So, what are you drinking now?

@paddockjudge don't scare them off! 12 hours is what most of our face-to-face network likes to do, but that is not for everybody.

I still don't know how @thecyclingyogi walked out of our hotel room that one time at 0330 hrs after 13.5 hours of tasting. He looked like he shouldn't be able to stand up. He went to work that morning.

All this talk of Blending has me inspired. As I try to blend together my talk for Thursday, a small pour of Little Book, Chapter 2.

@archivist Dad's Hat is one of the good new ryes. Mashbill is reported as 80-5-15 unmalted rye, malted rye, malted barley. This is nouvelle old-school Pennsylvania rye which is actually from Pennyslvania. I didn't notice that the bottle I selected was the Vermouth Barrel Finish until we got into it. You really can taste the vermouth, which surprised me a bit. That is a very unusual bottle.

I'd recommend a taste of Dad's Hat before a bottle, but I think you'll find it worthy of a bottle. This was @Maddie's bottle, but I'd be happy to own some Dad's Hat Rye myself. .

Now that I think of it I omitted from the last tasting list that we also tasted Redbreast 12 yo, Redbreast 12 yo Cask Strength, and Bushmills 21 yo Madeira finished Single Malt. There was more enthusiasm for the standard Redbreast 12 yo than the CS. Even as beginners they could appreciate the magnificence of Bushmills 21 yo.

I often don't like to take notes and I am talking most of the time, so I tend to forget some of them. @Nock, @Pudge72, and @Nozinan typically keep closer accounting of these long-session tastings than I care to. Thanks guys! .

I enjoyed a Maker's flight (courtesy of @paddockjudge) while attending to my neglected house duties last night.

-Standard Maker's Mark @ 43% - Maker's 46 @47% -Maker's 46 private select for the liquor locker @ 55.7%, the same one reviews by @talexander recently.

It has been years since I've drank the standard Maker's Mark and I have to admit to liking this a lot more than I thought I would.

The nose was all oak, cream, fresh bread and cherries. The palate couldn't live up to it though.

The store pick had the best palate of them all, big bold, loads of oak and texture. Looks like I need to give Maker's another go.

@cricklewood It's my go-to bourbon!

@talexander in my formative years of whisky drinking, Maker's was my go to bourbon. I used it for cooking a fair bit too, looks like I didn't have such bad taste 15 years ago.

The same cannot be said about my choice of Canadian whisky, according to @paddockjudge. I got the side eye for mentioning I liked the old Canadian Club sherry casks.

@cricklewood Well that @paddockjudge can be soooooo judgy!! :) The only one I can think of is CC Sherry Cask, which I wasn't too fond of, but hey to each his own!

@cricklewood, @talexander, hhhmmmm, fodder for a possible Connosr Discussion: "Guilty Pleasures: Canadian Whiskies you Like But Are Publicly Afraid to Admit to Liking".

I will say it here now, I like my sister's bottle of White Owl. There, I've said it. Honesty demands it.

@Victor I appreciate your honesty! Have to say though, can't stand the stuff myself. Would standard Canadian Club count as a guilty pleasure?

@talexander to me standard Canadian Club is perfectly OK, and nothing to be ashamed of. It's just "smooth" and mellow. I like it too, but seldom seek it out.

As to White Owl, don't rule out variation. Taste from @Maddie's bottle before saying that you don't like that bottle. Could I think that other bottles don't taste good! Of course. Maybe most of them would not appeal to me. It is entirely possible.

@Victor thanks for taking one for the team white owl, who would have thought...

@talexander I'm talking about the Sherry cask version before CC revamped their livery and bottle shape.

This one came it a tall clear bottle and had some kind of wax seal on it, the oak profile was nice, with a dollop of dried fruits and sweetness from the sherry. After the re-vamp the ones they released were terrible.

My palate has changed so much I probably wouldn't like it much today.

@cricklewood Yes, I've tried both - the earlier bottling as well as the current bottling.....I don't remember if they were any different, and I wasn't crazy about either of them (I didn't hate them, I just didn't like it that much). But I'm finicky when it comes to sherry finishes.

