Top 10 Whiskeys for Beginners [Crowdsourced From Whiskey Lovers]

Welcome to the Whiskey Vault. I'm Rex. I'm Daniel. He's a level three whiskey sommelier. He's a master level whiskey mooch. And today is a very special day for the first time. First time ever. We are doing a video for the top ten beginner whiskeys. Yeah. There's a reason why we've done none. Tickling 200 episodes. Yeah, and not done one yet, even though it's been asked for constantly. Yeah. Why haven't we done it? We haven't done that because for us, that's sort of a clickbait kind of thing. I mean, you can, if you go to YouTube and look up whiskey, the majority of the top hits are like BuzzFeed's Watch Irish People Drinking Bourbon. Right. Or the top ten, and it's always just... Well, and beyond that. It's pandering. Beyond that, it's a really disingenuous premise. It really is. We're gonna deliver though. Don't worry. We will. But for the most part, some guy makes a top ten list. At its best, it's his two-bit opinion. Yeah. And taste is subjective. Taste is so subjective. The thing is, if you make a list of top ten hammers to use for a certain project, that's a pretty objective list, right? It's like you got framing hammers. I mean, so on, right? We're gonna get the hammer crowd pissed off. But if you're making a list of anything having to do with taste or senses, you're instantly in a world of subjectivity. And the moment you say, this is how it is, you'll find thousands of people will drop a hammer going, no! And we were proved this when we said you shouldn't drink smoky whiskeys at first, and then half of our tribe said, wait, I fell in love with whiskey through Lagavulin and Lafroix. And then we started to realize something. Yes. Our community of whiskey lovers down in the comments, they are the perfect source for their recommendations for beginning whiskeys. The whiskeys that weren't some guy's two-bit opinion. But it is the whiskeys that brought them into the world of whiskey, because as they know, and as hopefully all the new people will know, whiskey is incredibly diverse. Right. It's a wild, wildly different flavor spectrum. And depending on what kind of flavors you like, any one of these ten whiskeys could be the whiskey that is gonna be just perfect for you. So it's gonna be in no particular order. No particular order. Crowdsourced from our tribe in the comments. Right. What I did was I just made a list of everything everyone said and then I sorted it and took the most recommended with ten whiskeys. And there may or may not be a special bonus whiskey at the end. We'll see. We're gonna go through each whiskey and we're gonna give notes for the kind of flavors that we're getting into, getting from each whiskey, specifically to help you guys pinpoint whether or not this is right for you. So what do we have first? This is Monkey Shoulder. First things is a blended scotch. This was recommended like crazy in the comments. I'm glad you pulled it up. I think it's because we recommend it all the damn time. Well, if I had to choose one beginner whiskey, yeah, it would be Monkey Shoulder. For me though, for my... Oh man, and this is all cream and like, and like apricot jelly. Like you would, like preserves, like you would put on toast. Get deep, rich caramel and plum. Yeah. So last night, I actually had this in my own house. Last night, I had this fresh off the heels of a really smoky whiskey. Oh, it goes down like water. And it tasted like creme brulee. Oh, of course. Yeah, slightly toasted charred top with a little, you know, a little torch. And so this is a rich, vibrant, kind of malty. Yeah, it's got fruit notes, but it's the darker, deeper, plummier fruit notes. Although, I get apricot in there and apricots come out, but I get dried apricot. Like if you go to Whole Foods and you get those bags of dried, slightly rubbery dried apricots. A little bit of peppermint note. I think this could be a really nice entry-level, middle-of-the-road whiskey for people that aren't looking for invisible. Right. They like, you know, big flavors, but they don't want hard, challenging flavors. Yeah, this is not... So we're gonna hit some whiskeys that's like, no, you're gonna like this if you started life, if you love black coffee and espresso, and now you're trying your first whiskey, this one may bore you a little. If you like vanilla lattes at Starbucks, this may be your gateway entry to whiskey. Well, if you're looking to get your world rocked, it may not rock your world if