So, what are you drinking now?

Wild Turkey 101 Rye: An old bottling which is simply exquisite; no other word for it, really, and at Au.$34:50 a steal - It will be a sad day when these are all gone. I've limited myself to one good sized dram a week, so 9 1/2 bottles should last awhile. It improves mightily in the glass!

Slainte!

@A'bunadhman, sigh! I just hope that when Wild Turkey brings back the 101 Rye that it tastes as good as it did before. I only put aside one unopened extra bottle, and my sister also has one...but it has been 3 years now since we've seen Wild Turkey 101 Rye in Maryland. That was and still is my fiavourite "standard" sipping rye, and the one I like best for home mixed drinks too.

You are well fixed, John. I smile just thinking of you and your stash of WT101 Rye. But, by the sound of it, at 60 ml per week, your 9 1/2 bottles will last only about less than 2 1/4 years. That's fabulous that you are enjoying some regularly, though. Cheers!

@Victor: I bought a stack of 101 Bourbon as well, so, I will stretch the Rye out with the Bourbon - The litres with the full colored bird are rather nice and have the most developed bottle character: These I'll leave till last.

Cheers and Good Luck!

@talexander what did you think of Cairdeas? @paddockjudge and I picked up some bottles together last weekend

@JasonHambrey I thought it was excellent - the best Cairdeas I've had.

@A'bunadhman Wildturkey 101 Rye was always in my bar when it was available. I know it so well I used it as a standard to measure other Ryes.

WT101 Rye came back on the market in 2015. It's only available in a 1 liter bottle. The old bottles were in 750 ml bottle.

@Victor , I sampled the new WT 101 Rye and happy to report nothing has changed expected the price.

Cheers,

@Benancio, glad to hear you have the WT 101 rye, and yes, I had heard that it was sold in some places. It is not back in Maryland yet. That is reasuring to hear that it tastes like the same juice. How much price increase? I am guessing 20%, or a little more.

@Victor I did pick up a 1L bottle of the Wild Turkey 101 Rye this summer at Myrtle Beach. I am struggling to say anything good about it. I just noticed the 750mL bottle on the shelf here in Virginia. However, I am now gun shy on pulling the trigger. My feeling is that the new juice is not as good as the old stuff.

Tonight I am sipping the Willett 2yo at 55.7% along side the Wild Turkey 101 Rye and the Bulleit Rye. The Wild Turkey is far and away below the Willett and the Bulleit. My bottle of Bulleit is finally starting to open up a bit. Quite nice. But nothing like what Willett is producing at 2 years of age.

@JasonHambrey

That Cairdeas is in my home now, Thanks @paddockjudge.. I'll share if you can't get one

@Victor I don't think Jimmy Russel changed anything in the WT 101 Rye. I don't even believe they stopped making it, just that they stopped selling it.

The last bottle I bought was back in 2012 for $16 / 750 ml, in 2015 it costs $55 / 1000 ml. The price has gone up 250% adjusted for a 750 ml bottle. Its still pretty good not sure why the huge increase in price.

@Nock It tastes about the same to me, I have an old bottle too. I think we are seeing much better Rye whiskey since the 4 years WT 101 Rye has been gone.

@Benancio, God, I always suspected Wild Turkey 101 Rye would go up in price after its sales hiatus, but the extent of this increase is far worse than I was expecting. Thanks very much for the nice specific information.

@Nock, as for quality, we'll have to taste for ourselves. Back pre-hiatus Jim Murray's last review of it he considered lacklustre. I never had a bad bottle of WT 101 Rye myself, although I did find that there were certain moods and circumstances in which it just didn't resonate well, such as out of my stainless stell flask. When I get a taste of a new batch, hopefully to include yours, I think I'll make sure I do it on a very clean palate.

@Nozinan assuming you mean Ralfy I noticed he gave it a lower score, 84 for batch 48 and 89 for batch 42 if I remeber correctly. At the moment it's the only one I've tried but fully intend on trying more

Talisker 18. A local pub* pours huge servings in glencairn glasses for $12, so that was an easy decision. It was good, but it didn't knock my socks off or anything. I won't be buying a bottle at today's prices. No way, no how.

The empty glass smelled incredible, though. And I had just broken my one glencairn at home, so I asked the bartender to sell me that one, already "seasoned" (as our industry friends would say) with residue of Talisker 18. He did, for $5.

When I got home I tried some of the Talisker 57 to compare. The intensity of the 57 makes it an easy winner over the softer beauty of the 18.

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*I know some other Connosoriganders are also in the Madison, WI–area, so I'll mention that it was the Free House Pub in Middleton. Their selection is decent and their prices are much better than most bars 'round these parts.

@Benancio, I honestly cannot comment on the older WT 101 Rye. I picked up my 1L bottle for $35 and I felt like I over paid. (However, hearing you paid $55 for the same bottle . . . I am counting my lucky stars.) I was paying $32.99 for 2yo Willett Rye at the same store. Granted it was only 750mL, but the ABV was 55.7% and 54.5%. It seemed like a wash to me. And the Willetts are far superior in my opinion. It is certainly possible that the Rye will bloom with more air.

Still, I will bring my bottle to our next tasting @Victor.

