12 years or 18 years?


Your experiences please..
When I listen to my state of the art 2.1  Bose tube amp system, I drink a 12 year old single malt whiskey. The sound is warm and smooth. When I switch to an 18 year old single malt, the sound is smokey and woody.
Your thoughts and recommendations on a warm  and  smooth 18 year old single malt whiskey.
TIA for entertaining my question. Stay Healthy and long live HiFi!
tomavodka
Knob Creek Bourbon for me Uncle Nearist during the holidays that seems to happen more frequently these days! LOL! 
Happy Listening And Sipping
Mark

The basic Glenmorangie is excellent; very good flavor and costing less than most other single malts.  You can go up the line from there.

I do like a bit of smoke and peat; of the Islay malts Laphroiag is probably the most widely distributed, but there are 7 other distilleries on the island.  Time to explore!

NOTICE: 20 year Pappy shows no difference between any type of  interconnect. Bottle to lip direct, bottle to mason jar to lip, bottle to fine crystal to mouth. The only perceivable difference I can find is in the volume control.
I'm in Atlanta, bourbon is my choice.  The older the better, if I can afford it these days
I don't give health advice to grown Hifi buying men and women!

Life is good for me! Now Imagine if you only heard good news for 24 hours...

Thank you

millicarbon

You made my day with this recommendation, the music is right up my alley. I will share with others and keep it coming, for this evening, I have a bottle of Gold Cast Bushmill  to gargle with.

Thank you


Your Spanish vodka Bloody Mary inspired Spanish Mary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZgrLpvj3-0
Your a funny Kat! Toma Vodka is Spanish for 'drink vodka'. You inspired me make a Bloody Mary and I'm listening to U2 "Under a Blood Red Sky" .
Great album, Cheers!

Your Spanish vodka Bloody Mary inspired Spanish Mary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZgrLpvj3-0
Being a born and bred Scot I can tell you I have tried many many Single malts. I have three favourites though and they are, Cardu, Dalwhinney Winter Gold and Glengoyne Cask strength . Each of these ones are smooth and wonderful to drink but as I always say we make the stuff here and this is the country where it is the dearest to buy. I recently gave my wife a bottle of cask strength Glengoyne and it was wonderful tasting and it was 59% and she kindly let me have one to sample and it is like honey in taste and possibly the smoothest whisky I have ever tasted. 
Hey guys, I currently have a Balvenie 12 year old in the liquor cabinet, too.  It distresses me to say, though, that it's just the tiniest bit generic for me tastes.
Mr. Millicarbon

Your a funny Kat! Toma Vodka is Spanish for 'drink vodka'. You inspired me make a Bloody Mary  and  I'm listening to U2 "Under a Blood Red Sky" .
Great album, Cheers!
Krell MD-10
Krell SBP-32X
Krell KRC-3
Krell KSA 200S
Parasound JC3 jr
Clearaudio Concept
Balvenie 12 year old single malt 
tomavodka, I am familiar with Russian vodka, and have several outstanding examples in my liquor cabinet. Never heard of tomavodka. Please do not tell me its made with tomatoes....
Krell MD-10
Krell SBP-32X
Krell KRC-3
Krell KSA 200S
Parasound JC3 jr
Clearaudio Concept
Balvenie 12 year old single malt 
Goners
Please be advised, the "Bose Tube Amp" comment is for attention and theatrics.
I somehow want to incorporate whiskey into an audiophile premise.
I have happily read all the responses and I like the way many of you discribed Hifi with spirits! Thank You

Nice!
Wow! Having deliberately avoided developing a taste for scotch that I can't afford, I typically go with a mid grade port to help my less than midgrade system, however briefly, sound simply heavenly.
Post removed 
As a child in my cradle the nurse from her ladle Was swillin’ her mouth with a notion of ``Pep’’ When a drop from her bottle fell into me throttle. I capered and scrambled right out of her lap. On the floor I lay crawlin’ and screamin’ and bawlin’ Till Father and Mother soon came to the fore. Conceived I lay dying, all wailing and sighing They found I was only a-cryin’ for more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gpijgj6jmv8
While not available in my area, I remember drinking a type of booze that was named Golden Grain or Everclear (180+ proof). Great for spiking punch bowls, juicing up watermelons, or just as a fireside sipping whiskey (just not to sit too close to the fire). I few belts of that stuff would even make a Bose sound good.
Ho Ho Ho and a bottle of Rum!
Mojito Tom. Use white not brown.

