So, what are you drinking now?

first ever sips of elmer t. lee single barrel - pleasant & easy drinking.... thanks for the sample, @paddockjudge!

@thecyclingyogi, an easy sipper indeed, glad you enjoyed it.

@thecyclingyogi...easydrinking enough that when I gave a bottle of Elmer T. Lee to @dbk in 2011 he emptied the bottle in about three weeks.

@Victor, this bottle of ETL doesn't stand a chance, it won't see 2016.

This evening I visited a local bistro with family and friends for coffee and dessert. While perusing the beverage menu I noticed Laphroaig Cairdeas 2015 was still available. I ordered two 1.5 oz. drams and received two very healthy pours...no complaints here...one each for me and a visiting friend of the extended family...smiles all around.

Still recovering from Saturday night....

Lawyer friend of mine came over. He's back living in Toronto after a very long hiatus and this was the first chance to sit and catch up. We used a "whisky tasting" as an excuse. Unlike the chaos of a large group, I got to introduce each spirit and then we lingered over each dram while we talked about a lot of things.

1. Started off with Highwood 90/20. A nice beginning.

2. Moved on to Nikka from the Barrel, with a touch more complexity

3. Cutty Sark Prohibition was next

4. Amrut Peated Cask strength - we switched to stemmed narrow wine glasses for this one and I showed him the ASHOK manoeuvre which completely blew him away. And me.... every time.

5. I opened up my bottle of Bowmore Tempest, and I found it gained a lot of complexity with a little water and time. Then we poured again.....

He really likes peated whiskies but has also lived in Japan so I wanted to warm him up. The order worked very well. In hindsight I might have left of the Prohibition this time.

Just beginning the whisky adventure in Calgary this year. Not sure if I will see as much or buy as much as a few years ago, and pretty sure I won't be dramming as much given my last few days in Toronto. Actually my BIL has allowed his collection to thin, mostly half opened minis and samples that we opened before.

But looking through we happened upon an open bottle of JW green so I had that for the first time in a few years...review posted.

Tonight, on Christmas eve, I'm enjoying my glenfarclas 15.

It was gifted to me by a dear friend and tonight I was able to open and share it with him. It feels very good and I have to say that it's a Perfect dram for Christmas. A true, sweet after-dinner whisky!

I had a few with my young lad last night, a rare event as he is always operating at full throttle - school, friends, love interest, work...and an excellent brew pub a short walk from our home.

GlenDronach 12, Macallan 12, Macallan 18, and Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye (yes, that one!).

His ranking by preference:

1st) Macallan 12

2nd) Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye

3rd) GlenDronach 12

4th) Macallan 18 ...fortunate for me, indeed.

@Alexsweden, A fine choice for Christmas Eve!

Found a bottle of Old Pulteney 12yo under the christmas tree, tasted very delicious.

Christmas party at the in-laws. My brother in law opened a bottle of A'Bunadh batch 30, one I had not tried before. It was nice but I found the flavours muted. I'll have to come back to it in a day or 2 when things are quieter.

The older (read legal) nieces and nephews did shots with the Kirkland Bourbon that was still over half full since we got it during the great Calgary dram adventure. I am pleased to say that that bottle is now history...

Plan for today bed for 5 hours after nights then lunch and at least 3 first time bottles Farclas 15 Hibiki 12 and bookers are on the roster may try Ardbeg 10 or Laphroiag quarter cask to finish, also firsts. Merry Xmas every one.

A little William Larue Weller 2015. Absolutely great Bourbon.

Opened my bottle of Laphroaig Cairdeas 2015; 200th Anniversary. Not quite sure how I feel about this one just yet...Seems a bit bitter to me for some reason.

On Xmas eve, opened the Boss Hog Barrel #48 and it will take all my will power to not have the bottle finished by New Years Eve (there were 8 of us so a serious dent was made). We followed that up w the Herradura Seleccion de Supreme (perilously close to completion in its own right) and the Ron Centenario 25. A flight that rivals Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri and the other 3 whose names I forget. For tonight, a dram of Springbank 15 as I do my annual ritual of balancing my book database (damn that ocd)...

@JayRain The Boss Hog is crazy good!

Tonight we sipped on Springbank 12 YO claret wood, always a fantastic dram..

My brother bought a bottle of Booker's 2015-05. This one was opened tonight. It's quite good. Tastes a bit different from the way I remember the 2015-01, and I have only had a couple of sips so I won't decide which I like better.

We saw a 2015-04 but didn't buy it. Also some 2014 out there too. Too many batches, and even if money were no object, it's impossible to bring home those huge boxes...

Glendronach 12. It was a very nice, very unexpected Christmas present from a long time customer.

Finishing up a few heels to prepare some bottles for samples to bring home.

We finished off almost empty 200 cc bottles of Benromach 10 YO and Bruichladdich Organic from 2012 or 2013. Then polished off the last half of a 50 cc bottle of Tomatin 12 and of a 50 cc of Bladnoch 9 YO lightly Peated (46%) - drinking history of the Armstrong era...

I also ended up with a few cc of Booker's 2015-05 when I poured too much into the empty (clean) Benromach bottle and could not close the cork...couldn't waste it. I also poured off some of the Solan so my brother in law can introduce it to his friend. I hope the rest of the bottle makes it home intact so I can introduce it to my own friends in Connosr and elsewhere...

