So, what are you drinking now?

@GotOak91 - for a nice Canadian try Sazerac Royal Canadian small batch or for a bigger price Caribou Crossing Single Barrel

@paddockjudge Im going to have to seek those out. Thank you.

Just tucking into a dram of Cask Strength Amrut. Sweet vanilla liquorice and spice. Nice.

I just tried a 23 year old Enmore rum, which was really exceptional, and extremely different from rums available in the US. Salty, tarry, licorice, molasses, and a really off rubbery/plastic note, which actually was delicious. It could be the start of a new love.

@numen, if you enjoyed the Enmore you should also try Caroni, Basseterre, Port Mourant etc... great stuff and I recommend the single cask bottlings from the Whisky Agency and the Velier bottlings.

This weekend is my last free time before my trip to Gettysburg Pa. So I'm taking it easy with last minute details with some Buchanan's 12yr old blend. Sometimes complex is not called for when so many little things are left undone. :)

In short, quite alot.

Benromachs: 10 year, traditional, organic, sassicaia (wine cask), peat smoke, cask strength.

Glenfarclas: 105, 15, 21, 25, 30, 40.

Laphroaig 18.

now that exams are over i have finally uploaded my notes on them. Phew thats alot to get off my chest

Just coming home from a great night at a whisky bar tonight! Makers Mark, Four roses, Bookers...

@maltster, thanks for the excellent recommendations! I'd definitely believe it. I've heard of Caroni (got a bottle of that and another Silver Seal rhum agricole), but haven't heard of Basseterre or Port Mourant. It's tough to get bottles like that out here. Those really dark and big rums can be amazing.

Enjoying a sunny Sunday evening with Balvenie 15 Single Barrel. Have a great night, guys.

Opened up The Booker's Bourbon today. Man alive, this one gave me a good punch to the mouth. Powerful but very tasty drink.

Tesco 12 year old Islay. Excellent value at £20. Medium sweet with plenty of smoke. No medicinal/iodine on the palate though. Very Dry finish.

Canada Day is celebrated throughout the Great White North on July 1st each year. The truth be told, some of us start early. We gather with family and friends to celebrate our national identity and let our patriotism shine through, usually with a domestic beverage, and of course, fire works.

In honour of the Great and Famous Canadians who helped to shape this magnificent country, I recently organized a two-day sampling to celebrate all things Canadian, especially whisky.

Day One - Old School Whisky Beginning with a one hundred-year-old recipe from J. P. Wiser.

1. Wiser’s Legacy 43% abv. This inaugural bottling from 2010 was the culmination of a work in progress at the time of Wiser’s death in 1911.

2. Wiser’s Red Letter 150th Anniversary 2007, 45% abv, non chill filtered, no additives. Finished in virgin white oak casks. Thank You David Doyle

3. Corby’s Lot No. 40, 2012 release. Pure Canadian Rye Whisky 43% abv, made with malted rye at Walkerville in a very special copper pot still, and distilled in small batches by Michael Booth, with the same recipe used by Joshua Booth, seven generations ago.

4. Seagram’s 1975 Crown Royal Limited Edition 40% abv. Blended and bottled at the long-ago closed Waterloo, Ontario facility. The '74 and '75 releases are my all favourite whiskies.

5. Crown Royal XR –Extra Rare 40% abv.– “what makes this whisky so special - the addition of the last remaining batch of rare whiskies saved from the legendary Waterloo Distillery before it was destroyed by fire”. – Andrew MacKay, Master Whisky Blender - Crown Royal.

6. Canadian Club Classic 12 year-old 1981 40% abv. A very nice whisky that surpasses today’s namesake - distilled at the Walkerville, ON facility.

7. Royal Canadian Small Batch 40% abv – selected from the finest of a few hundred thousand barrels of Canadian whisky currently aging in Sazerac warehouses. This is an old school whisky crafted by Drew Mayville and reminiscent of the Seagram’s profile. This blend is seamless and delicious.

8. With July 4th only a few days away, it felt right to include an ex-pat in the old school tasting session. Masterson’s Straight Rye Whiskey 45% abv – Canadian 100% rye from Alberta Distillers named for frontier lawman “Bat” Masterson, himself an ex-pat.

Anyone can enjoy great whisky; however, great whisky shared with friends becomes legendary.

Cheers, Eh!

@paddockjudge Excellent list - perfect! Myself, am enjoying a quiet moment - after a very busy day - with a Forty Creek John's Private Cask #1. Happy Canada Day!

Currently drinking four different Ardbeg Uigeadial batches: L11 028 (January 28th 2011); L11 147 (May 27th 2011) ; L11 284 (September 5th 2011) ; L13 058 (February 27th 2013).

The differences are amazing

@talexander - Day Two session, 'Welcome to the Future" is to begin at ten o'clock...in about five minutes. This late start allows us to incorporate the municipal fire works display into our second session - nice to have friends in a prime location just minutes away. FC John's Private Cask No.1 is on the docket. Just opened my tenth bottle of Port Wood Reserve - its gonna be a sad day when the well runs dry.

