So, what are you drinking now?

Tonight, Balmenach SMWS 48.42 (10 year - Nov. 2002) "Grown-Up Ice Lollies" from a first-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 56.7% ABV. Tastes like Juicy Fruit gum.

Followed by Glen Scotia SMWS 93.112 (14 year - Feb. 2004) "Sweet and grubby" from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 53.7% ABV. The nose is engine room on a sub. Palate is of course funky; furniture polish and spackling (in a good way).

Last night, a large pour of Glen Scotia 15 - still getting to know this but it's slowly growing on me. Noticeably malty and slightly grimy after all the rum lately. I think its charm lies in its subtlety; honey, toffee and soft baking spices with just a hint of the Campbeltown signature.

This bottle may not hang around ...

Since we're amongst friends, I have a confession - I drank this while watching a Chick Norris film, Lone Wolf McQuade, on Netfilx. David Carradine was the bad guy and Barbara Carrera played the helpless beauty, so not all bad ...

My critical assessment - Mr Norris does not a Mr Eastwood make

Having some Maker’s Cask Strength... again!

‘My critical assessment - Mr Norris does not a Mr Eastwood make’

HOW DARE YOU @RianC!

FACT - Once a cobra bit Chuck Norris on the leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the cobra died.

@CanadianNinja - In fairness, the film tried a bit too hard to be a 'modern' western and, well, it's a Chuck Norris film ha! Stick to bad ass roundhouses and rocking the stone-washed denim and it's all gravy.

And yeah, I probably need to get back to work soon as I'm now analysing the artistic merits of 80s action films

Whatever you do. never forget to wear your action jeans @RianC!!

You never know when you’ll need to roundhouse some motherf&@“ers!

@CanadianNinja @RianC who’s the last man standing in a Chuck Norris, Dwayne Johnson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Lee brawl?

@CanadianNinja - I need some new jeans, as it happens I've never seen those before but, yes, oh God yes ... That said, I now know who my Dad styled himself after back in the day

@BlueNote - in reality, the Rock; simply on size. He's a mountain! In fantasy land though, Bruce Lee; but only after the longest Royal Rumble in history, where ultimately Lee breaks the demonic ghost of Chuck's neck with his foot, again, while going 'Phwooooaaaaaeeeeeoooooaaaaar!' and looking awesome! This time though, in front of a sell-out crowd of gangsters at the old Wemberly stadium.

@RianC sorry to interrupt the deeply analytical discussion on the esteemed martial artists but... I was interested to see how you'd find the GlenScotia 15. Yes restrained or subtle are suitable terms. Good, malty whisky, easy to drink but overly memorable were my impressions. Just a hint of Campbeltown is right. Oh, and Bruce Lee all the way (the others are fakers)

@RianC This discussion reminds me a bit of when this video of a friendly “sparring” match between Hafthor Bjornsson and Conor McGregor was posted. People got incredibly upset and angry arguing one guy over the other.

My two cents, fwiw, is that speed and skill can only take you so far. McGregor is 5’9” and fights at about 170lbs while Bjornsson (who is literally the strongest man in the world right now) is 6’8” and 450 lbs (all muscle, with abs showing). That’s just too big a difference. I think Bjornsson could crush McGregor the way The Mountain crushed The Viper on GoT.

@OdysseusUnbound Just gave the The Dulce de Tequila a go. Not bad at all and I understand you classifying it as a “dessert cocktail” Thanks for sharing!

@RianC in relation to your fear about your new standing as an 80's B-movie critic, what's that saying "if you're reading this, it's too late"

@OdysseusUnbound how dare you compare the Red Viper of Dorne to Connor! Oberyn had way more class!

I’m having my own battle tonight. It’s the battle of the Old Fashioneds. First up; an Old Fashioned made with OGD 114. Next up; a WT 101 Old Fashioned.

@BlueNote, in all seriousness the answer to your question is most likely Chuck Norris. He’s the only legitimate fighter of the bunch.

