Saying hello, my journey and recommendations

[Paulm]

Hi everyone. I have just joined the forum having lurked for several months. I have got so much great information from here already and hope that will continue. My whisky journey started only recently, actually around 15 months ago following a motorcycle tour to Scotland. I had always hated whisky, my father drank too much of the stuff and it made him angry but not to the point of being violent please understand. He generally drank Bells (yuk) as they did in the 80's when I was growing up. As this was probably the only whisky I ever tasted I am sure most will understand why I never liked it.

So 15 months ago I was sat in a pub in Fort William and after a couple of pints my friend announced that we had to have a whisky, we were in Scotland after all. Neither of us knew anything about it and there were sooooo many so we asked the knowledgable barman what he would recommend we have being whisky virgins. Now I can now assume he hated the English as he pronounced we should try that starter whisky called Laphroig : Now I am aware that the Islay whisky should be 'further down the line' but wow it was so different that I had another and that was it, I was hooked. I stayed with the Islay malts for the first few months but have collected a few others now and find there are none I dislike, just some I like more. It's an expensive hobby though.

Generally I have stuck to bottles costing less than £80 and for price and taste my go too are Ardbeg 10, laghroig Lore, Glenfiddich 15 and Glenfarclas 15. I must admit that I also love a Japanese whisky called The Chita.

Now I could use a little help. I want to buy a special bottle to drink on special occasions, so think 3 children's wedding day, retirement in 5-10 years etc. I did think about a bottle from the year I was born, 1966, but went off that idea when I saw the prices. What I would like to find is two bottles, one that was distilled in April 1995 and another in July 2003, this being when my kids were born. No it's not a mistake as the ones in 1995 are twins which save me a few quid

So does anyone know of any that were distilled then, ideally under £250 per bottle, but i could be persuaded to go higher if needed or how do I find out, maybe email the distillery?

Cheers Paul

[sorren]

Hi Paul..
Welcome to the forum and a great story to begin with..
As for bottles this is a mine field, you are gonna be bombarded with some ideas and that in itself can be puzzling.. Let me kick off with a couple of ideas..
1995..
Glenfarclas family casks from 1995, big sherried whiskies That always bring a smile to my face..
Glen Keith, ( Claxtons) if you can find one still these are lovely bourbon matured whiskies..
2003..
Again a Glenfarclas family cask
So many other offerings from this year that the ideas may be endless

You could always look for an old grain whisky and with the budget you can easily find something in the 30-40 years old category..

[dramblersanonymous]

Welcome! Good suggestions from Sorren! Can you post the exact dates of birth? It might be possible to find something from their date of birth which is always cool.

[TheWM]

Welcome and you raise some points that we’ve all been through at some point.

Just to give you food for thought. Say you buy a ‘good’ bottle at a higher price range. When the time comes and you realise it is worth 3 times what you paid for it. Do you still drink them with careless abandonment?

Given you’ve mentioned price, I guess so. For example I’ve got some bottles originally bought for weddings etc that I think might start paying for the dress etc...

I now mix it up and buy bottles for special occasions (i.e. when the kids are of drinking age) and will hand them a bottle of something. Together with a picture of me where I bought it with them, distillery, duty free, well you get the gist.

The memories are better than any highly priced whiskies IMO and at £80 there are fine drams out there.

But ignoring my own advice up there for specific retirement bottles buy the best you can afford so you are safe in the knowledge that you got what you wanted. If you remember the old VW adverts ‘it’s just like a golf’.

[Paulm]

[Paulm]

[Paulm]

[Quaich1]

Paulm, the suggestions made by the members of the Forum are all worthy of consideration and give insightful and well-rounded responses to your query so no need for me to elaborate further other than to wish you luck not only on the specific bottles you're looking for but also on your whisky journey. Best wishes, Murray.
_________________
"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

[RN Rob]

Welcome Paul, here is a cheaper option which comes to mind as I was just looking at it myself as it is in the Master of Malt flash sale, the Oban 2003 Distillers Edition, I have had 2 bottles and it is a pretty could expression from Oban. on offer for £70

Some good advice above but I would add as you intend to drink the whisky in years to come I wouldn't concentrate so much on dates but whether it is an outstanding whisky if you intend to pay around £250 you want it to be good.

One which comes to mind that was recently mentioned in a thread on here this week is the Glengoyne 25 year old a superb sherried whisky but can be difficult to get hold of but a link posted on the tread showed some available here https://www.whisky-online.com/glengoyne-aged-25-years.html/?ref=45

[Alexppp]

Another thing is you could have a look here and play around with vintages and dates:

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/whisky/vintage/1995-vintage-whisky

If you zoom in enough you can see months for most of these bottles.

[dramblersanonymous]

Not had time for a proper look, lots of stuff from July 2003 (particularly the likes of SMWS) but this sort of thing might be nice. Also don't know if they ship..

https://alba-whisky.de/produkt/glentauchers-12-jahre-chieftains-_-ian-macleod-distllers-ltd/

[Paulm]

Excellent find drambler, many thanks. I have found a Tamdhu 1995 21 yr old sherry cask acorn from April 1995 so if I go that route I have options thanks to you guys, Alex, who suggested zooming into the bottles.

I have also taken onboard RN Rob comments about getting a quality whisky rather than just looking at dates. Someone mentioned the Glenfarclas 30 was excellent as is the Glengoyne 25. Decisions decisions eh !!

[Paulm]

Ok chaps and lasses I think my decision is made. Having noted all the kind replies I have decided to ensure that

A) It's a whisky I will probably like rather than just buying a whisky I won't just because of the year

B) But saying the above also ensuring the year has some meaning.

C) Ensuring it fits a budget of under £500 for the two bottles

So I have decided that I will look at purchasing two bottles of Glenfarclas, I like their whisky so A) is taken care of, family cask, as I'm buying to celebrate my children's achievements, from the year of their births 1995 and 2003 and appear to fit my budget, if I can find them for sale !!! Whilst appearing to fit the budget I am struggling sourcing them both. I have found them in Germany but the retailer won't post internationally so the search will continue. I will be going to Germany next May so could pick up then if I can't find anywhere, assuming they still have of course.

[dramblersanonymous]

There are loads of places in the UK to find your family cask bottlings from 1995 and 2003. Here are 2 links:

https://www.thewhiskybarrel.co.uk/glenfarclas-1995-family-casks-release-w15.html

https://www.nickollsandperks.co.uk/2003-Glenfarclas-Family-Cask-1448-Nickolls-Perks-57.5_1

£400 all in. Or are you after specific casks from the range?

[Paulm]

Well bugger me spent an hour looking yesterday and couldn't find the 2003 so thanks very much, now ordered.