Which bottle did you just buy and why?

I picked up these a little over two weeks ago. The price I have seen online really amazed me. Some places had them at $179 USD to $200+. I guess I got lucky at the Total Wine here in Denver because I paid $125 USD per bottle. This happens to be my first purchase from Compass Box Whisky, and I quite impressed. I will attach another photo that captures some of the color.

I will also add a message with this photo. I went back after I tried it and got the third one on the shelf, which was their last bottle. Yes, I experienced FORO.

@casualtorture - I really enjoyed a bottle of the budget Benchmark, many moons ago. $23 is a steal! Interested to see how the cask strength is ...

A wee birthday splurge on yet another Mortlach G&M 15 @46%.

Think this is from a new batch and, as G&M are (eventually) ceasing all independent bottlings, I'm stocking up while I can! You really can't go wrong with this one.

@ajjarrett Will this become your new Nadurra?

@casualtorture FINALLY Buffalo Trace Distillery has an analogue to Old Grand-Dad 114, high proof at a good price.

@RikS nota bene in the bourbon family tree chart that the A. Smith Bowman Distillery in Virginia is an additional tree in the Sazerac Company's grove. A. S. Bowman is closely tied to Buffalo Trace in that the mass market brand of Bowman, named Virginia Gentleman, is given a first distillation at Buffalo Trace and then trucked to A. Smith Bowman, distilled a second time there, and aged there. So on the chart there would probably be some dotted lines connecting Bowman with Buffalo Trace. Bowman has a lot of products of good to excellent quality. As with other top end bourbons their special releases have become collectible relatively impossible-to-get Unobtainium, except at a scalper's price of course.

Virginia Gentleman review: connosr.com/virginia-gentleman-whisky-revi…

@Nozinan Not at this time. I don't think I will go the way of the 16yo Nadurra with another whisky. Main reason, my budget won't allow it.

My wife bought me a bottle of Compass Box Orchard House. It is delicious. Nose and taste are the same. Apple. Pear. Vanilla. Honey. A little peppery and a little bitter in the finish. It is very quaffable. It won't last long in the cupboard, I'm afraid.

@NamBeist I bought a bottle of that last year with the intent of getting my wife to drink it, kindof as a gateway scotch. Still waiting for the right time...

@Nozinan Now is the time I guess. My wife doesn't particularky like whisky. However, she liked Compass Box Orchard House immediately. We will share more drams of it together. It is quite different than hanging around with the guys, drinking Talisker or Ardbeg, but I like it as well.

I bought these a several weeks ago. As I wrote before, I am doing a little catching up with posts. Yes, I am not usually a goer for bourbons, but I splash out for a bottle of an Old Forester single barrel barrel strength. Why did I buy two? In case I like it a lot, I will have another. Or, if I don't like it, but know someone who will, I can gift it. You can guess I didn't have the opportunity to "try before you buy", but oh well.

There is a story to these bottles. When I went to the Total Wine and got chatting with the worker, I had placed two bottles in my basket, and then I noticed the sign "One bottle per customer." I put one back, and apologized for taking two. The worker then said, "There is one left, if you take two, so take two. The cashier won't know." So I did.

Cheers.

@ajjarrett Now there’s customer service!

@MRick It truly was. If this store was closer to my home, I would go there for other things.

I haven’t been visiting Connosr as regularly as I’d like in the last few months as life has been… hectic. Anyhow, the LCBO finally delivered an order I placed back in mid-February today. I picked up two Redbreast bottlings; the Lustau, which I have reviewed and always enjoy, and a bottle of Tawny Port finished Redbreast, also bottled at 46% abv. In my limited experience, Port finishes have been less prone to sulphur contamination than Sherry finishes so I’m hoping this one will also be “clean”.

A James Eadie 8 Ben Nevis. made up of one ex bourbon and one ex oloroso cask.

Why? Not too much BN about ( or it gets snapped up quick) and this was a good price (£45), and from a good IB. Reviews sounded good too: musty suede, toffee and a 'big, old skool' profile, were some of the tasting notes. Sold!

Quite like the label, too.

Couldn't help myself ...

Another James Eadie Ben Nevis. This one's cask strength @59.7%, 9 years old with 16 months in a first Fill Oloroso cask. Why? Because I'm weak! . And it sounded lovely! And there was one bottle left ...

The super annoying bit is that I bought them both from Royal Mile Whiskies but a day apart, so paid £12 in delivery fees. Had I been less reticent, and splurged with impunity, I'd have got that for free! Idiot!

As a result of @jeanluc’s announcement, I picked up this bottle today.

