So, what are you drinking now?

The absolute very last of my Crown Royal Monarch, before my Christmas dinner with my love Pamela.

Stagg Jr. Batch # 4, 66.1% ABV. Geez, I'd like to trade my bottle of Batch # 1 for this one.

Started with Aberlour 12 ncf, then some frsb.

My brother in law decided to open the Redbreast 12 YO CS that I slipped under his tree last weekend for our last night here. Delicious!

It makes sense to open it early. It's available here for $10 less than in Ontario, and if he likes it he can still get a spare.

Adelphi Loyal Old Mature Private Stock Blended Scotch Whisky 40%ABV.

I thought I'd try something new. It has a distinct dry grassiness with good oily mouth feel. From Ardnamurchan Distillery. I'll buy this again. It's different.

Tried this yesterday, the peat is well balanced by the sweetness from the wood and the malt.

Recently I started to like Big Peat. I have got a bottle of the first edition. It has homeopathic drops of Port Ellen in it. I will not get any closer to Port Ellen, I'm afraid. Yes, I do like it . It tastes like ashes, sweets and tar. @Victor told me that another peated malt is superior to Big Peat. So I tasted Amrut Peated Cask Strength. That's another ball game. I almost got swept away by the taste of sweet peat, exotic fruit, pepper and curry. I think it is one of the best bottles I bought in 2016.

Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique, purchased shortly before receiving top honors in 2015. Splendid strawberry and vanilla malty wood goodness, which I'm not likely to touch again very soon.

Just came back from NYC (patti and I took Maggie there on a 4 day trip), where I shipped a box from Scotch Whisky Auctions to, which contained Bowmore 100 Proof (57.1% ABV, a Christmas present for Pam, which we're sampling now and is delicious), Ben Bracken 22 Year Old (undisclosed Islay distillery), Dalmore 21 Year Old, Balcones Single Malt, Lagavulin 12 Year Old (2015 bottling), Glen Grant 10 Year Old and Paul John Classic (55.2% ABV). Best part: because we were in NYC for 4 days, I was able to split the bottles between myself and patti and paid no duty!

@talexander

Winners all around!! I was given some of the Bowmore to try a few years and it was quite good. I would love to hear about the Paul John, as I'm already impressed with Amrut.

Having a pour of Nelom Reserve (50/50 Royal Reserve and Woodford Reserve) and am just about to watch Horns. I quite enjoy this simplistic home blend, hopefully I'll enjoy the movie too.

Islay Storm Single Malt by C.S. James & Sons. No mention of which Islay distillery. It's got all the Islay attributes down well. Inexpensive and actually quite good!

During New Years/New Years Eve, treated friends to the following:

1. Casa Dragones Sipping Tequila - only surpassed by Herradura Selecion Supreme)
2. Old Forester Birthday Bourbon - a more balanced taste than the Signature - much more enjoyable)
3. El Dorado 25 - finishing off the 10th bottle - love it but would not purchase again at that pricepoint
4. Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique 2011 - initial taste had a nice citrus fruit appeal - looking forward to revisiting in a month and trying side by side w the two other Solists that have been gifted to me
5. Corryvreckan - wanted to finish w a strong peat flavor - in retrospect, should have added dashes of water so people could taste the contrast (Corry is a great scotch to note the difference between neat and with water)

Tonight I am doing a HtH of Ardbeg TEN, Ardbeg Dark Cove (standard release 46.5%) and Ardbeg Dark Cove Committee Release (55%). In total honesty . . . I prefer the standard Dark Cove release. Why? It has so many distinct fruit notes. It is possible that my bottle of the Committee Release will open up (meaning more sherry cask influence). But who knows? All I can say is that tonight all three Ardbeg's are fantastic. If I had to pick a winner it would be the DC 46.5%. Call me crazy.

@talexander Cracked the Laga 12 as well - awesome, as always.

Crown royal reserve.

Nose: Aromatic bourbony nose, stewed apple, butterscotch, honey, oak and spices in the background. Taste: sweet, rye spices, minty, reminds me of frsmb. Finish: rye spices, medium long. Very nice and easy drinking. Pleasantly surprised.

@Wodha , did you get that Islay Storm at Trader Joe's? That who carries it around me. It's nothing special, but dang if it don't exceed expectations at $20/bottle.

@Ol_Jas I got my Islay Storm through Royal Mile Whiskies. They ship worldwide.

Enjoying some Old Pulteney Duncansby Head.

