The Famous Grouse

[Novice Scotch Fan]

Teacher's is richer and more creamy. White Horse doesn't have the strong sherry component to it. It's quite good.

Sounds like I will like Teacher's. I am surprised that it is so good given the price. Here in Canada a bottle of Teacher's Highland Cream is $22. A very cheap price. However, FG (standard bottling) is $26 and it is damn good value too. I appreciate your input on Teacher's.

Cheers!

[Gov]

Teacher's is better than the Grouse. I am sure you will enjoy it very much.

[Novice Scotch Fan]

Teacher's is better than the Grouse. I am sure you will enjoy it very much.

Gov, I just finished the last ounce of Famous Grouse and now I am on to Teachers. Here's my layman's tasting note:

Nose of bacon. On the palate, Smoke and plenty more bacon, sea salt, dulse, iodine, spice, pepper and peat. I dont taste the caramel or toffee that others claim is there. Great length of taste. It lingers big time. Good stuff for sure!

Between it and FG, at present i lean towards the FG but i can foresee in the future getting bored with the flavour of Fg and switching to Teachers. Very good stuff indeed. It grows on you. FG is like an old friend or comfort food. Its like you've known them all your life even though you just met. Teachers, on the other hand, challenges you and is certainly intriguing.

[talisker10]

Wow Novice Scotch Fan I like your notes. Bacon I think is a very good term to use. Certainly makes me want to try Teacher's with my next blend purchase.

[Gov]

Teacher's is better than the Grouse. I am sure you will enjoy it very much.

Gov, I just finished the last ounce of Famous Grouse and now I am on to Teachers. Here's my layman's tasting note:

Nose of bacon. On the palate, Smoke and plenty more bacon, sea salt, dulse, iodine, spice, pepper and peat. I dont taste the caramel or toffee that others claim is there. Great length of taste. It lingers big time. Good stuff for sure!

Between it and FG, at present i lean towards the FG but i can foresee in the future getting bored with the flavour of Fg and switching to Teachers. Very good stuff indeed. It grows on you. FG is like an old friend or comfort food. Its like you've known them all your life even though you just met. Teachers, on the other hand, challenges you and is certainly intriguing.

very nice, you summed it up quite well!!

[LagaDrinker]

Mine has increased to perhaps 5 times a week

[bond]

I have not gone through all the posts on this thread thoroughly so pls pardon me if I am repeating what somebody has already said but The Grouse is supposed to be a favourite with world leaders.

Legend has it that ample quantities of it used to accompany "The Iron Lady" on her world trips and it also used to be the favourite tipple of the (outgoing) most powerful man in the world before he went off all forms of virtuous conduct.

While I cant confirm the above, I can state with conviction though that the governor of the state I hail from in India downs it in copious quantities every night. Something about The Grouse and Politics.

[Novice Scotch Fan]

Thanks for the post bond. Who is in your estimation the most powerful person in the world?

[Elagabalus]

I prefer Teacher's to the FG also Gov. Then again I was never a very big fan of the standard grouse. I find certain blends just leave me with this weird rather unpleasant aftertaste. I did not notice this aftertaste with Teacher's or JW Black Label though. I did find that Teacher's did lack a complexity found in single malts. The JW Black label is very nice though. JW Green is also very nice. JW Gold is exceptional and one of my favourite choices when it comes to scotch. I even have the only facebook group devoted to JW Gold Label lol. JW Blue is an overpriced status symbol that continues to attract mobs of bourgeois and nouveau riche maniacs around the world, especially in the far east and the south american developing nations.

The one good thing with blends is you take them for what they are. Cheap blends. Hell, toss a few ice cubies in an oversized tumbler and go nuts without the guilt. Lord knows we can't all drink SMS everyday! Unless you can stop at one dram perhaps. I entertained the idea of finding a cheap blend as an everyday alternative to SMS but oddly enough it was yesterday that I decided that I would just drink beer through the week and save my good scotch for the weekend. When you have tasted excellent scotch tasting something inferior is rather depressing and uninspiring.

Just the musings of your ever adorable Emperor Elagabalus:)

[Novice Scotch Fan]

Elagabalus, you, like I, appreciate JWG. You should try Highland Park 18, simply the finest SMS available in my humble opinion. You should try it. you will not be disappointed unless you like laophraig, in which case, there is no help for you

[Elagabalus]

At first I didn't love peat, then I fell in love with it. I must admit I do like Laphroaig :p

There are certain nights that I prefer a non peaty whisky though, and they are about on par with the nights I would rather have a peaty whisky. If I had to choose between one or the other I would stick with my peaty whiskies. A little bit more going on I think.

Never had the HP18. It's over 100.00 a bottle here because of the communist LCBO. Maybe I'll request it for Christmas.

I take it you like your sweeter whiskies? Have you tried Lagavulin's DE? the 1990 DE I had was excellent. Oh I still remember it. That's it I am getting another DE this weekend I don't even care. lol

Anyway if you do try the Lagavulin DE let me know, and I will privately inform you of my opinion of HP18 when I have sampled it as payment for the suggestion.

[Novice Scotch Fan]

I do like sweet whiskies. No doubt about it. However, I realize that over time my palate will probably evolve. In the realm of wine, i used to hate barolo (a tannic, robust wine) as I preferred the cabernet suavignon berry bombs of Napa. Now, I like the barolo, still like Napa, but find it a bit boring at times. So, peat, is not my favorite flavour now, but with time, who knows?

