So, what are you drinking now?

1) Glengoyne 10 yo

2) Aberlour 10 yo, 43% ABV version

3) Isle of Jura Prophecy. Thanks @whiskyjoe for giving me this 40% full bottle 8 years ago. I just finished it off tonight. I was somewhat indifferent to its quality at first, but it just grew better and better with more air exposure. In later years I found it to be quite delicious

4) Talisker 57 Degrees North

5) Aberlour A'bunadh, Batch # 54

6) Yamazaki 12 years old. This was a very nice bottle for $ 45 in 2011. I don't think I'd pay $ 150 for it now

Westland Distillery Single Cask # 2631 cask strength release (5 year 6 months - Distilled 2014) from a 1st Fill Oloroso Hogshead - 57.9% ABV. Sweet at first, but finishes dry with notes of cocoa, almonds, maple and raisin.

@Victor How do you find that Glengoyne 10?

@OdysseusUnbound I've always liked this bottle of Glengoyne 10 yo. 'Clean' is the word I would use to describe it. We don't often see Glengoyne products offered for sale in my neck of the woods.

It's been a busy time. My "Vacation" was spent desperately trying to wrap my brain around a huge topic for a talk I was asked to prepare for students, a new topic I have not taught before. Also spent 20 hours vaccinating grateful recipients of the Pfizer vaccine.

This week I came back to a huge case load, including 5 new referrals in one day. my waitlist doubled. The talk was not finishing itself. And my kids decided they wanted to respond to a casting call for a new show starring Andrew Phung (of Kim's Convenience fame). The part my daughter auditioned for was MADE for her (whether she gets it or not).

Tonight - I gave the talk this afternoon. My kids finally managed to record their auditions. They may not make the cut but they made memories. It's all submitted.

P. H. E. W. !!!!!

While most of my cabinet is stuff I really like, I decided something extra special was in order to celebrate. I poured a tablespoon (15 cc) of the elixir of Bangalore, Amrut Cask Strength 2007 Special Edition. With a few drops of water the nose is astounding, and the palate rich and fruity. One of my favourite Amruts for sure. With the appropriate finger dips for the stars, of course...

I'm gad I picked up a mini of this and decided to open it, so that when I came across the full size bottles, selling at the time for about $80 in Calgary, I made sure to stock up. Overflowing cabinets be damned! The FORO is strong with this one...

@Nozinan Wow. Sounds like you really earned that dram!

Tonight, 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% ABV.

Finished the night by killing off my bottle of 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.

@Victor I miss 57N. Great whisky.

@casualtorture Me too. Haven't seen it for a few years. The sweet spot in the Talisker lineup IMO, along with the old 18.

@casualtorture, @BlueNote yes, indeed Talisker 57 Degrees North is great whisky. I decided to make 57 Degrees North my standard Talisker about 6 or 7 years ago, while holding a few bottles of the Talisker 18 year old as my other stocked Talisker of choice. 57 North hasn't been sold in the USA at all. It was absurdly expensive through the LCBO. My first 700 ml bottle was hand-carried to me from the UK by the business associate of a relative. I was able to get my main supply when on two different trips I spotted it at the automobile Travel Retail on the Canadian side of the US border returning back to the US. They sold it by the litre there, and the price was good. I bought (5) 1 litre bottles between the two trips. With the number of whiski bottles I have around and open, my current supply of 57 North should last me for some time to come. If I run out I expect that I will look for more to buy.

@Victor @casualtorture @BlueNote yeah, miss the 57d north too. Another one I wish I purchased more of.

@OdysseusUnbound, @Victor, last night I had a wee pour of Glengoyne 30 YO during an on-line tasting offered by Kensington Wine Market of Calgary.

The Glengoyne 30 YO 46.8% abv. was clean. A great big juicy nose on this one. Spices, a definite wine note. Glengoyne was part of the Edrington group and used the same cask management program as Macallan and Tamdhu, but not all Glengoyne is clean and sulfur-free. I've drunk through two bottles of the 21 YO in the past year, one clean and one with sulfur.

@Victor seriously envious here @Victor. It was you that turned me onto this one.

@paddockjudge Well, we know that Macallan’s record in the past 5 or so years is spotty at best when it comes to sherry casks and sulphur.

Tonight, the usual Black Manhattan with Maker’s Mark 46 for the 5pm cocktail.

Later, a classic example of this distillery; Caol Ila SMWS 53.320 (12 year - Sep. 2007) "Raiders of the flossed ark" from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 58.2% ABV.

