So, what are you drinking now?

I poored myself a dram of Nikka Coffey Malt. It is incredible what a distillation technic can do! For me it's just an Ok whiskey but it is an unique experience with a unique taste, and I know some people will love it. As for me, barley distilled like a grain whisky in a Coffey column instead of a pot still surprised me but didn't convince me.

@Talexander I hope you enjoyed it. You are very lucky to have nice tasting sessions like that one. Around here, it seems all tasting are around regular range whiskies. Well the best part is always having the opportunity to share appreciation with aficionado, so enjoy the memory of it and feel free to share notes with us!

@Robert99 My favourite was the Glen Moray - but I also loved the Ardbeg and Laphroaig.

Glengoyne Cask #1 @ 58.7% abv. The last one of these was excellent even though it opened quietly, time in a large decanter wove the usual magic! I expect this bottle will be a carbon copy of the previous bottle ('hope so); it opened very subdued but with all the right things in all the right places and in great balance - All it needs to do is 'blossom'!

I love this process; open, taste, decant and then wait a few weeks, taste again...smile! It works every time, especially with quality Whiskies at higher abv. Very few bottles have failed to respond and those few were not much to start with; a salvage opperation, if you like, but nothing special to work with!

Na zdravlje!

My mother came back from a trip through Montreal and brought with her what may be the best lox (smoked salmon) in the world.

What could possibly cap that better than a half dram of Bowmore Laimrig?

Angel's Envy bourbon with BBQ potato chips. A winning combination.

1998 bottle of Gordan Grams Black Bottle 10y. Very nice complex vatted scotch. If it was still available I'd buy cases.

@Nozinan Being from Montreal, I'm curious; where did your mother buy the salmon. I am finishing a bottle of Laimrig right now and have another one waiting, so I would like to try the combination.

I also want to take the opportunity to suggest to you the Armorik DE. I think you would like it.

@Robert99

Victoria Fish Market...nothing like it anywhere....

Macallan 25 yo, the last 25 ml from @Nozinan's bottle, while watching the Series Finale of Mad Men. Thank you, @Nozinan.

@Victor

How was it? I don't mean the finale...

@Nozinan, pleasant. You could tell the Mac 25 was a long-open bottle, but it was certainly quite enjoyable.

The Mad Men finale was a nice denouement, more life-affirming than you might expect.

@Victor

Well, I'm sure it gave life to Canadian Whisky sales while it lasted....

Tonight I sat down to do some work at the computer with a dram of Smith and Cross. What a nose...I could nose it for hours (actually I have), Talk about full flavour! Unfortunately I can't finish it tonight (too much nosing, not enough sipping).

I'm without kids at home tomorrow night...we'll see how "covered in the glass for 24 h" works for this rum.

Sonoma County Distilling Company Rye Whiskey. 100% rye, mostly unmalted, NAS, 49% ABV. This one shows very sharp rye grain together with heavy char.

Well, Smith and Cross held up in the nose, but sadly the palate was another matter. Either it's me or the rum but I was just getting burn and bitter when I tasted it.

Good experiment, anyway..so I tossed it and tonight I have a craving for Macallan Cask Strength, and happen to have an open bottle courtesy @paddockjudge from our first encounter. So that's what will accompany me at the computer tonight working on learning objectives for palliative education...

Tonight I attended a Whisky Society "Clans and Drams" event and sampled the following;

a 10 year Mortlach from a first-fill barrel "Sweetie shop wish list" - Very good. Would have a bottle of this one if it weren't for some of the others that I tasted afterwards.

a 10 year Balmenach from a first-fill barrel "Grown-up Ice Lollies" - Not bad, but wasn't as good as the Mortlach

a 16 year Glen Grant from a refill hoshead "A seesaw of sweet and savoury" - didn't care for it without water, but really enjoyed it with some water added.

a 14 year Inchmurrin from a refill barrel "Vegetarian!" - Very good. Had a second dram of this one.

a 23 year Linkwood from a refill hogshead "Springtime in Andalucía" - Excellent! Purchased a bottle.

a 30 year Teaninich from a refill hogshead "A refined cocktail" - Also excellent! Also purchase a bottle of this one.

