So, what are you drinking now?

Yesterday, I got confirmation from my Doctor that I did in fact fracture my foot, so last night, I "celebrated" this wonderful news by killing off the final dram in my bottle of Glen Elgin 12 year. What a spectacular whisky. I'm really going to miss this one, especially since I can't buy it anywhere near me. I picked this bottle up 4 years ago on a trip with my wife to Vancouver BC. I'm thinking we may need to make it back up there soon and restock!

@bwmccoy Maybe you and @Bluenote can set up a 2-way whisky pipeline... Nadurra and Macallan 12 north, Glen Elgin and Wiser's South

@Nozinan - Sounds like a great plan to me!

@bwmccoy @Nozinan I remember the Glen Elgin from some years back. The bad news is it hasn't been seen here since. @Nozinan You need to CHART a course to wherever @ajjarrett gets his Nadurra.

@BlueNote Sadly, the Totalwine store in Bellevue, east of Seattle, is sold out of the 16yo Nadurra. Cry cry cry! I am glad I got the bottles when I did.

@ajjarrett - You're in the Seattle area? If so, sorry that I didn't realize that sooner. Let me know if you would like to meet for a dram sometime.

@BlueNote - Sorry to hear that Glen Elgin is no longer available in BC. Not that it will prevent me from making a trip up North, but glad to know in advance. Otherwise, I would have been extremely disappointed to find out after I got there. Thanks again!

@bwmccoy Actually, I am in Denver, CO. I just have a friend who goes to Seattle often, and has picked up the bottles of 16yo Nadurra for me. I was in Seattle last year for a visit and then a drive back. Thanks for offering to meet up. If I am out in Seattle again, I will certainly tell you.

@ajjarrett - Please do. It would be great to meet you.

Last night, Bladnoch 23 year (July 10th 1990) SMWS 50.56 ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!’ from a refill ex-bourbon barrel. Starts out with a cereal, grain undertone followed by a liquid candy finish. Such an exquisite whisky. Huge flavors for a lowland and a great color for being from an ex-bourbon cask. Looks like it could be from a sherry cask.

It's nice to see the discussions and what folks are up to creatively, great photos and sketches, this board has such a great pool of talent and interesting stories.

Haven't been on much lately, I've forced myself to go to the gym and cook more often, rather than just eating a quick improvised salad, a can of sardines (I never tire of them) and good bread.

I dropped by the SAQ after work to pick up one of the last bottles of Stagg Jr. (batch 10), my ladyfriend was on duty and was treated to a few pours.

-Jura Tastival 2017... Really not much to talk about, heavy on wine casks and just jumbled.

• Collectivum XXVIII Blended malt, said to be a vatting of all 28 of the Diageo malts. Actually quite good, honey, wax, some earthy sherry. Felt heavier on the Clynelish and Talisker, was a bit hot on the palate. If this was priced like a good Compass box blend in might bite but at 280$...

-Benriach Bernie Moss, fun, heavy young feisty peat but not coastal, more like forest floor and ash, a bit like mezcal. It was not the most complex thing but I'm glad I got to try this discontinued release.

-Kilkerran 12, lemons, funky engine grease, damp cellar and toffee. Good stuff but needs time to reveal it's charms.

-Cognac Leopold Gourmel première saveurs VSOP. Nice fresh nose, even after the peat, loads of white peach, juicy pear, not too oaky sadly the palate was limp and a bit varnish like.

Now enjoying said Stagg Jr. 63.2% heavier on cherry than the last batch I tried but damn fine, love the tobacco and cedar like tones frome the wood.

I’m at my folks’ place for the first half of this Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. I sipped the following whisk(e)ys with my mom tonight:

• Alberta Premium Dark Horse: this was a huge disappointment for me. I’m normally a big fan of this whisky but this was an exceptionally bad bottle. The nose was just ok, but the rest of it tastes like chewing on the green corn husks and nothing else. Blech. 50-53 points. I only had a small pour, maybe 25 ml max... and I didn’t finish it.

• Jim Beam Black: my mom had a few sample bottles of this kicking around and didn’t know anything about it. I’ve had it and liked it well enough. We each had one and shared a third. Nice, good not great. A little thin-bodied, but with a solid oaky presence. 77-79 points.

• Crown Royal: so about 2 years ago, my paternal grandmother won a handle (1.75 L) of regular ol’ Crown Royal at her weekly bingo game. She doesn’t drink, so she gave it to my father. He’s not much of a whisky drinker either, so this 2 year old CR is still about 7/8 full. I tasted some of this tonight and it was fantastic. I was shocked, and so was my mom. We both tasted it at the same time and looked at each other and said, simultaneously, “oh, that’s nice”. If I had tasted this blind, I would have mistaken it for bourbon. Lots of vanilla, toffee and ripe banana notes. Richer in body than I remember CR being, especially at only 80 Proof. I’m impressed. I know, I know, batch variation and all that, but wow. Good stuff. 83-85 points.

Opened an Ardbeg 10 last night. Maybe it's because I've been sampling the Corry lately but it tasted slightly thinner than I remember and seemed more smoke heavy than medicinal. Still, early days and I look forward to doing some double checking and comparisons with it's more powerful sibling.

@RianC i find that both ardbeg 10 and Laphroaig 10 is.... What it is... Nice, and what you expect. But once exposed to their siblings, such as the uigedail and QC, they feel in my opinion a little lacking. I'm curious to try the Laphroaig CS though, but not at the £200 price tag it commands here.

