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I drank a 34 year old single malt yesterday

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Clair de Lune

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My friend couple invited us for some lazy stay-at-home drinking and talking. He said we should drink some scotch he has.

I didn't want to go empty handed so I brought my Balvenie 12 yo & Cragganmore 12 yo. Upon arriving he opened his Highland Park 34 year old scotch. Fvcking A, 34????

Man it tasted so smooth. You know that obvious rough taste when you drink a crappy spirit and it's worlds above when you drink a 12 yo single malt?

Well I drank Craggan 16 and HP 34, side by side. In a DIRECT comparison one after another (with spring water to cleanse palate of course), Craggan tasted REALLY rough in comparison.

Man good stuff... just wanted to share with you all, I know there are lot of scotch fans here.
 
I always thought 12yrs was the best age for Highland Park. I'm actually a little surprised the 34yr didn't taste woody. I've had Cragganmore 12yr I believe, but I don't remember much about it. I guess that says something. I probably thought it was good, but not necessarily worth me getting again. Dalmore 12yr is a favorite of mine; I also like the Cigar Malt. Dalmore makes some great whiskys at great prices.
 
What did it taste like? I'm not too interested in the "smoother" characteristic of an older scotch as much as the flavor. I've had some older ones that I didn't like as much as my two "every day" scotches - Glenfiddich 15yr and Glenlivet 15yr French Oak Reserve. Then again, I've never had a 34 year old scotch, and even if it tasted like shit I'd still like to try it!

I'm jealous, though. You drank something older than me 🙂
 
Originally posted by: lxskllr
I always thought 12yrs was the best age for Highland Park. I'm actually a little surprised the 34yr didn't taste woody. I've had Cragganmore 12yr I believe, but I don't remember much about it. I guess that says something. I probably thought it was good, but not necessarily worth me getting again. Dalmore 12yr is a favorite of mine; I also like the Cigar Malt. Dalmore makes some great whiskys at great prices.
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Sounds like you like the 12s. I think I fall into the 15yr bucket most of the time, not sure why that is.

Have you tried Scapa 14yr or Yamazaki (not scotch, since its made in japan, but notoriously like scotch b/c of the process, ingredients, and barrels)?

Both of those are definitely "bargains" as far as aged single malts go. Love 'em both.
 
Originally posted by: sjwaste
What did it taste like? I'm not too interested in the "smoother" characteristic of an older scotch as much as the flavor. I've had some older ones that I didn't like as much as my two "every day" scotches - Glenfiddich 15yr and Glenlivet 15yr French Oak Reserve. Then again, I've never had a 34 year old scotch, and even if it tasted like shit I'd still like to try it!

I'm jealous, though. You drank something older than me 🙂
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Rich cherry-ish deep taste yet it was very light at the same time. It wasn't full-blown heavy like Balvenie or Macallen, but neither it was light and grapey like Glivenlivet or Craggan. It was goooood stuff. Not peaty at all.

 
Originally posted by: sjwaste
What did it taste like? I'm not too interested in the "smoother" characteristic of an older scotch as much as the flavor. I've had some older ones that I didn't like as much as my two "every day" scotches - Glenfiddich 15yr and Glenlivet 15yr French Oak Reserve. Then again, I've never had a 34 year old scotch, and even if it tasted like shit I'd still like to try it!

I'm jealous, though. You drank something older than me 🙂
Click to expand...

Older isn't always better with whisky. There's an ideal age, and that could be on the younger side. It also depends on personal taste. Italians are known for liking very young whiskys, so you'll see a lot of them sold in the 7yr range over there.

Glenfiddich is known to keep well to extraordinary ages. They used to sell it at an undisclosed age, but it was known to be predominantly 9yrs old. They now sell it at 12yr minimum, and it's much better due to that fact.

The age shown on the bottle is the age of the youngest whisky in the blend. If you add 1 ounce of 3yr old scotch(it has to be at least 3yr to be called scotch) to a bottle of 25yr whisky, it has to be sold as a 3yr old scotch. That's why you'll see some very good whiskys sold with an undisclosed age. They add some very young whisky for flavoring characteristics, but they don't want a very young year displayed on the bottle as it would be presumed by many to be inferior.
 
Originally posted by: sjwaste

Sounds like you like the 12s. I think I fall into the 15yr bucket most of the time, not sure why that is.

Have you tried Scapa 14yr or Yamazaki (not scotch, since its made in japan, but notoriously like scotch b/c of the process, ingredients, and barrels)?

Both of those are definitely "bargains" as far as aged single malts go. Love 'em both.
Click to expand...

It depends. I think I'd say I like whisky middle aged. Probably 15yr avg would be my preferred style, but that can go either way depending on brand. I didn't like the 25yr Macallan I had nearly as well as the 18yr, and the same goes for Highland Park. I've had the 25yr, but didn't like it nearly as well as the 12.


Edit:
The only non Scottish malt I've had is Bushmills pure malt, and some other Irish whose name escapes me atm. The Bushmills I didn't think was worth the price. Black Bush is much better at that price range. The other one was good, and they used peated malt, but it was average by scotch standards.

I've had Scapa, but I guess I didn't consider it noteworthy. Good, but not a repeat buy. I've never had a bad whisky that was over $25 a bottle. I've liked them all, but wouldn't necessarily buy again.

Edit2:
Connemara is the peated Irish. I'm not sure if that was pure malt, or a blend. It's good, and unique, but average.
 
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