How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch • Hacker News Board

Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch

#11

Post by dhd415 » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 2:27 AM UTC

vowelless wrote: post #9

tptacek wrote: post #6

Sherry is the reason people like Macallan, but: * lots of Scotch has no sherry, and, particularly, the smokey peaty Islays tend not to be sherried at all. Sherried Scotch is a distinctive style, mostly centered in Speyside. * There are better, cheaper sherry bomb whiskies than Macallan; try Aberlour A’bunadh (cheap, excellent) and Glendronach (still substantially cheaper than Macallan, and I think much better). The b…

> Aberlour A’bunadh Where are you getting cheap Aberlour A'bunadh?? It's my favorite scotch but I cannot find it for less than 2 to 3 times the price of Macallan 12. Also, Glenmorangie is a delicious sherry scotch. Tastes a lot like Macallan and usually cheaper. > The big trend in Scotch is towards “no age statement” (NAS) bottlings, because Scotland is not keeping up with resurgent global demand. NAS bottles are you…

Or cheaper Glendronach for that matter? It's 40-60% more expensive than Macallan here.

Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch

#12

Post by tptacek » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 2:31 AM UTC

dhd415 wrote: post #11

vowelless wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Aberlour A’bunadh Where are you getting cheap Aberlour A'bunadh?? It's my favorite scotch but I cannot find it for less than 2 to 3 times the price of Macallan 12. Also, Glenmorangie is a delicious sherry scotch. Tastes a lot like Macallan and usually cheaper. > The big trend in Scotch is towards “no age statement” (NAS) bottlings, because Scotland is not keeping up with resurgent global demand. NAS bottles are you…

Or cheaper Glendronach for that matter? It's 40-60% more expensive than Macallan here.

Than Mac 12! Yeah, sorry: Mac 12 is probably a good value. The comparison I’m always seeing made is to Mac 18.

(Actually, Binny’s current Mac 12 price in Chicago appears to be higher than Abunadh or Dronach 12 [which is fantastic]).

Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch

#13

Post by tptacek » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 2:33 AM UTC

flyinghamster wrote: post #10

tptacek wrote: post #6

Sherry is the reason people like Macallan, but: * lots of Scotch has no sherry, and, particularly, the smokey peaty Islays tend not to be sherried at all. Sherried Scotch is a distinctive style, mostly centered in Speyside. * There are better, cheaper sherry bomb whiskies than Macallan; try Aberlour A’bunadh (cheap, excellent) and Glendronach (still substantially cheaper than Macallan, and I think much better). The b…

A great deal of the flavoring from bourbon casks goes into the bourbon. American straight whiskeys always require new, charred oak. Hmmm, I wonder if any Scotch gets aged in casks that were used for rye whiskey, and how much difference there would be compared to a bourbon cask? Scotch can be aged in any oak, new or previously used, and more recently, there have been other types of casks (such as port, or French oak)…

I doubt there would be much difference between ex-rye and ex-bourbon. The first fill of American spirit strips most of the flavor out of the barrel and doesn’t leave really anything behind. (There’s a cool Woodford Reserve demo bottling you can get that demonstrates this).

Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch

#14

Post by flyinghamster » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 2:40 AM UTC

vowelless wrote: post #9

tptacek wrote: post #6

Sherry is the reason people like Macallan, but: * lots of Scotch has no sherry, and, particularly, the smokey peaty Islays tend not to be sherried at all. Sherried Scotch is a distinctive style, mostly centered in Speyside. * There are better, cheaper sherry bomb whiskies than Macallan; try Aberlour A’bunadh (cheap, excellent) and Glendronach (still substantially cheaper than Macallan, and I think much better). The b…

> Aberlour A’bunadh Where are you getting cheap Aberlour A'bunadh?? It's my favorite scotch but I cannot find it for less than 2 to 3 times the price of Macallan 12. Also, Glenmorangie is a delicious sherry scotch. Tastes a lot like Macallan and usually cheaper. > The big trend in Scotch is towards “no age statement” (NAS) bottlings, because Scotland is not keeping up with resurgent global demand. NAS bottles are you…

> Where are you getting cheap Aberlour A'bunadh?? It's my favorite scotch but I cannot find it for less than 2 to 3 times the price of Macallan 12.

I was going to ask that, as well. :-) In Chicagoland at least, there isn't a huge price difference, though ($67 for Macallan 12, $90 for A'bunadh). On the other hand, last time I had a bottle of A'bunadh, it was in the $60-$65 range.

Fortunately, being cask strength, the A'bunadh bottle can go farther, provided you dilute it properly.

While I like the Speyside style, I like peated Islays as well. I'm interested in the Lagavulin 8 - the 16 is still just a bit too dear (though down in price from a few years ago).

Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch

#15

Post by dustinkirkland » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 2:52 AM UTC

I do love single malt scotch whisky.

But I will say...Sherry by itself is totally underated.

I spent a week in Jerez a few years ago studying Sherry and it is truly an art.

If you like Single Malt and Sour Beer, you owe it to yourself to seek out a Sherry bar and explore the magic of Fino, Amontillado, and the ever evasive Palo Cortado.

Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch

#16

Post by HillaryBriss » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 2:58 AM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #7

HillaryBriss wrote: post #3

The Macallan is kind of a special case of sherry barrel aging nowadays. Because of US laws that require aging bourbon in new, freshly charred, American oak barrels, a large quantity of the barrels sold to distillers across the globe are "ex bourbon." So, now, an awful lot of booze out there -- and not just whiskey, but also American brandy and some Caribbean rums -- tastes sorta like bourbon.

It tastes sort of like American oak, but not so much like bourbon. To a first approximation, everything not aged in Sherry butts has basically always been aged in ex bourbon casks, and lots of Scotch varieties have never been sherried.

> To a first approximation, everything not aged in Sherry butts has basically always been aged in ex bourbon casks ...

What historical evidence supports the notion that rum and brandy were, even to a first approximation, basically always aged in ex bourbon casks?

Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch

#17

Post by tptacek » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 2:58 AM UTC

flyinghamster wrote: post #14

vowelless wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Aberlour A’bunadh Where are you getting cheap Aberlour A'bunadh?? It's my favorite scotch but I cannot find it for less than 2 to 3 times the price of Macallan 12. Also, Glenmorangie is a delicious sherry scotch. Tastes a lot like Macallan and usually cheaper. > The big trend in Scotch is towards “no age statement” (NAS) bottlings, because Scotland is not keeping up with resurgent global demand. NAS bottles are you…

> Where are you getting cheap Aberlour A'bunadh?? It's my favorite scotch but I cannot find it for less than 2 to 3 times the price of Macallan 12. I was going to ask that, as well. :-) In Chicagoland at least, there isn't a huge price difference, though ($67 for Macallan 12, $90 for A'bunadh). On the other hand, last time I had a bottle of A'bunadh, it was in the $60-$65 range. Fortunately, being cask strength, the…

Weird. I just paid mid-60s for a bottle, from Binnys, off Instacart no less, but yeah the price right now is just shy of $90.

It’s not worth $90. You can get a Dronach for that much.

A good relatively inexpensive sherry Speyside is Dailuane (in my experience only the cheap Dailuanes are good).

Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch

#18

Post by tptacek » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 3:02 AM UTC

dustinkirkland wrote: post #15

I do love single malt scotch whisky. But I will say...Sherry by itself is totally underated. I spent a week in Jerez a few years ago studying Sherry and it is truly an art. If you like Single Malt and Sour Beer, you owe it to yourself to seek out a Sherry bar and explore the magic of Fino, Amontillado, and the ever evasive Palo Cortado.

The tough thing about sherry is that it doesn’t keep. I can keep 5-6 different interesting whiskeys in my house for months, but a sherry bottle has to get drunk within a week.

We had a restaurant in Chicago, Vera, with a huge sherry list. It was kind a of a miracle; I’d rather go there than to Longman with their equivalently long whiskey list. Gone now though :(.

Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch

#19

Post by bradleyjg » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 3:06 AM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #6

Sherry is the reason people like Macallan, but: * lots of Scotch has no sherry, and, particularly, the smokey peaty Islays tend not to be sherried at all. Sherried Scotch is a distinctive style, mostly centered in Speyside. * There are better, cheaper sherry bomb whiskies than Macallan; try Aberlour A’bunadh (cheap, excellent) and Glendronach (still substantially cheaper than Macallan, and I think much better). The b…

> the smokey peaty Islays tend not to be sherried at all.

Lagavulin, my personal favorite, is the exception.

Re: How Sherry Became the Secret to Great Scotch

#20

Post by jackhack » Thu, Jul 19, 2018, 3:10 AM UTC

peterwwillis wrote: post #8

Sherry is definitely underappreciated in the US. One of my favorite aspects of it is how it is poured in Spain. A Venenciador uses a long rod with a thin cup to dip into a cask and pour the sherry into a small glass from high up in the air. This is a regular part of the sampling process in bodegas, but it is also performed at parties, weddings and fancy restaurants. It takes a lot of practice to get good at it, so go…

Interesting it's so firmly a part of the ritual of serving sherry. But then aeration is known to improve the flavours of many types of spirits and even electronic wine bottle toppers are available to spin the air.