you like those really hardcore flavors, but if you just want something nice, it's not invisible. There's definitely some really rich flavors. Now, I will say in our list of ten, there's not a single whiskey that I would be ashamed to have in my house as my only whiskey. Yeah. So we're not pouring a single whiskey that I dislike. No, I am. Finish that because we're moving on. Highland Part 12. I like that my job is drinking ten whiskeys today. Yeah. Now, this is the newer Highland Part 12 with their reimagined bottle series called the Viking Honor, but it's supposedly just the classic 12, and I didn't get you glasses. Are you just gonna drink out of the bottle? Is that what you're doing there? You came back too quick. Yeah. I was going to. Shenanigans. I think I poured you a little too much. I'm gonna have to escort Rex back down to his office after this. Oh, man. Okay. So this is a different ballgame. I almost made a really salty joke there. Yeah. But I realize there's some new people. That's right. We'll ease you into... Yeah, normally things get rude. All right. Well, we're only two whiskeys in. Yeah. We may get there. Okay. So this one is, if you want to be introduced to peated whiskey, smoky whiskey, gently, instead of straight to Lafroig. It takes it up a notch. This is monkey shoulder, butterscotch, and all that kind of thing, but with a little bit of smoke on the back end. There's a little bit of iodine. There's a little bit of salt. There's a little bit of earth and wood shavings. And the interesting thing about Highland Park is Whiskey Sommelier, we're actually in a whiskey school right now. It's a non-profit school. And when you're training Whiskey Sommeliers, in almost every class you ask them, what's your favorite whiskey? And the room, as a result, this is the most highly voted one. The Highland Park 12, the Sommeliers love it. Oh, what's weird is I just got tea. But like a more, not green tea, but not black tea, like the in-between sort of herbal mix. I got the iodine and the smell of matches. Yeah, I get that. So you're getting your sulfur notes in there. So that's your smoke, burnt match. It's got the sweetness floating on top. The caramel isn't as pronounced in this as it would be in a monkey shoulder. No. The front leading note, would you say, is the smoky note? No, actually, well, okay, so because I love smoky whiskey, to me this is a lightly smoked whiskey, so it's not front. But if you were new to smoky whiskey, yeah, the smoke note is probably going to stand out. So this isn't effortless in entry level. It's not as harsh and challenging as some of the whiskeys that we'll get to in a little bit. It's a little more complicated. You need to be prepared to, you know, this isn't a little sweet, delicate cocktail. Yeah, this is not a dessert. Yeah, but it's not as intense as whiskey can get at all. All right, so that's two. That's Monkey Shoulder and Highland Park 12. Number three on the list, Glenfiddich 12. Okay, so here's the thing. Our tasting notes are going to be extremely influenced by what we've had leading up to each whiskey. So keep that in mind. I'm glad. I know what the last whiskey is. It's very good that he saved it for the last whiskey. Yeah. Because it would totally change the palate. And notice these are all scotches so far, but we will do bourbons, a rye, and an Irish whiskey as well. So Glenfiddich 12, this is a pretty classic Spaceside Highland whiskey. And Spacesides, for those that are new, it's usually the sweeter, friendlier, lighter whiskeys. Is that right? Yeah. Now, Glenfiddich is on the outer edge. I can't remember, actually, off the top of my head. But I do know if you're going to find a whiskey, scotch whiskey, that is more likely to be at just about any bar other than McAllen. It's probably going to be Glenfiddich 12. So on the nose, sweetness, light, spicy, and floral. Flowers, oh, like a honeysuckle. This is light, and this can be the most friendly whiskey for everyone. It's like a garden with a hint of orange. If you would never in a million years touch black coffee, and you like the sweetened vanilla lattes and the caramel frappuccinos and all this other stuff. And this is not an overly candied Spaceside, and it's not a heavily sherried Spaceside. So I think this is a great classic representation of Highland whiskey. Yeah, I'm getting the tiniest note of biscuits. I'm also getting a little bit of mineral notes, like mineral water. It's gone on the palate, though. So when you sip