Your Top Three whiskies of 2017

Excellent topic that has the potential to do more damage to my wallet. ;) For me:

1) Benromach 10/100

2) George T. Stagg 2017

3) Springbank 13yr Single Cask (sherry)

Honorable mention: Kilkerran 12yr

This may change if I decide to open one of my Springbank 16yr Local Barley bottles on NYE.

For me it would be:

1.Old Pulteney 17

2.Kilkerran 12

3.Glen Scotia 15

Mental note: I really do have to get a bottle of the Benromach 10/100

@Wierdo Hopefully the word doesn't get out but I am gonna stockpile just in case!

MY TOP 3

1 Clynelish 14 (OB) - if you love complex highland whisky that smells and tastes like God, I think you'll love this stuff. I know it usually isn't highly rated, but somehow I really dig it. So it's number 1 for me this year.

2 Amrut Fusion - Delicious, complex, unique, unmistakable.

3 Springbank 10 - I think it's pretty self-explanatory.

There are quite a few on your lists i would like to be trying in 2018! The Stagg, Old Pulteney 17 and Amrut Fusion in particular.

Kilkerran 12 and Clynelish 14 were also very good whiskies. Sipping the 'farclas 15 in front of a roaring fire makes me want to add that but I'll be finishing the bottle next year so it will have to be a contender for 2018!

Is this:

1) favourite three whiskies as of 2017?

2) favourite three bottles purchased during 2017?

3) favourite three bottles purchased as of 2017?

4) favourite three bottles purchased and first released during 2017?

I am guessing that you mean # 2, above, i.e. whiskies new to each of us purchased for the first time during 2017, but not necessarily whiskies first released in 2017 at the time of purchase. I would like to participate, but I canna. I haven't opened a single bottle of the 5 or 6 bottles which I purchased during 2017.

This somewhat mirrors a blog post I’m putting out (hopefully tomorrow or Sunday- spoiler alert) but my top whiskies owned AND tasted in 2017 (so a bit different than said blog post) are:

• 3: Springbank 10 Year Old
• 2: Wiser’s Dissertation
• 1: Ardbeg Uigeadail

Now anyone who’s read my silly blog or my ratings here may note that they aren’t necessarily my highest rated whiskies, or they weren’t at the time, but upon further reflection, each has a reason for being there. Springbank was my first Campbeltown and is incredibly unique. Dissertation was a lesson for my wise-cracking, smart-ass mouth. Canadian whisky can be amazing. Uigeadail has allowed me to separate the nonsense around NAS (silly marketing, fallacy-laden arguments by industry spokesmen) and just focus on the quality of the whisky.

@Georgy I opened a bottle of Clynelish 14 on Christmas day and it is a fantastic whisky. Very underrated.

I will weigh in anyway, with what I consider to be the top story whiskies of 2017:

1) The Corby/Wiser's Northern Border Collection, Dissertation, and Union 52. These mark the coming of age for the premiumization of Canadian whisky. Yes they are good, and even, rarely, cask strength. This is a very good thing. Maybe, one day, there may be enough of these around for even people outside of Canada to try them too.

2) the proliferation of distilleries and microdistilleries continues unabated. I don't even try to keep up with the new UK and Irish additions, much less the hundreds of new US microdistilleries.

3) funky and tech-y new whisk(e)y maturation schemes. Despite the many qualms and doubts that exist about them, I think that they are not going away.

There are about 12-15 that I would like to put in my top 3. If I had to choose specific expressions.... I would choose bottles I opened and tasted and enjoyed in 2017, not necessarily purchased in that year:

1. Lot 40 Cask Strength - first edition

2. Caol Ila 10 YO Cask Strength Gordon and MacPhail 2004

3. Amrut Single Cask (bourbon) - Batch 2 June 2009 - Jan 2014 cask 3443

Too many honourable mentions to mention.

@Nozinan I haven’t been able to bring myself to open my Lot 40 CS yet. I’m visiting friends in Windsor next week and we’re hoping to do a tour of the distillery/visitor centre, so maybe, just maybe, I’ll be able to score another bottle.

It's a first edition. If you want to hang onto it for a while longer, when you pick up your Corry, I can pour you a healthy sample of Lot 40 CS to sip away on...

@OdysseusUnbound _ don't get your hopes up. Inventory is beyond tight. You will be able to make a purchase from inventory in the "gift shop" and have the bottle engraved....so think of something witty beforehand.

