So, what are you drinking now?

Delving into my rapidly diminishing Springbank Cask Strength this evening. OMG, this stuff is good. Too bad it's so hard to come by in this neck of the woods.

I’m enjoying a pour of Booker’s on this, my 40th birthday. It’s been a quiet one, other than going to my younger 2 sons’ school Christmas concert. This bottle is disappearing much faster than I thought it would. It’s dangerously drinkable despite the 63.7 % abv. Cheers all !

Have a very Happy Birthday, @OdysseusUnbound!

@Victor - Congrats on your Connosr anniversary! So glad you are here and thankful for the great friend that you have become over the years!

@OdysseusUnbound - Happy Birthday! Congrats on the milestone birthday! You need a 40 year old dram from your birth year! :-)

@bwmccoy The Whisky Exchange has a 40 Year Old Laphroaig for the bargain price of £ 11 000.00 (approx. $19 118 CAD). I’m not sure my wife would approve of my buying a bottle of whisky that’s worth more than my car.

@bwmccoy that "Smoky Mountain" cocktail sounds amazing - going to have to try that with friends. I tried to google it but didn't find anything as useful as your own instructions. Is this your own creation?

@OdysseusUnbound Happy Birthday. How about two good 15 year olds and one good 10 year old to celebrate 40 years. Or two 20s if you're feeling splurgy.

@Hewie - Thank you, but no, it’s not my creation, except for the name. The website that I got the recipe from had named the drink after one of their products that they were promoting, so I decided to come up with my own. :-)

Tonight, rating some open bottles;

Blair Athol SMWS 68.27 (9 year - Feb. 2009) "Bittersweet vibrancy" - Refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 59.1% ABV. Score: 82

Aultmore SWMS 73.113 (7 year - June 2011) "Sweet, earthy and amazing" - 2nd-fill Spanish oak Oloroso butt - 67.5% ABV. Score: 89

Glen Scotia SMWS 93.117 (13 year - March 2006) "Asian coastal delights" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.3% ABV. Score: 87

@BlueNote I had to settle for a 40ml pour of Booker’s.

@OdysseusUnbound If that's settling...

@OdysseusUnbound Happy Belated Birthday. I'll toast you with Glenfiddich Distillery Edition later this evening.

@OdysseusUnbound Too bad you weren’t turning 50.

@fiddich1980 Ive never been able to find a replacement for my bottle of Distillery Edition 15 YO. Is it still available? (I might have asked this before, but apparently the memory goes first).

@BlueNote The bottle I have was a dusty/return from the LCBO. I believe it is still available but, in duty free and travel retail.

My wife and I had a bottle of Australian Shiraz with dinner and my “dessert” was a pour of Blanton’s Original. It’s nice, somewhat reminiscent of grampa’s woodshed and gramma’s spice rack. Plenty of oaky sawdust, cloves, cinnamon and vanilla. Some nice medium and high pitches (clementine oranges), but little to no low end. Tonight I’d rate it about 87/100 or 88/100.

A sneaky swig of Loch Lomond 12, straight from the bottle.

Dang. As I told some club buddies, this is the best $30 you can spend on whisky. Nicely done, Loch Lomond, with your thick rich sweet interesting self. This is way better than that nasty blue-label NAS garbage I bought in a Scottish petrol station the last time I tasted your output in 2010.

@MadSingleMalt Loch Lomond is another under-the-radar distillery that seems to be having a moment. I'm looking forward to the Croftengea that's on the way.

A friend gave me a sample of Mortlach 12 year old from their new core bottlings. It was very pleasant in that pleasant sort of way. I liked it, but I probably won't run out and buy a bottle.

Last night, rated two more open bottles;

Peat Faerie Jr SMWS 7 year old Blended Malt Batch 04 (Speyside 1st-fill barrels and Islay refill hogsheads) - 50% ABV. Rating: 88. Notes of vanilla, toasted coconut, tropical fruit and sea salt, finishing dry, sweet and savory.

Caol Ila SMWS 53.298 (11 year - September 2007) "Tokaji and tug boats" - Refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 60.0% ABV. Rating: 91. Notes of coal smoke, oysters / mussels, lemon juice, honey and dessert wine. In the finish, medicinal peat smoke and peppermint that turned ashy with a salty dryness.

A Talisker 10 bar pour at a steak house restaurant last night with my wife and niece. A sociable, casual drink worthy for catching up on news of friends and family as the madness of the holiday season fast approaches.

Last night, rated my last open, unrated bottle.

Mortlach SMWS 76.144 (13 year - October 2005) "I caught the darkness..." - After 11 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill charred red wine barrique cask - 60.0% ABV. Rating: 91. Notes of charred wood, wine, strawberry, malt, plum, mulling spices and black tea.

@bwmccoy Mortlachs R Us these days it seems. I have a friend who is so enamoured with Mortlach lately that we have started calling him Morty.

Not having yet received my Springbank 15 or my Loch Lomond Croftengea or my Glenfarclas 21, alI still in transit somewhere, I am having to make do with Springbank CS, followed by Kilchoman 100% Islay and, just before dinner, finishing with wee Corryvreckan. Hey, it’s Friday night, what the hell.

After a satisfying bowl of cheesy polenta with roasted mushrooms. I'm having a dram of Yellow Spot 12. The bottle is in its final lap and its better than ever, round rich, the fruity elements are one with the more oily/mineral side.

@BlueNote - Mortloch is one of only two whiskies that I describe as “meaty / chewy”. The other being Edradour; a “straight from the cask” sherry cask, cask strength bottling that I picked up at the distillery in 2010.

Tonight, before dinner, I made my wife and I a hot toddy; 1 ounce whiskey (again, I used Copperworks new French oak single cask), 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1 tablespoon honey, 1/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup hot water and smoking, charred Cinnamon stick as a garnish.

It was OK, but not as good as the previous cocktail that I made. Not sure I will make this one again.

@bwmccoy Yeah, I’m thinking the lemon juice and the apple cider vinegar might overpower the other flavours. Do you, or anybody, have a good toddy recipe?

Last day of school yesterday and the first day of summer holidays today. Having a side by side of Kilkerran WIP 7 Bourbon Wood and Springbank 12 CS.

@BlueNote, you can use my olde family traditional recipe for eggnog, just substitute the term hot toddy for eggnog.... the results are identical.

Just had my first taste of an Israeli single malt. Not quite old enough to be called a whisky as @paddockjudge pointed out.

First (and last) impressions, different from other single malts I’ve tasted. But very promising.

A Friday night tasting sounds better than “what a terrible work week; get me a drink”.

• Blanton’s Original: I’m starting to better understand this flavour profile. It’s pleasant enough but I’m not sure I’d pay the crazy U.S. secondary prices some people pay. (86/100)
• Clynelish 14: This is getting better as it opens up. There’s a hint of smoke or maybe barrel char popping up. Pleasant, but I doubt I’ll replace it once it’s gone. (84/100)
• Laphroaig 10: this is a different profile than what I’m used to from Laphroaig 10. A bit less smoke than I normally expect, but tons of cinnamon and vanilla on the finish. (88/100)
• Russell’s Reserve 10: I was a little weary of a lower proof Wild Turkey at first, but the distillery profile just hits the right notes for me. It held up just fine after the Laphroaig. (87/100)