So, what are you drinking now?

Tonight, Highland Park 17 year (Sep. 2002) After 15 years in an ex-bourbon barrel, finished in a Refill Jamaican rum barrel - 57.1% ABV. In my opinion, the rum finish is too much; it overpowers the whisky. Not bad, but not balanced.

Finishing with a peated Croftengea (Loch Lomond) SMWS 122.23 (7 year - Feb. 11th, 2011) "Highly a-musing" from a second-fill ex-bourbon hogshead - 57.7% ABV. Dang, this is so good!

@bwmccoy, cheers, mate! I'm over the worst but these things take ages to fully heal up. You know somethings gross when your three year old boy runs away from it

Had a wee pour of JW Black just now and it tasted beautIful. I had thought too much air had got in last time and that it was going flat but not a bit of it. Whet my whistle nicely and now onto Redbreast 12 CS with a Tali 18 to cap the night off later.

My nephew is over for the first time this year. There are a number of now open bottles he hasn’t tried yet. Tonight he chose Kaiyo CS Mizunara wood. A lot of air time really helps this one.

My company had our holiday party tonight. The whisky and beer selection was very limited. I had a few Manhattan’s made with Bulleit bourbon. Not the best Manhattan’s, but drinkable.

Ventured out for a lovely Mexican meal earlier at a place with a great mezcal menu. I had a double Del Maguey Mezcal Chichicapa with steak and chipotle beans. All was excellent but honestly, considering I was going to splash over £70 on a bottle, the Montelobos I have (£40) is no worse. Thats off very limited experience, mind.

Now having an Arran 10 James McT edition after letting the bottle sit for a few months and it's better thAn ever. Beautiful notes of tropical fruit and some damp earth notes coming out with more air exposure.

The weather here is crappy, damp, cool, and rainy. It called for a cosy Peaty dram - Port Charlotte 10. It hit the spot and has spurred an inquiry. What's the deal with air time and Bourbon? A poor batch of Stagg Jr. Batch 3, has been left 1/3 in the bottle for about one year, 6 months. It has greatly improve with air time. I don't regret returning the spare.

@fiddich1980

I've heard that air time can do wonders for bourbon. As I gas most of my bottles I've never really explored this.

The weather is simply terrible here. Near freezing, cold rain, sometimes so much that some of the roads are partly flooded. I was driving around delivering certificates that go along with my job, and when my half day of call finished I was really looking forward to my next appointment with the Boutique-y advent calendar, but we turned the oven on to clean and that put an end to nosing anything...

I’m sipping some Blanton’s Original. My first bottle is almost done and I think I’m understanding it better. It’s different. It’s pleasant. But I’m not sure I’d pay more than the Ontario asking price of $65/bottle. Heck, I’m not sure I’ll buy another bottle after I finish my second one.

@OdysseusUnbound "Pleasant", is the operative word. I just wish the Blanton's Original had more character. I poured a heel from a bottle and it just does peek my interest to finish it off. Maybe, pleasant to the point of being pedestrian.

I’m now sipping some Russell’s Reserve 10 Year. Totally different character than Blanton’s.

Totally different distillery.

Blanton's is another of those Buffalo Trace bourbons which has shown me a great deal of batch variation. I didn't like it at all for years. Then my brother-in-law gave me a 375 ml bottle of Blanton's Original, and I thought, "Oh no, he picked one I don't much like." That turned out to be an excellent bottle. I don't count on them tasting the same from one bottle to the next.

@Victor A friend recently stated “I like scotch better than bourbon since bourbon all basically tastes the same.”

I obviously disagreed. He asked me to name 2 totally different tasting bourbons and I named standard Maker’s and Four Roses Small Batch just off the top of my head, but I could easily have mentioned Blanton’s and Russell’s Reserve. The Blanton’s is getting better with time, or maybe I’m understanding it better. Now I wouldn’t pay some of the US secondary prices I’m seeing online, but it’s good.

The Russell’s hasn’t really changed. I enjoy it, but I don’t think I’d go out of my way to get another one. With currency conversion, it cost me about the same as WT 101. I think I prefer the 101, or maybe I like them the same. Either way, my parents are gun-shy about what they bring back from Florida for me, so I don’t want to “waste” my selections on something I don’t love or something I can get here. (I’m hoping they can bring back some New Riff and Elijah Craig Barrel Proof for me this year, or maybe an Old Forester 1920s Prohibition).

@OdysseusUnbound just have your parents call you from the liquor store floor asking you which of the options available you might be interested in. That way there is no confusion. Sure if you have to pay an added $ 10 for cell calls to and from the US. Politely excuse yourself from teaching your class if you have to. My sister consults with me frequently on potential purchases from the liquor store floors.

Made a “smoked” Manhattan with Old Grandad 114 tonight. For the smoke, I burned some bourbon soaked oak chips with a butane torch, placing a chilled martini glass over it to infuse the smoke in the condensation.

Those of you that live in areas that have real winter weather will laugh, but when it snows an inch or two in the Seattle area, everything comes to a complete halt. The local news broadcasts non-stop “Snowmageddon” coverage...

