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So, what are you drinking now?

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By @Wodha @Wodha on 15th Jan 2010, show post

Replies: page 259/647

@Pete1969
Pete1969 replied

@Nozinan Batch 53 first glass neat was typical sherry bomb left to air and then savoured it over 2 hours but found a second dram got quite spicy on palate and oak on finish needed a drop of water to bring it back in line.

8 years ago 1Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@Pete1969

Thank you, that will have to be enough for me this weekend. Mind you, I won't be getting to my bottle of batch 53 for at least 5 1/2 years.

8 years ago 0

@bwmccoy
bwmccoy replied

Last night, my wife and I attended the annual Whisky Extravaganza in Seattle. Here's what I sampled in no particular order.

Jameson Cooper's Croze - not bad, but nothing worth seeking out, in my opinion.

The Classic Cask Benrinnes 1997 - Very nice

The Classic Cask Port Charlotte 2001 - Very balanced. I liked this one, but it wasn't as "in your face" as expected.

The Classic Cask Ben Nevis 1998 - Good, but not nearly as good as the other Ben Nevis listed below.

Connemara Original - My wife sampled the 12 year, which I had a sip of. I preferred the 12 year.

GlenDronach 18 year - One of the best whiskies of the night. Awesome!

Glenfiddich 21 year Rum Cask Finish - Not bad, but nothing special. Lacking.

Hakushu 12 year old - I thought it was good. My wife didn't like it at all.

The John Milroy Whisky (new to the U.S. independent bottler) Mortlach 2006 - Juicy Fruit gum, liquid candy. Very good.

The John Milroy Glen Moray 1996 - Not my favorite. It had an astringent taste that I didn't like.

The John Milroy Miltonduff 1982 (34 year) - Waxed candy, Big finish. Very good.

The John Milroy Benrinnes 2000 - Good, not great. I preferred the Benrinnes listed above.

The John Milroy Ben Nevis 1997 - Wow! Great, huge finish. Had this one twice. Probably my favorite of the night.

The John Milroy Tormore 1995 - I didn't care for this one.

The John Milroy Bunnahabhain 1990 - It was ok, but I've had better Bunnahabhain's.

Johnnie Walker Gold Label - This did nothing for me.

Johnnie Walker Platinum Label - I was pleasantly surprised. I really liked it.

Kavalan Sherry Oak - Wonderful!

Kavalan Ex-Bourbon Oak - Very nice, but glad that I had it before the Sherry Oak.

Laphroaig Lore - The only whisky of the night that I have previously tasted. It did not disappoint. I would (will) buy a bottle of this one at some point.

SMWS 73.72 - 18 year Aultmore - Smokey finish, very good dram.

SMWS 84.18 - 14 year Glendullan - Excellent!

SMWS 55.28 - 14 year Royal Brackla - It was OK, but had a weird finish that turned me off to this one.

SMWS G6.3 - 35 year Port Dundas (grain whisky) - Unfortunately, not good. Reminded me of furniture polish.

SMWS 66.84 - 11 year Ardmore - Very big, but I had previously tasted 66.82 earlier this year. Had heard that this one was similar, but it did not live up to that expectation.

Westland Distillery (Seattle, WA) Winter - a brand new bottling from them. Won't be released for a couple of weeks. I will be purchasing a bottle when it is. This was excellent. Another great release from a great, local distillery.

Finished the night with SMWS 27.79, a 19 year Springbank from a refill Bourbon barrel. This one had an unusual cherry nose and chocolate covered cherries with Milky Way bars on the palate, this whisky was “yummy!”. Dessert in a glass.

Another great night with great friends and great whisky. Already looking forward to next year!

8 years ago 1Who liked this?

@paddockjudge
paddockjudge replied

@bwmccoy, thanks for sharing.

"The John Milroy Whisky...Mortlach 2006 - Juicy Fruit gum". Juicy Fruit gum is a note I detect, on the nose, from Alberta Distillers products e.g., Masterson's Rye and Whistlepig Rye. Very interesting.

8 years ago 0

@chrisbator
chrisbator replied

Some of my new Old Forester 1920... I have a feeling this will be quite tasty once it's been open for a bit

8 years ago 0

@Alexsweden
Alexsweden replied

Svenska eldvatten vintage '94. Only a splash left at the bottom for 2 years this one has gone stale and overly bitter. Not too pleasant. Moving on to Glenfarclas 15 which was much nicer. Dark red fruits and red wine winegar.

