So, what are you drinking now?

@paddockjudge I need to find my glove!

You need an official bourbon glass.

@Nozinan, that Canadian Glencairn holds half a bottle of bourbon...you can get me something better my friend? Awesome!!

A little Wiser's Dissertaition to ease me back into good spirits after a brief illness, followed by a few drops of Laphroaig QC, which I haven't touched in about 8 months.

@bwmccoy, your back drop is pure tranquility. Does the stream find its way to a grist mill powered by a water wheel?

Our yard has been well utilized over the years. It has been home to a chip 'n put, hockey rink, soccer nets, pitcher's mound, volleyball court and a few more I can't recall at the moment... currently building a fire pit where Octomores will be right at home.

@paddockjudge - Thanks! Sounds like you've made some great memories at your place through the years. We're just getting started making memories here. Just moved in a year ago. The previous owners did some great things to this place, including the "stream" which is only running if the pump is turned on. :-)

You stole my idea for my next picture... smoky whisky out by the fire pit. :-)

@bwmccoy, light 'er up and share it with us. There's nothing like a smoke bomb when the mood strikes!

As the trade deadline approaches, the Jays have to make some decisions.

I have a similar trade deadline, in which I have to decide how I'd like my collection to look by the end of the summer. I'm determined to end the year with as many or fewer bottles as I started with. I'm down by one now, and I'm holding 3 for others, but I think I want to pick up 2 Dissertation and there's the Forty Creek and Wiser's fall releases to consider.

So in July I'm focusing on trying and retrying some open bottles I have spares of to see if in fact I want to keep them or perhaps make them available for trading or otherwise disposing of them.

Tonight I'm watching the Jays beating (so far) the Red Sox and sipping OWA 107. I'm really enjoying the nose, and though the flavour is quite pleasant, the mouthfeel is a little thin and I'm wondering if this bourbon has what it takes to take up room on the extended roster...

Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban, a good, uncomplicated, easy drinking dram.

@bwmccoy There is one bottle listed for sale in all of Ontario, and it's almost $100. I've had it a couple of times, and I like it, but not for that price.

I agree with your assessment, but uncomplicated should not be expensive, because then it IS complicated.

@Nozinan - fortunately, it's not nearly that expensive here. I would totally agree with you at that price.

@bwmccoy , I too agree about that Quinta Ruban. And it packs a few nice bonafides for a mass-market malt: 46%, age statement (and natural color? I don't remember).

The one bottle I ever bought (late 2016) was $38. A steal. I usually see it around $45-50, which is reasonable.

Single cask whisky! A friend of mine was kind enough to bring a bottle of his own private bottling of Swedish BOX whisky. Now admittedly I might be biased towards box seeing that they're Swedish but this really is good, Good whisky.

Unpeated whisky matured in a custom built 40L cask. Matured 2014 to 2017. Un-chill filtered bottled at cask strength 59.6%ABV. And he even left me a sample!

@Nelom, sipping on Four Roses. CHEERS!!

Tonight the charting is done, one kid's in bed and the next is on his way. About to sit down and relax with a book. Instead of continuing on my evaluation of the fate of 2 NA whiskies on my extended roster, I'm taking a day off to enjoy a small dram of CS Glendronach 16 YO single cask PX sherry puncheon at 54%. A half capful of water causes an explosion on the palate. This will be a nice evening...

Tonight, watching the Yankees play the Mariners on TV. Great pitcher's duel so far. Drinking a 14 year Glendullan (SMWS 84.18 - "Sneezing in the sun"). 13 years in a bourbon hogsheads before spending the final year in a second-fill Sauternes hogshead. Honeyed pears. Sweet, sour and spicy.

@paddockjudge Good pick! Which expression? I've only had Single Barrel and Small Batch myself, never tried their entry level or any of the store picks available in some U.S. liquor stores. I'll be heading south of the border in September though, so I'm hoping to pick some up then. I hear great things about OESK. And if there's still any Al Young's left on the shelves I'll for sure grab one of those too.

Aultmore 18 year (Feb. 1997) SMWS 73.72 "A ray of sunshine" from a refill, ex-bourbon hogshead. Candy shop sweets, chocolate (fudge) and some fruit (melon).

Now, Tobermory 10 year (July 2005) heavily peated, cask strength from Single Cask Nation. Cask #10.

@bwmccoy I would love to read a review about this Tobermory. Would you please consider writing it?

Japanese grain and London craft beer

@NamBeist - will do. I've never written a review, but that whisky is so good, it should be a relatively easy one to start with. :-)

Tonight, starting off with a Glenmorangie 15 Year Sauternes Wood Finish purchased at the distillery in 2010.

Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique - Cask W090220020 - Bottle 143 of 197 (purchased in 2014).

Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2008

That's a good'n @bwmccoy

@Alexsweden - yes it is.

Tonight, Lagavulin 8 year.

@bwmccoy That's a "Good'n" too

@bwmccoy , any idea why they call it a "Tobermory" instead of a "Ledaig"?

@Nozinan - I totally agree!

@MadSingleMalt - I don't know. Maybe one of the other members knows and can chime in. I have purchased bottles of "Heavily Peated" Tobermory from two different independent bottlers; Scotch Malt Whisky Society and Single Cask Nation. As you probably know, the official distillery bottles are marketed as Tobermory being unpeated and Ledaig being their peated expression. I wonder if the independent bottlers chose to reference the actual distillery name as opposed to the brand name; Ledaig? Could it be a copyright issue?

Lots of stuff. On the initiative of @maddie and @dramlette, they, I, and @dramlette's three sisters all just attended the 15th annual Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans. This is a 6 1/2 day international bartending and spirits industry party cum continuing ed and networking event. Very casual, very friendly, very "Big Easy" time with alcohol sampling everywhere you look. Jeez. New Orleans Louisiana ('NOLA') can just swallow you right up, and you really do not mind a bit. And there is no city in which I would rather eat.

There were plenty of very entertaining and interesting classes to attend, in addition to all of the drinks to sample. If we had been faster I could have gotten into the class in which they sampled all of the new Diageo special releases. Too bad, but I have not a single minor regret other than that. I did taste a couple of 50+ yo whiskies.

On Day One we listened to Mark Brown, the CEO of the Sazerac Company, speak about the state of the global spirits industry. Mark is an English bloke who came to the US in the 1980s. Talk about underpromising and overdelivering!...he was to talk for 70 minutes followed by 20 minutes of Q & A. In 60 minutes flat we were all done, and the audience was very satisfied. Highlights? The biggest concern for all alcohol sellers in the US right now and exporters to the US right now, is the legalization of marijuana. The whisk(e)y market is still strong and growiing somewhat, but overall beer sales and wines sales are already siginificantly dropping. Biggest choke point in the global spirits industry...and the easiest place for a scarcity/vertical price rise in the future? Tequila The current production of tequila is infinitesimal compared to all other categories of spirits, and with a 7-10 year agave growing cycle, the supply expansion potential is extremely limited. Any big uptick in global demand for tequila will result in a rapid run on stocks, sort of like Japanese age statement whiskies 3 years ago.

My wife and sister have already decided to attend next year's Tales of the Cocktail. I guess I will be there too, and probably for the next ten years of it.

@bwmccoy , it's gotta be some kind of branding issue, but I see indie "Ledaigs" all the time, so who knows.

I guess they're all different. With Springbank, for example, you really never see their alternate brands Longrow and Hazelburn on indie labels. Bruichladdich lets indies bottle under the Port Charlotte and Octomore brands, though.

Maybe the Tobermory thing is more complicated because (as memory serves) they changed the actual distillery name from one to the other back in the 70s or so.