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So, what are you drinking now?

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By @Wodha @Wodha on 15th Jan 2010, show post

Replies: page 438/647

@OdysseusUnbound

I’m back at home and sipping some Bruichladdich Classic Laddie at my in-laws’ place. Looking at the “recipe” code (18/283) I find that it’s 6-11 year old whisky, most of it aged in first-fill ex-bourbon. Hallelujah! I’m a Bruichladdich fan, and I’ve always liked this whisky, but this particular vatting is terrific for showing off the vanilla-caramel-nutty character of a predominantly ex-bourbon maturation, alongside Bruichladdich’s briny, lemony character.

5 years ago 2Who liked this?

@Tom92
Tom92 replied

@cricklewood Whether you’ve tried many NZ whiskies before?

5 years ago 0

@Tom92
Tom92 replied

@bwmccoy that Glenrothes sounds right up my alley. And that 29, how was that?

5 years ago 1Who liked this?

@cricklewood
cricklewood replied

@Tom92 I unfortunately have not had the pleasure but I know of some that have a very good reputation.

There isn't a lot of distribution set up along with limited stocks

5 years ago 1Who liked this?

@Tom92
Tom92 replied

Started with a Willets Pot Still bourbon, moved on to a Signatory Imperial 1995 20 year old 50.8% Delicious, very rich spicy intense dram. Happily have another one

5 years ago 5Who liked this?

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@bwmccoy
bwmccoy replied

@Tom92 - I’ve added a picture of the Glenrothes. Darkest whisky that I’ve ever had. Also, that particular 29 is my ideal whisky; perfectly balanced peat, smoke and sherry.

5 years ago 7Who liked this?

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@bwmccoy
bwmccoy replied

Last night, @jordytropp and I lead a Society tasting for about 30 people at a local restaurant. The 6 single malts and 1 non-malt spirit were tasted blind and in the following order;

16 year Longmorn (SMWS 7.221 -“Hop Scotch”) finished in 1st-fill ex-IPA cask. 50.3%. I was concerned the IPA would clash with the Longmorn house style, but I was pleasantly surprised. The result was bright fruits with the hops not showing up until well into the finish and even then, did not dominate.

12 year Glendronach (SMWS 96.27 - “Furtive scone pesterer”) from a 2nd-fill ex-bourbon Barrel. 58.5%

11 year Dalmore (SMWS 13.75 - “Briny dancer”) from a 2nd-fill Barrel. 59.1%.

7 year Glenallachie (SMWS 107.16 - “Truly a fairy tale”) from 2nd-fill toasted oak butt. 67% ABV! This one seemed much older than it’s age. It was a huge hit. Even at 67%, it didn’t drink hot, nor did It need water added.

14 year Glen Scotia (SMWS 93.112 - “Sweet and grubby”) from a refill hogshead. 53.7%. A very balanced example of Campbeltown funk.

20 year Laphroaig (SMWS 29.263 - “Exquisitely playful”) from a 2nd-fill barrel. One of the most refined Laphroaig’s that I have tasted. Perfectly named... It was exquisite!

Finished the night with a 2004 single cask Armagnac from Domaine d’Esperance. SMWS A4.3 - “A slice of Gascony”. This a single varietal using the Baco grape, aged in an Armagnac barrel. 47.3%. As someone who has only ever tasted 3 or 4 Armagnac’s, this was very enjoyable.

After everyone had left and we were helping the restaurant owner clean up, he poured us a taste of a 26 year (1987) PX sherry. I forgot to get the name or take a picture of the label, but it was awesome. Syrupy sweet, but yet somehow, very balanced. I’ve only had one other sherry in my life and it was awful. This was the complete opposite end of that spectrum. What a treat!

Thanks to @jordytropp for his assistance with the tasting last night.

5 years ago 9Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@bwmccoy Sounds like this could have been under the heading "epic tasting".

5 years ago 1Who liked this?

@casualtorture

@bwmccoy I think Kavalan Solist sherry cask is the darkest whisky at natural color I have drank.

5 years ago 2Who liked this?

@cricklewood
cricklewood replied

@bwmccoy nice presentation and I second @Nozinan that would work well in the Epic Tasting thread.

I have to say based solely on your description I would be likely to buy both the Longmorn and the Glenallachie as they seem to both bring something unique to the table and I have yet to have an IPA whisky that really works although the Glenfiddich IPA was decent.

5 years ago 1Who liked this?

@bwmccoy
bwmccoy replied

@cricklewood - Thanks. I don’t think you would regret purchasing either of those bottles, especially the Glenallachie. That was a no-brainer for me. It’s also a very good value for the price, in my opinion. I got a bottle of it. I also got a bottle of the Glen Scotia. All 7 offerings last night were good. It’s just that there were a few that stood out from the rest for me.

