There can be only one

I’m inclined to say:

• Scotch: Springbank 10. I think I like Laphroaig 10 a little bit more, but SB 10 is a bit more complex and has everything I could want in a malt whisky.
• Bourbon: Wild Turkey Rare Breed. I’m not sure that there’s anything this bourbon can’t do. I love it so much.
• Irish: Green Spot. Redbreast 12 Cask Strength is better but it’s a bit of a unicorn in Ontario and I’m trying to avoid that in this discussion. Between RB 12 and Green Spot, I think I prefer GS simply because there’s less sherry influence.
• American Rye: I was kind of lukewarm on my first few ‘Merican ryes but Rittenhouse is really working for me these days so I’d go with that.
• Canadian: Lot 40. There are unicorns I like more but this is such a consistent winner imho.
• World whiski: some type of bourbon-matured Amrut. I love the Portonova, but Amrut’s distillate is quite fruity and it shines nicely in a bourbon cask maturation.
• Rum: rum is so varied but if I could only choose 1, I’d probably go with Appleton 12 Year. No additives, no sugar. Not as much pot still funk as I’d like but assertive enough to let me know it’s rum.
• Gin: I’m no connoisseur, but Hayman’s is my go-to at the moment.
• Vodka: Russian Standard has replaced Luksusowa as my stock vodka. I’m not sure why, but it’s just the reality of my world atm.
• Tequila: I’m so new to the world of tequila that I don’t often consume it neat. Aguamiel Blanco is impressing me these days so let’s go with that.

It's an interesting question, but I wonder if it's fair to lump all Scotches into one category. Some Scottish single malts in Speyside have more in common with some world whiskies than they do with some Islay malts. So I will subdivide into peated and unpeated Scotches.

• Scotch: Aberlour A'Bunadh, the first sherried Scotch I fell for, and Caol Ila Cask strength, preferrably the 58% OB version.

• Irish: Redbreast 12 YO CS. Hands down the best Irish whisky I have had. I know its availability is spotty in Ontario but when it comes in there is a lot of it and stocking up is possible (I'm still stocked up from when I first got it...and when I thought $110 for a 12 year old CS malt was a tad expensive...).

• American Rye: I actually have no preference. It is one of the categories I have least experience in.

• Bourbon: There are so many excellent ones to choose from. Avoiding the "unicorn" of George T. Stagg, I would probably have to narrow it down to a choice between OGD 114, Booker's, and Stagg Jr.. And I think I would settle on Booker's.

• Canadian: Who would have thought 10 years ago that @Nozinan would say "there are too many to choose from"? If price were not a consideration I think I would go with Wiser's 23 YO CS. 2017 or 2018 versions of the Lot 40 CS would be second, and AP CS a close third.

• World whisky: Amrut, hands down. But which one? Although I enjoy all of them, and have scored the peated CS highest of any whisky I have scored, I think if I could have only one I would want to go with a single cask Bourbon cask, like the ones the LCBO heavily discounted in 2015 I think.

• Rum: Given I rarely use rum for anything other than cooking or the occasional mojito, I think I would stick with Smith and Cross 57%.

• Gin: Not a fan of gin but if I had to pick one it would be the unaged Levantine gin from Milk and Honey distillery.

• Tequila: I would not have a tequila in my cabinet.

• BaiJao: The spirit I tasted in XinJiang was my favourite of all the (mostly) sorghum-based Chinese spirits I have had. Granted, I have never opened any of the expensive ones I have been gifted.

• Soju: I dislike every Soju I have tried, but my wife likes grapefruit flavoured soju so I would keep that around.

I want to be clear that though I have only tasted one type of (likely home-made) Lambanog, that was enough to scare me away from that category forever.... If anyone wants a bottle of store-bought glow in the dark pink lambanog, let me know...

Thanks for bringing up this perennial thought exercise in a unique way @OdysseusUnbound.

@OdysseusUnbound it sounds like you are looking for a list of affordable and available go-to bottles. That is a very different list than the list of There Can Be Only One bottle in each category which I would actually choose to bring with me if I were going to the desert island. That list would largely be a "rare and expensive" list.

I choose to have a larger number of categories, but still One in each category.