this, all you get is the floral and honey notes. There's no real smoky notes. This is not dramatic. No, no, no. This is much more mild than Highland Park 12. Yeah. It's good, though. A little oily. Oily? Yeah, it's clinging to my tongue a little bit. It stays with you. But it's not the kind of oil that's aggressive. It just kind of lingers. Yeah. I just keep coming back to honeysuckle. I get a lot of honeysuckle on it. This is a great whiskey, and I'm not speaking poorly of the whiskey. But if my grandmother, who had never tried whiskey in her life. You could do Glenfiddich 12. Say, hey, I want to try something. I want to try it neat. Just a little bit of this. The sweetness, the honey, the floral. Oh, fine. Fine. All right. So now we're on to Irish. The only Irish that showed up in our user comments. That is surprising. Six times, or five times. Jameson. Now, I get it. Hold on. Is it the only Irish period? The only Irish period that showed up on a regular basis in the comments. Variations of Jameson showed up. So some people said Caskmates and Stout. But everybody said, there was at least five people that said Jameson. Now, if they're doing it why I would do it. It would be less that it's a great, wonderful Irish whiskey. Although it is a great Irish whiskey. But it's more that you can get Jameson just about anywhere. And it's relatively affordable. Yeah. And so if you really want to. That's weird. I've got a lot of real weird earth notes just now on my nose. Like grass. Green grass. Well, here's the thing. Again, we're going back-to-back whiskeys here. Because we come fresh off the heels of a really light, sweet, honey, floral whiskey. Any amount of depth or earthiness. It's going to pop out. That isn't sweet. We've acclimated to sweetness. Now, I will tell you that Jameson on the nose smells very alcoholic. And so if you're not used to whiskey, this Irish whiskey. A non-hard liquor drinker will smell it and immediately go, oh, that's a. It's smooth. That's alcoholic. Much smoother on the taste. Yeah. And this feels like a really nicely rounded-off caramel. And biscuits. Yeah. Like honey biscuits. Yeah. Honey biscuits. Buttermilk biscuits. Oh, I want buttermilk biscuits now. There's not. And it is surprising the amount of spike you get on the nose and the smoothness on the taste. I think Jameson, you can't go wrong, man. It's just a classic. It really is. Jameson and Bushmills, they're both just damn fine Irish whiskeys. But, again, for those looking for drama, you want to get spanked a little bit. I know. This is not it. You want to get tossed around. This is not it. No, this is not it. Now, you know what's really good is a Jameson and a Guinness. Where's the Guinness? I know. There's a rule in the vault. Wrong channel. There's a rule in the vault. If you say something, it must be brought out and experienced. How dare you? I think you just made that rule up. Actually, there may be a Guinness downstairs in the mini fridge. Quit swishing. It's gross. It really is gross. I'm sorry. I'm the guy who, remember when Carl's Jr. came out with those commercials where you listen to people chewing? Gargling. You remember that? I banned Carl's Jr. from my life. This was in the early 2000s. And it's been, last time I went to Carl's Jr. was 2000. The year 2000. Because of those damn commercials where you can hear people chewing. So, I apologize for making you listen to me swish water. Okay, we're into rye whiskey. Okay. While he's getting that, rye is a kind of whiskey that doesn't have as wide of a spectrum of flavors as, say, like a scotch. But, if you like rye, then there's a bunch of things that are going to be nice. Ooh! Nice! Bullet rye! Yeah! Which, if you've been watching our show, you know that Rex and I both are not dramatic fans of rye. We struggle to find ryes. But we both kind of enjoy. We struggle to find ryes that are exciting to us. Now, I'm going to tell you what we've said probably five times on this show about bullet rye, is we both get eucalyptus in this rye. We'll see if we get it now that... We've had five other whiskeys. Yeah. I still get it. I still get eucalyptus leaves. It's still there. And then typically in a rye... Or tree oil. What are you going to find in most ryes? The, um... Black pepper. Black licorice. Spicy, tobacco-y notes. Black licorice. Kind of zesty. For me, it's always the front-leading flavor in ryes. And this one, the reason why I think I like it is because the black licorice is really toned down. And