Normally I would agree with your comments regarding the importance of size @RianC. The Rock is a huge man and if the difference is big enough, that’s usually all you need. I don’t know if he takes a prime Chuck out in a real fight though. Norris holds black bets in judo and bjj. I’d put my money on him choking out the Rock.... Unless Dwayne has any amateur wrestling experience.... does he??

@OdysseusUnbound, I couldn’t disagree with you more.

If Thor got a hold of him in the first 20 seconds? For sure, Conor’s done.

But in reality Thor would totally gas in about a minute and Conor would mount him and choke him with ease IMO.

Mark my words, if this ‘boxing match’ between Thor and Eddie actually comes to fruition, it will be one terrible ‘fight’. Two giants gassing out in about half a round! Haha!

Tonight, my wife and I attended a virtual Japanese whisky tasting hosted by the local chapter of Women Who Whiskey. (Our tasting setup pictured below.)

First up were two rice whiskies;

Ohishi Port Cask 43.3% ABV and

Ohishi Islay Cask 42.8% ABV.

Both Ohishi’s are first aged in Brandy casks. The port was finished in ruby port casks and the Islay was finished in former Laphroaig casks. I was surprised how much peat came through on the Islay cask. Iodine on the nose. Earthy on the palate. The port cask was very nice as well. I’m not saying I would run out and buy these, but I did enjoy them.

Next up was Matsui Sakura Cask at 46% ABV. This one was malt. Sakura is cherry wood casks. This one was the most unique / interesting, but also my least favorite. A lot of cherry blossom on the nose and palate; too much, not balanced.

The final whisky of the tasting was malt as well; Kurayoshi 12 year at 46% ABV. A nice mix of ex-bourbon (vanilla) and sherry (raisin) notes. This was the most balanced / well-rounded whisky of the night.

None of the whiskies blew me away, but it was fun to try 4 whiskies that I’ve never had before.

Finished the night with Talisker Select Reserve "House Greyjoy" Game of Thrones Limited Edition bottling - 45.8% ABV while playing on-line poker with my brother-in-law and some of his friends.

Sounds good @bwmccoy! Well done.

I’m just about to have a glass of Mars Maltage Cosmo. A blended malt from the Shinshu distillery.

I’ve had this many times before. It’s a decent whisky.

On the nose, cherry and vanilla.

On the palate, fresh barley, bitter chocolate and tangerines.

@CanadianNinja - Don't know about Dwayne but wasn't his Dad a pro wrestler? Must have picked up a few moves if so?

@OdysseusUnbound - watching that McGregor clip is interesting and CM is clearly fitter. You may be right @CanadianNinja about him going the distance and choking out but I got the sense watching that that if the big man made a serious effort to grab CM, and succeeded, it's over. Those stomach hits certainly weren't tickling though

@CanadianNinja I'm no fight expert so take my assessment with a mountain-sized grain of salt...

• Thor is in much better shape than most people think. World's Strongest Man competitions aren't exclusively brute force affairs. Several events require muscular endurance and some speed. He was also a pretty high level basketball player before getting into bodybuilding/strongman so his "base level conditionning" (GPP) is pretty decent. Certainly not McGregor or GSP level conditionning, but better than people give him credit for.
• Thor has a huge reach advantage over Conor. How is Conor going to get close enough to Thor to hurt him without dying? Yes, McGregor is quicker, but is he quick enough to get close to Bjornsson, hurt him, and get away with his jaw intact?
• In a ring, Thor isn't going to chase Conor around. At least, I can't imagine him being that easily fooled.
• The strength differential is insane. Bjornsson has over 200lbs more muscle than McGregor. I'm sure McGregor is no weakling, but once Thor gets a hold of him it's over. There would be no escaping that vice-grip. And with a neck as thick as Thor's, I'm not sure McGregor could generate enough strength and leverage to choke him out.

I think McGregor or any high-level MMA fighter could beat "regular" fit guys who outweigh them by 40lbs-50lbs for sure, but I think a guy like Thor Bjornsson is just too big, too strong. I feel as though it would be the equivalent of me fighting a silverback gorilla. I may be smarter (depending on who you ask) but that intelligence is no match for the massive difference in brute force in hand to hand combat. Incidentally, Thor outweighs the average male silverback (approx. 360lbs). I don't think Thor could win a fight against a silverback though. Gorillas don't usually follow MMA rules.

