Which bottle did you just buy and why?

@Nozinan I remember when that Benromach bit the dust. Good thing it wasn't the long gone, still lamented 100 proof.

@OdysseusUnbound Nice bit of Christmas shopping/self gifting. I'm awaiting a sample of the Cairdeas from a friend who managed to score a bottle in Alberta. I'm also curious about the sherry oak version.

@bwmccoy Cask Strength Caol Ila (peated or unpeated) is a thing of beauty. It’s a shame Darth Mordor (aka Diageo) doesn’t release them regularly (or at all it seems).

@BlueNote I have a bottle of that old Ben 10 Imperial Proof in the old livery. If I ever get to attend a Connosr Epic Tasting, I may just bring it as it seems to be the type of whisky that begs to be shared with fellow enthusiasts.

@OdysseusUnbound - I know people have strong opinions about the Scotch Malt Whisky Society; both bad and good. I’m not trying to convert anyone. Also, I try to be very transparent about my relationship with the Society (I’m not an employee, but I am a long time member and for the past few years, the local member ambassador for the Seattle area).

All of that to say, that is one of the things that I like the most about the Society; cask strength, single cask offerings from both “regularly available” distilleries as well as some distilleries that are very hard to find as single malts. As I’m sure you are quite aware, I’m a huge fan of the cask strength Caol Ila’s that I get from the Society. Fortunately for me, Caol Ila is the distillery that the Society has purchased the most casks from over the years. They’ve released 400 casks (and counting) from them so far.

@OdysseusUnbound I have a bottle of the Benromach 10/100 open, and a couple stashed away. It is a fine malt.

@Nozinan less than 1/2 a bottle left. Purchased when you alerted me they were in the $60ish range in NS. Had my sister pick "one" up. If only hind sight was 20/20

@Astroke I know where you can get a hold of a sealed bottle if it becomes necessary...I have one to spare.

Hatozaki Small Batch Pure Malt. Yes, it's a blend of whisky from Kaikyo in Japan and whatever Scottish distilleries their owner, Mossburn, can source from, but I needed something to make some batch cocktails with, and the recipe called for a Japanese single malt.

It's very, very pale, and has a nose reminiscent of white wine, which worked really well in the cocktail, as it was being mixed with sake, coconut water, and yuzu bitters.

@YakLord that sounds like a pretty wild cocktail. Got to love that name "yuzu". I think that that would be a good name for a pet.

@BlueNote yup, I bought a bottle of the 10yo 57.8% when the distillery was still shipping (illegally) into Ontario. It is a very good, first, "properly" aged release of a Canadian-made malt whiski. At Cdn$150, though, it's not very high on the quality to price ratio scale for single malts of similar age.

An update on my smashed Thompson Bros bottle woes.

When you buy from Thompson Bros you have to win a ballot to buy a bottle as demand outstrips supply. That means you can't always guarantee how many bottles you'll be buying. Obviously if you only manage to grab one bottle people would be annoyed to pay shipping for one bottle. So they give you the option to hold the bottle for a few months. I usually do this and wait until they have 3 or 4 bottles before asking them to ship to me.

Anyway there'd been a bit of confusion with arranging the delivery so on Monday I sent them an email to say I'd recieved the delivery and told them about my smashed bottle mishap.

They responded saying how sad they were for me and they'd bare me in mind if they had any more bottles of Aultmore.

Then a day or so later I had another email to say a customer for whom they were holding a bottle of the red wine cask Aultmore had changed their mind about the purchase and so they offered it to me at a 20% discount. So I took them up on their offer. I have asked them to hold it until some time in the new year so that my wife doesn't divorce me over the number of bottle shaped boxes turning up at the house lately!

So looks like I will get to try the Aultmore after all. Although my clumsiness did cost me £50!

@Wierdo - Obviously, it would have been cool if they shipped you a replacement bottle for free (fantasy world, I know. ), but seriously, that’s some pretty amazing customer service! I’m sure they could have easily sold it to someone else for full price. Thanks for letting us know!

Bought this a while ago. It was just delivered.

@Timp - sorry, no I didn't try the 1st edition but hear this ones supposed to be better.