8 years ago 0

@bwmccoy
bwmccoy replied

@paddockjudge - Thanks for letting me know about the Masterson's and Whistlepig Rye's. I will have to add those to my "buy" list. The only other time that I've had a similar experience was at the Society headquarters in Edinburgh when we were there in 2010. The bartender suggested that we try SMWS 64.25, a 20 year Mannochmore appropriately named "Juicy Fruit". It was a little too sweet for me, but I was blown away by how similar it was to the gum.

8 years ago 0

@paddockjudge
paddockjudge replied

The Ultimate Sherry Bomb, Macallan Cask Strength.

I am able to enjoy my favourite single malt, long after it has been discontinued, only through the kindness and generosity of @Nozinan, @Robert99, and Alberta Tim. Thank you for tracking these down and sending them my way.

Cheers!

8 years ago 1Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

Redbreast 12 YO CS - inspired by @antihero's review on ATW. What a whiskey!

8 years ago 0

@Ol_Jas
Ol_Jas replied

My dabbling last night included my long-open bottle of Connemara Turf Mor. Open a year and only down an inch of two—this is surely the slowest I've ever worked through a bottle. I checked in to see if it's still as sharp & off-putting as before.

Yep.

8 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor replied

@OlJas, I've had some of that same sharp and off-putting Connemara Turf Mor in the past. I was amazed at how different it was to my bottle of Connemara Cask Strength...different not in a good way.

8 years ago 1Who liked this?

@mscottydunc
mscottydunc replied

I am on day 86 of 100 days with no alcohol. Really starting to crave some whiskey! Not yet sure what I will have to celebrate the completion of my challenge, thinking maybe a vatting of A'Bunadh Batches 47 and 53 seems appropriate!

8 years ago 0

@Nelom
Nelom replied

Evan Williams Bottled in Bond

I just made a post in the "Which bottle did you just buy" thread about how I didn't much care for the Evan Williams Single Barrel and I was hoping the Bottled in Bond would perhaps be a step up.

Turns out my wish was granted. Perhaps it's the additional ABV, perhaps it's something else, but I much prefer this expression over the Single Barrel. I might just snap up another bottle before the LCBO runs out.

8 years ago 0

@Ol_Jas
Ol_Jas replied

@Victor , yes! The normal NAS CS Connemara is quite different—and good. It's fresh and nice and zippy. The Turf Mor is totally different in a bad way for sure. When I drink the Turf Mor, it's a real act of will to just experience it and NOT immediately start browsing my shelf for a sherry monster or a better peater than I can pour into the glass to balance out that sharp business.

8 years ago 0

@Alexsweden
Alexsweden replied

This Friday I'm attending a smaller whisky expo in my hometown so what better way to warm up than to have a tiny sip of nectar! Tonight in having Ballechin 10. I'm working on a review but i must say unfortunately that this one is a bit hard to get to know. Or at least befriend..

8 years ago 1Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

Lagavulin 8 Anniversary edition. This is quite nice. A little hot at 48% the citrus notes come out with a little splash of water.

Is it better than the 16? not sure. I liked the 200 cc bottle of the 16 I bought in ~2011. I was not impressed with a dram of it I had at a restaurant a year ago.

The 12? Hard to compare. The 12 has a lot of batch variation and is at cask strength. This one may be a little lighter.

Similar profile though. I'm definitely going to enjoy this once in a while...

8 years ago 1Who liked this?

@Ol_Jas
Ol_Jas replied

@Nozinan , funny you should be giving us the 8 v. 16 v. 12 rundown. We did the exact same comparison at my whisky club last night.

The surprise was that EVERYONE preferred the 8 to the 12.

As for 8 v. 16, we had votes on both sides. The 16's nose is way better—so fresh and uplifting. The 16 is weak on the palate, though, so the 8 takes the cake there, especially for folks who enjoy that fruity youthfulness.

8 years ago 0

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@OlJas which 12 did you pit against the 8?

8 years ago 0

@Ol_Jas
Ol_Jas replied

@Nozinan , it was the 12 from 2014, from a large sample bottle I poured off when the big bottle was around half-full.

8 years ago 0

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@OlJas Not surprising then, I felt the 2014 version of the 12 CS was a little disappointing, at least when compared to the 2011.

8 years ago 0

@Alexsweden
Alexsweden replied

Last Friday I was at a whisky expo in my hometown. It wasn't quite as bigsas some of the major ones in Sweden but its always good to support local initiatives and it wasn't super-small either. I had the chance to talk to some nice folks in the bussiness (and some salesmen aswell) and got to try some decent whiskies.

