Hello my little Metafilter Malt lovers...

August 15, 2012 6:32 AM

If you love malt whisky then you'll love Ralfy's YouTube channel.

Ralf Mitchell is a Scottish whisky lover who makes highly educational, quirky and cut-through-the-bullshit little YouTube videos about his beloved drams, distilleries and how best to enjoy his national drink. From the comfort of his kitchen and latterly his damp and draughty barn, Ralfy (or The Bunnet) as he is affectionately known takes you through over 300 whiskies and distilleries with plenty of good banter along the way. He's also has a blog and is an undertaker by trade.

Highlights for the whisky buff beginner include:

Which glasses to use.
Nosing.
Adding water.
How to taste.
The evils of caramel colouring and chill filtration.
Old whiskies
Peat
Barrels
Stills
Handy hints

Distillery tours:

Springbank
Glengyle
Kilchoman
Daftmill

And other gems:

How to make a hot toddy
The zombie review
DIY blending
Cigars
Whisky clubs

And much, much more...slàinte!

posted by veryape (18 comments total)

Oh man, I've got a friend who likes the odd (and even) tipple, but has recently become a no-carb zombie. During his switch to hard liquor exclusively, he discovered Ralfy and has been singing his praises at every opportunity. I've got to say, the videos are pretty damn entertaining.

Also I do enjoy some malt.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:51 AM on August 15, 2012

These are great. Would love to see him team up with Hannah from My Drunk Kitchen.
posted by gwint at 7:00 AM on August 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

For reference, related posts not showing up under "Related Posts":
http://www.metafilter.com/98148/Lets-talk-about-Scotch-Whisky
http://www.metafilter.com/116787/Richard-Paterson-Master-Blender-of-Whisky
posted by Partial Law at 7:23 AM on August 15, 2012

As a malt lover, I like mine in a glass, in my hand... not on the screen, over there... *nips out*
posted by infini at 7:40 AM on August 15, 2012

Ha! I just discovered this place a couple weeks ago. I'm a scotch newbie, and was learning more about a bottle of Dalwhinnie that my father in law bought me. That video review made me a huge fan in 10 minutes.
posted by CaseyB at 8:00 AM on August 15, 2012

If you love malt

You lost me at "if" but won me at whisky.
posted by Mezentian at 8:03 AM on August 15, 2012

Great set of reviews. Reminds me of the reviews written by the members of the Whisky Society in Edinburgh. If you are ever in that wonderful city and know someone who is a member, GET THEM TO TAKE YOU.
posted by dazed_one at 8:39 AM on August 15, 2012

I like this guy. He's down to earth, open, passionate, and likes to share his ideas.

He's also got a charming goofiness and just the right accent you want to hear from someone schooling you on whisky.
posted by beau jackson at 8:39 AM on August 15, 2012

I'm going to lose a lot of time to these videos. At least it'll give me an excuse to drink more whisky (as if I needed one).
posted by asnider at 8:48 AM on August 15, 2012

I can't wait to dive further into these. So necessary -- the field of Scotch whisky appreciation in particular is SO FULL OF BS (and class snobbery). Honestly, you'd think the stuff was made by elves or leprechauns in the mists of midnight instead of big dudes in overalls in complicated machinery.

Having seen a couple now, I still crave more information; for instance, in the Auchentoshan visit (labeled "Stills") he mentions the capacity but not the charging volume -- stills are almost always run at much less than the stated capacity, which changes the character of the distillate (generally speaking, the less wash that's in there, the greater the copper contact of the vapor and thus a lighter, more refined product. Also, he didn't mention that those are lamp-glass stills, a common but far from universal shape; and he didn't talk about the angle of the lyne arm or the effect of a purifier or the type and size of the condensers (worm vs. tube).

The best book I've read on the subject is "Peat Smoke and Spirit" by Andrew Jeffords, which is only about Islay malts, but covers the technical details in minute (but clear) detail, as well as the human element of the workers, the other residents of Islay, and even the many people who have lost their lives in assorted shipwrecks and plane crashes on or near the island.

I'm not afraid to admit that one advantage of a book is that you don't have to deal with the adorable and musical but occasionally difficult to make out accents! The stillman at Auchentoshan sounds like half his words are disappearing back down his throat.
posted by Fnarf at 8:57 AM on August 15, 2012

This is great, looking forward to viewing.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:29 AM on August 15, 2012

This has everything I love.

In the first linked review of the Laphroaig Cairdeas he makes a fantastic point about how people are getting more discerning about whisky production because prices are going up "A bad buy, is a nasty sting because you've spent so much money"

Then he pauses, and this happens.

I can see I'm going to be wandering around all week yelling out 'Bread Dough!' at random times.
posted by lumpenprole at 11:08 AM on August 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

There goes the weekend, and it's only wednesday.
thanks for the find.
posted by OHenryPacey at 11:37 AM on August 15, 2012

The gin review is quite interesting, especially where he suggests 3 novel additives towards the end. Nice find, on a quick sampling I'm not sure these are the most sober presentations I have seen but there is nothing wrong with that.
posted by epo at 12:05 PM on August 15, 2012

I clicked like about a dozen times.
posted by twidget at 1:46 PM on August 15, 2012

Awesome awesome awesome!
posted by Vindaloo at 6:27 PM on August 15, 2012

I'm just back from Scotland having been through a few malts and thinking I'd like to learn more about this - this thread looks perfect to me.
posted by motdiem2 at 12:14 AM on August 16, 2012

One word: yes.
posted by ob at 9:16 AM on August 16, 2012