Revisting A Bottle, do you have one of those?

Lots of clean oak goodness

Love the topic! I’ve been focused lately on killing off open bottles to winnow down the cabinet overall. Now that almost all of the mostly empty bottles have been finished, I’m inspired to revisit open bottles that have not been popped open in a while.

My first was the pour of Wild Turkey 101 that I mentioned in the what are you drinking thread. Very pleasant, but a surprisingly basic taste/aroma experience.

When you have as many open bottles as I do, and you drink whisky as "often" as I do (I had more open bottles at the end of 2021 than I had days in 2021 when I tasted whisky), a lot of bottles may fit this description. So I will try to limit myself to one from each arbitrary category of whisky that it may apply to. And I will limit myself to bottles that I have personally opened, and those which I have had open more than a year.

There are a number of other whiskies in the cabinet that I really like but the reason I rarely get to them is less finding the RIGHT time but more finding TIME.

For Scotch, there are several I could choose from. I have the last dram (decanted) of a bottle of Bruichladdie The Laddie Classic that I am saving for a time when my palate is perfect and I am in the mood. And I will put it H2H2H with a Laddie 10 (first ed.) and The Classic Laddie.

For bourbons, even though I have several in reserve, I can't seem to finish off my ODG 114. This expression, perhaps because I had to work so hard to get most of them, or perhaps because it is so inexpensive and so good at the same time, well, it is special.

For Canadian whiskies, it's tough. My first impression is to say Wiser's 23 CS, but (though opened in 2019 and still 2/3 full) I do reach for it on occasion, and would do so more if I could. I thought of North of 7 Barrel 16, but I think I would pour it more if I had people over. (DAMN COVID). I think I will choose Highwood 90/20, the old burgundy label. A great whisky. I have a couple of spares but they are irreplaceable and the white label is just not the same. I have a dram left and have no idea when I will take the plunge.

For World whiskies I would have to go with Amrut Cask Strength 2007 edition. It is just that little bit better than the other batches I have tried. In 2018 I opened one of a few bottles I had stashed away, and there is still a bit left. I have spares but I know I won't be opening one of this batch for a long, long time.

Taking a look at my cabinets, my next pours to revisit will probably be Glendronach Cask Strength Batch 7, Tullamore DEW Old Bonded Warehouse Blend, Weymss Spice King, and Yamazaki Single Malt.

The Tullamore is a slow emptying bottle as it is only available at the distillery, and was picked up (by request) by my future MIL and her husband when they travelled to Ireland in 2019. They kindly surprised me with a t-shirt and a set of four, Tullamore-branded, mini glencairns as a birthday present that year.

This bottle is also on the list as a podcast that I have been binge-listening to lately, Whiskey Lore by Drew Hanush, will be doing its next episode about his visit to the Tullamore DEW distillery. The visit was the start of Hanush’s three week visit to Ireland that was inspired by Alfred Barnard’s tour of Irish distilleries in the late 19th century. I’m looking forward to revisiting the bottle while listening to the podcast episode.

I have a little over 100 open bottles at the moment. I keep a dozen of the “best” in a box down in the basement. Thus, I am less tempted to pour a small dram at the end of a long day. Some of the dozen are truly epic examples of peat and sherry in delightful combinations. That is probably my favorite pairing. Seriously, I am just trying to save some of this stuff for you and @Nozinan for your next visit down to see @Victor.

