So, what are you drinking now?

Today (Thursday), is my wife and I’s 15th wedding anniversary. We’re not officially celebrating until this weekend, but in honor of our special day, we finished off one of our special bottles;

Glenmorangie 15 Year Sauternes Wood Finish - 46% ABV. We picked up this bottle at the distillery in 2010. It was signed by Dr. Bill a few months later. We didn’t open it until we moved into our current house in 2016. It’s been open for over 3.5 years. It’s as good today, if not better, than the day we opened it. Such a beautiful whisky.

Also finished off my favorite heavily peated Highlander; Glenturret SMWS 16.33 (8 year - Dec. 2009) "Melville’s other monster" from a re-charred hogshead - 62.0% ABV. I’m really going to miss this one.

Happy anniversary @bwmccoy!

@bwmccoy Congrats on 15 years!!!

@bwmccoy Congrats! Quite a feat today! Wishing you two many more years of health and happiness!

@bwmccoy a Very Happy 15th Wedding Anniversary to you! What a great blessing it is to have an excellent partner in life, and what a great blessing it is to travel through life with a woman who loves whisky!

@bwmccoy Happy anniversary. Have a great weekend. If you continue to match the age of your whiskey with the years of your marriage, your 50th anniversary is going to be an expensive one.

@bwmccoy - Happy anniversary!

Recovering from a nasty bout of man flu currently but find my palate is performing quite well considering. Fancied some sherry tonight and opened with a Glenfarclass 25 - better than my first pour and much more expressive. Quite heavy on the oak though, especially at the finish. Then a Springbank 15 (See review).

Now having a sample of Glenallachie 15 courtesy of @Wierdo whilst catching up on season 5 of Fear the Walking Dead ( ... that Alacia ... Oops, troglodyte alert!). Well-sherried stuff again (or is that well-wined?); this reminds me of Cotswold juice i.e. more of a fruit basket than a total sherry bomb, but certainly a sweet one.

The 'farclas may have just edged this mini-flight ...

@CanadianNinja, @talexander, @TracerBullet and @RianC - Thank you!

@Victor - Thank you and well said, as always!

@BlueNote - Thank you! If I make it to my 50th, I will be 90 years old. Hopefully, I put enough away for retirement that I can at least think about it! :-)

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

Finishing with, Glen Scotia SMWS 93.106 (13 year - March 2005) "Red diesel". After 12 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill Port hogshead - 58.6% ABV

@bwmccoy, congratulations to you and the Mrs. Happy Anniversary!

@paddockjudge - Thank you! We’ll officially be celebrating later tonight. I’ll be opening a bottle Balvenie 21 Portwood that my wife gave me for our anniversary 3 years ago.

It is the first day of Spring Break for me. I have a mountain of grading . . . but that will wait until Monday.

Today, I have decided on a deep dive with my very small sample of Lagavulin 25yo 51.7% 2016 200th Anniversary sherry casks 8000 bottles.

There are still bottles available to me for about $1419 (with tax). So, I purchased a small 30mL sample back in October to see if I liked it enough to spring that kind of money. I sampled part of it in October while today was the rest. I had as tasting partners Lagavulin 16yo 43% (standard) and Talisker 25yo 57.2% (2005 release).

The short answer is . . . No. I won’t be buying this bottle. I easily would buy for $300-$500 and might at $600.

The short of it? Strong sherry notes mingle in rounded harmony with underground peat notes. The peat is mostly gone (not the case with Talisker 25yo) until the finish. It is an excellent whisky but it simply doesn’t push my buttons. The Lagavulin 25yo really reminds me of those old Ardbeg Uigeadails where the old sherry casks are the star elevated by peat. That, but more rounded . . . and less peat.

I ended up scoring both the Lagavulin 25yo and the Talisker 25yo a 93 (closer to a 92). Great whiskies. I would rather hunt down an older Talisker 25yo Cask Strength at auction than spring all that money for the Lagavulin 25yo.

I was scanning the LCBO flagship store today. Nothing of interest caught my eye but Appleton had a free tasting event with old fashion cocktails and food. They were promoting their new bottle label and design. I've never gotten around to trying the Appleton 12. It was very enjoyable neat, a nice degree of funk, citrus, and olive oil. I've been looking for a palate reset. This rum does the trick.

I’m having Saturday afternoon drinks at my mother in law’s. I opened a bottle of Four Roses Single Barrel I got for my birthday. It’s incredibly fruity (pears, peaches, apricots) on the palate and the finish is all oak, coconut, and caramels. I’m now sipping some Bearface on the rocks. It’s better than I remember it being.

@OdysseusUnbound Anything is better after a few drinks...

Anniversary celebrations off to a good start!

Balvenie 21 year old port wood finish. I had forgotten just how good this whisky is!

@Nosebleed is visiting from Calgary, having transported a number of stranded bottles for some of my friends for future distribution.

After a home-made Korean BBQ Kalbi dinner and dessert including @fiddich1980's recipe for Guiness cake, we settled down for a dram. Given the palate onslaught of dinner, it had to be something bold, so I introduced him to Alberta Premium CS.

The irony that he had to come to Ontario to taste from a bottle purchased in Calgary...

@Nozinan looks like one heck of a feast.

Housewarming party at my girlfriends place. Beyond the cheese and charcuterie plates. I set up a self serve sloppy joe station.

I started with a dram of old ezra 7 barrel proof. Worked my way to Yellow spot 12 and now I'm trying to be more extroverted while having a dram of Balblair 91.

@cricklewood That it was.

We finished of with a small pour of Wiser's 23...quite delicious. Only my second taste of it I think.

@Nozinan What a spread. I love that set of bowls.

@Nosebleed's last night in Toronto. We started with a small pour of Solan. He and I found this Indian whisky a few years ago and tried it in Calgary. I was more impressed then than at any subsequent time and tonight was no different. The whisky ended up in the sink.

Then we moved on to Glenmorangie Original 10 YO. I haven't poured this since I opened it and reviewed it in July. He was gifted a bottle and we felt it would be best if he tried it before opening his own. Not a bad whisky but not exciting.

Finally a small pour of Amrut cask strength, 2007 Special edition. This one never ceases to impress me. The subsequent batches are very good but not quite as good. Glad I picked a few up when they were available. Sometimes FORO works out...

@Nozinan I had the 43% version in Mexico. It's a pretty surprising upgrade on the 40% one we get here. Cheap too at $54.

@BlueNote I assume you are referring to the Glenmorangie... The Solan is close to 43% (and it didn't help) and the Amrut is obviously not 40%.

@Nozinan yes, sorry, I didn’t specify. The Glenmorangie 10.

On Sunday night, another dram of Balvenie 21 year old port wood finish. 43% ABV.

Tonight (Monday), Linkwood 15 Year Old / Gordon & Macphail. 43% ABV.

The new Balblair 15 with the new labeling and packaging. Absolutely lovely stuff.

Balmenach SMWS 48.42 (10 year - Nov. 2002) "Grown-Up Ice Lollies" from a first-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 56.7% ABV. Juicy fruit.

Caol Ila SMWS 53.298 (11 year - September 2007) "Tokaji and tug boats" from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 60.0% ABV. Sweet, savory peat.

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

It looks as though my wife and I will have an extended March Break. Schools in Ontario will be closed from March 14 through to April 5. I’m having some A’Bunadh Batch 58 while I watch these developments.

@OdysseusUnbound And I see you have chosen an A'Bunadh above the magical ABV of 60% - If it doesn't kill COVID in your throat in a pricing you can use it as hand sanitizer. At current rates on Amazon, the price is about the same...

With shipping, the equivalent of $200 for 700 cc!