So, what are you drinking now?

Quaich Bar at The Craigellachie Hotel. 800+ whiskies. Those shelves run 2 deep.

@nooch you know how to make a man jealous!

@nooch, those are some great pics. Thanks for posting! That tasting at Cardhu featured a lot of glasses with some rather large pours. How many people were drinking from that table full of glasses?

@Victor I traveled with 3 others. The tasting was 4 drams each. We could choose from any of the bottles carried at the distillery. Given that they are owned by diageo that gave us some pretty good options. I had cardhu 18, Caol ila 18, talisker DE, and oban 14. The Caol ila was the standout.

Beautiful line-up. And those look like 30-40 ml pours.

@nooch I take it from your write-up that Macallan won't be taking my "full disclosure regarding age" suggestion into consideration.

@OdysseusUnbound I'm going to guess not!!! None is the others pushed that narrative. The guide at Macallan was obviously meant to emphasize it as a talking point. He was knowledgable and a good guide, he just had some Macallan ideals to push.

@Victor they were undersized glasses. 20ml pours.

Looks like you had quite a time! Thanks for sharing

@nooch I'm fine with Macallan doing whatever. I'm not a huge fan. I've liked some of their whiskies, but I wouldn't bat an eyelash if they disappeared tomorrow. The more secrecy they insist on, the more NAS they put out = more of my whisky dollars going somewhere else. I realize I'm insignificant, but it's my stance nonetheless. FWIW, I prefer Glendronach to Macallan, if I'm going to drink a Sherry-bomb. Glenfarclas is next on my "sherried whiskies to try" list.

@nooch , I need some help picking my jaw up from the floor here.

@OdysseusUnbound

I agree, Glenfarclas is something I really ought to explore more.

Old Pulteney 17 yo. As I sip this I wish @newreverie and all of those in Texas affected by Hurricane Harvey safety from the effects of the storm. They are expecting 20-30+ inches of rain in the next few days. There will be a lot of flooding.

@nooch Wow! What a fantastic trip. My favourite pic is the one of Skye - I must get there one day! Thanks for sharing.

@Nozinan we showed up to glenfarclas unannounced for an informal tasting. I had had most of their core lineup (15, 21, 105, £511) so Murray, a brand ambassador in the visitor centre, led us down other paths. The 17, 25, and three versions of the 2002 family casks (that had been among the final 6 that were up for the vote before the winner was chosen), including the winner. Total cost? £0. Didn't charge a thing. Just hoped we enjoyed our stop. Great guy to say the least! Glenfarclas make great sherried whiskies. I think the 15yo might be my fav of the bunch.

@nooch it's nice to be surprised occasionally. I would go to farclas and Aberlour if I took a trip, and I think I would have to try to hit Islay

@nooch it's nice to be surprised occasionally. I would go to farclas and Aberlour if I took a trip, and I think I would have to try to hit Islay

@Nozinan would have loved to have visited islay. Speyside is 3 1/2 hours north of Glasgow. Islay is 4 hours (plus a 2 hour ferry) south of Glasgow. On this trip it was one or the other and the guys I organized for and with are not peat fans. That said, the highlands are beautiful country. Mountainous. Rolling hills. Green. Pink. Purple. Gorgeous.

@nooch I'm working on planning a trip to the UK for my wife and me. She wants to see London, Stratford Upon Avon and I want to see Islay....especially Lagavulin,Ardbeg and Laphroaig.

@OdysseusUnbound do it! There are flights to islay out of Glasgow airport on flybe.com, otherwise you have to get to the ferry. Not sure which is easier in your situation. Edinburgh is a beautiful city. You could easily spend time there, take the hour long express train to Glasgow and catch the flight from there. There may also be trains from northern England to the ferry port. Not sure about that one. The train system is fantastic, so it wouldn't surprise me. Either way, can't wait to see YOUR pics!

Epic Session on the weekend, @talexander and @Nozinan along with two hundred other guests. I'm now enjoying a few great bottles that survived a very active open bar. Having 30 different whiskies made it a fun selection process.

@paddockjudge It was truly, TRULY EPIC!!!

@paddockjudge, lookin' good, as fully expected!

I'm currently experimenting with a 50/50 blend of Maker's Mark and Lot 40 Rye. The Rye brings a different flavour profile when mixed. I know @Victor isn't always a big fan of mixing Rye and wheat but I find this mix intriguing. The Lot 40 is less "cinnamon hearts" and more red apples and fresh oak.

What I brought home from my recent trip to Scotland...

@dcbill That's a lot to be drinking right now...

@dcbill , nice haul! I'm especially envious of that Cadenhead's bottle. That looks like one of their "living cask" bottles from inside their shops, right? Yum!

So I'm prepping the blinded Campbeltown whiskies for my club that I brought up a couple pages—er, weeks—ago in this thread. To continue the thrilling saga, these are the dumb nicknames I'm settling on:

•Glen Scotia 12: Travolta

•Springbank 10: Sackville Bagginses

•Kilkerran 12: Jesus

•Campbeltown Loch blend: You down with CLB? Yeah you know me!

•Mitchell's blend: Alright, alright, alright

On Friday, I'll be able to declare a winner from the ballot box.

@MadSingleMalt Yes... the bottle on the left was filled at the store out of a cask labeled "Cambletown" but I was told it is 100% Springbank. The larger blue Cadenhead bottle is labeled 9-year old Islay, and is from Lagavulin. The other interesting bottle here, in my opinion, is the Lagavulin bottle... it is from the 2016 Jazz Festival. The Laphroaigs I bought based on being hard to find or Duty Free exclusive and at Ardbeg they told me they only have about 100 bottle of the Dark Cove left... but I did see a bottle in a store about 30 minutes from me the other day... if I had known that, I would have grabbed something "distillery-only" instead.

@MadSingleMalt What a cruel thing to do, naming the lovely Springbank after Otho, Lobelia and their lot !
Why not Super Bowl, Sophia Bush, Sandra Bullock or Sean Bean? Though in fairness, using that last one might make the whisky die before the end of the night...