Anyway, working from home today due to the snow and decided to make an Irish coffee with Jameson.

@bwmccoy What vermouth and bitters are you using in your Manhatten's. I'm always looking to try something new to possibly improve mine. I have a cocktail smoker box I use occasionally to smoke my Manhatten's. Puts a nice twist on them I think. I usually use Carpano Antica and some whiskey barrel aged aromatic bitters.

@TracerBullet - I make my Manhattan's with equal parts dry and sweet vermouth. For dry, I use Dolin, which I have been very happy with. I'm embarrassed to say that for sweet, I have been trying to use up a bottle of Martini & Rossi Rosso, but I plan to get something much better when this is used up. For bitters, I use Angostura aromatic. I use 1.5 ounces of whiskey (I prefer Rye, but Old Grandad 114 has a high rye mash bill so it is kind of the best of both worlds). 3/4 ounce equal parts sweet and dry vermouth, 2 dashes of bitters and a Luxardo maraschino cherry. If I want a little sweeter Manhattan, I will mix in a little of the cherry syrup.

@bwmccoy Pretty much the same story in Vancouver. Two inches of snow=total chaos.

@bwmccoy, @BlueNote, Washington D.C. is the same way with a couple of inches of snow.

I am sipping a little Kavalan Port Cask Cask Strength, 58.6% ABV as I watch Louisiana State University and Clemson play the US College Football Championship Game. Go Tigers! (both teams are named Tigers)

@Victor my wife is at the game with her parents. Her dad attended Clemson back in the day. He has had season tickets for decades. I am just here watching the TV and sipping on my freshly opened Highland Park Single Cask Series 12yo 62.6% 2005-2018 Refill Puncheon cask 3793 for Austria. First impressions? Sherry dominant. Big notes of dark fruit with light peat peppering in. Is this the 12yo on steroids? Maybe. This seems to have far more sherry influence. Or maybe the Dark Origin (no sulfur) on steroids? It is big, thick Highland Park. Very pleased.

Do I care about the game? Not really. The whisky has far more to capture my attention.

@Nock that is good to hear that your new special Highland Park 12 is completely unlike that truly nasty bottle of OB Highland Park 12 which you once shared with me.

Where do you put all of those bottles? I have about run out of room to store new bottles here. My sister has purchased several new pieces of furniture in the last few years just to store her new bottles of liquor (she's an omniboire where spirits are concerned). I don't currently have space for more furniture. Maybe after I prune the possessions down a bit storage will become easier.

@Victor, I finally found a standard Highland Park 12yo that brought me back into the fold in 2017. I bought two backups which each came with free 18yo 50mL miniatures. This 12yo at 62.6% is just gravy on top.

I don’t think I have as many bottles as you do (saying nothing of your sister’s collection). But I did a lot of work to catch up in 2019. Hopefully I can host you down here at our house in the not too distant future and you can see for yourself.

@Nock I'm ready for that adventure.

More in the category of "drinking now": I'm having some Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask, 57.1% ABV, some standard WhistlePig 10 yo Rye, 50% ABV, and some OB Mortlach 12 yo, 43.4% ABV. The Kavalan Sherry remains outstanding. The WhistlePig is always good. My bottle of Mortlach 12 remains sulphured.

January 15, 2010 - January 15, 2020!

@Wodha - Wow! Can’t believe it has been 10 years. Time flies!

Last night, with snow on the ground and a chill in the air, a heavily peated whisky sounded perfect! Glenturret SMWS 16.33 (8 year - Dec. 2009) "Melville’s other monster" from a re-charred hogshead - 62.0% ABV.

@bwmccoy Yeah! A decade, come and gone. I thank you and everyone else for contributing to what is easily the longest thread I’ve ever been involved in, and the most interesting. Apparently we have a lot to say about Scotch Whisky!

I wish everyone a happy and successful 2020 in everything they’re doing!

I may need to open this 2016 Puni “Nova” Batch #1 I’ve been saving since our trip to Italy...

@Wodha - same to you; hope your 2020 is great. Thanks for starting this epic thread.

@Victor I lived in Taipei, Taiwan 1987-1991 and visit the island often. Kavalan is a serious group making serious whisky. I visited the distillery about a year ago. Top shelf, certainly.

Have you tried their King Car Conductor? I highly recommend it!

kavalanwhisky.com/en/product-detailed.aspx/…

@Wodha yes, I've tasted King Car Conductor and about 6 other Kavalan offerings. I like the distillery quality generally but I find it quite expensive for what it is, in my area. The only Kavalans I would likely buy are the Solist Sherry and Solist Vinho Barrique. The samples of Solist Sherry and Port Cask Cask Strength I have been drinking recently are from bottles purchased by my sister who bought them in the Taipei Airport Travel Retail.

@Wodha, whoda thunk it?!... such a simple question "So, what are you drinking now?" would stimulate 10 years of dialogue with thousands of comments?

Thanks for putting it out there.