So, what are you drinking now?

@BlueNote

I am sure they are using Jim Murray's home as a storage facility.

@ajjarrett Only if he gave it 99.5 points and certified it sulphur free.

As the clock ran down on 2020, I enjoyed a rare sip or two of a whisky from 2012, Forty Creek Portwood Reserve. Initially a 15 cc pour to compare to another whisky for which I am about to post a review, it became a celebratory dram when I received a text instructing me to make my way to the other side of the city tomorrow to receive my first COVID vaccine injection (they call us in when there are spots that need to be filled - can't waste a single dose).

Solo NYE celebration, simple supper of experimental steamed burger and cracked a fresh bottle of Springbank 10.

Happy New Year folks.

New Year's Eve cocktail was a Seelbach, with a thematically appropriate bourbon for 2020, and hopefully not a sign of things to come in 2021...

@cricklewood I think I could be happy if Springbank 10 was my only bottle. "Steamed burger" ?? Go on, tell us more....

Last night, celebrated New Year’s Eve at my brother-in-law’s;

Glenmorangie Dornoch - 43% ABV

M & H Elements Sherry Cask - 46% ABV

Kilchoman Small Batch #3 is made up of fully matured Port hogsheads (50%), bourbon barrels (47%) and sherry casks (3%) - 48.9% ABV. I will officially rate this in the coming days, but my initial thoughts are that it is at least 95 points.

Kilchoman Machir Bay Cask Strength Christmas Edition (Santa hats on sheep). 58.6% ABV. I need to have this one on its own to fully appreciate the nuances, but it’s really good whisky as well. It’s hard to follow the small batch above with anything else.

We then transitioned to my brother-in-law’s Society bottles.

Glen Scotia SMWS 93.136 (7 year - March 16th, 2012) "Powerful!" from a 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 58.4% ABV. It was eye opening tasting this after the cask strength Machir Bay. Brine, seafood and funky, which you would expect, but all of the flavors just exploded on the tongue.

We celebrated the stroke of midnight by killing off his bottle of Caol Ila SMWS 53.298 (11 year - September 24th, 2007) "Tokaji and tug boats” from a refill ex-Bourbon hogshead - 60.0% ABV.

We finished with Ardmore SMWS 66.167 (7 year - April 24th, 2012) “Big and punchy” from a Refill Ex-Oloroso Sherry Puncheon - 61.6% ABV.

Hope everyone’s new year is off to a great start!

@bwmccoy Well, reading the long list of drinks you had last night, you made up for me just drinking water.

I was going retro and watching the 70's/80's Star Blazers and comparing it with the original Japanese "Space Battleship Yamato," and seeing what was cut out for the American audience, and totally forgot to have a dram.

No whisky in our household last night. We had Bollinger Special Cuvee followed by 2004 Gololphin (a Barossa Valley Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon blend by Ben Glaetzer) with prime rib.

A couple of Black Manhattan’s (Maker’s Mark 46) before dinner.

After dinner, Kilchoman Machir Bay Cask Strength Christmas Edition (Santa hats on sheep). 58.6% ABV. I rated this a solid 90.

Working my way through the Jack Daniel's Tasting Pack. I used the Tennessee Honey and Tennessee Fire in cocktails, and am now onto the Gentlemen Jack, which I'm actually finding less enjoyable than the Old No. 7. Here's hoping the Single Barrel will bring some redemption.

@YakLord - Nice . I spent xmas day making a similar one and a lego t-rex that took ages! They lasted about ten minutes too

Drink wise - last night, nada! Having some 'new' issues with my hip and back lately and had to dope up on pills, which means no booze.

Night before I was OK and had a large Glen Scotia 15, a large JDSBBP on ice and a farclas 25 to finish off. A nice mix and one of the rare occasions these days that I can really enjoy (and be able to) a drink that much.

@RianC My daughter and I have been digging out the instructions for all my old Lego sets and rebuilding some of them. She also had her own Jurassic World stuff to build...

@Hewie sorry didn't respond earlier, I have been following this burger "scholar" guy George Motz for a few years, I had seen his documentary and in it they investigate different regional burger styles. One of them is a small pocket of New Jersey I believe where they steam the burger patties rather than frying or grilling them. I was always intrigued so I attempted it.

150g patties, lightly seasoned with salt, pepper and a few drops of homemade amino extract. wrapped in foil and steamed in pressure cooker for about 15 min. You let the cheese melt on the hot meat while prepping everything. Very well toasted bun since that's the only place you'll get that toasted/grilled element. It's a very interesting flavour, clean, very beefy and juicy.