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@Nock

Nice - pitting the 3 Ardbegs together like that. My experience with the Dark Cove is quite similar, the Comittee release at 55% differs from the standard release at 46.5% with the standard release being more fruity.

An interesting mix to the lineup would be the Uigeadail which I think is more intense than the Dark Cove at 46.5% but softer and less spicy than the Dark Cove at 55% and more savoury.

@JayRain You sir, are a great friend!

@talexander Just curious if the Laga 12 you cracked open is the current LCBO release? Is it worth the price?

Sipping on some Stalk & Barrel Canadian (original, not Blue or Red) while watching the Canada/Sweden World Juniors semi-final game. The whisky is... decent, not great, but enjoyable enough. Kind of like this game.

Tonight I was inspired by the Pikesville Rye discussion going on. So I pulled out my bottles of Pikesville and Rittenhouse. I bought them on the same day a few months back. I have obviously been hitting the Rittenhouse much harder than the Pikesville. I think it was because the Pikesville finish struck me as bitter and off. So I put it at the back of my cabinet for a while.

The Rittenhouse has a medium sweetness that is not overpowering. Thick for its age and ABV. The finish is woody, leathery, and without too much sweetness. There is something a little sharp and sour here. But not bad. My guess is that most people would want this in a mixed drink. And for $25 that is to be expected. Still, a seasoned rye drinker could find potential here. Yes, that last sip reminded me of the Old Portrero 18th Century Rye which is 100% Rye. This is a strong rye whiskey!

The Pikesville is improved since my last taste several months ago. It is much sweeter and thicker on the nose and palate than the Rittenhouse. The only thing I don’t love is the finish. It is still sweet, but there is something fighting it at the end. Still, it is a fantastic whiskey (especially on the nose and palate). That said, at $55 a bottle I am not sure it is worth double the price of the Rittenhouse . . . but my does that finish last for an age and a half.

I will have to put the Pikesville away for another few months . . . and pick up another bottle of Rittenhouse!

@Mancub It's the same release, but I bought mine on Scotch Whisky Auctions. Factoring in auction fees and shipping, I probably paid around the same (or maybe a little less) than in LCBO.

@Nock Completely agree on the Pikesville 110. When I first opened it I was somewhat disappointed after all I had read. After a couple months it's exactly how you described it.

Yesterday I was at a friends house for tasting and a good time. We had First flight

*Glenmorangie 10 yrs *Knockando 12 yrs vintage 1991 *Macallan 12 yrs double cask *Glengoyne 21 yrs

Second flight

*Kilchoman Sanaig *BOX 2nd step Collection 01 *Ballechin 10 yrs *Caol Ila 25 yrs

My favorite was probably the Caol Ila or the BOX. All in all a nice evening

.

Not precisely me... but my uncle is over for supper tonight and I'm introducing him to the Longrow 14 YO CS Burgundywood that I opened on January 2 at my tasting.

This bottle is almost 2/3 gone already! Glad I bought a spare, but wondering if I should have got another....

@jack09, good to hear that you got a bottle from one of the good batches of Crown Royal Reserve. The batches go anywhere from flat and boring to outstanding and sizzling. I would love to have 2 or 3 more bottles from the batch of my first bottle of Crown Royal Reserve. I am scared to buy any more, though, because I have tasted from 2 other batches from bottles owned by friends of mine neither of which I would want to own.

At @Maddie's house, last night I presented a tasting to 9 persons, including:

1) Jameson 12 yo Special Reserve

2) Redbreast 12 yo

3) Redbreast 12 yo Cask Strength

4) Tullamore DEW Phoenix, 55% ABV blended Irish

5) Bushmills 21 yo Madeira Single Malt

6) Bruichladdich Scottish Barley, 50% ABV

7) Old Pulteney Navigator

8) Clynelish 14 yo

9) Macallan 12 yo Sherry Oak

10) Glenmorangie Sonnalta PX

11) Aberlour A'bunadh, Batch # 54, 60.7% ABV

12) Caol Ila 12 yo

13) Ardbeg Ten 16/11/2015

14) Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength, Batch # 007, 56.3% ABV

15) Mellow Corn (not my idea; one of the participants brought it)

16) Kentucky Vintage Bourbon (KBD)

17) Johnnie Drum Private Stock, 50.5% ABV

This was a largely peat averse crowd. Only 4 of us wanted to go that route or we would have tried more peaty/smokey stuff. I enjoyed the Old Pulteney Navigator more than at first now that the bottle has been open quite a while. One of these years I may start taking pictures of the bottles and posting them, but not yet.