So, what are you drinking now?

@Victor. “……sit a group of people down in the same room and drink from the same bottles.” You have succinctly summed up the very best way to experience whiski.

OWG Battle of the Glens (Signatory Vintage Edition)...

@YakLord - nice lineup of 20-something Glens!

@bwmccoy It was. The Glen Keith and Glen Grant were the highlights, but all were good. It's hard to believe that Glenburgie and Glentauchers can be so good on their own when Ballantine's is so not very good...

@YakLord You forgot Glen Breton.... or did you?

While playing on-line poker, Penderyn Legend

Followed by St George's Distillery English Whisky Company SMWS 137.7 (7 year - Feb 2012) "How to kill your dragon" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 65.5% ABV

@Nozinan There's going to be a couple more in the future, and there was discussion about including Glen Breton, but most OWG members appear to be hesitant about the idea...

@YakLord I would too. I suppose I should forgive them for my experiences from 11 years ago Maybe their whisky is better than it used to be. I find it very expensive for what you are getting. I know, @paddockjudge, price does not affect the taste. But I would not pay $50 for a McDonald's Cheeseburger...I would however, eat one if it were less expensive.

Wait. Not a good analogy. I would eat the cheeseburger if I was hungry enough. Not sure I would drink the Whisky.

@Nozinan I think there have been some psychological experiments which suggest that price does affect the perception of flavour/quality. Something along the lines of “participants were given cheap wine in an expensive bottle, told the wine was $100 per bottle. They rated it more favourably than the exact same wine in its original bottle ($12 per bottle).”

@OdysseusUnbound

Perhaps the perceived price affects how we experience it, but the actual price does not affect the taste. Put it in a glass. Have someone taste it blind. Then charge them $10 or $60. It won’t change what they tasted.

Charge me $60 for a shot of Lambertus and it will still make me puke.

@Nozinan @OdysseusUnbound - I like this debate. I feel it's a bit like the placebo effect in medicine in that our expectations can (in some way or other) tangibly affect our physical perceptions. There's tons of psychological data on the phenomena too.

Agreed, put the glass through chemical testing and it doesn't change one bit. But have us think about it in terms of x, not y, and we seem to be able to either override or prime our senses. Mind over matter, I guess.

That it works both ways, in whisky terms, is fascinating to me. Seems we instinctively love the thought of a good deal but loathe being ripped-off, so much so we'll convince our brains we haven't been ha!

Been having some heartburn recently but did manage a pour of Tamdhu 15 last night. This is definitely improving with air and I'm getting much more orange and sweet barley sugars on the nose and less of the original bitterness and dryness on the development and finish.

I'd have easily scored that pour an 88, probably more. It's becoming much more of a rounded, sherried malt with air exposure and I'm considering getting another ... This really is the yin to the Glendronch's yang.

@Nozinan I've had samples of Glen Breton from three different bottles over the past decade. Every time I went in hoping that it'd improved since the last time, and every time I was disappointed by the weird soapy flavour.

A Glendronach 15. I can't help going between this and the Tamdhu as they are so different yet excellent in their own way.

I'm also raising a belated glass to the late Charlie Watts who I only just found out passed away. very sad, and perhaps the most underappreciated drummer in rock n roll (by the masses). Always loved that story of him chinning Mick when he said he was HIS drummer - In full Saville row suit for the occasion too ha!

How about this one as an example of his craft ...

@RianC A great drummer and a great tune you chose to remember him by.

Bruichladdich nas for me tonight. Cheers.

@Nozinan I had a similar experience with Glen Breton. I think I had a sample in Jun 2011 at the LCBO Summerhill "tasting tower" and gave it a 1/5 (in my rating scale that's a "not quite drain pour - save for hot toddy alcohol"). The following year, while visiting the in-laws cottage in Felzen South, NS, I decided to buy a bottle of the flagship 10 yo ("near the source") to share with my FIL. Both of us thought it was basically #Drano in a fancier bottle. We had to mix it with ginger ale, even then it was a tough swallow. Swore I would never buy another bottle again. March 2015 I tried a sample of the 14yo hoping a little age would soften the harshness ... ummm, no!

@RianC - Thanks for the Charlie Watts shoutout. I was fortunate to see the Stones twice in the last 10 years. I liked their music, but wasn't really a fan until I saw them live.

I've been playing drums since I was 10 (46 years ago). To me, Charlie Watts is underappreciated for a couple of different reasons; 1) he wasn't flashy or showy. He used a relatively small drum kit (compared to other rock drummers) and he played with little to no emotion. 2) Charlie was brilliant in his simplicity. To the masses, I think that came across as that he was a basic or simple drummer, but that was not the case. Charlie was a jazz drummer in a rock n roll band. Jazz drumming is much more technical than rock and therefore, I think, for Charlie, the reason it looked so basic or easy is because, for him, it was.

