So, what are you drinking now?

Talisker10!

Having some Auchentoshan 21 yr old post dinner. Very smooth!

@Victor there is plenty of Evolution around, and I don't just mean at the LCBO. You will certainly get to try it, and if you like it, there will be a bottle for you.

Been consumed w work lately so have not had as many get together's recently but had the good fortune to drop by a friend's last night and brought the following:

1) Scapa 16 - extremely smooth taste but some nice flavor in the finish 2) Yamazaki 18 - getting near the end of the bottle if anyone would like a taste - getting better w each tasting 3) Balvenie 12 First Fill - more appreciative of the Caribbean Cask (21 Portwood is a diff level and not a fair comparison) but brought out some deeper taste when adding a touch of water

He had a friend drop in as well and took his scotch virginity.

Good times and what life is about...may your Monday's be more marvelous than your Sunday's but a tad less tremendous than your Tuesdays.

Nozinan - fyi - LCBO in Oakville has 6 different type of Amrut's. I will be near there in a couple of weeks if there is anything you want picked up (picked up their last bottle of Glenfarclas 105)

@JayRain

Appreciate the offer. I tried the Amrut single casks at Spirit of Toronto. They were excellent, but are too expensive at LCBO. The one I would consider is the Peated Cask Strength, which was my favourite of the ones I tried there, but again, at over 100 dollars, hard to justify the purchase.

Manhattan 4:1 Sooth Ambler Old Scout Straight Rye 99 proof to Sweet Vermouth, 3 dashes of bitters shaken over ice. What a great drink, love the old ones. The rye is great neat.

Mcgavin's Highland, Speyside,Islay, and some Haig Dimple 15yr old. (:

J.P. Wiser's No. 5 Spiced Whisky Vanilla Sweet caramel dipped cherries, but nil on the vanilla. In solid form would make a passable cough lozenge. Saint Joan liked it (mild burn).

Van Winkle 12 yo bourbon. We just had our first big Van Winkle lottery here in my county. By my count, 111 total bottles for at least 885 individuals. I didn't get any from the lottery, so I'll console myself with what I already have.

@Victor Haven't seen any at the LCBO either. If I find any pappys (or staggs or whatever) I'll pick up as many as I can afford to and hold them for you (well, maybe keep one for me if it's a Stagg...)

Ardbeg commercial tasting at a local store. The Ten L14 042 was so good I suprised myself and decided to buy a bottle of it. The Uigeadail L14 043 seemed to me to be an inferior batch. The Corryvreckan L13 240 was first rate.

@Victor I am jealous of the Ardbeg tasting. Anything beyond the typical 3 of line up (Supernova perhaps)? If you remember I opened my bottle of TEN L14 042 with you. Neither of us were impressed (next to your L10) when it was first opened. My experience with the bottle is that it took some air to develop.

Tonight is a bourbon night for me: Virgin 7 year old 101 Proof followed by Bernheim 7yo Wheated Whiskey (should have done the reverse order). Oh well.

@Victor My local liquor claim his allotment of Pappy will show up tomorrow. Rumor is that NM will only get a the 20y. If I'm offered a bottle not sure I'll take it, price could be as high as $250.

@Nock, we even had the Orange County Choppers custom-built Ardbeg "Peat Hopper Trike" motorcycle on display outside the Darnestown Montgomery County DLC store today.

I'll have to do a head to head with my old bottle once I open my new bottle of Ten. Sometimes even bottlings from the same day show differences. I had the choice of the L14 027 or the L14 042 TEN, but chose the latter because I liked the sample today. The L10 151 Uigeadails I received from a different part of the country do not taste precisely the same as the original 4 bottles I bought from the same bottling date.

@Benancio, $ 250 is expensive for a bottle to drink...but, have you taken a look at wine-searcher.com to see the world average price for PVW 20? ($ 1,456...look at the graph.) For swapping purposes alone, you might well be able to get 3 to 4 times that $ 250 price in exchanged value. Recent NYC auctions have gotten $ 1,000 for a bottle of Pappy 20. Of course, this would require some enterprise on your part to make it happen.

