Which bottle did you just buy and why?

Picked up the Jameson Black Barrel and Knob Creek Cask Strength Rye, thanks to the recs from @Victor and @Paddockjudge. I also picked up the two bottles of Willett Family Estate 4 yo Rye that were hiding in the corner of a bottom shelf at Total Wine. SO excited about these purchases. Planning to imbibe this weekend...

@DaveM - Nice haul! Let us know how you find the Tali 18. In an ideal world I'd have cases of it buried in the back garden, like Mr Pepys and his cheese

I just picked up a bottle of Aberlour A'Bunadh batch #61

Why? Because currently Virginia has it on sale from $89.99 down to $76.99. I haven't see it that low in a while (and it never goes on sale for $13 off). And I doubt prices will drop much lower.

Further, Jim Murray gave this batch a 95 rating. We will see . . . my last time trusting him with a batch of A'Bunadh was batch #45 which he also rated 95 . . . and my bottle . . . was not good. @Victor had a much better bottle of the same batch. How did that happen? Hope this batch #61 turns out to be good. Doubt I will crack it any time soon. I still have half a bottle of batch #58 that I opened April 19th 2017.

@RianC I had to look it up. Samuel Pepys buried his prize collection of Parmesan cheese when the fires of London took place. Cheese was more valuable than any spirits of that time. Hard to believe! Thanks...

@RianC I put the Talisker 18 year old on the back burner for the moment. I was digging through some bottles I had stashed away. I pulled out a Balblair (20)03 bottle. I was sampling that today. Hopefully I will open the Talisker in the next few days. I’m looking forward to nosing and tasting that expression.

I just picked up a Caol Ila 18 CS 2017 Special Release and an Aultmore 12 because a friend found them at an LCBO clearance sale. I got both for less than the “regular” price of the Caol Ila.

@archivist you went for two solid purchases and hit the jackpot finding those two Willett bottles.

I haven't had the Knob Creek Rye CS yet but the black barrel was quite delicious and the kind of whisky that could disappear dangerously fast.

I recently had some Willett 2 year rye courtesy of @Robert99, it came hot on the heels of my first taste of Old Potrero, that was an experience!

Not whisky, but purchased a single cask Gin from the Society. SMWS GN1.3 “Coriander meander” is a Scottish Gin from Makar in Glasgow. It is a London Dry style that was distilled in August 2017 and matured in a second-fill barrel.

Why did I buy it? Because it is the first Society Gin released in the states. (The 2 previous casks were both released in the UK.) Also, my wife likes Gin and wanted me to buy it.

Compass Box Flaming Heart 2015 Edition. Just arrived.

@bwmccoy - Sounds good and always a bonus if we can please our better halves with our purchases

Speaking of gin, I bought my partner some Roku (Suntory) gin last year. It's really lovely and one of very few gins I can actively enjoy sipping neat.

Just having an idle peruse of amazon for any good deals and saw that Talisker have had quite a shift in their production locale . . . I can't imagine it's very cost effective

@RianC So has Scotland annexed the Solomon Islands? I’m confused. This doesn’t seem very efficient.

@bwmccoy I didn't know gin came in casks...

@RianC - if you haven’t tried The Botanist (Bruichladdich), I highly recommend it. A great sipping (neat) Gin.

@Nozinan - yes, barrel-aged Gin is a thing (and quite good, at least to me anyway).

@bwmccoy I'll echo this. Used to be a frequent G&T customer and recently tried it and it's great. Twiglet of pine, drop of lime and enjoy!

@bwmccoy - Yes I have and it's probably the best gin I've had! I'm sure I read that they forage for all the botanicals on Islay? Well, whatever, it's tasty gin!

@Nozinan - I once tried some gin matured in an old peated whisky cask - it was excellent!

Got this in Japan ... thank god my wife lets me go off licence hunting on holiday. Also kinda lucky it’s my birthday next week as I’m sure that helped too.

Not pictured - Nikka 12 Hibiki Blenders choice Two 300ml bottles of Suntory Distillery bottling

Kanpai!

@conorrob Nice Having been lucky enough to try the Yamazaki 18 a couple of times, my suspicion is you will enjoy this purchase.

@bwmccoy I enjoyed the Botanist gin, it has a pleasant low end bitterness that brings balance to the more floral notes. We are awash is so many gins locally, at least 2 new ones are released weekly.

@RianC that gin in a peated casks sounds like a fun experiment, I recently saw an indie bottling of Heaven Hill bourbon finished in an Ardbeg cask but I was too late to the party.

Scored a bottle of Compass Box Tobias & The Angel. I figure if I make it to 50yrs old, I'll open it up then.

@KRB80, that's what I used to say, If I make it to 50 I'll open it.

If I make it to 60, I'll open the 250 bottles I haven't opened yet...next year! Be careful what you wish for.

@cricklewood - Not to worry - add a few drops of the 10 to some Evan Williams BiB and your laughing

@paddockjudge Ha! Indeed, I hear you. I never plan on owning that many bottles. Hell, I don't have enough room. As it is, between my cd collection, all of my books, and 40 or so bottles of whisky, I am already running out of room. I agree with your point though and although a new precedent has been set, I've never spent nearly this much on a bottle of anything and don't plan on making a habit of it.

@KRB80

If I ever make it to 50 I will open a bottle of A'Bunadh batch 50.

Given my recent medical test results, I'm confident I can hang in another 2 weeks...

@Nozinan Best of luck! ;) You've been talking about the ocassion and the Batch 50 for quite some time now. I hope it is a special moment.

@conorrob

I would love to know where you got that Yamazaki 18yo, and how much it was priced at?

I didn’t buy it, but my folks just got back from Florida and brought me an Old Grand Dad 114. They also got me a Russell’s Reserve 10 Year but their friend will be bringing it across in a month or so. My dad was nervous about bringing 2 bottles of whiskey AND a case of beer across the border with him. Oh well, I believe it was @Nozinan who taught me to be patient and “play the long game”.

@bwmccoy Thanks for reminding me that I have about two thirds of a bottle of Botanist in the freezer. Time for a martini methinks.

Jura Tastival 2016. This limited edition bottling from the Jura Distillery is released to mark the two day celebration of whisky on the Isle of Jura. Non chill-filtered and bottled at a natural strength of 51% abv, created in a special triple sherry assemblage from Jura 19 year old seasoned in Palomino Fino cask, Jura 14 year old seasoned in Oloroso Amoroso sherry cask, and Jura 30 year old in Oloroso Apostoles sherry cask.

Why? I don’t normally like Jura but recently tried one of their special other single cask releases which was rather delicious. Seems their specials are rather good. And because amazon Italy tends to dump prices on unusual and less sold expressions so instead of £99 this one was available for £36. I’ll share tasting notes once opened.

@ajjarrett after a long and exhaustive search in Japan.... I found it in the third duty free I walked into in the airport - the doors were closing for the night and it was the last one left - 50000yen I paid which is around £320ish