What is the next bottle you purchase or open?

Alberta Premium 25 yr-old Limited Edition 100% rye 2007 release - good ol' cowboy whisky - absolutely delicious.

@paddockjudge Laughed out loud at your "good ol' cowboy whisky" comment. Wyoming is home to a fair few cowboys, and they dearly love their Canadian whiskies. It's told that Lord Calvert and Crown Royal are the two perennial best sellers here. For me, Forty Creek tops 'em both.

Just opened my Balcones Texas Single Malt Whisky batch 13-6 (53%). Bottled on 6/18/13. I was very hesitant about opening, was afraid it would disappoint. However it's delicious. Sweet but also savory and strong. Has a malt grain scotch style yet spicy and similar to the Balcones Blue Corn Whisky. I see this bottle not lasting long.

Ok, very random.............on my lunch I was planning a lesson for the following week so I decided to enjoy my lunch. Why not spend some time looking up scotch, so I started looking on the MoM site for an affordable well aged whisky and to my surprise I found Ancnoc 22 yo for $145. Not a bad price. Now I check my local NY shop and to my surprise they have it in stock and for $129. Now the Ancnoc 22 is in my cabinet waiting for an occasion to be opened.

Wild Turkey 101 Rye - still not sure whether it's out of production or whether it's coming back, but when I noticed the local store selling it at the same price as the lower proof version, I thought I should pick one up. Never had much exposure to ryes before, but I really enjoyed it.

@Whisk, Australia has been just about the only place where one can buy Wild Turkey 101 Rye during the past year.

@Victor So I've heard!

This store had six or seven bottles and all had a thin layer of dust on them. I was rather pleased with my purchase - don't know if I would have been quite as pleased with the lower proof version though?

Any other rye recommendations (for a rye novice) that could be considered a step up from the 101?

@Whisk, no, it is a good idea to stay away from all of the 40% and 40.5% ryes and bourbons. Sometimes a batch is very good, but the dilution is usually too much for sipping and the best barrels usually go to the premium products. The 40% US spirits are mostly for mixing.

Good ryes? Check out my Eleven US Ryes For The Desert Island Connosr list. You might be able to find Rittenhouse 100 proof in Australia. If you want to go upscale, see if you can buy from Japan, maybe get a Willett, or, of course, Thomas H. Handy. Drop me a line and tell me what you have available. I didn't see much in Dan Murphy's.

Just purchased one hour ago a Nikka Coffey Grain single cask from 1999. Can't wait to try it again ! (Tried it at Whisky Live Paris ~two months ago).

in a slightly strange turn of events i was rummaging around the kitchen looking for something and stumbled across a Glenlivet 12 year old. So thats gone into the cabinet, also i was picking up some booze for a party last night, saw a little 3 pack of 50ml Glenfiddich's, the 12,15 solera and 18, so i thought why not. Gotta love gift packs

Not a purchase but did receive in trade a Kirin Fuji Sanroku SM 18 year over the weekend. Another advance in my pursuit of Japanese expressions. On Saturday, I purchased another Nikka Taketsuru 12 year and a Signatory Cambus 21 year single grain.

Just picked up my second bottle of the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (2nd release) at 68.5% ABV. It is a monster of a bourbon. The price at $39.95 only makes it better.

Just received Master of Malt's Whisky Advent Calendar (2012 Edition)! So starting Dec 1, I'll be posting reviews of each dram.

Just picked up a Highland Park 12, Ardbeg Uigeadail and two SMWS bottles - a Port Charlotte and an Aultmore.

A couple other bottles are on their way as well so I'm pretty sure I'll regret spending so much. Hopefully that feeling fades once I open them and start to enjoy them!

I opened up a bottle of Ardbeg Galileo the other night. I felt myself in the need for something peaty.

Acquired some Knob Creek to be reviewed tomorrow.

