So, what are you drinking now?

@OdysseusUnbound Was this the generic Bulleit, the Rye or the 10 Year Old?

@DaveM The generic Bulleit. It’s only “ok” for me on a good day. And considering the cork broke when the bartender opened the (half full) bottle, it’s possible that this bottle may not get opened too often...

@OdysseusUnbound My nephew is big on Bulleit but I have yet to taste it. I bought a bottle of the 10 Year Old earlier this week but have yet to open it.

@OdysseusUnbound, "generic" is a good way to refer to the current standard Bulleit Bourbon, because no one seems to know for sure who has been distilling it over the last several years. If you go back several years, maybe 4 or 5, there was no question: Bulleit Bourbon was made at Four Roses. We are currently (within a couple of years) near the end period of a transition from the contract distillate (Four Roses and maybe others) and fully matured Diageo-owned Kentucky-located Bulleit distillery bourbon. In the minds of some, including me, recent Bulleit bourbon could have been produced at some 'mystery distillery'. So what does all of this matter? Well, if you bought standard Bulleit bourbon within the last 3 years or so, you don't really know whether it reflects the same product as that from earlier times, say, 8 years ago. I loved that 8 years ago stuff, by the way. I've had some Bulleit myself at bars more recently which tasted rather different from what I was used to, and what I liked. Different distillery origin? Good chance, but I don't really know. Going forward all of these observations about current stuff called "Bulleit bourbon" will become inapplicable to the product which will come from their own new distillery relatively soon. My point? Trying to define the flavours and quality of the current Bulleit Bourbon is applicable to only a very small time period of production, and is inapplicable to the vast majority of both past and future experiences of the whiskey being sold as Bulleit Bourbon. For at least 10 years previously and probably for the next 50 years to follow, the experience of Bulleit Bourbon is likely much different from what you are drinking now. The current Bulleit bourbon appears to be merely a place-holder release until the new distillery distillate is mature and ready for sale. Will that new stuff be any good? We won't know until we try it.

@Victor “Generic” would be a very kind way to describe the Bulleit I tasted last night. All I could taste were spirity vodka notes, and maybe a bit of sawdust.

Tonight I’m sipping some Dissertation while making dinner.

Switched it up for the second dram to a pour of A’Bunadh Batch 53. I like this stuff more each time I drink it. I have an unopened Batch 58 in the bunker, but I may have to pick up a bottle of Batch 59 or 60 (whichever happens to be at my local LCBO) soon.

Had a few Hefeweizens from HiWire Brewery while I watched my Crimson Tide roll over the Aggies. Now need to choose a whisky to enjoy the rest of today's games with.

Comparing two Westland Distillery (Seattle, WA) whiskies head to head.

First is a distillery bottling, Cask # 3824. After 4.5 years in new American oak, this was finished for 3 months in a 1st-fill ex-rum cask. This is well done because the rum does not over-power and the original Westland 5-malt grain bill flavor profile is still present. The rum adds a slight sweetness in the finish. Notes of Chocolate orange, medium roast coffee, coconut ice cream and bergamot (earl grey tea). The only negative is a slight harshness at first, but this is a newly opened bottle, so that may decrease with air. Adding a little water also helped.

Next up is a SMWS single cask Westland (SMWS 133.1) “Speakeasy sneaky peeky”. A 5 year old (Distilled Oct. 3rd, 2011) from a virgin oak barrel, heavy char. Fruity and woody. Tea-cake sweetness and spice; coconut, nutmeg, clove. With water, floral perfume, coffee & walnut ice-cream and a sweet anise finish. Even though this is also a newly opened bottle, I did not detect the same harshness as in the previous one. I did add water to this one as well, but while it was fine with water, it doesn’t need it.

If you’re curious, the Westland 5-grain Malt Bill is made up of the following; Washington State Pale Malt, Munich Malt, Extra Special Malt, Pale Chocolate Malt and Brown Malt. As a yeast strain, they use Belgian Brewer’s Yeast. Their fermentation time is 144 hours.

