So, what are you drinking now?

Thanks to @jordytropp and his lovely wife for inviting me and several friends over for a whisky tasting tonight.

Michter's Single Barrel 10 year Kentucky Straight Bourbon, barrel # 18G998

21 year Glenlossie single cask # 134 (distilled 1992, bottled 2013) from The Classic Cask

27 year Glen Garioch single cask #149 (distilled 1989, bottled 2017) from The Classic Cask

Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Select (47% ABV)

15 year Springbank Jamaican Rum Barrel finish 51.2% ABV

16 year Auchentoshan (SMWS 5.60) "Sweet surrender" finished in a 1st fill ex-Oloroso hogshead after being matured previously in an ex-bourbon hogshead. 56.5% ABV

13 year Springbank sherry cask from A.D. Rattray 57.3% ABV

10 year Dailuaine (SMWS 41.106) "MasterChef final" from a refill ex-bourbon barrel.

Linkwood 15 year from Gordon & Macphail

24 year Springbank from The Maltman, a Whisky Foundation exclusive from a sherry cask.

Benromach 15 year

Chieftans bottling of 17 year Ardbeg, Barolo wine finish. 55.5% ABV

Bruichladdich Port Charlotte MRC01, 59.2% ABV

3 year Copper Works Single cask American single malt whiskey fully matured in new French oak. Single cask #97, Release # 016.. Bottle # 56 of 200.

Another great night of wonderful whisky and even better friends.

@bwmccoy - A fine looking list there! How did you find the Benromach 15?

Received these little beauties from @Wierdo today. Many thanks, my friend, and I look forward to trying them and will feedback soon

@RianC nice bottles. Where did you find them @Wierdo ?

@Nozinan They're from a manufacturer called Nutleys who are British (I think) and make various jars and bottles for homemade jam and the like.

I got them from Amazon about a year ago they were about £12 for a pack of 24 but the price seems to have gone up a fair bit and they're nearly double that now.

@Wierdo Here I can get 50 for $236 - but the shipping is "free"

And they are a different shape...

Tried the Linkwood 11 and Balblair '00 from the image above last night. The former was quite unusual, very sweet and almond/marzipan like but very enjoyable and 'zingy'. The Balblair was quite restrained; fruity, creamy and soft but more complexity than the Linkwood. A contemplative whisky.

The holidays officially end for me tomorrow so I'm easing the (relative) pain with a small sample of the Ledaig 13. First impressions are creosote, hazelnut and almond and a definite brandy note on the taste. More raisins, smoke and some leather with water. Big gingery finish. This may be my favourite so far but, then again, I do like a bit of Ledaig!

@RianC is that the Cadenhead’s Linkwood @bluenote was excited about?

@Nozinan I'm not sure, sorry. The bottle says Master of Malt but @Wierdo did put Cadenheads in brackets with a ? so possibly . . .

@RianC You're drinking ambiguous liquid bottled by someone named "@Wierdo"?

Reminds me of the time 2014 when @paddockjudge agreed to set up a meeting and trade with some guy whose handle was the brand name of the psych drug methotrimeprazine... scary

@Nozinan

The nickname weirdo I've had since childlhood and it comes from my surname. You know how kids are your mate Smith becomes Smithy etc.

@RianC regards the Linkwood I'm 99.99% sure it's the same Linkwood @BlueNote was talking about. Mine is from Master Of Malt not Cadenhead buts it's the same age year of bottling as the Cadenhead one and crucially the same abv which considering it's cask strength and something random like 58.6% I figured was too much of a coincidence for it not to be the same whisky.

I would guess that MoM asked Cadenhead to bottle some of it for them. Or maybe they bought the cask between them and split it?

@Nozinan @RianC I just looked at the Cadenhead and it is 58.7%, but it must be the same batch. My current favourite IB is Old Malt Cask 11 year old Mortlach bottled at a nice round 50%. I'm also nicely into a Cadenhead 12 year old Dailuaine at 55.9%. Actually, I'm not into anything alcoholic these days as it is Drynuary for herself and me. We were joking yesterday at around 5:00 pm that it was the "unhappy hour".... time to have a dram of green tea.