I will also be certain to bring the two bottles I just opened tonight:

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof 12yo 69.9% 139.8 Proof (8th Release)

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof 12yo 67.8% 135.6 Proof (9th Release)

The 9th release is fresh off the truck. And once again I only can score one bottle from “my guy.” (Better than nothing). And this one is certainly starting off special. I am enjoying it more than the 8th release. Now I will have to put them both up against the 7th, 6th, and 5th release (which I still have open samples of).

@Nock I agree I over paid. I think I remember WT101 Rye being better. I believe I've been exposed to much better Rye since the WT hiatus. What are your tasting notes on your new bottle, is it still a sweet Rye?

What a coincidence I'm drinking ECBP 69.9 ABV. Can I get invited to your ECBP tasting. Cheers,

@OlJas $5 for a glencairn is pretty good. Usually about $8-9 here or online.

@Nock, I am looking forward to sampling ECBP Batches # 8 & 9 with you, and, of course, the new batch WT101 Rye. (And, if you want rye, Willett Family Estate Rye never gets 'old' even when it is 'young'.)

@Benancio, you are always welcome to sample with us.

@Victor I have 4 bottles of batch 8 and I really enjoy it. It does take quite a bit of water to open it up, teaspoon. Lots of oak and burnt sugar, bye the end of the dram I love it. If the other batches are better I'll get every bottle I come across.

I appreciate the invite, I hope some day to have the opportunity to sample with you both. Thx again.

The balloon fiesta starts tomorrow , come on down.

www.balloonfiesta.com

That when we should do the Whiskey Summit, next year here during the Balloon Fiesta.

Ashton VSG Sorcerer with a dollop of Benriach 16 Year Old Sauternes Wood Finish.

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The salted caramel, cocoa and wood shavings from the cigar pair well with the sweet, winey malt.

Neither tries to overpower the other but both are exquisitely balanced together.

Tomatin 1990 bottle your own, single barrel, first fill American oak, lovely.. Tomatin 13yo bottle your own, single barrel, oloroso cask..

Wedding reception. I was given the choice of 3 single malts so I chose Lagavulin 16. I found it quite flat. Not as good as I have had it before.

I later actually saw the scotch menu and the best thing I could find was Talisker 10. If only I had known.... but I had already had the Lag.

Opened a bottle of Nikka From the Barrel and enjoyed a few drams with a friend. Very drinkable neat, despite the 51.4 abv, but also enjoyable with a little water. I liked this one a lot. Happy to have a bottle in my cabinet (and one in the bunker).

Tonight at the local Irish pub I had a Knappogue Castle 12 along with my Guinness. That's such a tasty, summery malt and always a great value. ~$30/bottle and $4/dram during happy hour. It remains the whisky I've surely drank the highest volume of these past few years.

This past weekend I started a new open-bottle regimen at home: I only open new bottles when I've earned them by making progress with new women. (I'm newly single.) And so this past weekend, I opened a Laphroaig 2015 Cairdeas and a Trader Joe's Islay Storm, both of which reflect the particular women I made progress with in ways that I won't detail here but which I privately find immensely amusing.

What can I say—I need some sort of control mechanism on wantonly popping the corks on new bottles from the stash, and I need some sort of extra kick to get me moving with new women. Two birds, one stone.

Sitting down with The Dalmore 12yo, the most recent addtion to my whisky cabinet

Yesterday while out and about town with a couple of mates, one of whom is visiting from Perth, we popped into the whisky bar that I frequent for the last few drinks of the day. Went through this among the Port Charlotte Jurancon Cask by indie bottlers Rest & Be Thankful and the SMWS 119.14.

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Amazing depth the SMWS G12.1 - essence of vanilla and banana with icing sugar overlaid. Amazing length to the finish.

Glad to have had the opportunity to share a few exceptional drams with friends and fellow whisky enthusiasts.

Currently enjoying Knob Creek 9 went online to look at replacing it and found same bottle and also Knob Creek NAS with caption (patiently aged) on label it is 4 euro less but sounds like another favourite may be being fazed out. At least they have not bumped the price at same time which makes a change. Noticed my regular online shops have bumped the price on Japanese aged products Hibiki 12 price has gone ridiculous with the Harmony costing more than the 12 did 6 months ago.

Wife, and kids went to taekwondo so I have a few hours all to myself.

Buffalo Trace, and some ZZ Top is on the menu.

@sengjc , I'm getting the impression that those Rest and Be Thankful bottles are pretty crazy-good, both the PC and the Octomore. Lots of blazing reviews to be found here and there. Nice score.

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And wow, I guess people hate my new open-bottle regimen. Weird. Excuse me while I pop over to the scotch chat on Reddit. That board is fun.

well, I survived 3 debates in 2 days last week. I have 2 more in the next week or so, and tonight I have to learn everything I can about refugees.

After yesterday's disappointing Lag 16, I figure I need something extra-good today... and tonight is a bourbon night. So I picked the best thing I have open....Booker's 2015-01 - and I can tell you it is on its game tonight!

Thoroughly enjoying the kilkerran 7 sherry wood. It is splendid! Having a nice time on my sofa with my cat watching ralfy with me.