So, what are you drinking now?

@paddockjudge - I just looked at Total Wine’s website for my local store. They want $165 (USD) + our lovely 30% state alcohol tax for the unpeated 15 year Caol Ila. Ouch! I will probably pick one up at some point based on everyone’s recommendation, but going to have to get my wife’s permission at that price point. It might have to wait for an upcoming special celebration like Father’s Day, etc. :-)

@paddockjudge @bwmccoy @RianC @Victor

The only unpeated CI I have tasted so far is the 17 YO. I have one each of 15, 17 and 18 unopened at this time. I have bought and tasted 2 CS peated CIs, The NAS OB was phenomenal and I bought a few more 200 cc bottles of it because at the time it was cheaper than a full bottle. @astroke helped me get a G&M bottle that is great, and I found a different G&M at a steal in Calgary and that awaits my opening. I was also at a masterclass at SOT and most were excellent.

Caol Ila makes great whisky. Surprising for its total volume. Is it my favourite Islay? Possibly. Maybe in terms of consistency. I have to say most of the distilleries I've tried have some great expressions.

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day a day early with Irish Coffee’s for my wife and I. I used my Chemex pour over coffee maker for the coffee. @Victor and @paddockjudge - I know I should have used Bushmills for it to be an official St. Patrick’s Day Irish Coffee, but Jameson was all that I have in my cabinet right now.

Will need to see about that Jameson Black Barrel for myself. For now, just enjoying a bit of Old Potrero single malt rye before dinner. Contemplating what to drink for St. Patrick's Day tomorrow...

I have said it before 2 or 3 times, and I'll say it again here: Jameson Black Barrel is the best value for money in the Jameson line.

Had a cousin of my wife over for dinner, and her husband likes scotch. He wasn't sure if he'd had peated whisky before (he has Dalwhinnie and Glenlivet at home.

I showed him the collection and he asked for something with peat. I didn't want to scare him so I offered Talsker 57º N. He liked it, and confirmed that he has indeed tasted peat in the past.

I can't wait till he visits again!

Westland Distillery (Seattle, WA) Single Cask #3824 (Rum Cask Finish) Bottle #62 of 168.

Nose: Demerara sugar, chocolate orange, medium roast coffee, wax, coconut ice cream and raisin sauce. The palate has maraschino cherry, fudge, cinnamon, seasoned oak and bergamot (earl grey tea).

@cricklewood, @talexander @OdysseusUnbound, @Nozinan, a TV commentator at the Canadian College Curling Championships was commenting on St. Patrick's Day, one thing led to another and he mentioned that Nova Scotia has the only Scotch Distillery outside of Scotland. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

A dram of Isle of Jura, -95 vintage "boutique barrel" single cask (bourbon "JO", whatever that means).

Quite interesting... a pronounced sweetness, but not the typical cask finishing, more a barley sweetness combined with the cask wood. Quite high ABV, my guess was between 55-60% and that was accurate with 56.6%. I get green apples, powder sugars and a slightly (but not unpleasant) bitter finish.

Actually, had I not known better, I could have been tricked into believing that this was a JW Green, cask strength version. There is a lot of similarities in the underlying spirit and character - especially a basketful of crispy mature apples.

Not bad at all! Would I buy it, no, I don't think so, but would be unfair to give it any less than an 86-87 rating I think. And, a quick search reveals it can be picked up at auctions for £55-75, and yes, that's not bad at all I'd say for the quality (though, one shouldn't muddle taste with price, to paraphrase @paddockjudge).

@paddockjudge according to the commentator's standards there are now many Scotch distilleries outside of Scotland, though it sounds like he didn't know much about whisky outside of Canada. Is or is not ignorance bliss? I imagine that that commentator was blissful in his consciousness. .

@Victor ...and I'm sure the Irish are grateful for being tied into Scotch distilleries outside of Scotland on St. Paddy's Day.

@Victor A problem that also extends into the IT/internet world it seems: if you google "best scotch from Ireland"... the first result is Nikka from the barrel!

@bwmccoy Is this bottle a special bottle only available at the distillery? Sounds delicious! Near me, I've only seen their main offerings, but the American Oak is widely available.

@archivist - My wife purchased 2 bottles of this single cask expression at the Distillery in September 2016, but I don’t know if it was a Distillery exclusive or not. Sorry that I don’t have that info.

@bwmccoy I think all that means now is for me to add Westland to my wish list and try one of their main offerings at the very least!

