Thanks pretty much entirely to my group of friends I've been getting more into spirits lately. I've had some good tequilas and gins (and some awful cognacs), but for now I'll be starting my adventure with whisky.
Lets get one thing out of the way. American rules for spelling "whisky" are incredibly annoying. Canadian and Scottish whisky's are spelled as such. However American and Irish whisky's are spelled as whiskey. There's some even more complicated line I don't understand where sometimes American "whiskey" is called bourbon, if it's made from primarily corn or something? Plus it's also common to call Scottish whisky simply "Scotch", but only in America!?!?!
Fuck.
That's way too confusing. I think the Scottish / Canadian method of spelling them all the same way is much simpler. I'll be sticking to this unless referring specifically to the name of the whisky. So lets just get that out of the way first.
All of these whiskys are good to me, and they're all a 4/4 on my current scale. So instead of rating them, instead I'll post them in the order that I tried them, and describe their pros and cons. (I may have tried some others... but I never bought them, so I won't count them.)
After all of this if you are interested in what I think is the ideal type of drinkware, then just read on.
#1
Serpent's Bite
Country: Canada
This is a very sweet, and cheap, apple cider flavored whisky.
Actually that first line says almost everything that there is to be said about it. This isn't a watered down whisky like jack daniel's apple cider flavored one that is only 15%ABV. It kicks as hard as it is sweet. And to me, this is a great balance. Originally this whisky was shared to me by a friend. Even after sharing it with others, I think everyone except for the regular whisky drinker liked it.
This is the downside. It doesn't really taste like whisky. It's a crazy strong apple cider whisky type thing. It's awesome. Maybe not the best entry point if you're specifically interested in traditional drinks. But this stuff is cheap, less than $12 for a 750ml bottle. I really don't have anything bad to say.
(sorry, not my picture)
#2
Canadian Club
Country: Canada
This is a smooth, cheap, and complex whisky.
As with the following 2 whisky's this was recommended to me by a friend on Twitter. He said it was his "ideal entry level whisky" which is a good way to put it. Easy to drink, complex in flavor, and affordable? What more could you ask for.
It also comes in a brown bottle, which means you won't need to cover it with a cloth if you intend to drink it over a long period of time. Usually more expensive whiskys come in clear bottles to show off their color instead. So that's nice, I always prioritize practicality over fanciness.
Serpents bite is an awesome party drink for anyone to try out, but Canadian Club is a great drink to sip and enjoy over a period of time. You could bring it to a party too though, not like it would cost you too much. The price is similar to Serpents bite, ~$12.
(yeah I don't have any whisky glasses yet, deal with it)
#3
Johnnie Walker Red Label
Country: Scotland
This is a simple, strong, but still affordable and interesting whisky.
Red Label is the whisky that made me question what type of glassware to use for drinking whisky. Initially I just put it into a wine glass (big red wine glass, burgundy style), in order to easily smell the aromas. However, straight out of the bottle, and when drinking from a burgundy glass, this whisky will burn your nose if you inhale even at a normal speed.
That really put things into perspective. When freshly poured, Red Label has a STRONG aroma. It has a very strong, malt forward taste, that is so strong it kind of tastes like dirt. But the good kind of dirt, not like Malort.
That said, freshly poured Red Label is pretty off-putting for the new drinker. I tend to drink slowly over a period of time though. And what I did find, is that after about 15 minutes, the flavor profile changed entirely. It changed from being a hyper-aggressive malt-dirt flavor, to being more of a strong malt, with equally strong spice flavor? That's pretty awesome.
So basically whisky aerates just like wine. The effects are even more drastic, due to high alcohol content. As alcohol evaporates (and probably other chemical things I don't understand) the flavor changes completely. If you are like me and you prefer the aerated flavor of Red Label, using an aerator will cut down the aeration time from around 15 minutes, to closer to 5.
After aeration, Red Label is still a very strong spirit. But it's awesome. I really like it in that form. My main complaint is that it's a little one dimensional. Compared to the other 3 whiskys in this post though, it's the strongest flavor. And to me that's pretty cool.
Price is ~$24.
#4 Crown Royal
Country: Canada
Awesome whisky... affordable, complex. The flavor is good straight from pouring, and even 20 minutes later.
Out of the bottle, this whisky has a spice flavor nearly as strong as Red Label, but it's more complex. The blended nature of this whisky feels very similar to Canadian Club, but it's a stronger flavor.
If you can hold off on drinking it long enough (man that's hard!), the spice flavor will chill out a bit, and the malt flavor of Crown will come out.
This means that not only is Crown awesome straight out of the bottle, but it's great even in a longer session. Plus it has a more mild flavor, meaning more people can enjoy it. On top of that, it's cheaper than red label ~19$.
This is an awesome bang for the buck, no one can go wrong with this drink.
WHISKY DRINKWARE
Based on my experience with these 4 whisky's, the only one strong enough to burn your nose in a wine glass is the Red Label. What does that mean? It means you want a wine shaped glass to properly capture the aroma of the whisky, so you can fully enjoy it.
As you can see above with the Crown photo, I did try drinking it out of a mug, which is more or less the same shape of a rocks glass. Since Crown is less aromatic than Red Label, it was actually less enjoyable in this drinkware. I've drank them both side by side in this mug, and there's no doubt the wine-style glass is ideal. It's just too big.
So I ordered these: Glencairn Crystal Canadian Whisky Glass, Set of 2
The "Glencairn" is the official whisky glass. It's basically an old fashioned burgundy glass, but smaller. Perfect right? Downside, I think it's too small. On top of that, the traditional glencairn style is not a flat bottom.
What is the problem with not being a flat bottom? What if you want to try out your spirits on the rocks? Not with ice, with actual rocks. You want a flat bottom so they won't easily scrape your glass.
Plus I like to drink larger quantities over a longer period of time. This "Canadian Whisky Glass" is basically a glencairn without a stem, but bigger. I think it will fit my needs perfectly. It will still trap aromas and allow swirling. But I can also pour more liquor, and use rocks if I so choose.
As stated above I do care a lot about the cupped nature of my whisky drinkware, but these huge burgundy glasses I have tend to leave a lot sticking to the sides, so it's a little wasteful. I'm also scared to put any sort of granite or stainless steel rocks into them, since the bottom is not flat.
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