@OdysseusUnbound If you find a 60 pick one up for me....I want to open it when i turn 60.

After a meatless Sunday dinner (requested by my wife and oldest son), I’m having a big pour of Laphroaig Triple Wood to make up for the meatiness my dinner lacked...

@OdysseusUnbound - We've been cutting back on the meat as well . . . to be fair, I feel quite good for it but do get the occasional urge to gorge on a big chunk of flesh the Corryvrekan is also a good substitute!

Mondays . . . got up feeling oddly fresh and ready for the week (a dry day yesterday may have helped!?) and just off to work and the car wont start! Needs a new battery so lose a days pay, + the cost of a new one, and can't get up to the golf club either to soften the blow.

Is 8.45 am on a Monday too early?

@RianC its a full moon. i woke up an hour early and am focused. and the dogs are acting extra weird.

Well, unlike @OdysseusUnbound, I made a big pot of chili last night that was almost nothing but meat. And into my bowl (not the whole family's pot), I dashed in some Laphroaig 10. Smoky, peaty chili? Hell yeah!!

@MadSingleMalt But did you roast the peppers yourself à la Kevin Malone?

@OdysseusUnbound, I had to Google that name. They fat bald guy from The Office? He roasts his own peppers for chili?

With or without Laphroaig?

@MadSingleMalt I thought you were a fan of The Office . Kevin is one of the funniest characters on the show. In one episode, he talks about his famous Chili. No mention of Laphroaig though...

@OdysseusUnbound, I watched enough episodes with an ex years ago to recognize that guy once I Googled him, but off-the-cuff chili jokes are a little above my paygrade. My favorite was always the older weasely guy.

@MadSingleMalt Creed Bratton? He’s hilarious!

@OdysseusUnbound

(Google, Google...) Yeah, that's the guy! You sure know your old weasels.

I wanted to say ECBP Hazmat 70.1%. I'm on a conference call with the Ontario Medical Association. It calls for something strong to make it bearable.

But..

It's a webcast and people can see me...so it might have to wait until after...

@Nozinan so you're drinking it out of a tea cup instead of the glencairn then? I'm sure someone on here said they take their whisky to ball games in a takeaway coffee cup.

@Hewie I had it in a bourbon glass. Don't worry, I had an even more distasteful task to complete afterward and the ECBP helped a lot.

Some Benriach 10 and will follow with a Balvenie 12 SB on what has been a very clement day here in SW England; felt I wanted something fruity, light and refreshing.

@Hewie, I have admitted to bringing bourbon to a ball game in a stainless steel travel mug...when it heats up in the sunlight the whiskey becomes magical. I've also drunk Macallan 18 from plastic-lined take-away cardboard cups in a school cafeteria while attending a Christmas celebration put on by the local volleyball club...and was joined by the chief officer of the local constabulary as well as the school principal, she'd never had Macallan before, but she had more than one before that event was concluded.

@paddockjudge but if the internet is correct, isn’t THE Macallan only supposed to be quaffed from a diamond-cut Glencairn whilst listening to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in your summer home’s main study?

@OdysseusUnbound, of course, we all know the internet is always correct

It finally happened. I’m at a conference in Mississauga, and my sister, her co-worker and I go out for dinner to The Keg (it’s just across the street), and it happens....We order drinks and I have....a disappointing Lagavulin 16. It was ok, I guess, but it didn’t inspire the wonderful “kid-on-Christmas-morning” feeling that Lag 16 usually does. It felt sort of “flat”. Again, not bad, but something I’d rate 83-84/100. I’m hoping it was a bottle that had been open too long and not indicative of a change in my palate. We went back to the hotel bar for a nightcap, and luckily the Talisker 10 was excellent. I’d even venture to say that I was drinking from a very good bottle.

@OdysseusUnbound, I doubt that an open bottle of Lagavulin 16 would deteriorate significantly. I have a longtime opened bottle and it still pours a satisfying dram.The bottle from which you drank may have been from an inferior batch OR it may have been compromised by the bar lights.