So, what are you drinking now?

Springbank 12 CS batch 7 Beautiful classic whisky

Well, the recent Brora reviews (two on the same day!) have just inspired me. I have been saving up a combination of samples and bottles of Brora for a while now, and I just had an afternoon and evening (7 straight hours!) with no responsibilities, kids, or wife. So with the motto of “no time like the present” I decided to have my own private Brorageddon. Here is what I tasted (notes will follow before too terribly long).

Clynelish 14yo 46% OB (to calibrate my palate and remind me of what the modern Clynelish is producing).

Brora 30yo (2005) 56.3% OB 4th Release

Brora 30yo (2007) 55.7% OB 6th Release

Brora 25yo (2008) 56.3% OB 7th Release

Brora 30yo (2009) 53.2% OB 8th Release

Brora 32yo (2011) 54.7% OB 10th Release

Brora 21yo 50% Old Malt Cask. (sherry cask) June 1981; October 2002

And to calibrate my peated experience I pulled out several current standards and favorites:

Ardbeg TEN 46% L13 241

Ardbeg Uigeadail 54.2% OB L13 245

Ardbeg Supernova 58.9% Stellar Release 2009

BenRiach Curiositas 10yo 46% OB (L04 07 05 3)

Lagavulin 16yo 43% OB

Talisker 25yo 57.2% OB 2005 release

And the winner was . . . me!

@PeatyZealot

Where do you see a batch number on the CS? The only identifying mark I can find is the ABV.

Glenfiddich 18

@Nozinan I cant find any either :p The website said it was batch 7 and the ABV cemented my belief on whiskybase. There seems to be no hidden mark as on the Uigeadail. Mine is 50,3%, a bit on the low side for a CS but it makes it up in flavor:)

Laphroaig 18 tonight. This is a big departure from the 10 and the QC.

@PeatyZealot

I'm getting the impression that the 12 YO CS by Springbank are consistently good, if a little different. I have one that's 58.5%, and I like it.

If you (anyone on Connosr) had to choose the order of drinking, which would you drink first between the Springbank CS (a little peat) and Aberlour A'Bunadh (a little sherry)?

@Nozinan: A good question. You could do this -

Pour 2 measures, 1 of each. Taste both neat and decide, tasting the lower abv. first. Make it a small sip but sufficient to taste. Still undecided, do this -

Take a very small sip of water then a small sip of whisky from one of your samples and marry them in your mouth then do the same with the other sample. One sample will be more explosive than the other, this one you can drink last. This is a lot of fun and after the preamble you will know more about the Whiskies whether, in fact, they need water at all, how much (roughly) and the one with the best wow factor and you will still have two undiluted samples and some idea what to do with them. The first time I married Whisky in the mouth it was a G/F105! I'll never forget the explosion on the tongue and the dripping Sherry flavour!

Cheers and Good Luck!

Amrut Fusion. I decanted the last bit of this bottle into a 30 cc vial in September 2012! I can't believe I've gone so long without a dram of this stuff.

Surprisingly, it smells and tastes as fresh as I remember it, maybe even better. Of course the vial was full so likely minimal oxygen contact.

Here's to another end making room for another new beginning on my "open" shelf.

As an Easter / birthday gift, my brother and his fiancee bought me a bottle of Basil Hayden's - which is not a bourbon I'm crazy about (obvs, I didn't tell them that!) So I'm making Manhattans out of it. This is to provide me with liquid courage / comfort as I've had to break up with my girlfriend (sadly)…ah well, c'est la vie.

Having a 20 yr old single cask bourbon-matured Macallan at 56.5% from Hunter Laing. As fancy as that sounds, it's actually kind of 'meh.' You really never know when it comes ot OB's.

Laphroaig Quarter Cask, is it just me or is it not as good as I remembered? Its not the newly packaged, but the older style. The unmistakable Laphroaig profile is there but the flavors seem to be further away in stead of in your face like I remember.

