So, what are you drinking now?

My wife and I are co-planning a trip to Scotland for summer ‘23 (with my sister, brother, spouses, and my parents) so I decided to open my lone bottle of Laphroaig Lore. Initial thoughts; quite a rich whisky but not as heavy on smoke as Laphroaig 10 CS. Eminently enjoyable, but I’m not sure I’ll replace it at $220 per bottle.

I’m now enjoying some Bunnahabhain 12. Lots of raisins and fresh tobacco on the nose, and plenty of barn boards and salted caramel on the palate. This is better than I remember it being. Bully for me, I suppose.

@OdysseusUnbound We are booked for Scotland and England in late August and September of this year. Not doing a full on whisky trip this time, only Arran, Mull and Islay this trip. We've pretty much done Speyside and the other islands to death over the years. I'll pass on any good info. Just hoping the airlines, airports and covid cooperate. Doing carry on this time to avoid any baggage handling problems. One thing I can tell you now is, It's bloody expensive.

@BlueNote - sorry for the delayed response to your two last posts to me. I'll explain why in my next post.

First, you commented about the $50 and $80 drams of Abraham Bowman at a local restaurant. Yes, the total would buy a decent bottle and No, I haven't been back to the restaurant, so haven't been tempted to buy either or both of them. :-)

You also asked how I like my bottle of G&M Ledaig 18 year Sherry cask. I love it. It is perfectly balanced between the sherry and the smoke / peat. We had some friends over a few weeks ago. We tasted through many drams, mostly Society whiskies, but we finished with the Ledaig and my friend said that it was the best whisky of the night. I couldn't really argue with that assessment. It is probably my favorite open bottle at the moment.

As mentioned, I've been out of touch for the past couple of weeks. Two weeks ago, I finished up the MBA program that my company put me and 11 co-workers through for the past year or so. Last week, I was in Texas visiting my family and celebrating my parents 70th wedding anniversary. I have been drinking whisky these past two weeks, but have been too busy to post. I'll make an attempt to catch up, but it won't be complete.

During the week that we finished up the MBA program, we all went out to dinner at a local restaurant. I had 3 different bourbon based cocktails. The restaurant has their own bourbon called "Bar Boss". I don't know who makes it for them, but it is aged 4 years in high char American white oak. It has notes of waffle cone, vanilla and spiced honey.

The 1st cocktail was called "Perfect Smoked Manhattan". It was OK, but wouldn't order it again. The 2nd cocktail was called "The Savor Spear Sinatra". Again, it was OK, but wouldn't buy it again, in fact, I like the 1st one more than the 2nd. The 3rd cocktail was called "Leather Bound". This one was cheaper than the first two and was the best. I really liked it! I would order this one again.

On our flight to Texas, I was surprised to see Glenfarclas 12 on Alaska Airlines on-board drinks menu. My wife and I shared a 50ml bottle. While the Glenfarclas 12 is not the best or my favorite, it is "top-shelf" compared to what is offered on most flights that I have been on.

I took 5 Society whiskies with me to Texas to drink during the trip. I didn't keep track of which ones I had each night, but over the course of the week, I did have at least a little of each one.

Braeval (SMWS cask sample) 12 year (Sep. 2008) 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 62.1% ABV

Glen Grant SMWS 9.224 (14 year - May 2007) “Harvest hayride happiness” - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 61.7% ABV

Strathmill SMWS 100.27 (11 year - Mar. 2010) "Colorful and flavorful" - After 8 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill Oloroso hogshead - 55.3% ABV

Undisclosed Islay Single Cask Nation release for The Water of Life Film. 6 Islay casks (5 unpeated + 1 peated) 48.8% ABV.

Allt-A-Bhainne (peated) SMWS 108.19 (7 year - Nov 2011) "Forget Convention!" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 64.6% ABV.

On Monday (July 4th), I went over to @jordytropp 's house to celebrate Independence Day. His wife made an amazing dinner of steamed clams and mussels in a white wine broth. She also made blackened, seared Ahi Tuna steaks. She also served corn on the cob with a homemade aioli sauce that was to die for. It was an amazing dinner!

While I was there, I had the following drams;

GlenDronach SMWS 96.34 (11 year - March 2009) "Stroll Through the Seasons" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.2% ABV

Benromach Hermitage Wood Finish 2007 (bottled 2016) - 45% ABV.

