[Closed] First release of whisky - keep or drink? 🤔

It was made to be drunk. Drink it.

How do you know what it tastes like?

You might be keeping a bottle of ferret pee, or you could have a bottle of the finest tasting substance know to man.

Buy 2. Drink one, or use it as drain cleaner, keep the other one for your kids to use as drain cleaner.

Everything might be worth something in the future, everything might not.

On the other hand it will definitely be nice* to drink.

Life is way too short to worry about not doing nice stuff because it might be worth a few bob (you may not want, need, it be able to use) in a couple of decades.

All those folks you see selling their mint condition action figures from the 70s, boxes and all. Think how bloody miserable they were as a child, do not be that child.

*It might not taste nice but like a lot of things, it's always nice to try new stuff.

Just drink it

Drink it - you wont care how much its worth in the future if you get hit by the number 5 bus on the way home.

if you get hit by the number 5 bus on the way home

Which may happen if the OP drinks a bottle of whisky...

If you're new to whisky, then drink a bit, get some other different ones, then alternate them over several months as the earlier ones start running out; ultimately you'll have 4 or 5 on the go of different characters. This will be an ongoing pleasure of whisky discovery, especially when shared with visitors.

Keeping whisky in a sealed bottle is a waste, it's not going to improve with age and you'll never know if it's any good. Where's the fun in that, when you can have a headache instead?

As bets go I'd say there's a low chance of a pay out and an even lower chance of a pay out worth getting excited about, as I'm pretty sure English whisky doesn't have much market appeal

Sadly English puts it's in drink it. Unless you have bottle no1.
It might be worth a few qiud in a good few years if it takes off. Can it be called whisky anyway?

Sadly English puts it’s in drink it.

How much whisky have [i]you[/i] been drinking?

I've drunk a lot of whisky in my time! Very few I have actually liked enough to buy again though.

There's a good chance it won't be all that great, at best it will probably be ok-ish. If you try it now, you probably won't like it and the bottle is open.  Personally i'd stick it in a cupboard, forget about it and go and buy yourself something decent to enjoy.

That way you can put off your disappointment for a few years!

Scotch.

From Scotland is Whisky.

From Ireland is Whiskey.

From anywhere else is Scotch.

From anywhere else is Scotch

Except when it's not. Like from, say, Tennessee?

Also as to be Scotch it has to be produced and bottled entirely within Scotland I think your line in the same might be on the wrong beach.

I think drink it is winning! 🤣🤣

I’ve had samplers at 1 and 2 years old already.

It’s being sold as whisky so the old whisky/whiskey thing can’t be true. And the Japanese malts are sold as whisky.

How old is it? If it's very young it's about likely to be good for cleaning paintbrushes. Beyond maybe 8yo you're getting into drinkable territory. I'd probably crack it if it was a 10yo or more, shove it in a cupboard otherwise.

From Scotland is Whisky.

From Ireland is Whiskey.

Correct.

From anywhere else is Scotch.

Abject nonsense.

It’s being sold as whisky so the old whisky/whiskey thing can’t be true. And the Japanese malts are sold as whisky.

The story goes that Irish malts took the spelling whiskey to differentiate from the then-inferior Scottish products (though this may be apocryphal and there may be other language differences here also). American whiskey (and a couple of other outliers) takes the Irish spelling because of the relatively high number of Irish colonists migrated to the US, most of the rest of the world including Japan use the now more ubiquitous Scots spelling.

The only time I've ever heard it referred to as Scotch is when they're buying Bell's.

Abject nonsense.

Assuming your talking about English whisky I'll agree.

That really is abject nonsense.

Except when it’s not. Like from, say, Tennessee?

That's an interesting one because Jack Daniel's is almost a bourbon. But bourbon laws are a thing and they cannot call their product "bourbon" because of an additional filtering process they use which breaks the specifications. So it is a "Tennessee Whiskey" instead, which I think is a largely meaningless descriptor that JD made up.

Abject nonsense.

You disagree ?

Feel free to back up your claims with proof of definition.

I thought they only drank Scotch in 70’s movies and by big business men in shows like Dallas! 🤣🤣

Plucked from the internet so it must be true!

Legal definition of Scotch whisky
“Scotch whisky” means a whisky produced in Scotland:

(a) that has been distilled at a distillery in Scotland from water and malted barley (to which only whole grains of other cereals may be added) all of which have been:

processed at that distillery into a mash;
converted at that distillery into a fermentable substrate only by endogenous enzyme systems; and
fermented at that distillery only by the addition of yeast;
(b) that has been distilled at an alcoholic strength by volume of less than 94.8 per cent so that the distillate has an aroma and taste derived from the raw materials used in, and the method of, its production;

(c) that has been matured only in oak casks of a capacity not exceeding 700 litres;

(d) that has been matured only in Scotland;

(e) that has been matured for a period of not less than three years;

(f) that has been matured only in an excise warehouse or a permitted place;

(g) that retains the colour, aroma and taste derived from the raw materials used in, and the method of, its production and maturation;

(h) to which no substance has been added, or to which no substance has been added except:

water;
plain caramel colouring; or
water and plain caramel colouring; and
(i) that has a minimum alcoholic strength by volume of 40%.

