Some new additions to my Whiskey collection.

Karl Hungus

I was in London for a few days (Thurs-Sun) and had a thoroughly enjoyable time, and probably some of the best drinking experiences I've had in my life. Had a wonderful time drinking ale, and there's really nothing quite like a pint of Spitfire or the like on tap. I was drinking a rather light ale called Suffolk Swift yesterday, and I loved every drop of it. But enough about the ale, that's for another thread, this one is a tale of whiskey. We went wandering around Soho after a meal (and that's another thing I enjoyed in London, the food) on Thursday, and my eye was caught by a whiskey shop with a window display of the various Suntory Japanese whiskeys. It was a place called The Vintage House, on Old Compton Street, and if you're ever in London and you appreciate your whiskeys then you should really check this place out, it's a whiskey lover's heaven.

They had one truly amazing selection, just about every Scotch you could imagine, most Irish brands, a very wide variety of bourbons and of course, a very nice selection of Japanese whiskeys. Some of the vintages they had there were mind blowing, some bottles even priced in the thousands. The most expensive I saw was £5799. I didn't really take note of what it was, I was probably too gobsmacked by the price.

Anyway, I got looking at a couple of bottles of Nikka Whisky, which I've never drank before but I've heard some extremely good things about. I was trying to decide between the Nikka All Malt and a lovely Nikka From The Barrel presentation box that contained 2 very nice glasses. I had a nice chat with the fellow behind the counter as well, talking about the Japanese whiskeys and some of the Irish ones, and I decided I was going to take the All Malt:



While we were there, my friend spotted a bottle of Four Roses Small Batch Kentucky Bourbon. She doesn't really drink whiskey very often, but she thought the bottle looked amazing. True enough, it's a very pretty bottle. We proceeded to have a few drinks in a cool little rock bar in soho not far from where the whiskey shop was, and I spotted they had the very same bottle on the top shelf, so I had a shot of it. I'm generally not a fan of American Bourbon whiskeys, I hate Jack Daniels and the likes of Jim Beam or Maker's Mark never really did anything for me, but the Four Roses Small Batch tasted amazing. Colour me impressed, it was a bit of an eye opener for me in terms of Bourbon, first time I've had one that I really loved. My friend really liked it as well, which surprised me.

I was kind of sorry that I didn't get the Nikka From The Barrel presentation box as well, I've never seen Nikka on sale in Ireland and I doubt I'd get a chance to buy it again for a while, I don't buy whiskey online because of expensive shipping, and the shop in Soho was about the same price or less anyway. So we went back to the Vintage House in Soho again, got a nice welcome back too, and proceeded to have another chat with the guy. So I asked for the box, and here it is:



Like I said, I've heard a lot of good things about Nikka, and this one in particular is meant to be amazing. It's a small bottle, but it's quite strong at 51.4%. The simple style of the bottle and packaging is really very nice also. I was extremely happy I got it.

My friend was trying to decide whether or not she should get the bottle of Four Roses as a present for someone, but ended up deciding that she was going to buy it for herself. As the guy was taking out the bottle for her, I asked him to take out another. So he took out the bottle for me, looked up and said "Keep going". It was an extremely nice whiskey, and when was I going to get a chance to get it again? And you know, I've had plenty of Irish, Scotch and Japanese whiskeys, but the Four Roses is the only Bourbon I've really took a shine to, so it's pretty special in that sense. The only one of it's kind in my collection.



So I left with 3 very nice bottles of whiskey from that shop. Here's the kicker though, I had some sterling left over when I was in the airport last night. So I was browsing through the whiskeys in the duty free, and I spotted that they actually had Nikka From The Barrel. It was pretty damned cheap as well, about £22. I had enough sterling left over to get 2 bottles. Not the presentation box that I had already bought, but they came in an interesting little tin box:



All in all, I came back with 5 bottles of whiskey. I think I'm going to bring a bottle of Nikka to a friend's house and we're going to enjoy that first.

Sarky

I encountered Four Roses myself last time I was in London (A delightful place called the Crobar), and yeah, it was damned nice. Even my brothers who don't normally drink spirits much (and certainly not neat bourbon) were impressed. End result- Hell of a night.

Karl Hungus

Sarky wrote: »

I encountered Four Roses myself last time I was in London (A delightful place called the Crobar), and yeah, it was damned nice. Even my brothers who don't normally drink spirits much (and certainly not neat bourbon) were impressed. End result- Hell of a night.

