So, what are you drinking now?

@talexander: I think this may be OK. in time. All the right ingredients are there in just the right amounts but softly spoken; the pepper, the smoke, the swirls of golden syrup, all happy, not a trace of any harshness at all. Some early reviews made much of a harsh character on the back of the palate. I can't see it in this expression, in fact, it is so smooth and balanced, so well mannered (if you like) that it's as though an old school 'thunder and lightning' Talisker had been sent off to 'finishing school'.

I suspect that there some much older casks in this mix!

Cheers.

A 14-year-old single cask Springbank. Very good too, warming up for the Manchester Whisky Festival this Saturday

Moved on from Uigeadail to the old familiar Highland Park 12.... Love this dram unconditionally.

Now I toast @Nock, on his birthday, local time...with, what else? Ardbeg Uigeadail L11 028, his favourite batch, and L10 151, my favourite batch. Happy birthday, @Nock!

Wee bit of wheat - Van Winkle 12 yo Lot "B" - W.L. Weller 12 yo - Maker's 46 - Bernheim....and some George

www.youtube.com/watch

Today's my birthday. The big 3-0. I don't know what bottle she got me, but my girlfriend is on her way over with a bottle of 'something' to celebrate the end of my twenties. In the meantime I'm enjoying a dram of Glenfarclas 15 and waiting in anticipation.

@hunggar, a very happy 30th birthday to you! Usually people feel a little old at 30, very old at 40, young and great at 50, and are happy to stop there...

Was putting some light jackets away in the closet when I noticed I have an un-opened bottle of Ardbeg Uigeadail tucked away...Having a wee dram right now...WAsn't too impressed with my 1st bottle, but this seems to be quite a bit better from what I recall.

Tonight some Scorseby Very Rare blended scotch just for the Friday night wind down and welcome to the weekend. :)

Bladnoch 11 year old sherry cask matured at 55%. A beautiful after dinner dram. I'll probably sip it for hours...

Happy Birthday @hunggar! I'll have a dram of Solist Sherry Cask tonight in your honour ; )

Wasted 60.00 on a few double JW Blacks at a hotel bar I cannot get home soon enough.

@hunggar Happy 30th Orbit! Dear lord, thirty was about four hundred years ago for me. Enjoy your thirty somethings. They fly by and then you're forty, which is old, I don't care what anyone says. Do what matters now. Drinking fine whisky is one of the things that matters! Cheers!

@WhiskyBee My, er our, twentieth wedding anniversary was October 5th. Congrats from some in the same happy shoes! Thank god she understands my whisky "hobby"!

@hunggar

So, what did she bring?

@hunggar - A very happy 30th to you. You've got several prime-of-life years ahead of you. Heck, I'd give up a truckload of Brora to be 30 again!

@Wodha - All the best to you and your wife as well! Yes, even though you can hear the sarcasm in my wife's voice when she refers to my "hobby," she often follows it up with, "Sure, I'll have one with ya."

@Wodha @WhiskyBee : Glad you have wives/gf's that appreciate your 'hobby'. @Wodha: Happy 20th from a fellow Taiwan traveler! Luckily my gf is in the same boat. Originally she couldn't care less about whisky. Now she absolutely loves whisky. Bitch and moan as she may, she'll never say no to a dram of the good stuff!

@Nozinan: She ended up bringing a bottle of Uigedail, along with a couple sample bottles of my preferred cognacs. Can't say I'm disappointed. I enjoyed a good dram of the Oogie this afternoon before a day of drinking beers with a buddy. A bit tipsy now. Yesterday was the formal bday, but today is the official celebratory day. In an hour I'm off to meet the boys for a big dinner followed by a night of KTV (this is Asia, after all). If ever there was an excuse to drink and be merry, this is it!

@CanadianNinja: Appreciate the sentiment my friend. I'm raising a glass of A'bunadh right now in response. Perhaps not as high on my list as the Kavalan (which is the undefeated sherry-bomb champion in my book), but it's a damn fine dram in itself. Lovin' it! Cheers! :)

@Victor: Thanks for the bday wishes. I'm surely not alone in saying that your input, thoughts, and advice on this website have been invaluable to a good many of us here.

Sadly, I admit I do feel a bit older at thirty. My twenties were wild, stupid, reckless, and absolutely wonderful. No regrets here. But I do enjoy the fact that at thirty there's a sense of maturity and direction that I've never had before. At least I can still claim to be young at this age. Fourty will be another story, apparently. :-/

Happy 20 years, @Wodha!

