So, what are you drinking now?

The Glenlivet Master Distiller's Reserve - not too bad for a NAS, 40% ABV Travel Retail bottling. Certainly better than the 12yo...very similar to the 15yo French Oak Reserve. Far, far superior to what we've been drinking as part of our Battle of the Budget Blended Scotch Whiskies...

Tonight, celebrating my wife finishing up a huge project at work, we went to a local steak house that has Whisky Society bottles as part of their Scotch selection. Started off with a 13 year Glenburgie (71.34 - "Rabbit, Gnger and Treacle Tart") from a refill Gorda cask. Followed by a 9 year Glenmorangie (125.51 - "Perfumed sweetness and zesty fruits") from a first fill barrel. Both were excellent, but should have had the Glenmorangie first. The Glenburgie had a stunning nose and the taste was huge.

Home now, finishing up the night with a 16 year Caol Ila (53.173 - "Glowing embers on the tongue") from a refill Sherry butt. This is by far my favorite open bottle right now. Epic dram!

Glenfarclas 15 yr old for me. I must admit, I wasn't all that thrilled when I first opened the bottle. However, it has been open for around four or five months now and I'm down to the last few drams worth and I'd say it has really improved and started to show off some good character.

bottles open right now in my cabinet: A'bun Batch 39, Clynelish 15 Cask Strength, Laphroaig CS 003, Flaming Heart, Longrow Gaja, Hibiki 12, along with some vattings in smaller bottles of other stuff.

Cragganmore 12 yr.

Tonight it's more Isle of Skye 8yr old, sorry @Victor just scored another 12yr old. :)

Bowmore 15 Darkest. Multi-layered, ever-changing, like a new whisky every two minutes. Most of the layers and changes are very good. Most of them.

springbank 12 YO cask strength. Starting to like this one. 1/3 of a bottle left. I may need t buy a spare (but no place to put it...)

@Nozinan - Started off with a 12 year Glenfarclas (SMWS 1.152 - "Jelly Belly Beans Galore"), but now I'm having Springbank 12 Cask Strength as well. Cheers!

Watching preseason NFL with a little Springbank 10. Have a great night, guys.

@teebone673 I'm also enjoying preseason with some Isle of Skye 8yr old. :)

@PMessinger sounds great, my friend. Enjoy!

@teebone673 I would enjoy more if my team were winning. :)

@PMessinger Ha. Me too!

@PMessinger I see you're from Michigan. Looks like we're both frustrated with the Lions tonight.

@PMessinger and @teebone673 - Maybe I should be watching football because my baseball team is getting crushed. :-)

Started with a Ranger IPA, followed by a Springbank 12 year Cask Srength and finishing up with a Talisker Port Ruighe (NAS Port finish).

Decided I needed a little more smoke than what the Talisker was offering, so having a dram of Bruichladdich Octomore 2.2 Orpheus (5 year old).

@bwmccoy, that is certainly a little more smoke my friend ; )

At the moment my father-in-law and I are enjoying a wonderful IB of a 17 yo Tobermory! Fantastic!

@bwmccoy funny thing is I ended up switching to baseball and my team won. How was the Port Ruighe? Been curious about that one.

Had some Glenlivet 15 last night, a G&M bottling, one of those with the George & J.G. Smith "lion" label. An excellent dram when I opened the bottle a few months ago, now more complex yet smoother. There's also less dusty wood and the finish seems to have gotten longer. Highly recommended, although as with most G&M bottlings, there's no cask or batch information on the bottle, so I can't be too specific about what I'm recommending...

@CanadianNinja - yes it is and it was spot on! A perfect way to end the night.

@teebone673 - in a word, underwhelming. It's not bad by any means, but I was hoping for something more. I'm glad I bought the bottle to try it, but I won't be buying it again. I love Talisker, but this one didn't do it for me.

@bwmccoy Anytime is a good time for Orpheus. :)

@PMessinger - Amen! :-)

It's Friday so that means grilling on the back patio with my lovely admiral/wife while the two dogs romp in the yard and I have some Isle of Skye 8yr old. Happy Friday guys and gals. :)

Ardbeg Uigeadail (an L11 and L13) and Lagavulin 12yo CS (2010). Nice big peat monsters on a rainy evening.

Spontaneous combustion - Cask Strength Macallan H2H with Macallan 12 yr sherry finish. Both share the same heady bouquet, but the CS lights up the taste buds while Mac12 disappoints and can't deliver on the promise of butter, raisins, caramel, and smokey wood - CS does all this and more. It's a shame that the Cask strength will be discontinued.

@paddockjudge what is the ABV of your Macallan CS? Knowing it will be gone soon I want to pick up a bottle or two for the future. And I have seen different ABV's on the shelf . . .

I got the chance to try Laphroig QA yesterday evening. The usual Laphroig iodine flavors are muted and vanilla notes can be found throughout. Very, very nice. Thanks, Seth!

@Nock - 60.1% abv LO244P L10 09 07 22:27 - all of my bottles have the same markings, sometimes you just get lucky. To date, $ for $, this is my favourite malt. Agreed, should pick up a few more. I passed on half-a-dozen last week and now regret it, although I did get some awesome malts this month.

Finally trying some Grants Family Reserve blended, newly opened so I have a ways to go yet. :)