As you know, the time we have to add to the wealth of knowledge that is Connosr is coming to a close soon. So yesterday I did tasting notes for 5 Bruichladdichs that I had wanted to review for years. The idea is to do as many tasting notes that I can before I seal my cabinet for Passover then flesh out three reviews and post them before the deadline.

When I gave up on finding a replacement bottle of the Laddie Classic, I bought a bottle of the Classic Laddie. Initial impressions were favourable but it got lost in the vastness of my cabinet. But I dug it out for a review and noticed that it’s still available and reasonably priced at the LCBO. And after tasting it I reminded myself that it is a solid whisky.

For Christmas my father in law had gifted me a bottle of Glenlivet 14 YO Cognac cask. But at 40% I could not see myself getting through an entire bottle, ever.

So I brought it in and traded it for the slightly less expensive Classic Laddie, and added a small bottle of a Chinese apple flavoured BaiJiao because the bottle is cute.

A few recent purchases. I've been cherry picking and not spit balling lately. Flyers are getting expensive these days when they go wrong. Staying in my wheelhouse keeps the purchases consistently good.

A few more picks, now in my cabinet. I've been chasing Compass Box lately and haven't been disappointed.

@paddockjudge - what a haul!

3 recent purchases...

While in Vancouver BC last week, picked up a bottle of Lot. No. 40 Dark Oak. Why? Because I've previous owned their standard release and really enjoyed it, but I've never had the chance to try this one.

The Society had a Tartan week sale recently and there were a couple of bottles that I was very interested in, so I pulled the trigger. (I actually purchased 3 bottles in order to get the free shipping, but the 3rd bottle will be donated to my son's school's annual fundraising auction as part of a package that includes a Society membership, the bottle and a private Society tasting led by me.)

Macduff SMWS 6.69 (10 year - Jan. 2012) "Tyrant, show thy face!" - 2nd-fill ex-Sherry butt - 64.1% ABV. Why? Because I've never owned anything from this distillery. Also, it is fully matured in an ex-sherry cask. Full ex-sherry maturation hasn't been as readily available from the Society recently. Most ex-sherry offerings are finishes now. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)

Caol Ila SMWS 53.420 (11 year - Apr. 2011) "Papa's got a brand new bog!" - Refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 56.9% ABV. Why? Because as most of you know, I'm a huge Caol Ila fan, especially Society cask strength, single cask Caol Ila. Also, how could I not get it when it has that name! Love the James Brown reference.

@Nozinan is Laddie Classic different than the Laddie 10yo ? Guess I have never encountered Laddie Classic. Classic Laddie yes. Laddie 10yo, yes. But not Laddie Classic.

@cherylnifer The Laddie Classic came out before 2010 I believe. It was NAS so released before the original 10 (review coming soon). All of the fou "unpeated" Laddies I will be posting from my April 14 tasting are different, but all are quite good and carry the Laddie signature well.

Of all four (2 NAS and 2 10s), I would say the Laddie Classic was my favourite.

Three bottles of Speyside (M) 2011 12 Year Old Signatory 48.2%. So 12 year old Macallan, sorry, THE Macallan, solely from ex oloroso casks and with a decent presentation.

I bought three (ssshhhh, don't tell her! ) as such a bottling is a rare thing and I've always wanted to try such a Macallan and Signatory are reliable, if not always sensational. It was also available for £60 and I was able to get 10% off being a first time customer. So a good deal, really.

And, should I not like it, I shouldn't have a problem shifting the others.

Gosh, this might well be my last post in this thread ... I'm quite sad about that, truth be told.

Cheers!

www.whisky-online.com

If anyone is interested, I've put the website of the shop I got the Macallans from. I expect they will ship out of the UK and they have some of the lowest prices around. A good selection too!

If you join now, you also get 10% off a first purchase. It's also based in Blackpool, which, as a Lancashire lad, holds a special place in my heart. It also surprised me that such a shop exists there

Now, I swear I am not on commission but it's well worth checking out.

Cheers

I’m way behind on posting some purchases and as I am running out of time, I will catch up. Sorry for so many posts.

Did a trip with my Whisky Club to Louisville in March. Here is what made it into my collection. (Pic 1)

Louisville pic 2.

Louisville pic 3.

Last one from me for now. A good friend of mine went to England last month and brought back these for me. The Penderyn is a hand-fill. The Cotswolds is a single cask distillery exclusive and The Balvenie is a Travel Exclusive he picked up in Heathrow.

Have heard some good things about Cotwolds, have you opened it yet? Nice trio of bottles brought home for sure.

@Jonesz I have not tried it yet. My friend that picked it up said he tried this one and the bottle your own selection. He said the single barrel was better.