Here is the list

1) BenRiach 1994 51.4% 18yo Pedro Ximenz cask finish btl. April 2013 bottle 224 of 298 cask 2993 bottled exclusively for Independent Spirit.de. o. 5/14/2019

2) Caol Ila 9yo 2010 60.1% Signatory Sherry Cask 316659 (Sep 22nd 2010 – Feb. 10th 2020) 673 bottles b. 9/25/2020; o. 10/10/2020 – (about 220mL left 11/27/2021)

3) Glenmorangie Signet 46% L14 070 08:07 6ML. b. 6/3/2019; o. 6/16/2019

4) Highland Park Single Cask Series 12yo 65.1% 2007-2020 First Fill European Sherry Hogshead cask 4566 for Munich Airport 335 btls. b. 11/2/2021; o. 11/25/2021

5) Highland Park Single Cask Series 12yo 62.6% 2005-2018 Refill Puncheon cask 3793 for Austria 642 btls. b. 12/21/2019

6) Kilkerran Heavily Peated 59.3% 3yo Batch 1. 19/062 20.02.2019 (55% Ex-Bourbon & 45% Ex-Sherry) b. 12/27/2020; o. Jan. 2021

7) Lagavulin Distillery Exclusive 54.1% Bottled 2017; 7,500 bottles (told: 1st fill American oak) L7131DQ000 60329021 (Angus says: high proportion of 16yo re-racked into ex-Moscatel casks married with some younger bourbon matured stocks.) o. 4/4/2021

8) Lagavulin 19yo Feis Ile 2014 54.7% (Distilled 30/01/1995 Bottled 02/04/2014); btl 2382 of 3500 (European Oak Sherry Butts) L4092LS000; 5000281037981. (WB = 91.32; SV = 94) b. 6/9/2021; o. 6/20/2021

9) Ledaig 18yo 56.3% Gordon & Macphail 2001 – 2019 (June 20th) Batch 19/067; Refill Sherry Butt; 202 Bottles. b. 7/6/2021; o. 8/5/2021

10) Longrow 14yo Refill Sherry Cask 57.8% 18/305 Sep 2003 – July 2018 (9000 bottles) b. 5/1/2021; o. 5/28/2021

11) Springbank 20yo 51.6% (Refill ex-bourbon 204 bottles: March 1997 – April 2017) b. 12/22/2020 o. 12/31/2020

12) Talisker 8yo 59.4% 2009-2018 (4680 bottles 1st Fill Ex-Bourbon Hogsheads re-charred) 12/18/2020; o. 1/25/2021

@Nock

Wow… that would make the basis of a very impressive tasting…

@Nock, an all-star session of peat-and-sherry-standouts, the makings of an Epic Tasting. @Victor, @Nozinan, and I will undoubtedly immerse ourselves in the deep end of that tasty line-up.

@Nock I actually have one of your bottles listed. The Lagavulin Distillery Exclusive. Picked that one up on my first trip to Islay. They had the Feis Bottle, the Jazz Festival bottle and the Distillery Exclusive. They let me try them all and the Distillery Exclusive was the one I liked best.

Valinch & Mallet Glendullan 12 YO 2009 Sherry Hogshead 2021 Single Cask 53.1% abv.

This was opened in the autumn of 2021. I have come back to it a couple of times. It is so much better than how I remember it.

On the nose are figs, green bell peppers fresh from the vine, saltine crackers, and barrel sugars. I should have let the first pour sit longer, but this one called out to me. Clean, C-L-E-A-N sherry cask, this is such a rare occurrence. Layers of flavour. Clean sherry, definitely a refill cask A wisp of powdered sugar as I tip the glass towards my mouth and a hint of cardamom seeds..and a taste of fresh yellow plums sprinkled with pepper, raisins, excellent mouthfeel...53.1% alcohol, I want a recount. This can't be a tick over 43%. The nose had me believing this would be a simple dram, LIAR!

A complex and very well balanced cask strength 12 YO refill sherry hogshead. A flash of oaky tannins to balance the sweet fruits while riding a wave of prickly pepper to a dry finish...echoes of light fruit...more...more....more....

Opened in 2018:

From a spice bomb at the shoulder, to a sweet stunner near the heel.

@fiddich1980 Wow I haven't seen one of those in a long time. I have a batch 2 in the bunker but I'm not sure the last time I tasted a GD CS.

@fiddich1980 I had finished a batch 4 a couple years ago and remember it being very good at the end. I still have a B4 bunkered away that I will get to one of these years. I probably would have forgotten about it had you not posted this :)