So, what are you drinking now?

@bwmccoy

You must have an endless supplyi of that Springbank CS. I'm envious.

Aberlour A'Bunadh batch 44. This will last me the next 3 hours or so...

@Nozinan - I only have about a dram left after tonight.

Tonight, Springbank 18, Springbank 12 Cask Strength and Talisker Port Ruighe

Thanks to my good friend @hunggar, I am currently enjoying a dram of Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask... Wow! This is a great whisky. A simply wonderful sherry bomb. I have every intention of getting my hands on some of this again in the future...

I highly recommend checking out @talexander's review of this whisky. As usual, very informative. 'Flat cherry Coke'... spot on!

Thanks for the shout-out, @CanadianNinja!

@talexander, are you lucky enough to still have some of this left?

I am thoroughly enjoying this stuff. Being my first Taiwanese whisky, it's interesting to notice some of the similarities with taste profiles I find in Japanese whiskies. I hope my friend @hunggar will assist me in exploring more of what Taiwan has to offer ; )

@CanadianNinja Ah but no - that bottle is alas, all gone...

@bwmccoy

Let me know when you have that last drop of the Springbank...I'll feel your pain. And think of you when I have my last dram sometime in the next month I expect.... Until I go to Calgary and get a new bottle...

Last night some easy drinking with Crown Royal XR.

Rittenhouse 100% Rye wow this is a great Rye whisky. :)

@PMessinger, next time you and I will drink some ryes in the mix...I have a bunch...good to hear that you are enjoying your Rittenhouse BIB.

Drinking review whiskies tonight: Auchentoshan Three Wood, Glenfarclas 12, Glenfarclas 15, ...and a little later Lagavulin 12, 2010 release.

The last 2 nights, I've had a dram of Talisker Port Ruighe each night.

@Nozinan - Tonight I'm having the final dram of Springbank 12 Cask Strength.

Bought a new bottle of the Laddie Ten tonight. My old bottle was down to a couple of drams, and I'm finishing it off as I write this.

I don't think bottle time and/or oxidation has been good to this one. More bitter and one-dimensional than I recall. It's been on the shelf for so long, I don't remember if I gassed it or not. I actually hope I didn't, as it will be a problem easily solved in the next bottle.

@WhiskyBee, what you say is very interesting to me. Our first bottle of The Laddie Ten went a very bad way after a relatively short time, like about 5 months, and that was WITH preservative gas. I think that I will decant my next bottle of The Laddie Ten within the first few weeks which it open.

@Victor - Yes, the new bottle will definitely be a candidate for decanting rather than gassing. Although the Laddie's label reads "Unpeated," I know I was not alone in detecting traces of peat on both the nose and palate for my first several drams (which I drank during the first month I owned the bottle). Probably from the casks used, as I believe you once speculated. Now, I'm getting nary a trace of peat from my old bottle. Only a whisper of it in the finish.

I know you seldom add water to anything below 75% ABV (wink), but, trust me, a few drops of water does help an old Laddie regain some of its youthful vigor. Some of it, anyway.

@WhiskyBee, that peat in "unpeated" The Laddie Ten comes from the water used, to the best of my knowledge...and it is not the least bit subtle, in my mind.

I am not averse to adding water if it improves things,...I just usually like whiskies better without. I guess I actually enjoy the shrill sharpness of alcohol in the mix of flavours. I will certainly try water in old tired The Laddie Ten if I ever let any of it get into that condition again. Here's hoping that I can avoid letting any of it devolve in the future through decanting.

@bwmccoy

If I get home in time, in your honour , I will have a dram if the same...

@Victor Thanks for the recommendation on this one who this one is nice. The next time we share whisky this one will be part of the line up, and I will be bringing it with a Isle of Skye 12yr old thrown in. Enjoying this one a lot. :)

@bwmccoy

I poured my third to last dram. Actually, THE third to last dram of the Springbank CS 12. There are now about 2 left, but no guarantee I will be the consumer. We can only hope....

Tonight started with a Ballantine's Finest (just to make sure my nose was ok). Then it was on to big Islay peat monster: Lagavulin 12yo CS (2010), Ardbeg Corryvreckan (L11 279) and Laphroaig 10yo CS 004.

The Ballantine's confirmed my nose was ok scoring an 81. Between the Big Three the Ardbeg came in first place (95) followed very closely by the Laphroaig 004 (94). The Lagavulin 12yo CS (2010) brought up the rear of the line up (89). I can see why they decided to wait a few more years to bottle this one. It is more raw and "young-ish" then the Laphroaig 10yo CS (and the Corry is most certainly younger still!!)

Of course, this is only one nights opinion. I could change my mind at any time (and my Lagavulin 12yo CS 2010 could score much higher - and has!) But this is how the cookie crumbled tonight.

Thanks @Nozinan. I really appreciate it.

Tonight, the last dram of Talisker Port Ruighe. I plan to open my Ardbog tomorrow to replace it.

Finished my bottle of Caol Ila 1997 Distiller's Edition last night. A really good and recommendable dram! Lovely, fruity sweet peat. Just lovely.

I have a bottle of Bladnoch 11 year old at 55%. I am supposed to save it to drink with a friend who has another bottle of this (same cask - they are mostly single cask bottlings apparently), over Skype. But we can never schedule, and I think his wife has helped herself to a few drams....so tonight, I had the urge...and I went with it.

After hanging blinds all day for my lovely wife, it's time to reward myself;

Heritage Distilling Company Elk Rider unaged bourbon (just a small sample before I pour the bottle into a 1 liter cask tomorrow)

Rosebank 21 year SMWS 25.63 - “Poire et poivre” (Pear and Pepper)

Bunnahabhain 13 year old Port Wood Finish Murray McDavid Bottling

Ardbeg Ardbog

@bwmccoy and Nozinan, just how much have you guys been enjoying the Springbank CS 12? I accidentally purchased a couple bottles of it a year ago (it was advertised as something else but I ended up keeping them) and I've had them sitting around since. might have to break one of them open soon.

@broadwayblue

That's a very interesting question, and since @bwmccoy and I have admitted to being at or near the end of our bottles, it could easily be taken the wrong way...

In terms of enjoyment, I found it "ok" when I opened it and it was only about 2 years after I started the bottle (always gassed) that I started to appreciate it. Now I like it very much. Maybe in my top 5-6 malts?

In terms of how "much" I've enjoyed it? I think that one week I may have had 2 drams of it. Usually once a month in the last 4-5 months and less often before that.

I would say my experience has been pretty much the same with the claret wood cask strength, only I liked it less than the plain CS when I tried it (on the same day I believe) and I like it about as much now.

@broadwayblue - I've had somewhat of a like / don't like relationship with the 12 CS. I purchased my bottle in March of this year and I finished the bottle last week. The reason I say like / don't like is sometimes when I had a dram, I would get liquorice on the nose and palate that I really liked. Other times, I would get rubber (bicycle innertube) that I did not like at all.

I bought a bottle of the Springbank 18 at the same time as the CS 12. I prefer the 18 over the 12 CS. I'm not saying the CS 12 is a bad whisky. I just didn't have a consistent experience with it.

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a good, if inconsistent dram. I am looking forward to giving it a try. I've just had a few other bottles open that I wanted to get through first.

Octomore Comus 4.2 followed by Old Forester Signature - life is good.

tonight i had some deanston virgin oak. not one of my favorites, but its not bad. i think its getting a bit better with age, actually. either way, gotta finish it to make room for more...