@BlueNote - Would be too much of a coincidence to not be you'd think?!

Good luck with the dry Jan. Think how good it will taste on Feb 1st

@BlueNote the MoM Linkwood is 58.7% too. I didn't have the bottle at hand at the time of posting and was trying to do it from memory.

It said it was matured in a single bourbon hogshead. Distilled 13th July 2006 bottled 22nd March 2018.

Which I think when I checked is the same description as the Cadenhead.

One thing I don't like about this IB from MoM is the bottle is too flipping high. I can't fit it in my normal cupboard! It's no big thing really, but it bugs me.

@BlueNote Ironic...

I am planning to use January to try to slowly wean myself from caffeine... no green tea for me.

@Wierdo Yep, same description. The Cadenhead comes in a nice, squat, narrow bottle, very convenient for stowage.

@Nozinan Very commendable. That coffee is very dangerous and addictive stuff, especially a double shot Americano with lots of cream and sugar.

I was looking for something sweet and found a glass bottle of coke in the back of the fridge. What the heck, I've been telling people about a new Rye from Wiser's, Wendal Clark 11 YO Rye. This pot still rye is aged in ex-bourbon barrels for 11 years, it does not have the vanilla notes and sweetness of new-oak-aged Lot No 40 cask strength, but it does bring a huge wave of warm rye goodness, baking spices, and clean oak. I had a hunch about this one being a great mixer, and it is. It pairs beautifully with the vanilla and sweetness of Coca-Cola. I'm not a mixed drink kind of guy; however, I may revisit this one, sooner rather than later.

1.25 oz Wendal Clark 11 YO Rye

3 oz Coca-Cola from a glass bottle

NO ICE

Cheers!

Last night had a bit of Dry Fly Straight Triticale. Tonight, I mixed some Dr. Pepper with George Dickel...tad too sweet, but I'm going to drink it anyway!

Last 4 days I've been busy, tired or on-call. Tonight I'm tired, but I took a nap so I have a couple of hours before I'll sleep. I wanted something good, something that I didn't have to think too much about while I read or watch a show, and I wanted something that would help me finish some bottles. Cutty Sark Prohibition fits the bill tonight. Having been decanted and gassed, it is keeping up its quality though open about 4 years.

My last experience with an Old Pulteney 12 from 5 years ago was not pleasant. A salty old sailor's dry rotted wooden peg leg. Once bitten twice shy. I needed the space in my stash cabinet so, this got opened. My SO mocked me right up to opening with the deja vu memories of the OP12 rearing in my mind. The disappoint was a relief. This OP 17 shines in comparison to the salty bitter soul of it's younger brother. More mellow, layed back, more mature, and very approachable.

Had Indian food tonight with my girlfriend and one of her co-workers. I needed a whisky that would hold up after all the spice, had a small dram of Stagg Jr. & Lot 40 CS 2018.

@cricklewood mixed together?

@Nozinan no but that's one heck of an idea.

Had to work late, then spent two hours in traffic getting home. Poured myself a 291 Distillery Colorado Rye, and am calling it a night...

@fiddich1980. The pulteney 17 is quite nice, the sherry + maritime elements work well together

@cricklewood I did not catch a lot of the maritime elements. General notes: vanilla, cream, salted butter, honey, white pepper, floral flowers, oolong tea/ Typhoon tea, mandarin peel/ orange zest, fresh coriander/parsley, soap, and sharp astringent fermented/cooked barley sweetness. The only maritime elements that stood out for me were the salt/brine and a slight whiff of smoke. This was a 2014 bottling.

Talisker 10, my second favourite of Diageo’s “Classic Malts”....

@fiddich1980, that's a good summary of the OP17. The salt tang is mostly what I meant, I get it on some of the unpeated Arran or Bruichladdich too.

@fiddich1980 - I popped one of those (OP17) over xmas and have to say that my first impression was OK but once it had been open a day or two it got much better and keeps improving with every pour. It's quite salty but it meshes so well next to the sweeter notes. I get some Parma Violet sweets - something I usually only find in bourbon or occasionally in single bourbon cask malts.

It's one I feel I need to lock away once I've had a pour :)