ralfy review 926 Extras - sources of advice on buying Indi-bottles.
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- Опубліковано 9 тра 2022
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“… I was buying them for the sake of it” Thanks for your honesty Ralfy and thanks for sharing your valuable experience. I did the same and I am sure many others did too.
same here. I needed to hear that.
Hi Ralfy
Wise words! I couldn't agree more. Independent bottlers are a great opportunity to discover different whiskys. It's always an adventure to try their new stuff and gives you another angle to the Distillerys.
Greetings,
Chris
Cat did not spill the glass. Skills.
Thank you for your continued wisdom.
I have loved Glenfarclas 15 since I first tried it many years ago... Imagine my surprise when I found it online for a great price. I opened it, and it was not the same whisky that I fell in love with and enjoyed several bottles of. The great price should have tipped me off...
This channel is helping me learn so much, I am so thankful for all the knowledge you share.
Here in the US, especially in a small town, it is very difficult to find most standard releases, let alone independent bottlings. One of the only "reliable" sources of independent bottles is the Scotch Malt Whisky Society. Unfortunately it is quite expensive and can add up very quickly. I would love to hear your assessment on SMWS as ever since becoming a member, I have questioned whether or not I made a good choice or if I am just ignorantly being fleeced every time I purchase a bottle from them.
This is my problem here in Oregon, too. Ralfy brings the world to our door with humor and wit.
Had some very nice 'unnamed Orkney' independent bottlings before, Ardmore is another readily available independent favourite.
Recently picked up a Cadenhead's heavily peated Loch Lomond and a Jura that I'm looking forward to getting around to.
Unnamed Orkney tends to cost less and taste better than named orkney at higher prices. Havent had a bad one yet.
Our whisky club at work is a lot of bourbon guys. It's easy for me to explain independent bottlers to them. It's the Scotch version of a "Single Barrel"
First of all fluffy is adorable, I agree with you I'm catching myself trying to find more independent bottles in the stores such as signatory or GM, just for pure reason to try them in the natural state. Also I start recognizing the stores when you walk in and you look at the stuff they put up front and kind of know what store goes for and it works for most of people but thanks to you and lot of other whiskey reviewers that teach me a lot of things that I'm looking into whiskey I'm much more selective. Whiskeys that I love so much overpriced right now in the United States I'm look at to alternatives. Will have a budget so budget should meet expectations I cannot pay $65 for Deanston 12 even though I love it or Arran 10 or Glenallachi 12 that much, are they great whiskeys hell yeah, I've really regret not stucking up. I just order Altmore 18 for $119 I was thinking it's a great price woth a free shipping, back up yellow spot Irish whiskey for $89 and Sexton for 22. Would it come to realize over the years sometimes you have to walk away even though you really want it, who's that knowledge come from people like you that I appreciate a lot and a truce , knowledge is a virtue , it is always a lot more to explore it's always new adventures and not always good but you have to be aware when companies take advantage of you. We all work hard for our money and we want to put that money in the something that we're really going to enjoy and it's really worth it and that's what big-ass companies sorry for my language have to recognize. And I really hope they do.
Once you’ve found an independent bottler you like, the world of choices opens up. Try James Eadie or North Star and then enjoy the exploration.
Sound advice as always Ralfy - you put the 'care' into 'share' and we're all the better off for it :)
I reckon you must have been mighty disappointed when you took that tumble out the carpark and smashed those bottles (lol) Enjoyed the chat, Thanks Ralphy
Great advice. Thank you
Ralfy we all need more tests and advice from you with testing of indipendent whisky. I am currently very pleased with Tamdhu 12 Provenance - for me is the top for the the price and much more.
Enjoyed this one Ralfy.
Simple rule: start every extras with clicking thumb up :)
btw we had discussion recently with malt comrades about independent vs official bottlings. Some experienced ppl were saying that indie is always worse because distilleries give them casks that "official" master blender would never use in the "official" release... so i wonder - why some indie bottlings are so gorgeous? 8D
Yeah that's BS.
1.) some casks are a bit unusual and don't fit into the official flavour profil of the distillery and therefore are sold. That can happen but doesn't mean the casks are inferior.
2.) many casks are sold to get the cashflow up. For ex. HP has to sell many casks because Macallan spent an aweful lot of money on their new distillery.
3.) big IBs have their own casks and can recask the whisky if it's necessary.
4.) some IBs have cask filling programs with distilleries where IBs are sold the new make and they fill it into their own barrels.
