So, what are you drinking now?

My sister Mary Anne is visiting us tonight, so we're had a variety of rums, gins, and whiskies. The big new interesting discovery was opening a new bottle of the Corsair Barrel Aged Gin (spiced rum barrels). It is quite delicious.

@Victor...cheers to Mary Anne and her wonderfully eclectic cabinet! Last night, @WhiskyJoe and I got together with a neighbour who cracked open a Caol Ila 12. I hadn't had that one in a while...a very nice lightly smoked, peated whisky that I hadn't tried in quite awhile. That was followed with @WhiskyJoe opening his bottle of Ledaig 10. The heavy oiliness of the peat was a nice contrast to the lighter style of the Caol Ila peat.

I went off the board by bringing over my bottle of Rowan's Creek Bourbon. WhiskyJoe and I hadn't had it in a while, and our neighbour hasn't really tried many bourbons before. It was a hit...cinnamon hearts, vanilla and wood spices worked really well with some 60% chocolate. We then finished with a quick pour of George Dickel #12 to compare with the Rowan's. The RC had a more rich profile, but both had a nice spice presence, with the GD12 leaning towards black pepper. GD 12 and Knob Creek 9 yo are my favourite sipping whiskies from the US.

@Victor I am happy to hear positive impressions from the barrel aged gin category! I have seen a few (very few) barrel aged Gin's and have been curious. Sadly, there is nothing like a ginconnosr site for being able to look at reliable gin reviews. Thankfully, Gin and Rum are nowhere near as expensive as Single Malt Scotch. The Anchor Distillery gins have me very curious . . . sadly, my local ABC store only receives one bottle at a time from them for some odd reason.

Sadly, I am having to take a little break from alcohol for a time because of acid reflux of late.

My (ex) father-in-law passed away last week, at the age of 92. Today was his memorial - he was of Irish descent, so I celebrate his life with a flight of Jameson, Kilbeggan 18yo and Midleton Very Rare 2013.

Sipping on some Cardhu 12yr. I have to finish this bottle which is still 3/4 full but I'm not that fond of it.

@Nock

Reflux? Yep, alcohol can definitely make that worse... I find proton pump inhibitors help me a lot with that...ask your doctor.

I seem to have a reverse flu, so no alcohol for me either, falling further behind.

What is a reverse flu? I don't think it is a real diagnosis. Usually with influenza(and yes, I had my shot) you get fever aches and chills, then a bad cough for a long time. I've had the cough for a week, and now I've started getting the aches and chills. Not a happy camper....

@Nock - I check Gin is In for gin recommendation.

Have a Smooth Ambler and a Beefeater's Burrough that will be opened at some point in 2015 (current open Gin is the Sloane's Premim which is quite nice).

@JayRain, I looked over The Gin is In blog. It is a nice layout, and quite a few reviews. On the downside, it's just one reviewer rather than a consensus of opinion, like say, vodkaphiles.com (visitors' reviews) is for vodka. The Gin is In is limited, but better than nothing, especially if you can figure out the taste of the blogger and see how it compares to your own.

@Nozinan, You've not had enough cask strength tonic.

Anyone who likes gin (or doesn't) should definitely try Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin from Black Forest in Germany. Man is that stuff delicious. Pricey, but so good I actually drank Gin neat for the first time. I need to get another bottle ASAP.

masterofmalt.com/gin/monkey-47-dry-gin/

@Nozinan I had EXACTLY the same thing all last week - it's only now subsiding...

@paddockjudge

right now I don't even know if i could handle regular strength tonic water, let alone anything cask strength with alcohol...

Rye-it in Seattle!

Collingwood 21 YO 100% malted rye

Corby's Lot 40

Bulleit Rye 95% rye mash

CC Chairman's Select 100% Rye 7 YO heavy char

Masterson's 10 YO 100% rye

Alberta Premium 30 YO 100% rye.

WOW! What a game!

