So, what are you drinking now?

2011 Old Rip Van Winkle 107, the bottle is 1/4 full open since 2011. Still a Fantastic bourbon.

I sampled it after having a WL Weller Antique 107 / WL Weller 12y blend, 60/40 blend. I heard the blend is close to the 10y 107 Van Winkle. Well it is very good but it is not close to the Van Winkle.

The Van Winkle has more spice, barrel influence and complexity. The Weller is good and I buy the Antique 107 regularly , but it's weaker in comparison.

The Van Winkle 15y may be the best in the line but the 10y 107 VanWinkle is the best value. Get any that you come across.

I'll try the 20y in a few weeks, fall is in the air.

Tonight is a rye night. I am drinking:

Bulleit Rye 45%

Wild Turkey 101 Rye 50.5%

Willett Single Barrel 2yo Rye 54.5%

Willett Single Barrel 2yo Rye 55.7%

Yes, the 55.7% is the clear winner for me. Oddly, I liked it far less than the 54.5% when they were both freshly opened in July. I am astounded at what 2 months has done for these two rye whiskies.

@Nock I'll be in Florida next week. When I was there in June there was a liquor store that had the Weillit Rye 50+ ABV. It was a NAS. What's the going price?

@Benancio Willet estate ryes should all have age statements. I typically see a 2yr, 6yr, and 8yr. They will have the willet estate crest and a green foil wrapper over the cork. I've also seen a 4yr available with a wax dip over the cork instead of the now standard foil. I have one and I would not pass up the chance for another. Pricing for the 2, 6, and 8 are respectively $30-40, $50-60, $80-90

Trying my own bottle of the kilkerran wip 7. This is good stuff I tell you!

@newreverie Thx, I'll look closer at the label for an age statement. The last time I was there I think it was $35 so its probably the 2y.

It may be noteworthy that my last two purchases, Craigellachie and Aultmore both @ 46%, both un-coloured and non-chill filtered and of extremely high quality are from Bacardi Distilleries; also they have a similar expression from Aberfeldy but, alas, at 40% - Perhaps someone is listening to what we want as opposed to telling us! 'Makes a very nice change!

Slainte!

Worked hard today. Treating myself to a small pour of Macallan CS. Haven't had it in a long while but have to make it last do only 15 cc tonight. having it neat. It's really smooth with no burn today.

Not so much now but yesterday at the whisky lounges whisky festival Talisker 25 Mortlach 25 Dalwhinnie 25 Mortlach 18 Ancnoc 22 Ancnoc 18 Balblair 1990 Arran 18 And a few others.. .. ocdwhisky.wordpress.com . .

Tonight after finishing work early, it will be a wee dram of Aberlour 12 Year old Double Cask Matured

Enjoyed some Glencadam 14 Year Old Sherry with dinner earlier.

I am continuing to wrestle with a bottle of "young" Booker's. The 2015 editions have resulted in me having far too much booker's in the house. In an effort to reduce, I am drinking my oldest bottle of Booker's from a 2006 batch. The age statement on the bottle is exactly 6yrs 0mon, which I am fairly sure is the youngest batch of booker's ever made. I recall that I purchased the bottle after Booker's was absent from the shelves for several months. I have always wondered if Beam bottled this one early to meet demand. Experienced neat this one has all the charm of a bucking bronco. Throw in a cube of ice and I can imagine myself sitting next to Booker Noe, slowly rocking in my chair, staring at a Kentucky corn field. It is a strange batch.

Not today, but over the weekend, at the pool bar of a hotel in a not so distant city:

Macallan 18, 1996

Midleton Very Rare, 2010

Don Julio Blanco Tequila

The 1996 Macallan 18 was less intensely dark-fruity as had been my own prior bottle of the 1991. And a little cleaner sherry too. Quite enjoyable certainly. The Middleton Very Rare 2010 was probably the most enjoyable MVR I've had of about 3 or so releases. Very caramel-y as those old re-used wood whiskies often are. I've never owned a bottle of the Blanco from Don Julio, but I was reminding myself what totally solid first rate tequila it is. Yes, it is first rate, all right. And quite consistent, from what I've seen to date.

@Victor My favorite blanco tequila is Fina Estampa Blanco. It is thoroughly enjoyable and the price is right. For an interesting Anejo, I recommend Izkali Anejo. Don't let the low price point fool you, it is fantastic tequilla. It is a bit on the sweeter side with a welcome level of smokiness. I wouldn't think twice about sipping on several glasses of Izkali while smoking a fine cigar.

I'm attacking this Maker's Mark Cask Strength like a hobo on a hot dog.

@newreverie, thanks for the recommendations. I haven't seen those brands around, but I do hope to get the chance to taste them. I do know a lot of tequilas, but I am always happy to hear what the favourites are of others. And I NEVER let the price of something prejudice me about being able to assess its quality. For me, great and cheap is always superior to great and expensive. High prices prop up the notion of quality for those who do not trust their own taste. For me liking what it tastes like is far more rewarding than impressing others that I was fool enough to spend $ 1,000 for a bottle of this or that. The spirit has got to be pretty damned elite for me to want to spend more than $ 100 for it.

@FMichael It is mid-day, and my resident who is with me doesn't eat lunch so I'm working through. Not sure about the MM CS you're talking about but that hot dog is sounding appealing right now.

