What is the next bottle you purchase or open?

@OdysseusUnbound, you're certainly going through a lot of rigmarole to solve this conundrum!

Except for the Wiser's thing, I've had all the whiskies on your list and I vote for the Talisker Distiller's Edition. It's simply the most delicious.

Honorable mention to Port Charlotte Scottish Barley. You're curious about this one, and it's a solid whisky with solid specs—even though I don't really love it. (I think the Islay Barley is way better.) Mostly, I second @RianC: Because the bottle code gives you the complete recipe breakdown, you shouldn't lump it in with the other mystery-meat NAS bottles out there.

Ardbeg uigeadail....

...Yes, I can see the amusement that someone (me) who 'don't like Islay' fell into this trap, but someone ( @RianC and @Hewie I blame you both ) was evil enough to recommend me Ardbeg 10 here as "peaty but not too medicinal" and I couldn't help myself but try and agree... and then developed a real liking - against my intuitive desire - so... now I'm picking up an uigeadail as I'm flying out tomorrow!

@MadSingleMalt My task may have gotten easier (though possibly sadder). It turns out I came in second in the hockey pool, so my winnings are less than I thought. This pretty much rules out Lag 12. I was on the fence before, but it's going to be a hard no on that front. Truthfully, I'll probably just buy what my gut tells me once I'm there. Nevertheless, I'm grateful for all the input.

The Skye lovefest engulfing the "So what are you drinking now?" thread today reminded me to share what my club plans to open tonight.

•Talisker 10

•Talisker 57

•Talisker 18

•Talisker Storm

•Talisker Distiller's Edition

•An indie Talisker—a 6-year-old OMC single sherry cask from K&L

And I happen to have a European bottle of Talisker DE, which I'm bringing along just for fun. It has three differences from the US version: the stamp for which market it's for (boring), the smaller size (mildly interesting), and the "mit farbstoff" sticker—which I think is interesting, but we'll see what my club buddies think. (For comparison's sake, I also thought the third-bottle-of-water that I brought to last month's meeting to demonstrate the dilution between Redbreast 12 CS and Redbreast 12 40% was interesting, but that went over like a lead balloon.)

I just joined SMWS Canada, so should be receiving my member's kit soon - and after that, a few sweet bottles every once in a while...

@MadSingleMalt tell us more about your redbreast experiment? It's on my shopping list and I'm pondering between the normal vs CS?

@RikS, I just figured out how much water they add to the cask-strength Redbreast 12 to make the 40% version, and I had that amount of water in an empty whisky bottle. I think that little visual aid earned one "huh, that's a lotta water alright" from one guy in my club, and that was it. If you're interested in the water thing, I refer you to this thread:

connosr.com/that-bottle-has-a-lot-of-water…

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As for the buying choice between Redbreast 12 40% v. Cask Strength, it seems like opinions are surprisingly split. Even though most whisky nuts, for most whiskies, will say "cask strength every time," the 40% version has a lot of fans who prefer it.

Personally, I'd pick the power of the CS version—especially when they're close in price, which they often (strangely) are.

Either another Springbank 12 CS to add to the collection or a Corryvrecken. I'm torn.

I have an unopened Glenlivet Nadurra 16yo batch 0814D, and an unopened Arran 18yo limited edition (those Arrans they put in the white boxes and labels). Torn between which one to open on the next special occasion.

As far as buying, I've been craving bourbon with heavy vanilla and cherry flavours. Preferably cask strength. Any recommendations?

@casualtorture That Nadurra is a legendary batch. You will enjoy it.

As for bourbon... JD cingle barrel CS if you can find it seemed to fit that description.

The next bottle I purchase is one I just talked to my parents about. They called from Florida. My mother was overwhelmed by choice so she asked me to choose a whisky, with the implication that I will pay her for the bottle as spending more than $40 on whisky is scandalous to her. As she went through a list of things in front of her, she struggled to pronounce Laphroaig Ca-eye-are-dee-us...to which I said “that one!” It is the Madeira Cask, 51.6% ABV Edition, which has garnered mixed reviews (I’ve seen everything from 85 to 93) but given my love of Laphroaig, I’m sure I’ll be happy with it.

I’m also, barring any unforeseen circumstances, picking up an Ardbeg Corryvreckan from a fellow Connosr this weekend. Then I really need to put my wallet away until June. Unless another edition of Cairdeas appears at the LCBO.

@casualtorture, I too recommend JD Single Barrel barrel proof. I just had a wee nip from a sample of @talexander's bottle (thanks Tom!) and the cherry notes are there, integrated within the richness of this delicious whiskey, both nose and palate.

connosr.com/jack-daniels-single-barrel-bar…

@Nozinan @paddockjudge thankfully living an hour from the distillery gives me an advantage when it comes to JD and GD products. So I'll pick one up today!

@talexander Those little SMWS babies are expensive, but boy are they good. I'm not a member, but I have a good friend who is. It's kinda like boats: better to have a friend with one than to own one. You just have to bring along the booze and junk food and throw in some gas money once in a while.

@MadSingleMalt Generally speaking I would always opt for cask strength versions, but I have had both the Benromach 10 @43% and the 100 proof version @57.1% and I don't think I would pay the extra for the 100 proof again, The standard 43% is very good and a lot less money. Only ever had the Redbreast @ 40 so can't comment on that one.

I wouldn't mind being at your Talisker night just for a sip of 18.

@casualtorture

Well, when you do open the Nadurra 16yo 0814D, please tell us all about it. As @Nozinan stated it is a legendary batch, so I look forward to what you think of it, and what flavors and aromas you got.

So, my vote is for the Nadurra 16yo

@MadSingleMalt thank you. It seems that the "almost the same price" is a phenomenon only existing across the pond from us here in the UK. Here, the CS is almost double in price, 77 vs 39 and I've never seen it on sale.

@BlueNote, that Talisker 18 was easily the star of the evening. I took an informal vote near the end of the night, and after some scattered applause for the others, the hootin' & hollerin' for the 18 was overwhelming.

The indie 6-year sherry cask Talisker was pretty divisive. A couple people really liked it, but many HATED it. I was closer to that second camp, finding the nose really skunky & offputting—sulphurous, maybe. It tastes good, though.

Mostly, I was surprised by how lukewarm everyone felt about the 10. I think that's such a classic, but the group's response to it was a collective "meh."

@MadSingleMalt Yeah, I'm a bit confused as to why Serge is still scoring the Ten at 90 points. I don't think it is worthy of that kind of score lately. It's certainly not what it was a few years ago IMO. I find it a bit thin and lacking the good peat hit it used to have. I would still rate it in the mid to high 80s though.

I figured the 18 would get the gold at your tasting. How did the 57 North go over?

@BlueNote, the 57 North was pretty hit or miss too. Most guys in the club didn't really know anything about it—almost everyone was surprised to find out it was a rare (in the US) bottle that I'd had to order from Europe. I loved it, some people hated it as too harsh & spirity, and nobody (except me) liked it nearly as much as the 18.

The biggest & best surprise of the night was how much a brand-new-to-whisky guy loved all the Taliskers. "So what's this peat stuff you're talking about? I love it!"

@MadSingleMalt I’ve been trying to track a bottle of 18 down for 2 years!!

@nooch Talisker 18 is magical.

Talisker 10? You guys have already been reading for years about how I feel about it. Hey, some bottles of it are great, and some are most certainly not great. That has been my experience of it for the last eight years.

@MadSingleMalt, oh yeah, there are those people who are brand new to whisky and jump right onto the peaty smokey briney malts as their favourites. They are not all males, either.

@MadSingleMalt It's been a long time since I had the pleasure of the 57 North. As I recall, a little splash of water tuned it up nicely.

@BlueNote, I don't see 57 North in your current B.C. spirits catalogue. Maybe you can get some at BC Auto Duty Free/Travel Retail at the US border. Of course, you'd need to spend the mandated time out of country in order to bring it back into Canada duty free.

@Victor That's the beauty of having a sister in law in Oregon. There is at least one visit each way every year that is well over the 48 hr. minimum.

@MadSingleMalt my bottle of 57N didn't last very long. I loved it and so did my friend. Talisker 10 is still a solid 90 in my book. At least the 2 bottles I had recently. I still have one unopened one.

I only have a few open bottles on-the-go at any given time, and at the moment they are all peated to varying degrees. I'm after a un-peated bottle, without too much sherry influence, and preferably at cask strength. I've been looking at the Arran 12 CS (Batch 6) which I can get for a reasonable price (a bit less than the NAS Tamdhu, Glengoyne, Benriach, etc). There's not a lot out there about it - any one want to chime in with their impressions of it or other suggestions? The other possibility I'm throwing about is the Bruichladdich Classic Laddie (yes, not CS). Thoughts?

@Hewie I was impressed with a SMWS 12 YO Arran and when I saw batch 5 of the 12YO CS available for about $100 at the LCBO I was very tempted. My brother was overseas and stopping in London so I ordered some stuff from MoM (the Ben 10/100 was superb) and included a 30 cc sample of the same batch.

I was underwhelmed. My advice: try before you buy.

@Nozinan hmmm - thanks for that. I wish I could try before I buy. The reviews that I've seen have been quite mixed. Maybe it's worth a punt.