While on vacation in Arizona this past week, Aberlour A'bunadh Batch # 45 and An Cnoc 12 YO. When I saw a good price on the A'bunadh batch 45 I couldn't pass it up, because all it gets is rave reports. The An Cnoc will actually be my first taste/bottle of that one. I don't remember ever having seen it in my local haunts.

I have too many open bottles to open up either one of them very soon.

Great question. After combing much of the malt scene in Calgary, I will probably pick up a spare Amrut Intermediate Sherry, one or two Springbank 12 year old cask strength (I notice it's a different batch from the one I finished), possibly a Booker's, and I'm torn about A'Bunadh 46, but may go for a 36 I've seen in the stores.

In terms of opening, we picked up some 50 cc bottles of Amrut cask strength and one will be opened on Amrut night.

I'm a big fan of the Glenlivet Nadurra (16 Year Old). As my bottle is almost finished, I'll be looking at purchasing a new one some time. I do agree with Nozinan also; Amrut Intermediate Sherry is worth keeping stock of also.

@Victor Ooh I think you'll like the An Cnoc 12! Or at least I hope so...

@Victor You'll love the AnCnoc 12 - it's amazing.

@systemdown and @talexander, I will be quite surprised if I don't greatly enjoy the An Cnoc 12, from all the positive reports. Not only does a wonderful wide range of Connosrs love it, but I was amused to see that Mr. Murray gives it the highest number that he gives to all the products from the Knockdhu distillery.

A question, @systemdown: from the descriptions of An Cnoc 12 it sounds a good bit like The Bailie Nicol Jarvie...or maybe like Arran 14 YO,...do you see similarities? Here I am doing what I hate--talking abstractly about whisky whithout drinking it...you know what this means...I WILL be opening that bottle soon, despite the 150 other open bottles in the house...

The next bottle I open will be Clynelish 14yr; probably tonight. The next bottle that I purchase will be another Balvenie 14yr Caribbean Cask.

I've got a couple of distilleries that I want to try out in the months to come: Glengyle, Linkwood, Longmorn, Mortlach and Royal Brackla. Thinking about paying a short visit to Islay somewhere near the end of january, so might want to put some money aside to buy some bottles

@Whisk: Nick's (Melb.) Vintage Direct have over 200 American Whiskeys. Try...

nicks.com.au/bourbon-spirit-of-the-wild-wes…

Good Luck.

Good buys, gentlemen. I'm looking forward to hearing what @Victor thinks of the An Cnoc and what @Nozinan thinks of the Intermediate Sherry.

I've just picked up a bottle of Old Pulteney Row to the Pole. With only 3000 bottles made I'm inclined to save it for a very special occasion.

For my next buy I think I'll grab a bottle or two of Johnnie Walker 18 yo Gold Label before it's all gone. I'm told it's considerably better than the NAS Gold Reserve, it's replacement.

Opened a bottle of Bowmore Darkest 15y last night after a great dinne with my family. Great dram after a great meal. Recommend it to everyone that enjoys peat and sweet stuff!

@Victor I'd say the An Cnoc 12 is more like the Arran - I found it to be quite the "fruit bomb" - or at least a version of it at standard whisky strength! I remember it primarily as a fruit basket full of fresh tropical fruits, honey and vanilla. And crisp malt.

What it shares with BNJ is that it's definitely "more-ish"...

@A'bunadhman - ugh! I really don't need any further temptation! Thank you though :-)

Recently purchased: Glenlivet 12 (realised I'd never tried it), Ardbeg Day and Old Malt Cask Bunnahabhain 21 and Aberlour 20.

Recently opened: Glenlivet 12, Laphroaig Quarter Cask, Highland Park 12 and Glendronach 2002 10 year old single cask.

That should keep me going over Christmas!

Oh, I also recently picked up a Balvenie 15 year old single barrel as it's soon to be discontinued/replaced and I'd like to be able to refer back to it in future. I just hope the one I picked up is from a decent batch!