Whisky Porn

"...perchance to dream..." Is this is rare to yearn for more and more new whiskies? Is the Wish List a central feature of Connosr?

Obviously it is. And human wants and human curiosity are boundless.

Bed time so just a short reply - I know exactly how you feel @SquidgyAsh. I catch myself with 3 or 4 whisky sites open sometimes and think "oops, here I go again!". My other half just shakes her head and says "why can't you just look at normal porn like everyone else!". Haha! sigh

I have a whisky budget and I'm sticking to it (sort of), although I've already spent this year's quota in advance so instead of dreaming of whisky that's out of reach, I'll be delving into my collection and enjoying many new drams in the months to come.

@SquidgyAsh ah...as someone who works at a fancy liquor store, i stare at bottles all the time and think, "gah dammit! one day! one day i will have a whisky room and a chaise lounge chair that i can lie on it as i'm reading dominic roscrow's books, etc.

squidgyash, are there any whisky festivals and tasting events over there in australia? the more i dive into this field the more i learn that there appears to be an event every week!!!

I currently have a self imposed $100US limit to my whisky purchases. If it costs more than that, I skip it and look for something more affordable. Fortunately, that leaves me some very fine choices that still manage to be affordable, like Balvenie's 14 year old Caribbean Cask, Glenlivet's 16 year old Nadurra, and a Laphroaig 18 year old I'm thoughly

...enjoying, (sorry phone autosent before I was finished).

My point is, why pine over the centerfold, when the more attainable girl next door is just as hot?

@SquidgyAsh btw, i thought this thread was going to entail something along the lines of whiskybeing poured over TWO pairs of boobies, among other things....u know, cuz of your "whisky breast" discussion from last time....

Well said @MacBaker62. Barring some financial miracle, I doubt I'll ever own a Ferrari, but I can easily afford a nice Camry or Accord and could probably stretch to a mid level Merc or Beemer. I have a $200 Can. limit for whisky but would more often opt for 3 tried and true favourites like Talisker 10, Hp12 and Ardbeg 10 for my 200 bucks. As I think was pointed out on another thread, whisky prices are starting to run well over there real value. We are systematically being convinced by the industry, and often each other, that this stuff is worth the hideous prices being charged. Pretty soon, if things continue on this trend, the wonderful world of whisky will be an elitist club for which most of us will not be able to afford the membership dues.

The BC liquor Stores are about to list a Douglas Laing 32 yr old Port Ellen for $850. The tasting notes are not much different than for any number of other peated whiskies and I cannot conceive of it being, to most of our amateur taste buds, ten times better than an $85 Talisker, Ardbeg, Laphroaig or Lagavulin.

So in a long winded answer to Squidgy's question: no, I don't pay much attention to whisky porn.

@SquidgyAsh I am the epitome of what you are describing. The only problem is I don't set a budget for myself. I spend time every day on this site, whiskyfun, scotchnoob, ralfy, etc... Reading about new, old, rare, and unavailable bottles...most of which are beyond my reach. But dreaming and yearning is part of the fun right? I've been staring at a Brora 30 at Binny's online for months! $400! Then I see the Caol Ila 25 for $180 and think, "I could get that, and a few more bottles for the price of the Brora." Ultimately, I don't usually drop over $100 on a single bottle. I suppose it's just fun toying with the idea. Btw, I too somehow managed a Kilchoman club bottle...waiting to see what the price will be getting it shipped to the US. Bottle alone will be $100...a bit steep for a 5 year old whisky but what the heck, I unfortunately don't have a trip to Scotland planned to steer me away from it.

Dude, I struggle with that shit weekly. Generally I try to keep it in the 70 -100 range, but I have been known to throw 250 at a bottle. And then there is the porn. Like the new Diagio releases. I would LOVE to try some Lagavulin 21. But 500.00 for that? It just is not happening. I do really believe that there are releases worth that kind of coinage. The Tun 1401 opened my eyes to that. But we have got to set limits. I am never going to try a Brora. I am never going to sample a Port Ellen. I am never going to get that Laphroaig 25. And I am cool with that. Still, it is fun to read the reviews and imagine, "What if money were no object?"

My wife rolls her eyes at my collection as is...At this point in time there's nothing out there for me wanting to spend over $125 per bottle...Besides - very few places around here have anything beyond $80; I find myself buying alot online.

Hahaha glad to see I'm not the only one with this problem. I do have a fairly strict whisky budget of about $150 that I'll throw down on a bottle. However for whiskies that I've already tried and found brilliant I'll go up to the $250 range AUS (Buffalo Trace Antique Collection would be an example of $250 AUS Staff price) The only reason that I'll break said limit is because I know it's impossible to get these whiskies for anything lower at this time.