5.) like with every bottle of whisky there can of course be bad ones here and again
. . . just not true, 'official' bottlers keep plenty of poor casks for their own bottlings.
@@Raymaster7482 I agree with every point. And while some distilleries/owners sell "unusual" casks to independent bottlers, some doing "limited releases" so they can handle this "unusual" character :)
Your cats colours reminds me of one of those gray stripy slugs you find on the wall on a damp winters night. Sweet kitty though.
There is some fantastic Canadian whiskey, it's just not usually bottled for some reason. Luckily being from MA I can get the Found North Whisky releases when they happen :)
Whiskysponge is dropping a 1994 Springbank soon. Im afraid to look.
Hopefully there will be more variety of independently bottled single malts in the future.
I have bought bottles that I know I'm not ready to appreciate to the full, but equally I know that given patience and development they will be eventually.
I 😍that cat of yours, Ralfy!
I have some really excellent indy bottles of Clynelish (malts of Scotland), laphroaig (alexander murray), glenlivet (signatory). But no indy Springbank or kilkerran? ha
My venture into indie bottlings happened when Bowmore dropped the 17yr for the 15yr. I figured that there was something better out there.
I just had a wonderful malt moment with a wee dram of Ledaig 10 and you Ralfy. It's definitifely the malt whisky with the best price-performance along with Arran 10 in my opinion.
One point about the batch-thing: most destilleries, as Ledaig, don't mention the batch on the bottle (unfortunately!?!) of their regular bottling. Of course Springbank does with the date printed below the backlabel. On one side with the indication of the batch it becomes more complicate, we worry more about a specific batch or date of bottling and one starts "batch hunting". On the other side we know better what we are drinking.. I've mixed feelings about that, what do you think?
Malty hug from Switzerland!
The last "Unnamed Orkney" I bought a few months ago was absolutely fantastic and I would get it again if I could ever find it.
Independent bottlings of Highland Park these days blows official Highland Park bottlings out of the water.
Indeed, my memories of official Highland Park, albeit many years ago, were not nearly this good.
@@DavidArcuri They're actually known to make fantastic distillate but their cask policies and post maturation practices are utter garbage. Buying HP from a reputable indie is nearly always a good choice in my experience.
.. Cheers ..
Iam in the seek of indie bottlings primerly because is the way to get integrity versions of the malts that i allready love.
That being said i allways wonder if the distilleries really sell good quality casks to independent botllers or they keep them for their own.
Are I.B free to choose…??
What would you prefer, a less quality cask BUT non chill filtered and with no caramel at a highier strentgh or a non integrity distillery bottle but matured in an excelent cask?
. . .cask sales to Indies are 'mixed' in terms of quality. Indi-bottlings need careful selection, but can be very rewarding.
I’ve enjoyed indie bottles, however I will say that they usually offer up a surprise. Rarely are they what I expect based on standard bottling. Well worth the purchase though
In general, more Bothy cat :)
I don’t see many independent bottles. When I do it’s usually signatory. I am always tempted to pick them up and take them home. Any tips on ones to avoid. All seem to be higher strength and un-chill filtered. But a lot of them don’t say natural color. What do you think Ralfy? Buy em and take a chance or only focus on integrity bottles from independent bottlers?
Don't be afraid. I always have good luck with anything Signatory. Mortlach is a malt that I love when it's from an IB. Any single malt that you like (or used to like) in an IB won't be a huge departure from your expectations.
Let us never underplay how demanding cats can be. The endearing part is that they still do it fairly quietly, unlike dogs.
You not fancy the Lindores series Ralfy? The first release was gorgeous and very different from anything I've tried. Integrity bottling too.
Great advice as always. Any advice on a good independent bottler to start with when then time is right?
Signatory, Carn Mor, James Eadie, North Star all good.
. . . just the ones Sam highlights in his comment.
Hi Ralfy can you recommend any independent bottling of Jura as there must be a good version of this malt somewhere?
. . . good luck trying to find it. The owners are not looking after the legacy.
Hi Ralfy, and thanks for all your videos :). One question here, maybe stupid (sure, you will said "try some dude !" and it's true) but : My bottle of Ardbeg (10yo) is near its end, I like this one (Ok, not just at the opening ;) ), but I want to try something different but in the same "shape of taste". Any recommendation in same range of price (or less !!) ? I really don't want to spend money in something I can't tell if it's vodka or whisky, so I ask for help ;)
Oh, little distillery speaking : For people like me living in France, and you Ralfy (if you can find one ?? I don't know), we have some distillers in whisky, I've tried "oui-sky" (pronounce "whisky" ;) ), a little one, fruity, cool for summer IMHO.
