A Steal of a Deal ?!

@fiddich1980 I'm all down for young and feisty fest. I've got a couple of bottles that would fit the bill.

@cricklewood How about the very first 3 YO cask of single malt released by Still Water? @Victor, would you make the trip up for that?

@Nozinan, would I make an international trip for a 3 yo malt? Would you? I own dozens of whiskeys you haven't tried yet, as does my sister. Would trying out one of them bring you down here?

It's great that you Ontario guys have come to accept that the whiskies are good, but the friendships are the treasure of being a Connosr.

Hopefully I'll see you before long.

@Victor You got me! I didn't come to Maryland to try your (and @Maddie's) whiskies.

But I did promise you I would open that particular bottle with you one day (It is not just a young whisky, it's from the first cask of malted barley spirit laid down by the company). I can find other treasures for the tasting if you can't come, but you will definitely be missed more than, I suspect, the contents of that bottle.

@Nozinan bien entendu Thank you. It is always a much appreciated honour to be invited. I don't know when I'll be back up there, but I certainly have been thinking about it, especially since you've gotten @Astroke, @cricklewood, and @fiddich1980 into the act who were never present during those 10 trips up there we made since 2011.

@Nozinan, the Howitzer has not yet been disposed...

@paddockjudge

I don't want it back...

@Nozinan, not even for the next scope?

@paddockjudge

No, I think I should choose another whisky to showcase in that case...

More sale whiskies in my area.

After about two weeks of tasting and experiment with blending that bottle of Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie Scottish Barley at 50% ABV I decided that I couldn’t pass up any more bottles. So I went and purchased a few more.

While in the store I noticed that they had deeply discounted a number of bottles (Scotch, Bourbon, Rum, Tequila). If money weren’t an option . . .

Everything I bought was marked down by 50%

• 3 bottles of Grant’s Family Reserve (750mL) at $9.99 each
• 2 bottles of Glenkinchie 12yo 43% at $29.99 each
• 1 bottle of The Famous Grouse Smoky Black (1.75 L) at $24.99
• 3 bottles of Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie Scottish Barley at $37.09 each.

I am quite pleased with all the purchases. I heard from the lady at the counter that they had also discounted the Glenlivet 18yo down to $58.09 . . . but some guy came in and bought the last 3 bottles. Oh well. Glad I am not a fan. I probably would have been tempted to do the same.

@Nock nice finds there. I've rarely seen whisky discounted more than 10 - 15%. Half price is unheard of around here!

Not sure if this is a "steal" or a "what did you just buy and why?"

Rumour has it the Amrut IS has been discontinued as a core product and will be shifting to travel retail. It is becoming more and more scarce, even in Calgary which is the Amrut centre of Canada.

I was given the challenge of bolstering the inventory of a few friends, and passed this along to my B-I-L, @nosebleed, expert bottle hunter. Many stores (all the ones with online catalogues) were sold out. But he managed to find 7 bottles in one NW chain store (Crowfoot Liquor). Priced at about $110 he texted me a photo but I got it too late. A couple of days go by and he is able to go back. Now there are no bottles there (because he got all 7!!!). Not only that, but he talked them into a 10% bulk buying discount that somehow worked out to 15% when the final numbers got crunched, the outcome being that after tax and bottle deposit he took them out the door for $97.37 apiece. That is $0.44 cheaper than the least I have previously paid for a bottle, and $2.37 less than the discounted bottle of the same batch he found for me last fall.

Considering the lowest price on Wine Searcher in the US is $146.00, I would say this is a good deal.

I will get one from this bounty, and the rest have been allocated. I know that eventually they will all be going to good homes...

Thanks again @Nosebleed! Happy Hunting!

The Whisky Exchanges 'malt of the month' is Ben Riach 21. It's £35 off so a very respectable £89 a bottle!

thewhiskyexchange.com/feature/…

@Weirdo I had a sample of the 21 from a friend recently. Very tasty, well worth that sort of money.

And low my prophecy has come to pass.

The commonwealth of Virginia has turned up her nose in the face of Bruichladdich Scottish Barley. Yea verily, they have pursued the likes of Blanton's, Bufflao Trace, and Henry Mckenna 10yo to their ruin. Fools.

To be fair The Classic Laddy was originally priced at $56.99. A hard sell in Virginia. And I bought several bottles at around $37 when it went on closeout. But now the month of October has rolled around. And Virginia has reduced the price further to $28.59. With tax we are talking $30.30 per bottle. Clearly Virginia wants to be rid of the Laddy. Fools.

Now that is a Steal of a Deal for the Classic Laddy. I have one open bottle (I gave one away) and I have two in reserve. The only question that remains is . . . how many will I buy at that price?