@PeatyZealot Bought a new bottle of the Quarter Cask this week, new packaging, but I too must admit that I don't find it as glorious as when I tried it the first time. Still a good whisky though, but still a bit disappointed.

*The above post should have said "IB's."

@PeatyZealot: I don't know if it's the QC itself or just me, but I'm with @Pandemonium. While I still love it, I tend to reach for the 10 yr old more these days. The QC doesn't grab me the way it used to.

Just cracked up another bottle of the 2008 Beist. Very nice!

@Onibubba I've been trying to find one, but they all sell above €200 nowadays

Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky - grain whisky made from corn, from South Africa. A little on the sweet side but a nice easy dram.

Couldn't finish the Fusion last night, so I poured it back into the vial. Turns out over 3 hours I managed to drink only 15 cc. So tonight I poured it back into a glen cairn. It seems to have held up well without any preservation.

@talexander may the conversation have been amicable and the heartache be eased appropriately

Just finished the Springbank 10, have the Collingwood 21 open and deciding what to open next

Thank you @JayRain. Alas, this one is difficult…but c'est la vie. BTW myself, I was at first very iffy on the Collingwood 21 rye but it has grown on me a little.

@talexander good luck through it all. I find that if I limit it to one dram then I appreciate, when you take more than one, the sweetness becomes a bit much. Enjoying it nonetheless but would not rush out to grab more bottles

@Pandemonium Im getting the idea that its me that has changed more than the malt. When I tried it a few years ago I was far less experienced with stronger and more complex stuff, so this one came in like a bomb.

@PeatyZealot Get that argument a lot, should find an older bottle to compare it and make definite statements

@hunggar @PeatyZealot and @Pandemonium: I will agree as well about the Quarter Cask. Last night I just opened a bottle with the new label design. I think there is batch variation going on because it isn't as great as I remember. However, I have a few samples saved from older bottles that I can compare head-to-head. I will say that I also opened a bottle of the standard 10yo with the new designed label . . . still consistent.

Last night in San Francisco and tried St George Single Malt. Don't care for the nose. Was glad to have the opportunity to try it but don't think I'll be buyinnh a bottle.

Knob Creek 9 Single Barrel. I usually avoid this bottle because of it's overwhelming strength, but I craved it tonight and it's weight is very welcome at the end of this week. I would also usually add water, but not this time, tonight I want the raw expressions the barrels intended for it. The aromas and flavour hold up quite nicely through the burn, like a nice cherry jubilee.

Cheers to the joy of now and our growth for tomorrow!

21 year North British single cask strength grain (SMWS G1.11 - “Iced mulled wine and Sorrento Limoncello”) from a re-fill Sherry butt. A very nice, sweet, but complex dram

40 Year Longmorn (SMWS 7.55 - "Liquid Heaven) distilled in Dec. 1968 from a first-fill Sherry butt. Probably the best Whisky I have ever tasted.

Finishing up with a newly opened bottled, Bruichladdich Port Charlotte PC 10 “Tro Na Linntean”; Through the generations. Smooth smoke. Really enjoying how the PC series has developed over the past 5+ years.

Rock Hill Farms bourbon. Tasty.

two rosebank, side by side. smws 25.63 and 1981 rare malts 20y/o. life is good....

@thecyclingyogi - that 25.63 is one amazing dram. My bottle is long gone, but I remember it well.

Tonight, started by opening up a new bottle. 10 year Tyrconnell Irish Whiskey Port finish. Nice, easy drinking dram.

Next a 27 Year Cardhu (SMWS 106.18-"Bottled essence of summer"). Classic Speyside with just a hint of smoke in the finish. Love it.

Then a 23 year (10/23/89) Bunnahabhain from A.D. Rattray Cask # 5846 Bottled 11/7/12. A light, subtle dram with citrus (lemon) and slight smoke.

Finishing up with a 4 year Kilchoman (SMWS 129.3 - “Unwind and set your watch to ‘Islay Time’”). Sweet smoke really hit the spot.