So, what are you drinking now?

@Nozinan Five days to go. I wish you good luck. If you win, you may never have to chart again.

@TracerBullet - Thank you for the recipe! I really appreciate it. Now I need to go pick up all of the ingredients that I don't have (everything except the gin and the lemon juice). :-)

Last night, I finished off my 100ml bottle of Miltonduff SMWS 72.92 (7 year - March 2011) "A wonderful welcome" from a first-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 62.2% ABV.

Right now, at the end of the work day, I'm having a mashup Manhattan. Mashup because I'm low or out of some of my cocktail staples. This is a cross between a traditional Manhattan and a black Manhattan. I used 2oz Rittenhouse BiB, 1oz combo of sweet vermouth and amaro, 3 dashes of aromatic bitters, a Les Parisiennes cherry and a half of a dehydrated orange slice.

I had a two Manhattans tonight; one made with Larceny, and one made with WT 101. It should surprise nobody that I preferred the Turkey. My mother, who has been at our place all week, preferred the Larceny. She’s put a good dent in my bottle this week. Oh well. What’s whiski for if not sharing with loved ones?

Last night, I had a second mashup Manhattan, but it was 2 parts Rittenhouse BiB, 1 part Amaro, 3 dashes of aromatic bitters, a Les Parisiennes cherry and a half of a dehydrated orange slice.

Tonight, while playing on-line poker with my brother-in-law and some friends, I finished off my 100ml bottle of Braeval SMWS 113.37 (7 year - August 2012) "Picking fruit from an oak tree" from a second-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 64.1% ABV.

Glenallachie SMWS 107.21 (8 year - May 2012) "Bounty on the galleon" - 1st-fill ex-sherry butt" - 63.3% ABV

Ben Nevis 6 year (Dec. 2013). Full maturation in a 1st Fill Amontillado Gorda. 67.6% ABV. Single Cask Nation bottling.

Caol Ila SMWS 53.276 (6 year - Mar. 2012) "Ein kleiner deutscher samurai" - Refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 61.2% ABV

A large Springbank 10 last night to compare to the GS. It's definitely peatier, fresher and lighter but still full of flavour with a delectable lemon cheesecake note running through it. Just damn good Scotch.

Followed up with a Ledaig 10. Decent, if a little one dimensional, but good stuff all the same. This is a recent bottling and I think it's lacking something compared to the one I had a few years back.

I've been fortunate enough to find myself in a small group of strangers who have become friends through our love for whisky. The 5 of us, scattered across NZ, take turns sending out samples to the others and we do zoom tastings together. We've done various things but we tend to do blind tastings now - so humbling! Last night we blind sampled 5 whiskies that I had sent out (I knew what each were). To spice it up I also sent them a chart of the SMWS 12 flavour profiles and a list of some of the most interesting SMWS names I could find e.g. Mermaids at play in Lochindaal, Chomping a herbal cigar, A kiln full of kippers, Horse harnesses and mezcal worms. Their challenge was to identify which of the SMWS flavour profiles they thought fit each whisky best and to give it a suitable SMWS name - along with trying to identify the bottle as we chatted. the line up was Glen Elgin 12, Ardnamurchan 01:21:01, Benromach 10, Glengoyne CS Batch 8, and Benromach CS Batch 1. Here is a link to the SMWS flavour profile chart if you're interested efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/…

@Hewie, a very nice line-up!

@TracerBullet - Thanks again for the Peach Violet Empress Gin Sour recipe. My wife really likes it so it will be added to our cocktail rotation. This would be perfect for a hot summer day. Only 9 months away. Unfortunately, we’re having a fall-like rainy day today, so the cocktail is taking me back to warmer, sunnier days.

@Hewie - I agree with @paddockjudge; a very nice lineup and a fun addition to the blind tasting with the SMWS flavor profiles and names! Glen Elgin 12 is an amazing dram! Underrated and impossible to find around here.

@bwmccoy Yeah the Glen Elgin is a good find alright. I've only ever had one IB sample previously. It's good value here at $75NZD (approx $53USD). I did actually also have a 'theme' to my samples - they are all from a combination of bourbon and sherry casks.

After the Peach Violet Empress Gin Sour cocktail, my wife and I had a Black Manhattan made with Maker’s Mark 46.

Finishing the night with a peated English dram. 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.

@Hewie - What a great line up - sounds very aquavitae inspired!

What's the Glen Elgin like? I've looked a few times but never took.the plunge but it's at a good price here at £43.

I just returned from a week in Williamsburg, Virginia, with my two sisters. For those who are unaware Williamsburg, Virginia has what is probably the most extensive US historical park dedicated to simulating colonial America in the 18th century. We had about 15 whiskis brought from home during the week. We visited for our first time the two distilleries in Williamsburg. Copper Fox Distillery in Williamsburg, opened about a year ago, is much the larger of the two. Copper Fox has had an active distillery in Sperryville, Virginia for about 15 years but this new distillery in Williamsburg is larger in production than the original Sperryville Distillery. Copper Fox makes malt whiskey and rye whiskey. Their rye is interesting and innovative in that 1) they use 2/3rds rye and 1/3 barleymalt without any corn, 2) they smoke the barley with cherrywood smoke and applewood smoke to impart those fruit flavours to the barleygrain, and 3) they insert cherrywood and applewood chips into the maturing spirit to further enhance those fruit flavours in their rye whiskey. We also visited the very small Eight Shires Distillery, also known as the Williamsburg Distillery. These folks have 7 products including a malt whiskey and a wheated bourbon. We enjoyed sampling all of their products, and I was most impressed by their wheated bourbon. That one had the interesting and unusual mashbill of 51% corn, 45% wheat, and 4% malted barley, which makes it rather close to being a wheat whiskey, rather than a bourbon. I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance to taste it.