@Victor I have no guilt admitting I like any whisky. To wit, I enjoy plain ol’ Alberta Premium, Hiram Walker Special Old, and most batches of Forty Creek Barrel Select. I also enjoy the humble Ballantine’s Finest, Bushmills Original, Original Jameson, Famous Grouse, and Dewar’s White Label more than quite a few Irish and Scotch single malts. If I’ve learned anything in my time here on Connosr, it’s that an increase in price doesn’t correspond to an increase in enjoyment.

@OdysseusUnbound "Guilty" is more a figure of speech here. I've never let other people's opinions alter my taste. I do know, though, how violently some people react to even the mention of certain whiskies.

@OdysseusUnbound - Good man! Not sure if JW Black counts as a guilty pleasure but once the first pour has gone down I'd happily drink it all night and be reasonably satisfied. Not had any Bushmills original in a while but that's another that I always find more than decent. Jameson's ditto. Never tried Ballentine's . . .

@Victor - Grant's FR would be another but following our chat on here (with @Nock also, if memory serves) it does indeed look like the standard Grant's is being phased out in favour of the triple wood thingy.

@Victor I suspect anyone who likes Lambertus would be very quiet on this forum.

Same with Punjabi Club, which, I guess, technically, is not Canadian, but American given the location of the distillery.

@cricklewood, I'm not so sure it was the side eye I gave you, it may have been the over-the-top-of-my-glasses look. It's hard to screw-up a Rye 'n' Ginger; CC Sherry Cask will likely get the job done.

@paddockjudge love how the "sherry cask" in French becomes "in barrels having contained sherry". Oh, the flair!

@RikS ...or one could differentiate between "barrels having contained sherry" being not equal to "sherry casks" if one defines a 'sherry cask' as 'a cask which once contained sherry which was aged to maturity'. Containing sherry sloshing around for 6 to 24 months is almost all of the "sherry cask" barrels used now, apparently. This labeling to which you refer may actually be stating that these are not true historical sherry-maturing casks.

@Victor true true. I read that article a while back and it did rather ruin the image of old casks finding a second life... On this occasion though it has to mean either or, cause I was referring to paddockjudges cc bottle on the image which has both written : sherry casks / des fûts ayant contenu du sherry

@RikS That’s a poor translation, which is not uncommon in Canada. A better translation would be “élevé dans des fûts de Xérès” or “finition dans des fûts de Xérès”.

As for “true” sherry Cask maturation; it’s almost never been a thing. Prior to the 1980s (I believe), “Sherry casks” we’re mainly transport casks which held good quality drinking sherry for a very brief period. Sherry is made using a Solera system and the casks are normally used until they’re no longer serviceable. Here’s a link if anyone is interested.

whiskynotes.be/sherry-casks-in-the-whisky-…

@OdysseusUnbound yes we have been alluding to that particular article.

Just back from a fantastic tasting with a brand ambassador for BenRiach, GlenDronach,and bruichladdich. Included were: BenRiach 2007 Moscatel Hogshead 10 YO Cask #8737 58.9% ABV Batch 15 one of 337 bottles. BenRiach 1997 20YO Cask #4437 54,8% Batch 15 one of 414 bottles. GlenDronach 15YO Revival 46%. Glendronach Btch 16 Cask #55 1993 24YO 56.7% ABV one of 567 bottles. Bruichladdich Port Charlotte MRC 59.2%. Bruichladdich Octomore 8.1 59.3%. and as a bonus dram Glenglassaugh Peated Port wood. A unique opportunity ti try some very limited release bottles. Which do you think was my favourite of the night?

@Hewie - I'm going with the CS Port Charlotte MRC . . .

@Hewie I’ll guess the BenRiach 20 Y/O

@Hewie My guess Glendronach 15 Revival.

@fiddich1980 - That would have been my second. I was very impressed with the sample I had.

@Hewie did you then buy a bottle of each?

@RianC was your sample from the release prior to Glendronach 15 Revival 3 year hiatus or from the Re-revival this past year? If I remember correctly, the old Glendronach Revival 15 was matured in Oloroso cask. The re-Revival in 2018 is matured in both PX and Oloroso. Reviews for the new combination cask matured version are generally, positive among those who have never tried the old Revival matured only on Oloroso cask but, less than positive among those who have experienced the Oloroso version. I have yet to see the new re-Revival in Canada.