My brother-in-law and I raised a toast in Charlie's honor last night while we were playing on-line poker. I chose the peated English Whisky Company dram as that seemed to be an appropriate whisky to honor him. Rest In Peace, Charlie!

Haven’t made a new / different cocktail in a while, so using the 12 Bottle Bar book that @Victor recommended, I looked at all of the whisky recipes and nothing jumped out at me, so I went with a gin based drink.

The Wild Rose; 2oz dry gin (Botanist), 1/2oz sweet vermouth, 1/2oz dry vermouth, 1 dash orange bitters and 1 dash aromatic bitters.

It’s ok, but it’s lacking something. Needs a little sweetness, so I added a little St. Germain (Elderflower) liqueur which helped. I think a little apple brandy or Calvados addition would work as well, especially for a fall type cocktail.

@RianC @Nozinan I agree that blind tastings are the great equalizer. When I tell people I rated a simple, relatively inexpensive malt (Scarabus Islay) higher than a pricy one (Collectivum XXVIII) in blind tastings, people are either incredulous or question how “refined” my palate truly is. Of course, I’m often defending plain old Jack Daniel’s Old No.7 as well so maybe they have a point on that whole “you’re just not refined” thing.

After the Wild Rose cocktail, sticking with the Gin theme, had a cocktail that my wife and created last year called The Bug Zapper because the color is the same as the bulbs in our bug zapper.

2oz Empress 1908 Gin, 1/2oz St. Germain (Elderflower liqueur), 1/2 teaspoon Grand Marnier, 2 dashes of Angostura Orange Bitters. Stir with ice, strain into a coupe or martini glass. Garnish with lemon twist and blueberries.

@YakLord Good to know. I think the next time I try the Breton it will be at the distillery. And that may not be for a few years.

@bwmccoy That looks amazing! Will have to try it, as I have all the ingredients (except the Empress 1908...I'll have to use a different gin).

The 12 day drought is over!

My wife took the kids on a road trip and between work, starting up the election campaign and looking after the dog I've been swamped and exhausted.

They came home today and we had some of her family visiting so after supper my nephew wanted some Scotch, so we went down to the cabinet and we could not decide, so I went with the old reliable... Aberlour A'Bunadh, batch 50.

Springbank 10, 15 and 21 side by side. I love Springbank. I'm fortunate enough to have a bottle of a few different batches of the 12 Cask Strength too. The 15 and 21 are samples from friends. A few thoughts: the 10 is just astonishingly good whisky. It has much more 'distillery character' than the others without coming across as young or brash. Much more fruit forward (a bowl of over ripe fruit - almost estery). Plenty of workshop / industrial notes. I'm loving this 15. Why have I never bought a bottle myself before? More subdued but proper old, restrained, sherry influence (refill casks?). Like rum soaked fruit - soft but rich and slightly umami. Beautifully put together and balanced - but less Springbank character. The 21 is really interesting. I've not had a lot of whiskies of this age so I'm unaccustomed to them. Very rich, dark, like oiled wood. Quite resinous - like firewood drying in the sun (pine or eucalyptus). Old leather and beeswax. Quite drying (black tea) with unique herbal notes I couldn't put my finger on. Too much wood influence for me. Fantastic to try side by side.

@Hewie - nice line up. I did a similar taste-off recently but with a straight from the cask sample of a bourbon barrel (10 if I remember correct) instead of the 21. Very interesting and the 15 definitely stands out and loses some of the distillery character, as you say - a very unique whisky that one. The OB 10 though is something else and is quite possibly the best whisky, pound for pound, that exists ...

Cocktail evening so far with my wife. Preparing to move my youngest son to his dorm tomorrow. Started with the Four & Twenty for me and a Watermelon Martini for my wife. Second cocktail is a Blind Pilot cocktail for me and a repeat Watermelon Martini for my wife.

@TracerBullet have to say I like the sound of that watermelon martini. Must be a lovely summer drink. Blind Pilot sounds pretty tasty too. Never heard of these two but my cocktail knowledge isn’t great.

@Timp She loves them. Watermelon and mint muddled, Cointreau, lime juice, vodka and a touch of simple syrup (I use gomme syrup). Shake it with ice until very cold and double strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with cubed watermelon.

I finished off the evening with a dram of Ardbeg 10.

After all the Springbank talk from Hewie and Rianc, gotta have a Springbank 10 tonight. So good. Cheers.