The results of poor choices over the years.

Live and Learn, @Nozinan. Certainly there are a few bottles I have let get away from me over the years that I would have nailed down if I had it to do again. I used to have just such a LIST.

The enormous upsurge in whisk(e)y popularity and increased pricing was unprecedented in our lifetimes. Even so, I am happy that I stored many favourites away back in the day before people realized that it was a good idea to do so.

@Victor Interesting.. you interpreted (or at least answered) the question as if it were "what did you miss out on"? In fact I meant it the opposite way.

Setting aside bottles that were given to me as gifts, over which I had no control, I would say my "poor choices" most often resulted from enthusiasm and buying into hype before I really knew what I was doing. Thus I acquired bottles that in hindsight I would never have chosen today.

I would say there are at least 2 dozen unopened bottles (Glen Bretons, Forty Creek releases I pre-ordered but that were not as good as expected, Aberlour low proofs) that I wished I had not bought. Interestingly, these were all mostly in the first 2-3 years of my journey which is now 7 YO. I do regret buying too many OWA 107 in last year's lottery but I don't see any others that I have picked up in the last 2 years that I regret, except maybe one of the 2 Knob Creek SBs that I got when I thought they were being discontinued, but which I now realize I may never open, given the one I have open has been around at least 3 years.

I have been so successful in reducing my number of open bottles that I now have open, at 67, more bottles than ever before. Of those, I may not like all of them (Lambertus anyone?, but there are only about 5 that I wish I hadn't picked up because they add nothing useful.

What have I done about it? I've returned a few to the LCBO in exchange for things I like. I've gifted a couple to people who might enjoy them and traded or sold others to people who wanted to the, I currently have 9 unopened bottles left that I would like to be parted from, and four of those are assigned for eventual allocation, so that's not too bad.

What would I do differently? I think curbing my enthusiasm, letting some of the mainstream bottles that I thought I anted get away if I wasn't prepared to open them right away, maybe buying less until I really got to know what I like.

Then again, doing that I might have missed out on some stunners that now rest in my bunker, waiting for the right time to show themselves.

As you say, live and learn.

Indeed! My collection is a more modest one but regardless I really can't say I have bottles I wish I hadn't got. Ofcourse you'll always prefer some over others but I guess the larger a collection becomes the more you'll need to rationalize your purchases if you are ever to slow down the expansion. It's no fun feeling stuck with things you don't WANT to have..

@Nozinan, "...non, regrette rien! Non, je ne regrette rien! "

The only bottle purchases I have made which I later really disliked were: 1) Wiser's 18 yo, 2) Wiser's Small Batch, 3) Greenore 8 yo Grain Whiskey, 4)standard Elijah Craig 12 yo.

I despised the flavours of both of those Wiser's, and especially that both of them tasted to me like industrial chemicals with sweetener. The Greenore annoyed me that I paid $ 55 for a corn whiskey which tasted little better than a $ 12 bottle of Mellow Corn. The Elijah Craig 12 yo was a ruined outlier bottle which tasted of nothing but soap for 2 full years.

My bottle of Lambertus 10 yo Single Grain whisky was a gift, so I can't really complain about that one.

I don't have regrets in my collection. Maybe somethings I passed up, but no regrets in what I have stored.

do have some purchases I wasn't happy with, but they're no longer with me. I'd say I have 0.5% buyers regret. That is, next to nothing.

I have had a bottle of Jura Superstition open and 2/3rds full for 3 years. Yech!!

@BlueNote, I too have Jura Superstition...it makes great rusty nails.

The nails on my coffin will get rusty before I purchase a bottle of that.

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OK, that was a joke, never tried it, don't want to judge, but couldn't pass up the opportunity.

@Nozinan it makes great rusty nails .... it ain't good for nuttin' else!

@paddockjudge I didn’t hate Jura Superstition, but I bought a bottle about 2 years ago and haven’t bought another one since, so take from that what you will.

@OdysseusUnbound It's actually worse than Bowmore 12.

@BlueNote Again, I don’t hate Bowmore 12. I haven’t bought one in a very long time though.

@OdysseusUnbound Have you had the 15 year old Darkest recently? It's on sale right now and I was tempted to give it another try. It's been years.

@BlueNote I have not. Isn’t it full of E150A ???

@OdysseusUnbound Yeah, I think so. I'll pass, there's too much other stuff I know I like.

I don't regret buying my Bowmores 12, 15 and 18. That's because I got the 3 x 50 cc minis and it saved me from buying bigger bottles.... I'm surprised I even bothered to try Laimrig after that... but glad I did.

I famous wine expert once said that there were no great wine , only great bottles. I once had a glass of Bowmore 18 that was fantastic and bought a bottle of it to find... well... Bowmore 18. That was a big disappointment. Here is a short list of other bad choices: New Zealand Coll. 10 yo, Koval Oat SB and two surprises Arran 14 yo and Maker's 46.

I am not including a bottle of Springbank 10 hoping that it was only a bad bottle, but it was one of the worst whisky I had second only to the two infamous New Zealand Coll. 10 yo and Lambertus 10 yo.

@Robert99

the infamous New Zealand Coll. 10 yo and Lambertus 10 yo make me shudder just thinking about it.

@paddockjudge Spoken by the only person to finish not only 1, but 2 drams of Lambertus in one sitting...

@Nozinan I really need to try this Lambertus some time. Its awfulness seems legendary around here. In some circles, Haig Club holds the “oh god no” title, but not here. Maybe a H2H tasting....

@OdysseusUnbound I thought of including a sample. it played back and forth in my mind quite a bit. In the end I decided I would rather try to be friend than foe...

Fear not...if you really want to try it, some will be waiting for you.

@Nozinan I’m a “try everything once” kind of guy. I’m hoping to attend the Companions of the Quaich dinner in January for Burns Night. I’m told there will be a haggis and that they go all-out with the proper Address to a Haggis and everything. I just hope they don’t serve exclusively Lowland malts, since Burns was technically a Lowlander.

@OdysseusUnbound If they serve Armstrong Bladnoch you'll have a real treat. Maybe next sample set...

@OdysseusUnbound I hope one day to taste a good haggis and to find the best whisky to go with it.

@OdysseusUnbound, Haig Club is so much better than Lambertus that it shouldn't be mentioned in the same discussion of "poor choices". You've got try this stuff.

@Robert99 is there such a thing as the best whisky to go with it? I've had the good fortune to have good quality haggis a number of times and I don't think it matters too much what decent dram you have with it - it is just such a great experience. Mind you, I've just bought a kilt so the next time will be even better!

@Hewie I am sure any good whisky could help you to cope with a cold draft in this apparel.