So, what are you drinking now?

WhiskyFun (y'all know it always comes up in the browser):

Caol Ila +/-2000 (55%, OB, +/-2002) --95 no notes

Caol Ila +/- 2017: Another expression I follow every year: This came with a dropper bottle in the bar. Less like the 2001--or even the 2000 year old--- Caol Ila drams I just reviewed before, but this baby still makes my heart beat at 43%. Great brine and olive oil, but combined with actual olives. Not quite as sweet as the olives I had with my pasta tonight. A very nice rooty/earthy side as well. I’d almost quote gentian. The holy grail! White rhum agricole. Oh my, the dropper bottle was entirely unnecessary. 86 points.

Kilkerran 8 yo (55.7%, OB, +/-2017) This is a powerful and honest dram. The color of this wee dram is baby wee. I've been following this release for six months already. The lemon wrapped in coal note*--infused with vanilla--,is a bit like Maxwell's Silver Hammer.There's definitely some dunnage funk, but where's the "dunnage funk" usually associated with Springbank? Oh there it is on the back end! I know a friend who thought he would get Kilkerran, while his dear wife had purchased a bottle of Kilbeggan instead. Last I checked, they’re not even divorced yet. 90 points.

3)Springbank 12 yo 'Cask Strength' (57.1%, OB, 2019) - 260416 No points, no descriptive words, no friend whose dear wife bought Kilbeggan. Good is good.

---

*That lemon wrapped in coal really does describe what I most like about Kilkerran 8. Ryan, you should trademark it.

I wish I could say I’m surprised @Nozinan.

I can tell you, currently living in a country where the government consistently underfunds its education system, we do not want to go down that road....

Port Charlotte 10: I haven't a bad bottle of this: 50% abv., Bruichladdich barley, wine done right, peat smoke without medicine. In one word without a number: savory.

I should have added that I find Serge V. incredibly helpful, in some ways more than Ralfy. His regular reviews of some batches line up directly with my taste. I was just taking the wee...

Tonight, Dailuaine SMWS 41.121 (14 year - Aug, 2004) "There will be blood orange" - After 12 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, finished in a medium charred, fine grain 2nd-fill French oak barrique cask - 58.9% ABV.

Westland Distillery (Seattle, WA) Single malt (Washington Select Pale Malt) Cask # 2549 Single cask release, cask strength (4 years 2 months) - 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon (Heaven Hills) cask - 60.1% ABV

Just poured some Maker’s 46.

Wilder v Fury 2 about to start... Let’s go Gypsy King!!

Yes!!!

And.....now for some Lot 40 in celebration of the Gypsy King’s win!!

@Nozinan You give me far more credit than I deserve.

I'm sipping some Laphroaig Cairdeas Fino Cask, diluted down to about 42% abv with distilled water. It's still pretty darned good, but I prefer it neat.

I watched Horst Luening and his son Ben do their review of this whisky and it underscored the fact that palates are incredibly variable, through generations (for them) and geography/culture (for me). Horst did not seem to like this one at all, and one of Ben's comments really stuck out. He stated that Fino Sherry is "very dry and nutty, it's not the kind of thing you want to drink, use it in cooking maybe, but not to drink". Excuse me, but dry is very much something I look for in most wines I drink. Horst was overwhelmed by the smoke and didn't get any fruitiness. My notes include "lemon, oranges, white grapes, grilled pineapple" among other more colourful terms. Ben seemed to like the Cairdeas Fino a little more than Horst, but they clearly both enjoy sweeter whiskies...which is fine.

@Jonathan I enjoy reading Serge and Angus, but Serge's palate is incredibly different from my own (and far more experienced). To wit, he rated the Glen Garioch 1999/2013 Sherry Cask Batch 30 quite favourably (89/100 points) and didn't mind the "touch of sulphur", which I didn't find completely overwhelming, but it bothered me enough that I rated the same whisky 76/100 points.

@OdysseusUnbound So Horst and Ben like different flavours and that’s fine? Given the whisky you were taking about I am disappointed you didn’t instead say “that’s fino”....

Keep up the good fight.

Today / tonight, rating some open bottles;

Glenlossie SMWS 46.77 (26 year - Nov 1992) "Garden centres and weddings" - Refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 53.6% ABV - Rating: 94. Apple blossoms or apples being pressed for cider. Absolutely beautiful.

Braeval SMWS 113.24 (7 year - Oct. 2011) "Attack of the killer florists!" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 63.4% ABV - Rating: 90. Floral is not usually a flavor that I seek out in my whisky, but this is floral on steroids and does it so well that it is impossible not to love it. The floral note reminds me a floral hopped "West-coast"-style IPA beer.

Bruichladdich 1984 23 Year Old Golder Still - Rating: 96. They just don't make whisky like this anymore. Barley sugars, biscuits, vanilla, almond and toffee with a hint of smoke in the finish.

Next, I did a head-to-head-to-head comparison of three open Caol Ila bottles, only one of which was previously rated.

First up was the previously rated bottle; Caol Ila SMWS 53.298 (11 year - September 2007) "Tokaji and tug boats" - Refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 60.0% ABV - Rating: 91

Caol Ila SMWS 53.304 (11 year - Sep 2007) "Rose petals on a rock pool" - Refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 59.5% ABV - Rating: 90. This is very similar to the one above, but it's a little lighter flavor profile and is a little more briny; not as much wet ash that as I usually detect in most Society Caol Ila bottlings.