I cracked open my Springbank 10 100 Proof (the US 50% version) this weekend and tried it side-by-side-by-side with my dwindling bottles of the standard 10 YO and the 1997 Madeira.

Conclusion: It is indeed more intense than the standard 10 YO, but it does NOT deliver the salty sea blast that I remember from my first go-round with a 10/100 a few years ago. And it was easily bested by the Madeira, which is more intense, more complex, and way funkier. (To be fair, it's cask strength in addition to having the Madiera maturation.)

Meta-conclusion: I think my perception or "tolerance" for saltiness has really shifted over the past few years. When I first tasted Campbeltown whiskies in 2010 & 2011, I was blown away by the sea-saltiness and I loved it. Now I can barely find it. In a big peater from Islay or whatever, I still get that sea-saltiness mixed in there, but Springbank used to deliver big salt on its own.

As for the 10/100, I intend to give it a long shelf life and see how it develops in the bottle. Springbank is known for improving significantly in an open bottle, so maybe that'll do the trick.

Colonel E H Taylor bourbon, BIB 50%. I am imagining what it would be like at cask strength. It's not bad on its own, and has some nice bold flavour, but would easily be missed among the heavy hitters...

@Nozinan, you really are a Big Flavours Guy. Which Col E H Taylor BIB bourbon are you drinking, Small Batch, Single Barrel, Sour Mash, or Warehouse C Tornado Surviving? Some of each of those releases are Bottled in Bond, which has more stringent requirements than just the 50% ABV alone. Probably you are drinking Small Batch, which is the most widely distributed. There is also a Col E H Taylor Barrel Proof at higher strength which is in many places allocated and almost as scarce as are the Antique Collection whiskeys. I put in for the BTAC lottery in my county last year and got to buy one of the Col EHT Barrel Proofs. I was disappointed not to get a BTAC bottle, but I think I will be very happy to have the Col Taylor Barrel Proof, if my friend @Benancio is to be believed. I have confidence that @Benancio is to be believed. I haven't opened my bottle of Barrel Proof yet, or my bottle of Small Batch. I love both the Tornado Surviving and Sour Mash Releases, though.

The bigger question, I think, is what is Sazerac Company/Buffalo Trace Distillery doing with this Col E H Taylor brand? It seemed to me to be a showcase for a series of one-offs, with the option of repeating those one-offs. The Sour Mash release is a bourbon like no other on the market, and both delicious and unusual. I'd love to see that one repeated. Names like 'Small Batch' and 'Single Barrel' are so generic you would expect repetition. I expect that the 'Small Batch' is here to stay, and maybe we'll see more of the Single Barrel, along with more of the Barrel Proof. But I am not at all sure what differentiates the Col E H Taylor brand in flavour profile from other Buffalo Trace Distillery brands, other than that the Col Taylor releases are all at a minimum of 50% ABV. Col E H Taylor was the man who was the political driving force behind the quality control laws which established the Bottled in Bond standard. That standard includes bottling at 50% ABV.

Last night, at a dinner at the home of my next door neighbor, and with his brother, a PRC diplomat retiring from his posting in the Czech Republic en route home to Beijing:

Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve, 60% ABV

Johnnie Walker Black Label

Laphroaig Quarter Cask

Laphroaig 10 yo

I gave the diplomat and his brother bottles of Old Grand-Dad 114 as thank you gifts. @Dramlette and the diplomat's wife also had a great time with the food, drink, and company.

@Victor: Lovely story. I'm quite sure that your experience is just what the Gods of 'Uisge Beatha', in their wisdom, had in mind!

A good bottle in good company has no parallel!

Slainte!

A'Bunadh batch 46. Tasting pretty good tonight. Especially with Trader Joe's chocolate.

Needed something bold to cut through the BS from 2 of the three leaders in the debate.

Watching Thursday night football and drinking a local beer La Cumbre "Elevated IPA".

@Nozinan @Victor I bought 3 bottles of the EH Taylor Barrel Proof 67.7 ABV, it's a 93 point bourbon. I swallowed the first bottle, that's usually another sign how much I like a whiskey. My buddy bought the 64.5 ABV, we gave it a 91 point mark. Those 90 points are hard to earn. Like a jerk I saw another 67.7 bottle on the shelf and passed on it, went back a week later and it was gone.

EH Taylor BP and Elijah Craig BP have been great bourbon and good value.

@Victor the Taylor was a single barrel bottled at 50% It was quite nice. But it doesn't beat Booker's for me.

Port Charlotte: Scottish Barley, Heavily Peated.

Bottle Code...131076 13/156 - 25th. June '13.

What a fantastic 'drop'; freshly opened, this is so delicious and the balance exquisite. The fresh, zesty palate and silky mouth-feel and the 40ppm. peat, which in no way deteacts from the experience, unite to create, even at this stage, a most memorable dram of impeccable balance and cleanliness - I do like this Whisky and it will only improve decanted. How do you keep your hands off a whisky that openes this well?

Slainte!

@Nozinan the EH Taylor Bottled in Bond isn't better than Bookers at cask strength.

Find a bottle of EH Taylor cask strength and let me know how you think it compares to Bookers. I like Bookers, I have several bottles.

Old Weller Antique 107 wheated bourbon.

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Goes well with a full-bodied cigar.

@sengjc Great photo and cigar. I have a buddy coming over tonight. I'll pickup a couple CAO La Traviata for after dinner with a bourbon. Thx for reminding me!