So, what are you drinking now?

@paddockjudge - Absolutely, that was a great, exciting game!

I'm now having a Laphroaig 21 year Friends of Laphroaig bottle that I picked up at the distillery back in April. Great dram!

@paddockjudge, Congrats on a great win for the Blue Jays!

Orioles fans are wondering what the hell the Orioles manager was doing in never putting their 0.54 ERA closer into the game. The losing Orioles pitcher wondered the same thing.

Drinking and rebottling odds and ends left over from the "Whisky Summit": Glenmorangie Sonnalta PX, Johnnie Walker Black Label from 1979, Ancient Ancient Age 10 yo, and Don Julio 1942. I wish I had 10 more bottles of that 1979 Johnnie Walker Black.

@Nozinan, some of us would be reluctant to accuse all Canadians of being Blue Jays fans, of considering the Blue Jays to be 'Team Canada', or of even liking baseball. Canada could use more Major League Baseball teams, but that probably won't happen until Canada grows its population by another 20 million.

@Victor I still have an Expos hat somewhere...

I'm afraid I will likely finish all of my whisky before we get another team....

@Nozinan, oui, les Expos now play 20 miles from where I live.

@Victor, I'm fine with the best closer in baseball not playing in an all-or-nothing match (against the Jays), but it did leave me wondering, "what if" while I sipped on my four-hour rested Gibson's 18.

Haven't had a thing in over a week. Now I have to tackle the minutes of a very complicated meeting. This requires something high proof.

9 YO Knob Creek Single Barrel ought to do it.

@plattvillepeat, I'm curious as to which batch of Lot No.40 you recently purchased.

@paddockjudge I do not see a bottle code nor labeled batch number. There is a unique neck tag touting awards received in 2013 with a copyright date of 2013. The bottle was purchased Thursday at Morris Liquors in Morris, IL for $54.99 + tax.

@plattvillepeat,

Thank you for checking. The invisible bottle code, sometimes two lines or segments, is located near the base. Shining a penlight or lamp at an angle will reveal it. It will begin with an "L" followed by digits. Your bottle will like begin with L14 or 15.

Lot No. 40 is derived from both malted (10 - 15%) and unsalted rye and is 100% rye grain whisky. It is also the flavouring whisky in Wiser's Legacy.

@paddockjudge Thanks for the guidance! The bottle's laser etching was a smeared rather than crisp two lines near the bottom below the left rear corner of the front label. Visually aided by a 4 D-Cell MAG-LITE and a 10 power magnifier, I interpret the code as L13303 EW 08:20 54SL24

I would interpret this as bottled late October 2013? I am not aware of discussions relating to the quality, scarcity, etc. of LOT No 40 releases. Can some significance be attached to this particular code? Pleased to be of assistance!

@plattvillepeat, I too use a D cell powered mag lite. New lenses in my spectacles no longer require squinting or facial contortions when attempting to decipher the bottle markings.

I'll attempt to be brief. Lot No.40 is 100% rye whisky containing 10 - 15% malted rye. It is also the flavouring whisky for Wiser's Legacy in the ratio of approximately 33%. Recent batches of Lot 40 and Wiser's have been sweeter, chewier, and painted heavily with black licorice...both remain delicious whiskies, but with some variation from the earlier iterations. Your bottle of Lot 40 is what I consider to be one of the earlier batches. A magnificent whisky that maintains a rich and complex character without being too sweet or too spicy, but is still sweet and spicy and DUSTY... the mouthfeel is almost chewy. When added to a fine corn whisky the marriage becomes magical. The rye whisky is lifted to new heights that are almost unbelievable, and the chewiness becomes stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth chewiness.

We recently performed the blending exercise in New Mexico (@Benancio, @newreverie, @Victor, and @paddockjudge). It never gets old and I never get tired of sharing it with whisky drinkers, be they experienced or novice. I think @Victor and @Nozinan enjoy it more than I do.

I'll stop now. Here is a link to one of the many passages I have posted on connosr that passionately praises lot No.40 and Wiser's Legacy....an enjoyable thread that follows a nice review from @Jasonhambrey.

www.connosr.com/reviews/…

The air is thick with deep fried chicken and breaded vegetables. I asked my uncle what he wanted and he left it up to me after deciding on something peated.

So what can cut through all these aromas? Ardbeg Uigeadail. After pouring our glasses I decanted the last 60 cc of this elixir into a small bottle. I still can't believe I paid only $84 dollars for this near CS gem, tax in!

Just discovered an app that allows me to watch TV on my ipad when I'm at home, so in my office trying to prepare for some stuff I need to do tomorrow but distracted by what has become an uncomfortable close AL playoff game.

I went to the basement (where my cabinet resides) to do some things for my wife. I opened the doors to the cabinet with no clear idea of what I wanted, and a bit toward the back I saw my bottle of Amrut CS batch 15 and I knew immediately that would be my dram for the evening.

I'm going to let it get some air for about a half hour before I taste it, and then add a little water. The nose has already opened up an a wonderful way. It's going to be a good night.... regardless of the game.

