Which bottle did you just buy and why?

@casualtorture The Triple Mash bonded is very nice as well if you are looking to drop another $30 or so on your next stroll :)

@casualtorture Any thoughts on the 700ml bottle size?

breakingbourbon.com/article/…

@casualtorture i normally wouldn't drink JD but got this one taxfree as it was 100 proof and I actually like it quite a bit.

@BlueNote - will do! Might crack the Mach 3 quite soon but my consumption rates has slowed down a lot of late.

@fiddich1980 personally I wish many whiskies had 200 cc or 375cc sizes. I want to have a chance to get to know a lot of whiskies. But I don’t want a whole bottle of everything.

Smaller bottles would allow me to experience more widely, with less room taken up in the cabinet and a greater chance to finish bottles (assuming that I can taste whisky again…).

@fiddich1980 - He seems almost buoyed by the news! Can't imagine why anyone would welcome such a shift (producers apart) but it has always seemed likely. My biggest fear is seeing more and more 500 ml bottles ...

I'd say the US punters should make a noise but what difference would it make? Big question is, how will prices be affected? Offer a slight decrease and it would perhaps take the sting out but I suspect not.

Welcome to Europe

@Nozinan - I agree with the sentiment but my gripe is that smaller bottles are most always too highly priced. More taster packs from distilleries would be welcome though!

@RianC @Nozinan We're in a time where terms like "supply chain issues", and "high inflation", are punted to the public at large. We are all paying higher prices for smaller amounts of food stuffs. I'm sure that the raw materials required for spirit production(Barley, Corn, Rye, Wheat, and Oak) have also climbed in price. I'm sure that glass production cost have increased given heat requirements. The packaging look the same but, the quantity, weights, and quality - suffer. I do agree that producers should make taster packs available. However, higher prices generally, accompany smaller bottle sizes. Lucky, I have my stash.

@fiddich1980 - indeed! I just feel with all the hikes over the last decade or so, when any increase happens, any justification is met with suspicion.

And, yes, it makes me glad I've built up a stash while the going was at least not too bad. Oh to have started this journey twenty years ago ... to think what treasures I could have had ...

@RianC Reminds me of a friend of mine who manages a large fund when asked "when is the best time to invest"?

Best time - yesterday. Next best - today!

@RianC I think that even 10-15 years ago would have been a good time to be educated in whisky and stock up on things that are now long gone.

I opened my first bottle of whisky in about 2010. I started learning in earnest in 2011. By the time I knew what I liked it was getting too late. I can’t complain about my collection, and I have enough good stuff to last forever, but had I known how good things like Springbank could be, I would have 10 bottles of the CS to share with friends instead of the 2 I have now. I would have more Macallan CS. I would have a few more bottles of various Octomores when $120 was “too expensive”.

Fettercairn 16 second edition 2021. 46.4%. Oloroso, refill Oloroso and Ist fill Palo Cortado.

Tasting notes from the box are.

Nose: Sugared almonds, dried fruits and aged wood

Taste: Alphonso mango, rich citrus zest, apricots and sun kissed raisins balanced with walnut, light roasted coffee, cacao and antique liquorice notes

Finish: encompasses salted caramel, sandalwood and iced ginger cake.

Why? Not a distillery I am familiar with and heard good things about the 2020 release and although this seems to be a little different it seems interesting enough to spend the £65 it cost me.

I love anything with apricot, mango and citrus notes so hopefully it should be interesting. WTF antique liquorice notes are is anyones guess but will be interested to see what comes though.

Ginger also seems to be something a few reviews mention and that’s something I hope I get.

Cheers all.

@fiddich1980, @RianC, @Nozinan, with an apparent glass bottle shortage creating havoc in bottled goods industries, now is definitely the time for global standardization. WTF is Boris Johnson thinking, reverting to the Imperial System!?!

Although the United States of America employs their own version of the Imperial measurement system, they do embrace the metric system when it comes to bottled wine and spirits.....okay, I give up...my heart isn't in this argument, nor is my head. To be perfectly honest, I enjoy having choice. Being able to choose between 375 ml, 500 ml, 700 ml, 710 ml, 750 ml, 1 liter, or-whatever-size, is perfectly acceptable to me. I can read. I can count. I have the ability to to perform rough estimates and calculations without instruments or devices. I have the ability to operate low-tech tools for calculating values and volumes. I know when I'm getting fucked! It's my choice....Caveat Emptor....however, there is no wrath like that of a scorned whisky buyer, Caveat Venditor!

Taster packs are a pleasant dream. Prices are usually inflated, value is often poor unless there is a clearance sale. The marketing of these (mostly inferior) products is aimed at a broader target market, not the small space occupied by us, the "brown spirits" horde of drinkers, collectors, hoarders, and flippers; more specifically, aimed at the hangers-on who don't know why they buy this shit.

Shelf height and depth in my cabinet is my main concern when it come to bottle size and packaging. In a perfect world the bottle sizes would be arranged in a sensible fashion. For me, that would be 100 ml, 500 ml, 1 liter, 2 liter. Bottle size doesn't change the taste of the product...or does it? Since my heart, nor my head, is into this subject, I will stop here.

