So, what are you drinking now?

@BlueNote thanks for sharing the sample line up, you've got good mates! (I follow Infectious spirits on IG btw)

That Ardmore sounds really good, I can see the profile going well with the different sherry casks.

Did you end up tucking into that beast of a Bunna in the end?

@cricklewood I had half of it with a good jag of water after dinner last night. I thought I'd better go easy as I'd already had a couple of good sized drams before dinner. It's a beast alright, but a very tasty one. There's no mistaking what kind of cask it came out of: big sherry and very much in the Bunnahabhain style. All the members of our little whisky group are big Bunna fans, but none so much as Kevin (infectious spirits) who is always the first to jump on anything new and interesting from his favourite distillery. We are also fortunate that he loves to share.

@cricklewood They have a few bottles of the Carn Mor Ardmore at one of our local private liquor stores at a decent price. We've got a couple put aside until their quarterly sale that comes up in a couple of weeks. The Ben Nevis is the one I would really like to get hold of. I'll have to ask infectious where he got it.

Anyone heard from @MadSingleMalt recently? I just realized he hasn't been around for a while.

Kilchoman Machir Bay Cask Strength Festive Season Edition (Santa hats on sheep). 58.6% ABV. Drinking it with a little water tonight. Same great taste with just a little less fire.

@BlueNote - No, sorry, but wondered the same thing.

Hope all is well @MadSingleMalt

Glencadam 15 tonight. Lovely light bourbon cask freshness and think I might have to pick up their 10 for comparison. Cheers..

Tonight, a peated Speyside dram. Allt-A-Bhainne SMWS 108.14 (7 year - Nov 2011) "An enjoyable curiosity" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 66.2% ABV. Again, tonight, adding water, which is not something that I normally do. For this particular whisky, not a huge difference with or without water.

@Timp I had a sample of the 15 a few months ago and liked it. I think it was from an indie bottler, but can't recall which one. I've heard that the 10yo OB is very good too. I think Ralfy may have reviewed it and gave it a high score.

@bwmccoy We are getting quite accustomed to very good young age stated whiskies these days. I think it started with Lagavulin 8 yo and progressed to Ardbeg's 5 yo. As I mentioned earlier, I was blown away by the taste I had of the Carn Mor Strictly Limited Ben Nevis 4 yo. I'm now well over my prejudice against young whiskies.

@BlueNote cheers for that, will check out the rally vid.

@Timp I totally agree on the Glencadam 15 I was able to try it a couple of years ago through ex-Connosr member @Robert99 . It seems that the 15 and especially the 10 have been getting a steady following from people after being praised both by Ralfy & Roy at Aquavitae.

I know it sells out very quickly when it is available locally.

@BlueNote I totally agree, I think especially with independent bottlings lately there's been a rise in young expressions available (the reason for that is a whole other discussion) and we can see how some of these perform quite well.

I think it's a good move coming from producers, instead of some new B.S. NAS storyline but I guess I just like less fanfare in general, the hype around Wee Beastie was so strong. Bruichaladdich has done a good job as well with many of it's Islay Barley releases being under 10 yrs and being quite strong, I know...they are a hype machine as well.

@cricklewood nice to hear you liked it as well. Good value too in these crazy days of whisky pricing

1) WhistlePig 10 yo Rye, 50% ABV. I love and miss you, Dave Pickerell! I am so happy that I had the chance to speak with you during your 62 years here. What makes this whiskey different from other ryes is that it is aged for 5 years in one barrel and then 5 more years in a second barrel. Dave P. believed that you get some undesirable flavours out of a barrel if you use it for more than about 5 years

2) Willett Family Estate Batch Rye, 2 yo, 54.05% ABV, excellence in a whiskey aged 2 years

3) Willett Family Estate Rye, 4 yo, Single Barrel # 2612, 55% ABV. More Willett creme de la creme Rye

4) Don Julio Anejo Tequila, 40% ABV

5) Old Weller Antique 107, 7 years old. Yes, this is my original bottle purchased in about 2010 and bottled in about 2008, with the 7 year age statement. This bottle was too intense for 70% ABV @Victor to handle for the first year it was open. Then I adjusted and couldn't believe how good it was. @OdysseusUnbound, I hope to have the self-restraint to save a sample from this bottle for you to taste. You will not believe it. No, you will not believe it.