Anyway, back to your question, I have never had Lagavulin, but have heard a lot of praise for it. Although, I hear it is a peat bomb. In New Brunswick, scotch isnt cheap but strangely is cheaper than a lot of other parts of Canada (except Alberta). Anyway, Lagavulin 16 yr old is $77. Before I spring for it, I'd like your tasting note of it.

anyway, cheers!

[Elagabalus]

I'm going to be perfectly honest with with you. I don't pay much attention to other peoples' tasting notes, especially when they are absurd and ridiculous like "soft and moist like warm tar on concrete on a sunny day", or "a giant burst of dry cedar with a seaweed finish." What the hell do those things even mean? I'd only say those things if I was a pretentious fool and only to another pretentious fool so that we could bask in the collegiality of our own hubris.

What I do respect are simple opinions with clear adjectives. I found Lagavulin to be an excellent complex scotch, it is never bland or boring, nothing I have tried is as flavorful. It's a fun drink, a clean drink, one that you don't share with people who don't know anything about SMS. Lagavulin, the 16 and DE, and I am sure the Lagavulin 12 too, are special gems to be cherished. Lagavulin is a peaty whisky, and if you are not yet that great a fan of peat, you should first try something with a milder peat flavour, as an introduction. Caol Ila if you can get it. I can't and it pisses me off!

[Elagabalus]

77 for Lagavulin 16? That's not bad, here at the LCBO it's 99.95. How much is a bottle of say Johnnie Walker Blue Label in NB?

[Novice Scotch Fan]

77 for Lagavulin 16? That's not bad, here at the LCBO it's 99.95. How much is a bottle of say Johnnie Walker Blue Label in NB?

JW Blue is $168.29. Last year it was a little over $150 a bottle, but as I mentioned on another thread, our liberal govt taxed alcohol heavy as of recent.

[UUNetBill]

Re. Caol Ila - I just opened my first bottle of this tonight (18yo OB) and I have to admit, I really like it. Peat, pine tar, carbolic, but not overly heavy. An underlying sweetness that mixes well with the other flavors. Nice dram.

[Novice Scotch Fan]

I am drinking the Black Grouse and all I can say is wow! For $31 in Canadian dollars you are getting good value for money.

Nose: pine needles and peat wafting upward

Palate: the standard sherried FG flavour is there, but has been muted considerably by charcoal and peat flavours and some light pepper. Also in play is faint sea salt. Perfectly in balance, the peat has presence, but doesn't overwhelm the palate the way sherry does in the standard bottling.

Finish: Suprisingly, a long peat note with some pepper (not sharp, but lingering pepper).

When you are in the mood for an affordable blended scotch with some peat character, balance, smoothness, then this is your ticket. I obviously like this, but must say it is not something that I could drink a lot of at one sitting for some reason, unlike the standard bottling.

[LagaDrinker]

I have had my eye on the Black Grouse for some time now, really must get a bottle soon

[anationonfire]

I am drinking the Black Grouse and all I can say is wow! For $31 in Canadian dollars you are getting good value for money.

I have not seen this yet here in Alberta but have been keeping my eyes open. Mind you I also have not come across any of those other grouses that they were marketing out there this past summer.

[Novice Scotch Fan]

I read somewhere that initially Black Grouse was test marketed in one of the Scandanavian countries and it did very well. The company has now turned its attention to North America and I think Canada has been the principal benefactor of the introduction of the Black Grouse. It started in PEI and New Brunswick Liquor has picked it up with the new come availability. But, I think availability in your province and others hinges on whether the state run liquor stores want to buy it.

In the US, I think availability is very limited.

[Klas]

I read somewhere that initially Black Grouse was test marketed in one of the Scandanavian countries and it did very well.

Yes, The Black Grouse was specially made for Sweden, based on that Famous Grouse is the most popular blend here. It has been available in the Swedish stores for almost 2 years now I think.

[lancj1]

The famous Grouse website is very informative, and shows quite a range of 'Grouse bottlings, that I didnt know excisted

[Gov]

So...black grouse is coming to the USA?

[LagaDrinker]

I had never looked on the FG website before. There are quite a few differnet expressions to try. Some I never knew existed.

[pkt77242]

I have been eyeing a bottle of FG 18 vatted malt ($45), does anybody have tasting notes on it? I am also considering a bottle of Teachers ($13). I want to pick up a inexpensive blend, so is there any other blend in that price range that can compare with Teachers?


Sean

[Gov]

is there any other blend in that price range that can compare with Teachers?

White Horse, Islay Mist or Black Bottle

[boissona]

The Famous Grouse has been my regular "every day" scotch for years and I've never tired of it. I stored it in a cut crystal decanter and friends thought it was an expensive single... Sadly, the SAQ (Quebec's provincial retailer of wines & spirits) has discontinued the sale of the "basic" Grouse in the last few months BUT introduced the 12 yo blended (vatted?) malt. EXCELLENT! For me, as complex and satisfying as the Johny Walker Green Label but much less expensive. On that last note, I was surprised to see that, for once, the SAQ price of 39,50$ Cdn for a 750 ml bottle is quite a bit cheaper than in Scotland! Sorry about that lads...