@Timp - it was @Victor that convinced me to take the plunge on a 57N. It was an excellent whisky and, like you, I should try and get another (or two ha). The price can be crazy though so I will wait and see if a good deal comes along. I do, however, have a good stash of the 18, which I probably prefer, just.

@RianC yeah very much enjoyed my last bottle of the 18 too. Need to get another but seem to say that all the time here lol

@OdysseusUnbound, agreed that Macallan's cask management program has changed, but it was perhaps the best sherry cask program on the planet 30 years ago, when this particular Glengoyne was laid down.

@BlueNote et alii, another Talisker for which I want to put in a plug is the now rare Talisker 175th Anniversary Edition. I had heard about it before @newreverie brought some to a tasting also attended by @paddockjudge, @benancio, and me. This was in September, 2016, at the home of @benancio in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

connosr.com/whisky-summit-whisky-discussio…

Talisker 175th Anniversary Edition is/was @newreverie's favourite whiski of his huge and expensive collection.

So how impressed was I by Talisker 175th Anniversary Edition? Very very impressed. If I could get some at a good price I would pick it up in a millisecond. Too bad it's gotten expensive and rare.

wine-searcher.com/find/…

A big salute to Connosr stalwart member @RianC, who has been posting today from his hospital bed, while recovering from surgery. How excellent when in hospital to hang with your on-line whisky mates!

@RianC - I hope your recovery from surgery goes well!

@RianC, Wishing you a successful recovery. Your insight and contribution to OUR community is very much appreciated.

I underwent a surgical procedure last month, released from hospital the same day. While recovering at home for three, weeks I enjoyed the company of Connosr.

Cheers mate!! (two glasses, I'm having one for you. You pick the grain and I'll pick the distiller )

@RianC Wishing you a swift recovery too Rian. Raising a glass to you as well tonight. Cheers.

@Timp @bwmccoy @Victor @paddockjudge - Cheers Gents, and huge thanks for the well wishes - means a lot! I hope that your surgery went well and recovery is going smoothly, your honour?!

Last night was rough, proper rough. I'd have chugged a cask strength whisky straight from the bottle given half the chance, but the spoil-sports at the NHS weren't very accommodating

Much, much better today and I'm crushing the physio (so far!). Hopefully, in a few weeks I'll be up and about pain free for the first time in years! Perhaps a Zoom meet to celebrate?

I can almost taste that grain, mate ...

End of a tiring week. Had an impromptu zoom session. One had no whisky, and the others had different stuff.

After reading about Talisker 57°N on connosr recently, I decided to start with that. Unfortunately I dropped my bottle of private preserve on my Brilliant Highland whisky glass and it shattered. After a bit of a clean up I poured another into a glencairn, and safely sprayed and put away my bottle that is looking quite depleted.

After that a small pour of Springbank 12 YO CS, which is almost gone as well. I opened it when @paddockjudge came over in 2017to help me move my collection from the old house to the new house. Only a few drams left. Can’t wait to replace it in the cabinet with a more recent batch, which I believe has fewer sherry casks in the mix. Thanks again for that @fiddich1980. Looking forward to trying it.

@RianC Best healing thoughts coming your way from across the water brother. Do what they tell you and get the hell out of there asap. I'll have a dram of Corryvreckan pain killer for you tomorrow.

Jerry Thomas Manhattan’s (Rittenhouse BiB rye) for my wife and I’s 5pm cocktail hour tonight.

Later, rated a couple of open bottles;

Clynelish SMWS 26.151 (26 year - October 1993) "Fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers". Refill ex-bourbon barrel - 47.3% ABV. Rating: 94.

Glenlossie SMWS 46.100 (27 year - November 1992) "Heart of Gold". After 25 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill Spanish oak ex-Pedro Ximenez hogshead - 53.2% ABV. Rating: 95.

Last night's whisky virtual tasting...the Glenmorangie Cadboll Estate 15yr Bourbon Cask was amazing.

@RianC, recovery was good, thank you. Time heals all wounds...don't rush it. In hindsight, I should have taken another week before returning to work. Truth be told, I was bored out of my mind. Returning when I did was good for my mind, but I endured some physical discomfort upon the quick return...lesson learned.

Last night during a zoom session with @Nozinan and @fiddich1980 I had two wee pours of Wiser's 23 YO Cask Strength Blend, one for me, and one for you.

Cheers!

Tonight’s happy hour cocktail for my wife and I; Black Manhattan’s. The first one was made with Maker’s Mark 46, per the recipe, but the second one was made with half Maker’s Mark 46 and half Old Grandad 114 because I ran out of Maker’s Mark 46. The OGD 114 adds a nice depth to my favorite cocktail. OGD can do no wrong! Love it!