Deary, deary me.  We're going to have to specify in future, which rather undermines our intended friendly exchange vibe.

This is spot on, years ago even ended up at a work colleagues house fixing their PC till gone 10pm on a friday night with just a, thanks Al, I'll get you a few beers. (Beers never turned up,  nd any way I'd rather have £30/40 quid for my 5hrs work)

Any suggestions for a decent (ish) bottle of whisky for my grandfather's 80th? Funnily enough the only person who's ever given me anything for working on his computer.

Laphroaig, or possibly as an alternative, Laphroaig.

 

Do you know if he likes peaty ones (like Laphroaig) or not? As if he doesn't, that one's a bit beefy. Balvenie is a safer bet perhaps, I like that lots too. 

I'm not a spirits fan, and as such am undoubtedly biased, but I've tried vodka and whiskys (whiskies?!) in the past and have only had an overriding feeling of heat and not much taste. Does one become accustomed to the taste eventually and can pick out nuances? I understand how people can do it with wine as it's gentler on the palate (well, red wine anyway), but never quite got spirits as they all taste acerbic and feel caustic.

I do like brandy though.

 

Hmm, no idea. I just know he likes whisky. Never noticed any difference between any I've tried, they're all horrible.

Any chance they would sell that in Tesco? Gonna have to pick something up on the way home, seeing him tomorrow. If not it'll have to be a Tesco value Whisky.

If it's a proper full-sized Tesco (as opposed to a Tesco Express) then there's a good chance it will stock both Balvenie and Laphroaig. They're both roughly 3x the price of a bottle of Value Whisky though.

If he prefers the more 'rounded' taste of a decent blended whisky then Johnnie Walker Black Label is very good (well I like it) (£20-£22ish) or Whyte & Mackay (which I also like). I do notice that Tesco are banging out a full litre bottle of the Whyte & Mackay for £18 but I don't know whether that's online only or available in store.

Thanks. I'll have a look on the way home. I can either do medium sized Tesco right by me which has a fairly decent selection of alcomohol or go super size slightly further to get a better chance of getting sommat.

I'm no vodka drinker but whisky certainly is something you can develop. There's a good many smoother blends you can use to ease in, perhaps a few drops of water added, maybe some ice. Definitely need to have dropped the ice before you get to anything good though, or a Scotsman will assault you without warning. I'm barely amateur at it I'm sure but there's as much tasting complexity as wine to go through, I'd wager.

Something like a Glenfiddich will taste hugely different to something like a Laphroig. Anyone not able to discern a change between the two is either already completely smashed or is drinking them many days apart.

I thought of another one that's fairly neutral for a whisky but sometimes on discount, Jura Superstition. Gimmicky bottle and everything.

As a Welshman you could go for Penderyn but I think that's usually heck of pricey.

Cheers Milk. I'll have a look in my local Tesco and see what they stock. Jack Daniels maybe? ;)

More importantly: what shall I have for dinner?

My in-laws went to Scotland recently and had a tour of a whisky making place. What do you call those things? (brain not working) He bought some pretty expensive stuff there which tasted just as bad as anything I've tried before. He said they recommended putting a couple of drops of water in the glass to mellow it. Can't remember I'd I tried that or not.

I think the same with lager/beers though. Don't like them and they all taste the same to me. Cider and red wine is different though. Hugely different and usually yummy.

Distillery, I think! Of course, the price doesn't make it alone, it could still have been a very peaty one that you didn't like. The water drops isn't just to mellow it though, many people say (into wanky territory here!) it "opens the flavour up" and that kind of thing.

"lager/beers", hmm - I assume you mean within their own groups there, not that a pint of Fosters is the same as a Brains. I can't get on with many ciders, although I'll have a dry one on a hot day sometimes and it's OK. I'm not generally fussy about my booze, just don't usually like sweet drinks.

Pretty much, aye. I can't say I think they taste much different. Different textures, yes, but the lagery/beery taste overwhelms anything else. Eugh. Dry ciders are definitely my favourite. Sweet ones I don't like. Makes it expensive when going places where lagers are cheap and everything else isn't.

Distillery, yeah. I thought refinery first but I think that might be something completely different. Well, whatever it does to the flavour I don't think I'll be drinking it any time soon. Vodka I'd be happier with. Not tried anything better than Smirnoff for that. Can't stand cheap stuff though.

Got the Whyte and Mackay bottle, £18 in store. I will tell him it came highly recommended :) All the others mentioned were around £30. Maybe if he gets to 100.

http://www.scotchblog.ca/scotch_blog/2012/04/islay-mist-8-yr.html

My poison of choice. I don't like single malts (at least the few I've tried), I think they lack character, like vodka. Also wildly overpriced.

I hope he enjoys it. 

Whisky is a complex one. There's thousands of different flavours and styles. Even for most people that like whisky, there'll be ones they really like, ones they're indifferent to and ones they don't like.

I have to admit to having a shelf of 12 different whiskys in my living room, so quite like the odd one. I don't go into all that bollocks about "Hmm, I can smell vanilla and chocolate" or any crap like that, it's just whether or not it's tasty :)