What is the next bottle you purchase or open?

@cricklewood By all means, but you will do it again in December, VIA permitting

@Nozinan, the Rebels doppelgänger is 46 - 47 %..... unfair advantage over 42.8

Yesterday afternoon four of my malthead friends and I spent 3 hours or so tasting the dozen Canadian whisky samples that @paddockjudge sent west. Before we got into those, we had a taste of Sin Piedad, a 49.4% ABV Mezcal. Lovely stuff with a subtle smokiness. Then we sampled this beauty from the Shelter Point distillery on Vancouver Island.

Then we got down to business. These are the four suspects that helped me out. This man cave ( not mine, unfortunately) is perfect for the occasion. It also has a full size snooker table, an audiophile sound system and large home theatre system for sporting events.

One more of the man cave.

I’ll give @paddockjudge a more in depth report, but the consensus was that we were not too keen on the ones that were wholly or mostly corn based. These guys are hard core Scotch single malt whisky drinkers and they all, including me, found most of them just too sweet.

The Ninety 20 year old got mixed reviews. 2 yeas, 3 nays.

Eleven Souls. Everyone gave this one a restrained thumbs up.

Wiser’s Legacy. I know this is @paddockjudge‘s favourite, but it got enthusiastic thumbs up from 3 of us and was, again, too sweet for the other two.

Lot 40 CS 12 YO Rye. Everybody loved it.

Lot 40 CS 11YO Rye. Thumbs up all round.

Mixed reviews on the Alberta Premium 20 YO Rye, but raves all round for the Alberta Premium CS Rye.

Ditto for the Shelter Point CS Rye for KWM.

Little Book 2 was the one that got the best reaction. We all loved it.

We are saving the Lot 40 NAS 2019 and the Wiser’s 23 YO for next time. I had a sip or two of the 23 when I got home and although it is on the sweet side, I liked it a lot. I think the boys will agree that there isn’t anything not to like about this baby.

Many thanks to @paddockjudge from me and the guys for giving us the opportunity to see how Canada has moved on from Crown Royal and Seagram’s 7 to a very much more craft based type of whisky. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon of whisky and cigars spent with friends and the spirit of @paddockjudge. (no cigars for me, but my wife threw all my clothes in the laundry when I got home).

@BlueNote, true maltheads indeed.

The five whiskies that rec'd unanimous approvals were all cask strength with four of the five being 100% rye grain and the fourth, Little Book 2, a blend containing Canadian and American Straight Rye and not more than 19% of CC 40 YO (100% corn).

The corn whiskies in this lineup are definitely for those with a sweet tooth. I find some of the cask strength rye to also be on the sweet side, but with better balance. I believe it is the corn that presents a problem to some of your malthead buddies and that is not at all surprising as corn does not possess the balance that rye does; corn is often much less complex and sometimes cloyingly sweet.

Two thumbs up for identifying some great whiskies and also for getting through 10 of the 12 Canadians.

Thank you for sharing your afternoon gathering and allowing me to be there in spirit.

Cheers, with a smash of Wiser's Cask Strength 23 YO

@BlueNote - That is a mean looking hang out! Glad a good time was had

At the latest LCBO/Waddington's auction, I did my usual and made a bunch of low bids - however, it must have been quiet for I ended up scoring WAY too many bottles. While they are all good value, my budget is now seriously tapped. Winners were:

Bowmore CS 56% (NAS, old silk-screen bottling) (NO-ONE mention this to Pam - xmas present!)

Bushmills 12yo

Finlaggan Old Reserve

Old Pulteney 12yo (before the new bottling design)

Inverarity 8yo single malt scotch

Jameson Distillery Reserve 12yo (distillery exclusive)

2 Johnny Blacks (old bottling but not sure how old)

Johnny Green 15yo (old bottling but not that old)

Dewar's White Label 43.4% (looks like a pretty old bottling)

Laga 16

St Remy Napoleon Brandy VSOP

Chivas Century of Malts (100 malts blended)

Ok Tom.....no more whisky buying....no more whisky buying....

@talexander nice haul. Looks like a lot of reviews to look forward to.

Do any of them look young and feisty?

@Nozinan Ahhh even if they did, they won't be ready for me to pick up for a while...

Springbank 15 coming my way. Haven't had it for a while and got it at a good sale price.

