So, what are you drinking now?

Pam made an incredible dinner for me last night for my birthday - while she cooked, I fixed a couple of martinis (Bombay Sapphire, Madonna vermouth from Traynor Vineyeards in Prince Edward County, lemon twist). Started with caprese salad, followed by garlic-and-herb crusted rack of lamb with roasted potatoes and onions, a wild mushroom risotto and a mint-and-green-pea puree, with Baco Noir Reserve from Sandbanks (also in Prince Edward County). She made from scratch a strawberry-rhubarb pie which we enjoyed with Trius Late Harvest Wine 2014 (Niagara). To end the night, we finished off with the Port Charlotte 10 Year Old.

@talexander That sounds like a feast fit for a king! Happy belated birthday!

I had a healthy pour of Glendronach 12 with my wife’s grandfather this afternoon. This is probably the malt I’ve tasted the most extensively since he always has a bottle on hand and Jaime (my wife) and I have been together since 2000. This particular bottle is less fruity and a bit oakier than the usual Glendro 12, but I can’t say I mind. The texture still has the lovely richness I enjoy so much from Glendronach.

I’m really thinking about opening one of my bottles of Springbank 15 later...We’ll see.

I gave in and opened a Springbank 15. I regret nothing.

Alberta Premium 30 Years Old, 100% rye whisky. I now toast the Toronto Raptors, and congratulate them on hosting tonight the very first National Basketball Association Tournament Finals game ever to be played in Canada! "We the North" as you say and put onto your jerseys.

Now if the Raptors can only keep their superstar Kawhi Leonard past this season....

@OdysseusUnbound Thanks!

Wow birthday boys @paddockjudge and @talexander you had incredible birthday feast!

Last night in the Eastern Townships with my girlfriend, we rented a cottage to hang out while she finished her last paper for her summer class and I try and relax.

I'm having a couple of drams of Powers Signature, simple, punchy pot still whisky, lots of candied pineapple, grassy grain, there's a touch of the sherry cask influence on the palate with a bit of leather, dried fruits and a slight yeasty tang. A nice simple sipper if a tad sharp.

Just finished revisiting my 1:1 mixture of Glen Breton rare and ice wine cask expressions that I made when I reviewed the 2 almost a year and a half ago. I will post my finding shortly. It was a 60 ml bottle. I must have tasted 5 cc. The rest was not worth saving.

So far this year 3190 cc of whisky, the equivalent of 4+ bottles (including one gift), have left my collection (after being consumed or discarded, just over 2 bottles of that has been my own consumption). Sadly, including the four bottles I received to celebrate my 50th, I have acquired 7450 cc of whisky, and that doesn't even include samples because I don't track samples IN.

Discouraging if I want my collection to get smaller (and knowing there will be more purchases coming).

Anyone want to come over and drink with me?

Congratulations Raptors! You have proven that you can defeat the Kevin Durant-less mighty Golden State Warriors. You could well win this series.

I drank a siuccession of rye whiskies during the game:

1) Jefferson's 10 yo 50% ABV Alberta Distillers Ltd US Straight Rye. This bottle was just so-so for the first 3 years after opened but is quite good now

2) WhistlePig 10 yo Straight Rye, 50%, another ADL distillate product. WP is always good.

3) Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye, 2010 release, 63.45% ABV, always ecstasy or nearly so

4) Rittenhouse 80 proof rye, a hard to find bottle which I like about the same, maybe better than the 50% BIB .

5) Sazerac Rye, 45% ABV, aka Baby Saz. This second bottle of ours is very good, much better than the first.

6) Gibson's Finest Rare 18 yo Rye heavy Canadian whisky. This is a Canadian Greatest Hit in my book. Not as stellar in this context tonight as usual..Maybe the sample is getting old.

7) Sazerac 18 yo Rye, 2011 release. OMG. Comment here: I can see why this bottle is almost impossible to obtain now, unless one spends $ 1,000+. The nose is a trip to heaven.

8) after the game, Pappy Van Winkle 15 yo wheated bourbon, 2010 release, 53.5% ABV. Comment: for those who do not understand the cult of Van Winkle, the trick is familiarity. Van Winkle bourbons become habituating with experience. After one small taste, "What's so great about this?" After a bottle of it, "Where can I buy more of this?"

@Nozinan ha ha thanks for the invite. I'd love to come and help you with your problem. After all, that's what mates are for. If only aye?

@OdysseusUnbound, how's the Springbank 15 treating you?

@MadSingleMalt I like it. It was my first dram, but it’s got some of that familiar Springbank funk I love (I call it “Wet hay in an old barn”), but it’s also much darker in flavour than I expected. Like blackberries and dark chocolate.

Had a Ben Nevis 10 to start last night - Bottle's about half full and is really showing its best form. The older sherry cask notes are coming out more on the palette and I love it! A dryer, wood soaked, red berry sweetness. It's so much more enjoyable than when you feel you're drinking sherry syrup - as I find is the case with lots of sherried whisky. BIG ginger and malt as well as some undefinable metallic/industrial notes. Maybe some sulphur here too but I don't find it off-putting at all.