@RikS - Seems that way - probably best drank in isolation? I'd hate for my intimate love of the Ardbeg 10 to be tainted in anyway

I think you can (or could) get the Laph 10 CS for around £60 (which is probably about right in today's market) but only if you fancy a trip to the distillery to get it - and providing they have it in stock! I'd imagine a few select shops in Scotland might stock it as well but I bet it goes like the proverbial hot cakes.

@RikS, 200 GBP for Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength? Yikes! Makes me want to go out and buy 2 or 3 bottles of it,...for 1/3 of that price. That's nice to hear that our local non-discounted price ($ 69.99 x 1.09 = $ 76.29 = 58.15 GBP) is equal to or lower than, the price at the distillery. And to think that I have been waiting for a sale on Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength before being willing to buy the second most recent batch released. We usually get a sale on the 10 CS when each new batch is released. I still do not own a bottle of Batch # 009, despite Batch # 010 being out as well. We get most Scotch releases late, but that has the advantage of allowing reviews to come in before having to make the decisions to buy.

@Victor - As much as I am genuinely happy for you that can get this at a decent price it does make my teeth itch somewhat that it's so rare and then (usually) so damn expensive on these shores.

Why they aren't producing more of this I don't know?

@RianC @Victor i must say that living in great Britain, ie almost friggin Scotland... It's annoying to constantly wish to be in Spain, Japan, US to get hold of our national product at a reasonable price!

@RianC, @RikS, if I were you I would be making friends with business men, traveling relatives, traveling friends, etc. in order to get your Laphroaig 10 CS from abroad. Our Canadian Connosr friends have made a fine art of establishing contacts and setting up trading routes to their whisky mecca, Calgary, Alberta, in order to keep the flow of products coming 2,000 km to them at much more reasonable prices than they can get at home.

(But Laphroaig 10 CS is one whisky expression which is not sold in Canada, at all.)

@Victor

.... Yes, I think I'd better shave me' legs, put on my shady eyes, and befriend some business men!

With Triple Wood, Quarter Cask, and Select covering the so-called entry level shelf space, it wouldn’t bother me at all to see Laphroaig retire the 10 year old 43% ABV and replace it (even in Canada) with the 10 Year Old Cask Strength version. But that’s just wishful thinking. Or Laphroaig could be really bold and bottle everything at a minimum of 48% abv.

@RikS - "It's annoying to constantly wish to be in Spain, Japan, US to get hold of our national product at a reasonable price! . . .

Be careful, you'll be upsetting a few north of the border with talk like that

But aye, it is annoying to say the least. I guess it's all a bit swings and roundabouts though as one can still fairly easily obtain most Scots whisky and probably have access to more IBs than anywhere else so . . .

As an aside, I see Ralfy was impressed with the new Cotswold's (English) whisky. I may have to get a bottle of that as, far as I'm aware, it's the nearest distillery to me right now and I'm yet to try any English whisky.

@OdysseusUnbound - Fingers crossed but prepared for cramp

Last night, Dry Fly (Spokane, WA) Port Finish Wheat Whiskey.

Edit to the above post - Had to check and I'm actually closer to the Welsh Penderyn distillery than the Cotswolds one. Blimey, I never knew I was practically surrounded by them

@OdysseusUnbound I agree about Dark Horse, which tastes as if they dumped some sherry into the rye. No subtlety. I look forward to looking through your blog.

@Jonathan I’ve had mostly positive experiences with Dark Horse. A few bottles were below average but this one was downright bad....

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.

Caol Ila 11 year (SMWS 53.252) "Smoky incarnations" from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead. Nose; smoke from wet leaves smouldered in the heat of the bonfire with floral spice and earl grey tea. Palate; smoked fudge and orange liqueur with lapsang souchong tea. Smoked paprika balanced the finish with new oak undertones.

Dinner with friends tonight, matched with an Italian Prosecco and an Australian Shiraz. After dinner it was Tobermory 10 and Springbank 10. That Tobermory is a lovely whisky - floral and slightly funky. I wonder why we don't hear much about it - at 46.3% ABV, NCF and natural colour it is another excellent example of a ex-bourbon aged whisky. Recommended.

Last night was Thanksgiving dinner with the whole extended family at my mom’s place up in Sudbury and it was mostly Australian Shiraz for me. But after dinner, my mom, my brother and I sipped some Hornitos Anejo Black Barrel tequila and it was very pleasant. It’s hard to place flavours when you aren’t familiar with the flavours and the vocabulary so I’ll just say it had a touch of sweetness, some minerality, vegetal notes, and some salt and pepper type of action happening.

Last night, finished off my bottle of Longmorn 24 year (May '93) SMWS 7.198 "Sweet summer berries" from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead. Nose; ripe apples, peaches and pears with fresh vanilla beans. A mix of sweet, floral, earthy and spicy aroma. Palate; initially sweet, then finishing with a slightly bitter note of dark chocolate. Such a beautiful whisky.

@Hewie, that Tobermory 10 is a divisive whisky. I had it once at an organized tasting and thought was nice & fresh & zippy. Then I had one a bar sometime later and found it flat & boring & kinda gross.

Reviews across the whisky web are pretty all-over-the-place, but generally negative, I think.

I'm pretty reluctant to ever buy one blind, but I'd sure like to taste it again. Thanks for giving us a reminder here. It seems like Ledaig gets all the attention these days, but let's not forget its funky brother!