the eucalyptus is the front-leading flavor. Yeah, and I do get some orange notes in this. I can't not taste the orange. I can't undo it. That's the bummer about the power of suggestion. Um, I actually... This is a pretty mild rye as far as ryes go. Most people who really love rye go for more of the barrel-proof ryes, like the willet ryes. Those are going to be a lot more spicy. Estate ryes. A good classic you could try is Rittenhouse rye. It's not expensive, and it's actually a really good rye. But I think... Remember, Bullet sourced this rye from MGP, and it's just a damn good rye. So people that are looking to try out a rye for the first time, typically ryes, for me at least, they're not incredibly smooth. There's going to be some spikiness in there. Right. Is this typical for rye? Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you like the slight spicy, peppery, spiky notes, then yeah, rye may be up your alley. Yeah, you don't shy away from the salsas. Yeah, yeah. But not smoke. You know, you don't have to love all the aggressive wood notes. Yeah. But if you like a little bit of spicy foods, you might actually dig a rye whiskey. Yeah. Right out of the gate. Well done. Well done, channel. Man, you guys are... Good suggestions so far. No, if somebody said, hey, it's time for a rye, I'm going for Bullet rye. Yeah. Shockingly. All right, we're into a bourbon. I think I know what the bourbon is going to be. Elijah Craig. No, I don't know. Because I saw it, I glimpsed my favorite bourbon up there. Oh, Buffalo is your favorite bourbon or Four Rises is your favorite bourbon? Bullet. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I like Bullet, and we'll get to it. But Elijah Craig, let's... Okay, so here's the thing. Bullet bourbon and Elijah Craig got the same amount of recommendations. Oh. So I chose Elijah out of the two because we already did the Bullet rye. Okay. So I agree, the Bullet bourbon's a classic. Go get it. Yeah. But I want to try the new small batch, which is their non-age statement small batch instead of when they removed the 12 from the label. So while you pour this, how are we doing on price points so far? Have people been choosing things that are incredibly expensive, really affordable? Both. So I would say Monkey Shoulder, 30 bucks. Highland Park, 30 bucks. Jameson, 20 bucks. Bullet rye, 20 bucks. Glenfiddich 12, 20 to 30. And Elijah Craig small batch, 20 to 30. Now, we're doing pretty good. Here's... Yes. But every time somebody asks us the price for something, grain or salt, it's always a very local market. Yeah. Remember, countries apply their own vice taxes. States apply their own vice taxes. Right. So oftentimes, somebody will hear us say, this is $50 here in Austin. It'll be like $150 where they're from. Now, we have a couple of our tribe who will put in the comments, here's where it is for me. And I love the comparisons that they're doing like that. Yeah. Okay. Now, for me, I love Elijah Craig. It's sort of a classic bourbon for me. It is quintessential. And because it is a quintessential bourbon, I'm getting cherry and vanilla. Yeah. And you get annoyed. I do get apple pie. Oh. Apple pie just popped in my head. Cinnamon, apple, and the bread from the crust. Ooh. The buttery bread. This is better than I remember it. It's cinnamon. Yeah. This is apple pie. This is really damn good. I'm not getting an incredible amount of smoothness though. No. Just drinking it neat. And the reason you're not getting smoothness is because there's more barrel notes in there. Right. Well, here's the thing. For beginners watching this, I think a lot of them have spent their life equating smoothness to superior whiskey. Yeah. Not true. And once you start going down the path of whiskey and you're trying a bunch of things, smoothness is just one of the options that a whiskey can present to you. Yep. It's not necessarily the best thing. Sometimes people want something aggressive and spiky. This isn't incredibly harsh, but it's definitely not smooth. There are some spiky notes in there. And your ending flavor is the kind of lingering wood from the barrel with a little bit of cream. That's what she said. It's got this round... I have to cork that out. It's got this kind of rounded finish, but it's still got some... It kind of stays with you. Yeah, the wood with the cream. Love it. It's starting to fall apart already. All right. What are you laughing at? I'm professionally tasting. I don't know. I was thinking of something