Friday night caught up with a friend who lives in Japan, the almost 14 hour difference makes for challenging dram sessions but I stay up late and make it work.

Wild Turkey Rare breed bottled 2017, I've had a couple of bottles of this batch and needs a bit of water to tame the heat and oak.

Arran 10 James McTaggart Master of distilling edition sample courtesy of @RianC It's hard to go wrong with Arran and this one is lovely, sweet and well balanced.

Springbank 10 solid, dependable, I should just buy a case of this and be done.

Bunnahabhain Moine Oloroso Cask from 2018 Feis Isle. killer dram, clean sherry and heavy peat.

Yesterday I did a H2H of Lot 40 Cask Strength 12 yr and a sample of the new Lot 40 Dark Oak that a fellow IG member sent me and it was no contest...that new Lot 40 is not at all what I expected, loads of oak but it also amplifies the floral/herbal nature of Lot 40 (which I enjoy) to the point of being soapy and unpleasant. I'll need to revisit this but it's very strange.

@YakLord Some of those tasting pack can be fun. I have one for Johnnie Walker and another for Avion tequila.

Last night's program with a friend over, the main theme (from my holdings) being inexpensive (in the USA) American whiskey:

1) Angel's Envy Rye Caribbean Rum Cask, 50% ABV; quite a nice first taste from his bottle, though not in the inexpensive category

2) Col E H Taylor BIB Rye; very nice indeed, which is a change for me. I like my friend's bottle of this much better than my sister's bottle of the same label

3) Sazerac Rye 45% ABV, a very good bottle of it

4) Henry T. McKenna 10 year old BIB Single Barrel Bourbon, Heaven Hill. This bottle of my friend's was from a nice barrel of it, albeit with very heavy char influence. I've tasted a couple of HTMs that I've liked a lot and several which I actively disliked. I don't trust the brand to buy a bottle of it, though this was a nice iteration

5) Henry T. McKenna, Batch Bourbon, 40% ABV, a gift from a friend several years ago, for contrast to # 4. Very mellow, drinkable, and about $ 13 here

6) The curiosity was too much. I went hog wild and opened up a brand new "handle" of Evan Williams Black Label 43% ABV which had been given to me as an unopened leftover from my father-in-law's funeral get-together in 2017. It had cost maybe $ 25. The verdict? So far this bottle does not seem to be one of the occasional very good batches of Evan Williams Black Label, but it still shows out a lot better than the one extremely anemic bottle of the same stuff I owned 10 years ago. You can get lucky with a good batch of Evan Williams Black, but with this newly opened one so far I am not feeling it. With the Evan Williams brand you are much safer buying either the Single Barrel or the Bottled In Bond releases

7) Virgin Bourbon 101 Proof, a Heaven Hill sourced brand, a present from @Nock about 6 years ago. Tastes very good indeed. Mr. Murray rated this bourbon at 95 points. That seems exaggerated, but I am very happy to drink this. Cost @Nock all of about $ 12 if I remember correctly

8) Fighting Cock 103 proof bourbon from Heaven Hill. As I like to say, and titled my review of it, "The Name Says It All". Nice $ 16 bourbon at a righteous ABV

9) Old Heaven Hill Bottled In Bond. I bought this bottle about 10 years ago for about $ 8 and it still tastes great, despite being filtered. This is for me right now about a 90 point experience. Too bad there is nothing like this in the stores since I bought this a decade ago

10) Rebel Yell Wheated Bourbon, 40% ABV, owned by Luxco, sourced from Heaven Hill. This one cost about $ 10 10 years ago. I've had VERY good standard Rebel Yell from 2 or 3 different bottles, but this one and only bottle of it which I bought has never been that. This anemic example is better now than it was 8 years ago, but remains a reminder that you can always get a bad batch of anything

11) Old Fitzgerald Bottled In Bond wheated bourbon, from Heaven Hill, the ancestor to the current John E. Fitzgerald Larceny bourbon. I wanted to get a bottle of this in 2011 but all my local store had was 'handles' of it. So I plopped down all of about $ 30 for 1.75 Litres of it. Good bottle, which I will miss when it is finished. I always take a few ounces of this one with me when I go on a road trip. Strong flavours and heavy char. The contrast between this and # 10 from the same distillery is extreme

12) Rittenhouse 40% ABV Rye Whiskey. You don't see this weaker ABV bottling of Rittenhouse Rye much any more, but this was a beautiful clean little work of art. This is just about the last of this one and only bottle of this I have owned. Cost? Maybe $ 14.

13) Rittenhouse BIB Rye. Even though my friend loves rye whiskey he had never had any Rittenhouse, so I broke loose and opened up this "new" bottle which I had bought in about 2011. Cost? About $ 17.