For sure @RianC.

If Thor got his hands on him within the first minute, Conor is finished.

But if Conor is able to avoid him for that first minute.... Thor will need oxygen and Conor would have him in an RNC.

Haha! I love discussing stupid shit like this!

@CanadianNinja Funny you mention "tiring". I'm not an expert so I went to YouTube looking for someone who is qualified (or more qualified than me) and here's what I found. He seems to agree with my assessment.

@CanadianNinja My favourite part of that video is when he says

“What would my advice be to Conor McGregor if this fight was real? Run away. Run away as always as you can.”

I’m all about these kids of ridiculous debates @OdysseusUnbound! Haha!

Thor is definitely in good cardiovascular shape for a strongman competitor. But that really isn’t saying much. You can’t even compare the cardio with him and Conor. Thor would be LUCKY to last 2 minutes cardio-wise in a fight. Fighting is NOT basketball. NOTHING drains cardio like a competitive fight. Nothing.

If Thor gets his hands on Conor? Yeah.... it would be murder. A man that large and strong? There’s nothing almost anyone could do to him regardless of their training.

But when you’re gassed.... it just doesn’t matter how big or strong you are. When you’re gassed you are utterly incapable of defending yourself, especially against someone who is so much more skilled than you are.

I actually had a similar experience about a month ago. I was sparring with a guy in my gym, he has about ...20lbs on me? His boxing was decent....his cardio was awful. By the third round he had nothing in the tank and I was tuning him up at will.

Make no mistake about it.... Fatigue makes cowards of us all! ; )

@CanadianNinja I never tire of silly debates. I thought fatigue might be a factor for sure. What I found interesting is the guy in the video seems to think it wouldn’t be as big a factor as most people believe.

In the video, he talks about a strongman friend of his with no fight experience who weighed around 245lbs fighting highly skilled guys who weighed 165lbs or so. According to the video dude, it wasn’t even close. The bigger guy won every time. The same guy did a “shark tank” wherein he fought a “fresh” fighter every minute or so and didn’t call it quits until minute 57. He believes Thor could learn to control his breathing fairly easily and that the only real hope McGregor would have is if he could somehow get Thor into a “heel hook”. I don’t know what that is, but it sounds unpleasant.

I can’t imagine wanting to be that close to Thor in a fight. I mean, yeah I can try to grab his foot, but that puts me close enough that he could put his hands on me and rip me in half.

I’d better not tell Thor that I think vodka (his or any other) sucks.

Very interesting @OdysseusUnbound!

Haha! I can tell you one thing....a heel hook is NOT FUN! Haha!

@CanadianNinja The funniest part of the Ramsay Dewey video I posted is in the comments: “If Halfthor Bjornsson is that big, imagine how big FullThor is.”

That heel hook does not look like a good time....

Tonight, Bruichladdich 1984 23 Year Old Golder Still.

@OdysseusUnbound, haha! I didn’t notice that.... That’s hilarious!

I’m now having a glass of Bunnahabhain Toiteach.

Giving this time to oxidate really brings out dates and strong black pepper on the palate. Love it!

A mojito, pre-dinner, with Wray & Nephew overproof rum. In hot whether, no other cocktail comes close, does it? Perfect rum for it too!

I’m also sipping some rum. El Dorado 15 Year old. It’s a totally different flavour profile than Appleton 12 Year. I realize El Dorado “doses” their rums, and it’s apparent here. I’ve read that the 15 isn’t as sweet as the 12, and if that’s true then I’m glad I skipped over the 12 and went right to the 15. It’s quite sweet. There are some interesting flavours (molasses, vanilla, some ginger, a touch of clove), and I do like it. I also appreciate the fact that El Dorado’s age statements are “true” age statements; their age statements correspond to the youngest rum in the vatting.