@BlueNote - With seemingly no end in sight of the popularity of whisky, younger whiskies are here to stay for the foreseeable future. However, if there is a silver lining, it has forced us all, myself included, to accept that age is just a number and some whiskies, especially peated whisky, can be amazing at a young age. Like @cricklewood said, I would much rather know what the age is, young or not, than some cutesy named, over-hyped NAS bottling. If it's good whisky, it's good whisky, regardless of the age or NAS. However, I appreciate the transparency and like knowing what I'm drinking, not some (mostly made up) back story.

Tonight, I attended a virtual whisky tasting with the Seattle Whiskey Collective featuring a line up of M&H whiskies. I've owned a bottle of their Sherry Elements, but hadn't had the chance to try any of their other offerings. Interesting, but sad note; Milk & Honey changed their name to M&H because so many people asked them how much honey they used in their whisky and they also asked if their whisky was lactose free.

Some facts about M&H that I found interesting; Dr. Jim Swanson was heavily involved getting M&H up and running. They were founded in 2012 and first distilled spirit in 2014. They found their main still on the secondary market in a barn in Romania (Dr. Jim liked the size and the shape of it). The lyne arm is 45 degrees downward which provides little to no reflux, therefore producing a very clean spirit. They produce 800 barrels annually and are in the progress of increasing that up to 1,200 barrels. Their warehouses are not climate controlled and routinely reach well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit resulting in a 10 - 11% annual angel's share. Barrels are filled at 64% ABV, but due to climate, the ABV goes up over time. They distill peated barley 2 weeks out of the year, but unfortunately, we didn't get to taste any of their peated whisky tonight. M&H's approach is that they want all of their whiskies to be "balanced". For example, their sherry elements bottling is not intended to be a sherry bomb and it's not. In addition to their warehouses in Tel Aviv (near the Mediterranean Sea), they are also aging some casks near the Dead Sea (1,412 feet below sea level). The Dead Sea casks are aged on top of a hotel completely exposed to the elements and the angel share is about 25%. The casks aging spirit near the Dead Sea only stay there for about a year.

Of the 5 whiskies that we sampled, all but the last one was 46% ABV. There was not one of the 5 that we tasted that I didn't like, but I definitely had some favorites among them.

First up, M&H Classic. This is a combination of 1st-fill ex-bourbon casks and 1st-fill Israeli ex-red wine STR (Shaved, Toasted and Re-charred) casks with a touch of heavy charred virgin oak casks which adds depth to the vatting. I found this one to be very similar to a typical Speyside Scotch. It was light with notes of floral and fruits. It was buttery and creamy. It was my 4th favorite of the 5, but only because lighter, Speyside type whiskies are not my favorite style whisky. It was quality whisky. It just didn't do much for me.

Next up was the Sherry Elements. M&H has an arrangement with a sherry bodega that creates about 50 casks of Kosher sherry casks for them each year. The casks are seasoned with the sherry for about a year. Both PX and Oloroso sherries are used for the seasoning process. Their Sherry Elements bottling is a combination of 50% ex-bourbon and 50% Sherry seasoned casks. Notes of dates and figs with some nuttiness. This one was my 3rd favorite of the 5.

Next up, Red Wine Elements. This was very interesting. It was NOT overly winey or overly sweet. In fact, I'm not even sure I would have known this was an ex-red wine cask if tasted blind. It had a earthiness to it that if I didn't know better could have thought was peat. Notes of plum, fig, dark chocolate and dry, dusty red fruits. I really liked this one. It was my second favorite.

Next up, Peated Elements. This is not peated spirit. The non-peated spirit is aged in ex-Laphroaig casks. The nose was caramel chewy candy and the palate was very subtle peat. This was my least favorite. The peat influence was so light, why bother. Like the Classic, there was nothing wrong with it. It just didn't do anything for me.

They saved the best for last. Finished up with a Single Cask STR bottling. This was easily my favorite of the night. Where the others were all 46% ABV, this one was 59%, but it is not cask strength. The spirit is between 64% and 69% ABV in the cask, but the master distiller believes this whisky is at its best at 59%. Who am I to argue? It reminded me a lot of French oak single casks with spicy and fruity notes. Most of M&H's STR casks are Portuguese ex-red wine casks that are made from either European or French oak casks. (It was mentioned during the tasting, that Dr. Jim Swanson perfected the process of de-charring and re-charring a cask which eventually became what we now call STR casks.)

This was a very fun, informative tasting with some excellent whisky.

@bwmccoy thanks very much for the excellent information!

@bwmccoy A very interesting read. Thanks for taking the time.

@bwmccoy, lots of fun facts about M&H. Last month @Nozinan hosted a virtual tasting for our Eastern Connosr group. He has visited the distillery and made available to us some very tasty spirits. The sample which prompted the most discussion was their gin....magnificent!

