So, what are you drinking now?

@MadSingleMalt @OdysseusUnbound I had a bottle of it and it is okay, I was not a fan but simply because I am not a fan of regular Bowmore. Those who love Bowmore will be please with it if they can live with a young whisky.

@MadSingleMalt, I am absolutely charmed to hear that you "ran through quite a few bottles" of McClelland's Islay Single Malt in prior years. Bravo to you for being willing to testify to that fact. I am still on my very first bottle of McClelland's Islay Single Malt, but it is a 1.75 Litre bottle, about half finished. I would like to get through that bottle, but that requires the repeated decision to drink McClelland's Islay Single Malt in preference to the 95 other open bottles in my cabinet. That is one very tough sell, internally.

In practice what usually happens with me is that I will have a dram of McClelland's Islay when I feel that I need to do so to remind myself what it tastes like. That occurs maybe once or twice a year. At that rate my "handle" may well last another 10 years. Uuummm, yummm, a bottle of McClelland's Islay which has been open for 17 years!

I think that my 1.75 Litre bottle of McClelland's Islay cost me about $ 28 including the tax in early 2011. It might be almost $ 40 here now. Such a deal I got! :-)

@BlueNote - I've had a bottle of the 10/100 and loved it. I have had a try of the 15 before but shall be opening soon so will report back on my first impressions from my own bottle.

I'm quite excited to be honest . . .

@Victor Agreed, the bottle I had about 6 years ago was hideous. I suppose it might have improved in the meantime. Can you think of anything else to blend it with that might make it more drinkable?

@BlueNote, hmmmm, that is quite a challenge to consider something with which to vat McClelland's Islay Single Malt...and get a desirable result. All of the possibilities seem to me to be fraught with dangers. I suppose putting some with a "meh" blended Scotch might be worth trying. Also, if a small quantity of Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength (yes, I know, sorry you don't have that available in BC) would jazz it up, that would be very worthwhile. Vatting it with an overly aggressive and sub-par bottle of Ardbeg Ten or Corryvreckan would be worth trying too. I have a pretty "meh" bottle of Corry open. That might actually work,...maybe.

I think I will try some of these out soon, with small quantities of whisky. .

@Victor given the scarcity of Laphroaig 10 CS in these parts, I would be very hesitant to throw good whisky after bad...

@Victor Have to agree with @Nozinan. Might be a waste of some very good stuff. Perhaps a peaty blend like Black Grouse or Black Bottle would improve it. Otherwise there might be some creative cocktail option that would use it up. If all else fails there is always the drain.

@BlueNote and @Nozinan, I think that a McClelland's Islay vatting would work best either 1) being jazzed up by a more potent Islay whisky, or 2) giving some peat to a "meh" Scotch, probably something blended or some marginally yucky malt like Speyside 10, Speyburn 10, or Glenrothes Select Reserve. Thank God I own no Speyside 10 or Speyburn 10, and have successfully vatted out my remaining Glenrothes Select Reserve.

If I were in Canada I would not use Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength for the job. Here I have 4 1/2 bottles of it on hand, so I don't mind trying something out, especially at relatively small proportions of the Laphroaig. I'll probably try some Ardbeg Ten and Corryvreckan from non-superlative batches first, most likely later this evening. I am starting to look forward to this challenge.

I was thinking I’d vat it with some Grant’s or some Famous Grouse, whichever I happen to buy first. A little peat never hurt anyone. My McClelland’s certainly won’t replace Ardbeg Ten in my pantheon of favourites, but I truly don’t mind it. Despite all my frothing ire at things like NAS and stupid marketing, I’m actually easy to please when it comes to taste. Or I’m just a softie when it comes to my wife.

I’m having some more McClelland’s Islay right now. On ice. In a Jameson lowball/rocks type of tumbler. It’s actually better on ice. Less sweetness and the smoke is more pronounced. I found Islay Mist 8, my go-to inexpensive smoke fix, was similar in that it was/is better on the rocks.

@OdysseusUnbound You've got a good attitude, mate. Let's see what @Victor comes up with. If I had some I would think about dumping my Glen Grant Major's Reserve into it. That was a seriously ill advised purchase.

Trying some 5:1 McClelland's Islay to Ardbeg 10 16/11/2015 now. At this ratio the Ardbeg takes over and improves the nose, but the palate is still wooky and jumbled. At 5:2 ratio, the nose continues to improve, and, with some time in the glass, the Ardbeg starts to take over the palate also. Is this better than the Ardbeg Ten alone? No, but it does constitute an improved way of drinking the McClelland's. What stands out in this experiment is that the Ardbeg peat is bitter and acrid compared to a relatively sweet peat from the Bowmore. The bitter flavours win out when they are combined. Where does Bowmore get these flavours which taste like no one else's and which most people don't much like? Now, at 5:3 Bowmore to Ardbeg ratio, the mix tastes mostly like a dumbed-down Ardbeg. The nose is pleasant, but muted; the palate OK, but neutered a bit by the Bowmore. I think that I am ready to terminate the experiment of vatting Ardbeg Ten with McClelland's Islay. I'd rather drink each one separately. I may try some more experiments with the Bowmore in future.

