference between the government and the authorities I wonder.🤔
. . . authorities own government.
Malt mention submission: "astute aromatic analyzers"