I’ve only had one other IPA cask finished whisky; the Glenfiddich that you mentioned. It didn’t do anything for me. It wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t a fan either. That was the main n reason I was concerned about what the IPA finish would do to the Longmorn. My fears were unfounded. I was very impressed with it.

5 years ago 1Who liked this?

@OdysseusUnbound

My wife and I bought a “cottage”, i.e. a park-model trailer in the same private park as my parents, on the French River. Our “spot” is in a very private part of the park, isolated on a type of cliff, overlooking the river. We’re celebrating and so far I’ve had:

  • Stagg Jr Batch 9 (65.95 % abv): this stuff is deceptively smoooooooth. It’s way too easy to sip neat, but also terrific with water.
  • Springbank 15: this whisky changes every time I taste it. After the Stagg Jr. it tastes like Kilkerran 12 with more fruit (especially blackberries) and chocolate.

5 years ago 7Who liked this?

@cricklewood
cricklewood replied

@OdysseusUnbound congratulations!

5 years ago 3Who liked this?

@OdysseusUnbound

I’m now sipping Green Spot. I shouldn’t love this whiskey as much as I do, but what can I say? It’s fruity (underripe pears, white peaches), it’s a little spicy, with some green branches, if that makes sense. It hits all the right notes, despite the low abv.

5 years ago 1Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@OdysseusUnbound going down the ABV ladder. And still enjoying it. Incredible feat

5 years ago 2Who liked this?

@bwmccoy
bwmccoy replied

@OdysseusUnbound - Congrats on the cottage! Sounds like a great place to drink whisky.

5 years ago 1Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

So one of my patients died yesterday and I was planning on toasting her memory with a bottle of late harvest wine she gave me last week as she was preparing and putting her things in order.

connosr.com/so-what-arent-you-drinking-now…

Unfortunately the wine was not drinkable. We tried a couple of other icewines. The first, which I probably bought on my honeymoon, also had cork issues but was drinkable. The second was a Cabernet Franc and was quite good. We all enjoyed it.

But it didn't seem right to toast her with something not associated with her. A few weeks ago when we were discussing whether she could drink, we had discussed Alpenbitter (she was Swiss), and she had bought some. But she didn't want it, and gave me the bottle. I had opened it to report back to her.

So in the evening I poured 2 shot glasses, one for me and one for @nosebleed, and we wished her a safe journey to the next adventure.

I learned from this, that it's best not to leave things too long, because then you might not have them at all...

Ms ............, rest in peace.

5 years ago 5Who liked this?

@Tom92
Tom92 replied

@bwmccoy that colour does look amazing. For the SMWS 35th anniversary, we opened a bottle of 1.1. I’d say it is one of the darkest whiskies, going by photo darker than the Glenrothes, I’ve ever seen. I agree with you completely, perfect balance of peat and sherry is whisky perfection

5 years ago 2Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

My BIL hosted a party at my place for his mother’s upcoming 80th birthday. We had BBQ chicken wings, steaks cut from a tenderloin (the whole loin), yellowfin tuna, mussels, and fresh spring rolls.... and plenty of sides. 4 layer cake (white and red velvet) at the end.

After everything settled down, I introduced him to Bruichladdich the Classic Laddie. A reasonable choice where many flavours were eaten and lots of smells in the house.

5 years ago 5Who liked this?

@Victor
Victor replied

Old Elk Wheat Whiskey, 50% ABV. This is a product which I understand is currently being produced at Old Elk Distillery in Fort Collins, Colorado, but which is not yet available for sale, except by the drink at their Reserve by Old Elk tasting room in Fort Collins. So I understand this to be a prototype sourced bottle of what Old Elk is currently distilling and aging. This is 95% Wheat, with 5% Barley-malt. I acquired this bottle with the help of the Master Distiller, Greg Metze, who had worked at Seagram's/LDI/MGPI for 38 years, and from 2002 to 2016 been the Master Distiller at that very large bulk producer of ryes, bourbons, and several additional types of spirits. .

When I first tasted this whiskey neat I was initially disappointed, thinking "This is no more than OK, if that" Then I added some water and Wow!, this is a masterpiece of beauty with some water added. Wheat, wheat, and more wheat. A firm 90 points from me. I would most certainly buy this whiskey when Old Elk eventually has some aged stocks of their own to sell. The commercial landscape has a LOT more room for high quality wheat whiskeys and wheated bourbons. A lot of people like that wheat flavour in a whiskey, hence the cult of Van Winkle.

