So, what are you drinking now?

@BlueNote that's just criminal. I did the inflation numbers, and based on Victor's price of $64 in 2012, 1.58% avg inflation over the last 8 years, we get $72.54. They have adjusted for inflation and then some!

@casualtorture In Ontario it used to be over $200. Now the price is about $150, and Uigeadail is even higher!

@casualtorture it is worth noting that the prices we had here in my Montgomery County Maryland system in 2012 were some of the lowest prices in the world. $ 64 non-sale price/$ 54 sale price was not typical either worldwide or in the USA for Ardbeg Uigeadail in 2012. My county's system buys for a million people, but, unlike the LCBO, it passes the saved margins on to the county residents. In those days the sales tax on liquor was still at 6%, the same as taxable food items here. A year or two later the alcoholic beverage tax was raised to 9%.

Little tiny Maryland has a very proud pro-alcohol tradition. During the US Prohibition Maryland was the only state of the 48 then which did not pass legislation to allow enforcement of the Volstead Act. There was no enforcement of Prohibition in Maryland, not by state and local authorities anyway. I suppose that Federal agents still confiscated and destroyed illegal stills. .

What kept liquor prices in Maryland the best anywhere until about 2013 was that Maryland's bulk alcohol taxes per unit volume were to the best of my knowledge the lowest in the USA.

Prices in Maryland in general and in Montgomery County in particular have crept up in the last 7 years, and, while, still among the most competitive, are not the "bargain basement" prices that we had in 2012 and prior.

I’m currently enjoying a Cuba Libre made with Plantation 3 Star White rum, fresh lime juice, and Mexican Coca-Cola. Plantation catches flak from the serious rum enthusiasts for the use of dosage and their other political stances, but I still enjoy a great many of their rums. I don’t have the energy to fight those battles anymore, in rum or whisky. This is absolutely delightful.

@OdysseusUnbound You threw me for a moment. When I saw Cuba Libre, I thought you were smoking a stogie with your rum!

@Victor That's very interesting. I've studied the Volstead act and prohibition a bit, since I'm interested in legally distilling one day in the future. That was such a horrible experiment. As a libertarian, I have MANY thoughts on liquor tax and distillation laws (the south has many draconian laws, especially my home state of Alabama and also Virginia in particular. Alabama only recently allowed beer brewed in excess of 6%abv thanks to "free the hops" in large part helping reform the law).

If we could get the gov't out of the picture in regards to distillation and liquor taxes, even today almost 100 years after prohibition when it is still a problem, I think we could really enjoy alcohol on a much broader scale especially when it comes to pricing and home distillation. Tariffs don't help either...

@casualtorture, If you haven't seen it yet, the Ken Burns three-part documentary on Prohibition is wonderful: 1) A Nation of Drunkards, 2) A Nation of Scofflaws, 3) A Nation of Hypocrites. It's all right there.

@Victor Is that the same Ken Burns that the "Ken Burns effect" is named for (a video montage effect I believe)?

@Nozinan yes, the same Ken Burns. The video effect you mention is that of creating a sense of motion and present-ness through panning slowly across still photographs.

Julie met Ken Burns a few times in her job and found him to be a very nice guy. He has done many documentaries. His American Civil War series is still his Classic among Classics. His Prohibition Series is my second favourite among his many excellent works.

Last night, a small dram of Teaninich SMWS 59.51 (30 year - November 1983) "A refined cocktail" - Refill hogshead - 51.5% ABV to celebrate the end of a stressful week.

@bwmccoy what I am celebrating at this minute is January Hump Day...yes, the noon hour local time of the 16th day in a 31 day month. The whisky? 'The' Balvenie PortWood 21 Years Old. I am nearing the end of my bottle. I'd love to own another bottle of 21 PortWood to replace this one, but the current price for this one is getting close to double what I paid for this current bottle.

@Victor Daniel Okrent”s book Last Call is a brilliant social history of prohibition and th events leading up to it. It’s also very funny in places. images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/…

@Victor the Ken Burns Civil War documentary series is fantastic. It makes the viewer feel “present” in the action.

Spoke too soon about running out of Balvenie Portwood 21 yo. Happily for me an 8 oz/ 236.6 ml bottle of it turned up. That's good!

