So, what are you drinking now?

A freshly popped Arran 10 James MacTaggart Edition. First impressions are very good. Lots of grapefruit, apple and exotic fruit flavours with what I find to be an identifiable creamy vanilla malt base. Finish is long and some enjoyable sourness and oak spice linger leaving a little salty dryness. This is easy to sip neat too; I'm not inclined to add water even at CS.

I was surprised to see this was still available on Amazon for £70 with free delivery . . .

@RianC I'm totally jealous of this purchase and so will @casualtorture, I know he's been looking for some stateside.

Great notes on it so far, I'll be curious to get your impression as it develops. I've been really getting into ex-bourbon cask malts more than sherry of late @Nozinan mentioned the same thing over the weekend. It's nice to get more of the grain and distillate notes, when there's a dose of tropical fruits it's even better.

@cricklewood reading your comment, how you like the Amrut fusion? Pretty tropical and different...

@RikS I'm getting eager to open my Amrut Fusion. it's been so long since I've tried any, years in fact. I have just one bottle and can probably replace it though I've been trying to curtail purchases, especially of replaceable bottles. And to add to it I have 5 bottles of Amrut open at this time... and still hoping to open a Portonova and IS this year...

@Nozinan Greetings. Which ones do you have open? I really like the intermediate, and have a fusion open too, and am taking delivery of the peated CS next time I'm off to the countryside - and like you, I enjoy them a lot!

@RikS I've had and enjoyed Amrut Fusion but sadly the last bottle I bought (2+yrs ago) for my club turned out to be less than stellar. I actually reviewed it here I believe. I know its an outlier but it's not encouraged me to get another so quickly.

The cask strength releases are glorious, whether you choose unpeated or peated versions. You are in for a treat when you open your bottle.

@RikS

I have tasted from 13 Amrut expressions, for a total of 18 different batches/casks - I defy anyone to suggest that I don't like Amrut.

I am currently carrying open Naarangi, 2007 limited edition cask strength, Peated CS, LCBO single casks sherry and (almost finished) bourbon.

I have single cask "Bangalore Tiger" that I would like to open, and am eager to renew my affiliation with Portonova, IS and Fusion, but it would be wrong to have more Amruts open than most people have bottles in total... UNLESS...

Unless someone were to suggest an AMRUT vertical tasting,... Oh Yeah!

@Nozinan hey, here is an idea - you being an eminent Amrut expert in my imprssion, why dont you take one for the team and make the “Amrut vertical of the century”!?

@cricklewood a lifetime to build a reputation, the blink of an eye to..... Look fwd to the experience now!

Tonight, my mother-in-law, wife and I played cards and had a couple of drams.

My mother-in-law had a dram of Miltonduff SMWS 72.31 (29 year - Dec. 1983) "Something Old, Something New" - Refill Hogshead ex-Bourbon - 48.3% ABV

And then she finished off her bottle that she’s been storing in my cabinet for the past couple of years. Tobermory 10 year (July 2005) heavily peated from Single Cask Nation, Cask #10 - refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 235 bottles - 56.7% ABV

I killed of my bottle of Old Pulteney SMWS 52.23 (11 year - Mar. 2007) "Ice-cream and gorse by the sea". After 9 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, finished in a 2nd-fill Pedro Ximenez sherry hogshead - 58.9% ABV. I put water in it this time and a very nice anise note developed.

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

@cricklewood - Will do! I know what you mean about sherry casks too - I'd generally go bourbon cask over sherry though. I think that's why I love whiskys like Benromach or Springbank because they use just enough sherry casks to give a more rounded flavour profile but without it dominating the experience.

Sipping a sample of THE Macallan 12 Sherry Oak graciously donated by @Nozinan review to follow later...

Wiser's Seasoned Oak with a splash of water...delicious... and a glass of Moretti, split a 500 ml with my daughter...yep, only 316 Mondays until retirement.

@bwmccoy How was the Linkwood?

Re-visited the Springbank 13 year old Oloroso this evening which, because I was largely unimpressed originally, I had put away and forgotten about. I am liking the second half of the bottle more, much more in fact.