else. Okay. That's funny. That was humorous. Not the notes that a professional would be commenting on. Totally not. All right. What's the next one? Another totally classic bourbon, Buffalo Trace. Now, there are a lot of people who will... Here's what's weird. A lot of people will snob factor Buffalo Trace. Why? And what I mean by that is they will choose Buffalo Trace as a snob, as a better bourbon than, say, Beam or Jack Daniels or... Right, a classic. Okay. And that's because for some reason in the marketplace, Jim Beam has managed to... I mean, Buffalo Trace has managed to establish itself as sort of a cool, trendy budget bourbon. There's a couple of whiskeys that have managed to do that. Bullet's one of them. Kind of a trendy... Oh, really? Right? All right. I'm a whiskey hipster. Yeah, totally. So when it comes to Jack Daniels and Jim Beam and... Jim Beam and these guys, they're also damn fine whiskeys. And I think the only reason that our viewers didn't all suggest Beam is because Beam is what everybody drinks, and our viewers tend to be kind of like we want to have some inside knowledge. I appreciate that a little bit because if somebody's interested enough in getting into beginner whiskey... Beam is a damn good whiskey. Well, that's fine. But they're also wanting something that isn't just obvious, where they can walk into a bar and see, oh, they have four whiskeys. Of course they have Beam. Yeah, so yes, this is separate from the generic, but Buffalo Trace is a damn good whiskey. Now, what's weird on this is I got way more cherry in the nose immediately than I did from Elijah Craig. I'm getting some cherry. I'm getting some biscuit and apple. Quite a bit of apple. It's nice, though. This is a bit smoother than the Elijah Craig. It's kind of rum-ish. Right. Like, um... What kind of rum? I don't know. I'm not a rum guy. No, I'm not normally either, but there's a Cuban-style rum that uses sugar cane, like Ranzacapa. It turned into honey and wood. Yeah, coffee, though. I got a coffee note in there. So this is, again... This is a dark chocolate-covered coffee bean. Interesting, okay. So this is the kind of, if you want to get into a whiskey and you have your heart set on bourbon, then the Elijah Craig, if you're okay with a little spikiness, some apple pie. Yeah. Buffalo Trace is a little more dark notes. And it's not incredibly smooth. Like, okay, let's say you like dark chocolate with a high percent cocoa bean. Yeah. Buffalo Trace might be your next go-to. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's, um... For people that have watched the channel a long time, they know this about us. We often lean towards Scotches as just a go-to whiskey to pull off the shelf. Yeah, that's kind of what we prefer. Because the world of Scotch flavors is incredibly broad. Yeah. It can deliver tons of stuff. Bourbon can deliver quite a bit. Right. A little more narrow. Moonshine, it's... Okay, it's Moonshine. I don't know. Maybe we haven't given it a fair shake. But I think we may be giving it a short straw. Have we? Yeah. I've tried. Okay. Let's just say I've tried. Although, I did have an amazing Moonshine recommendation. Yeah, please put it in the comments. I did get a White Owl from Canada, and we're going to review it at some point. It's actually a pretty decent Moonshine. So Buffalo Trace. So finish your Buffalo Trace. Classic bourbon in a more dark chocolate category than Elijah Craig. And a lot of whiskey lovers, it remains their go-to whiskey, even after they've tried a whole bunch of different things. It's something they began with and they stuck with. What's next? Our next one is... I guess I forgot to move my list. No. Oh, we're back to Scotch. McAllen 12. Okay. So, McAllen 12 is an ex-classic. The cork broke, so... I'm corking. Oh, no! Did you shove it in there? Yeah. So in sommelier school, they didn't teach you how to open a bottle. Got it! Damn it. Okay, so... My ball-busting came to an abrupt end. Alright, so here's... Sommelier school. Here's the thing about McAllen. I think McAllen deserves its place in the pantheon of classic space-side Scotch and sherry-finished Scotch. I also think it's like the Levi's of Scotch in that you pay as much for the name as you do for the whiskey. Okay. So, for those that don't know what sherry-finished means, sherry-finished McAllen... What this means is, traditionally, the dominant two barrels used in aging Scotch are either bourbon barrels or sherry barrels. And in space-side, traditionally, there's