[MM-MALTS-L] Good & Bad whisky

[djrussobik at aol.com]

I do want to reiterate that I have nothing against the Cadenhead's brand and line (some of the best whiskies I have ever tasted have come from there!), but there is a practical downside to bottling everything, without any qaulity control:? When the market DOES decide what it prefers, the remaining bottles become white elephants of a sort.? Wine & Liquor Depot in CA used to have HUNDREDS of different Cadenhed's bottlings -- I believe they purchased and carried EVERY Cadenhead bottling available to US retailers.? However, once the first-and-second-tier bottlings (where the distillery reputation was sufficient for customers to make an initial purchase) were exhausted, and the "buzz" circulated on the various "surprises" (tasty malts from unlikely sources) amongst the remainder, there were still hundreds off bottles with the unhappy fate of either being "dead" (unmovable) stock?for the retailer, or UNPLEASANT surprises for the desparate customers looking to an interesting bottle!? I've been one of those desparate customers, and in the company of many others, and eventually we gave up (too expensive to keep shelling out $$$ and hoping for something good).? I'm sure many of those bottles are STILL THERE 10+ years later, much to the retailers chagrin...unless he found some way of disposing of the entire lot.



Slainte,

? Dave in?Boston


-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Wood <st.peter at paradise.net.nz>
To: MaltManiacs operated former 'MALT-L' Whisky List <mm-malts-l at grsnet.net>
Sent: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 1:46 am
Subject: [MM-MALTS-L] Good & Bad whisky




When any discussion turns on what is the best or worst malt whisky ever
bottled, the arguments about which are the best are legion. Applying
reductionist principles, the definition of the worst usually oscillates
between the infamous Talisker and the FWP Bowmore. I take it we are all old
enough to understand FWP, if not in practice, then by association (think
Newquay, Grimsby, Peterhead)? I was unfortunate never to have had the
Talisker, and have led a pure enough life not to have fully appreciated the
Bowmore perfume. But the great range of bottlings that lie within the reach
of normal people (those that spend less than 35% of their disposable income
on malt whisky) are acceptable.

I respect the Cadenhead attitude of "if we bought it we bottle it" because
that increases the available range of maturations in varied casks of varied
ages. Maybe most people wish to find the perfect malt and stick with it,
but I would have hoped that those on a list such as this would think beyond
the trivialities of perfection, and take pleasure in the endless variabilty
that single cask bottlings provide - crap to sublime. Anything beyond that
and we are engaging in religious sophistry.

Peter Wood

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