AnCnoc 24 Year Old

@galg Sounds excellent. When you say relatively inexpensive what does that mean? I expect a 24 year old single malt to be in the $400+ range at least.

I just found it listed in the annual premium spirit release in Vancouver for Can $306 tax in. Not a bad price for the age.

that is very expensive. in israel you can get it now for $180 CAD (with coupon) or for around $200 at normal prices online... so for a 24 yo, this is a no brainer! so cheap. and so good

i see at SAQ it's : saq.com/page/en/…

268 CAD. still much more expensive

I purchased my bottle in Nova Scotia for $196 CDN/Tax in. Enjoyable SM but I found the Balblair 1990/2015 at $165 CDN a tad better. I have a Ancnoc 1975 that I will open when I retire.

@Astroke I have opened the 1975 ( i have it) on my 40th birthday last year. it is very good, why wait for retirment?

@Astroke An older, wiser friend said to me some years ago; too many people leave too many things for a retirement that may never come or turns out to be very short. Drink it brother.

@galg @BlueNote if I was 40 I would open it. I like to think I can wait the few years since I have so many bottles open. Probably will (cannot) not wait much longer :)

There's some value, too, in holding onto something special and anticipating the day you will finally enjoy it.

I bought a Glendronach single cask that I really liked (tasted my B-I-L's bottle) and noticed it was distilled within a month of my starting medical school. I think makes for a fitting retirement bottle. Not something too fancy I yearn for, and not something I will regret if I can't drink when I retire, but something the taste and symbolism I will appreciate if I do.

@Nozinan Glendronach cask strenght is on my wish list but my whisky money has already been allocated to some Amrut and OWA waiting for me in Toronto. I will get my hand on a bottle one day, probably in 2018, and I can guarantee you that I will not wait for my retirement to drink it.

@Robert99 @Robert99 indeed, one must drink what he can , since there's no knowing what's gonna happen tomorrow.. drink today, enjoy it while you can . and it's bloody good, if I might add. love them GD single casks as well. got quite a few waiting for me ( i have about 100 open bottles so, i am not opening ALL at once)

Since I'm a mere youngin' the more valuable bottles I can hold on to for a long period of time the better. I'll have a whisky portfolio.

@casualtorture, do you have some special bottles you're already holding today that you plan to open sometime in the rosy indefinite future? Care to tell us about them?

@MadSingleMalt, you might call those so beloved that they are 'open in the distant future' bottles to be "White Whales in Residence" or "White Whales in Situ", and no longer "White Whales Still Residing in the Ocean of Unpurchased Whisky".

@Victor Those White Whales still in the whisky ocean might be considered an endangered species. The ones already in captivity should be set free (by opening and drinking them ASAP).

@Victor, @BlueNote :)

Yeah, we should put a fun label on them! In my stash, for example, I've got plenty of not-too-exciting bottles that I'm just waiting to get to, but also a few special ones that I'm really excited about. My White Whales in Residence:

•Longrow Gaja Barolo 7

•Springbank Fino CS 14

•Ardbeg Dark Cove CR

My White Whales in Residence are:

Rittenhouse 21 yo Rye, Barrel # 17

Balvenie Tun 1401, Batch # 9

Bruichladdich Octomore 2.1

Bushmills 21 yo Malt Madeira Finish (second bottle)

Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist 18 yo, 2008 (second bottle)

Glenmorangie Signet (second bottle)

Abraham Bowman Rye 10 yo 69.4% ABV, (third and fourth bottles), my favourite bottle all-time of all genres.

Willett Family Estate Bourbon,18 years old, barrel # 79, "Sopressata", 69.7%, (second and third bottles). This one is my all-time favourite rye-containing bourbon.

Of these 8 I suspect that the Rittenhouse 21 yo Rye and the Balvenie Tun 1401 will likely be the last ones opened. But who knows? Tastes and preferences can change.

@MadSingleMalt @Victor You guys are sitting on some impressive cetaceans.

@BlueNote, well you're sitting on some impressive vocabulary! You sent me to Google with that one.

What are your Cetaceans In Residence?

@MadSingleMalt @Victor Nothing really exceptional. I have one Laphroaig 18, one 2015 Cairdeas, two Nadurra 16s. The rest of the really good ones (Flaming Heart, HP18, Bunna 18, Corry etc.) are open. The other fifty or so are all unopened, all good but easily accessible (Farclas 15, Uigie, Springbank 10, Machir Bay, etc.) They are the ones I buy when I see them at a good price just to be sure I always have them on hand. Any real exotica is just too pricey here.

A couple of minor whales that I have my eye on and are decently priced are a Macaloneys Cask Islay blended malt of Caol Ila and Bunnahabhain, and Rock Oyster Sherry Blended Island Malt with contributions from Jura, Arran, Islay and Orkney. Both just over $100. I'm also looking at the Macallan Edition 3 if I can get some positive reviews on it, and a 15 year old Caol Ila and the Fiddich XX.

Any thoughts on any of these?

@BlueNote, your Laphroaig 18 and Flaming Heart sound "cetacean-worthy" to me! Nice stash.

As for your minor whales, the one that sounds most compelling to me is the sherried Rock Oyster. My club currently has an open bottle of the standard Rock Oyster—it's decent but a little simple & narrow. I could see the sherry adding a lot to that base. I defer to you on its value proposition at $100+, though.

Is the 15-year Caol Ila the "Unpeated" OB?

@MadSingleMalt I assume the Caol Ila is the unpeated OB. It is described as "displaying the make's youthful and vibrant DNA as it marries their glorious fruit and hints of smoke and the sea with smooth mature tannins.....etc. etc" I know the unpeated 17 gets a lot of good press but I don't hear much about the 15.

@BlueNote, those all sound like good fun. I'd like to taste them.

@BlueNote, yeah, that sounds like the unpeated to me too.

If you're seriously considering it, you surely want more definitive info that my musings. But here they go, nonetheless!

•I think all those unpeated Caol Ila OBs from the past few years came from the same spirit run 17+ years ago. So that would mean and the 15 and the 17 are the same stock, just bottled at different points of maturity.

•I think the 15 is the one my club buddy shared with me a few weeks ago.

•Whichever it was, I liked it. I didn't love it, but I liked it plenty. It was similar to a Campbeltown-style malt.

@MadSingleMalt Thank you. Very useful information. Anything that resembles the cream of Campbeltown is right at home in my wheelhouse.

Now I need to get back to work. I think I might be spending far too much time here yakking with you guys. Not that your conversation is anything but riveting, but deadlines are looming.

Later,

Cheers

@BlueNote @MadSingleMalt

If you're discussing the Caol Ila cask strength bottlings of 15 and 17 YO (and recently released, I believe, 18 YO) my understanding is that they all came from the same still run and were casked around the same time. I have tried the 17 and it is excellent.

@Nozinan @MadSingleMalt 61.5%. I think it's a White Whale destined for captivity in my cabinet.

@BlueNote The 17 YO is 55.9%. It would be a white elephant, rhino, holy grail whisky if I hadn't traded for it because it was $170 here in Toronto. I will be using the last 1/4 of my bottle sparingly and save the other bottle for a LONG time.

@Nozinan $155 for the 15 here on the Wet Coast.