I also have a First Editions 2006 Croftengea from Loch Lomand distillery coming. Been wanting to try Croftengea for a while.

@BlueNote I rated Springbank 15 an 89/100, but I would have rated it higher by the last third of the bottle, maybe a 91/100. It takes some time to open up. Glad I have another bottle. I hope you enjoy yours.

@OdysseusUnbound I recall my last bottle of 15 taking some time to settle down. I gave serious consideration to just sticking with the 10, but like you, I got to like it a whole lot more after it had some air time.

@BlueNote @OdysseusUnbound - ditto here. I opened one two months back and it is still in the process of 'opening up'. My initial thoughts were that it was good but really needed some air to let the different notes settle in together. Had a wee pour last week and it's getting there ...

Little Book Chapter 03: The Road Home. Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 122.6 proof. The first of many bottles to be opened over the holiday season.

@paddockjudge

I would love to be there to see you open it. Many thanks for the sample - I look forward to trying it.

@Nozinan, it is a very fine bourbon with an exquisite nose and delicious palate. These days when $140 gets you a middle shelf single malt in Ontario, the money is better spent on a top shelf bourbon such as this.

@paddockjudge

But I would not pay $140 for a middle rate single malt in Ontario. I have paid $80 for excellent single malts (Tempest comes to mind) at the KGBO, and I do most of my buying elsewhere. Zyn, for example.

I like all types of whisky, and with my collection I have the luxury of only buying Malts (and bourbons) I want when and where they are reasonably priced.

@Nozinan, Although what you say is true, $80 gets you bottom shelf malts at the LCBO these days. I recall Glenlivet Archive 21 YO being $150 in 2013 at the LCBO and Amrut Single Cask 60% abv being $75 in October of 2015. I’ll sip this overpriced $140 bourbon content to know that I’m enjoying it. Good is good, regardless of the price. I’m pleased to have not purchased two $70 bottles of underperforming malt just to stretch a dollar.

@paddockjudge

I agree with you 100%. There is no room in my cabinet for bad whisky, UNLESS it is there for a specific purpose, like Lambertus, it was bought as a novelty (Solan or Poítin), or by accident.

I won’t pay anything for something I don’t expect to like a lot. But I will try to pay the lowest price for something I do want.

That said, my last purchases for 2019 will be made in the coming week, if at all. I am hoping to bring home as many different examples of Israeli whisky as I can get within my limit, even if it isn’t the best, so that I can share it with as many Connosrs as possible.

@Nozinan @paddockjudge I agree with you both. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and pay up to your local government owned monopoly if you want something right away. But there are more and more of us doing the majority of our shopping whenever one of the Alberta on line retailers throws up the sale signs. It’s all about price and selection. In BC they think $2-$5 off a $92 bottle of Glenfarclas 12 constitutes a sale. In Alberta the sale prices can be anywhere from 10%-35% off with much more to choose from.

@Nozinan @BlueNote @paddockjudge We also could have picked a cheaper hobby. Like knitting. Or scrapbooking.

Santa brought this wonderful gift for me. I’m thrilled! We jolly fat dudes gotta stick together. When I wrote this letter to St Nick, Little Book 2 was my favourite whisk(e)y of 2019. This will be a New Year’s Eve pour.

While selecting a few favourites for an upcoming event I found two low-fill bottles. They were stored in different environments and each was accompanied by two additional bottles. I have no explanation. The oldest bottle, circa 1987-88, has the highest full level.

@paddockjudge Bizarre! You really shouldn't keep low-fill bottles of Gibsons 18 - best if you could swing them my way and I'll make sure they are, um, "looked after."

@talexander, perhaps I should bring the neck-fill Gibson's 18 YO to your place along with the low-fill Gibson's 18, just to be safe.

@paddockjudge I leave it to your impeccable judgement!

Today, the 7th, is my 55th birthday. My wife thinks it is a "milestone" birthday. When I heard that, I knew that meant I could open up something special, even though I have a lot open right now. So, shortly, I will be opening my bottle of Bruichladdich Golder Still (1984 - 23 year old). This has been in my cabinet since 2012. I was able to obtain it for almost 1/2 price when Washington state was transitioning from state run to private liquor stores. I had 11 special bottles that I was considering opening. I discussed pros and cons of each one with my wife and we settled on this one. Always good to get buy in from your better half on these things.