Scotch

In this episode, we – and I say that because I have another special guest on this episode – taste the Chardonnay cask-finished 10 year-old Glen Moray. Plus, a barrel is a barrel is a barrel, right?

The first thing you need to know about Glen Garioch is that you have almost certainly just pronounced its name wrong in your head. The second is that it’s rather lovely. Plus, what’s the oldest distillery in Scotland? (Goodness knows; I just Googled it.)

Tasting the solid, dependable own-brand single malt Scotch whisky from Sainsbury’s. Plus, what the age of a whisky means and why it matters (and why it doesn’t…).

An interesting whisky from an interesting distillery, bottled by an interesting company; what more could you want? This is also a return to classic-format Scotch; just me and a whisky!

The things we do for you! Tasting a whole range of cheap whiskies with friends Jim and Matt. Fair warning: this episode is over an hour long, gets a bit shouty, and has quite a lot of quite bad swears. Mostly from Matt. Though I encouraged it.

Tasting Monkey Shoulder, a blended malt Scotch whisky that tastes perfectly good; the relentless ‘cool’ marketing of it does rather leave a sour taste in the mouth, however. Plus, the whisky that kick-started the current fashion for single malts.

In the first episode of Scotch to feature a guest, we taste the Nikka Pure Malt Red; whisky is, of course (achem), medicinal, and the bottle especially of this bold blend seems to have an explicitly medical vibe. Plus, what links the two major Japanese distilleries.

Tasting the capsaicin-spicy Tobermory 10 year-old – a whisky that, happily, rewards you for drinking more and more of it. Plus, what an ‘un-chillfiltered” whisky is.

A somewhat drunk Chris tries his first good bourbon (and likes it a lot, hence the ‘slightly drunk’ bit) before handing over to sober Chris to impart your whisky fact: what is a sour mash bourbon anyway?

If you think blended whiskies are by definition cheap and coarse, think again; this 17 year-old Japanese blend is wonderfully assured and complex. Plus: why Japanese blends are particularly notable.