Signatory Vintage Unnamed Speyside (Macallan) 12 year (Distilled 2007- Bottled 2019 for K&L Wine Merchants) - Refill Sherry Butts - 63.4% ABV.

After dinner, we finished off my bottle of Fettercairn SMWS 94.10 (13 year - Aug. 2007) "The gentle beast from the east". After 11 years in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry hogshead - 56.0% ABV.

Glen Moray SMWS 35.302 (14 year - Jan. 2007) "A quick witted dovetail" - Matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead for 12 years before being transferred into a 1st-fill PX seasoned STR barrique cask - 64.9% ABV.

Allt-A-Bhainne (peated) SMWS 108.19 (7 year - Nov 2011) "Forget Convention!" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 64.6% ABV.

Finished the night with Ledaig 18 year (2001) Gordon & Macphail's Connoisseurs Choice single cask - Refill Sherry Butt - 56.3% ABV while watching the Seattle fireworks display from their deck.

It was a great night with great friends!

@bwmccoy Life is good. Congrats on the MBA, an achievement to be proud of.

The Ledaig 18 is getting excellent reviews. We'll be on Mull in a couple of months and that one is currently top of my acquisition list.

Cheers.

PS, The Mariners are doing better than the Jays lately.

@BlueNote we’ll see about that this weekend… 4 games in Seattle.

@BlueNote - Thank you!

I'm so happy for you. Your Scotland itinerary sounds great! I've never been to Mull, but it is on my list for a future trip. We really want to go back to Scotland, but who knows when that will be.

@BlueNote and @Nozinan - Yes, the M's have been doing better lately, but the Jays always play us tough in Seattle. It will be a good a test for Seattle. We haven't been able to get to .500 for the longest time. We're only 1 game below .500 right now and I hope we're not 5 games under .500 after this weekend. :-)

@Nozinan One word amigo: PITCHING!

@BlueNote Yup, Jays are 12th in the AL in pitching and 2nd in hitting. Yankees are no.1 in pitching and 6th in hitting.

Rated the last of my open, unrated bottles tonight while playing on-line pokers with the guys.

Blair Athol SMWS 68.65 (12 year - Feb. 2009) "Floral laurel" - Refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 58.3% ABV. Rating: 86.

Balmenach SMWS 48.130 (8 year - Nov. 2012) "Yellow smash" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.6% ABV. Rating: 86.

BenRiach SMWS 12.67 (12 year - Dec. 2008) "Horseback in the forest" - After ten years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, finished in a 2nd-fill charred ex-red wine barrique cask - 57.0% ABV. Rating: 87.

Glen Moray SMWS 35.302 (14 year - Jan. 2007) "A quick witted dovetail" - Matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead for 12 years before being transferred into a 1st-fill PX seasoned STR barrique cask - 64.9% ABV. Rating: 88.

Allt-A-Bhainne SMWS 108.41 (11 year - Oct. 2009) "Burnt dust" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 62.1% ABV. Rating: 86.

Heavily peated Inchmoan SMWS 135.39 (9 year - April 2012) "Smoked scrunch munch" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 58.5% ABV. Rating: 89.

Tonight, while watching baseball;

Glen Scotia SMWS 93.170 (9 year - Mar. 2012) "Mermaid karate" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 58.6% ABV

Heavily Peated Glenturret SMWS 16.60 (10 year - Nov. 2010) "Entering uncharted paths" - Re-charred hogshead - 56.9% ABV

G&M Linkwood 15, 46% - clean(refill sherry cask). 2021 bottling.

@fiddich1980 Dangerously drinkable since they bumped it up to 46%.

@BlueNote agree. The bump up 46% from 43% maybe due to cask selection. If the ABV wasn't listed, I'd guess it was low 40ish range.

I've tried Linkwood before courtesy of @Nozinan. I have the luxury of time to explore this bottle. I suspect that Johnnie Walker uses it as a primary component in their blends. A blend of G&M Linkwood with John Walker & Son Celebratory release yielded a fairly harmonic blend barring the peat element - Over Brewed Orange Pekoe Tea.

@fiddich1980 It was (is?) a component of the JW Green Label which is also very drinkable. I haven't had the Green for a few years, but I am very impressed with the 51% abv Celebratory Blend which very well may contain some Linkwood. Not specified on the label or box though. Any idea?