Auchentosan 12, then Lot 40 CS, then Abelour Abundah. Have a lot of YouTube videos qued up so the Abelour probably won't be my last.

@OdysseusUnbound @Victor I am wondering if you should try to mix McClelland peated with Jameson Caskmates? The hops flavor may works with the peat of Bowmore and sometime it is easier to mix sweetness with sweetness than with something bitter or acrid.

@Nosebleed and I cracked his X-mas gift of Amrut Intermediate Sherry Batch 20. @paddockjudge, your bottle is the same batch and I think you'll be very, very happy with it.

@Robert99

or add Everclear in approximately 1:1 ratio and use it as perfumed hand dsanitizer...

@Nozinan Probably the most sensible idea yet.

@Robert99, I like your idea, but I don't have any Jameson Caskmates.

I did develop McClelland's Islay Single Malt fatique last night. It may be a good while before I am up for drinking any more of it.

Last night, my mother-in-law and I had a couple of drams while playing cards with our spouses.

Started off with Laphroaig 18 year (1998) Single Sherry Butt cask hand-filled at the distillery in April 2016. At the time, my mother-in-law and I took the tour together while my wife waited in the distillery with our young son. At the end of the tour, my mother-in-law filled her bottle from an ex-Makers Mark bourbon barrel and I chose the Sherry cask. Her bottle is long finished and mine only has a tiny bit left, but great memories of a wonderful 2 week trip around Scotland remain.

Finished with Tobermory 10 year (July 2005) heavily peated from Single Cask Nation, Cask #10, 235 bottles. My mother-in-law and I each own a bottle of this one. She keeps her bottle at my place for when she visits. I charged her rent / storage fees last night by drinking from her bottle instead of mine. Not to mention that her bottle has more left in it than mine does. :-)

Having a Te Bhaeg after driving across the South West and back in one day.

I have the rare pleasure of my own company (take that as you will!) this evening as my partner is staying with family with the little one - I have to be on the tee at 9 am. Priorities, folks . . .

I will shortly get the fire on and say hello again to the Benromach 15.

Last in - First out.

I'm still on Calgary time so despite it being almost 11 pm here I poured myself a small dram from a freshly opened bottle of Ardbeg Uigeadail, batch L5939704082014 14008246 17:51.

It's the last bottle I picked up in Calgary. I successfully brought over 9 bottles and one mini and that deserves some sort of a celebration. Also, this brings me on "par" in terms of my year over year inventory. And it's REALLY, REALLY GOOD!. And I got it for 48% of the cost I would have paid in Ontario!

@Nozinan, nice haul, is the G&M exclusive cask one from Kensington wine market?

My girlfriend and I went over to a friend's house for dinner, had a dram of Lagavulin 8 as the night was winding down. It seems I got more pears and sweetness on the nose than I do normally. It's not super complex but it does the job well.

@bwmccoy how nice to have a Mother in Law who appreciates a good whisky and you can share great memories with. You are definitely in the minority there!

Just to regale (annoy) all of you further with my tales of McClelland.

I made a few Rob Roys with my McClelland Islay last night and damned if it wasn’t a tasty drink. My wife is growing suspicious; she asked why I was making mixed drinks with scotch as she claimed I never do that...which is untrue. I’ve made Rob Roys with Grant’s, Teacher’s Auchentoshan 12, Glenfiddich 12, Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve and probably others I’m forgetting. I love a good cocktail!

@cricklewood That G&M exclusive, the Mortlach, was from Co-op liquor. My brother in law had bought me a bottle in 2014. I'm kind-of curious about Mortlach because it's the one open bottle I saw in the home of the gentleman who sparked my interest in and started my collection of whisky. Of course his was a Rare Malts 21 YO at 65%, and he gifted me a bottle but I wasn't going to open that as my first taste of Mortlach.

I initially scored it 77, but have returned to it many times, enjoying it more each time. I think my appreciation has grown a lot since that review. Because it was still close to its original price on the shelf (after 4 years!) it was a fortunate re-purchase indeed. My BIL picked it up in the last 1-2 months. There may be 1-2 left in a few stores.

The other G&M, the Caol Ila was also bought at Coop. I have found that I really like CS Caol Ila. I hope this doesn't turn into a problem like my A'Bunadh fetish of 2011-2015.

@OdysseusUnbound I have cocktail recipe you might enjoy, it was created by Lauren Mote for that Diageo world class competition. It's become a brunch staple with some friends.

Yes a recipe using Talisker 10! It is delicious using that but any well peated whisky will do the job. The ginger syrup isn't that hard to find (look for the one by the ginger people) it's easy to make your own. I also the prefer using lime juice.

@cricklewood do you think it would work with Talisker 57 North?

@Nozinan trolling?

Auchentoshan Three Wood. Sulphur present? Yes, for sure. Today I am managing to enjoy it anyway.

Jura Superstition - My first taste of Jura and I had heard this was one of the better and affordable OBs.

First impressions on smell are quite good - pleasantly peaty, coastal and nutty with some sherry influence. Reminds me of Poit Dhubh 12, which I'd wager contains this and Talisker.

Taste is sweet fruits but I'm not getting much else bar the peat. A little dry and overly tannic on the finish (old casks?) but it's a decent length. A touch nippy as well but this has just been opened. Not bad at all though.