So, what are you drinking now?

Had a pre-dinner dram of Scapa Skiren, and then capped off last night with a Lag 16. Good way to end the work week.

@paddockjudge I still need to warm it up for it to open up. I don't think it's had enough air to really change from when I opened it last week and had 2 drams from it. But hopefully some more time and it blossoms.

Getting ready to go on vacation so I cleared 2 people off my waitlist today, and now facing an hour or so of charting (yes, @bluenote, actually admin work). Probably 2 with distractions.

So I poured a small measure of Stagg Jr. (batch 8 64.75%) in a bourbon glass (the ones that were recalled). I think this may very well be my favourite batch of the three I've tried.

@Nozinan considering what I thought you did for a job, I didn't think that clearing people off your wait list was a good thing. I'm thinking I must be mistaken about your specific field of work. Anyway, enjoy your vacation.

@Hewie Well, as you surmise, people are dying to see me, but they'd be dying at the same rate whether I see them or not, and this way if they have problems while I'm gone someone is available 24/7 because I've completed the first visit.

Plus, this vacation is getting more expensive by the minute. I was hoping that because it's Quebec my wife would have trouble finding the pricy hotels with French websites, but unfortunately more people speak English than I had hoped...

Patients seen on weekends are not covered under our practice plan... So one night of an all-inclusive hotel in the Eastern Townships (who'd have thought they had those there) courtesy of the Ontario Taxpayer!

After a dinner of grilled honey-glazed pork chops and vegetables, a freshly opened bottle of Lagavulin 12yo CS (2017). Wow. This one really sneaks up on you - more subtle than in previous years, methinks, and no less spectacular.

@talexander Sadly, I did not receive an unwanted bottle of Glenfiddich 18 last X-mas that I could trade in for a Lag 12 CS. I've heard the 2017 is good.

FOMO - realized!

I look forward to your review...

@Nozinan I'll write one at some point, but not tonight - too much food and cigars.

@Nozinan I believe you. Thousands wouldn't, but I do. Is that A'bunadministrative work?

On vacation with my wife's family, last night my brother-in-law and I had the following;

Dry Fly Triticale Straight Whiskey Port Barrel Finish Aged 4 years - 45% ABV - Bottle #70 of 250

Auchentoshan 16 year (October 2000) SMWS 5.58, First Fill Charred Ex-Red Wine Hogshead, 55.7% ABV, 227 bottles

Ardbeg 10 year (L67765 6/20/17 17006181 16:27)

Caol Ila 11 year (July 2006) SMWS 53.252 "Smoky incarnations", refill ex-bourbon hogshead, 57.8% ABV, 317 bottles

Tonight, we had;

Glentauchers 9 year (December 2007) SMWS 63.42 "Fresh orange sherbet", refill ex-bourbon barrel, 59.7% ABV, 199 bottles

Glenallachie 8 year (August 2008) SMWS 107.10 "A fortress of darkness", refill ex-sherry butt, 65.4% ABV, 612 bottles

Ardbeg 9 year (May 2007) SMWS 33.135 "peat-reek and barbeque char", second-fill Oloroso sherry butt, 60.2% ABV, 606 bottles

My first pour from Four Roses Single Barrel, the standard 50% version. I have never had this before and I have to say it's quite nice, very floral, fruity and chewy, the rye is very persistent on the nose. I am quite pleased with this so far, the weather is still muggy AF and I find this style of whisky quite appropriate for it.

I had a lovely and generous dram of Lagavulin 8, courtesy of @Nozinan . So how to follow it up? I’m seeing how Uigeadail feels after the Lagavulin.

Had one of those days at work that left me scratching my head, and as soon as I got home, I poured myself some 291 Distillery Colorado Rye Whiskey. This was a rye @Victor had recommended and it's available only in California and Colorado at this time. I've had it open for a week now, and it's a wonderful whiskey - gets better every time as I'm discovering new notes/flavors each time and it's got a lot of character and complexity for having been aged for one year. When I was a kid, my mother used to make us sandwiches that consisted of her spreading a little fine sugar, a bit of fresh cinnamon over fresh butter on top of a slice of fresh baked bread. This whiskey reminds me of that - sugar, spice, toasty/bready, and a certain creaminess. It sounds simple, but the finish is complex and kinda like good tobacco.

After a generous pour of Four Roses Single barrel, I was inspired by @OdysseusUnbound review of Lagavulin 8 and had one of the final drams remaining in my bottle. A nice contrast after the bourbon, I feel like the sweetness was more pronounced (toffee and marshmallows) along with toasted almonds and seaweed and that zingy phenolic snap at the end. A good companion for my current mood.

We attended a Bowmore tasting at The Caledonian in Toronto, hosted by Beam Suntory Scotch Brand Ambassador Matt Jones. Enjoyed the 15yo, 18yo, Vault No. 1 and Devil's Cask III. The Devil's Cask III was the last bottle or so that The Caledonian had on hand, as it is long ago gone from the marketplace (I have a bottle stashed away somewhere....) Being Pam's favourite distillery, we had to grab a bottle of 12yo (on sale in Ontario!) on the way home, where I had both a dram and made it into a tasty Rusty Nail.

@archivist, that's a nice preview of that 291 Rye whisky, there is a vivacity in the rye profile that shows up even at a young age statement, it's very enticing and I am a sucker for tobacco flavors in a whisky.

I like your description of the snack your mother used to make, those are good memories, it reminds me a little of something my father would do. He would spread butter on hot bread and then while it was still warm sprinkle a bit of Quick (we more often had a french brand called Poulin) or Ovaltine, it would blend with the creamy butter into a slight chocolaty, malty mess.