Black & White Blended Scotch, 40% ABV the one with the pictures of the two Scotties. I like Black & White, which is an old school malty blend. I am trying to get through the last 200 ml of a 750 ml bottle which has been open 3.75 years. While I liked this a lot at first, this whisky is a little rough now, and I want to smooth it out. Addition of some straight Hartley & Gibson's blend of medium dry oloroso sherry did improve on the B & W, maybe taking the enjoyment rating from current 75 to 80 points. Second method, adding Aberlour A'bunadh, 60.2% ABV, Batch # 45 did a much better job, raising the enjoyment score up to 86 points. The improvement of the quality of the nose was amazing.

This Black & White Blended Scotch with A'bunadh added could easily pass for Irish Whiskey in flavour profile today, on St. Patrick's Day. Happy St. Paddy's Day, everyone!

I have a few pours left in a half bottle of Chivas 12 so am experimenting a little with it.

Currently having it with a spoonful of Ben Nevis 10.and it's very nice; the BN has really beefed it up and added much more matiness. The finish lingers as well.

Catching up on some tasting notes and tv shows as the same time, I am a bit of a sucker for a certain type of police drama, presently watching Bosch, it's not mind-blowing but I love the interplay of the characters

-Bruichladdich Organic Barley 2009, not my favorite from the new provenance line-up but it's fun, creamy, grain forward, loads of citrus and melon, a bit of salty tang and this kind of eau-de-vie like feeling which must be the youth peeking through.

-The last of The Collectivum sample as provided @fiddich1980 I'm giving it one last spin before I commit to a review.

@bwmccoy, look for the 18-year version of the Caol Ila Unpeated. For reasons known only to the gods of whisky retail, it's often significantly less expensive than the others. I bought one for around $90 last fall.

Tonight is the last of the Chivas Regal with a good splash of Quinta Ruben - This is the best mix yet (over Macallan Gold and Ben Nevis 10). It's added more sweetness but also given it more bite and spice.

I'm a little embarrassed by the size of the pour - about 1/3rd of the Glencairn is full. It was that or have two small pours but I'm keen to get it finished off once and for all!

@RianC it's a sacrifice made for the sake of expediency

@MadSingleMalt - thanks for that info. I really appreciate it.

Long day. Halfway through charting and I'm on-call tomorrow for another long slog. I wanted something with peat, something CS, but no sherry tonight.

Some of the cleanest peat can be found in Bowmore Tempest. his bottle has been open since December 2017. Surprisingly it remains just over 1/3 full (gassed). And tonight with a few drops of tap water it is FANTASTIC in my miniature Laphroaig glencairn.

Just sampling a freshly opened JW Black. First impressions are that it’s clean, slightly peaty with some toffee notes and quite quite malty too, with just the merest hint of grain. It’s good.

Taste doesn’t disappoint either but it does seem more peaty than I remember - no doubt that will fade over time. Yeah, impressed - especially by the blending.

Cheers

Had a taste of the Benriach peated cask strength at 56%. The exact % makes one wonder of its really CS or just "high abv" but anyway... Nice. Crispy. Fresh. Interesting peat, clearly not islay and total absence of medicinal elements, and not as sooty as caol ila. Made me think a bit of glencadam. Most of all, I'd describe it as butter butter butter. Wouldn't say no if a bottle was offered.

@RianC, JW Black is a nice whisky ..... and it is affordably priced. I'm more of. Ballantines and JW Green kind of guy.

@paddockjudge - Never tried Ballentine's and my last JW Green was a bit flat compared to other bottles I've had. JW Black is like an old friend and I'm happy to see the quality is still fairly high (on first impressions anyways)

@RikS, I think there are four possibilities:

1. The ABV just happens to land on the whole number integer, for which there is a 10% chance.

2. They've just rounded to the nearest whole number, which as far as I know is totally OK to do.

3. They're pulling a Glenfarclas and batching their barrels to hit a target ABV.

4. They're secretly diluting their product but calling it "cask strength" anyway.

The order I listed them is the order of likelihood in my mind.

@MadSingleMalt that's statistically impossible! If you ordered them by likelihood, and you judged the first 10%, you cannot by definition get more than 39.9999% out of 100

Rebel Yell wheated bourbon, 40% ABV, from a bottle I bought 8.5 years ago, and which was the weakest bottle of bourbon I have ever purchased. In the category, "air effects can surprise you" this bottle is now, 8.5 years later, the best it has ever been. Today's taste doesn't have much of a nose, but the overall quality would still rate about 80 points, leagues better than the review I gave this one in 2012, when it had been open for 2 years.

connosr.com/rebel-yell-whisky-review-3977/

This is actually something which could be enjoyed now, for the first time. Not great, just enjoyable in a basic way, for a bottle which was purchased for about $ 12. Rebel Yell, owned by Luxco, can be good, but it is inconsistent, and really cannot be trusted. If you want to try Rebel Yell you are much safer trying the Rebel Reserve, which comes from a better selection of barrels. My intent is to give useful information to those who are unfamiliar with this brand.