Here's my go-to list:

Vodka: Luksusowa (Yes, I like Russian Standard just fine too)

Gin, general purpose: Tanqueray

Gin, sipping, yin: Hendricks

Gin, sipping, yang: Tanqueray No. Ten

Gin, sipping, spicy: Ophir (this stuff tastes like a teaspoon of black pepper)

Rum, molasses: a good batch of Smith & Cross Traditional Jamaica Pot Still Rum, Navy Strength. My second bottle of this is unfortunately not from a good batch.

Rum. sugar cane juice: Clement VSOP

Tequila: Corralejo Reposado

Mezcal: Del Maguey Chichicapa

Rye Bourbon: Wild Turkey Rare Breed (It would have been Elijah Craig 12 yo Barrel Proof, by a hair, except that ECBP is not continuously available)

Wheated bourbon: Old Weller Antique 107, though not routinely available

Wheat whiskey: Old Elk Wheat Whiskey

Corn whisky, masquerading as Tennessee whisky: George Dickel # 12. 84% corn content makes Dickel corn whisky no matter how they prefer to name it. US law says 80% corn = corn whiskey.

US Rye: Wild Turkey 101 Rye (haven't tried the newer batches that @Nock dislikes)

Canadian whisky: Alberta Premium

Irish malt: I like several, but they are all either uncommon to find or premium products. Tullamore DEW 10 yo comes as close to available and affordable as any. What I REALLY like is Connemara Cask Strength, but you just don't see it any more

Irish blended: Jameson Black Barrel

Scottish blended: Grant's Family Reserve

Scottish malt: Ardbeg Uigeadail

Indian malt: anything from Amrut

@Nozinan There are no “rules” to this thought experiment. I personally wanted to avoid Serge Valentin-esque unicorns (“a 26 year old Highland Park bottled in 1973 for a Danish Independent Bottler based in Silkeborg”) but others are free to chime in as they like. That said, OGD 114 and Booker’s are excellent choices too. Booker’s is probably the only bourbon I’ve paid over $100 for. I don’t like paying that much, but I don’t regret spending it either.

I don’t think I included any Scottish or Irish blends. To remedy that, I’d go:

• Scottish blended: Teacher’s Highland Cream
• Scottish Blended Malt: Douglas Laing Rock Oyster (now Rock Island) 18 Year.
• Irish Blended: Writers’ Tears

And since @Victor mentioned wheated bourbons as a separate category, I’ll jump on that train and choose Weller Antique 107.

Scotch un-peated: Arran 14 (easy choice)

Scotch Peated: Laphroig 10 Cask Strength batch 8 (toss-up between this and the Oogie)

Irish: Redbreast 12YO Cask Strength

American Rye: I guess Knob Creek Rye? I haven't had a ton of them but KC is the best "mid-shelf" rye I've tried.

Bourbon: Hmm...This is the tough one. Either EC Barrel Proof or JD Barrel Proof. Probably the EC if I got to pick the batch (C918).

Canadian: Lot 40CS (easy choice again)

World whisky: Kavalan Solist Vihno

Rum: Pusser's I suppose, although again I'm not that well versed in rums.

Gin: I'll pass...

Vodka: I'll pass again unless I can bring a mixer to the island with me.

Mezcal: Subbing Mezcal for tequila here. I can't remember the name, but there was a great small batch Mezcal my father brought back from some small distillery on the Yucatan Peninsula.

BaiJiu: I'm going to surprise people and NOT pick Maotai. Instead, there is a BaiJiu in Shandong province that is excellent, super fruity with just enough of that baijiu "funk" to bring a nice balance. I would have to ask my wife what the name is but here is a picture of it.

@casualtorture It's amazing how much effort goes into the packaging and creation of pretty bottles for these spirits...

@Nozinan They are beautiful. I would say that I wish ours were like that, but I'm sure that'd just make everything cost more.

Here are some modifications to my list to reflect my stock on hand and not limited to items readily available to all:

Rye-Bourbon: Willett Family Estate Bourbon 18 years old, Barrel # 79, 69.7% ABV, "Sopressata", 131 bottles. This is my favourite all-time rye bourbon.

