So, what are you drinking now?

@MadSingleMalt exactly! Except the Benromach triple is peated, whereas Hazelburn supposedly isn't.

Hazelbenlongrowmach

@cricklewood - Didn't realise the triple distilled Benromach was peated. That reminds me, I've had a bottle of the BR peated for almost three years now. Can't remember the year but it's peated to something like 67ppm

It may have to be the next peater I open.

. . . this cheeky swine's been at my Lagavulin!

@RianC I believe the Triple Ben is made using their standard wash which is lightly peated.

Funny I just finished my girlfriends bottle of Benromach peated 2006-2016 the other night. I liked it more at the end (isn't that often the case) felt like the feeling of powdered sugar/talc became more mineral and the peat more phenolic. Not a bad bottle especially if looking to try something different than Islay style peat but I feel like the regular line is hard to beat.

@RianC yeah his lopsided grin says it all Love the novelty of a snowday - make sure you stay warm and fortified

@Hewie - The whisky is flowing and the fire is roaring

I think he has a slight problem, his teeth are falling out too!

FRIDAY< Feb. 1

My first day off coffee (and if I hadn't accidentally eaten chocolate, all caffeine) for 3 weeks. All January I kept cutting the dose. It's an old trick I learned from a neurologist. Stay off for 3 weeks and it's like you were never on it. Then I can have some occasionally (occasionally ends up being every day and then I start again...).

Luckily there is no caffeine in Scotch because I needed to celebrate. On Monday we had the largest snowfall in about 10 years. On Tuesday the city ploughed more snow on my driveway than ever before. I've been fighting with them to remove the half that was left since then. Finally today, they did the job.

I also have to chart, and it's cold. So tonight what called to me immediately was a 15 cc pour of Caol Ila CS from G7M. @Astroke, I will always be grateful for you getting this into my hands.

Got a promotion at work today, so decided to celebrate by opening a bottle that I’ve had sitting around for almost 5 years.

Miltonduff SMWS 72.31 (29 year - Dec. 15th, 1983) "Something Old, Something New" - Refill Hogshead ex-Bourbon - 48.3% ABV. I was not disappointed. Such a beautiful whisky.

Also had a dram of Tobermory SMWS 42.36 (13 year - Mar. 3rd, 2005) "Lunch at the lighthouse" from a second-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 61.9% ABV. This great whisky tasted even better tonight.

@bwmccoy, how much of your whisky consumption is SMWS bottles?

Based on my very casual reading of your posts, I would estimate... 100%. :)

@bwmccoy well congratulations on the promotion and good on you for cracking open something special. That Tobermory sounds fantastic - I had some of the standard Toby 10 from my bottle tonight and it was very lively and herbaceous. I'd love to try some at cask strength.

@MadSingleMalt - great question. I don’t have a way to accurately measure consumption, but I just checked and 56% of my cabinet is comprised of Society bottles and oddly enough, 56% of my open bottles are also Society bottles. Weird how that worked out. It was not planned. :-)

@Hewie - Thank you! I figured the Miltonduff was most appropriate for the occasion since it was named “Something Old, Something New”. I’ve had a few peated Tobermory’s in the recent past from both the Society as well as Single Cask Nation (all cask strength) and they have all been outstanding. This one only has a hint of smoke, but it very well may be my favorite of the bunch. Unfortunately, only one dram left in the bottle.

If anyone is interested, here are the official Society tasting notes of the two from last night;

Miltonduff - Nose: new car, new leather and a newly varnished wooden floor. With time, deeper and older notes appear; an old dusty leather bound library book in a new shiny cover. Also, tobacco leaves, caramelised apples, brandy butter and waxy lavender candles. Taste; combination of wood, nuts and spices; ginger, cardamom and paprika powder. With water, the nose is oily like hazelnut syrup lacing a coffee as well as almonds, figs and dried cherries. The taste now sweet and juicy like a mango smoothie or an apricot tart. The never ending finish is that of a Peshwari naan bread with mango chutney. 206 total bottles. Cask strength at a relatively low 48.3%, so only added 3 or 4 drops of water. I actually preferred it with water which is not usual for me. Will see how it develops after being opened a while.

Tobermory - Sea air breezed over the salt crusted decking of the lighthouse as we sat down for lunch. Our spread included parma ham with rye bread coated with fennel seeds and dollops of fruit pickle. Sweet things brought rum soaked strawberries, ginger marmalade and vanilla honey while to drink our selection contained apple and blackcurrant juice, kelp stout and fizzy cider. Butter on toasted malt loaf was creamy and chewy on the palate and was joined by salted liquorice with a hint of smoke. A touch of peppermint brought a peppery spice that progressed into herbal seas before a lively finish of homemade lemonade refreshed us. 170 total bottles. 61.9% ABV. Distilled March 3rd, 2005 (two days before my wife and I were married).

@bwmccoy They both sound fantastic - they certainly have some skillful writers for those descriptions. "kelp stout" is new to me I didn't realise the bottling runs were so small but I guess that makes sense. I guess that means that not all bottles will be available to all members?