Nice gift to get, you'll have to let us know how it is if you open on Xmas day! Mine's at the back of a very long queue

@Wierdo - that's great news and great to hear they responded like that. Good on em!

Went to Total Wine to pick up a KCSB store pick they had, but it's gone up to 69USD (from 59USD), so instead I picked up my third bottle of this. Yay fiery banana bread!

Not purchases, but rather gifts from friends and family during the holiday season.

Macallan Speymalt from Gordon & Macphail. 21 year (Distilled 1990, Bottled 2011). 43% ABV.

Whiskey Del Bac (Tuscon, AZ) Classic (Batch C '19-5). 45% ABV.

Hudson Whiskey NY "Back Room Deal" - New York Straight Rye Whiskey finished in peated Scotch barrels. 46% ABV. Hudson first ages their bourbon in new oak. Those ex-bourbon casks are then sent to Scotland to age peated whisky. Those casks are then returned to Hudson to age their straight rye whiskey.

I just bought a Maker’s Mark 101 while on vacation in Kissimmee, Florida. Why would I buy something I can get in Ontario? It’s $96 or so in Ontario and I just got it for $32 USD. Even with exchange, I think I came out ahead. The liquor store I found has a decent bourbon selection so I may revisit it before return to the land of winter.

@OdysseusUnbound From limited experience (5 trips), I never found a "good" liquor store in Kissimmee. It's a Disney tourist trap, so prices are generally terrible and selection not great, so I never bought any whiski in Florida. If you're into unique craft beer, though, Knightly Spirits in Orlando is top notch.

@65glenfarclas I found a bottle of RL Seale 12 year rum for $45 today so that’s ok, I suppose. I may just get a bottle of OGD 114 or Old Forester 1920 from Total Wines when we go to Orlando for Universal Studios.

@OdysseusUnbound Maybe a Russells Reserve store pick, or The Senator 6 year Rye for something a little harderto come by.

A Lagavulin DE 06/21. Why? It was on offer (though still £90!), I had some Xmas cash, and it is one I've always fancied. Got a bit of a peat and sherry craving at the minute and this should scratch the itch.

One can rarely go wrong with any Lagavulin, in my limited experience, and even the average/below par bottles are still decent. I find Lagavulin to be a more graceful peater than say Laffy.

My generous big sister surprised me with the gift of two bottles of whiskey when I visited her on 29-31 December:

1) Pin Hook "Vintage 4 of 9 in the True Single Barrel Vertical Series" Straight Bourbon, 58.5% ABV. This Vintage Series follows a group of (MGPI) barrels as they age from 4 to 12 years old". This one is the 7 yo. MGPI distillate.

2) Ragged Branch Wheated Bourbon Batch 12, 4 yo, 45% ABV.

Again, not a purchase. Rather a gift from friends.

Nikka Whisky From The Barrel. 51.4% ABV.

I tried for years to find someone who would have these yet wanted American Whiskey in trade. I finally found someone that wanted the Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye more than I did.

@Astroke - very nice!

@Astroke - Wow! Nice trade.

@Astroke congratulations! That is a tricky and delicate operation, trading collectibles. It takes finesse and patience, and even then things might not work out as one might wish. That's great to see that your patience and perseverance has paid off. Cashing out on inflated values for collectibles is a tricky business.

As for 2009 Brora 30 yo, in about 2013 @CognacFan gifted me a sample bottle, approx 187 ml, of that one from his bottle. I have not opened the decanted bottle he gave me yet, but I have tasted the 2009 30 yo Brora .

@Victor Thanks, was always in the back of my head and to be honest when the offers were posted I basically messaged the guy and was "kicking tires". I had to add to the VW Rye with some overrated Bourbons but still not a deal breaker. There was a time the VW Rye was my #1 bucket list Whiskey, my journey progressed past what I am sure was a special Rye but there are still oportunies to get another (who am I kidding). Considering some of the bottles the guy had, I would have emptied out every PVW, if I owned any. I guess it boils down to, would I have opened the VW Rye knowing it's monetary/trade value probably exceeded the quality. There now is no reason not to open the Brora, but probably not alone. FWIW he threw in a 2oz sample of Macallan 25, although I would have preferred a sample the Springbank 24 year Sherry cask he had multiples of :)