Wheated Bourbon: Pappy Van Winkle 15 year old, 53.5% ABV, 2010 release. This is my favourite all-time bourbon

US Rye: Abraham Bowman 10 year old Rye, Private Barrel from The Party Source, 69.4% ABV. This is my favourite all-time whiski I have ever owned

Canadian whisky: this is a toss-up between my two all-time favourite Canadian whiskies 2010 release Wiser's Legacy 45% ABV and 2018 release Lot 40 Cask Strength, 11 years old, 58.4% ABV

Irish Single Malt: Connemara Cask Strength, 57.9% ABV

Irish Blended: Tullamore D.E.W. Phoenix Limited Edition, 55% ABV. If I had my way most blended whiski would be sold at a strength of 55% ABV or greater

Blended Scotch: Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition, 50% ABV. I'll settle for 50% ABV if I can't get 55% ABV. Really, what I like best is 70% ABV

Wine-influenced malt whisky: Amrut Intermediate Sherry Matured Single Malt, 57.1% ABV, any release. This is my favourite wine-influenced whiski, worldwide

And, lastly, one unicorn:

Favourite Scottish Malt whisky AND favourite single taste of whiski ever. This is the only taste of any whiski which I would rate at 99 points out of 100: 40 year old 1967 Duncan Taylor Springbank I had only one taste of this, but it was Nirvana. I would bring this in place of Ardbeg Uigeadail as my Scottish Malt if someone gave me a bottle of it

@Victor Whew, 40 year old Springbank: keep buying those lottery tickets.

@BlueNote Lotto Max 70 Million tonight...

@BlueNote I saw a listing for the 1967 40 yo Duncan Taylor Springbank on wine-searcher.com a few weeks ago. When I looked for it yesterday it was gone. The window may have closed there. Last I saw it the price was somewhere around $ 5,000. Hell, when I tasted it in 2009 my wife wanted to buy me a bottle of it then, but the only listing for it online at that time was at a price of $ 2,300.

These lists are very revealing, but I can see how one might want a list only of available products at the current time. It would be somewhere between extremely difficult and impossible to find a bottle of ANY of the products on the list I just posted.

Part of the reason why I have bought so many bottles is that it can take a good bit of looking before you find the ones which you consider to be gems.

...I see that I forgot about Bushmills 21 yo Single Malt Madeira Finish in making up my revised list. Oh well, I will be happy with either Bushmills 21 or Connemara Cask Strength.

Single Malt non peated-Balblair 2nd release 1990/2015

Single Malt Peated-Longrow 17 Chardonnay Finish

Bourbon-Four Roses 125th

American Rye-2013 Thomas H Handy, Kentucky Owl Rye, batch 1 would also work

Canadian Rye-Toughest decision for me, Hochstadter's 16 year cask strength (ADL)

Canadian Blended- Legacy or Dissertation

Canadian Corn- Great Plains 17 year (Potter Juice) plus 1 year in Brandy Casks, cask strength

World-Kavalan Virgin Oak, 13 year-Amrut Jaggery Rum cask would also work

Irish-Red Breast 21

Rum single cask-Vallanch & Mallet Long Pond 15 year single cask

Rum blended-Black Tot, 50 year anniversary

Gin-Tanquery No 10

Vodka-Stoli Elite-because there is an unopened bottle in the bar for 8 years now

Mezcal-Del Maguey Chichicapa

@Astroke check your bottle of Balblair 90 second release. Mine says distilled 1990, bottled 2017. Wonderful stuff.

@BlueNote The first of these was a 1990/2015, 2 more releases after that but I only had the 2015 release, 4 bottles and down to 1 unopened.

@Astroke Oh, I didn’t realize they had earlier releases of the 90. I ordered four of the 2017s from a retailer in Denmark in 2018 and had them sent to my cousin in England. I gave one to him, one to my cousin in Scotland and brought two back to Canada. I’ve got one left unopened, but it’s getting cracked this summer as soon as I can have my whisky boys over for a tasting session.

My nephew lives in Hamilton. He and his wife have had two kids since I last saw them. I’m way overdue for a trip east. Cheers.

@BlueNote Bring your appetite and your thirst....

@BlueNote, Make the trip East...we'll get you a doctor's note

@paddockjudge Any particular doctor you had in mind?

@BlueNote.....I know a guy....