First time i tasted Amrut regular 46%. It was good but lacking some refinement compared to the peated cask strengthers I've had in the past. Still an impressively good spirit from India. It was dry with fruity bubblegum, hay and grass in the finish.

I always try Swedish brand BOX. They seem to be at every expo available. This time I had their unpeated sherry cask at 54%. It actually reminded me quite a bit of Kavalan Solist sherry cask albeit a notch lower intensity-wise. I told the brand rep and he took it as a compliment.

Ledaid 7yr vintage 2005 - whisky fässle. My favorite of the night with bandaids, smoke and mezcal! A real nice surprise and a very quirky bottle with a duck photography on it.

Kilchoman Loch gorm treated me some sand and medicinal smoke and I felt it had an almost grainy texture. Nice brand rep too.

I had a good Laphroaig from elements of Islay but didn't write down which one it was. Maybe all of them are good.

to finish I had a vintage highland park from maison du whisky. 15 years old from 1999 to 2015, single cask 157 bottles and sadly not the greatness I was hoping for

8 years ago 0

@chrisbator
chrisbator replied

@Nozinan Interesting, I've been thinking about picking up the Lag 8 but locally there's a great deal on the 16 I could not pass up... But as a single barrel fan, the 12 sounds interesting.

8 years ago 0

@chrisbator
chrisbator replied

I think I found bug ;)

8 years ago 0

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@chrisbator Isn't that normal in Mezcal?

8 years ago 1Who liked this?

@jeanluc
jeanluc replied

Colonel E. H. Taylor - lovely drop

8 years ago 0

@talexander
talexander replied

@Nozinan I really like the 8, but not as much as the 16 or the 12.

8 years ago 0

@jeanluc
jeanluc replied

Sorry about the flurry of alerts – that was a glitch which won't happen again.

8 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor replied

During 24 hours from 1700 Thursday (US Thanksgiving Day) to 1700 hrs Friday:

Thanksgiving After Dinner Tasting, which I presented:

1) Tanqueray No. 10 Dry Gin 2) Corsair Barrel-Aged Gin 3) Compass Box Oak Cross 4) Glenmorangie Sonnalta PX 5) Woodford Reserve 6) Bastille 1789 Blended Whisky 7) Tin Cup American Whiskey from the host family (a blend of barley malt and bourbon)

"Black Friday" tasting at North Charles Fine Wines & Spirits, 0810 hrs:

1) Van Winkle 12 2015 Release 2) Van Winkle 12 2016 Release 3) Van Winkle 10 2016 Release 4) William Larue Weller 2016 5) George T. Stagg 2013 6) George T. Stagg 2014 7) George T. Stagg 2015 8) Thomas H. Handy 2014 9) Thomas H. Handy 2015 10) Thomas H. Handy 2016 11) Nikka Taketsuru 21 YO

We could likely have had five or six more samples if we had hung around longer. If you didn't get there before 0930 hrs then you would have missed out on most of the prior year "heels" offered above. As before, these folks gave the best free tasting from a commercial concern I have encountered. They under-promise and over-deliver. They promised only 2016 Van Winkle 10, 2016 William Larue Weller, and 2016 Thomas Handy. I saw the open bottle of Taketsuru 21 on my way out and commented on it. They asked, "Do you want some?". YES

After a nice lunch, we went to another liquor store where we are friends with the managers. They have a 'tasting closet' with about 150 premium bottles open in it. In the back room with one of the managers we had:

1) Compass Box The Spice Tree Extravaganza (fabulous!) 2) Compass Box This is Not A Luxury Whisky (also fabulous!) 3) Compass Box Enlightenment (just shy of fabulous) 4) Laphroaig 15 (Old release; not quite sure why Murray hates it so much. Not bad.) 5) Laphroaig 25 (yeah, that will do fine) 6) Metze's Select Bourbon (First and only distillery release for MGPI distillery. Excellent.) 7) Elijah Craig 21 YO (I could almost see paying $ 200 for that one) 8) a Scottish blended grain whisky whose name escapes me, not memorable 9) Kavalan King Car Conductor (very expensive for a very basic 80-82 point whisky, this bottle anyway)

That was certainly enough whisky sampling for a 24 hour period.

8 years ago 2Who liked this?

@Bilbo161
Bilbo161 replied

@mscottydunc Enjoy whatever you have to break your fast.

8 years ago 0

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