@Hewie - the Society bottles are single cask so the number of bottles is restricted to the size of each cask minus the amount of evaporation while in the cask.

Yes, the tasting notes are quite interesting at times. :-) The Society uses a panel of 20 or so people who taste each cask before it is bottled. The notes are a collection of their thoughts while tasting.

Tonight, Springbank 10 year 100 Proof.

This is one of my all-time favorite whiskies. Sharp, lively, seaside fresh, and a little lemony. My perfect style. I love this stuff. 90-95 points for me!

It's been discontinued for a few years now, and I owe many thanks to the friend who traded it to me for something that I now happily forget. I open it tonight to mark a milestone anniversary at my job. Actually, that's nothing to celebrate since I hate my job, but I'm working on an exit and I figure it's a handy excuse to open a special bottle. Cheers!

No SMWS tonight. :-)

Yamazaki 12 (thanks to @jordytropp for this one)

Followed by Highland Park 13 year (Dec. 2004) "Stones of Stenness" from Single Cask Nation - 2nd fill ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry hogshead - 57.4% ABV

@bwmccoy That's a mighty big glass....and pour!

@Nozinan - I only drank half of the bottle. :-)

@bwmccoy You are lucky to have that Yamazaki 12. I gave my nephew my bottle thinking I would easily replace it. No such luck. Yamazaki 12 is sold out in Pennsylvania’s antiquated liquor system. It doesn’t appear to be coming back anytime soon!

I won both HQ Trivia AND HQ Words in the same day. That calls for a short pour of Springbank 12 YO CS to celebrate!

@bwmccoy, congrats on the promotion, good choice of whisky to celebrate, as usual society bottles seem delicious.

Amrut Naarangi, 50% ABV, from a newly opened bottle. This one, naarangi = orange in Hindi, has orange peel infused sherry cask maturation. I need to decide whether I want to buy more of this while it is still available. It's a little pricey at $ 137.50 total per bottle.

First impressions: nice enough nose which gets nicer with 20 minutes of air time; dry mostly bitter orange is strong in the mouth.

This is definitely nice. Nice enough to buy more at that price? Not sure yet.

@Victor I know it may be apples and oranges (no pun intended), but if you could only pick one: Naarangi, Intermediate Sherry or Fusion. What would be your picking order?

@RikS hands down Intermediate Sherry first-- there's a reason why it is # 5 top-rated Connosr whisky, and the ONLY top 5 rated Connosr whisky which you can easily buy for under $ 200. I've had I-S from two batches, both of which were excellent.

Naarangi is still for me from a brand new bottle. It may show a lot of development in coming weeks, so I cannot rule out that it may become almost as desirable as Intermediate Sherry. As of my first impression, it is not equal to me to Intermediate Sherry.

Fusion I've had from at least 3, no, maybe 4 batches, and they gave me different experiences. I've had 95 pt Fusion, 90 pt Fusion, 86 pt Fusion, and also that "off" bottle of @dbk's, which tasted wildly of a brush fire and would have rated maybe 70. Usually Fusion has been great, but "your experience may vary." I have never bought a bottle of Amrut Fusion. Will I? Maybe. It is usually quite good, and more interesting than Amrut's standard unpeated and peated lower ABV offerings. .

You didn't ask about Amrut Portonova. I like that one too, but I still prefer Amrut Intermediate Sherry Matured to it. Portonova is the kind of whisky you may find yourself saying "interesting!" about. There is a bit of the acquired taste in liking Portonova, but I think that a lot of people do acquire that taste for it.

@Victor i haven't had the chance to try the portonova yet, but I think I've been fortunate with my fusion bottle and I do really also like the IS. Glad I got two of the IS. Whist quite high abv, I even like it neat. Something I can not say for a'bunadh.

@RikS you do know that you are addressing someone who would prefer to have all of his whiskies at 70% ABV or above, don't you?

@Victor oh yes, I am aware my friend.

I had the day off yesterday and decided to re-organize my girlfriend's liquor cabinet, found a few heels, one of them was a Canadian Club 100% rye, I had never tried this straight only in cocktails, so decided to enjoy a pour while cleaning. I have to admit is was a lot better than I thought it would be, lots of the trademark Alberta rye flavors but the palate was a bit thin.

Toasted my hard work with a couple of drams from a newly opened bottle of Booker's batch 2018-01E, big bold and really approachable despite the ABV, I think I'm going to enjoy this bottle.

@MadSingleMalt the Springbank 10/100 you make reference to in your post from which batch is it? I've included a picture of one of the final iterations of it. I'm just curious as I was able to snag a dusty bottle of that batch in my travels and would be happy to know that it is well received.

@cricklewood, I'm not sure how to identify the batch, but my current Springbank 10/100 is from the old "tan label" days, so older than the shiny black one in your picture. I've had bottles from both eras and they're all good. If you like the standard Springbank 10, you'll like the 10/100. Same but better!