14) Ademas, Wild Turkey 101 Rye Whiskey, once again opening up a "new" bottle. I bought this bottle about 7 years ago just as WT 101 Rye was being discontinued for about 3 years to come. The WT 101 Rye from 10 years ago was so special to me that I have always said that if I had little money this would be the very first bottle I would buy. I haven't tried any of the new production, though @Nock hasn't liked it so far. Time and more sampling will tell, The newly opened bottle tastes tight at this point. I'll give it a couple of months of air before getting serious with it

15) Virginia Gentleman Bourbon, 40% ABV from A. Smith Bowman Distillery. This remains a top favourite of mine in the inexpensive category. I could drink this on a very regular basis. I think this 750 ml bottle cost $ 8.45 plus tax

16) Early Times 354 Bourbon, Brown Forman, the Early Times brand recently acquired by Sazerac Company. This was a briefly lived true bourbon version of Early Times Whiskey. Not bad. Cost about $ 13 eight years ago

17) Ancient Age 40% ABV Bourbon. This is the cheapest and most available bourbon which Buffalo Trace distillery produces. This is the "standard" mass produced bourbon from Age International, which also owns the Blanton's brand. About $ 9 covered the bottle and the tax. AA is one of those whiskeys about which you can get lucky or unlucky according to batches. This was not a great batch and I actively disliked this bottle for a long time, but air has been kind to it, and it is now actually quite enjoyable, after about 5 years of air time

18) Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star 45% ABV. I bought a handle of this for about $ 28, thinking this was the 10 yo. It is not, but it is a very enjoyable and very drinkable light bourbon. It is widely thought to be about 6 years old. Like all Buffalo Trace products it suddenly vanished from the store shelves in about 2013, never to return. 3 months prior to that happening I purchased three 750 ml bottles of this for about $ 12 each. Those $ 12 bottles had sat on those shelves for years, completely rejected and unwanted. Now in most places you can't buy a bottle of the stuff no matter how much you want to

19) Ancient Ancient Age 10 Years Old, 43% ABV. This stuff is legendary. It was Jim Murray's favourite everyday bourbon while he lived in Kentucky. It was never sold anywhere except within the state of Kentucky. It ceased being sold completely in about 2013. My sister had a tenant from Kentucky who was willing to bring us a few handles of this from his trips back home to visit his parents. Cost? About $ 40 for 1.75 Litres

20) Hancock's Presidential Reserve Bourbon. This is one of the four Buffalo Trace Single Barrel products along with Blanton's, Elmer T. Lee, and Rock Hill Farms. Not a common bottle in my region

21) Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel. All of the last few bourbons were new experiences for my friend. This bottle cost me about $ 25 when I bought it. Good luck paying that for it now

22) Old Charter 8 Years Old, one more Buffalo Trace Product. My handle of this one cost about $ 26

23) Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, 69.7% ABV. I think this was the bottle that I bought in New Mexico in 2016 with @paddockjudge and @Benancio, "We just bought the last three bottles of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof in the state of New Mexico". This was my friend's first ECBP. He was suitably impressed

24) Parker's Heritage Collection 6th Edition, mix of mashbills, 68.95% ABV. My friend had never tasted a Parker's Heritage Collection release. It seemed only right to try a top of the line Heaven Hill whiskey after sampling a number of $ 15 Heaven Hill whiskeys

25) Ardbeg Wee Beastie, 5 Years Old. My friend brought over his new bottle of Wee Beastie and we opened it. Mild, light, pleasant. I was very happy to have a taste, but I don't need to buy a bottle of this one

26) Lagavulin 12 Years Old, Cask Strength, 2010 Release. New to my friend, I thought he needed to taste the best

27) Ardbeg Supernova 2010. Yes, I thought I had finished the bottle with much fanfare a few weeks ago, but one last 2 ounce sample bottle of it turned up. I shared it and finished it with my friend last night. He is rapidly becoming an Ardbeg aficionado. That pleases me greatly!

@Victor, an enjoyable report of an enjoyable lineup.

I look forward to a future speed-sampling session, fifteen minutes to get acquainted and then on to the next one. I had only one such session in 2020, my son’s wedding.

@Victor

I went blurry eyed just reading the list! That's impressive. I am lucky to get in a single dram in an evening now, assuming I 'remember' to have one.

@ajjarrett my main concern was that my friend remained safe to drive home. I was glad that I myself didn't have to drive, or I would have needed about a 2 hours break to recoup prior to doing so.

@Victor

I concur. Safety first.

