>>
File
15794244877.jpg
- (139.23KB
, 818x1000
, bKY_Cac1WtolH1-K6BzgKFaEKaTicveMzIUomKTHREQ.jpg
)
Speaking as a club member of the happiest colony of them all, Hong Kong, here are my perennial whiskies, starting with the most inexpensive. All but the last are rich in taste (not strong alcoholically) and feature at least subtle ginger or spice notes, and often, butter and/or toast, my favourite notes. The former two are also accessible notes to people new to whisky. None of these are very peaty or smoky, another bias of mine.
1. Famous Grouse. This, the People's Blend of Scotland, is the only good whisky you can buy for less than 100 Hong Kong dollars in the Far East. If you are a dandy on the dole, it is essential. Distinctive biscuity note too.
2. Wild Turkey Rye Whisky. This is the only American mass-market American blend I sip a dram of every now and then, mostly because of its long, buttery finish, and when I feel like rye. If you don't care for either, skip it.
3. Monkey Shoulder. Clearly aimed at those ghastly millennials in marketing terms, but this does not stop the whisky itself from being lovely, with the clearest burnt-toast note. 300-500HKD.
4. Nikka from the Barrel. The best common Japanese blend, very close to M.S. in terms of quality; a tad spicier. Also 300-500HKD.
5. Highland Park, 12-year "Viking" single malt. Now this is a very different beast. The most aromatic, clear, bright taste, a bouquet of wildflowers and herbs by the side of a still, clear loch. Emphatically not spicy or peaty or smoky. 500-600HKD usually, but as it's grossly underrated, it can be found for 300-400HKD. Drink slowly. Do not mix it. HP say correctly that it goes well with Japanese food, though.
6. Bunnahabhain 18-year single malt. The best of what I like. Glorious, complex, rich, adult, with a new note every time you sip it, but with my beloved ginger and spice in particularly well done form, and nuts. The bottle which introduced me to Good Whisky in the first place, so I'm slightly biased, perhaps. Only costs about 1000HKD nonetheless, and thus a perennial in my cabinet.