Any thoughts?

@Nock I would buy 2 or three. It's $76 here and I like it.

@Nock I get a kick out of it when you talk all Biblical like that. Kick it into gear and you'll have a full blown Lamentation there.

What profiteth a man to speculate on the ways of government alcohol control systems? Yea, these ways are beyond our understanding.

@Nock I agree with @Nozinan . I’m hoping it comes on sale again soon in Ontario as I really like it, but I’m not keen on paying $76 for it.....though I will pay that come summertime.

@OdysseusUnbound

My bad, looks like the price came down 1 dollar since I bought mine...

@Victor that is hilarious! You just reminded me of a book called "Lamentations of the Father"? A friend let me read it in the late 90's or early 2000's. I think that has been in my subconscious ever since. You just reminded me of it.

Here is a fun excerpt:
For we judge between the plate that is unclean and the plate that is clean, saying first, if the plate is clean, then you shall have dessert. But of the unclean plate, the laws are these: If you have eaten most of your meat, and two bites of your peas with each bite consisting of not less than three peas each, or in total six peas, eaten where I can see, and you have also eaten enough of your potatoes to fill two forks, both forkfuls eaten where I can see, then you shall have dessert. But if you eat a lesser number of peas, and yet you eat the potatoes, still you shall not have dessert; and if you eat the peas, yet leave the potatoes uneaten, you shall not have dessert, no, not even a small portion thereof. And if you try to deceive by moving the potatoes or peas around with a fork, that it may appear you have eaten what you have not, you will fall into iniquity. And I will know, and you shall have no dessert.

@Nock, just so! :-)

Behold, a wealth of Laddy Classic Scottish Barley has arrived. And there was much rejoicing (yea).

What was the final count? 5 bottles seemed right. I hit four different liquor stores. All but one store still had the original prices on shelf of $56.99. Thankfully, the cash register computers were wiser than the workers, and knew what liquor control board had decreed. As it was written so it shall be: 28.59 a bottle. With tax all told $151.53.

That brings my total Laddy Classic count up to 7 and an open bottle at the half way mark. I also now have 4 different batches.

1) 16/188 2016 09 13 (Sept. 13th 2016)

2) 17/078 2017 04 03 (April 3rd 2017)

3) 17/347 2017/12/05 (Dec. 5th 2017)

4) 19/021 2019/01/30 (Jan. 30th 2019)

I am extremely excited to begin to explore these. I am very thankful to Bruichladdich for having all the information about each batch online. I already know I prefer the Jan. 2019 to the Dec. 2017. However, when I mixed the two in a semi blind tasting I preferred the mixture to both (and I also preferred the Mixture to the Islay Barley 2008 . . . crazy, I know).

@Nock Wow that is striking Scottish gold. Congrats!

@Nock Makes me sorely tempted to pick up a spare...

@Nock Not crazy, definitely not crazy.

There is a disturbing trend in the Virginia ABC store. They are clearly gravitating toward boosting their Bourbon offering. They offer far more bourbon then ever before. At the same time they appear to be dramatically reducing their single malt scotch options. Last time it was Bruichladdich the Laddy Classic. This month they have decided that they want to be rid of Bowmore 15yo (formerly Darkest). So they marked all of their bottles at 50% off from $75.99 down to $38.09.

I am a mild fan and have consumed 2.5 bottles in 7 years. I personally believe it is the best standard release they have out. I prefer it to the Legend, the 12yo, the 18yo and the 10yo Tempest. I have one open bottle and one bottle in reserve that I picked up last Black Friday at 20% off. I think they need plenty of air to really find a balance with the mild peat and funky Bowmore sherry.

So when I saw the close out . . . I stocked up. With tax it was $40.38 a bottle. That was $201.88 in total. I would call it an amazing steal of a deal. Given the impending price increase on Scotch in the US I expect to see this over $100 soon . . . . I say buy it while you can.

@Nock yes that is a steal.

@Nock if only that were the Laimrig!

In Ontario, the 15 was priced $5 less than the Laimrig at one time. There was no question. I only wish I had picked up more.

I was never a fan of any of the core range, and prefer the Laimrig and the Tempest.

@Nock, yep, I'll be right over with a shopping cart!

@Nozinan I haven’t seen either one of those for a long time. I’m pretty sure they aren’t offering Laimrig these days, but have you seen the Tempest anywhere lately. I’d love to get my hands on a bottle or two of that beauty. Like you, I’m not impressed with Bowmore’s current core offerings. If they would just do the 15 at 46%, NCF and natural colour I’d be in.