The Holy Grail Myth?

Yes and No, about 'preaching to the choir'. I do think that most of our Connosr members would agree that it is possible to become too cerebral about drinking at times. Drinking for enjoyment and drinking for criticism are two different mindsets. Criticism is a mental process but whisky drinking is a physical sensory process. Careful appraisal of what one is drinking does distract from the process of pure enjoyment. A lot of that can most certainly diminish the overall enjoyment of the drinks.

As for The Holy Grail in the sense of the One True Perfect and Best Whisk(e)y, I more or less believe in that. But I believe in that in the sense of the One True Perfect and Best Whisk(e)y among those whiskies which I know, for this or any other particular mood and frame of mind. Which is to say, I have 200+ Holy Grails for 200+ moods. This is why it will be so hard for me ever, affluence allowing, to have fewer than 30 to 50 bottles open in my house at all times. I value variety extremely highly. There is for me no whisky which fits all moods.

@Victor - Excellent points, as ever! Thanks. The bit about mood/frame of mind is so true.

@RianC a good topic to discuss. I guess it depends on the kind of person one is. I know lots of folks who find out my affinity for this hobby and ask "what's the best whisky? Or what the best whisky you've ever had?"

It's always a funny question to me but I can see how for some people that's how they compartmentalize and view things. I think a search for the best is ultimately pointless and bound to lead to some disappointment or empty feeling in the long term. As @Victor pointed out, the best for what mood, occasion or tastes?

I've had Glenfiddich 12 while smoking a cigar with my brother while the sun goes down after a long week and it tasted pretty damn fine.

Can we be accused of being wound too tight or overthinking whisky too much? Certainly, critical analysis can be tedious if it's never held in balance with something else. Lately I've let go of the notebook on more than one occasion and been all the happier for it. Does it mean I'm less discerning or analytical a drinker? Nah, I just realize that there's a moment and place for each aspect.

It also helps not to get hung up on the small details all the time. Sure I prefer my malts unchillfiltered/uncolored, at a decent proof and with an age statement. I'll reign it in if the company is good or the people I'm with aren't into the finer details of whisky as I am. Not every occasion is a soapbox.

I've blabbed on enough

Great opinions here. I’m pretty easy. I’ve never hit a whisky I’ve hated. But a relative few have blown me away. Some have disappointed me. As much as I love my Laphroaig, Ardbeg and Lagavulin, I’m not always in the mood for that. I found myself a bit disappointed on Sunday, as I was in the mood for something light and easy, and my Four Roses Small Batch is over at my Mother In Law’s. Almost everything else I have is either higher proof (well over 90 Proof) or peated.

As for the “Holy Grail”, I can’t imagine a whisky that would be perfect all the time...Though I’d be happy to see if Laphroaig 32 Year Old fits the bill, if someone wants to donate a bottle...

@OdysseusUnbound :

"I’ve never hit a whisky I’ve hated" means "I've never tasted Lambertus"

@Nozinan were going to have to try this (in)famous Lambertus soon, perhaps with some Loch Dhu for comparisons sake.

To me, a Holy Grail whisky isn't one that's perfect. I agree with those who have written about mood and company. A certain mood, certain friends, and a certain whisky (that's on hand) can combine to create the perfect malt moment (or bourbon, or Canadian, eh?).

The Holy Grail whiskies I think of are the ones that are out there, that I've heard of, and for some reason or other, I would like to try. For me that's a Port Ellen, Certain Amruts, Brora. They don't have to be expensive, just hard to come by.

Some whiskies that I've managed to get my hands on (bottles or samples or tastes):

1. Laphroaig 10 YO CS (thanks @Victor and @paddockjudge)

2. Laphroaig 18 (Thanks @paddockjudge)

3. Amrut Greedy Angels (first ed) (Thanks Ashok Chokalingham)

4. OGD 114 (thanks me for buying and my friend for muling)

There are probably others but I'm too tired to recall. Whose idea was it to give up coffee?

@Nozinan, Laphroaig 10 Cs and 'froaig 18...what are friends for !?!

@Nozinan Did you just give up coffee, or did you also give up covfefe? The latter might help out...

@OdysseusUnbound I never took a liking to the latter....

@OdysseusUnbound - I've had two bottles that were undrinkable. Jim Beam white (tasted like a plank of gone off wood and cheap varnish) and Tullamore Dew (very unbalanced and rough). Apart from those two (and I really tried to get on with the them . . .)

@Nozinan - I like your way of seeing a Holy Grail as an unobtainable or rare whisky. That for me at the moment would be an old Benromach 25+ or Glenfarclas 30+

I think a true "Holy Grail" whisky would be so good that, if you drank it blind, you would jump out of your chair and start running from house to house to sing its praises like Wee Willie Winkie. I don't think that exists.

But there are these supposed "legendary" whiskies. And if you were to get a glass of one, you would no doubt appreciate the hell out of it and make it an occasion special magnificence. And there is indeed real value in such as experience, beyond the mere sensory experience of that stuff going into yer belly.

For me, a 1960s Springbank would fit the bill. Tell me there's a glass of it waiting for me tomorrow night, and I'll be full of happy excitement for two days, and I'll bring an avalanche of attention to that glass once it's in my hand. It'll be a special experience. But that same whisky poured casually from behind your bar while we chat about the weather is unlikely to produce an extraordinary effect.

Cf. blind Black Bowmore at LAWS: lawhiskeysociety.com/pages/…

@MadSingleMalt, thanks for the great link. And what the author says is so true.

I think that skepticism about the famous hyperbole-laden whiskies is more important than skepticism about a bottle which is inexpensive. With the inexpensive stuff you have nothing to lose and everything to gain if it is good or great. With the expensive stuff you have only downside if the glamour still fails to make it fit your own taste.

Blind tasting is a great leveler, and tends to be both very humbling and very instructive.

All of that said, @MadSingleMalt, when I tasted that 40 yo 1967 Springbank by Duncan Taylor I had no high expectation of it. After all, it was just Scotch, and I preferred rye and bourbon by a large measure at that point. But it was GREAT, and the only taste I've ever had which I rate at 99 points. I'd love to sample it again to see if my opinion would again be that high, but it is way too expensive for that!

@Victor, duly noted! If ever I should get taste of that same Springbank, I'll have my Wee Willie Winkie-style nightgown at the ready.

@MadSingleMalt - Great points and I like the link also, especially the picture half way down

I agree with @Victor . I've avoided researching the samples given to me by @Nozinan too much. I don't want to be influenced by the cost (if I don't already know it) or by others' opinions of these whiskies. It is truly liberating to go in without expectations and just enjoy the whisky.

@RianC

"And Ye, did the Lord God form man of dust from the ground, and did He form Ardbeg from the peat of the ground, and He breathed smoky peat into his nostrils, and thus did man become a living being."

"Great whisky can be enjoyed by all, but GOOD WHISKY SHARED WITH FRIENDS BECOMES LEGEND".

paddockjudge, Connosr profile page, 2011

@paddockjudge I was thinking of that when I made my post. I would add:

"legendary whisky shared with @paddockjudge becomes EPIC"