A Steal of a Deal ?!

@Benancio, excellent! I look forward to getting together with you one day and trying the Old Charter 10 yo .

@Nock Karma +1

Binny's has Laphroaig 18 on CLEARANCE (or at least, on drastic markdown), down to $63:

binnys.com/spirits/…

They ship. (And I feel like I mention Binny's a lot on here. I'll state: I have no relationship with them other than as a satisfied customer.)

There's a thread going on the whiskywhiskywhisky forum about whether this means the end of Laphroaig 18.

a whole liter of Tomintoul Peaty Tang for only €26,-. Havent tasted it yet, but after reading some reviews, this seemed like a pretty good deal

@OlJas Good price, grab it! While some other 18 year olds creep to the €100 mark this one (for now) stays affordable. Prices in Holland have been quite stable on this one at €55-60,-

Morrison's in the UK are doing some great deals, Chivas regal £20, Aberlour 10 £20, Ledaig 10 £19, all great whiskies for the price :-)

@Mickg I wish we could still buy Aberlour 10 in the USA. I think the 10 is better than the Aberlour 12.

@Mickg, that's a solid price for the Ledaig as well. I didn't love it at first but I got back into it recently and it's good stuff!

A store closeby has 1L of Glenfarclas 12 for CAD $40. Great deal for that kind of quality.

@hunggar 1L of Glenfarclas 12 for CAD $40 is fantastic. That comes to $30 for a 750ml bottle. I would have to buy 4 or 6. Enjoy!

I've bought a lot of whiskey lately. I need to stop. 3 purchases over 2 weeks. Don't tell my wife. They were on sale!

Tomatin 12Y $32 Tomatin 15Y $45 Balvine 15Y $75 Glenlivit 18Y $58 Ardbeg Corry $70 Old Pulteney 17Y $89 Laphroaig 10 Cask strength $58

Picked up 3 bottles of Glendronach Platinum (16 yo, 48%) for CAD $63. Tried it next to the Revival last night... way more rich and intense! It's good to be friends with your local whisky store.

I got an Aberlour A'Bunadh Batch 46 @ $58.99 for 750ml — Gary's Liquor Store, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. Never seen it cheaper! I also got a Lagavulin 16 @ $62.99, I believe it's also a good price, and they sell the HP12 @ $36.99... glad to leave relatively close.

Finds near Madison, Wisconsin: So these aren't exactly deals, unless maybe you've been trolling high-priced auctions. I found the following old bottles at a "candy and liquor" shop today in downtown Cambridge, SE of Madison. I didn't catch the name of the shop, but it's on the north side of the high street, west of the giant Christmas tree. (Sorry for the craptacular directions; I had my two small girls with me.)

Anyway, they had tons of unusual and old stuff, including the following:

*Dumpy old bottles of Highland Park 12, 15, and 18 (I think they had all three--definitely the 15)

*All kinds of Diageo distiller's edition bottlings, including earlier and current Taliskers, Dalwhinnie, Oban, and Cragganmore (???--I'm not positive about anything other than the Taliskers and the Oban).

*Springbank 10 100 Proof (sorry--that's a tease: they had one bottle of this and I bought it)

*Old bottlings of Tomatin

*A Lagavulin 12 that I suspect was a previous year's release, though I didn't think to check

*Lots of other stuff that i remember even less distinctly than my guesses above, including some non-mainstream Scotch blends. Sorry for the lack of detail here. Between being Dad and focusing on the Springbank, my attention for other bottles was limited.

Their bottles might be dusty, but they're prices are not. The Lagavulin 12, for example, was $105. The Springbank 10 100 Proof was $70. I think the Highland Park 15 was $70. The old and new Talisker DEs were $90, i think, which is ridiculous. Even so, i you're looking for some other less-common bottles, check this place out.

--Oh, I also remember they had at least one old bottle of Longmorn. I lifted it from the shelf expecting to find it was the old 15, but I actually didn't see any age statement. Did Longmorn have an old NAS? Anyway, I get the impression that folks used to love the old Longmorns, so I thought I'd shine the Dram Signal up into the sky on these.