Cheers, Eh!

@paddockjudge, @talexander, and all of our many Canadian friends, home in Canada or expatriated, Happy Canada Day! I offer up a toast of Gibsons Finest Rare 18 yo, one of my favourite Canadian whiskies!

Lagavulin 16 yr.

Last night, a healthy pour of a CS Springbank Claret finish.

Famous Grouse Gold Reserve 12 yo... Going to crack open a bottle of Yoichi 10 next... : )

Lagavulin 16yo. OB. and it is brilliant, so unlike a bottle we had last year which we felt was 'dumbed-down' considerable! This was from an outlet where I have never seen Laga.(Salisbury Hotel) before and reduced to Au.$79.00 which is about $20.00 (or so) cheaper than Dan Murphy who confided once that Laga. was the only Whisky that was never discounted. So, it was with more than a little trepidation that I pulled the cork, thinking all the while, 'if it's no good, it will go back'. It seemed a little 'quiet' when I drew the cork, however, when I added 6 drops of rain, dispensed from a thin drinking straw, it came to life beautifully - Long ramble but essentially a plea to, not write-off, Lagavulin 16yo.

This batch of Laga. is turning out to be very tasty, indeed and has that old school nose which is hard to define and so easy to enjoy; balanced nose of sea spray, low tide, smoke, cut grass, peat with herbal tones and perhaps the odd dead fish (?) and some treacle notes - That's the best I can do! - To me, this particular batch is an apology for some of those 'lack-lustre' expressions of the recent past. It is truly memorable in every respect and the peppery palate and resounding, dare I say explosive, long finish will not disappoint!

Batch Code:

L2214CM00 03700243

Slainte!

Welcome to the Future!

Canada Day Session Two

• Single Barrel – Port Finish – Small Batch – Virgin Oak – Sherry Cask -

This session began with an easy corn sipper – mellow, oaky, and pleasing.

1. Century Reserve Lot 15-25 40% abv. This is corn whisky that has resided in three different provinces – distilled and warehoused in Saskatchewan before spending time in British Columbia and eventually at its current home in Alberta. Reported to be 15 to 25 yo…a few years ago.

2. The next is anything but mellow. This cowboy country offering comes guns-a-blazing…brilliant and vibrant. Alberta Premium 100% rye 40% abv.

3. Sazerac Caribou Crossing Single Barrel 40% abv. Two bottles with different years of release; 2010 and 2012. The first very rye forward, the second less so and softer. Another Drew Mayville offering.

4. Both Spectacular!

5. Forty Creek John’s Private cask No.1. 40 % abv This is a very special whisky. Bottled from 23 casks of what John Hall called his “Private Stash”. Stunning! The next release can’t come soon enough.

6. Forty Creek Port Wood Reserve 2012 Release 45% abv. Full-bodied. Incredible! I hope the next release doesn’t take another three years. Did I mention that it is incredible!?

20yr Caperdonich - AD Rattray special cask collection bottling... 60.2% and fabulous. Better bring the water though.

@chrisbator - That must be a s very nice whisky. I was into a bottle of Macallan Cask Strength last week - 60.1% - I didn't sample many drams as a 40 or 50 ml is plenty, and lasts a little bit - very enjoyable. A tsp of water helped to open it up and reveal more fruitiness and vanilla.

Thomas H. Handy 63.45% (2010 release). An amazing Rye . . . before that it was Ardbog for this very rainy day in Norfolk

@Victor, thank you for the salutation. Gibson's Finest Rare 18 yr-old is appropriately named. Gibson's has experienced supply shortages at times(over demand is more accurate) in both the 18 and 12 yr-old expressions. In the late 1980's Gibson's introduced Finest Sterling (NAS) to fill a void created by a shortage of 12 yr-old. I have one such inaugural bottle of Sterling and it has been reported to be a blend of six and twenty-five year old whiskies, with a very generous portion of the twenty-five. This interim measure was implemented in the hopes that loyal customers would not be disappointed with the shortage of 12 yr-old whisky. The Sterling was so successful that it became a regular offering... subsequent batches were not endowed with the same ample portions of twenty-five year-old whisky.

23 yo Buffalo Trace Experimental Bourbon Giant French Oak, sample courtesy of a friend. French Oak marks everything it touches...whether wine, whisk(e)y or tequila. This is very nice if you like that spicy French wood. I do.

@Victor buffalo trace is going to hopefully hit home runs with all the knowledge it has gained from their experimentations with everything. 23yo Bourbon in French oak! No one does that!

Enjoying the Amrut Fusion tonight. Very nice, very smooth for a 50% malt. I'll post a review tomorrow, but yeah, this is nice.

@Nock I would be interested in hearing more about the differences between Uigeadail batches that you have noticed.