What is a good way to drink Scotch, and what type should I get?
I want to try drinking some Scotch, but I am not sure a good way to drink it. So can anyone suggest a good, not to expensive, brand, that would be easy to find in a small liqour store, and a good have it? Also, I do not really like to mix drinks with soda pop, so please don’t suggest mixing it with Coke or anything. Thanks.
April 3rd, 2011 at 1:03 am
A decent scotch, generally, should not be mixed with anything. Not even ice or water or soda water.
You should be able to find Oban, Laguvilin, Laphroaig, Bowmore or Highland Park.
Enjoy (and drink responsibly.)
April 3rd, 2011 at 1:24 am
PEOPLE FLAVORED SCOTCH
April 3rd, 2011 at 1:42 am
Get a single malt whiskey and mix 50/50 with water. The water helps release the flavour. The older the whiskey the better. That is how long it has been in the cask, not the bottle. No ice.
April 3rd, 2011 at 1:51 am
Johnny Walker Green Label. Best Inexpensive Scotch I Ever Had ! Getting Drunk on that is Nice, Lucid and Blissful.
April 3rd, 2011 at 2:11 am
If you’ve never had scotch before, drinking it straight up (or neat, meaning with no ice) is probably going to be a tough way to learn to like the taste. If you drink scotch on the rocks, the ice will cool the liquor and give it a less-harsh taste. Additionally, you can drink scotch sours: 1.5 ounces of Scotch, 3 oz of sour mix (lemon juice and oj combo), dash bitters, shake on ice, pour into ice filled cocktail glass.
Some not too expensive scotches that the above poster didn’t mention: Dewar’s White Label (blended) or Dewar’s 12 year, Johnny Walker Black Label (better quality than Red label but more $$$, less than green and blue labels), Cutty Sark.
Can’t recall if the other poster mentioned The Glenlivet, or Glenfiddich.
April 3rd, 2011 at 2:11 am
not many people like it, but i enjoy cutty sark. I find that just about any good whiskey goes excellently with soda water, or as other people have said, with as splash of distilled water. Ice is a matter of personally taste. Blended scotches are typically inexpensive and quite tasty, with single malts, you pay more and gamble on liking it or not. YOur best bet is to talk to either a liquor store clerk or a bartender.
April 3rd, 2011 at 2:49 am
Glen Levit-neat. In other words no ice.
April 3rd, 2011 at 2:52 am
Gotta go with BullyH. Old dog knows his sh#t!
April 3rd, 2011 at 3:46 am
I started on my Scotch career drinking it neat (no ice) and trying as many as I could. Granted I was already an alcoholic so I loved the taste from the start. I would go for a single malt first because, while blended Scotch is cheaper, you get what you paid for. My first single malt was Glenfiddich 12yo. Great aroma, great tasting and a nice beginner whisky (not much peat or smoke flavor). As for the guy suggesting mixing it 50/50 with water, to each his own, but why would you want to water it down to half consistency?
April 3rd, 2011 at 4:40 am
Don’t listen to the folks who say you should only drink whisky neat. I don’t understand the chemistry of it, but adding just a little bit of water genuinely does “open up” the flavour.
I second the recommendation of Glenfiddich as a good beginners’ whisky if you want to go with the single malts. It has a nice rounded flavour that doesn’t overpower with any one component, and you should be able to find it at most liquor stores. Glenlivet is another good one like this. Someone recommended Laphroaig, but I don’t — that’s a seriously peat-flavoured Scotch which you probably won’t appreciate at first. Glenfiddich is the most popular single malt for good reason.
I actually think a blended Scotch is a better place to start, and the one and only moderately-priced blended Scotch I actually like is Chivas Regal. A blend will give you a better overall “whisky” flavour without being too strong in any one component… once you’ve learned to taste all the different components you’ll be in a better position to appreciate some of the single malts, I think.