@paddockjudge...incredible 2nd half...as a Bears fan, the only thing better than the Bears making the Super Bowl, is the Packers NOT making the Super Bowl. I have been having the St. Ambroise and Southern Tier Pumpkin Ales during that game...I may switch to some whiskies for tonights game (Lot 40 sounds good!). Go Colts!

Very hot here in Brisbane, in fact 30deg. C at midnight, last night, and a scorching 37+ most days so Beer is the beverage of choice. James Squire's 'Amber Ale' is a most refreshing 'tipple' and so delicious.

Winter can't come soon enough!

Cheers.

@A'bunadhman, it's winter here in the American Midwest, and Guinness & Lagavulin are keeping me warm (plus a wood fire--plus some damned work that's been keeping me uncompensatedly busy all weekend).

Work is always work, but work with Lagavulin could be so much worse!

@A'bunadhman 37....wish I were there...

@Nozinan: Be careful what you wish for...Our Summers are 7mths. of some extremely hot days that are long and without much relief; on the other hand 5 mths. of the mildest Winter is a great time to taste fine Whisky. No Snow, very few fireplaces and those mostly cosmetic: My neighbour has one and lit it once, last year, (or was it the year before?).

Cheers!

@A'bunadhman

As I said.....

Tonight: Same Guinness, same fireplace, same work--but Writers Tears instead of Lagavulin 16.

Talisker 10 YO yesterday, Laphroaig Quarter Cask tonight.

Bourbon tonight... I got a bottle of Michters toasted barrel finish for Christmas. Interesting indeed.

About a week ago I was up at the Spirit Works Distillery in Sebastopol, CA. They have a really tasty new oak barrel aged gin. Something even more unique is their barrel aged sloe gin which is also quite complex tasting and good.

... and I learned that their whiskeys are getting close to their first release, it seems some will come out to meet demand soon after it hits the 2 year mark they are required to meet. Based on the vodkas and gins I sampled, these should be tasty.

Just finished a bottle of AnCnoc 18 yr old, wow

Last night was a big Diageo tasting put on by the LCBO, featuring Talisker Storm (meh), the three new Mortlachs (Rare & Old, 18 and 25 - 18 being my favourite), Johnny Blue, Johnnie Walker Odyssey (the best of the night - WOW!), Glen Ord 30 (loved this one too!) and Glendullan 38!

Vintage 17 yo Bourbon. This is one of many KBD (Kentucky Bourbon Distillers--The Willett people) products, one of the harder ones to find. This bottle disappointed me when I first opened it 3 years ago, but after it had taken air for at least a year it got much better, and is now still quite enjoyable.

Wild Turkey 'Rare Breed' the latest batch (Australia) @ 56.2 ABV. A magnificent Whiskey that has just about everything I ever look for from any Distiller! I could spend hours nosing this (and probably have), as it has the most delightfull smoky bacon nose with hints of toffee and an enormous flavour with layer after layer of intense mahogany, leather, spice and vanilla all in wonderful balance. This bottle opened beautifully and has improved over about a month - I didn't think it could get much better but filled a small decanter anyway, to the shoulders and have been plugging away at the half bottle; it is now superb!

It has the taste of older casks, or flavours that I often find in older Whiskies. I like it a lot and have two more as back up.

Lagavulin 12. Christmas present. Absolutely love it. I'm new to cask strength stuff so it took me a drink to get used to the heat though.

@Canuck, what year is your Laga 12?

I'll be popping my WL Weller 12 tonight along with my Kilkerran Work in Progress 10 year old. Looking forward to that.

At the moment just a bit of Crown Royal Limited Edition. In the recent Canadian Whisky Awards 2014 it was featured as the "sipping whisky of the year" for the domestic market. Personally I think it's good, but not THAT good.

@hunggar , is that a true age-stated Kilkerran? Or is it the WIP #5, which you know to be 10 years old?

@OlJas, it's the WIP #6 bourbon, which I know to be 10 years old.