So, what are you drinking now?

@nooch, bartenders can make or break the experience...how was the steak? Tonight I sipped on Mac CS while I cut and wrapped a strip loin, top butt, and a couple of pork shoulders. You might as well tell us about the vino in the glass too.

Sampled some of the Arran 18 Year Old and the Arran the Bothy Batch 2.

Also the Glenmorangie Astar 2017 Release.

Excellent releases, all three have very clean profiles.

Particularly impressed with the Arran 18 Year Old, the sherry component sings harmoniously with the malt and wood on the palate.

The Glenmorangie Astar has the best nose of the three and the palate is noticeably more mellow than the original release.

@paddockjudge they had Mac CS, but it was $33 a pour. Steak was fantastic. 1000 degree oven can’t be recreated at home. Buffalo Chophouse never disappoints!!! Wine was a Cab Sauve from California. Tasty stuff.

I've just been bottling my latest batch of home brewed beer. I love the process of beer making. I'm calling this one "2 black dogs" as it's essentially a double stout. It was tasting pretty good as it went into the bottles but time will tell how it turns out. Time for a dram now after that hard work. Any other brewers out there?

I take it you'd recommend the Arran 18 then sengjc? I'm seriously contemplating buying a bottle. I've not tried any Arrans yet and wasn't sure whether to start with the 14.

Opened a bottle of Kilkerran 12 last night. I was hyped because I'd heard nothing but good things about it. Was a little underwhelmed on first impressions although it got better the longer it had in the glass. I gave it 15 minutes before I touched it and added about 1/2 teaspoon of water.

Is the Kilkerran one of those malts where you need to open it and then go back to the bottle after a few weeks of being opened to get the best of it?

@Wierdo, by all means go ahead and buy some Isle of Arran 14 yo. That is a great whisky. Much much better than their 10 yo. Some like their standard 10 yo; I don't, but I do like almost all of their wine-finished 10s. I have liked every wine-finished release of theirs except for that one awful bottling of Amarone finish sold in Ontario. I did later have some Amarone finished Arran which was purchased in Baltimore which was very good. The Sauternes Finished Arran is wonderful, better in my book than Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or.

As for @sengjc, hopefully he'll respond to you himself...but, he owns a very big collection and keeps about 5 bottles open at a time (this I know from years of reading his posts). So he probably hasn't tasted that Arran 18 yo yet.

From comments on this site, others also have found that air exposure, e.g. open bottle time, is very favourable for positive flavour development for Kilkerran 12 yo. Which is to say, it gets better with open bottle time.

Thanks for the reply Victor. I'm currently cooking so dinner for the family so thought I'd poor another (small) glass of the Kilkerran. This time I gave it a full half and hour to open up and added just a small dash of water. I have to say that I'm a lot more impressed with it today and I can see what the fuss is about it is a very good malt.

It seems to me that Campbeltown whiskies are like Italian cars (not that I've ever owned an Italian car!) but they can be spectacular but also temperamental. They all like to be treated differently and you have to work out how best to treat it.

The Kilkerran clearly needs a bit more than the year in the cask minute in the glass rule to settle down and open up.

@Wierdo, some people, e.g. @casualtorture, place Arran 14 yo as just about their favourite whisky in the world. If you do buy some Arran 14 yo and like it as much as he and I do, then don't be surprised if you find it difficult to equal the 14 yo among their other offerings. Just like Glenfarclas 15 yo is preferred by many, I included, to their 17 yo, 21, yo, 25 yo, etc., you may find a sweet spot with Arran 14 yo which is not necessarily improved upon with more age.

FWIW, re Campbeltown whiskies, many also report that they like their Springbank distillery products (Hazelburn, Springbank, Longrow) well-aired. Most of the time the effect is more predictable after a few months of the bottle open than more time given in the glass, but obviously time in the glass also changes the whisky in a good way.

@Wierdo

Yes, I certainly will recommend it.

@Wierdo Me too. There is no need IMO to go beyond the Arran 14. And I think you will like the Kilkerran even more after a month or so of being open.

Cheers

Thanks for all the replies. Think I'll order a bottle of Arran 14 on pay day.

Apart from anything else they do it the right way; non-chill filtered, natural colour bottled at 46% so I always like to give my custom and support to distilleries who make their whiskies in that fashion.

@nooch

you are making me hungry. I often made the trek south from N. Ontario with a group of friends. We enjoyed Beef on a Weck at the Lord Amhurst then loaded up on wings at Kenmore Lanes while we were doing our thing there...and Jameson by the bucketful. I'll keep the Chophouse in mind...especially if they serve Mac CS.

@paddockjudge pizza and wings at Hacienda in Niagara Falls, NY are the way to go.

Currently sipping some Wild Turkey 101. It keeps surprising me. I didn’t think I could like a “cheap” bourbon this much. It’s very good stuff. Sadly, I added a bit of water, for science, and I much prefer it neat.

Watching The Crown while enjoying some whiskies from The Commonwealth.

