So, what are you drinking now?

@talexander don't explain it to me...

Over to you @paddockjudge.

@talexander, I agree that "full" Cask flavours diminish, if you are referring to the sugars, vanillin. I agree that each use takes more out of a cask and eventually some characteristics are diminished greatly or become negligible; however casks continue to contribute until they fall apart. My concern is when someone says a whisky of x years in oak must have come from a tired Cask because it lacks certain characteristics... how does that person know the cask was "tired"? I believe too many factors contribute to the successful development of a fine whisky to declare a "tired" Cask as the reason for that particular whisky to be performing below expectation. I would most likely not challenge someone who possess your level of experience and impartiality if they attribute a less than desirable organoliptic experience to a " tired" Cask. Too many reviewers/ bloggers throw around the term "tired" Cask without knowing for certain if other factors came into play to produce this result. I ask the question, but I do not necessarily ask it of you; what about grain quality, yeast, climate, method of distillation, type of still, aging time, bottle storage, sample contamination...?

Raining tonight, so reached for a couple of Laphroaig’s;

First up, a bottle I filled from a cask at the distillery in April 2016. This whisky spent 18 years in a Sherry butt (single cask, cask strength). Ash on the nose, followed by sweet sherry on the front palette with an explosion of smoke on the long finish. Absolutely wonderful dram!

Next up, Lore. I tried this one at the distillery last spring and really liked it. Only had it one other time at a Whisky tasting last fall. Finally picked up a bottle a couple of weeks ago. So glad to finally have this one in the whisky cabinet. Nose: Sweet and smoky with a hint of ash. Palate: Rich with a spicy chilli bite Finish: Short dry finish and a long sweet aftertaste

@paddockjudge Very good points, yes. Perhaps one could surmise that the cask was tired if the whisky was old, yet held very little flavours that would normally come from the wood? But you're right that one can't be sure based on the flavour profile alone. But that doesn't mean there are no tired casks, as you earlier said - of course there are - but perhaps we as consumers can't always know for sure where they were used.

@talexander I think it's a matter of English. Tomato / tomahto, potato / potahto, old / tired,....

By that logic, we can never speculate about what makes any drink lackluster because we can't eliminate all other possibilities.

It's not like we're Supreme Court judges issuing definitive rulings. We're just making informed guesses about what makes our spirits what they are. It's all good fun.

And not just "lackluster"—by that logic, it's unfounded to guess what makes any spirit great, or weird, or sweet, or bitter, or anything. Are we not supposed to speculate that a sweet Speysider has a delicious wet sherry cask to thank, unless we first investigate the grain quality and pin down what kind of yeast they used?

---

Is cask exhaustion (or "fullness") just one of many factors that produces a spirit's final character? Yeah, of course. But it is a reasonable likely suspect when your 12-year-old whisky tastes like newmake? Yes again, I say.

Last night, my club drank Springbank 10, Springbank 12, and Springbank 15. The basic 10 is still my favorite: so fresh and clean and zippy and just a little bit funky.

The 15 was fun to try. I'd never had it, but our host graciously pulled it out for us all. He maligned it just a bit as "too funky" and I agreed. It's interesting, it has character, and it's "respectable"—it's just not delicious.

We opened Compass Box Flaming Heart 15th Anniversary as our new club bottle, and it was a hit with just about everyone. The 30-year-old Caol Ila is only part of the recipe, but I admit it's the part I focused on and tried to taste. I'd never had whisky that old before, and definitely not any peated whisky that old. The smoke was more like a soft drift through the palate, rather than a punch in the mouth. Other folks really picked up on the spicy French oak. High-quality for sure. This was the first bottle in recent memory that triggered a "how much did this cost?" conversation among clubbers who felt tempted to buy a personal bottle. And the package is badass.

Our host also let me pour a dram of his Caol Ila 15 Unpeated. I found it to be similar to the Campbeltown whiskies: powerful, fresh, and a little grungy. I was really happy to scratch the curiosity itch with this one, because the memory of a bottle I walked away from on clearance for $100 had been haunting me for the past few weeks. I liked it, but I don't need to spend $100 on it.

Oh, and I forgot one more from our club host's cabinet that I tried for the first time last night: JW Blue.

Meh.

@MadSingleMalt I think the CI 17 YO I have comes from the same distillation run as the 15. It is excellent. Of course, I wouldn't pay $170 for it, and I didn't (long story, see the review)

@talexander, now that is the type of knowledgeable response that I was expecting. I realise that after the first use of a barrel, a lot of sugar has been spent by that barrel...and after the first use from a sherry-charged cask there is little wine flavouring remaining that could heavily influence a whisky, but what I find especially interesting is how a bourbon barrel becomes a cask after it has been used once.

...enjoying a pour of Laphroaig 18. I could get into this one as an everyday sipper.

@paddockjudge you'll have to find a supply of bottles if you want some every day..

Tonight, a hot tub dram; 14 year Glenlossie from a second fill Oloroso sherry butt. SMWS 46.43 - "If I were a carpenter..."

@paddockjudge Did you find some Laph 18 somewhere? I haven't seen it for a couple of years. I think it has been discontinued and the NAS Lore is the replacement. I'm hoping that the anniversary 15 becomes part of the core offerings at a decent price. It's a good one, even at 43% and would be a better replacement for the 18.

