[Chowder Head]

I hardly ever drink but I have a question... which is better bourbon or scotch? Do they taste the same?

[cibo]

(10-26-2016 07:40 PM)Chowder Head Wrote:  

I hardly ever drink but I have a question... which is better bourbon or scotch? Do they taste the same?

Better is a subjective question which you will have to decide on. But they are pretty different in tastes since one is made with corn and the other with oats.

Personally, I prefer scotch, but i drink both.

[Baphomet]

(10-26-2016 07:40 PM)Chowder Head Wrote:  

I hardly ever drink but I have a question... which is better bourbon or scotch? Do they taste the same?

They are very, very, different beasts. Both have run their own gamut from "Trash" to "Treasure."

Because Scotch traditionally is made with malted barley and fired with Scotland's abundant "peat" it rarely has the sweetness that bourbon has.

The "smokiness" or "peat" of scotch, is frequently a characteristic of the region in which the label's distillery is. Scotches from the Islay region tend to be heavily peated. Some people seem to really like the malts that taste the same as licking an ashtray. For me, the perfect level of peat is in a malt called Oban. Its flavor gently caresses your pallet and warms the back of your nose with just the right balance of spirit and smoke.

Malts like Laphroaig literally pull your eyes out ans skull-fuck you with very very heavy peat. The good news is that half the actual Scots don't care for that crap either.

If you want to try lighter malts (and we're talking about SINGLE malts, here, not blends like Johnny Walker, Chivas Regal, Pinch etc. ) look for single malts from Speyside. Aberlour 12 Year, Glenlivet Founder's Reserve, Glenmorangie 10, would all be good choices.

Bourbons lack the peat flavor of the scotches. They are often quite sweet (compared to other whisky) because to be a "Bourbon" it must be made from mash that is no less than 51% corn.

As I mentioned there are some real rot-gut bourbons and scotches out there. Likewise there are some HIGHLY overrated Bourbons and Scotches. Glenfiddich, is a single malt that some people rave about, but to me, it tastes like the PBR of the Scotch world.

You'll hear people utterly rave, and pay $1000s for a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon. Because of changes to the process once used to make it, it just isn't that freaking good. It's is riding the crest of yesteryear's bottlings.

If you want to try a solid bourbon, look for small batch bourbons. Eagle Rare, Jefferson's Reserve, Four Roses Single Barrel, would all be good choices.

Hope this helps!

[PapayaTapper]

Ive been strictly drinking Japanese whiskeys for the last 18 mos. They really have got it dialed


Just tried the Suntory Toki. A blend of whiskies from Suntory's Hakushu, Yamazaki, and Chita distilleries, Suntory Whisky Toki. Nice balance between malt and grain. It's not nearly the best of the Japanese that Ive tried but at $45 a bottle it's surprisingly good and so a good value.

Paired it with

La Flor Dominicana Chisel



By the way, the chisel shape cigar is relatively new was specifically designed to be punch cut at the top (vs traditional end cut or punch)






This really changes the way the cigar smokes as it draws the smoke right up into your palate.

I was surprised at the difference and am actually going to experiment with this type of punch cut on torpedos

Here's a short video with Litto Gomez founder of LFD and the inventor of the chisel cut himself