Miniatures: a good introduction to new malts?

[Scotchio]

Scotchio Wrote in another forum.

I opened a really young NAS Littlemill mini the other day and that was very inauthentically coloured piss!

Thats why I don't like miniatures.

Believe me I was glad it was only a miniature,like full bottles there seem to be some bad and some good,at least if it's a bad mini it won't be waiting in the cabinet the next day. On the up side i also had some fantastic Glendronachs and a lovely Glen Grant and via minis I have about 50 whiskies to sample over the winter including some early 1970s ledaigs and a Bunny 1964. I wouldn't be able to afford full size bottles of those little treats!

[peergynt323]

I agree with both sides here. I don't have access to a lot of miniatures so I go to whisky bars. I'm glad I was able to taste Jura Superstition, Oban, Caol Ila 18, Caol Ila 25, and Glen Rothes 1992 before buying a bottle.

If you tip well, the bartenders tend to pour huge drams.

[vitara7]

of course there a good way to try new malts, if you want to try somthing a bit diffrent or not sure if youll like it, is it not surly better to spend 3 or 4 quid on a mini than £40 or so on a large bottle just to find out that you hate the stuff. in additon, it allows you to try a larger selection or whiskies on the same budget, ie, instead of buying one bottles, buy 10 or so miniatures for the same price.

[Di Blasi]

I say yes, but also feel a bit on the "no" side. I think it takes more than 1 taste, a 5cl sample to truly get the idea of a whisky, unless it's something spectacular. What if the conditions aren't right, or you're not in the mood for that whisky? You may write if off, and base your judgement on the whisky, or even distillery on that mini, not good. I recently had a bad mini of Glen Scotia, no age statement, that I had to throw out. A big disappointment especially after loving the 14y! And I recently had the Glengoyne 21y, wow, excellent! I'll have to give the Glen Scotia another try another time, and the Glengoyne 21y I'll have to get a full bottle!

[Mustardhead]

I am also in the yes and no group but I voted yes.

Yes because I think there is an opportunity to try something different, to find out whether there is likely to be something in that whisky which interests you to try a full bottle.

No because as Di Blasi points out, you might not be in the mood, it could be a bad mini and you might miss out on something you would really like in a full bottle.

And yes again because I'm including 20cl bottles in here, an ideal size either for tasting with an opportunity of one or two return trips to the bottle or because the whisky is too expensive to justify the purchase of a full bottle right away. You could buy six or seven bottles of OMC 20cl for say a hundred quid as against two full bottles. What a nice tasting that could be....and then you could end up buying all the full bottles too!