A couple of those and your system will
sound even sweeter!!



A newer less well known distiller but from Master Distiller Billy Walker is Glen Allachie. Really fantastic Scotch..........
https://theglenallachie.com/whisky/glenallachie-18-year-old/

I love all the responses here, I didn't how people were going to respond but I'm pleasantly surprised and greatful to learn new experiences.

You see I'm an acomplished alcoholic. I upgrade my poison and my  gear any chance I get. I like the fact that I can get audio and alcohol advice in the same place.
Cheers!
For 18YO, I find Highland Park to be one of the best.  Not as bold as a Balvenie 17YO ar even a Glenfiddich 18.  

If you are looking for something amazingly smooth, I will admit, a bit pricier, check out a Glenfiddich 21.  Glenfiddich tends to be a fruitier, sweeter whisky and the addition of the rum finish gives it this just amazing, rich and slightly sweet taste.  For a little less, check out the Balvenie 14 Carribean Cask.  

Another interesting choice would be to look at Kavalan.  They have a portwood finish that will be in a similar price range as many 18s that is amazingly smooth.  One of my favorite whiskys in the world for the money.  


Before I got derailed onto high-end Cognac & Armagnac I was into single-malts.  Talisker is a heck of a good whisky, and so is Laphroaig.  I remember being at a bar in Edinburgh Scotland.  The wizened old Scot beside me ordered me to try a Dufftown.  He pronounced it "Dooif Tune."  Yeah, a noble brew.  All these spirits have plenty of character.  Flat frequency response?  Nay, me laddies.  But imaging in spades.
What I should have said was this: The Macallan 18 was a bit like a pair of loudspeakers with a ruler-flat frequency response. It did nothing wrong -- nothing at all -- but it wasn't as engaging as its younger sibling. The 12-year-old had some peaks and some valleys, but I found them to be features, not bugs.
-- Howard

Way back in the 1980s, I used to enjoy The Macallan 12-year-old Scotch. I had two part-time jobs then, and had promised myself that if the better of the two turned into a full-time gig, I'd celebrate and buy myself a bottle of The Macallan 18. I got the full-time job, got the 18-year-old Scotch, and wouldn't you just know it -- I preferred the 12-year-old. I still drink that from time to time, but haven't had the 18 since. I found the one that had been aged longer to be too smooth, with all the edginess of the younger version -- which I liked -- sanded off, as it were. Just one man's tale.
And I've got a nicer stereo now, too.
-- Howard

Mr. Gregm

A poetic response indeed.  A Hibiki Harmony  lends to the facts!
The Japanese have produced a fine whiskey as well as exquisitely expensive audiophile gear!
Cheers! Stay Healthy!
Lately, I discovered a killer weak to enhance bass extension: 25yr old single malt Suntory Yamazaki whisky.OTOH, a glass of Laphroaig with a drop of pure Islay water makes the sound soft, tube-like.Drinking the whole bottle transports you to the musical event infallibly !
Mr. Edcyn

Your recommendation is spot on for Cognac! I once shared such a bottle with  a dear friends when he retired from a corporate position.
I will seek!  Be safe and Thank You

Try Delamain Cognac,  I'm too poor to buy anything more than their bargain basement Pale and Dry but it's still in the Hundred Dollar range.  Utter luxury.  Sweet, rich and complex, with a long, long finish.  It demands to be drunk slowly.
Gentleman
Your response has be one of a true audiophile I appreciate that.!
Your recommendations are great and proven.Some of these libations I have forgotten about.  I will revisit them.
Thank You and stay Healthy!





For mental health reasons I gave up Bose 20 years ago...
Single malts on the other hand are great.  Got some fun ones here:  Brenne, Sheep Dip, Nikka, Balcones and every Glenmorangie I can find just to start the list.
For health reasons, I gave up hard liquor almost 20 yrs ago. However, before that, a glass of whisky was my usual listening companion. It certainly reduced the urge to tweak and increased the urge to relax and listen.

The other option I liked was brandy: cognac, armagnac, or calvados. (My favorite was an aged calvados.)