After collecting scotches over a few years, I’ve noticed that there are periods in which the only bottles I really have on the shelf are not easy enjoyable drams. I have no problem opening up a nice bottle once in a while and enjoy it slowly, but there are times when you just want to drink something tasty.
I’ve noticed more and more that I’ve been leaning toward the Glenmorangie 10 and the Tomatin 12 as my everyday bottles that I can enjoy after a long day to simply unwind. Anyone have any other suggestions that would fall under the daily-drinker category? Both the Tomatin and Glenmorangie are around $30-$35 around me which is a fair price I feel.
I am more of a Speyside guy and don’t much like heavy peat so don’t have frog or lag on my shelf. But, there’s usually Balvenie, Macallan, Glenrothes, Aberlour open at my house. Have quite a few Japanese malts open too. And tons of bourbon/rye.
for easy drinking, esp if you’re ok with scotch on the rocks (can balance some of the heady alcohol and also makes it a more refreshing sipper), I like cheaper blends. Bank Note is pretty decent and is also a good mixer if you want a scotch cocktail like a penicillin, etc. Johnnie Walker Green is underrated for what it is – all malt, no grain whisky, and 15 y/o age statement which is increasingly a rarity, and can be found at a great price at a lot of places, including Costco. the Green was out for a while but I’m glad it’s back in production/distribution, has more depth than the black and is a much better deal than the blue or the newer platinum, etc.
I don’t know about “heavy”, but the iodine/peaty finish is definitely there. This is a blend, and also aged less than Springbank’s single malts (6 years, I think), so it’s not going to have the same punch as the above two. However, that’s arguably a feature rather than a flaw for a daily drinker.
Always add a few drops of water. Yeah, it’s on the sweeter side, as it’s not so peaty. It’s a blend of three non-peaty single malts, so I guess that’s why (Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie)