What is the next bottle you purchase or open?

@OdysseusUnbound You ought to try some from the original batch... Lot 1867. I think I know someone who has a bottle of it.

A couple of bottles of the recently released Springbank 14 Year Old Bourbon Wood.

A couple of bottles of the Bunnahabhain XXV.

Aborted attempt to open a Glengoyne 21 year old that I bought from the distillery (whilst with the Connosr crew, coincidentally) about 8 years ago. Cork snapped off when opening. First time this has happened to me. Don’t have a spare cork/stopper so will have to wait until another bottle is killed. Pretty gutted about the whole situation!

Same bottle

@dougwatts, heh, heh, Same bottle, good one! An unfortunate occurrence, especially for a bottle straight from the distillery. That sucks!

I keep a few corks on hand precisely for a situation such as this....I could send you a few tomorrow via post. Send me a private message if you want some.

@paddockjudge I think you should start your own whisky porn thread... you probably have enough photos for your own site!

Thanks for the offer @paddockjudge, very good of you. I think I should look for a less labour and cost-intensive solution than airmailing cork stoppers from Canada to the UK though. I have several bottles with about a third left in so I'll focus on polishing one of those off instead and reusing the stopper. In future will keep my own spares (one or two though, not aiming to rival your own collection!)

It's a shame that it's happened to the priciest bottle I've ever bought, at £90. I'm sure I will break the £100 threshold at some point but until this point I've contented myself with more affordable options when buying full bottles.

My club is getting together at my house tonight to open the following:

•Basic Jameson

•Redbreast 12

•Redbreast 12 CS

•Redbreast 15

•Redbreast Lustau

•Dunville's PX

•Whatever other surprises from the Emerald Isle that my club buddies show up with

I've got my eye on a 22 year old AnCnoc at a good price if I can get it muled from Calgary.

Just grabbed a bottle of Laphroaig 10 Year and Johnnie Walker Platinum 18 year.

@MadSingleMalt I'd love to read your reflections on the differences between the redbreasts. It's on my "next" list, but I can't make up my mind between precisely those four (and whilst I hear the Lustau is great, I don't want to overlap too much with other sherried ones I already have).

I'm technically on holiday currently but have a weird painful swelling on my left hand (most likely arthritic) that is preventing me from looking after my little lad or being out golfing - typical!

So, to lift my spirits somewhat I'm having an afternoon nip! Just opened an IB from Doug Laing 8 year old Ardmore. Almost killed off my Laga 8 last night and first impressions are that this is very similar but better somehow. Richer fruits perhaps? But lots of rich smoke.

I'll open a Port Dundas 12 single grain later and they are both planned to be used as a base for my attempts to recreate an older style of Teachers.

@RikS, I wasn't taking any notes—it's a party, not a tasting when my club gets together—but I'll take a stab at some thoughts here:

•Basic Jameson: Always decent and forgettable.

•Jameson Caskmates Stout: Maybe a little better than the basic Jamo, but still pretty similar. I'm pretty sure this was the whiskey in my glass at one point when I forgot what I was drinking.

•Redbreast 12: Surprisingly rich for 40%. Good stuff.

•Redbreast 12 CS: Big impact. Definitely reads like a high-powered version of the regular 12. This was the favorite of many club members.

•Redbreast 15: It's good. But I won't buy it again. (Actually, I didn't drink any last night, but it's my own personal bottle and I've been drinking it all March. It doesn't leave much of an impression on me.)

•Redbreast Lustau: Surprisingly light & bright & vibrant! Not at all the heavy, dark sherry monster I expected.

•Dunville's PX: Noticeably sweeter than the Rebreast Lustau, but otherwise fairly similar. A fun bottle.

•Basic Connemara: I used to buy this in my early whisky days, but showed really poorly to me now that that I'm so much more acclimated to big peaters. I'll never buy one of these for myself again. Decent and grassy, I guess I'll say.

•Powers John Lane 12: Delicious liquid sunshine!

@MadSingleMalt Really appreciate it taking the time to take down these notes. So, seems that with already plenty sweet and sherried / port versions in the cabinet, it stands between the 12 and the 12 CS. Consensus seems to be that the CS adds quite a lot to the experience... Much obliged!

Three opened today, all in the name of science and art

Ardmore 8 SB IB, Glenfarclas 12, Port Dundas 12 SB IB.

@RikS, yep: The 12 is good and the 12 CS is great. And sometimes, the prices are hardly different (or even the same, like at Binny's!), so the choice is easy.

@MadSingleMalt thats intersting. Here the CS is actually double in price £43 (12) vs £86 (12CS)!

I was lucky enough to win the LCBO lottery - EH Taylor Single Barrel bourbon for CAN$90.

@talexander Congratulations. I bought Single barrel (I think - is it bottled at 50%?) a few years ago. I think I opened it at your place once when @Victor was in town. I finally got @paddockjudge t take it off my hands last year, I think.

@Nozinan Yes, 50% ABV.

@RikS, yikes!

In case anyone wants to see the nonsensical prices at Binny's:

binnys.com/all/redbreast/…#

@MadSingleMalt WTF!!!! I paid $180 cad for the redbreast 21 a month ago!

@nooch I paid CAN$250 for the Redbreast 21 here in Ontario! Damn fine liquid, though. Damn fine. BTW the mental trick to justify high prices is to just allocate the cost for as long as you will be keeping the bottle. So if I want my Redbreast 21 to last for the next two March 17ths, that works out to 34 cents a day. Not bad, eh?

@talexander Maybe I’ll try to explain that to my wife to convince her to let me buy an Octomore at $230...

@OdysseusUnbound While the trick works internally, it doesn't have a successful track record externally.

@talexander as an English teacher that math makes perfect sense to me.

@OdysseusUnbound order from Calgary and save $100. You should be able to convince them to ship now that provincial borders have been relaxed a bit.

@Nozinan, yes, You gave me the balance of the bottle, thank you. Sadly, this particular bottle is not an example of good bourbon...single barrel roulette.

@MadSingleMalt

Well, if they are going to mark the 12yo and 12yo CS at the same price, the choice is a no brainer. Go snatch up many bottles of th 12yo CS, especially at that price.