Yep, that was the bar I was in and sampled Four Roses. I thoroughly enjoy my shot of it, and yeah, my friend usually doesn't drink much spirits either, she really liked it too. Great little bar too. They also had this Sierra Nevada Pale Ale that I really enjoyed as well.

Did you get to see The Vintage House whiskey shop while you were there? It's practically just round the corner.

Sarky

Not that time, no, but I brought home all manner of delicious things the time before, like the Yamizaki and Oban scotches, which you've probably tried.

Karl Hungus

Nice. You know, I've had neither Yamazaki or Oban. From Suntory, I'm a big fan of the Hibiki range, the 17 year old is the pride and joy of my collection. I got it for Christmas. It tastes incredible, probably the best whiskey I've ever had.



I'd like to check out some of the Yamazaki range, I've had my eye on the Yamazaki Sherry Cask single malt before, it sounds wonderful.

What's the Oban like?

Brockagh

The Hibikis are really nice. I think they mature some of it in casks that have held some kind of plum wine.

The Karuizawa whiskies are very good. I find myself buying a lot of them recently.

Also saw the Four Roses small batch in the Celtic Whsikey Shop in town. haven't tasted it yet, but American distilleries are doing some great small batch whiskey these days.

Karl Hungus

Brockagh wrote: »

The Hibikis are really nice. I think they mature some of it in casks that have held some kind of plum wine.

The Karuizawa whiskies are very good. I find myself buying a lot of them recently.

Also saw the Four Roses small batch in the Celtic Whsikey Shop in town. haven't tasted it yet, but American distilleries are doing some great small batch whiskey these days.

Yeah, plum liqueur casks I think it is, wonderfully sweet flavours. I think the Hibiki 12 year old will be my next purchase, maybe a few months down the line. I've not looked at Karuizawa before, seems a little out of my price range, but looking at the Whiskey Exchange, they have a Karuizawa 1982 Sherry Cask at 56.1% which sounds pretty incredible. It costs about as much as I payed for all the whiskeys I got at the weekend though.

How much was the Four Roses in the Celtic Whiskey Shop? I had a peak on their website, but it's not on there. If you're curious about trying it, I'd highly recommend it, it really impressed me a lot. I've never really taken much notice of what American distilleries have produced before, so I think I'm open to investigating more if I get the chance thanks to that Four Roses.

Brockagh

The Four Roses is about 50 euro in the Celtic Whiskey Shop, I think. They also have a few other small batch ones. Might be a Rittenhouse too, but I'm not sure. And a Jack Daniels.

There's a Yamazaki sherry matured whisky there too, which is not too badly priced - think about 80 euro. Japanese single malts tend to be very expensive.

johnnyskeleton

Did you have any trouble getting all that whiskey onto the plane?

Karl Hungus

Brockagh wrote: »

There's a Yamazaki sherry matured whisky there too, which is not too badly priced - think about 80 euro. Japanese single malts tend to be very expensive.

Looking at the website, the sherry cask single malt is €59.99. Not too bad a price, I have to say.

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Did you have any trouble getting all that whiskey onto the plane?

No problems at all, I packed the 3 bottles I had bought in Soho into my check in luggage, carefully wrapped them up in clothes and things, they were fine. The 2 I bought in the duty free just went onboard with my hand luggage. My only concern was that I'd be over the weight limit, but I was well under it.

Brockagh

Celtic whiskey shop are also doing Kilbeggan 15 for 60 euro. Sorry for straying off topic, but this is a good price, as it ususlly goes for 90 odd, I think.

pa990

going off topic here.. But it's good to invest in one of those hand held luggage weighing scales.. Especially if someone is in the habit of bringing back plenty of alcoholic souveniers

jgr12

If you liked four roses, I would really recommend Woodford Reserve,
got it in the Celtic Whiskey Shop last year for around 50-60 euro

Brockagh

Woodford Reserve is very nice, although I haven't had it in a long time.

The Whisky Exchange are selling the remainder of the Karuizawa 1990 single cask edition bottled for Whisky Live Japan's 10th anniversary... I'd recommend this to buy.

barneygumble

If you are ever in the vicinity of Dunmore East, be sure to check out the whiskey collection in the bar at The Haven Hotel. I'm no expert, but I imagine it would take some beating.

BTW I have no connection to the hotel, beyond having spent many happy evenings working my way through their selection. The wine list is pretty impressive too.