Feel free to back up your claims with proof of definition.

I'm not making claims and it's not my job to prove yours.

Nonetheless: "scotch whisky" is a Geographical Indicator and thus a protected term just like "Cornish Pasty" or "Champagne." Anything calling itself "Scotch whisky" is literally the opposite of what you said, it has to be from Scotland.

Here, straight from DEFRA:

https://www.gov.uk/protected-food-drink-names/scotch-whisky

I’m not making claims and it’s not my job to prove yours.

Nonetheless: “scotch whisky” is a Geographical Indicator and thus a protected term just like “Cornish Pasty” or “Champagne.” Anything calling itself “Scotch whisky” is literally the opposite of what you said, it has to be from Scotland.

"Scotch Whisky 😕 Who said anything about Scotch Whisky. I said Scotch, didn't include the 'Whisky' bit.

So you can have all the 'Scotch Whiskey' links you want. None of which apply to the disambiguous claims you want. None of which apply to Scotch

But anyway, you are not only disagreeing, but saying its nonsense, so back up those claims as asked.

I have a last batch bottle from about 25 years ago that I gave my dad on his 50th. Nothing special just sentimental really as it was a local distillery that was closing down. Cost about £50. He never opened it, said he was keeping it to wet the babies head when my 1st child came along, but never did open it. It's worth about £250 now according to Google.

WTAF?!?

Scotch whiskey is a protected name, meaning the product comes from Scotland. On this point we all agree.

But dyna-to is trying to argue that dropping the word “whisky” from the definition (the non-geographical part) and using only word “scotch” means it’s from anywhere other than Scotchland.

I can’t have got that right, as that would make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Who said anything about Scotch Whisky. I said Scotch, didn’t include the ‘Whisky’ bit.

Oh come on, seriously? You were talking about whisk(e)y in a whisky thread. Are we to assume that you abruptly and silently started meaning Scotch eggs?

so back up those claims as asked.

I could give you many, many sources as could Google but again, it's not my claim to defend, it's yours. You're simply wrong, I cannot prove the non-existence of something.

As far as I am aware scotch on its own is only ever used to refer to scotch whisky in America where ordering whisky will you get a gulping or sipping whiskey of American or Irish origin (American whiskey evolving from Irish distilling practices). I have never in my entire life heard of scotch used for anything other than Scottish Whisky and generally in the context of it being a cut above. Like ordering a cognac not a brandy.

And Whisky covers Japanese (obsessed with scotch) and Canadian (historically more Scottish distilling history)

But frankly who gives a shit it's all an affectation I'd try English whisky or English whiskey and not bat an eyelid.

Lolz
Can we just call it tcp my wife does

That's quite an accurate description of a fair few spirits to be fair.

in America where ordering whisky will you get a gulping or sipping whiskey

Is that still a thing? I think the only time I've heard "sipping / gulping whiskey" is in Western movies. Or maybe Red Dwarf's Gunmen of the Apocalypse.

Why does everything on this bloody site have to turn (rapidly) in to a pointless argument

Ps drink it,
As for ages I had loads of 3,4 and 5 year old that have been lovely, in fact when I pick up bottles from smws I tend to favour 5 to 8 yr old, I also much prefer younger peated stuff, and I've tried a lot lol

Arguments aside and getting back to OP.

If it's first release you've no idea if it's going to be good or not unless you can find a review of it somewhere. So just drink it and if you want another buy another.

It might be shite. I had a bottle which was worth a few Bob but after speaking to a few experts they said it wasn't the best from that distillery and I'd be best off flogging it and buying a bottle half the price from a different one.

Is that still a thing? I think the only time I’ve heard “sipping / gulping whiskey” is in Western movies. Or maybe Red Dwarf’s Gunmen of the Apocalypse.

That was a joke. But Essentially exactly that, whisky in westerns is whiskey. The baddy might drink scotch if he he is the nefarious ranch owner type rather than the gunslinging train robber.

Drink it ,enjoy it or use it to degrease your chain. there's bound to be one there that suits.

Spirits taste horrendous to my palate anyhow. Just a means of getting sloshed quicker without having to run to the bog every 1/2 hours.

