What is the next bottle you purchase or open?

This weekend we'll be doing: Whistle Pig 100% Rye, then the new Laproaig PX, then the Ardbeg Day and finally the Cask Strenght Peated Bakery Hill.

If I can stretch this thread as well...the last couple of weeks have seen me open:

Talisker 18 McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt (amazing and unique barbeque sauce note to this one!) Auchentoshan Valinch (nice creme brulee...one of the few times my novice palate/nose has agreed with a distillery tasting note...and an experiment in water addition. I found the nose to go more alcoholic, while the palate transformed into a wonderful chocolate fudge note...I will experiment further with this water thing...).

Next to open : Yamazaki 12

Next purchase : Maybe a Longrow 14?

I just purchased the Laddie Ten, I will be opening it in September when I finish this stint of working abroad! I can't wait!

Just noticed that MLCC just brought in Compass Box The Spice Tree had to grab a bottle for a tasting with friends this weekend.

I'll open the Bushmills 1608 Anniversary Edition for Father's Day. But I can't decide over the Laddie Ten.

I suggest the Longrow CV if it is available. Astonishing peated malt. Whooomph @chickenium

You will not regret it. The Spice Tree is one of the bottle that I drank the fastest in my cabinet. Very good. Cheers! @Lars

I couldn't be more ecstatic about being a couple days from cracking open the Longrow 18 that I've set aside for just the right time. The friend that introduced me to my very first whisky with a Bruichladdich 12 is coming to visit and I think it's about time I repay him!

Next to open, this weekend: three new duty free releases from Auchentoshan. The Springwood, Heartwood and Silveroak.

@JoeVelo It's not available in my neck of the woods, sadly. I'm now hesitating between a Springbank 15 or 18. It'll have to wait until I finish a couple bottles though, my countertop is full!

I've got a bottle of Spice Tree that is waiting for a tasting event next weekend (the 22nd). We're focusing on Blended Scotch this time around with Spice Tree, Ballantines 17yr, Te Bheag, and possibly Peat Monster and/or Islay Mist 8yr

I just received 2 bottles of Glenmo Signet, so I shall be cracking one of them open in the very near future.

@chickenium: One of the finest Whiskies I've have ever seen was from Springbank! It was a 12yo. Cask Strength (57.4% abv. ? memory) Springbank Society bottling. The members voted this 'drop' 97.5 pts. & even though it was a shared bottle, it is right up there in the top few.

I'm not sure if this info. is of any use? I see the odd bottle of S/B Cask 12 yo. and it is very good indeed but the Society bottlings are 'something else'!

Slainte!

@A'bunadhman I don't have access to independant bottlings or rarer OBs for now, the SAQ (Quebec's governmental alcohol agency) does not carry them as far as I know. I'll definitely keep that in mind though for when the alcohol laws open up (should be in the coming years).

I have the regular 58.5% 12y cask strength and absolutely love it, hence me wanting to delve deeper into the Springbank distillery.

@chickenium - I was going to ask how close you are to the Ontario/Quebec border, but I see from your profile that you're in Montreal. The LCBO Vintages does have some decent independent bottlings - mostly Signatory Vintages, but they do have others like Hart Brothers, Gordon & McPhail, Ian MacLeod, etc. Next time you're in Ottawa or Toronto, find a large LCBO with a Vintages and take a look around.

I plan to open my bottle of Nikka Taketsuru 12 on Sunday (for Father's Day, as it was an early Father's Day gift), and my bottle of Compass Box Spice Tree next Friday (the 22nd) for a Scotch Tasting Event that I've hosting.

@YakLord I haven't been in Ontario since my 6th grade field trip ;)

I might just have to take a weekend vacation to Ottawa, it's such a beautiful city.

@chickenium: It's hard not to like S/B cask 12yo. If you get to Ontario as YakLord suggests the independant bottler Hart Bros. have some fine examples of S/B, namely an 11yo. @ 46% abv. that spent all its' 11yrs. in a Port cask, (all Alistair Hart's Whiskies are individual cask): Rather special and tres spicy.

Slainte!

@A'bunadhman I'm drooling just reading about it! I'll definitely take note.

I ended up buying the Springbank 15, which tastes wonderful. It seems very complex though so I'll need many, many, many more sips to experience all the flavors. Woe is me!

I picked up a bottle of Old Malt Cask Arran 13 today after a Douglas Laing tasting.

I just bought a nice bottle of Glen Ord 12 y.o. I just know that this bottle will not be in the market for now on.

Definitely my bottle of Cragganmore 12 will be opened. As for next purchase, very interested in the JW Platinum; time to see what all the fuss is about.

I've just decanted a Hart Bros. Glen Scotia 18 yo. first fill Sherry Hogshead. Dist. Feb.'92 - Bot. Jan. '11.

Selected and bottled for Potstill Vienna, this is a Sherry monster! Not tasted yet but the aroma while decanting was intense Sherry with an undercurrent of Golden Syrup and spears of oak vanilla perfume; a stunning nose that is inviting me to partake. Today, perhaps - A small dram, perhaps. 54% Vol.

Lots of interesting choices. My next bottle I am going to open is an Ardbeg 10 Year Old. I'm a big fan of Laphroaig and will be interested to see if this is as good as I hope.

There's a new batch of arrivals at the liquor store, all Douglas Laing products :

Old Malt Cask Clynelish 16 Old Malt Cask Glengoyne 14 Old Malt Cask Highland Park 15 Old Malt Cask Knockando 17 Old Malt Cask Macallan 14 Old Malt Cask Maccalan 18

I'll admit I don't know squat about Douglas Laing. I'm fairly confident they're an independent bottler? Do you guys see anything worth trying in that list or that have any experience with?

Old Pulteney 21 and Glen Turret 16 Cask Strength once the first round of the 2012 NHL draft will be underway this coming friday! Hopefully, the Montreal Canadiens will be able to select Alex Galchenyuk.

@chickenium: They all sound pretty good to me! Douglas Laing is a first rate independent bottler - What you don't get with the independents is continuity of style, mostly they work with just one cask whereas a large distillery bottling could contain a dozen or so casks and are selected with a view to maintaining a style: What you do get is a unique expression of the distillery spirit matured (and nurtured) in this case, by the hand of Douglas Laing.

Independent bottlings can be a very rewarding experience but you need to not have preconceptions - judge the Whisky on it's merits. If it was me, I'd have a look at the Glengoyne as this is a 'drop' I enjoy and am familiar with.

It is generally agreed within the independent bottlers that the cask contributes as much as 75% of the character of the finished Whisky.

In the old days, G&M took raw spirit from the stills at Glenfarclas and used their own ex. Sherry Casks to producs some of the finest Whiskies that some of the finest palates pronounced as perfection. About 1980 this access was denied...Shame!

Slainte!

The Clynelish could be an interesting one and so could the Glengoyne.

Next to open: the Ardbeg Day. My six bottles arrived today :-)