I guess my thought was more along the lines of do you wander through whisky site (or whisky bible) and go ooo that looks good, and that looks good and that looks good, even if you have no serious intention of buying? At any one time I'll have 3 or 4 bottles on my mind. If I'm lucky I'll buy one of them.

@Onibubba Hahaha I feel your pain, especially on the Port Ellen, Brora, Rosebank, etc situation. My solution around that was gifts! My wife asks me what I want for my birthday. I say Port Ellen. My brother asks me what I want for my birthday. I say Rosebank. You get the idea :D God I can't wait for Christmas! That being said those oh so sexy Diego Annual Releases? Yeah more then not they're too pricey for me, unless I get a windfall then I might grab one (Talisker or Brora at this time). A solution that I've found (really original I know!) is whisky bars. Yeah it's stupid to spend $40 on a shot, but if it's the only time you'll get to try a Port Ellen then why the hell not is my feeling. :) Oh and massive congrats on the Kilchoman! I'll be keen to hear your thoughts as I read your review, drooling with jealousy!

@Blissinabarrel Hahaha sorry to disappont you! However working in a liquor store (even if it is beer) I am also having the same issue, a new beer comes in from a brewery I enjoy, in a style that I enjoy, god I start drooling! I hate to say it, but I recently bought a 6 pack worth $180 AUS retail ($120 Staff, THANK GOD it's tax deductable!) Was it a crazy amount to spend on beer? Yes! Were the beers awesome? HECK YAH!!! But the problem in working in a shop like yours and mine is you get to see beers, whiskies, etc etc etc that the average public doesn't and it leads to even greater temptation!

@Bluenote and @MackBaker62 I guess my problem my friends is that I'm not just pining after the centrefold model, I'm staring at all of them! I'm like the dog in the cartoons where the pretty girl walks by and his mouth drops and his tongue rolls out and he starts panting....except it's with Talisker (even the 10 yr old) and every other distillery! With the ones I haven't tried I go "Ooooo I wonder what that tastes like....?" with my old favorites like Talisker and Highland Park, Ardbeg, etc I say to myself..."But I'm running low, I need another bottle!" All I can say for the both of you is that you're better men then I!

@FMichael I'm in the same bottle as you! Lots of online purchases and lots of eye rolling from the wife and close friends....even if they're happy to partake of the collection!

@Systemdown it's your fault that I even had this thought and realized that I was doing this! Until you pointed out yourself doing it I was just like "I'm browsing, nothing wrong with that, window shopping...yeah" Until you gave it the term "Whisky porn" and now I know I'm a whisky porn addict :D

@Victor I do believe my friend that you summed it up beautifully and concisely!

@SquidgyAsh hey if u work at a liquor store...can u hold a tasting and then just bottle teeny bottles left over?? it would be like getting FREE SUBSCRIPTION of porn all in one month? how mind blowing is that? time to tell the owners of the liquor store to step up their game!!!! man, i had no idea that canada and australia screw u guys over. :/ i wish i could be the robin hood of spirits and just mail u guys stuff!

@SquidgyAsh Isn't that why we are all here for the Whisky Porn, and the fact that we get to talk to people like ourselves. The looks I get from friends and family when I start talking about whisky especially when it comes to prices are incredible. They think I'm off my rocker! I can say with some pride that I managed to turn a few close friends and a brother in law to the dark side but none of them are as fanatically as myself.

I, like most folks here have set up a price limit of $100 Cdn. This can and has bought some very nice whisky's here, but since my trip to the UK I am currently lusting after something a little more expensive. After a date night with my wife last night we headed over to the Liquor Commission and there she was; Lagavulin 16 yr. (Stupidly priced here and I commented on that to an employee). I couldn't pull the trigger and with head hung low I walked out with some Hobgoblin Ale instead. Sigh....

I will make this purchase in the near future after making some sort of bargain with myself and then I will find another whisky to lust after, That is the nature of my addiction. By the way I don't call it whisky porn just research. Although I think my wife calls it whisky porn now. ;)

The lure of whisky porn has proven so strong that I've decided to stop buying whisky until I can indulge in the hardcore stuff.

Like some of you, I've gone into liquor stores with a particular budget in mind, drooled over the premium stuff in the locked glass cases, and walked out with two or three bottles of $60 whisky. The result is that I've got a cabinet stuffed full of entry-level and mid-level whiskies. I may have a wide range of flavors, but I've become aware of a sameness of quality in my collection, such that I see little point in expanding it with more of the same.