@Cougar

All you needed to say buddy was 'Are you sure?, I thought such and such'. But as per usual you have to disagree in a violently aggressive manner. And I think you've been warned and picked up on that eh 😕

It’s worth about £250 now according to Google.

i did get given a bottle a while back which end of last year I was about to get round to drinking. However since it was supposed to be a collectible one I googled it and changed my mind since it might be really good (oddly though all the articles just talk about collectability) and the price now is high enough I could buy several bottles I know I really like.
Not overly helpful for the OP I guess. Personally I would see if I could try a glass somewhere and see whether I want to drink it or not.
My preference is to drink what I have and the only reason this one lasted is I dont drink a huge amount and had several bottles in my backlog with only a couple open at a time.

@dashed

Scotch whiskey

Isn't protected scotch whisky might be...

😛

But frankly who gives a shit it’s all an affectation I’d try English whisky or English whiskey and not bat an eyelid.

Damn right! Some years back I thought I’d give Penderyn a try, it being the first Welsh Whisky, AFAIK, and I was a bit disappointed, it was a bit ‘harsh’, but it was early days. I bought some more a Christmas or two back, and it was much improved, a lot smoother, so the ageing does make a difference.

I used to drink Laphroig a lot, I’d buy a bottle of 10yo at Christmas along with a couple of other distilleries, but then I noticed it tasted a bit different, not as smooth, so I checked, and it had become so popular that they were having to sell it at minimum ageing and not mention the age on the packaging.

Provided it’s been allowed to age properly, I’ll be more than happy to give it a try. My mate is particularly into Japanese whiskey, he was saying they had lost the plot a bit and quality had dropped off due to popularity, but it’s coming back on form, apparently - he’s got one bottle that he bought several years ago that’s now retailing for £150 a bottle! He’s in two minds whether to open it now, ‘cos he could never afford to buy another one.

Currently I’ve got two bottles of Woodford Reserve, which is a Bourbon, and one I’m particularly fond of, a bottle of Jura Winter Edition, and a bottle of Highland Park ‘Viking Scars’. Not entirely sure what that’s about, but the packaging was pretty, and I’d left it a bit late doing my Christmas shopping, alcohol-wise, especially as I was using my Tesco Club card, which saved me £12 on one bottle of Woodfords alone.

Enjoying working my way through them, next Christmas, or earlier if I’ve got a few quid to spare I’ll check out the English one, and I’ll get another bottle of Penderyn, a bottle of something from the Scottish Islands, and something from Ireland, just for a change.

All you needed to say buddy was ‘Are you sure?, I thought such and such’. But as per usual you have to disagree in a violently aggressive manner.

I didn't need to ask, I knew you were wrong. If I were wrong about something and pulled up about it, I may well initially argue but I would welcome the steer and I'd go and check rather than double down. Then I'd endeavour to admit my mistakes and apologise (sometimes with mixed success, but I try). I'd actually be grateful that I'd learned something, though I perhaps don't always communicate that as well as I should. If you're so clear about my "as usual" then you'll hopefully know this, I'm often wrong.

Look. I'm aware that I have an abrupt writing style and you know what, I'll do you the courtesy of apologising here and now for that too. I genuinely don't mean anything by it but I've tried to shake it for years without success, it's just how it comes across. It's how my friends and I interact routinely, if a mate in a pub was talking bollocks I'd say "mate, that's bollocks" and vice versa, we'd have a chuckle and cart on. Most of STW's swear filter would be considered considered terms of endearment. I guess I think of folk on STW as extended friends and I forget that the rest of the world doesn't necessarily work like that.

If I've upset or annoyed you then I'm sincerely sorry, please believe that that is not my intention. It wasn't supposed to be "violently aggressive" so much as "acting the goat."

Some years back I thought I’d give Penderyn a try, it being the first Welsh Whisky, AFAIK, and I was a bit disappointed, it was a bit ‘harsh’, but it was early days.

I tried Penderyn in its early days also, one of the first public releases down in a Cardiff whisky shop. My reaction was similar, "it'll probably be quite nice when they've finished making it." Then I saw the price tag attached to what was essentially a work in progress and I haven't touched it since.

I have a last batch bottle from about 25 years ago that I gave my dad on his 50th. Nothing special just sentimental really as it was a local distillery that was closing down. Cost about £50. He never opened it, said he was keeping it to wet the babies head when my 1st child came along, but never did open it. It’s worth about £250 now according to Google.

If it's a Scottish single malt from a closed distillery I'd be very surprised if it was only worth £250 as ghost distilleries tend to be collectable. Have a look at auctions for an accurate price.

For the op it could be worth sitting on for a year or two as most new distilleries have built whatever reputation they're going to have by then. If it's White Peak then there's definitely suggestions in the whisky world that they've got potential to make interesting whisky. I'm annoyed that I just drank the first couple of Lakes releases as they were nice enough but now fetch 5 or 6 times the original price.

From Scotland is Whisky.

