So, what are you drinking now?

@RianC I'm thinking of putting some in a pie. It is quite boozie though so I'd have to watch the amount.

Now sipping a Deanston home made blend whilst watching Barbarians on Netflix. I found a very small pours worth of the 18 sample so have topped it up.with some 12 - about 2:1. It's good but I still prefer the 12.

As for the show, meh. I like the subject matter, and the languages are an authentic touch, but it's a bit cliche so far (ze Germans all hit first, ask questions later, and seem to enjoy lots of semi naked fire dancing). Well I've never been to Germany to be fair ...

@RianC congrats on the new gig! I'll raise a glass of some JDSBBP tonight.

@TracerBullet I'm with @RianC on this one? What happened to the fruit? Boozy pie? Boozy compote?

I’ve been sitting on this bottle for a few years. My son brought it back from Jupiter, Florida, he was not yet of the legal age to buy liquor. There were two bottles, the other came back with his then future father-in-law.

On Saturday my son was married to the very same girlfriend who helped him find and purchase this pair of bottles from batch #9. We opened it together and enjoyed a couple of healthy pours.

@paddockjudge A legendary whisky for what must have been a legendary event! Congrats!

I'm celebrating the selling out of Alberta Premium CS online at the LCBO, within hours of something like 1600 bottles being available, as I moved to check out the 2 that were in my cart, with a small pour of the same.

Tonight, finished a couple of left over samples from a virtual tasting;

Waterford Single Farm Origin Dunmore Edition 1.1 (50% ABV). Aged 3 years, 11 months and some odd days and matured in 33% first fill US oak, 18% virgin US oak, 25% premium French oak and 24% Vin Doux Naturel casks (a sweet fortified wine). This expression is made with Irinia barley and produced 13,000 bottles all for the US market.

Waterford Single Farm Origin Rathclogh Edition 1.1 (50% ABV). Aged 3 years, 11 months and some odd days and matured in 31% first fill US oak, 19% virgin US oak, 25% premium French oak and 25% Vin Doux Naturel casks (a sweet fortified wine). This expression is also made with Irinia barley and also produced 13,000 bottles all for the US market.

Also, finished off my bottle of The Big Swirl SMWS 10 year old Blended Malt Batch 07 - Ex-Spanish oak casks + ex-bourbon casks matured for final 2 years in 1st-fill ex-sherry hogshead - 50% ABV.

Ended the night with Copperworks Distilling pre-release bottling of SMWS 143.1 “Sea buckthorn tea time” 3 year (specifically 46 months - March 14th, 2016) - New oak barrel (18 month air seasoned staves) heavy toast, medium char (#2) - 60% ABV.

@RianC Congrats on the new job. Good to know your whisky budget is secure.

@RianC Congrats on the new job! I'll be sure to raise a glass for you tonight!

@bwmccoy No trouble at all in sharing the recipe: 1oz Irish Whiskey, 1oz Cold Brew Coffee Infused Whisky, 1oz Amaro, a dash of Coffee Bitters, and a dash of Orange Bitters. If you wanted less coffee influence, move the ratios around a bit: 1.25oz whiskey, 0.75oz Coffee Infused Whisky. I'm using Kavi, which is a Canadian Cold Brew Coffee Infused Whisky, but I think Jameson is doing one now, too, so you could make it fully Irish...

@YakLord Jameson is indeed!

Thanks for the well wishes, gents!

Having a Nikka from the Barrel whilst waiting for the auction clock to tick down (20 mins to go). Looks like I may have been outbid already but there's still a chance and backups - no rush!

This is still quite nippy but the flavour underneath is still very good. Tastes younger than my last bottle though for sure.

@YakLord - Thank you for the recipe! I really appreciate it. I will pick up some Jameson cold brew from the liquor store later this week. I had to order the coffee bitters from Amazon, so won’t be able to make the cocktail until Sunday, but will let you know what I think. Really looking forward to making this! Thanks again!

