So, what are you drinking now?

Since my Society Madeira cask-finished Caol Ila is almost gone, I decided to open one of my spares.

Caol Ila SMWS 53.320 (12 year - Sep. 2007) "Raiders of the flossed ark" from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 58.2% ABV.

This is classic Caol Ila.

Nose: ashy, briny, mineral and sweet peat. Palate: smoked salmon, juniper, lemon juice and smoke.

@OdysseusUnbound, that all sounds pretty dire. You must be referencing... I dunno... Facebook whisky groups? Twitter?

The main place I'm skimming lately is Reddit.

@MadSingleMalt There are few Facebook whisky groups to which I still belong. I generally don’t last more than 1 week in most of them. The level of discourse in most of those groups (especially bourbon-centric groups) is equivalent to what you might find in kindergarten, at best.

A double farclas 25 to finish it off and celebrate the start of the holidays. Won't replace, but not bad whisky that got better as it went down. Needs more abv in my humble opinion.

I went all in tonight!

Rough end to a rough week. I decided to hell with it. All these people dying around me. I could be next.

That Black Bowmore isn't going to sit around taking up space in my cabinet for the rest of my life. The guy who gave it to me had 9 bottles...and never tasted it before he died.

That's not happening to me.

So there!

Last night I attended a virtual tasting with Starward (Melbourne, Australia). I didn't know until the event that the founder of the distillery, Dave Vitale, now lives in the Seattle area full-time and runs the company remotely. Generally, all of their whisky is aged in ex-red wine (Shiraz, Cabernet and Pinot Noir) casks sourced from local wineries around the greater Melbourne area and are aged for a period of 3 "Melbourne" years. Melbourne gets hot, dry winds out of the NW and cold, humid winds out of the SW and can have a 20 degree temperature swing in an hour. The casks are aged in a non-climate controlled warehouse and the annual angel's share is about 5%. The spirit is put in the casks at 55% ABV and generally remain at 55% when fully matured due to an equal loss of alcohol and water. Starward mostly uses 300L hogsheads and 200L barrique casks, but will use 100L octave casks for special releases.

First whisky; Two-Fold. 40% ABV. This is 60% Australian wheat and 40% malted Australian barley. The two spirits are distilled and fully matured separately and then put together in the vatting prior to bottling. This product was launched in 2018 and was created to be used in cocktails, however, it is was very drinkable neat. Nose: red berries, butter, vanilla and spice. Palate: caramel and tropical fruit with a sweet and dry finish. Cocktail suggestions; either in a sour or mixed with tonic.This was my fourth favorite out of the 5 that we tasted.

Next, Nova. 41% ABV. The distillery considers this their signature single malt, but it was my least favorite. Nose: red berries, orchard fruit and oak spice. Palate: red berries, vanilla, caramel and spice. Cocktail suggestions; a Coffee Manhattan or a Tawny Port Old Fashioned.

Next, Solera. 43% ABV. This was very nice, but only my 3rd favorite. It is made using a traditional solera process where only 20% of the solera is bottled for each batch. It is matured in Apera (an Australian style, sherry-like fortified wine) cask. The goal with this release is to have equal balance between the spirit, the oak and the previous contents (wine). Nose: tropical and orchard fruits, caramel and vanilla. Palate: caramel, creme brulee, banana and figs with a dry, spicy finish.

The final two samples were single cask bottlings for private whisky clubs. Both were 55% ABV.

My favorite was bottled for the River City Whisky Society (RCWS) in Sacramento, California (I think I got that correct). This was matured in an American oak ex-Shiraz 300L hogshead for 2 years before being finished for 1 year in an American oak ex-Shiraz cask that had been charred after maturing the wine, but before maturing the whisky. I had a red-wine note at first before a distinctive Oloroso-like nutty note took over. This was excellent, in my opinion.

My second favorite of the night was bottled for "Sin Lee". I think this is a whisky club in southern California. This used a French oak 200L barrique cask. Nose: red berries, wine, but also some rye-like notes from the French oak. Palate: peppery red wine and oak. This is a big, bold whisky and a very close second to the RCWS bottling.

A fun evening trying some new to me whisky. My verdict is their standard releases are fine, but I wouldn't buy a bottle to drink neat. They are probably great for cocktails. In fact, I have some of the generous samples left over, so I'm going to use them to make some of their suggested cocktails later. The single cask releases, however, are worth seeking out and owning, at least the two that we tried were.

@Nozinan - Sorry to hear about what you are going through. We'll keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

@bwmccoy check the date....

@Nozinan - you got me good. Hook, line and sinker.

@bwmccoy, I've seen @Nozinan's Cabinet, we'll need a solid month month of April 1st.

@paddockjudge

Bring. It. On.

@paddockjudge weren't you commissioned to move most of that cabinet? I would imagine you are well acquainted with it's contents, so you've got the inside scoop

@cricklewood, hehehe, I repaired a shelf in the tall hutch and aligned many in another cabinet.... and helped to move every single bottle to a new home. What are you looking for?

lol

@Nozinan, OH YEAH!!? Easy to say when you are wearing a mask!