@boatracer Nice... how are you liking the Lot 40 CS?

@Nozinan I'm enjoying it quite well. Have 2 more in reserve and looking forward to enjoying those as well.

Friday night was the annual Whisky Extravaganza in Seattle. Unlike previous years, I worked the event pouring at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society table, so no epic pour list this year. It was interesting being on the other side of the table. After the event, I did have a few drams with friends;

an 18 year Royal Brackla (SMWS 55.40 - "Playful mouth-tingles") finished the final year in a 1st-fill Pedro Ximenez hogshead after spending the first 17 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead.

a 20 year Glen Grant (SMWS 9.113 - "Chilli lime popcorn") from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead.

a 20 year Bowmore (SMWS 3.294 - "Hebredian dreams") from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead.

Finished with a 25 Blair Athol from the John Milroy collection (distilled in 1991, aged in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead cask # 7277).

Last night my brother-in-law came over to watch some college football and drink some whisky. We had the following;

13 year Glen Moray (SMWS 35.179 - "Formula Flavour") from a 1st fill Chenin Blanc hogshead.

18 year Royal Brackla (SMWS 55.40 - "Playful mouth-tingles") finished in a 1st fill Pedro Ximenez hogshead.

23 year Longmorn (SMWS 7.164 - "Carefree contentment") from a refill ex-bourbon barrel.

20 year Glen Grant (SMWS 9.113 - "Chilli lime popcorn") from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead.

Next we did a side by side comparison of two 14 year old Aultmore's that were both from refill ex-Sherry butts; SMWS 73.81 - "Dark chocolate destiny" and SMWS 73.78 - "Zingy, effervescent and intriguing". While both were very good, it was amazing how different they were. The clear favorite of the two was the SMWS 73.78 - "Zingy, effervescent and intriguing".

Next was an 11 year Ardmore (SMWS 66.84 - "Rich and slightly naughty") from a white wine hogshead before being finished in a second fill Sherry butt. A big, bold, beautiful dram!

We then did another side by side comparison of two Taliskers. One was Talisker Skye that my wife and I purchased at a travel retail shop in the Heathrow airport in April 2016. The other Talisker was a limited edition, distillery-only bottle that my brother-in-law's sister purchased for him earlier this year. Again, both were very different and very good. The Skye is sweeter and has very little smoke, where the distillery-only bottle is closer to what I would expect from a Talisker. The clear winner was the distillery-only bottle.

We finished the night with an 18 year Bowmore (SMWS 3.296 - "Elegance and power") from a refill ex-Sherry butt. An even bigger, bolder dram than the Ardmore. So good!

(The only bottles not pictured below are the Ardmore and the Talisker distillery-only bottle.)

@bwmccoy ".....drink some whisky." That's what I call an understatement given that gorgeous green lineup. Nice way to spend an evening. The Skye is the only ugly duckling in all that SMWS beauty.

Thanks @BlueNote! Yes, it is a ugly duckling. It's also a 1 liter bottle so it kind of dwarfs the others. I'm not a huge fan of the Talisker Skye, but my wife liked it, so we bought it. :-) It's not that bad, but it just doesn't taste anything like a Talisker should taste.

Wish I would have taken the picture last night so it would have included my brother-in-law's Ardmore and Talisker.

Sipping a 50/50 mix of Oak Cross and Talisker 10. Very, very nice blend. It almost helps to ease the frustration of marking on a Sunday night.

FINALLY! Long awaiting, heavily anticipated.

I picked up my Lot 40 CS from the KGBO where it was delivered last week, and though I wanted to open it yesterday life got in the way. As much as life tried to ruin things for me today I was determined.

Finishing up a few more samples for tomorrow, and ended up with Springbank 12 YO CS batch 11(?), so I decided to treat myself as I finish my last chart and start a book for a review due Wednesday.

Last night, Kilchoman Machir Bay cask strength 2017 West Coast USA tour bottling

Tonight is very rainy and windy, so drinking a couple SMWS bottles with “sun” in the title;

Glendullan 14 year (SMWS 84.18) "Sneezing in the sun" from a Second-fill Sauternes hogshead.

Aultmore 18 year (SMWS 73.72) "A ray of sunshine" from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead.

Just opened Aldi's new Glen Mornach 29 year old. Never bought one of Aldi's single malts before, but having read reviews and at £39 for a 29 year old whisky bottles at 40% abv I couldn't not. It's lovely, it's light, lots of floral notes and that Speyside vanilla sweet/spice that I think is present on all Speysides. Having had a few entry level well known whiskies this year (Scapa, Glenlivet Founders Reserve, etc) which are only a few £ cheaper than this and I would choose this Aldi bottling any day of the week!

@andydkelly, Glenlivet Founders Reserve is not a very high bar that you are setting for your Glen Mornach 29 yo whisky to surpass! Perhaps you would favour us with a review of your new Aldi acquisition.

@andydkelly Do you find that the 40% malts are a little weak on the palate but less so on the nose?