A local grocery store chain (a bit on the upscale side) is starting their Christmas liquor sale...80% of their stock is wine (not surprised), but a few of their stores do offer a vast whisky/ey selection...Here's a few that were included in my email they sent...

Laphroaig 10 yr $40

Lagavulin 16 yr $69

Talisker 10 yr $52

Oban 14 yr $59

Glenmorangie 10 yr $31 (gift set w/ 2 tumblers)

Glenmorangie Lasanta $41

JW Black $31

Of those above...Me thinks I'll have to pick up some Oban, and Talisker.

Ha! If this isn't a steal, I don't know what is: $1000 off The Last Drop 50 ($2999, regularly $3999) at Binny's with a Binny's card (available online).

Also, all Glenfarclas Family Casks are $100 off.

One more try, this time in the correct discussion:

Glenfarclas 21 YO is only 50 cents more expensive than the 15 YO expression in Norway. Although compared to the rest of the world, neither one could be called cheap. I suppose the price difference between the two is what could be called 'a steal' this time.

@Bomberman Dude, that is awesome...I should book my flight to Chicago now...

@talexander

Yeah, I kind of meant it half-joking, but $1K off is significant. $4K seems to be the retail price for that bottle. I'm very skeptical that it could be 4K-a-bottle good.

No need to fly out - apply for the card online and they send you a card number to enter online.

@Bomberman You can't really ship alcohol into Ontario so yes, it would require a trip to Chicago...but I love Chicago so that's not a bad thing! And as I often say, is a $3000 bottle of whisky six times better than a $500 bottle? And is that one five times better than a $100 bottle? Nope. Nope nope nope. But if one can afford it, it's a rare chance to taste liquid history.

I just purchased a bottle of Appleton Estates 21 year old Jamaica Rum. It was a Christmas deal from my liquor guy, $55. He's a great guy! I don't drink or know much about Rum, so @Victor could you help me out here? I'm hoping to share this over the holidays, is this good rum?

@Benancio, I don't know the Appleton Estate 21 yo, so I don't have an opinion without having tasted it. Appleton Estate is a good brand, generally, though, so I expect that it is good. I'll tell you what I do like in the rum world: Smith and Cross Traditional Jamaican Pot Still Rum, Naval Strength, 57% abv. I also like 151 proof Lemon Hart Guyanese (i.e. Demarara) Rum, and Gosling's 151 proof rum is not at all bad either.

@Victor thx, those will be rums I keep my eye out for.

I had some people over and I brought out the EH Taylor 67% ABV, most couldn't drink it or passed. The Appleton 21y Rum is 43% ABV, I'm hoping it is full of flavor. We love high ABV whiskey, most people don't. The wife and I spent a weekend with friends, the other husband was a whiskey drinker, he mixed Jim Beam 50/50 with water. I respected his drink and said nothing. I made him. 3oz Bulleit a Rye Manhattan he was hooked on them all weekend.

Back to the Rum, What nose and pallet flavors should I look for?

@Benancio, it is not good rum; it is great rum!

@Benancio The Appleton 21 is quite delicious. I wouldnt quite put it in the upper echelon of aged rums, but its a very good one for sure. If you ever happen across anything from Zacapa (Guatemalan) but it. I have only ever seen the Centenario 23 at the LCBO, but its fantastic. I brought back the XO, as well as their limited reserve 2014 (only 200 bottles) back in November and they are two of the best aged rums ive ever tasted. If you ever have a chance to purchase either, do so without question.

@mscottydunc That should say "buy it", and "2000 bottles". A few too many drams for me tonight....

@Benancio, I like thick and chewy rums with big flavours. A lot of very popular rums still seem thin to me, like El Dorado 15. I like most of the aged rums ok, but I only get excited about a few of them.

@mscottydunc , you could blame the misspelling on the darn iPad, as Nozinan does.

@paddockjudge, @mscottydunc, @Victor. Thx for all the advice. I might have just started another journey. The only other good Rum I have is Ron Matusalem Gran Reserva, oddly I've had it for years and have never opened it. I have a couple of the standard rums for mixed drinks.

I've always been a whiskey man, I love some cognac, brandy and tequila. I hope to find Rum with full bodied flavors.

@Benancio Not sure if the LCBO still has it but the Plantation 20 is superb