a lot more sherry barrel use. However, some distillers will start aging in bourbon barrels and then finish them in sherry barrels. And then some will age them their entire life in sherry. Now, I found the perfect-sized cork for that. This is why you always keep extra corks from your last bottlings. Because every once in a while, you'll buy a whiskey and the cork will break and you need a new cork to replace it. For me, the oak in here, the perfect amount. Because, for me, oak is one of those things, it's too much. The wood note in there is just the right amount of wood. Okay, so when you get a sherry-finished Scotch... It tastes like eight inches of wood. Yeah. You're living in the land of dried fruit. Go to any Isle & Hole Foods or Trader Joe's where you get the bagged dried fruit. Oh, yeah. Or you get the bulk. You know the section where you can get the bulk? Yeah. Put it in the unbag and just go to dried, dark fruits. Plums, cherries, even apricots, which are lighter, but when they're dried, they get darker. Mm-hmm. Sherry whiskey, it tastes like... If you've ever had sherry, it tastes like sherry. Go buy an Oloroso sherry, take a sip, and you will find the heart of a lot of Scotch Spaceside sherry whiskeys. If they're not using Oloroso, they're using Pedro Jimenez, which you can buy that one as well, but Oloroso sherry is a good sherry all by itself. The caramel is there. The caramel is always there for me. But, yeah, the oak and the dried fruits are absolutely, absolutely right. It's such a classic. It really is. It sort of stands as a representative of a good Spaceside Scotch. It's just that you pay 20% more because it's called McAllen. Oh, so it's, what is it, like $40, $45? It could be, yeah. It depends on where you're buying it. All right. So, McAllen, absolutely. Really nice beginner whiskey. It's a classic. You end... These aren't light, invisible flavors. They're not challenging, though. So if you're okay with some vibrance... It's definitely not boring. Yeah. No, there's several things going on in there. What do we have next? Now on to another bourbon. All right, so Four Roses. Now, what I chose was a single barrel instead of the classic Four Roses. Right. Even though we do have the classic Four Roses in here. What does single barrel mean for the new people? What it means is, instead of mixing a bunch of barrels together, they simply bottled one barrel of whiskey. Okay. So it's not a blend. Not a blend inside the distillery. All right. This is a specific run of their yeast run and their mash bill. It's a specific... I mean, this one for us is Warehouse Ian, barrel 47-5D. My narcolepsy is kicking in. I know, right? So this is actually a really readily available whiskey. We just reviewed this bourbon all by itself a few days ago. Yeah, you see the link up here. This is a whiskey that anybody could probably find... Yeah, we talked at length about this one. ...in the states, I think. Now, what I want to know is, where does this fall when compared to Buffalo and Elijah Craig? I feel like I like Four Roses a bit better. Single barrel, anyway. And we're talking about a $40 bottle. For me, it goes Four Roses, then Elijah Craig and Buffalo are close. I'm going to say Buffalo and then Elijah Craig. Oh. I'm going to say Four Roses, Buffalo, Elijah Craig. All right. Because this is so interesting. Now, this single barrel one, and I think it might be because it's 50% alcohol, it's so much more complicated and interesting than the other two that we just tried. Really nice. But I don't know that this is an entry bourbon. Yeah, it's like where wood meets cherry. I can't do it. I can't continue normally. Okay. These things just come to you. It's true. It's absolutely true. It's scientifically true. It's heavy barrel influence with notes of cherry. Yes. Like maraschino cherries. And son of a bitch. Right where the wood meets cherry. Your grandmother is never going to watch this again. In an earlier episode, my grandmother was trolling me. Yeah, she totally did. Okay, so here's the thing. This is... I'm going to disagree with our tribe. I will fight you. Don't burn me in effigy. I will burn you. I think this is a little more aggressive than I would pour for anybody who's new to bourbon. Well, no doubt. But again, this is in no particular order of friendly to challenge. Yeah, you're right. Because what surprised us with our tribe of whiskey lovers, there's some people that, hey, I'm not afraid of a challenge. Yeah, I fell in