@MRick They can be! Pre-COVID a coworker and I used to get together for a drink on Wednesdays after work. We worked our way through the JW, Tomintoul (plus two other Tomintoul minis), and Corby Northern Border Tasting Packs, splitting one 5cl mini between us each week. It was a lot of fun...

@cricklewood well that sounds interesting - I'm all for experimenting and trying something new. Hard to imagine a burger without the typical Maillard reaction flavours but I bet it was juicy. I hear you on the Springbank 10 - if I had to have just one bottle......

@Hewie it's odd but not as unpleasant as it sounds, I liked it enough that I might repeat the endeavor. A good point of comparison is how flavorful the little bit of meat in a steamed dumpling can be.

Yesterday was a long, stressful day. It was late when we got home, so I only had one dram, but this seemed appropriate for a stormy (rainy, windy) night;

High West A Midwinter Nights Dram; Act 7 Scene 6 - 49.3% ABV. Yep, that hit the spot!

@Hewie @cricklewood Springbank 10 definitely makes my “if you could only have one bottle” shortlist as well. Steamed hams? Wasn’t there an episode of The Simpsons about that awhile back?

Ok, so I just did a head-to-head of Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength batches. While I do have every batch released, I needed to be conscious of my liver . . . so just batches 007 through 012 this time. While I did pick the batches my wife poured them all blind for me. I only correctly guessed 2 out of 6 batches. And most of that was just wish fulfillment. I knew 008 was one of my favorite batches so I picked my blind favorite as that batch. And I knew that 012 had the highest ABV so I picked that as my number two. Everything else was wrong. Still, I stand by my scores. 008 is a favorite batch of mine. And if you have a chance to pick up 012 I wouldn’t miss out. It is both the highest proof Laphroaig 10yo CS ever . . . and wonderfully tasty.

Here is what I found for my taste (your mileage my vary)

Laphroaig 10yo CS 56.3% batch 007 Jan.15 – My least favorite of the night. There was a lot of iodine present from nose to finish. Of all the batches it was the most “standard 10yo” but at cask strength. My two term summary: iodine and sweet earth peat. = 88

Laphroaig 10yo CS 59.9% batch 008 Apr.16 – this is one of my favorite batches period (alone with 004). This was easy, sweet, and peaty on the nose. No iodine at all. The palate really ramped up the thickess and complexity. The finish blew this out of the water. Huge peat, pine cone, sea salt, complexity, massive and no iodine at all. A favorite batch of mine. My two term summary: sweet earthy peat and thick rich power. = 94

Laphroaig 10yo CS 58.1% batch 009 Feb.17 – Another batch with plenty of iodine. But it did have a thick midrange with plenty of sweetness. My two term summary: iodine and thick sweetness = 90

Laphroaig 10yo CS 58% batch 010 Jan.18 – This batch was challenging. It was both rich, complex and slightly bitter. It had some notes that I adore like liquorish, pine, fennel, herbs, and peat. However, there was a slight oaky bitterness that I didn’t appreciate. My two term summary: bitter and complex = 90

Laphroaig 10yo CS 58.6% batch 011 Mar.19 – This batch started off as my favorite nose of the night. Unfortunately, the palate and finish didn’t live up to the wonderful nose. The nose started off with hints of BBQ that moved to rich earth, liquorish, and tons of herbal notes. There was plenty of sweetness, richness, and early herbal-ness. A wonderful nose. What went wrong? Well not much. But more iodine appeared one the palate and finish that wasn’t hinted at in the finish. It was one of my favorite, but not up with 008 and 012. My two term summary: Rich earthy peat into sweet apothecary and herbs = 92

Laphroaig 10yo CS 60.1% batch 012 Feb.20 – Just picked up three bottles and opened one on Christmas Day. So it has had about a week to open up. This started off as my 2nd favorite nose after 011. But on the palate and finish it took off. The peat was so thick, sweet, and rich . . . amazing. While there was a touch of iodine on the nose it didn’t appear on the palate or finish. This had a huge and amazing finish that was simply amazing. There was some iodine hiding in the shadows, but far from overwhelming. A great batch. My two term summary: Thick, rich sweet peat with iodine in the shadows = 93

@RianC Sorry to hear about your back and hip issues. I think we spend our younger years abusing the shit out of them, and out later years trying to fix them. I'm having some knee problems lately. Payback for reckless skiing and youthful machismo. I'm sure the whisky isn't medicinal, but it can sure as hell make you forget the pain.

@bwmccoy Very appropriate dram for last night. We had the same stinking weather up here all day. It seemed like an occasion for peat, so I put a ding in my bottle of Corryvreckan (sp).

@Nock Some of us live vicariously through you...