Made Gomme syrup today and used it to make some Daiquiri’s. It does make a bit of a difference compared to regular simple syrup.

I’ve been finishing off a lot of bottles lately, so it was time to open one. Last year for Christmas, @jordytropp and his wife gave me a bottle of High West A Midwinter Nights Dram; Act 7 Scene 6 (49.3% ABV). This is a blend of straight rye whiskeys finished in French oak port barrels.

95% rye, 5% barley malt from MGP

80% rye, 20% malted rye from HWD

It is aged in new, charred, white American oak and finished in French oak port barrels.

Nose: Spicy rye; cinnamon, orange, anise, cedar and dates.

Palate: Cherry reduction, molasses, fig and ginger.

Finish: Clove, wood, orange peel and a hint of wine notes.

I love rye, port finishes and french oak, so this is pretty much perfect for me. The port enhances the rye as opposed to covering up. Perfectly balanced.

Thanks again @jordytropp and your wife for such a thoughtful gift.

Virginia Gentleman Bourbon, 40% ABV, Ezra B. 12 yo Single Barrel Bourbon, 49.5% ABV, and Breckenridge Bourbon 43% ABV.

I feel like a cop on patrol checking out my many open bottles of whiskey.

Comments: 1) Virginia Gentleman from the Sazerac Company owned A. Smith Bowman Distillery in Fredericksburg, Virginia, remains a much above average very inexpensive bourbon. Heavy on the char, but very drinkable and enjoyable 2) Ezra B. is a scarce bottle. The bottle of it I bought is the only one I've ever seen for sale. This is Luxco bourbon reputed to be sourced from Heaven Hill. I've always been glad that I bought this particular bottle. 3) Breckenridge Bourbon, distilled in Breckenridge Colorado at 9600 feet elevation and "made from snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains", competes in the contest for highest rye content in a standard bourbon at 38% rye content. This bottle was given to me as a gift from a friend and has been open over 8 years now. 8 years ago I thought "OK, but not compelling." I like it the best now that I have ever liked it. Very enjoyable.

Last night I had:

• Knappogue Castle 12 Year Irish Whiskey: this bottle is about 10 Years old, according to the woman who gave it to me. It's been sitting unopened in her liquor cabinet since neither her nor her husband are whiskey drinkers. After dealing with a disintegrated cork, I poured myself a dram. I'm not sure if this was sourced from Cooley or Bushmills, but it's bottled at 40% and matured entirely in ex-bourbon casks. Their marketing materials make liberal use of the word smooth so I'm not super-optimistic that this will be a radically different Irish whiskey. Very typical Irish nose with honey, apples, hay, and some maltiness. It's very light on the palate with a little oak, malt, some vanilla cream, and the finish is quite short. This is a pleasant whiskey, but I would sooner purchase Bushmills 10 Year for $25 less if I was the one paying for it.
• Connemara Peated: This was a sample given to me by @Nozinan . Review coming soon. I enjoyed it and I would consider purchasing a bottle if the price was right. A great introduction to peated whiskeys and much fruitier than I expected.

Last night snuck in a tiny pour of Kilkerran 8 CS and Octomore 9.1, that Octomore is down to the very last bit and it's worse for it, I have to say I wasn't moved by this bottle from the start though.

I've poured a dram of Ben Nevis 10 and will put a lid on, it will be my reward after cleaning up.

@cricklewood So you need a reward yourself with a dram for cleaning up the glasses you used to have a dram...

@Nozinan That might be an idea

No it's house clean-up time, I normally do that over the week-end but the weather was much too nice this past weekend, so I procrastinated in exchange for some sun, walking and dan-dan noodles.

@cricklewood mmmmm....noodles

@Nozinan Hand pulled too

Stagg Jr. Batch 3 (Fall, 2014) for a reminder why I dislike this particular bourbon and hoping that a recently acquired Batch 13 (Fall, 2019) will be far more superior when opened.