Playing on-line poker with my brother-in-law and friends;

Bushmills SMWS 51.15 (16 year - May 2002) "Boiled sweets and cut flowers" - First-fill barrel - 56.4%

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

Kilchoman Small Batch #3 (Port hogsheads, bourbon barrels and sherry casks) - 48.9% ABV

@bwmccoy How is the Kilchomann?

Bladnoch 10 and Glencadam 15 to follow.

Cheers..

@BlueNote - Absolutely stunning! This is the best Kilchoman I've ever had. It is perfectly balanced between the sweet wine (port & sherry) notes and the smoke / peat notes. There's only a couple of drams left and I'm really bummed that I won't be able to get this one again. The only negative (and it is a very minor one), is the lower ABV. Can only imagine what this would be at cask strength!

It's Friday night, so that means that my wife and I are starting off with Black Manhattan's made with Maker's Mark 46 Cask Strength.

@bwmccoy That sounds like a GOOD FRIDAY.

Yesterday I opened a new Springbank 10 - as excellent as ever. I really like how juicy it is, the mouthfeel is superb. Gorgeously lemony, nicely peaty and those rubbery and slight farmy notes give it character. This bottle won't hang around ...

Was interested to try the 15 after it and was genuinely surprised by what I found. The 15 was superb after the 10 - its almost like one's palate is prepped, and thus ready, for the funk bomb that is the 15. I still rate the 10 higher, but last night, in that order, the 15 shone. Go figure ...

@RianC Interesting comments Rian and think you hit the nail on the head regarding your palate being prepared for the 15 by having the 10 first.

The 15 doesn’t get quite as much love as the others in their core range and I always thought it’s because it is more ‘Springbank’ so to speak. By that I mean the briny, damp, and fuel notes seem to be accentuated to my mind. Something I love about Springbank in general, across their bottlings.

I still think the 10 is one of the best out there though and with the price as it is, a stunner.

@Timp I think the 15 is Springbank’s “batchiest” whisky. There’s batch variation everywhere but Springbank 15 is a bit extreme. My last bottle had me worried as there was quite a bit of spent match sulphur when I first opened it but that dissipated with time and I was left with a lovely bottle of funky Campbeltown goodness.

@Timp What @OdysseusUnbound said. I didn’t like it much at all at first, but after it sat around undisturbed for a few months and was down to the last third, I was loving it. Must get another if I can find it at a decent price.

@OdysseusUnbound yeah agree with that but I have only had three bottles spread over a few years. As you say, some seem to have more of that sulphur note than others. Found that batch variation with the ten also, not anything I didn’t like, just some better than others. Part of the Springbank way of things I suppose. @BlueNote will have to get another one too! Keep saying that, it’s dangerous being on here

@Timp I think many here, including myself, have stated that if a person could only own one bottle of malt whisky, Springbank 10 would definitely make the short list.

It’s a cocktail kind of night. I’m having a pre-dinner Painkiller. These are usually made with Pusser’s rum, but my bottle of Pusser’s isn’t open and I like something a bit stronger to cut through the juices so I used 1 oz each of Appleton 8 and Smith & Cross. I’m a bit too lazy to do garnishes.

@OdysseusUnbound If you want something stronger....go for a "151"...

@Nozinan I’ve only got the Gosling’s 151. I’ve got some Lemon Hart 151, but only a bitty sample’s worth.

Last night, my wife and I had a stay-at-home date night with Bruichladdich and the Seattle Whisky Collective. Bruichladdich and one of our local whiskey bars (The Barrel Thief) provided a Port Charlotte based cocktail called "It Came from the Deep" served in Bruichladdich / Port Charlotte Mason Jars complete with Port Charlotte paper straws. The Barrel Thief also provided Octomore infused caramel corn to enjoy with the cocktail while we watched "The Water of Life" movie which is the story of bringing Bruichladdich back on-line. It is a great film with Jim McEwan, Mark Reyneir, Charlie McLean and numerous other figures from the whisky world. Even Ralfy makes a few appearances in the film. If you haven't seen it, I think it is worth watching. Here's a link to the trailer, if you are interested. wateroflifefilm.com

After the movie, was in the mood for more cocktails so I used the leftovers from the Starward tasting the other night to make;

Two-Fold & Tonic - 1oz Starward Two-Fold whisky, 3.5oz Indian tonic water and a grapefruit wedge for garnish.

Horsefeather - 1.5oz of Starward Solera whisky, 2 dashes of bitters, half a squeezed lime, 3.5 oz Ginger beer and an orange slice for garnish.

The Two-Fold & Tonic was better than I thought it would be, but I did not care for the Horsefeather at all.

Tonight small drams of Bunnahabhain 15 yrs 2003 Amontillado cask 57.4% and Bunnahabhain 10 yrs Manzanilla cask 55.1%.. Cheers..