Just savouring the last few sips of that Bladnoch 9. So different from the sherries versions. So well-crafted! So sad the distillery under Raymond didn't make it.

I felt the B-9 needed a post unto itself.

Got to try out a few great bourbons and a nice scotch over Christmas

Forester 2015 Birthday: Unlike any bourbon i've ever had in a good way. Very earthy herbs like basil and rosemary, joined with orange zest, tobacco, and vanilla.

Four Roses LE SB 2015: Good stuff and it is hard to go wrong with four roses. Still the best FR i've ever had was my single barrel OESQ Private Selection.

Wild Turkey Master's Keep: To my delightful surprise this bourbon is legit. Bananas foster made with over ripe bananas, a light touch of cinnamon, and bathed in a vanilla caramel sauce. Probably the sweetest bourbon i've ever had.

Blade and Bow 22yr: Wonderful stuff. Artfully aged with the perfect amount of wood and dark fruits greeting you in the nose and the palate. Easy drinking and complex. It will take me several sessions to experience this one fully.

Elijah Craig BP: More please. An exclamation point at the end of the sentence stating why i love barrel proof bourbons!

Glenmorangie Signet: There is a reason why this scotch is so revered.

Glenlivet 25: I opened this bottle on my birthday 2 months ago and was beyond unimpressed. Gave it another chance last week and WOW. It tastes like angels singing.

@newreverie, that's a beautiful pour-list, all right.

Is Elijah Craig Barrel Proof "more-ish"? Yes, and very quietly and deceptively so. I think that ECBP is the easiest-drinking high proof whiskey I have encountered. If you don't watch yourself, the bottles just run low very quickly.

About the Glenlivet 25 yo: some whiskies absolutely require substantial air-time to blossom. If you like the 25 yo, I bet that you will also like the Glenlivet 21 yo Archive.

@Victor I do like the 21, but now that it is priced north of $300 i will never buy a bottle. I've considered it at $160, but then again I think the Signet is better at that price point. My bottle of 25 was purchased at $250 ONLY AFTER I saw the price of the 21 go up into the $300s. I'm pretty much priced out of the single malt scotch. Thankfully, I've got 6-7 bottles of 18yr varieties of single malts that I picked up when they were all under $100. If you have a list of must have single malts under $70 i'm all ears, but I am not a huge Islay fan like most of the people here.

@newreverie, Scottish Malt has become an expensive hobby. I have a lot of sympathy for those just starting a collection now, because prices have become so high just in the last 3 years. Finding good value now is a tough proposition. 'Must have' malts under $ 70? That is a short list, especially if you don't want the peaty numbers. There are a few malts I like a lot which are still priced under $ 70. Are any of them really "must have"? Maybe. Any list I would make of these would have lots of qualifications...'if you can get it for this price', 'if you like this or that taste profile' etc. Probably not unequivocally 'must have.'

@Victor

I find the ECBP becomes tastier with time in the glass. My experience recently at @talexander's where I poured it then sampled a few others and came back to it seems to bear this out. I would rate it so-so and hot out of the bottle and excellent and less hot an hour later.

But I think your Stagg 2010 was the easiest and best drinking high proof bourbon I ever tried.

@Nozinan, I don't know which batch of ECBP it is to which you are referring. The batches of ECBP vary quite a bit, though almost all of them are wonderful. Some of those batches do require some handling,...e.g.Batch 6 is a lot better with water, in my book. I can well imagine that you would like some of them better with a good bit of air time. It is a very potent big-flavoured bourbon.

George T. Stagg 2010 Release? Well, that is the alpha and the omega...and there isn't a lot of that drink floating around any more. 2010 Stagg at 71.5% abv is very easy and smooth to drink neat. Appreciating those endless nuances of 2010 Stagg would and does slow down the pace at which I would drink it, compared to ECBP, though. Also the 2010 Stagg is very satisfying, whereas the ECBP usually leaves me wanting to drink more of it.

@newreverie A nice list indeed!

Increasing malt prices have side-lined me. I refuse to pay the current asking and have turned to other genres of brown spirit. Bourbon, Rye, and Canadian have always been my favourites, but the increasing price of top shelf rye is eliminating the value play in that niche.

Bourbon, Canadian, and Armagnac now hold my focus. I intend to curb my frequency of acquisition for 2016. Sights will be set on what I believe to become scarce or discontinued expressions. The focus will be very narrow.

I have benefited greatly this past year from a flurry of trades, some of them being multi-bottle deals. Older bottlings, and scarce juice, have allowed me to leverage current stock and build inventory. Nice bottles have flowed both ways.

With good timing, we might be sharing a number of gems next year at the 'Whisky Summit' for Connosr members and friends.

Cheers!

Aberlour A'bunadh, Batch # 26 and a newly opened bottle of Batch # 45. @Nock, I'd like you to taste your bottle of 45 next to mine. We were both underwhelmed by @Nock's bottle awhile back. This one tastes and smells more interesting to me right now. Maybe context had something to do with it. But, even though # 45 does have lots going for it as is widely noted, it is thin in texture compared to 26, 32, and a few other batches of A'bunadh. Also, the really deep-pitched fruit flavours just aren't there compared to some other batches. But this # 45 is certainly worthy, nonetheless.