Therefore, I'll be setting aside my whisky-budget dollars from each paycheck until I can finally afford that 30 yo Brora or 26 yo Port Ellen. If that means I'll be buying only two bottles of booze in all of 2013, so be it. I know that, in my lifetime, I'll never be able to sample all the premium whiskies that Serge Valentin tastes in two days, but I can at least have a couple of at-bats in the big leagues.

No, I'll probably never taste that Mortlach 70 yo or that 1968 Highland Park. But two or three "brag bottles" in the collection is something doable, I figure. And then I'll be satisfied. Really, I will. Honest.

To me it's more the feeling I got looking through toy comersial catalogs as a kid. Imagining how it would be to actually transform those Transformers, how it would be to finally mount He-Man on Battle Cat, wondering why the cockpit of the Millenium Falcon looked so cramped (no chance it was the right scale!). Despite not being the real deal, porn gives a certain amount of satisfaction. Looking through a toy catalog or whisky site does not...unfortunately.

@SquidgyAsh What beer did you drop that kind of $$$ on?

@HopScotch My friend the 6 pack consisted of: 2 Mikkeler Black Buffalo (A Danish Imperial Stout aged in Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrels, ABV 19.3%, retail $35 each for a 375ml bottle)

3 Brewdog Tokyos (Scottish Imperial Stout aged in oak barrels, ABV 18.2%, retails $20 for 330ml bottle) and

1 Brewdog/Mikkeler/Nogne 0 collaboration (Norwegian, Scottish and Danish collaboration Imperial Stout blending the Mikkeler Black Buffalo, Nogne 0 Dark Horizon and Brewdog Tokyo, ABV 17.2%, retails for $40-45 for a 330ml bottle, only 8 came into Australia)

Total retail $155 (thought it was more for some reason) Mind you I didn't pay that, I believe my grand total came to a wee bit under $120. Very very awesome beers. I'd had the Black Buffalo and all I can say is it an intense complex MASSIVE beer (best shared with a good friend or two) and the Brewdog Tokyo is absolutely brilliant no fault I can find in that beer. All that's left for me to try is the collaboration beer. Mind you I can also claim one of every beer I buy on taxes so it's not as crazy as it sounds :D Now if I could only do that with whisky!!

@SquidgyAsh Ahh, I see. That makes more sense. When you said 6pk, I was thinking 6 identical bottles that come in a normal 6pk holder. When you start getting into Mikkeller and Brewdog (stuffed squirrels and such) it is easy to spend that kind of dough. Enjoy the beers!

@HopScotch Hahaha yeah. The high end bad boys! So delicious! Thanks HopScotch!

@SquidgyAsh Haha I thought you were implying that you spend that kind of money on a 6 pack of fat tire beer...I started thinking, "DAAAAAMN! If Aussies are spending that kind of money on 2 dollar beer and I can REALLY be a street pharmacies...for alcohol in Australia..I thought I was on to something. HEHE

Visiting the new lcbo at Bayview Village in Toronto. They moved recently within the mall.

Very fancy. But not inspiring. I think the whisky selection is thinner.

I did notice Lagavulin 8 for $85. Thta’s Less than the original release. I wonder if it is as good.

Classic Whisky Porn, that clock is showing noon, not midnight.

@paddockjudge I'm drooling on my keyboard

@Hewie, Me too! The crackling was magnificent, like hard candy but much, much better.

@paddockjudge - Is there anything finer than perfect crackling?! That looks amazing!

Speaking of whisky porn . . . @OdysseusUnbound's cabinet is becoming worthy of a metaphorical knuckle shuffle!

Bravo, Sir

@RianC I’ve had some very lucky breaks recently. And no, it hasn’t been due to a financial windfall...

@OdysseusUnbound - And long may the luck continue, my friend!

Wow, no traction on this thread for 6 years, and suddenly it's had a whirlwind of comments in just a few days!

I lost track of Connosr, so it's great someone commented on an old thread, which led me back here. Glad to see some of the old guard is still around like Victor and MarkJedi.

In the six years since I last commented in this thread, my budget limits have gone up, but I still find that a heafty price doesn't always equate to better whisky. Some are outstanding, but often some of the best whiskies are independent bottlings that are often single barrel soruced, bottled at cask strength, without any chill filtering or added coloring.

Current indies that I'm enjoying, include a pair of A.D. Rattray half size bottlings of a 17 year old Imperial and a 23byear old Bunnahabhain.

Waiting in the wings to open is a Clan Denny indie bottling of a 10 year old Fettercairn distilled in February 2008, and bottled October 2018, with no chill filtering, and no coloring.