Sonny on the turntable and the last dram of my SMOS 8 year old Caol Ila, 61.5% ABV. A real beauty that benefited from the addition of a wee bit of water.

@BlueNote I was lucky enough to pick up one of those as well. It’s in the bunker waiting for a chance to open. CS CI. I hope my smell and taste get back to normal soon. I will have a lot of catching up to do…

Last night (Saturday), we had some friends over for dinner and drams.

Started off with a welcome dram; Deanston SMWS 79.6 (9 year - April 2012) "Rough and jumble" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.8% ABV.

After that I walked them through a blind tasting of the Society's June Outturn since my friends were not able to attend the event.

Blair Athol SMWS 68.65 (12 year - Feb. 2009) "Floral laurel" - Refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 58.3% ABV.

Balmenach SMWS 48.130 (8 year - Nov. 2012) "Yellow smash" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.6% ABV.

BenRiach SMWS 12.67 (12 year - Dec. 2008) "Horseback in the forest" - After ten years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, finished in a 2nd-fill charred ex-red wine barrique cask - 57.0% ABV.

Glen Moray SMWS 35.302 (14 year - Jan. 2007) "A quick witted dovetail" - Matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead for 12 years before being transferred into a 1st-fill PX seasoned STR barrique cask - 64.9% ABV.

Peated Allt-A-Bhainne SMWS 108.41 (11 year - Oct. 2009) "Burnt dust" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 62.1% ABV.

Heavily peated Inchmoan SMWS 135.39 (9 year - April 2012) "Smoked scrunch munch" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 58.5% ABV.

After dinner, our friends poured us 5 whiskies blind. All with common themes that were revealed as we tasted through them. The common themes were they were all American Single Malts and were all peated. They were;

Hogback Distillery (Boulder, Colorado) Straight Malt Whisky Peat Smoked Barrel #9, Bottle number 7 of 170. Single Barrel Series. Aged in Charred New Oak. 50% ABV. I really liked this one. It was my 3rd favorite of the 5.

McCarthy's (Hood River, Oregon) Single Malt Aged 6 years in Oregon oak. Distilled and bottled by Clear Creek Distillery (Wash brewed by Widmer Brothers Brewing Company). 50% ABV. Batch No. MC6-21-011. Bottled October 18th, 2021. This was the most complex and interesting of the group. It had a lot of Mezcal, vegetative notes.

Lost Spirits Distillery (Los Angeles, California) Abomination Heavily Peated Malt finished with late harvest Riesling seasoned American oak staves. 54% ABV. My favorite of the group.

Westland (Seattle, Washington) Peat Week The Grand Finale American Single Malt Whiskey. 54.5% ABV. I picked up that this was a familiar distillery, but I didn't figure out that it was Westland. It was probably the least peat / smoke of the 5.

10th Street (San Jose, California) American Whisky Single Malt Single Barrel. Ex-bourbon barrel no. 67. 61.9% ABV. This one reminded me a lot of Octomore and was my 2nd favorite.

After that, sticking with the peat theme; Linkwood SMWS 39.229 (10 year - Feb. 2011) "A merry dance" - After 8 years in an ex-bourbon cask, transferred to an ex-peaty bourbon barrel - 61.2% ABV.

Finished the night with Ledaig 18 year (2001) Gordon & Macphail's Connoisseurs Choice single cask - Refill Sherry Butt - 56.3% ABV.

Tonight, a couple of Vieux Carre cocktails made with Rittenhouse Rye BiB.

@Nozinan I hope this thing turns around for you soon. My wife and I both woke up with the symptoms of a head cold. Lots of coughing. We will do the rapid tests in the morning to determine if it is in fact COVID. The symptoms are very similar. We have had 4 shots and have been as careful as possible. No guarantees apparently.

Nothing but green tea this week.

His and Hers. Four shots, masks and distancing. Go figure.

@BlueNote Sorry to see this.

COVID IS NOT OVER.

And the Ba5 variant is probably the mist infectious.

I sincerely hope you don’t feel too sick, and wish you best of luck for your smell and taste.

@Nozinan Thanks. We'll do the test again in a week.

@BlueNote A COVID test or whisky smelling/tasting test? I plan to try the latter sometime this week, inspired by the bounty of samples courtesy @OdysseusUnbound.

@Nozinan I'll do the COVID test first and then the whisky test. Hopefully the former is negative and the latter is positive.

