. . . sometimes a blended malt is better than a single malt !
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Thanks for another good vlog Ralfy, thoroughly enjoyed it. Would have been great if you could have reviewed the regular J&B blended scotch along with this rather unknown atleast in parts outside of europe blended malt. I hope we get access to it soon in Asia, as you seem to have liked a quite a bit. Cheers!
Hi Ralfy, thank you for your informative and insightful reviews. On the subject of malt-mixing. I have recently attempted to facsimile the late, great JWG 15 yo thus: 30% Cragganmore 12 yo, 30% Linkwood 15 yo (G&McP), 10% Talisker 10 yo, 10% Caol Ila 12 yo and, the magic ingredient to bring the aggregate age statement up to approx. 15 yo, JW Swing (preference would be Swing Superior at 43%, but can’t locate one of those just yet). The resultant ‘pure malt’ is very close to JWG 15 and of course, lots of fun was had during the mixing process. Best regards, Darren Lowe, Expat in Wellington, NZ. PS. Any reviews of NZ Whisky in the pipeline? PPS. I will look out for the J&B 12 PM, I do of course enjoy many single malts, but do find the malt blends (purchased & DIY) intriguing, enjoyable and educational, all at the same time.
Hello Ralfy. Wanted to ask if you know anything about Isle Arran Machrie Moor cask strength. I know you gave some good marks to isle of Arran and was curious about this slightly peaty version, the online reviews I’ve seen were mixed (although the most negative ones were about a 46% bottling not the CS). I’m going to a shop called potstill in vienna and I want to chose between this and the shops special bottling of caol ila (by gordon &mcphail, also CS but rather young, could be interesting though Single cask bottling | Cask No 301546 | 1st fill bourbon barrel). Thank you.
Design is nice,probably left the whisky that colour to echo the label.Win-win in any case.
Stop swirling your whisky, your not drinking wine.
In Whisky review 47 you recommended Monkey Shoulder as a good quality malt blend Ralfy. Is this no longer the case??
Look at the thumbs up and down… 175 thumbs UP and ZERO thumbs DOWN… lol
A scot criticizing greed..
There is always alternative to the rising prices of single malt: Bourbon. Just now sippin’ Wild Turkey 101 (28€ from Holland) and the rye heavy flavor is totally rocking my socks off. Booya!
Hello Mr. Ralfy, I am in Colombia Southamerica and ive found a blended malt called “Glen SIlver´s” from Angus Dundee distillery. Please review it. I found myself blown away for the value os this dram.
Is anyone else bothered by the screw top? What’s the deal with that lately? While awaiting screw tops on very cheap bottles from Aldi or Lidl, I certainly wouldn’t await one on a whisky with such a decent age of 12 yrs. Am I being inflexible? Do I need to lighten up? 😉 Or does it really impart a cheap feel to it?
You say you won’t be purchasing Monkey Shoulder, but in review #47, I believe you recommended it as a blend?
Ralfy! thanks for the malt mention!!! Greetings from Canada (Ottawa, nation’s capital), where we get fleeced for taxes and the liquor control board are run by very un-fun people (I was going to call them fascists, but that seemed a bit too much, but not by much)… So I will have to find a bottle of J&B 12yo to celebrate, but in the mean time, I toast all your vids and good advice with a wee bit of Springbank 12…
Cheers Ralfy,
Peter Murphy
Hello Ralfy.
It must be day and nite between
J&B “rare” and the JB12 because the former is really terrible.
Starting the blending journey, I used someone’s suggestion to mix the host blended malt with a parent malt.
JWB12 w/Taliker I believe is a connection rite??… because it really really taste like a heavenly dram.
Cheers
Hi Ralfy,
Just wanted to iron something out about Monkey Shoulder. You recommended it in review 47 (along with a few other blended scotches). Has something changed, as you mentioned in this one that you won’t be reviewing it? I didn’t want to seek out inconsistencies or anything, but monkey shoulder is one that I was looking to pick up at some point and wanted to get my bearings straight.
Thanks,
TMITM
Is it me or is that a clear/colourless Glenlivet bottle? Its got the same shape and the same crest cirlce area thingymajig on the neck?!?!
@ralfystuff You always mention that corn is the predominant ingredient in scottish grain whisky, but don’t many grain whisky producers (i.e., Girvan) use significant portions of other grains such as wheat? Do any grain whisky producers use solely wheat or other grains?
How about the J&B 15y old? is quite cheap around here, around 15 pound…
Bought a bottle of Glenlivet 12 year old here in Australia. Tried it and right away it just didn’t seem right. Got a fellow whisky drinker to try it without biasing him with my opinion and he gave me much the same response. Who should I direct my complaints to first? The Australian distributor or the producer? Or both?
Greed=Macallan. lol
Ralfy,
As a long time viewer I must say you are one of the most honest and consistent scotch and spirit reviewer out there
Keep up the malt moments
By the way have you ever come across a rum called Zafra 21 year old?
Curious on your thoughts
Thanks
Price is comparable to any 12 year old single malt
I’m glad to hear that JWG is again becoming available. So why did Diageo close- down this much loved and respected whisky only to introduce another ‘pure’ malt under the lesser known J&B brand? Maybe, its because JWG contained a fair wack of Talisker and Caol Ila, that are in great demand in their blends. I suspect its that ‘G’ word again, as they can sell these whiskies at higher prices as Single Malts.
charlie maclean swirls it round in the glass like an excitable mule
Yup, I certainly feel you are a Malt Mate Ralfy. I could not agree with you more regarding your comments on sugar. I started cutting sugar out of my diet some 5 years ago and one of the first things I noticed (apart from my glucose levels going down) was a dramatic increase in the perception of flavours from food and drink. I found myself moving away from the sweet whiskies and venturing into other more challenging styles. For instance, I’m not sure that I’d apreciate a Glencadam if my tastebuds were loaded up with sugar.
Thank you for your comments regarding Monkey Shoulder. I’ve seen this all over the place recently in and around Jerusalem. There seems to be a real marketing push for this whisky at the moment. I’ll avoid it.
I’ll look out for the J&B 12YO. It’s a shame that they made the bottle styling almost the same as the regular grain blend. It makes it look cheap.
More Sage advice Ralfy. There is nothing wrong with profit, all companies have to make it, what is wrong is Profiteering, or been less kind, sheer greed, that’s what’s wrong.
has any one tryed to age scotch whisky in sohju or rice vodka.
I have a 1959 unopened bottle of J&B 20 year old museum quality in original box.
“. . . sometimes a blended malt is better than a single malt !” ???
Mutiny in the maltery ! ! !
I say 😉
Ralfy, could you elaborate on your thoughts on Monkey Shoulder? The whisky rather than the injury. I believe you recommended it way back in review 47.