Caol Ila SMWS 53.305 (10 year - Sep. 2008) "Totally tropical smoke" - Refill ex-bourbon hogshead" - 59.8% ABV - Rating: 92. This is sweeter than the other two and has a bigger flavor explosion. This is my favorite of the three.

@bwmccoy Love the sound of that Laddie. Lucky you.

@BlueNote - I was fortunate. When I purchased this Golder Still bottle in 2012, it retailed for $330, but it was on sale for $180. Otherwise, I would have never bought it.

Last night, I rated another open bottle by conducting a head-to-head comparison with a previously rated bottle from the same distillery.

First up the previously rated bottle; Copperworks Distilling Company (Seattle, WA) American Single Malt Whiskey, Single Cask No. 97, Distillery Release No. 16. Aged 38 months in a new French oak cask - 58.9%. Rating 87. This bottle has always displayed bourbon-like qualities. So much so that I have used it in cocktails that call for bourbon. However, there is no cherry element often found in bourbons. Instead, the finish displays dark fruits. It is a deep, brooding dram.

Next, Copperworks Distilling Company SMWS Cask sample (46 months - Mar. 2016) - New oak (18 month air seasoned staves) heavy toast, medium char (#2) - 60.2% ABV. This bottle was drawn from the cask that will eventually become the Society’s first release from this distillery when it is bottled later this year. In comparison to the French oak cask, this bottle is very similar, except that it is “lighter and brighter“. The flavor pops more in the finish of this one. This bottle does have some traditional cherry notes which makes it even more “bourbon-like” than the French oak. There is also some cinnamon on the palate. Even though there are subtle differences between the two, I found them similar enough that I rated this bottle the same: 87.

Laphroaig Quarter Cask and thoroughly enjoying it....

@CanadianNinja - Had some from a bottle at my Mum's recently and really enjoyed it. Often under £30 in the UK and at that price it's an absolute steal.

@CanadianNinja Used to be available in Calgary for under $50. I wish I had stocked up then...

@Nozinan Even in Ontario, it was about $68 for the longest time. Wish I'd picked up a few more. It's one of the more consistently good to great NAS malt whiskies around.

It’s one of my favourites @RianC!

Also very reasonably priced here, I can get it for between 3000¥~4000¥($30~$40).

How much would it be these days @Nozinan?

@OdysseusUnbound, I’ve gone through several bottles of the Quarter Cask over the years and I’ve never been disappointed. Not once.

Rating another open bottle;

The Big Swirl SMWS 10 year old Blended Malt Batch 07 - Ex-Spanish oak casks + ex-bourbon casks matured for final 2 years in 1st-fill ex-sherry hogshead - 50% ABV. Rating 88. Typical sherry nose. Palate is lighter; citrus, dried fruits, dry. Medium long finish.

Attending my first Bristol Whisky Society event this evening at the Royal Navy Volunteer (the use of the word volunteer here conjures up images of drunken 'deadbeats' being donked on the head and carted off to serve in the Navy - but that's another story ;) Hopefully come Friday morning I'll be in my own bed and not out at sea

The theme is 'West Coast All-Stars' so I imagine some common yet enjoyable fayre. I'm thinking Talisker, some Islays, Oban ... that kind of thing. Who knows, perhaps they'll surprise me but I'm looking forward to the craic and chat as much as anything. With having two wee nippers having a night off to be a 'real person' feels like a huge treat!

I shall report back ...

Drinking Maker’s Mark CS.....again....

I just got a hit of umeshu (Japanese plum liquor)! Fantastic!

Tonight, rated my final unrated open bottle;

Girvan SMWS G7.15 (34 year - May 1984) "Mind-altering hugs" - After 32 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a new oak hogshead, heavy toast/medium char for the final 2 years - 57.2% ABV. Rating: 90. Smoked meat, smell of a steakhouse. Meaty. Most complex grain whisky that I’ve ever tasted. Love it!

After that, I was looking for a snack and found some leftover Bailey’s Irish Cream milkshake in the freezer, so I finished that off.

Finishing the night with a heavily peated Highlander; Glenturret SMWS 16.33 (8 year - Dec. 2009) "Melville’s other monster" from a re-charred hogshead - 62.0% ABV. This one blows me away every time I have it. Sadly, it’s almost gone.

BenRiach..... Birnie Moss Intensely Peated....

I’m getting peat.....

Right now, I’m drinking coffee because it is 7:30am, but last night, I had a healthy pour of Linkwood 15 Year Old from Gordon & Macphail. Lovely whisky!

Had a few drams of Glen Scotia Victoriana with my brother. First one was a toast for @RianC. I have not tried this expression before but it's quite interesting, very rich. I think there's some casks that were re-racked in re-charred oak and PX.

@RianC - I don’t have any 40 year old whisky open, so tonight I’m celebrating your birthday with 3 drams that their combined age is 40. I’m finishing with the 10 year old in honor of your 10 birthdays.

Bladnoch SMWS 50.56 (23 year - July 1990) ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside!’ from a refill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.3% ABV.

Glenallachie SMWS 107.16 (7 year - Apr. 2011) "Truly a fairy tale" from a 2nd-fill toasted oak butt - 67.0% ABV.

Caol Ila SMWS 53.305 (10 year - Sep. 2008) "Totally tropical smoke" from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead" - 59.8% ABV.

Happy Birthday!

Last night: Ardbog, from a sample traded with friends. It's pretty darn good, but nothing to get silly over.