love with Laphroaig from my first sip. Right. Yeah, and we did have a lot of our tribe who tried the more stereotypical Glen Fiddick's and McAllen's and were like, ah, it's okay. And then they tried Laphroaig or Highland Park or Oven 14 and were like, oh, I found my home. Now we're talking. So for those people, I think if you were a Scotch, an aggressive Scotch drinker, and you wanted somebody to introduce you to bourbon, four rows of single barrel would be a great bourbon to gateway you into bourbon. Yeah. Not necessarily smooth. Big, vibrant flavors. And rich. Yes. Like, think of like a formal library study with leather sofas and a fire burning and books, musty books on the shelves and thick carpets. The note that stays with me, because I haven't had a sip in quite a bit, it's cherry vanilla ice cream. What? Ice cream? Well, yeah. It's the thing, the oils that last the longest. It eventually just leaves me with a little cherry vanilla and the sweetness of ice cream. And look at the viscosity of that. The legs on that thing just all day long. Bourbon is one of those things where it's often that you will get something that's not really complicated or complex. There's a lot going on in here. Okay. So we're on to our final whiskey. Oh, no. It's probably good we saved this for last. Right. Because once you go Isla, you never go back. Right. And honestly, because I know what this is, I peaked, yes, thank you. So how do you say this? Cool Isla. Cool Isla 12. Here's the thing about Cool Isla. It is one of the most commonly used whiskeys in blends for adding a hint of smoke to a blend. So when Johnny Walker Double Black or any of the blends that use smoky whiskey, very often they're using Cool Isla as their blended component. Before you buy Cool Isla, you need to go buy Big Boy Pants. This is... I'm totally using Charlie's limestone water for a while. Oh, yeah. Charlie Haig donated limestone water. Did you really? See, there's no alcohol in there. I didn't put my mouth on it still. I didn't put my mouth on. Okay. Beard molecules. I have beard molecules. Drifted in. Okay. So, my God, this is such a long video. Okay. Sorry, guys. We usually do one. We usually do one whiskey. We're 30 minutes in at this point. You got this, Chad. Chad, the editor. All day, buddy. Sorry, Chad. You don't need to deliver this tomorrow morning. Yeah, I think we need to buy him a steak lunch or something. We'll bring him a whiskey. He'll be fine. Yeah, okay. So here's the thing. I love Cool Isla. Yeah. Love it. Yeah. As far as smoky whiskeys go, it's got this kind of light, vibrant smoke. Oh. We're going to empty this thing. You know what that means, don't you? It's a bottle-down ceremony. It is. And you just got more than me. I really did get more than you. There you go. All right. So for those of you who are new, we have a tradition when we bottle down. We hum It's Raining Men. Are you ready? Yeah. Mm-mm-mm-mm-mm. Woo. All right. That'll bend you over and treat you now. Yeah. So think of this as when people provide tasting notes, the only people who provide friendly words to this are people who love smoky whiskey. If you don't love smoky whiskey, you're going to say oil, cigar, smoked ham. Campfire. Iodine. Damp wet grass. Yeah. Moss. We said saltwater. Saltwater. So this is really... It's briny. This is the definition of smoky, harsh, challenging whiskey for somebody that's getting into whiskey for the first time. Now, if you love smoky, challenging whiskey, like a Froelich Ardbeg, this is light. Lemon. It's friendly. It's got herb notes. It's got peppermint on the end. It's got... And that's one of the things that's really fun about whiskey is once you acclimate to the flavors, the complexity opens up. So if you are into coffee, if you're into wine, if you're into, I don't know, soda, if you're into tea, the universe of flavors absolutely can be had in the world of whiskey. And then some. We've had whiskeys that tasted like moldy cheese and brisket. And this is... It's not even a stretch. It is, oh no, this is liquefied moldy cheese and brisket. Absolutely. And then things that are like, oh, this is like watered down white wine and honey. So this is a really fun whiskey. I like it. But this is for people who like the blackest of black coffee. Yeah. This is for people like bitter. Single origin, no cream, no sugar. Right. They want a challenge and they're not afraid of something that is going to toss you around the room a little bit. That's right. And the