@Wierdo it sure is underrated. It's 94/100 in my book))

Top three bought in 2017:

Kilkerran 12.

Benromach 10, 100 proof.

Springbank 15.

Honourable Mention: Kilchoman Machir Bay; Ledaig 10

OK then, keeping it simple. From bottles I bought and tried for the first time in 2017 and which gave me great enjoyment: Kilkerran 12, Springbank 12 CS (Batch 6), Benromach 10 (yet to sample the 10/100). Why? Because as @RianC put it "Not very unusual or expensive choices granted, but I feel that these all provided a very pleasing and rewarding experience that offered complexity and quality at fairly affordable prices. They are all pretty available as well."

1. Glenfarclas 15

2. Talisker 10

3. FRSB MW-50-2F

Honorable Mention -Belle Meade single barrel cask strength -Clyde May's 92 proof

My favourite top three consists of the usual suspects : Springbank 10, Talisker 10 and Amrut Peated Cask Strength.

My picks are

3) Wiser's Dissertation

2) Benromach 10/100

1) Bunnahabhain 18

I tasted the Amrut CS Bourbon cask that @Nozinan is talking about and it would definitely be there, but I don't like to pick a whisky after only a small sample.

@Victor & @Nozinan - I was just thinking of bottles that you'd drank and enjoyed in 2017; not that they had to be necessarily bought this year. I suppose I was choosing bottles that I'd finished this year, hence not choosing the Glenfarclas 15, but if someone wants to choose a bottle they open on NYE then go for it . . .

@OdysseusUnbound - Would you mind putting up, or messaging me, a link to your blog. I'd be interested in taking a look. Thanks.

@RianC _ the link is on his profile page....

I was lucky to have the opportunity to sample many outstanding whiskys this year, especially after the recent epic tasting.

1) Benromach 10

2) Wiser's Dissertation

3) Amrut SC Bourbon cask#3443

The Ben10 (I'm sure this applies to 10/100 also) has that chameleon profile that always keeps it interesting when enjoying a dram.

Dissertation: rich profile, presented at a good proof, a Canadian that need not apologize and was the harbinger of things to come.

Amrut cask #3443 : I only had one taste but I've been thinking about it non-stop since then and desperately searching for Amrut SC releases.

Many honourable mentions but two real quick.

Anything kilchoman, I had a chance to sample many this year and while they're not all crackers, many haunted me long after.

Irish whisky: I had some stunning examples this year despite the glut of cheap stuff there are gems.

@RianC That's what I figured. In fact the Amrut was purchased a couple of years ago when the KGBO, without warning, slashed its price by about 40% and made it affordable.

@cricklewood I agree that the Amrut is phenomenal. In fact many are. The other bottle from another cask was also great. I wish you luck in your quest, which may be very expensive, but at least you know where you can find it by the dram for free...

@Nozinan much thanks for sharing and for causing the Amrut single cask fever.

After much sleuthing I've come to realize there haven't released many single casks overall and we were lucky to get such a range of them here in Canada.

This has been an interesting year for me. I have always been primarily a scotch fan, but this year I have been completely enamoured with bourbon. I have been disappointed with most all the scotch I have opened this year, and have loved most the bourbons. I also started concentrating on store pick single barrels and have found some great stuff. My top three this year:

1. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof batch 12 (side note: also had batch b517 and was very disappointed, rated it 10 points lower than batch 12)

2. Russell's Reserve Single Barrel Bourbon, store pick

3. Four Rose's OESO store pick

@gfc I forgot about the ECBP! That would be another honorable mention of mine. My bottle is from a couple years ago though, just opened this year. I really do need to try the Russel' s reserve Single barrel.

The top three whisky bottles I opened this year:

1. Lot No. 40 Cask Strength
2. Pikesville Straight Rye
3. J.P. Wiser's Dissertation

I forgot uigeadal. Definitely an honorable mention for me as well. Damn fine stuff.

Best stuff I drank in 2017:

1. PC7, the fulfiller of promises

2. Corryvreckan, the surprise defeater of all other Ardbegs

3. Flaming Heart 2015, the deliverer of mature whispery peat, a new experience for me

(D'oh. For anyone keeping score, my top three were supposed to be in reverse order from what appears above. Flaming Heart "Numero Uno" for quality and novelty. I think I ran afoul of Connosr's automatic list formatting.)