Last night was the 'all things wild and beautiful' tour with @Nock coming to town and my sister dropping by...soup to nuts...Mild category (@Nock had never tasted these all-so-tame animals before): Glen Grant 10, Glengoyne 10, Balvenie 15 Single Barrel, Aberfeldy 12...then a little more wine with the barley: Glenfarclas 12, Glenfarclas 15, Highland Park 15...then some Old Pulteney 17 and Alberta Premium...sampling from two somewhat different bottles of Stagg, Jr., then the wild stuff my sister brought: Pumpkin Spice Spirit (one @Nock's wife really liked), Corsair Quinoa Whiskey, Balcones True Blue, Corsair Wry Moon Unaged Rye Spirit, Dad's Hat Rye finished in Vermouth Barrels (sic), and, of course, Corsair's Rasputin uber-hoppy malt...some Bowmore 12, Bowmore 15 Darkest, Bunnahabhain 12, and Ardbeg Alligator...finally, some Pappy Van Winkle 15 and Parkers Heritage Collection Four Grain...was that all of it? I think so.

Yes, portion control is important.

Talisker 10. Heading to an Arkham Horror Board Game / Costume party tonight where we'll be in costume as our characters from the game and dining on 20s era snacks and having 20s era drinks (which means the Cutty Sark is coming with me...)

@hunggar

The 40s aren't that bad.... I get to celebrate my birthdays with an equivalent batch number of A'Bunadh, and that has to be worth something...

A dram of Ardbeg Uigeadail followed by a dram of Talisker 10 and watching Skyfall. An enjoyable evening.

I had a heavy pour at dinner -- or so said two of the people out with me -- of Arran 10 tonight. Enjoyable from beginning to end.

I picked up a bit of whiskey recently, and decided to crack open one of the new bottles of High West Rendezvous. Sweeter and more honeyed than I'd have expected for a high-rye mashbill like that, but it was really delicious. Short finish. I'm not sure that I'd ever find a time when I wouldn't want to drink it. I also tried the Potrero 18th Century, which was also very good, though obviously distinct.

I finished off everything last night with some of the 1974 Glenfarclas and 1999 Karuizawa from K&L. The 'farclas was still really good, but the '99 Karuizawa just makes me wish that I'd stocked up on it. If anybody who has some is looking for an excuse to part with it... I'd be delighted to relieve you of your burden!

@numen, there are only 2 US straight ryes which I have found to usually be sweet: High West Rendezvous Rye and Wild Turkey 101 Rye. I like them both, but I rarely feel like drinking Rendezvous. All of the Rendezvous I have tasted has been quite good, but if Mr. Jim Murray is to be believed (I know, I know, many of you don't believe him most of the time) there is quite a bit of batch variation with High West Rendezvous Rye and High West Double Rye. Murray has given wildly differing grades to various batches of these products. Me? I will trust a whiskey until I get a bum bottle of it. Murray also gave a low grade to Wild Turkey 101 Rye recently, but so far I haven't had any that wasn't good. Who knows what WT101 will be like when they finally bring some supply of it back to the marketplace. And @numen, I reiterate, I am lying in wait for your Old Potrero if you are the least bit dissatisfied.

@Victor, Murray is probably right that there's some batch variation, but I'd be stunned if Dave Perkins let out something that bad as a full batch, based on my experience with a few other samples and bottles of other High West releases. I imagine that the profile is generally going to be fairly similar across the board with the usual variance. The Rendezvous didn't blow me away, but I did really like it, and it suits me well enough for a nice little rye sipper. I had more later, letting it sit for an hour or two, and it became a bit spicier (red hots type cinnamon), which was nice, too. As for the Potrero, I'll let you know! I enjoyed the pour from this batch; it wasn't as good as a sample from a different batch that was gifted to me, but more than acceptable. On the other hand, if you've got some older ryes that you're looking or willing to trade, I'm sure that we could work out something!

An outdoor open fire while getting the outsides ready for winter, I figure less than a month before snow flies. (at least a dusting of it.) Anyway I figured a break was in order so while sitting by the fire a dram of Lagulavin 16 somehow found it's way to me.

Aberlour 10 followed by 12 ... funny how 2 years makes such a big difference....

A 24 year old Bunnahabin (spelling?) for a thanksgiving dram...

Everything!!!! Had a few drams of Aberlour A'Bunadh and Redbreast 12! Took a break and drank a few brews, and then finished off with more Redbreast. It's been a solid drinking day/weekend. Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canucks!