Next up, Auchentoshan Valinch 2011, 57.5% ABV. If you "guys" were drinking this stuff you'd be more into Auchentoshan than you currently are. Auchentoshan, we need more releases of Valinch!!! ...particularly if they are as good as this 2011 release. This is just barley, barley, and more barley, but intense and good.

I laugh when I remember getting this bottle. The @cyclingyogi in Toronto had a friend visiting DC for a business conference bring the bottle down to me. DC has a hot humid summer...and she arrived on the hottest day on record in my then 57 years-- 102 F. Sweltering steam-bath stuff...but the whisky is very good!

Thanks again, @cyclingyogi, and thanks to your friend who delivered the goods! She got a most atypical DC experience.

The National (American) Football League Divisional Playoffs will begin in 75 minutes. I will be watching the two games today. I am sure that I will be drinking more then. 14 Playoff teams a week ago were reduced to 8 remaining teams this week in single elimination games. Four games this weekend will eliminate four of the remaining teams. My order is in for another drink in about 2 hours from now.

@Victor I was lucky enough to get a sample of the 2011 Valinch from @Astroke. I wish I had picked up 1-2 bottles of it myself. Hindsight, especially this year, is 2020.

@Nozinan yes hindsight is 20/20 in 2021, and hindsight was 20/20 in 2020.

@Victor No Victor, hindsight in 2020 was 2019...

@Nozinan yes, I see, ...and 2018, and 2017, and 2016 and....

@Victor Yeah, my dad joke sounds better after 2-3 drams of CS whisky. Sorry.

Erratum: yes, that's @thecyclingyogi, with the "the" in there.

Sazerac 18 Year Old Rye, 2011 Release, 45% ABV, from the annual Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. This has one of the all time great fruity noses. This is from the famous multi-year release stainless steel tank mega-batch, which was bottled and released over about seven years. When this batch was finally depleted in about 2016 (?) the reviews for the new releases following it were not as favourable. (But they are just as rare and just as expensive.)

I am sparing with this in my portions because it has become a very rare bottle, as implied by the Wine-searcher.com current average world asking price of $ 2,226. I do not say, "I will never be able to get this again." Instead I say, "I do not KNOW when it will be when I am able to buy this one again."

@Victor - well said! I feel the same way about Portwood 21. Instead of saying that I doubt I will ever own another bottle, like you, I will say that I don’t know when I will own another bottle.

Last night, after working in the yard all day, cleaning up debris from two windstorms in the last week; Caol Ila SMWS 53.325 (7 year - Mar. 2012) "When two powerful pearls meet". After six years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, finished in a refill ex-Madeira hogshead - 61.2% ABV.

The last of the Jack Daniel's Sampler Pack: the Single Barrel (bottled at 45% ABV, for some reason). This I'm very much enjoying...

Tonight, a very sad bottle kill;

Westland Distillery (Seattle, WA) Cask # 2542 Single cask release, cask strength (6 year-Distilled 2012) 27 months in Coopers Reserve New American Oak followed by 45 months in an ex-Pedro Ximénez Hogshead - 50.8% ABV.

Easily one of the best Westland single casks I’ve owned!

Another night, another bottle kill; Kaiyo Whisky Japanese Mizunara Oak - 43% ABV

I’m currently sipping from my Glengoyne 10. This bottle has disappeared very fast. I would definitely be willing to replace this.

Celebrating the last day in power of the Big Turkey with a tiny pour (much more than he deserves) of Wild Turkey Rare Breed....

I’m now sipping some Tamdhu 15, and all I can say is I’m glad I’ve got a backup bottle. This is terrific stuff.

@OdysseusUnbound My whisky of the otherwise mostly shitty year of 2020. On second thought, there is still much to be thankful for.

Tonight I made a cocktail called "Noix on Broadway". This is 3 parts whiskey (Rye is recommended so I used Rittenhouse BiB) and 1 part Sidetrack Distillery (Kent, WA) Nocino walnut liqueur. Garnish with an orange peel.

The first one I made reminded me a little too much of "fall spice" or "Christmas". The second one I made exactly the same way except that I added a couple of dashes of Orange bitters which helped balance things out. I will play with this some more. I've had this cocktail one other time at a friends house and he used Old Grandad 114. I'm thinking the Old Grandad may be the better fit for this particular cocktail. When I open my bottle of OGD 114, I will give it a try.