a 29 year Clynelish from a refill butt "Bumblebees by the sea" - Another excellent one. Had a couple of drams of it. Didn't purchase, but only because I was trying to show some level of restraint.

a 14 year Arran from a refill hogshead "A box of chocs" - OK, but not my favorite.

a 19 year Bowmore from a refill butt "Starry, starry night" - It was OK, but only ok.

a 22 year Highland Park from a refill hogshead "A romp in the Heather" - I really wanted to like this one, and a lot of people came back for more, but it just didn't do anything for me. Better than the Bowmore, but still just OK.

a 11 year Ardmore from a refill barrel "Weird but wonderful" - I agree with the weird part, but not the wonderful. Probably my least favorite of the night.

a 12 year Port Charlotte from a refill barrel "Kissing a smoker" - Excellent! Purchased a bottle of this one as well.

All in all a great night of great food and whisky with some great friends. Another great Society event!

@talexander - Do you remember what the cask number was of the Cooley that you sampled at the event you attended? I purchased a 22 year Cooley (SMWS 117.5) when my wife and I were in Vancouver BC in March. I wasn't able to taste it before I purchased it and I haven't open it yet. I noticed that it wasn't one of your favorites that night, but I would really be interested in your thoughts on it, assuming that it was the same bottling. Thanks!

@bwmccoy The bottle is 118.3. Note that distillery #117 is unpeated Cooley and #118 is peated Cooley. So very different from the one you had.

@talexander - Thanks for the reply and the clarification. I didn't realize that the one you had was peated. Yes, very different.

Caol Ila 12, love it

@PeatyZealot It is a good one...every tried the CS?

Just started my first ever bottle of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof at 67.4% abv. Wonderful stuff. It's the biggest abv in my collection and it's already my favourite bourbon .More complexity in this one than any bourbon I've previously had. I'm going to pour myself another dram to try and work out some of the flavours in it.

Enjoying a dram from a long-opened (at least 5-6 yrs) bottle of Glenmorangie The Lasanta. Aged in ex-bourbon barrels and finished in Oloroso sherry casks. Has not lost any of its flavour with the passage of time.

@whiskygoalie Glenmorangie oxidizes well, I'm sure it just as good as when you bought it. I enjoy Glenmorangie and I seem to always have a few bottles hidden in the cabinet. Enjoy, a 6y old open bottle sounds great.

Today is my uncle's 75th birthday. now I couldn't get him a bottle of 75 YO scotch, but I wanted to give him something special so I gave him a bottle of A'Bunadh batch 38. 2x 38 is 76, and he is starting his 76th year. (and the "2" is the 2 of us who will drink the batch 38...). Ok. It was as close as I could get... Maybe when he turns 80 they'll have a batch 80.

But to celebrate the day, before dinner, he, my brother and I all had some Amrut Peated CS. I'm still drinking mine 5 hours later (with some interruptions). Wonderful stuff!

Did a side by side tasting of 2 Glen Garioch's. Both independent bottlings, a 20yr cask strength from Exclusive Malts, and a just purchased Alexander Murray bottling that's 22yrs... Both are really nice, I tend to favor cask strength bottlings but it's tough to pick a favorite here, let me check again

Black label..

Over the course of the couple of weeks, was fortunate to try the following: Oak & Cross Rum (as recommended by Victor & Nozinan), & Appleton Estate Master Blender's Legacy at Splendido, Blanton's Special Reserve at a bbq (very light but was a good intro bourbon for people new to the world of whiskey) and Red Letter w my butcher. Crowning taste though was from Hogtown Smoke who introduced Blue Hour Extra Anejo - a tequila that has some sort of bourbon infusion (which I can't seem to verify online) - either way, it was a sensational sipping tequila.

@JayRain so what did you think of the Smith and Cross?

Last night @jonathan hung out with his ladyfriend, with me, and with @Dramlette. We sipped some Willett Family Estate 2 and 7 yo ryes, 4 tequilas, Corsair Barrel-Aged Gin, Tanqueray No. 10 Gin, his new batch of Uigeadail, and a few Canadian whiskies. @jonathan got a chance to try Alberta Premiuim, Wiser's 18 yo, and Danfield's 21 yo, all of which aren't sold in the US. We also had some Royal Canadian Small Batch and Windsor Canadian Whisky, which are available here.