Cheers

After 2 plus years of border closure and some negotiations the American Whiskey trade is finally completed.

@Astroke beautiful stash! What did you have to give up in trade? The VW Rye alone would be a big acquisition.

Loved, loved, loved the one and only taste I've had of Weller Full Proof. Hopefully that one will become more available.

@Astroke like many US ryes the Van Winkle 13 yo Family Reserve Rye is at its best after long air exposure. It may be hard to do, but the best thing possible with that stuff is to drink a pour or two then leave it alone for 2 years. It will explode in the nose in fruitiness with long air exposure.

@Victor They for sure came at a cost

@Astroke yes they did!

I just bought:

• Dalmore 12 Year Sherry Cask Select: I’m one of the few who enjoys Dalmore despite the marketing, low abv, and “premium” pricing. This one is bottled at 43% abv and received a pretty good review from Serge V, which isn’t that common. We’ll see what I think…
• El Tequileña Añejo Gran Reserva: this one gets pretty good reviews over on Tequila Match and has no additives as far as I know.
• El Tesoro Añejo: same as the above. Summer = tequila a lot of the time, at least for me these past few years.

@Astroke Wow that is quite the score.

@OdysseusUnbound During our heat wave of 95F+ temps, I’ve been sticking to pilsners and sangria.

@casualtorture @OdysseusUnbound - I like the Mexican style light beers or ice cold ciders! Spirits wise, tequila, rum and bourbon are my usual but often I find I still want a peaty whisky or something thick and malty now and then.

Mind you, our weather is so unpredictable we have to be ready for anything. Last Friday we were declaring a heat wave and on the Saturday we had storms, showers and chilly temperatures! The joys of being in the Gulf Slip stream

Dartmoor whisky ( bourbon cask 46% ) and Compass Box Artists blend ( 43% ). Purchased these two on Friday. Oh and a Nikka whisky from the barrel from a bottle shop near to where I live.

Why? Well NWFTB is just so consistently good that I saw it and realised I hadn’t had one for a while.

The Dartmoor distillery is closest to home and was chatting with them at their stall at a local country agricultural show. It was only polite to get something from them after all the chat. It’s young and spirity but has a great lemon note and given that their advisor is the great distiller Frank McHardy of Invergorden, Tamanvulin, Bruichladdich, Bushmills and Springbank fame, the distillery is in good hands. He is doing a spirit run for them in August and a Q&A which is a ticketed public event so very much looking forward to that.

I have enjoyed every Compass Box bottling I have ever had, and love this blend. The combination of Clynelish and Linkwood malts gives this a lovely fresh taste. I was considering not purchasing anything other than CB bottlings this year to build up a stash but you know how temptation gets in the way! So much choice out there. Lol..

@Timp, those are two promising bottles in the pic...and who doesn't like a Nikka?!

A coworker dropped this off for me today so I didn’t really buy it. He is a bourbon guy and told me this wasn’t for him. I thought he had tried the whisky in the bottle but apparently he had gotten a dram where he purchased this. The bottle he gave me was unopened. I’ve offered to purchase or trade but he has declined. 13 yo Glen Allachie. Bottle 641/657, 62.4% ABV. Cask type: Ruby Port Pipe

@TracerBullet nice coworker. Let us know how it tastes

@TracerBullet That's some good whisky karma for your co-worker.

I met up with the one and only @Nozinan today to help him free up some shelf space. In addition to the generous samples he gave me, I picked up the following whiskies which had been occupying valuable real estate:

• Glenfarclas 21 Year Old and Glenfarclas 105: this is a distillery near and dear to my heart. I’ve never had the 21 year and the 105 is a perennial favourite of mine.
• Wild Turkey Rare Breed: one can never have too many of these in the bunker.
• Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye, Batch 1: I really like this one, and not only because Mr. Panama Hat said so.
• Ardbeg Corryvreckan: this one is way too expensive in Ontario, but our resident doctor has extra-provincial connections and the Alberta price can be quite reasonable at times.
• J.P. Wiser’s 23 Year Cask Strength: this one got pretty favourable reviews and if memory serves, the good Dr @Nozinan got a few of these on sale. Bully for us.
• Booker’s Batch 2013-7: the previous owner did not believe he would get to this one and knowing of my love for Booker’s, sold it to me at the retail price he paid many years ago. I’m quite fortunate.

@OdysseusUnbound I recently took advantage of a good Alberta sale price to re stock Corryvreckan...and a few other items. Fortunately, one of our group was visiting family in Alberta and was able to save us the shipping cost. When all was said and done, he had 42 bottles in his car and almost $5600 on his VISA card. We had him running back and forth between Craft Cellars and KWM for about a week. Only 6 of the bottles were mine and we all paid up our share right away. Our only instruction to him was "FFS, don't get rear ended."

The Glenfarclas 21, as I recall, is much like the 17, but showing the effects of the extra 4 years in the sherry cask. Personally, I still prefer the 15 to either of those. You can't go wrong with the 105 though.

Enjoy all that prescription medication you picked up from the Doc.

@BlueNote, I’ve been trying to lay low, but your post is a gem, I had to comment. A forty-two bottle haul is worthy of high praise…paddockjudge approved