Black Irish Coffee and a Maple Pastry Manhattan... 3/4oz Irish Whiskey, 1/2oz Cold Brew Coffee Infused Whisky, 1/2oz Butter Tart Moonshine, 1/2oz Maple Moonshine, 1oz Amaro, and a dash each of Orange Bitters, Coffee Bitters, and Cardamom Bitters. Shaken, not stirred, because the Butter Tart Moonshine is quite thick. Not as sweet or coffee forward as my first attempt, but I think it would work better with a high proof rye instead of Irish Whiskey.

@fiddich1980, Batch #3, is that the "wet paper bag" batch?

@paddockjudge There is some "wet paper bag" but, your reference is more applicable to ECBP C917. That particular bottle, I later discovered suffered because of a bad, leaky, and loose cork. The Stagg Jr. Batch 3 is disappointing because the wood/char/barrels used to age and impart flavour added an extremely BITTER flavour to the overall palate of the bourbon. The nose and initial palate starts off very much like a concentrated classic Eagle Rare 10 Those flavours of cinnamon, demerara sugar, orange peel, worn leather, fresh tobacco, oak, and mild vanilla. Then the palate towards the latter half and ending gets overridden with extreme almost green, sappy bitterness. It not the alcohol strength which bring this bitterness out. The finish runs hot and with it fresh ground black pepper, warming heat, and touches of chillies with a tongue tingle. What ruins it all is the dominating bitterness. The first three or fours batches of Stagg Jr. seem to suffer from this bitterness or maybe "bad oak". I did return a second bottle of Batch 3 to the LCBO after opening up this bottle.I can relate more to @Victor review of batch 1 than any recent batch reviews. Thus, the recent acquisition of Batch 13. Stagg Jr. seems to be a bourbon release which has gained popularity in an ass backwards way. The first releases were generally, panned the later releases highly praised.

@Victor's review of batch 1 connosr.com/stagg-jr-bourbon-whisky-review…

Tonight, a couple of wine finished Westland’s;

Westland Distillery Single Cask # 5410 that was aged 6 years and 1 month. It is their standard 5 grain mash bill that was first aged in a 1st-fill ex-Westland cask, then it was transferred to a 1st-fill ex-bourbon cask before spending the last 26 months in a French oak ex-Syrah Washington State wine cask from Guardian Cellars (Red Mountain AVA). 57% ABV. This is perfectly balanced; I love how the red wine notes come through at first, but the standard Westland flavor comes through in the finish.

Westland Distillery cask # 2542 Single cask release, cask strength (6 year-Distilled 2012, bottled Dec. 2018) 27 months in Coopers Reserve New American Oak followed by 45 months in an ex-Pedro Ximénez Hogshead - 50.8% ABV. The nose is raisin, cherry and maple. The palate is Oatmeal raisin cookie, nutmeg, black pepper and blackberry. This is my all-time favorite non-peated single cask Westland!

Milk & Honey (Israel) Whisky Distillery Elements Sherry Cask

Forgot to mention that before I had the M&H last night, I had a small dram of the Jameson Cold Brew along with a small dram of standard Jameson. I would normally never drink either one of these neat, but I was impressed at how well balanced the cold brew was. While the nose and initial palate was cold brew coffee, the Jameson whisky flavors came through in the finish. I was afraid that the coffee would over power the whisky. It doesn't. They did a really good job with that. I will also add that the standard Jameson has a harsh industrial note at the end of the palate that is not noticeable in the Cold Brew version. It may be batch variation or it may be that the coffee notes cover that up. Whatever the reason, I prefer the Cold Brew neat to the standard Jameson neat.

Small pour of the freshly opened W22 port-matured cask strength whisky that arrived today. N room in my basement cabinet for open bottles so I'll have to keep it in my satellite cabinet n my office until I make space. It will be easier to review...

@Nozinan Maybe you should take a road trip "up North" to deliver some bottles and make space in your home.