Sharing the knowledge that independent bottlings can beat the official ones, the cat is out the bag now. I'm always on the lookout for the purrrfect malt. Always trying to get my paws on them. (sorry 😀)
I find one way that’s works every time with independents. Try before you buy.
Suggesting for malt mention: “Maniacal Mutant Malt Messiah’s”
. . . now on the M-mention List, thanks.
Ralfy have you ever tried anything from Single Cask Nation? They’re an independent bottler from the US but some of their offerings are sold in the UK.
I highly recommend them, they bottle some beautiful spirits.
. . . not got round to them yet !
There was no mice killed or injured during the making of this video.
One of our local liquor stores has bottles of Scotch that are $800 and $1500 and upwards of $2000. Ralfy, have you ever tasted stuff like that and is it that much better than maybe a $100 or $150 18 year old Islay whiskey (y)? What makes it cost that much?
. . . greed, and customer gulibility.
That’s funny, I always pictured you as a dog person. We have a cat that has long hair and every time he climbs into my lap I have to put a hand over my glass to keep from getting cat hair in it.
Are there any good liquor shops in Inverness? I'll be there this summer.
highlandwhiskyshop and woodwinters. have a good visit.
Oddly enough in the US where I’ve seen Signatory bottles come at a premium price. Perhaps distribution is poor this far off or maybe the word got out on the quality?
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Ralfy, What is the best way to stored your bottles of Whisky, up right or on their side? thank you in advance.
Upright. The high alcohol content in spirits can erode the cork.
@@nintendonut100 Good man, thank you. How about if its a rubber style cork or a screw cap?
@@paulrobinson3528 not sure honestly. I've only heard it mentioned as being particularly important which way you store them for real corks. Personally I store all of mine standing even if they haven't real corks just because it's more efficient for space.
@@nintendonut100 Thank you for your input Malt Mate 😀
@@paulrobinson3528 quite welcome.
I've picked up a couple Signatory non-chill bottlings of Caol Ila over the last year or so on your recommendation, and have not been disappointed! I was initially skeptical that most were in the 7-9 year range, but the 8 and 9 I had seemed richer and more flavorful than the official 12-year. I'll definitely be keeping my eyes out for more interesting bottles from those fine folks.
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Instagram? Reddit? Patreon? Ralfy, I've only jist found UA-cam!!
👍❤️🥃
This channel finally has cat ears \o/
The flippers are primarily to blame for a lot of this commercialisation and hyper inflated prices
if only people would stop buying bottles at hyper inflated prices, there would be no flippers
@@travismagee9328 agree, people need to be unbrainwashed. FOMO is not real!! For example, I didn't buy a bottle of Springbank 12 CS when it dropped this year, was priced at $250AUD, it's gone up $100 in Australia over the last 2 years and the quality has only gone down, yet grey market or Flipper prices are double retail in Aussie auctions...
Only fools pay Flipper prices and I get the feeling that Springbank may be getting sneaky with undermatured drams or hot stills... me is not impressed
@@travismagee9328 the problem is that for every 100 whisky enthusiasts, there's 1 rich person who cares more about status and flexing than enjoying the whisky. Average whisky enthusiasts will never be able to keep up with rich people, just like every other facet of life.
@@CosmicHiker22 it doesn't feel that way in my market (Alberta, Canada), but certainly there are differences in every market. No shortage of good whisky available here if you're willing to accept that certain releases are likely unattainable.
@@PerthLuxury I mean Springbank is a particularly onerous example but yeah. And they're core releases too not limited editions. If I can't get my hands on the 12yo CS this year then I probably will in 1 or 2 years time if it's still any good. No biggie as there's plenty of other awesome drams to be had in the meantime.
Although I came across a unicorn Springbank 32 a number of months ago and I did end up paying a small fortune for it. But that's definitely an investment.
Здравствуй.Ралфи,освети.пожалуйста.тему.используемой.винокурнями.воды.для.брожения.и.разбавления.виски...
Вода поступает из местных чистых рек и хранится в резервуаре, а затем фильтруется перед использованием.
Fluffy's not that fluffy. Looks like a serious mouser.
Hey ralfy. Do you have an email address to get in contact with? I made a buckfast track with some audio used from your buckfast review. Just asking permission from you first before I release
. . .I don't give out my e-mail, but go ahead with your track, and I hope it works for you ! Peace.
. . . send me a link when it's ready and I will share 😊