Malt Whisky - once opened, does it go off?

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Originally posted by Tom Alves:
I tend to use a brandy balloon.

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I assume you're talking a big bellied snifter, with narrow top. I find that this type of glass accentuates the alcohol too much, making Scotch seem too much like Brandy.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

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Originally posted by Mike Hanson:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jonathan Hales:
The biggest single thing you can do to enhance your enjoyment of any malt is to shout yourself and a mate a couple of Riedel single malt glasses. The difference is like going from a 72 to a 552.

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http://www.avzine.com/images/riedel.jpeg http://www.avzine.com/images/riedel2.jpeg

As far as I was concerned, both felt like wine glasses with stubby stems, whereas I prefer the solid-bottomed heft of a rocks glass.

I explained Riedel's approach to my wife: _an elongated thistle shape on a truncated stem. The design incorporates a small, slightly out-turned lip that directs the spirit onto the tip of the tongue, where sweetness is perceived, and serves to bring out the elegant creaminess of a top-quality single malt._ I added my desire for a solid base, and she found a great bit of crystal that satisfies all the criteria. It is indeed an extreme pleasure drinking Scotch from this glass.

Great reply Mike.

I know exactly what you mean. There is something so right about drinking a Scotty out of a heavy based tumbler rather than an egg cup but the taste difference is incredible.

It makes most Whiskys taste slightly sweeter and smoother.

And yes, chocolate is a great partner as a lot of the sinlge malts are kind of chocolaty anyway.

Chaps

There is more twaddle writtem about whisky glasses than about whisky itself.

The best whisky glasses are made by Gleneagles.

The bases should be about 1/4" thick and the walls should be thin and tapering slightly inwards to arrest the aroma.

The thin walls allow the warmth of the hands to warm up the whisky in the same way as a brandy glass works.

Drinking from this type of glass definately improves the overall experience.

Regards

Mick

Mick,

So I can take it from your usual sage like authority that you have drunk said spirit in a Riedel glass?

How's the CDS3?

Do you listen to it display on/off?

Do you reckon it makes any difference?

Cheers,

Jono.

So I can take it from your usual sage like authority that you have drunk said spirit in a Riedel glass?

No I have enough whisky glasses to last a lifetime.

How's the CDS3?

Brilliant

Do you listen to it display on/off?

I tend to have the track number on display

Do you reckon it makes any difference?

Only slightly and only late at night.

Regards

Mick

quote:

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Originally posted by Richard S:
Oddbins own label are good value. They offer a geographical range of single malts. Most around £20.

regards

Richard S

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Er.........unfortunately no longer available according to Oddbins in Liverpool. Ah well.

The best blend I have come across is Peaty Creag, the own label whisky offered by Tanners of Shrewsbury the wine merchants. At £11.60 a bottle it's an absolute steal.

regards

Richard S

Sorry guys, the best way to drink a good whisky is from a tin cup whilst sitting around an open fire with good friends somewhere in the Scottish Highlands waiting to retire to your tent.

It might not have the absolute taste-rendering properties that other glasses bring to the party but there is nothing to beat drinking a good malt in these conditions.

"It's all in the occassion"

Over to Mr. Tom, who really advocates a "source is best" policy to whisky

So, getting back to whisky glasses again, do these Riedel glasses *really* make that much of a difference?

I'm on a diet* right now and I've set 'targets' and 'rewards' - my reward for the first target is a bottle from the Winter 2004 SMWS bottling (probably the Bruichladdich early cask bottling which has had an excellent write up thus far) but I might stretch that to include a Riedel glass if they make that much of a difference...

I've lost about 2/3 stone in a week if my scales are to be believed, so perhaps I should ask for better scales...

* diet is 1200 cals per day, no food with > 4% fat, no alcohol/fizzy drinks/rice/pasta, reasonably tough to stick to (250 cals for lunch is really tough!) but it's only for two weeks so I'll cope... I'm missing my drams though...

John

TC '..'
"Sun went down in honey. Moon came up in wine. Stars were spinnin' dizzy, Lord, the band kept us so busy we forgot about the time."

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Originally posted by Top Cat:
So, getting back to whisky glasses again, do these Riedel glasses *really* make that much of a difference?

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Glasses always make a difference! Whether the Reidel is that much better than a better than any other good crystal glass might be up for debate, though. I've not tried the Reidel, but I know I prefer drinking Scotch out of a "proper" glass, versus some tin cup (even if it is around a campfire with your mates).

I also drink port, and I've got a variety of glasses, depending on the character of it. I occasionally use "port pipes" when drinking LBVs, although not always. When I try using the pipes for a Tawny, though, it's a terrible experience. For that, I prefer a crystal rocks glass. For vintage ports, I like a very small wine glass (a.k.a. sherry glass?). That's the same glass, btw, that I use for drinking ice wine.

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Yeah, it's a bit difficult to believe and I can't say I feel any thinner, but there you go. It's a 1200 calorie per day diet, and I've been sticking to it and doing a bit of walking and cycling as well.

It's only for another week then it ups to 1750 calories until I get back down to 12st (I was 14st6, and the scales are reading around 13st8 but I figure that it's probably closer to 13st10).

Could murder a whisky, or a curry. Or both. Mmmmm, yes, both. With peshwari naan bread, rice, lots of nice rich sauce and lamb, chicken, mmmm.... ice cream to finish with, then some post prandial drams in a nice leather armchair by a big roaring fire...

>pop<

Whoops, must have been dreaming there...

John

TC '..'
"Sun went down in honey. Moon came up in wine. Stars were spinnin' dizzy, Lord, the band kept us so busy we forgot about the time."

quote:

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Originally posted by Top Cat:
It's only for another week then it ups to 1750 calories until I get back down to 12st (I was 14st6, and the scales are reading around 13st8 but I figure that it's probably closer to 13st10).

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FFS John, you were fatter than me for a while there...

That's what marriage does to you!

Regards
Steve

quote:

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Originally posted by Top Cat:
So, getting back to whisky glasses again, do these Riedel glasses *really* make that much of a difference?

._"

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Yip, and to every variety of wine too, some more than others.

There are even two grades of quality, the more expensive hand blown versions are twice the price though I think its merely snobbery on the part of equally snobby wine snobs.

It is the shape that delivers the wine to the right part of the mouth that makes them special.

The Scotch ones look funny but really do work.

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Straight out of the still?

Tom

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I would tend not to be "that" devoted to the source as you would probably go blind on the foreshots unless you could judge the cut by eye, ear or nose.......

But then, it must lie in the cask for a minimum of three years to change from spirit to whisky........

A tip to stop whiskey going off!

Drink it

Regards


NB