I didn't purchase any bottles on this trip, but my big sister came home with six new ones.

@RianC Ha ha one of the others actually did the whole coloured dots and rank the samples etc. like Aqvavitae one time. That took a bit of effort. The Glen Elgin is an interesting one. At first you think it's a 'typical' Speysider if there is such a thing. But it's a bit different - I'm sure the worm tubs contribute to it's character. It starts off with a bit of a detergent/soapy note which is a bit unusual but it dissipates with time in the glass. It's got a bit of tinned fruit, some vanilla, and minerals on the nose. Palate has apricots, turkish delight, a bit feinty, and orange blossom. We thought the SMWS flavour profile it best fit was Light & Delicate moving into Sweet, Fruity & Mellow. It's interesting alright but I won't be in a hurry to replace the bottle. It's also a little bit unusual in that it's the only OB from the distillery.

I recently purchased a bottle of Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey (Rum Cask Finish) - 46% ABV because I haven't tried Teeling before and I thought it could be a replacement for the standard Jameson that I keep on hand for cocktails. While I don't normally drink standard Jameson neat, nor do I think I will normally drink the Teeling neat either, I thought I would try them both neat, head-to-head to see if one stood out as being better than the other.

On the nose: Jameson - grain alcohol and fruit (apple). Teeling - grain alcohol and vanilla. While neither one had a great nose, I prefer the Teeling.

On the palate: Jameson - chemical / medicinal note with some fruit and vanilla. Teeling - slight grain alcohol, but without the chemical / medicinal note found in the Jameson. Also, fruit (pear), caramelized / burnt sugar, vanilla and oak. Much more flavor and complexity than in the Jameson.

Between the two, I prefer the Teeling. I had my wife try them both without telling her what they were. She detected most of the same notes that I did in both and she preferred the Teeling as well. It will be interesting to see what the difference is, if any, when I use the Teeling in cocktails where I previously used Jameson.

My wife’s cousin came over to talk about arrangements for my mother-in-law’s funeral (she passed on Sept 9) and we shared a healthy pour of Aberlour A’Bunadh Batch 70. Not as sherry-forward as earlier batches but still a solid whisky. I’m now enjoying some Ledaig 10 while dinner is in the oven. First impressions of Ledaig are quite favourable. Smoke, citrus, a little custard note, yummy.

@bwmccoy I'm glad you and your wife enjoyed the Empress Gin Sour. I agree that it is more of a spring/summer cocktail but is quite tasty. Cheers!

@Victor My sister-in-law had gotten me a bottle of Copper Fox years ago when the distillery was quite new. I found it to be ok. I used it mostly in cocktails but did have it neat a bit as well. I should probably get a more recent bottle to see how they have progressed.

Sounds like you had a good time with your sisters!

@OdysseusUnbound You’ve only got one Mum.

@RianC @OdysseusUnbound I just finished up my 4th bottle of Ledaig 10. It’s still a very decent dram at a very decent price, but I don’t think it’s quite up to the previous ones I’ve had. The first one, about 4 years ago was quite a bit punchier. This last one was a bit lighter, but still a good dram at a good price.

On Saturday night, my wife and I had a couple of Jerry Thomas Manhattan's made with Rittenhouse BiB for happy hour.

Last night (Sunday), we had a couple of Black Manhattan's (Maker's Mark 46).

Later, I finished off my 100ml bottle of Allt-A-Bhainne SMWS 108.25 (8 year - February 2012) "Gets your blood pumping!" from a second-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 65.9% ABV; a heavily peated Speyside dram.

Those of us gearing up for election results to start coming in at 9PM-ish...what are you pouring for tonight?

@YakLord the plan is to drink some Alberta ("we give, give, give, and never get anything back, maybe we should separate from ROC") Premium CS batch 2

@YakLord I’m staying sober. My prediction is “meet the new boss; same as the old boss”

@OdysseusUnbound Only two 1oz pours over the course of the evening. Still nursing the second glass.

@OdysseusUnbound - Well done with The Who reference!

Tonight, after work, I was grilling a Tri-Tip roast on the Weber with some pecan wood smoke. While keeping an eye on things, I had a dram of Bend Distilling (Bend, Oregon) Black Butte Whiskey 3 year. Release #5. 47% ABV.

After dinner, while reviewing resumes, a dram of Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2010 - 50% ABV.

I also finished off my bottle of peated 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.

@BlueNote - I'd concur with that. My guess would be less first-fill barrels in more recent batches. I distinctly remember a much fuller and juicier malt than this one.

A Glendronach 15 whilst slightly feeling from the news I just heard that Norm MacDonald passed away recently. I know he may not have been everyone's cup of tea but, man, he was a genuinely funny guy. RIP

The whisky seems to get better and better with air too.

@YakLord I was waffling between FC Heart of Gold (Jagmeet's "Love and Courage") or APCS 2021 (batch 3) to celebrate our breakthrough in Alberta, but I waffled too long and ended up drinking nothing.

Like today...

so sad...

Last night, Bladnoch Adela 15 year Oloroso Cask Matured - 46.7% ABV