Post Thanksgiving feast - the smell of Turkey has not penetrated to the basement and I'm down here adding all my open bottles to my whisky database. Unless I find a surprise they are the ones you see in my Connosr cabinet, but I'm adding a page to the spreadsheet that keeps track of my unopened bottles (with demographics and year to year totals), bottles purchased and opened or traded, and a few other things. I'm also keeping track of fill levels of each open bottle as well. Up until now I've only estimated what I have open.

In doing so, I came across a bottle that I had decanted into a one ounce bottle a while back. Bruichladdich - The Laddie Classic (NOT the Classic Laddie), ed. 01. This one preceded the 10. This was a bottle first opened in March 2011, at my second whisky club meeting. I remembered that I hadn't been able to fit everything in but wasn't sure how much was left because the bottle is opaque, so I just replaced the stopper without gassing.

Wanting to make a little more room in my cabinet, I decided to pour what was left, 1/2 dram, into a glass.

This is phenomenal! A little peat, citrus zest, fruitiness. Powerful flavour and bottled at 46%. This is one of the ones where I kick myself for not having picked up another bottle when I saw one in Calgary about 3-4 years ago.

This bottle brings back memories. I still remember the review - apparently this is great over fresh oysters. Tasting it with friends. One of the first my niece visiting from Calgary tried here, and she enjoyed it.

Now after this glass I'll have 30 cc left. I like this young upstart better than many of the other Bruichladdichs I've tried, certainly more than the 10 YO that I have 2 unopened bottles of. I don't remember it being so great then, so this must be a testament to my developing palate.

The Laddie Classic...Truly a Classic. I hope one day there will be another bottle in my future...

Drowning my sorrows after a failed attempt to source some OGD 114 for $19.98 USD. Had I been successful I would have poured an increasingly rare dram from my decreasing supply. Instead I am savouring 20 cc of Bowmore Tempest V. I have

@Nozinan Well, it's just bourbon - although it's great bourbon, it's just bourbon nonetheless. Nothing to get too heartbroken about!

@talexander The tempest was very comforting. Interestingly my post was cut off. I had written that the last 100cc seem to be as fresh and citrusy as the first...

I don't drink that much Canadian whisky by theselves, but I used a lot of them in vatting. So lately, I have been drinking CC 100 rye with Baker's and Bernheim Original ( 50/35/15). My CC 100% rye bottle is now gone. Those who know me are well aware that I don't like maple in my whisky, but I have to say that this CC 100% rye with time and air has developped the best maple flavor I have ever encountered. In fact it was more like maple butter, but the main think is that it has nothing chemical about it.

Last night I decided to go for the Sherry bombs, Glendronach 15, Balvenie 15 Sherry Cask and Amrut Intermediate Sherry. 1 dram each and I woke up still tasting Sherry this morning. They are fantastic Sherried SM's.

Tonight I plan to do a side by side with Masterson's rye, batch 003 and the recent batch 015.

@Astroke Yeah, that Glendronach 15 Revival is good stuff--probably my favourite SM. Treated myself to a dram last night as well.

@Astroke

Can I ask what order you had them in? I tried the Intermediate Sherry once after 2 other Sherry bombs and it was a bit of a flop. Same batch different bottle as the first of the night it was fantastic. Same bottle as the "flop" a few months later, without other drams and it was exquisite. So it wasn't the bottle, it was the sherry on the palate.

I find most Amruts, more than other malts, tend to e better as first drams. Except maybe the peated CS that would be fine except after maybe an Ardbeg or Octomore.

@Astroke,

I am interested to learn what your side by side of 003 and 015 reveals.

Enjoying some Lot No. 40. Every time I have some I'm somehow surprised at how good it is. :) Sipping on it while watching 'Conspiracy Theory' - given the current political climate in the U.S. it seemed appropriate.

@Nozinan Yes, I did start with the Amrut because at the time that was going to be my limit but the Sherry fuse was lit so I moved on to the GD15 and then the Balvenie.

@paddockjudge Well the 015 was different, tasted more like a Kentucky Straight Rye. Mind you the batch 003 has been opened for about 8 months and the batch 015 for about 8 minutes. 015 seems sweater and thinner. Still excellent just different. I still have batch 001 unopened that I picked up in New Brunswick for $75, may be kicking myself later that I did not pick up more. I did notice the back of batch 015 says 3Badge Beverage Co., Fairfield, Ca. and batch 003 says 35 Maple Street, Sonoma CA. Maybe just a name change.

I did email them to ask if there were any changes to this batch versus other batches noting the different flavor prifile.

@Astroke,

I'm interested to learn from where the juice for batch 015 originated.

3 Badge Beverage Corporation, formerly The Other Guys, to purchase a 9,550 sq. ft. historic fire house located at 32 Patten Street in Sonoma, CA.

newswire.com/press-release/…

@paddockjudge Still states in small letters, product of Canada, Rockie Mountain water, blah, blah. Other than the different distributor name on the back everything is the same. I will revisit this in another few weeks but for now the flavor profile is different. IMO

Glenmorangie Sonnalta PX. This is always a pleasure.