@BlueNote - I originally had the Gordon & MacPhail Linkwood 15 on my trip to Scotland in 2016. I fell in love with it. Fast forward to a few months ago and @jordytropp bought a bottle (the one with the 2015 bottling date). It was great to taste it again. Then, if that wasn’t special enough, @jordytropp and his wife gave me a bottle (with the 2017 bottling date) for my birthday. A special gift from special friends.

Anyway, it was great to taste both of our bottles side by side. My bottle was freshly opened and @jordytropp’s had been open a few months. They tasted very similar. The only difference was my bottle had slight smoke (not peat) on the finish. It will be interesting to see if the smoke on the finish diminishes over time now that it has been exposed to air. Either way, it is an excellent, quality dram. Nose: sherry notes with a hint of ripe summer berries. Palate: mixed spice flavors and a touch of charred oak.

I’m trying to catch up on my sample reviews so I’m sipping some Bruichladdich 10 Year Old “Laddie Ten” also provided by @Nozinan

@OdysseusUnbound Is that the one they call the 2nd Special Edition? If so, I have one unopened and look forward to your impressions. The last time I had it I liked it, not quite loved it, but liked+. It’s much better than the one they now call the Laddie Classic. @Nozinan, what did you think of it?

@BlueNote I don’t know which edition it is. Perhaps the owner of said bottle will chime in later. I’m really liking it. It’s in my wheelhouse for unpeated whisky; not too much sherry, not over-oaked, not too fruity. A Fine Balance.

@OdysseusUnbound

I too am a fan of Rohinton Mistry. A Fine Balance is an excellent book.

Not being home I don’t recall the exact batch the laddie 10, but it was purchased from the LCBO when there were dwindling supplies after production had been discontinued. This is a 46% product, not the newer 50% expression.

I do not think there are any sherry casks in the mix.

@Nozinan Glad you caught the Rohinton Mistry reference. Online sources are varied but there seems to be some suggesting this is 85/15 first fill bourbon/sherry. I’m no authority, so I don’t know if that’s right.

THE Macallan 12. I decided I wanted to compare my tasting notes to @OdysseusUnbound’s and to what I have in my glass. And I’m trying my new Irish whisky glass.

Friday night calls for a couple of cask stregth drams. Kilkerran WIP 7 CS Bourbon Wood: creamy and peppery. Vanilla sweetness and forest floor. Then I cracked open my Longrow Red 11 Pinot Noir. Beautiful golden-orange colour with tinges of pink. Surprisingly soft, sweet red fruits, earthy. Very little smoke but the peat shows itself as tobacco leaf and vegetal notes. Lovely long sweet, slightly nutty and spicy finish. Looking forward to seeing how this goes with some air.

Some Powers 12 last night - much improved with some air with lots of spice and honey.

Tonight - Some Benromach Peat Smoke with dinner (oysters and ray wing). Again, getting better but still not wowing me. Think I prefer this with a little water and left a good while to really open up.

Now having a Port Charlotte 10 (thanks @wierdo!) - It's a fresh pour but lots of vegetal peat, ashy smoke and lemons. First impressions are good but I feel I preferred the PC HP.

I may have an Arran 10 JMcT Ed. later although I feel the peat will stain my palette somewhat. My better half says it smells like maple syrup - there's definitely a lovely bourbon influence.

Enjoying Wiser's 35 YO. Another officially placed on the Unicorn List. Once this is gone, it is gone forever.

Tonight, Bladnoch SMWS 50.56 (23 year - July 1990) ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!’ - Refill barrel - 60.3% ABV

@bwmccoy Do you know if SMWS has any Bladnoch from the very brief Armstrong period?

HP 18. Great dram - reminiscent of the standard 12 with golden honey and heather, but a bit rounder and fuller and 'less youthful'. As expected, I suppose. A very pleasant dram indeed, but not sure I see why it's got the raving opinions it seems to get (in the comparative £100 price-bracket).

@Nozinan - I don’t know, but if you can give me the dates of the Armstrong era, I will keep my eyes open. I also know someone that I can ask at the Society.

@bwmccoy I think they started distilling in about 2000 and the distillery went into receivership in 2014 or 2015.