Best single-malt Scotch...

A drinking time question, dear malt pals: late afternoon, before~, after dinnner... when do you have yr first of the day?? With me it's usually late a/noon & before dinner, or after dinner (the best). Before dinner: Lafroiagg with Brahms (1&2 Piano Concertos -- Curzon recommended), Sibelius, J Hendrix, JL Hooker (should've been drinking rye here)... After dinner: Aberlour (music ditto Frogman + Bach), Lagavulin (Alexc -- I'm with you).
Cheers -- i'm off to access that site, thanks Sdcampbell!

Okay, enough of this! Now the real issue: What beer, and how much of it, is necessary to make Bose 901s driven by a Cryin ear receiver sound good?

My accessible answer is Talisker's standard bottling. The one that got away was Adelphi's cask bottling of 30 yr. old Springbank- $100 I should've spent before it went away. Generally, I'll take cask bottlings over diluted/filtered ones any day. Unfortunately, since there's no such thing as blended bourbon, American distillers don't have the guts to produce cask bottlings (Booker's notwithstanding).

Killer thread!!

I've been into Scotch for several years now and have a few that are almost always kept 'in house'.

1) The Macallan 25 yr old, I remember when it was $125. Now at $300, I buy it less, thankfully many friends seem to always remember my favorite on birthdays and Christmas, so there is usually some around. Unquestionably one of the best, if not the best commercially available single malt...

Their 18 yr old is my house staple and always drinkable!

2) I like a 24 yr old Dalmore (Cooper's choice) that I got recently, not quite as smooth, but very full and flavorful.

3) Royal Laproagh, eceptionally smooth, almost to the point of too little taste.

4) Talisker

5) Lagavulin, a little to smokey for me, but nice with a bit of H2O and some ice.

That covers my favorite single malts......

Now, the selection becomes much more obscure for single casks..... yes, true straight from the cask Scotch whiskey. I found the store of my dreams on a trip to London last year.

There's a store in Covent GGardens (3 Russel Str, Covent Garden, London WC2B 5JD, Phone # 0171 379 4640)that is a Scotch drinkers dream. I bought a bottle there, can't remember right now what it was, but was the best Scotch I've ever had. If you're in london, or want to buy a case (they export!!) go there or contact them! You won't be disappointed. If you go, they give tastings of all the single casks, just ask!! Their cigars are poorly humidified though, so don't go overboard with the Cubans there!

Buy and happy drinking!!

When I posted above about the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, I didn't mention that their bottlings are all cask strength, directly from special barrels or casks that are of exceptional quality and purchased directly from the distillery. Over time, their bottlings are from more than 100 distilleries, some of which are no longer making product. All of the whisky is excellent, but I have particularly enjoyed an 18 year Dalwhinnie, a 30 year old Bowmore, and several terrific 10-12 year bottlings from very small distilleries.