So, what are you drinking now?

@paddockjudge I hear you - though the standard CC is better than it used to be, I think - a bit more rye spice than I remembered. Much better than Crown Royal, I can tell you that.

@Victor - Hey Victor! In answer to the question you asked @Wodha - The Deacon Seat from Westland Distillery here in Seattle is 100% #4 Char New American Oak; aged 26 months in warehouses that are located in a small town near the Washington coast in order to emulate Scottish temperature and weather.

It's a darn good whiskey, in my humble opinion, considering it's age and that this is a relatively new distillery. Their peated malt (from a Speyside maltings - 55ppm) is due to be released later this year. Can't wait!

I've included some additional details about the Deacon Seat below if you are interested...

Release number: 0001 - Release date: September 2013 (5,000 - 375ml bottles) abv: 46%

GRAIN BILL: Washington Select Pale Malt (Vancouver, WA maltings), Munich Malt, Extra Special Malt, Pale Chocolate Malt and Brown Malt

Yeast Strain: Belgian Brewer's Yeast - Fermentation Time: 144 Hours

A short vertical of Jack Daniels Old No. 7 and Jack Daniel's Master Distiller Series No. 1, followed by George Dickel Single Barrel 9 Year Old (51.5%ABV), while watching Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty (nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar). I'm the Canadian distributor so I get to watch it at home :)

@talexander - if only you were the Canadian distributor for JD ;)

@talexander - If only you were the Canadian Distributor for Bladnoch, Ardbeg, Port Ellen, A'Bunadh,...

Distribution is where the money's at, fellas…distribution.

@bwmccoy, thanks for the info. Someday the US government is going to have to start allowing US malt distillers to use used oak and still call the stuff "malt whisk(e)y". I like the short-aged charred new oak US malts fine, but there is no good reason the US distillers should be confined to only the use of new charred oak for aging their malt whiskeys.

Benjamin Pritchard's Rye, Wild Turkey Forgiven, Balblair 2000, Old Pulteney Navigator, Glenfarclas 175th Anniversary,Talisker Storm, Corsair Triple Smoke, High West Campfire, Laphroaig 15, Laphroaig Cairdeas 2012, Supernova 2010. It was a good evening.

@Victor - Sounds like a great evening!

Tonight, Mortlach 17 year Cask Strength (Duncan Taylor) - Cask # 4103

Cragganmore 18 year Cask Strength (SMWS 37.51 - “The saloon of a classic yacht”) - First fill sherry butt

and enjoying the last dram of Caol Ila 16 year Cask Strength (SMWS 53.173 - "Glowing embers on the tongue" - Refill sherry butt. I'm really going to miss this one. It's got everything I look for in an Islay. Perfection.

@Victor said "... but there is no good reason the US distillers should be confined to only the use of new charred oak for aging their malt whiskeys.

Can you say, "union"?

just saying...

Highland Park 12, the older, round, short bottle. Wow. Sure beats the contemporary release.

Enjoying some Laphroaig Triple Wood, watching Harsh Times on YouTube! Great flick, great whisky.

Octomore 4.2 For the first time, i love it.

I cracked open my 6cl sample. Couldn't wait any longer because I had to know. Found a bottle of Octomore in a small shop for the normal price and now I know I'm grabbing it next week.

@wtrstrnghlt - Fantastic Fun! - whisky pop rocks (R)"

Almost done my first bottle of Bruichladdich Octomore 4.2 Comus and I have a little tucked away. At the price being asked for the 6 series in Canada, C$300, it is doubtful that I will purchase additional quantities of Octomore anytime soon.

Nice score!

@paddockjudge

When I was in Calgary 4.1 was on sale for $120 and 5.1 and 3.1 was for sale for about $140. Wanted to get a few but I had too many others to buy... If I ever win the lottery...

@Nozinan - those are very fair prices in a competitive free-market economy...the government jurisdictions are asking $300 for the '6' series.

@paddockjudge I was overwhelmed when I spotted it. Was my first time there and I came specifically for an older bottle of A'Bunadh that I saw on their website. Can you believe I can't even tell you if it's the 5.1 or 6.1 I was to surprised to even see a bottle there. Maybe it was caused by the price tag. 'Only' €110,- unbelievable.

I don't spend that money on Whisky very often though. So I had to make sure I did like the profile, luckily last year I got a sample of a different Octomore. Got 1 dram left for this afternoon :)

@wtrstrnghlt

In Dec. 2011 (I think) I bought a bottle of the 4.1 after being given a sample at a store in Calgary. It was a full size dram (I tend to pour small "full size" drams for myself, about 20 cc).

Here at the LCBO you pay for even a half that of glenfiddich 12 if you can even get a sample. At this store it was free. Such a different culture.

I was so overwhelmed by the flavour I had to buy it (so maybe the sample was a clever marketing ploy).

Anyway, I'm not a happy camper today. The city left me a beautiful gift of 15 cm of packed snow and slush blocking my driveway and I think I injured my right shoulder, elbow (!), and wrist clearing it. I would very much like to sit down and relax with a Laphroaig QC or Bowmore Laimrig. But it's 950 am, I'm on call and working till tomorrow night, I have a cold, and my son is sick (and I need to take anti-inflammatories).

So for plan B: is anyone willing to have a dram of either of those and describe it on this thread so that I can enjoy it vicariously through you? Please? I'd ask my nephew but his comments are usually limited to "I like it"...

At this point, Bernheim Original Wheat Whiskey. @bwmccoy, is this the Seahawks day?

@Victor - so far so good. Hopefully, the momentum continues for the second half, but you can never underestimate Peyton Manning!

A dram of Dalmore12 followed by a dram of Talisker 10, a personal favorite of mine.

nose has opened just enough to smell A'Bunadh. Batch 36. The one with the ?sulfur issue. I poured a 20 cc dram in a glen cairn an hour ago with a few drops of water. I couldn't taste it till now because I had to give my nephew a lift.

The time helped with the sulfury note, but it's still a bit rough. Not unpleasant, maybe better than the 38, but nowhere close to the 33 or 44.

120 Proof Butter Tart, Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve 9 YO - Cinnamon, Cherry Cola, Sugar Plums and Humbugs. H2H with Booker's True Barrel Bourbon 7yr 11 mos. 127.3 proof - Shriner's Christmas Cake and Brio - heat pushes it to the edge and the sweetness brings it back.

Had my first taste of Four Roses Single Barrel at a local bar tonight. Good enough to pick up a bottle for myself, I'd say.

@paddockjudge

That seems to be the Booker's batch that is all over Canada...I saw it in Calgary as well, and I have 1.3 bottles of it left. Hard to find in Toronto though (or Sudbury). Have you tried any other batches?

I just opened my first ever bottle of Evan Williams White Label Bottled In Bond. As I had eagerly hoped, this 50% ABV version has quite a few more volts of power running through it than does the much more common Evan Williams Black Label 43.3% ABV. BIB only guarantees 4 years of aging, and almost all of the Evan Williams products are a lot older than that (7, 9, 10, 12, or 23 YO), so I wonder if this one is aged only the minimum, or longer. Brisk black licorice/char flavours are prominent.

@Nozinan - I took care of the Sudbury stock - left one for a bourbon fellow who may need a hit.

@WhiskyBee - I had a hard time keeping the cork in the bottle on this Four Roses expression; let me know if you have better luck.

@Victor When can we expect a review on the Evan Williams White Label? I hope soon.

@maltygirl, yes, I do expect to review the Evan Williams White Label in the next 2 weeks or so. I want to give it a little air time first. Thanks for asking.