Three Sagamore Spirit Distillery Rye Whiskeys. Thank you very much @TracerBullet for sending me these nice samples. The Sagamore Spirit Distillery in Baltimore, Maryland has been selling sourced MGPI rye whiskey for about 6 or 7 years. They built a new distillery and started their own distillation production 5 years ago. These are 3 of the 4 early public samplings offered of the whiskey which they have made themselves from their own distillate. I will give mini- reviews.

Penny's Proof 3.5 yo Rye, 41.5% ABV

Nose: moderately spicy, dark-fruitier than most US rye, which for me is a very good thing. Low intermediate intensity, probably because of low proof. Score 21.5/25

Palate: nose flavours translate well and with a touch of floral bouquet of roses Score 21.5/25

Finish: goes low pitch intense like burnt black peppercorns Score: 20/25

Balance: good to very good balance in nose and palate; falls off into the finish. Score 20/25

Nose w/H20: water brings out dark fruit Score: 22/25

Palate w/H20: water brings out the spice but tones down the fruits and flowers. Score: 21.5/25

Finish w/H20: water greatly elevates the pitch which is an improvement. Score: 21/25

Balance w/H20: a little better w/water, Score: 21/25

Cumulative Scores: 83 neat, 85.5 w/H20; 84 overall

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Penny's Proof 4.5 yo Rye, 41.5% ABV

Nose: similar to the 3.5 yo rye but more rounded and less fruity. Score: 20.5/25

Palate: interesting contrast of very silky texture/body combined with very piquante spiciness, mostly of black pepper. A hint of fruit, more in the background. Score: 21.5/25

Finish: spicy, medium-high pitched and astringent. Strong, but neither beautiful nor delicious. Score: Score: 19.5/25

Balance: adequate on the nose, good on the palate, just fair on the finish. Score: 19/25

Nose w/H20: pleasant but a little undefined; spice reduced. Score: 19/25

Palate w/H20: quite spicy and less fruity here. Strong flavours. Nice. Score: 22/25

Finish w/H20: a nice fade out which drifts a little sour. Score: 21/25

Balance w/H20: in the lower part of the "Good" range. Score: 20/25

Cumulative Scores: 81 neat, 82 w/H20; 82 overall

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Sagamore Spirit 4 yo Bottled in Bond Rye, 50% ABV

Nose: high-pitched confectioner's sugar sweetness against a basso profundo set of wood and spice notes. Quite interesting, and nicely balanced. Score: 21.5/25

Palate: enourmous flavour, spice mostly, but also some of that high-pitched sweetness. Lots and lots of rye character which dominates the oak notes. More powerful than beautiful, but a lot of fun. Score: 21.5/25

Finish: long spicy black pepper finish, leaving the tongue tingling. A tonne of sweet balances the spicy, almost. If you like intense black pepper then this is for you. This is enjoyable, but could use more dimension, e.g. more dark fruits and flowers. Score: 22/25

Balance: good balance throughout. Score: 21/25

Nose w/H20: similar to nose w/o H20 Score: 21.5/25

Palate w/H20: with water the wood flavours are emphasized, which is not an improvement. Score: 21/25

Finish w/H20: just a diluted version of the finish w/H20. Score: 21.5/25

Balance w/H20: fair to good balance throughout. Score: 20.5/25

Cumulative Scores: 86 neat, 84.5 w/H20; 85 overall

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Conclusions: I have been waiting for 6 years to finally taste some of Sagamore Spirit's much promoted rye whiskey. Their products are all solid and drinkable, but none is at this point remarkable, much less exceptional. Are these as good as the MGPI sourced whiskeys which they are replacing? No, not yet, but they can become so and have room to grow. Yes, give me the 50% ABV Sagamore Spirit rye whiskey over the 41.5% ABV whiskeys. For me as a consumer the primary takeaway is that their products are good, but there are no compelling reasons to purchase them, particularly if their price points will be higher than the well-established legacy brands, e.g. Rittenhouse BIB or some of the MGPI sourced products. If I buy Sagamore Spirit Rye I am going to want at least 50% ABV. Let's see them put something out at 55% ABV. It's a difficult business and there are now many worthy competitors, especially with respect to price. Sagamore Spirit Distillery seems to have been depending heavily for their success on the loyalty of the Maryland "Drink Local" crowd. Can they compete on quality and price long term in the larger markets? I do hope that they can, but only time will tell.

@Victor - Excellent reviews and details as always. Thanks!