I meant to ask you if you enjoyed the Scapa Skiren you mentionned having the other night?

@cricklewood Based on some of the reviews/comments you've written, I think the 291 Rye is right up your alley. I hope the Distillery is able to get wider distribution beyond these two states as this rye is the real deal. It's a treat, and I hope you have an opportunity to try it. As for the Scapa Skiren, it's no 16-year old Orcadian. I very much miss that bottle. But the Skiren is fine if one is in the mood for something light and mellow - perfect for a hot summer day - I laugh as I type this, but the Skiren is "yacht rock" in a bottle.

@OdysseusUnbound - How did it fare?

@RianC The Oogie actually felt mild after Lag 8, despite having a higher ABV. That fruitiness really shines though. The Oogie’s almost gone. I’ll miss it when it is.

@OdysseusUnbound Its replacement is actively being sought out.

@talexander

I happened upon a returned bottle of DC III in 2016 - Bottle looked pristine. We'll have to open it sometime when you and Pam are available.

Orange Julep - Drink of Champions.

There is a big orange on Decarie expressway in Montreal. it is the best. Not at all like its cheap imitation Orange Julius.

I get a creamy slightly fruity nose.

Sweet on the arrival, orange creamsickle with a huge concentrated orange finish. Awesome!

Laphroaig Triple Wood: it's been a a while since I have had it. The sherry (imho) is present more in the secondary spices than in direct fruity flavor that sherry casks brings (though some of that fruit is there) . In comparison, Loch Gorm, aged entirely in sherry casks, is like a sherry bomb, but with the peat kind of fighting for attention. It tastes like an interesting experiment. I enjoyed the Loch Gorm, but I'd take the Uigeadail, Lag DE, or Triple Wood over it it in a heartbeat. (Machir Bay, incidentally, is another one that has a very subtle sherry influence, and I think it's the best one I have tasted from Kilchoman.)

I'm a big fan of peat and sweet when it's done right, but apparently that's not such an easy trick. In any case, I am surprised to be returning to the Triple Wood and liking it so much. Now, to get my hands on another bottle of the Port-finished Laphroaig Cairdeas... Any other recommendations for peat and sweet that I may have never tried?

When I did the Bruichladdich warehouse tasting, I was driving. So I put, after a sip of each pour, all of my 30 cc drams in sample bottles. Tonight, I am having an unpeated Bruichladdich of 1992 at cask strenght. Half of what I have written on the bottle has disappeared, so I am not sure if they used bourbon cask or virgin cask but I think it’s virgin cask. It’s a beauty! Peach glazed with a buttery vanilla syrup. Apple, light caramel and very soft wood spices. Unfortunately, they don’t bottled that one.

@Nozinan, you stopped at the Julep, man there's nothing quite like it

@Jonathan, in no particular order

*Talisker DE

*Highland Park Valkyrie

*Port Charlotte 10 (it's now a regular expression) has wine/sherry in the vatting although it's not dominant

*Ardbeg An Oa (which I haven't tried) is supposed to have PX influence.

*Bowmore Devil's cask III or Laimrig (If you can find 'em) both rich sherry effect

*Kilchoman Sanaig, the sherry influence is in between Machir Bay & Loch Gorm and I prefer it to certain editions of Loch Gorm.

If you aren't averse to blend, there is a sherry cask Rock Oyster, I haven't tried it but the 3 other variants of R.O. I have tried have been high quality.

My palate is spot on tonight, what a great way to start a week's vacation!

In the heel of a Glenlivet Nadurra CS 8/14 (thank's @Nozinan) I found a delightful fruit cocktail at 55% abv. Next was Macallan 12 YO (thank you @Victor) with perfect pitch. How do I know it was perfect? I followed it with a wee pour of Macallan Cask Strength (thank you @Robert) and enjoyed the 12 as much or more than the CS....okay, almost as much or more than. To cap off this flight of top-flyte malts was Laphroaig Lore (thank you @Nock). A magnificent malt created by the master distiller, John Campbell. Near perfect in balance with light fruits, tropical fruits, dark fruit sweetness, just the right amount of oak spice, an excellent mouth feel, peat and smoke in harmony. I'll need to get a couple more of this one.

A warm welcome back for my palate that was lost for past three weeks.

@paddockjudge Sounds like a nice evening. Sláinte mhaith!

As for me, I've opened a bottle of Four Roses Small Batch that I've had squirreled away for well over two years. I'm not sure what took me so long to open it, the Single Barrel is consistently excellent and probably my all-time favourite bourbon, as I've yet to come across a bottle I haven't enjoyed tremendously.

At any rate, this bottle of Small Batch is so far living up to the expectations I have of Four Roses, even if it's not quite reaching the highs I've experiences with Single Barrel. But that's hard to do, and this current pour is still very much oh-so-tasty.

My entertainment for this evening is The Curse of Monkey Island. The third entry in one of my favourite point-and-click PC adventure game series. I bought it in 1998, and just started playing for the first time the other evening. I guess that's the theme for tonight, enjoying things I've had around for quite a while, but for whatever reason haven't gotten around to.

I am drinking Lot No. 40 Rye for the second time ever. It was quite good the first time last week, it's more complex than I was expecting and has a nice, drawn out finish. Today, it's even better - the mix of buttery toffee with black pepper of the whiskey goes very well with this shortbread cookie that I had to have.

@Nelom, My son joined in for a Macallan 12 YO sherry oak, his favourite whisky. It was a great start to the weekend. Cheers!