h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Apart from an inability to spell, the writer of this piece
really knows very little about the subject. Almost any
little guide to drinks will give you better and better informed
information.

Agree about the spelling, however less sure about the depth of knowledge. Although thinking about it, out of the hundreds of malt and blended whiskies produced in Scotland, to name only a handful seems a bit neglectful.

Perhaps some comments on the whisky producing areas and why their products have distinctive tastes would help to broaden the article (For example, Islay malts have a very strong iodine type of aroma, due to the dried seaweed and peats that are used in part of the production process)

Another point re whisky producers is their contribution to the environment. Glenfiddich, for instance, has water and agriculure rights to large tracts of land around their water supplies as part of their effort to keep the water pure. Effectively this means no fertilizers or pesticides in the controlled areas.

I agree whole-heartedly with the researcher's comments re Chivas Regal - I don't know of any serious Scotch Whisky drinkers who consider it as a top whisky.

The spelling - yes I agree, but methinks the gentleman is not a native English (or American, but that's another story...) speaker.

The depth of knowledge, perhaps a little sketchy in the article, but I would prefer to interpret this piece as a personal expression prompting discussion rather than a definitive article in itself.

As for personal expression, make mine a Laphroaig

....although I did recently have a deep, but ultimately brief, acquaintance with a bottle of Bowmore Legend.

When asked his thoughts on Bowmore Legend my father said it was like drinking whisky from a week old ash tray . The older the Bowmore the better

Vat59

An interesting analogy I will consider it the next time I drink Bowmore.

I have to take issue with one of your points. A blended whisky is not a mixture of malts, it is actually a blent of malt and grain whiskies, this is quite a different thing. A blend of only malt whiskies is in fact called a vatted malt. If you are looking for some very good malts I urge you to try Strathisla, this is a smooth whisky with quite a long aftertaste or Glenfarclas 105. This is a cask strength whisky which is in the barrel for only 8 years giving it a higher alcohol content 60% vol. approx 105 proof. Try them both, you'll love them.

I would urge all whisky drinkers to try cask strength , single barrel and independently bottled single malts , It`s whisky appreciation taken to a higher level .
Has anyone found that whiskies over the last few year have become sweeter ? My opinion this is to attract the younger drinker but the over sweetness tends to hide some of the subtleties of a malt whisky , your thoughts on this would be much appreciated . My thoughts are that this drives away ( to Bourbons ) the drinker who wants to taste the malt as it should be not disguised by sugar . One of my favorite tipples is The Balvenie Single Barrel 50.4% abv. as it is a single barrel malt each bottle is an individual ( only 300 bottles from a cask ) if one finds a bottle that is dry on the palate you will know immediately what I`m saying and I would urge you to buy as much of the bottling as you can afford .

Vat59

It is, to my mind, a pity that this entry has not been tidied up, spell checked and added to and thus been put forward for editing into the official guide. It seems to me that a guide that doesn't have masses of pages devoted to Whisky is lacking...
Try http://www.whiskyshop.com for a bit of inspiration