FORO/FOMO . . . well, I should have bagged a few of these when they were £30! It's not a perfect whisky by any means but it works.

Finished with Arran 10 JMcT Ed - Seemed much less sweet after the BN but I'm really liking the dunnage notes and slight saltyness with all that tropical fruit. I'd say this is the better of the two yet I enjoyed the BN more!

@Nozinan, name the time I'll come on over, can't say if we'll get through all of it though

@Victor nice progression for your viewing.

@Nozinan, I'd fancy a go at your cabinet. Do you have anything old enough to put in ginger ale?

I’ve decided to have a go at reducing the size of my sample collection tonight. I’m starting with Tomatin 14 Portwood. Their 12 year old Bourbon & Sherry Cask was an incredibly pleasant surprise for me, and this one is not disappointing either...so far. The wine influence is obvious but not overpowering. There’s still some malty nuttiness present, which I like.

I’ve decided to be expedient and clear out 3 sample bottles in one vatting. Friends and family often bring me curios from their travels and one friend brought me three 50ml samples of Glenfiddich: Select Cask, Vintage Cask, and Reserve Cask. I have no idea what the difference is from the packaging or from the first tasting. So I’ve vatted what’s left together to see if the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts.

@OdysseusUnbound yeah I was given a sample of Glenfiddich XX as part of a trade and it's pretty disappointing - it just tastes like Glenfiddich but nothing special (to me anyway).

@Hewie I didn’t even finish the “special” vatting last night. It tasted too immature and flat, which is exactly how each of those tasted separately. I like the core age stated malts from Glenfiddich well enough, but these were disappointing.

@OdysseusUnbound, A tip of the hot to you for giving it a shot. There is a lot of hit and miss happening in blended malts. Blending is pure art with a neat measure of simple arithmetic. I've yet to make a blend that is to my liking with whisky I didn't like...the exception being whisky resuscitation, when a drop of this and a drop of that is used to bring back to life a whisky gone flat.

I've not had any luck with living bottles, some whiskies are not meant to be in a bottle with others. Perhaps my living bottles would be best used in a punch bowl.

Last night, Laphroaig SMWS 29.226 (18 year - Mar. 1999) - "Seaside surprise" - Refill ex-Oloroso sherry butt - 56.8% ABV. Such a big, beautiful dram.

Had a bad day at work yesterday and poured myself a bit of Knob Creek Cask Rye when I got home. It didn't quite take the edge off. You know what did? Laphroaig 10. This afternoon I'm continuing with Laphroaig, then will have some Uigeadail while I try to figure out what to do about this work debacle come Monday morning...

Also congrats to Raptors fans. Looking forward to Game 2!

@archivist It's been a stressful week at work for me as well. someone 'misplaced' 200,000 bonds that we're trying to figure out where they were processed to. I see you're in the Bay area. I was just in Berkely 2 weeks ago!

@casualtorture, @archivist, I'll make it a hat trick. There's no need to tweak perfection. Global recognition and perfect audit scores year after year is not a good reason for introducing needless changes...I'm thinking of jumping ship. Knob Creek Small Batch 9 YO, Amrut Naarangi, and a Budweiser Copper.....One bourbon, one malt, one beer!

bing.com/videos/search/…

I'm working away at some samples again tonight. I'm kicking it off with a sample of Wiser's Last Barrels I got over a year ago from @Nozinan . I have a bottle, but I've not opened it yet. A sample always helps when it comes time to make a decision. If I was nosing this blind, I'd probably guess it was a bourbon. Lots of sweet corn and sour cherries at first. I'll see how this develops, make some notes, and post a review in the coming days...

@Victor, @OdysseusUnbound, set 'em up again, nobody is driving home tonight! One bourbon, one scotch, one beer.....this video is a gem!

bing.com/videos/search/…

Next up: a sample of Forty Creek Portwood Reserve, 45% abv, also graciously provided by @Nozinan

@casualtorture sorry about the rough week! there's good drinking in the bay area, hopefully you had a chance to imbibe while you were here. Hope those bonds will be found in their rightful place!

I'll raise a glass to all that had a shit week, started off with a Canadian whisky head to head. Danfield 21 vs. Alberta Premium 25. Moved on to Bruichladdich Laddie 10 2nd edition.

So this is not a full review, but a comment...

WHY THE HELL DID FORTY CREEK DISCONTINUE THE PORT WOOD RESERVE?

This is by far the best Forty Creek I've tasted. I've tried to give John Hall the benefit of the doubt, thinking he must have had a reason to bottle most FC whiskies at 40%, but come on ! I realize the wine cask plays a role, and it's not just the extra 5 abv points making the difference here, but the point remains: Forty Creek is better at 90 proof than at 80 proof. This is far more complex than most of their other offerings, save perhaps Confederation Oak, but I still think I prefer the Port Wood Reserve.