Westland Distillery Cask # 2631 Single cask release, cask strength (5 year 6 months-Distilled 2014) - 1st Fill Oloroso Hogshead - 57.9% ABV.

@bwmccoy very cool write up on M&H, a really compliment to our session with @Nozinan and fun to see other people's impressions of their products. I think for young product some of their stuff has real promise much like some of Jim Swan's other projects (Kavalan, Cottswold, Kilchoman etc)

I will second @paddockjudge that gin was one of the more unique spirits I have tasted in a while, I will have to procure a bottle for the summer.

I am enjoying a wee dram of the 17yo Taketsuru Pure Malt this evening. I am also listening to music to add to the mood of the whisky.

Living in Colorado and being overwhelmed with news, I just needed to get away from things. This whisky transports me back to Japan and China. Why? I got my first bottle of the 17yo Taketsuru while flying back to Beijing in 2015. I flew from Denver to Tokyo, and then to Beijing. I intentional got a ticket through Tokyo, instead of San Francisco, in order to hit the duty free. To my surprise Fa So La (yes, that's the name of one of their duty free shops) had the 17yo Taketsuru. I think I might have mentioned this in very early posts. Anyway, since I am being transported back I will continue with the story. Back in 2015, Narita Airport duty free, the 17yo Taketsuru sold for about 70-75 USD. I heard about this of course, but never tried it. So, being 'careful' (now I wish I was a bit more of a risk taker) I only bought one bottle. Once I got back to Beijing and in my apartment, and to help me fight a bit of jet lag...nah, that's not a true part of the story. Anyway, after a while being back I opened it up and fell in love with it.

I soon regretted not getting two bottles. Once I made the decision I was going back to Tokyo for a trip during the winter holiday I promised myself I would pick up another bottle possibly two. I think you all know where this story is going. You guessed it, they stopped selling it in duty free.

Okay everyone, now you know what made me so obsessed about buying up every Glenlivet16yo Nadurra I could find. Regrets are one thing, learning to avoid regrets is another. HA! At least that is what I tell myself to explain the shelf of Nadurra.

かんぱい！

@ajjarrett

Correction, I found an old email I wrote and referred to my purchase. When I got the 17yo Taketsuru it was only 3,750 JPY, which is equivalent to 33.00 USD. That’s right, 33.00 USD. Sad what time and regret can do to your memory.

@ajjarrett I think your brain was trying to protect you from the hurt by remembering it differently.

I started the night off with a dram of Lot 40 CS 12yr old. Never get tired of how good that is.

Heading to funky town next, doing a head to head of Hampden rums. The glasses are covered but the aromas have already permeated the room.

Two small drams of Clynelish tonight.

Signatory 1996 20yrs 47.7% bottled for Tasttoe and Signatory 2008 11 yrs 53% bottled for whiskysponge

Cheers..

@ajjarrett very jealous ( in a nice way ) of your Nadurra collection and every time you mention them makes me want to get another. Such a lovely whisky and sadly only a auction purchase here now. Only regret I have is drinking them down but oh so good!

I just did a head-to-head comparison of Maker's Mark 46 and Maker's Mark 46 Cask Strength. Wow! What a huge difference. I'm not a fan of regular 46 neat, but I really like it in the Black Manhattan cocktail that my wife and I make. The regular 46 has that fake cherry cough syrup note which I do not care for, but that note is greatly reduced in the cask strength version. It is also more oaky, but the wood influence is balanced in my opinion. (Some of the reviews that I read on-line thought that it was over oaked.) For me, the additional wood note takes away some of the cherry cough syrup note. The cask strength version to me is fuller and more well rounded than the regular 46.

My wife and I have now had a couple of our favorite Black Manhattan’s, but made with the cask strength version of Maker’s Mark 46, instead of the normal 46. I really don’t want to admit this due to the price difference between the two, but dang, these cask strength versions are so much better! Huge difference. I guess you really do get what you pay for.

Tonight is a cocktail night. I made a Jet Pilot (photo attached) following the Smuggler’s Cove recipe as best I could. Rums used were: Gosling’s Black Seal, Gosling’s Black Seal 151, Real McCoy 12 Year.

Now I’m having a Vieux Carré made with Knob Creek, Hennessy VS, and Dolin Vermouth. I used a bit less Benedictine than the recipe called for (7.5ml instead of 10ml). I have to say that adding the lemon twist really makes a huge difference with this drink. I sometimes skip it but it’s much more enjoyable when I include it.