Which bottle did you just buy and why?

I took a chance on the Game of Thrones Clynelish and I am pleasantly surprised. I’m not a great fan of the standard 14 year old, but this reminds me more of distillery only bottling that I had last time over. It doesn’t state on the bottle that it is non-chillfiltered, but it appears to be natural colour. It’s around 52% ABV and has good body and leaves a nice lingering finish in the mouth. I like it.

@Hewie

Will do. I am hoping that I end up having a more positive experience. ^_^

These arrived today! I've got three rums open at the moment so it will likely be a while before I open one. This will be testing ...

My memories of the Hazelburn 14 Oloroso and the Springbank 15 jibe with with @Hewie & @BlueNote are saying: Those are two of the "brownest" tasting whiskies I've had in the past year or so, and I was not a huge fan. Kinda like some dusty old furniture, in a bad way.

@BlueNote The standard Clynelish 14 took awhile to grow on me, and mine got better with time and air.

@MadSingleMalt

Woohoo! Liquid dusty antique. ^_^

@RianC

Dad: “Fra-gee-lay” …it must be Italian!

Mom: I think that says “fragile”, honey.

Dad: Oh, yeah.

(I couldn't help myself after reading the label on the box.)

Take a shot @ajjarrett!

I triple-dog-dare ya!

; )

@BlueNote This was an interesting read, thank you for sharing. I must admit that I had written off the Game of Thrones collection as more of a gimmick. I have been curious though about the standard Clynelish, so if this one is good and on top of that 52% ABV… Maybe one should try

@OdysseusUnbound Yeah, I’ve heard that. I’ll have to re-visit it.

@RikS this is the only one I’ve had and I was impressed. I’ve heard good reports from friends on the Lagavulin one, but not a lot of good news on the rest of them. I imagine the Mortlach is good, but the price is stupid here.

@BlueNote skip the Lagavulin GOT. It's interesting for about an hour and then it's underwhelming. When you first open the bottle the nose is super meaty and that along witn the Lagavulin peat is very inviting. The palate though is weird, there's too much strange sweetness and it's lacking body. It's very neutered...better any other version than this.

Combined 2 orders for delivery purposes...... ended up with: 2 bottles of Alexandre Le Brun champagne A cask strength 10yr Glen Garioch Aberlour 12 (first time buying a bottle of this) ECBP A120

This arrived today. 2008 I visited L’Acadie Vineyards in Nova Scotia and fist tasted and picked up this wine. Their shop had only been open a week.

This particular wine is rare. They don’t produce it every year. It’s made with Marechal Foch grapes which are partly dried in the style of Amarone. This is the 2010 vintage.

One of the things I like about this is that it comes I. 500 cc bottles. As we often have a hard time drinking a whole bottle of red wine even with company, this is helpful.

@BlueNote Thank you!

@cricklewood Thanks for the heads up. I’ll stick to the standard 8 year old which I’m liking more all the time.

@BlueNote was gonna say if you like the Lag 8 then the GOT is especially disappointing.

I love that Lag 8 as well, it really grew on me. Prior to pandemic I had found a small stash of 2016 editions at an SAQ store near my office. I wonder if they are still there?

@Nozinan that's interesting wine, I can't recall if I've ever had any wine from Nova Scotia but I have tasted Ontario wine from Maréchal Foch. What do you enjoy the most about this wine?

Yesterday I cleared a shelf of Laphroaig Cairdeas 2019 CS Triple Woods on behalf of some club buddies.

It's weird: Here in Madison, it's nowhere to be found and never did appear, as far as I ever noticed. In a town an hour away, they're abundant at just $68 apiece.

Bunnahabhain 12. Saw a flash sale for £30 on Amazon and have no self-restraint.

That's a damn good price though for an excellent malt that gives good value for money even at full RRP. I'd even go as far as saying it offers a better sherry experience than many 'sherry bombs' out there.

@RianC Let's see if you actually get it...

@Nozinan - oh yeah, ha! I'm fairly confident as it's only £7 off RRP and it went back up almost as soon as my purchase was confirmed. My main concern is that I'm being played by a machine for my cash ...

@RianC don't feel bad or guilty. You're not the only one that fell into THAT amazon trap for the bunna

@RianC I can't get a Bunnahabhain 12 for anything near that price, which is why I've never owned a bottle of Bunnahabhain.

That is unfortunate @Victor.

Have you had the opportunity to sample some Bunnahabhain expressions?

@CanadianNinja yes, I've had Bunnahabhain 12, 18, and XXV. My first samples of 12 I didn't like, but later I had and reviewed some which I liked very much. I've had the 18 yo a couple of times and it never drew me the way it drew the people around me who were having it with me. The 25 yo I had at a whisky cruise in 2011. It was most unusual and tasted like nothing else I've had. It defied description except to say it had some of that bizarre impenetrable alchemy going on similar to some of the Bruichladdich Black Art releases. I could not come up with descriptors for it, but I loved it. But that was just one sample at a whisky fest. I've never owned a bottle, nor considered shelling out what it would cost to buy some of that unfathomable elixir. Now if some day I feel that I can afford it, I would be happy to have some Bunnahabhains in my cabinet. I'd probably get a bottle of the OB 12 and of the XXV. I would like to try the much loved 18 yo some more to see if I warm up to it.

@Victor I was lukewarm on the 18 Year. I believe I reviewed it on Connosr, scoring it around 86 or 87 points, but it was one sample. It commands a $200 price tag here in Ontario and for me to even consider spending that, it would have to be a 96 point whisky or higher. I was lucky enough to “win” a bottle of Bunnahabhain XXV at almost no cost to me. It remains unopened at the moment. Maybe when all this craziness settles down, if you make a trip up to Canada I can at least provide you with another sample. Or maybe, if the universe cooperates, I can bring the bottle to a Connosr gathering for all present to sample.

@OdysseusUnbound I don't know...last time you committed to a tasting with other Connosr members we got....COVID

@OdysseusUnbound good deal! I look forward to trying some of your Bunnahabhain XXV one day. Thank you.

@RianC

Being played huh?

I think they are called 'whisk(e)y-bots.'