I really do believe that the great seductiveness of the wheated profile lies in three things: 1) softness, 2) sweetness, and, most especially 3) the fact that wheat combines with oak flavours in a beautiful soul-melding way which no other grain remotely approaches

5 years ago 5Who liked this?

@Nock
Nock replied

Tonight I finally decided to crack open my bottle of Ardbeg Drum (standard release). From all the reviews I read I figured I wouldn’t like it. But there are extra bottles on my local store shelves for $99 so I wanted to see if I needed to pick up any extras for the future. Most of the reviews I have read comment on a lack of rum influence. Not my experience tonight. I can totally pick up on the Rum flavors straight away. It very much has a white rum (or light rum) note on the nose. It seems very apparent to me. I also get coconut (and of course peat). Really not a huge fan all said. It is decent. Almost seems like an Ardbeg rum cocktail. It is certainly something different, but easily one of my least favorite Ardbeg releases in a long time. I am now sipping the Grooves and the standard TEN next to it. Both are far superior for my taste.

5 years ago 5Who liked this?

@bwmccoy
bwmccoy replied

Visiting my family in my home town for a few days. I brought some whisk(e)y with me. My 90 year old Dad and I are having a couple drams and reminiscing. He’s more of a bourbon guy, so I poured him Old Grand Dad 114. I had a leftover whisky from Monday night’s tasting; SMWS 107.16, a 7 year Glenallachie from a toasted oak butt. 67% ABV.

5 years ago 6Who liked this?

@Victor
Victor replied

@bwmccoy 67% ABV Scotch. Now you're talking!

Did Dad like the OGD114?

5 years ago 2Who liked this?

@bwmccoy
bwmccoy replied

@Victor - that Glenallachie blows me away. Drinks older than it’s age and doesn’t need a drop of water.

Yes, my dad liked the OGD, but he’s more used to the 40% stuff, so the 57% was a little much for him. However, he didn’t want me to add any water. :-)

5 years ago 4Who liked this?

@Victor
Victor replied

@bwmccoy one of the differences among tasters which continuously impresses and amazes me is how different we are as individuals with respect to tolerance of higher concentrations of alcohol. I guess that I live over to one extreme in preferring sipped spirits to be up around 70% ABV if I can get them like that. Within the world of my own taste I just about fall over laughing when I see some Scotch drinker refer to 48% ABV as "high proof". For me 48% is a little below the level of minimal acceptability for me, as a general rule, with respect to what I consider desirable.

I accept and respect the vast differences in taste and physical responsiveness which we all possess, but I am sort of amazed that there seem to be many who do not understand that there are some of us who do not experience their whiskies as they do.

When the ABV of a given whisky seems "high" to "you", it does not necessarily seem high to me. .

5 years ago 4Who liked this?

@OdysseusUnbound

@Victor With your encouragement, I’ve gained an appreciation for wheat influence. While I’ve never had the pleasure of sipping a PVW, I love Weller Antique 107. I enjoyed it so much that I bunkered 6 bottles at the LCBO price of $36 CAD per bottle before the LCBO announced that the next release will be around $50. My first experience with wheated bourbon was standard Maker’s Mark and it was only average, but I’ve tasted from some really terrific bottles of Maker’s since then. I’m hoping my parents can find me a bottle of Maker’s Cask Strength when they’re in Florida this year. I’d be interested in trying a wheat whiskey.

5 years ago 3Who liked this?

@fiddich1980
fiddich1980 replied

I needed a Madeira for a sauce but, I could just as well enjoy it on it's own.

5 years ago 6Who liked this?

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@Victor
Victor replied

Gertrude's 100% Rye Whiskey, 50% ABV, distilled, aged, and bottled at MISCellaneous Distillery in Mt. Airy, Maryland, near both Baltimore and DC. I had not heard of this distillery until today. 100% unmalted rye, with enzymes, presumably. Aged 471 days, this was quite a decent rye. I'd rate it around 86 points. This makes me quite hopeful about rye whiskeys to come in Maryland, reviving a long-dormant tradition in this state. I expect that these guys could do a lot with a 3 to 4 year old rye. Back a century ago Maryland was second only to Pennsylvania in US rye whiskey production.

5 years ago 5Who liked this?

@TracerBullet
TracerBullet replied

After a couple of cocktails, I'm ending the evening with a dram of the GOT Oban Night's Watch. It was a long week....

5 years ago 3Who liked this?

@TracerBullet
TracerBullet replied

@Victor I believe you should play to your strengths; Honestly, Maryland is not good for wine production. The grapes are just not good for wine. The Maryland wineries that make decent wine typically get their grapes elsewhere. Maryland is great for grains like rye. Play to your strengths!

5 years ago 2Who liked this?

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