reason why we're putting this on the beginner list is because our people say, hey, I tried it. They suggested it. Five different times people said this is an entry level whiskey. And it makes perfect sense because taste is... Subjective. Yeah. All right. So there's the tin. Did they have a good list? It was a good list. I think the list got better as we went. Do you know what's better than tin whiskies? Eleven whiskies. I knew you were going to say that. We need a list. Dude, it's not even lunchtime yet. But breakfast whiskey is a thing. No, one more. Just one more. No. I poured ten whiskeys in one episode just for you. I think I've met all of the necessary psalm requirements. You seem to be under the mistaken idea that you have a choice here. What? It's my fault. I'm a psalm. All right. I'm calling in the big guns. I'm calling the whiskey spirit eagle. What the? How did you get here? I was recording. Where's Jason? Hey, guys. It's Brian Brushwood from the Modern Rogue. No, we were in the middle of recording. Why? How did I get? I don't understand. I have no idea what just happened. I just know I refused to pour Rex more whiskey. Oh. You know what happened? You are about to be replaced by a level one whiskey sommelier, Brian Freakin' Brushwood. Oh, that's right. You get to drive the chains. All right. You get to wear the maester's chains. It turns out I can be replaced when Rex summons the whiskey eagle. Brian. Damn it. Brian, you have a very specific. I feel naked. You have a very specific mission. Yes, sir. I need an 11th. A bonus whiskey. What is your favorite? No, he doesn't even know. Go-to beginner whiskey. Yeah. People are saying if you want to introduce somebody to whiskey, this is what you would get them. And we've already done 10, and you can see them back there. So let me do this. What would you choose? I will say that Jameson was my touchstone. That's what got me in. All right. Because of the availability and the simplicity and the consistency of it. And we agree. But let me show you the whiskey that got me into Japanese whiskey. No. And I'll get glassware because now I'm just a lowly servant. Peasant. You peasant. Yeah. So this is a Hibiki. Oh, no, sir. You chose Hibiki. Yes, sir. Well done. Indeed, I did. And so. Which one? This is a. Oh, man. It says Hibiki. Harmony. There we go. Harmony. Yes. I just. I know it by the label because I'm a child. I'm observing. Shapes and colors. I like the red one. Yeah. So this is a blended whiskey. And I love the fact that it's sweet like candy. And it's got a consistency. It's easy on the palate. And I tell you what. I got to be honest. When I think of whiskey, I very rarely ever thought of Japan. But this is the one that changed my mind. And this is a blend of Suntory products. I remember correctly. They're using at least two or three of their distilleries. And it's sweetened. Into this product. Sweetened butter. And you can smell it even before you get started. Oh, my God. This is the least boring blended whiskey I've ever had. While still being freakishly smooth and buttery. Yeah. But you know what's funny is I like how boring it is. Yeah. It feels safe. I think you met the metric of if you were trying to get somebody into whiskey, they would be fine. You don't want Coal Island. Yeah. I mean, let's do a suicide. Yeah. Wait, wait. A tiny dash. Don't ruin it. This is, by the way, not cheap. Hibiki Harmony is not cheap. And it's hard to find these days. So you can thank Brian for. Oh, boy. You can thank Brian for turning you on to something that you may never be able to buy. Oh, yeah. That just took it up a notch. Oh, my God. This is an abomination. That'll kill you. No, it's actually really tasty. So thank you guys for being here. And all of you regular crew, share this video with anybody you think could conceivably like whiskey. It was made exactly for that. That's right. Also, while you're at it, check out the Modern Rogue, youtube.com slash modern rogue. Never heard of it. Here's to cheating, fighting, stealing, and drinking. If you cheat, may you cheat death. If you fight, may you fight for a friend. If you steal, may you steal a lover's heart. And if you drink, may you drink with us. Thanks for hanging out with us in the Whiskey Vault. Subscribe if you like shenanigans with your whiskey reviews, and leave a question or comment down below. If you want to learn the right way to drink whiskey, be sure to check out Daniel and Brian in the Modern Rogue. That video's in the top left.