@BlueNote, this past winter I made a few trades. One had a pair of Laphroaigs, 18 and CS Batch #5, come my way while Nikka T 17, Blanton's Gold, and Weller 12 went the other way.

I opened the 18 at my daughter's wedding reception along with a nice variety of approximately forty whisky, brandy, and rum. The CS 'phroaig was sent to a home that would definitely appreciate it more than I do.

@paddockjudge I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. I think that the 10 CS would be just as appreciated by you, but you just happen to be thoughtful of others.

@paddockjudge ......a second mortgage may be necessary!

George T. Stagg, 2012 release, 71.4% ABV. Buffalo Trace has announced the 2017 release of the five Antique Collection whiskies, and this year's release of George T. Stagg is huge by historic proportions, 37,998 bottles, and more than equal in number of bottles of the other four 2017 Antique Collection whiskeys put together.

William Larue Weller Wheated Bourbon: 19,040

Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye: 14,021

Sazerac 18 yo Rye: 2,739

Eagle Rare 17 yo Rye Bourbon: 1,517

For the historical release statistics of ALL BTAC whiskeys, see the chart on the link below:

bourbonr.com/blog/…

@Nozinan, soon I will be buying my 10th bottle and probably beyond. I should have excluded allocated products from my buy list limits. I don't feel like I can pass up BTAC and Van Winkle at dealer prices, even slightly high dealer prices. I went a full year without buying 10 new bottles for myself, but looks like that run is going to end soon.

@Victor Wow! Hope that increases my chances of getting another one!

How about that 2017 Eagle Rare 17 yo Angel's share at 89.50%? That must have come out of the barrel above 80% ABV. God I would love to drink me some bourbon above 80% ABV!

@Victor Would you have the Pepto Bismal before or after the 80%+ Bourbon?

@BlueNote, I don't put even a drop of water in my 73.75% ABV 17 yo Abraham Bowman bourbon now, so I doubt that I would do anything to diminish the experience if I were fortunate enough to obtain some 80% ABV bourbon. Jim Murray reviewed a 16 yo private barrel European Bourbon Rye Association bourbon bottled at 82.7% ABV, so I know that they do exist.

As for Pepto-Bismol, I suppose that you would need some of that if you were to do shots of said whiskeys, or of any 151 proof rums for that matter. I've never done a shot of anything in my life.

Now I am having some Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond wheated bourbon, by Heaven Hill. (BIB = 50% ABV and 4 years old min.) This bottle/batch was oak heavy at opening, and is actually mellowing a bit now that it is open almost 5 years. I wanted only 750 ml of this one back in 2012, but my local stores only sold it in 1.75Litre "handles". At $ 27 for 1.75 Litres of this one in 2012 I decided to go forward and buy it anyway just to try it. Standard Old Fitz and Old Fitz BIB brands were replaced by John E Fitzgerald Larceny wheated bourbon. Larceny has been out for about 4 years now, and I still haven't had a taste of it.

@Victor wow, I'm struggling to imagine how they can produce a 16 year old spirit at 82.7% ABV. I can only presume that it goes into the barrels at atypically high proof and is matured at low temps to reduce the angels share. Must be some tight barrels.

@Hewie, the bourbon US legal maximum proof into the barrel is 62.5% ABV/125 US Proof. All the rest of the ABV accrual is due to concentration via evapouration in a relatively dry summer climate, like Kentucky or Virginia. I have a 10 yo rye aged in Virginia which has an ABV of 69.4%. That is an extreme example of what is sometimes called "excessive evaporation" (US spelling). Usually it takes 15-18 years to get up around 70% ABV in the US, but Elijah Craig has one release of 12 year old bourbon which clocked in at 70.1% ABV.

@Hewie, I didn't state it directly, but a critical part of gaining the alcohol content is that in a dry hot maturation environment the water evaporates more quickly than does the alcohol. This is why bourbons gain proof and Scottish whiskies often lose proof over the course of maturation. Humidity in the maturation environment is the primary factor.

@Victor I'm struggling to get my head around that one (it seems to defy all the principles of evaporation and diffusion). I wonder if the outside of the barrels are also sealed in some way.

@Hewie, Alcohol levels are also influenced by micro-climate (location in the warehouse...I see @Victor has expanded on this, but I'll continue anyway). In some Kentucky warehouses, some barrels closer to the ground have been known to lose alcohol content while some barrels in other locations (at higher levels) have been known to gain a.b.v. Wild Turkey Master's Keep17 Yo barrel proof 43.4% abv. There's excellent information about this and I'll post a link later....when I find it.

@MadSingleMalt mensjournal.com/food-drink/articles/…

See? Told ya!!!

When I was touring Balvenie the guide mentioned that he had been to Toronto visiting friends and had ended up touring some wineries in the Niagara Region - which is my stomping ground. I figured out later that he hadn't been visiting friends but that he had likely been scouting out ice wine barrels to finish whisky Balvenie in after I discovered that he was also a taster for Balvenie. He said they had decided not to use ice wine barrels because it didn't fit Balvenie's style. Then I asked if it would be used for glenfiddich and he got very tight lipped, so I figured that's what would happen. A month later comes this announcement. My guess would be that they finished the 21yo for no more than 6 months in ice wine barrels from niagara because his trip was in February and the announcement just came now. Interesting stuff, no?