From Ireland is Whiskey.
Correct.

https://waterfordwhisky.com/element/to-e-or-not-to-e/

It's correct for most practical purposes, there will always be outliers. Eg, just because Irish whiskey can be spelt 'whisky' doesn't mean it is. I expect there are plenty that do so but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Muc off chain degreaser - £19.99 /750ml bottle

Tesco special reserve whisky - £17.50 /lt bottle

Aldi Highland earl whisky - £13 /lt bottle

Looks like its cheaper to degrease your chain in Whisky than in muc off.

Drink it.
It’ll get no better in the bottle. If bottles eventually become valued then you have the satisfaction of knowing what it tasted like.

The whiskyshop.com is fairly pragmatic with its whisky/whiskey.

whisky or whiskey?
Both spellings refer to the same thing, but just like colour and color, the UK and USA each have their own preferred spelling. In general whisky is produced in the UK, Canada, Japan, India and Europe, while whiskey is made in Ireland and the USA. There are exceptions (like Maker’s Mark from Kentucky, USA that takes the UK spelling) so don’t get too hung up on spelling!

They’re a bit more specific on things like ‘Scotch’, ‘bourbon’, and the like.

I’m going with keep it if the bottle has the provenance it has.
Spend the next ten years drinking Caol Ila. Then check the value of your bottle. If it’s worth something good, if not drink it.
I’ve got an early bottle (well my daughter has) of Kilchoman. It’s now worth a modest amount. It’s an ok whisky. I drank the other bottle.

We have the English Whisky company here in Norfolk and they've been going since 2006, made a few good drops, but very little that has been deemed collectible i don't think, although there grain whisky has won quite a few awards:

https://www.englishwhisky.co.uk/our-story/

It’ll get no better in the bottle

When left for a significant amount of time whisky does change in the bottle. There's no guarantee that's for the better though.

Once opened it does. First I've about that with sealed bottles, are you sure?

A little whisky related story, to perhaps change the tone...

My father died recently and being the forethinking type (and being 82) had saved a decent sum so that the cost of his funeral wouldn't be borne by his beloved. However, it being Covid times we couldn't have the big bash that he wanted and only me and my siblings could attend.

So I used the money to buy a bottle of whisky from the year of his birth. At the grave poured 3 glasses, the first I gave to my eldest brother and said: "this whisky is like our dad, because it went around the sun the same number of times he did." Then my eldest brother poured it on the grave, we all feel a bit low.

Next glass to next brother and I said: "This whisky is like our dad because it's golden colour reminds us of the way conversations with him could illuminate ideas like no other." Middle brother pours it on the grave, there's a bit of tearing up.

Last glass I give to my youngest sister and I said: "This whisky is like our dad because too much of it will give you a headache." Which made us all laugh as she poured it on the grave.

Then we ate some lunch and afterwards we drank the rest of the whisky, it wasn't the best I'd ever drunk (despite being the most expensive), but it was the most meaningful.

It's funny how we value things.

Scotch whiskey is a protected name,

You are trolling now

Muc off chain degreaser – £19.99 /750ml bottle

Tesco special reserve whisky – £17.50 /lt bottle

Aldi Highland earl whisky – £13 /lt bottle

Looks like its cheaper to degrease your chain in Whisky than in muc off.

Posted 13 hours ago

You laugh, but the Aldi Speyside whisky is FAR better than it's ~£17 price tag belies! It's actually a really nice drink.

As for the OP's question, I think the probability of it being a good bottle is quite low for reasons already given in the thread, so I'd just stick it in the back of the cupboard for a decade or so as it *might* be OK and worth something one day...

A little whisky related story, to perhaps change the tone…

I totally thought that was going to be a joke and was waiting for the punchline. Cool story.

Problem solved - they had a small number spare when I just picked it up - so one to drink, one to keep! 🙂

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6iAU7DKpoU

Is it any good?

I’m guessing the bottle is yet to be opened or it’s particularly good!
Not sure I’d be opening it on a Thursday evening?

Cracked a bottle open - For a whisky that’s only 3 years old it’s really rather nice. I’m sure a conneseur would find fault though.

Just a nice thing to have as the distillery is only a short walk from my front door.

I’ve read, no idea if true, that the proliferation of craft gin distilleries in the UK these days will lead to craft whisky coming out of the same places. The equipment is essentially the same, but gin can be sold immediately while your whisky/rum/etc sits in barrels for 8 years and gives you more return on your investment.

White Peak Distillery have been set up with whisky as their main target from day one. The gin and rum they make is to keep the tills rolling while the whisky matures.

They’ve invested millions to get this far so they’re not operating from a garden shed whacking a few botanicals in a bottle. 😀

https://www.whitepeakdistillery.co.uk/

Muffin man there's plenty of nice 3yo whiskies about