...which reminds me that while I was drinking the Ardbeg I was listening to an older East Indian guy grousing about how all he got in the county Van Winkle lottery was a bottle of 10 yo. He was one of the 12 1/2% on the list who got anything at all.

No, I neither expected nor received more than the Ten, Uigeadail, Corryvreckan triad of samples. I was most curious to see any live tastings at our local stores, and I enjoyed meeting the corporate reps.

Wiser's Legacy. Good stuff. Sad that 45% is the Canadian "cask strength." Very sad,,,

@Victor Yeah. Nothing for me on the lottery either - One number away from a Rye!!! Arrrggh! I consoled myself with a bottle of Bunna 18 - which the clerk rang up as a 12. The thought briefly ran through my mind to take the bottle and run, but I could not have enjoyed the whisky thinking the poor guy would be charged for his mistake. Dude behind me called me a "sucker." :)

So yeah, working on my first Bunna 18 this weekend. Initial impressions are way more sherry than I would have expected. Certainly is a sweetie. This is the 46.3% version BTW.

Tonight I'm doing a "Whisky 101" lecture / tasting for a very lovely woman. Whiskies will include:

Kilbeggan 18 Year Old

Bushmills 10 Year Old

Redbreast 12 Year Old

Wiser's Legacy

Taketsuru 17 Year Old

Four Roses Small Batch

Jack Daniel's Single Barrel No. 14-1241

Amrut Single Cask Pedro Ximinez (exclusive to LCBO)

Auchentoshan Valinch 2012

Aberlour A'bunadh Batch No. 47

Highland Park (That Boutique-y Whisky Company) Batch No. 1

Glenmorangie Nectar D'or 12 Year Old

Lagavulin 16 Year Old

Dunkeld Atholl Brose

Oh, and also Johnnie Walker Black.

@talexander i'm interested in hearing your thoughts on that amrut, i haven't tried it yet....

sounds like it will be a great night, have fun!

@talexander, nice line up. It is always good to get more women interested in whisky.

I just came from a commercial tasting at a local store. I really liked Cutty Sark Prohibition. It is so great to find some blended Scotch at 50% abv. Lots of flavour in that one. They also advertised Macallan, but served Black Grouse, and I had some Brugal Anejo rum.

@talexander, I'm interested in hearing more about this very lovely woman.

Getting back into things with Crown Royal (Purple) and Ballantines Finest. Reviews forthcoming.

@thecyclingyogi I tried it at Spirit of Toronto at the Amrut tasting - I quite liked all of them.

@Victor I've heard the Cutty Sark Prohibition is very good. Hopefully it'll make its way into Ontario (doubtful though...)

Today I ran into the Indian guy from yesterday picking up his bottle of Van Winkle 10 yo, which he was able to purchase because of our local Van Winkle lottery. Turns out this is his first ever bottle of Van Winkle, and he has never before tasted any of their products. He was complaining because he had been swinging for the fences but only succeeded in hitting a double. I made him an offer for his bottle, but, not having any real idea as to whether he will even like the bourbon, he decided to keep his bottle.

@talexander I'm imterested in hearing more about the A'Bunadh 47...

Tonight we were over at some friends and I got to try small samples of Longmorn 16, Nadurra (travel retail 48% at 16 YO), and finally Ardbeg 10. I was trying. The first two for the first time (I've had a CS Nadurra before), and I've only had a mini of the Ardbeg 10... Looking forward to opening my own bottle.

Old Fashion.

1 sugar cube with 1 teaspoon Old Grand Dad 114 lit on fire, let caramelize. 3 drops bitters, 2oz OGD 114 stirred with a little ice, then drained into a low ball glass.

What a great drink.

@Nozinan On my 2nd bottle! Though, one bottle was a gift...anyway, hope to pick up the Batch 49 soon so I can do a side-by-side.

@talexander

I gather than that you give the 47 a thumbs up....