Here's a recent purchase...

@Pierre, you want to draw that Scallywag bottle label, don't you?

Late birthday present to myself arrived yesterday, some sampling may have happened...

@HHJones Beats birthday cake and new socks all to hell. Is that Finlaggan the cask strength version or the 40% one? I had the CS about 5years ago and it was excellent. Haven't tried the 40%.

Cheers

@HHJones, what a birthday haul, will you report back on the Rhum JM? I am quite a fan of Rhum agricole and would love to hear your impressions.

Wife's back from overseas and got me some duty free:

• A couple of bottles of the Laphroaig Brodir, the Travel Retail Exclusive bottling.

• A bottle of the Kavalan Solist ex-Bourbon Cask, cask no. B111209014A.

WTF .........................................................

Wild Turkey Friday! WT Rare Breed Barrel Proof (116.8 proof). Jimmy Russell is a genius!

@sengjc Kavalan has some wonderful stuff just on the expensive side for me. I'm one of the few people that prefer the bourbon cask solist over the sherry cask.

@paddockjudge Is that the bottle I saw in Calgary. I've had duck, chicken, goose, and I've even smoked domesticated turkey, but I've never tasted Wild Turkey...

@Nozinan,

This Wild Turkey must have been fed a high rye diet. Not the same bottle you saw in Calgary; however, there are some bottles in the Maritimes. Pictured below is the Calgary specimen. WT Master's Keep 17 YO Barrel Proof at 43.4% abv., the brain child of Jimmy's son, Eddie Russell.

@paddockjudge how is the new bottling had the last 2 versions and preferred the lower proof, need some sound advice before getting another bottle as I can get 2 x 101 for just a little extra money.

@paddockjudge, that looks like fun. I have never tasted a Wild Turkey aged 17 years.

@Pete1969, You can do no better than to get the expression you prefer, if it is available and affordable. I enjoy barrel proof whisky and WT Rare is seldom, if ever, available in my region. For you, obtaining the lower proof WT 101 is a great move as you prefer it to the recent barrel proof iterations and it is a value play. I will eventually pick up a bottle of WT 101, but probably after one more Rare Breed barrel proof while it is available.

This current batch of Rare Breed is right in my wheelhouse - high rye. It has good balance, neither too sweet nor too dry. The heat is from the rye and not the alcohol...it is not liquid sandpaper, it has an excellent mouth feel and is somewhat soft, but don't be fooled by the soft entry, the rye kicks hard and gives heat in the mouth and a splash of fire in the gut and gullet, no inferno, but a reminder that it is bourbon at barrel proof and not cut with water.

The 17 YO will sit for a while....cant drink them all at once....what would I do with 300 open bottles of whisky? ;)

@paddockjudge what indeed? We don't know anyone on this site who would be "foolish" enough to have hundreds of bottles opened, do we?

@casualtorture, Have you tried the Kavalan as I was thinking of having a friend pick it up from Singapore. I tried the ex bourbon not the cask strength version and I found it to be OK.

@Nozinan I spent an hour or so yesterday decanting bottle heels and labeling them, got like 20-30 small bottles out of them so far to add to the more than 100+ open. Not in @paddockjudge league but getting there.

A birthday present from @jeanluc What a wonderful brother!

Happy Birthday, @Pierre! Is it today?

Thanks @Victor - it was yesterday

Happy belated Birthday, Pierre !

Happy belated birthday @Pierre

Many more @Pierre. Thanks for all you do, with a lot of help from your "wonderful brother."

Thanks for everything you do for this site.

Happy birthday @Pierre. Thank you for offering us a mean to share our passion.

I am in Ottawa and took advantage of the nice inventory of Canadian Whiskies to get a bottle of Wiser's Last Barrel and one of Dissertation. I also picked a Macallan Edition no 2 because they were offering a discount on it wich makes it dropped into my range of "It's still quite expensive but just buy it and shut up". The "shut up" is to quiet my guilt.

@DevD late reply sorry, but yes I tried the Solist Bourbon cask and Solist Sherry cask. Both are very good, I enjoyed the bourbon cask more.

@Robert99 Please let us know the verdict on the Macallan Edition 2. It's $184 here, but I would be tempted if it is as good or better than the Sienna.

@casualtorture I had a small taste of the Sherry Cask courtesy of a friend whose brother in law gave it to him as an anniversary gift. Very expensive I'm told, but a very impressive sherry bomb.

@BlueNote Even an anti-NAS guy like me has to admit that Sienna was pretty darned good. Still WAY overpriced at $190 CAD (I'd probably pay $110-$120 for it, judging by Ontario standards) but Sienna is not as deceiving as the Amber or the very mediocre Gold.

@Pierre,

A belated Happy Birthday. That is a very nice gift from your brother. I will blend a special whisky in honour of your birthday when I am at the distillery tomorrow.... and I will use Corby's Lot No40.... and name it the Brothers' Birthday Blend.

Cheers!

@OdysseusUnbound I only had a small sample of the Sienna, but I suspect it contains quite a bit of well aged stock and has been padded out with some relatively young stock, thus the reluctance to divulge age. As for the entry level Macallan pole dancers, as @MadSingleMalt calls them, they are thin, weak and overpriced. But I am curious to see what @Robert99 has to say about the Edition 2.