So, what are you drinking now?

As we were drafting for 4.5 hours, there was ample time and water between each pour (although I generally do prefer to finish w the smoke when hosting friends).

That is also the thing - bold is not an adjective that comes to mind for tonight's taste - will try again in a couple of months to see how it has changed.

@JayRain - I recently tried an Islay cask matured gin which was very nice. Personally, I'd either go for the peated whisky that the barrel once stored or a standard gin. Good to try these things though.

@RianC Big fan of the Barrel-Aged Gins - Smooth Ambler and Bluecoat have been my favorites (Burrough's Reserve & Liberator are great as well but offer less value).

@JayRain, I have some Bluecoat barrel-aged gin. It's quite nice, and I also very much like Corsair's Barrel-Aged Gin. I have to say, though, that I find different batches of standard Blue Coat Gin to vary all the way from very good to pretty bad. I don't trust standard Blue Coat Gin enough to buy a bottle.

@Victor Are these types of gins any good for Martinis or are they too esoteric. I find a good London dry type makes the best straight up martini. I did try a bottle of Bruichladich's Botanist gin a couple of years ago and it made a pretty decent martini.

@BlueNote, I have been using the barrel-aged gins strictly as sippers, thus far. I haven't experimented with them for Martinis. Like you, I would be more inclined to use a dry gin for martinis. I guess I should find out what barrel-aged gin tastes like with Vermouth!

@Victor My Dad's idea of enough Vermouth was to sniff the cork and carry on. Sometimes he would give the glass a quick rinse with Scotch before adding the gin.

@BlueNote, yes, lots of people who say they are drinking martinis seem to confine their Vermouth to the nearly or totally imperceptible level. I am unashamed to say that I like to sip gin. I usually prefer sipped gin to gin plus vermouth. I don't feel the need to call it drinking martinis, when I sip gin. Somehow many people seem to think that drinking martinis is cooler than sipping gin. The image of cocktails sipped by nicely dressed people at a party seems more upscale than an 18th century wastrel sucking gin out of a bottle in a gutter.

I am somewhat curious as to how the oak influence works out with vermouth in the mix. I am sure I will find out one day soon.

@Victor I imagine you also dispense with olives or twists, too. And yes, without the Vermouth and any other additions to the martini glass you are simply drinking neat gin.

@BlueNote, yes, I prefer to just sip gin. If I do have a martini prepared by a bartender I ask for very light vermouth and a twist (of lemon peel). @Dramlette and @Maddie are olives-in-martinis people. Not I.

@Victor They say you shouldn't drink on an empty stomach. The olives are some people's concession to eating while drinking.

@Victor Interesting, I always thought that sipping spirits neat was the "highest" form of consumption.

@BlueNote And think of all the goodness of the olive oil. Makes martinis practically health food!

I think @Victor would like the Churchill Martini:

• 3 oz Gin
• stare briefly in the direction of France (whence comes Vermouth)
• Consume Martini

The Mediterranean-British diet, olives and gin! Personally I'm brushing of the last fifth of Kilkerran wip 7 Sherry. Air has tamed it a bit but it's still very flavorfull and delicious.

@Nozinan It's practically the Mediterranean diet; good for the health.

With my club last night, we opened Bruichladdich Black Art 3.1. Very spooky & freaky-deaky for Halloween.

It was very nice. Fruity. Sharper than I expected—I thought it would be round and syrupy. Beautiful nose.

All in all, it's nice but it's not the crazy off-the-wall whisky it's reputed to be. I feel OK about spending what we did ($200) collectively, as a club. But if I bought it on my own and had it all to myself, I think I'd be disappointed—doubly so if I were paying the current price for the latest editions ($350).

Sipping on my first ever Compass Box whisky. Oak Cross Vatted Malt. Interesting stuff. Very interesting indeed.

@OdysseusUnbound I've been looking at that one for awhile and see it's back at the LCBO. Currently drinking Old Weller Antique 107. Very nutty flavour.

I’m currently having a dram of Compass Box Oak Cross on the rocks (or on A rock/ice cube) you know, for science. This is a truly new taste experience for me.

Last night I opened my bottle of Wild Turkey 101 and was surprised at how much I enjoyed this supposedly “cheap” bourbon. Regardless of price, WT 101 is a solid bourbon that I’ll probably keep on hand regularly. I’m wondering if anyone else who’s had it got a floral note on the nose. I can’t seem to identify it. I got the obvious vanilla and toffee notes (a lot like Mackintosh toffee) but I couldn’t get the exact floral note. I’m not a gardner so I guessed honeysuckle, and then asked my wife to help. She said it smelled like “old man drink”, so that was maddeningly unhelpful.

@OdysseusUnbound I was planning on getting a bottle of the WT 101 on my way home tonight.

@boatracer Do it !!

Currently conducting a H2H_ Wiser's 18 YO and Wiser's 15 YO. Do not try this at home. This exercise is being performed in a controlled environment by an expert with decades of experience and a strong support group consisting of: registered nurse_ paramedic_ bar tender _ corrections officer _ psychometrist.

@OdysseusUnbound Did it and I regret nothing!

@boatracer one of my colleagues at work was heard saying that when he looks back at regrets, the only ones he can think of were for things he didn't do, none that he did.

Though I do regret buying a whole bottle of fiddich 15 solera (in 2011)

Tonight my uncle and I are enjoying some of his Balvenie 14 yo golden cask. It's remarkably good tonight.

@Nozinan Do you find that some nights something is remarkably good and other nights it's just average?

@Nozinan I mean, tonight I'm finding my dram of Bruichladdich The Laddie 10 year old absolutely delicious whereas the other night I tasted it and moved on to something else.

@BlueNote Absolutely. I have noted this with a number of whiskies...something you need to be in the mood for.

When you're in the mood, the whisky's performing, your palate is primed and there are no confounding variables, the result can be magical.

@BlueNote I often find this. We're not just talking about change in the bottle due to age or air exposure over time. I sometimes wonder about this more personal variation when people talk (often very authoritatively) and call it batch variation. I'm not denying differences between batches but what about the difference in our perception of the same whisky over several tastings? Hmmm.

@Hewie Is there a new thread brewing?