So, what are you drinking now?

@OdysseusUnbound This will make Bettman happy. He's scared shitless that a Canadian team might win the Cup, and as we have seen in the past, he will do everything in his power to ensure that doesn't happen, like making sure the on ice officials know who's supposed to win. It doesn't appear he needs any help this time, but way back in 2011, there was no way they were going to let Vancouver win. I think I need to drown my sorrows with something strong. SMOS 8 year old Caol Ila at 61.5% should help ease the pain.

@BlueNote That one is on my want to try list. I just need to make some room on the shelf for another open bottle...

A small 10 year old Clynelish bottled for Decadent Drinks ( whisky sponge ) while I watch the England v Ukraine football match. Cheers all.

@Timp I'm envious that you have access to those Whisky Sponge bottlings.

That puss in the background has the right idea.

@BlueNote only the cheaper ones for me! Some of the more expensive ones seemed to be a flipped very quickly and increasing in value.

This bottle is good although needs to time to open up I think.

Sweet, sour mineral notes with something sharp and edgy about it. Quite good but looking for it to get to that nice point when the air has had time to take the rough edges off.

I also think some of these young Clyelish need a bit of effort to decipher! Do like them though.

Ps he slept through the whole game, even through my spontaneous clapping when we scored! Getting old.

SEASONAL SNACK of strawberries, fresh from the vine, and a goodly pour of long-aged Glen Grant bourbon hogshead. A nice pairing on this beautiful Sunday morning.

Happy 4th Of July to our American friends and raising a glass of Jack Daniels single barrel proof 64.5% to you all tonight. Cheers.

This comes to me courtesy of @RianC and really enjoying the flavours of this one. Quite delicate and surprisingly drinkable at full strength but I prefer it with just a touch of water. Nice length to the finish too. Looking forward to exploring more bourbons in the future.

Behind in my posting; On Friday night, a friend and I did a brewery crawl. Afterwards, we went to his house for a couple of whiskies (plus a couple of other spirits).

Glen Moray SMWS 35.229 (10 year - March 2008) "Bountiful yet balanced" - Refill ex-Oloroso sherry puncheon cask - 64.2% ABV. Notes of red and dark fruits alongside earthy spice and sweetness.

Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Venezuelan Rum - 40% ABV

Maraska Maraschino Cherry Liqueur - 32% ABV

Octomore 7.2, a combination of American Oak and ex-Syrah casks from the Northern Rhone Valley. 208ppm. 5 year old. Notes of lemon zest, red fruit, vanilla and lingering smoke.

In celebration of our country's birthday, I visited Woodinville Whiskey Company for a tasting of some American whiskies.

Woodinville Bourbon (45% ABV). 5 years in heavily charred new American oak barrels. Mash bill of 72% corn, 22% rye and 6% malted barley. Notes of Creme Brulee, spice cabinet, caramel, dark chocolate and vanilla bean.

Woodinville Straight 100% Rye (45% ABV). Also, 5 years in heavily charred American oak barrels. Notes of cinnamon, clove, fruit, leather, caramel, wood spice and honey.

Woodinville Double Barrel (43% ABV). Initially aged in heavy-toasted, light char, new American oak barrel, then aged for an additional 2 years in used bourbon barrels. Same mash bill as their flagship bourbon. Distilled to a higher proof than their bourbon. Notes of berry, vanilla, stone fruit, brown sugar, wood spice and caramel.

Woodinville Bourbon finished in Port casks (45% ABV). Their fully matured bourbon is transferred to freshly emptied Port casks for an additional 6 months. Same notes as their bourbon with added notes of berry and dark chocolate.

Last night, I conducted a glassware experiment. I used the same whisky in 3 different glass types; Copita, Tulip and Glencairn. I measured pours of 1/2oz of whisky for each glass. The whisky I used was;

BenRiach SMWS 12.49 (10 year - March 2010) "Is this the way to Amarillo?". After 9 years in an ex-bourbon barrel, transferred to an ex-Tempest Old Fashioned IPA cask - 60.0% ABV.

Without water, the nose was very similar on the Copita and the Tulip (they have about the same sized opening at the top of the glass. The Glencairn opening is larger). The Copita and Tulip nose had a lot of alcohol notes present; more so than the Glencairn. The nose on these 2 types of glasses were "sharper" and I detected more IPA / hop oil notes with these glasses from the barrel finish. The Glencairn nose was more muted (not much alcohol prickle) with more citrus notes and less of the IPA / hop notes. I found the Glencairn to be the most approachable nose of the 3 glasses. There was no noticeable difference on the palate. Verdict; I prefer the Glencairn over the other two glasses without water.

With exactly 5 drops of water added in each glass, all 3 glasses nose different now. The Tulip is still harsh with alcohol notes predominant which is similar to when I nosed it without water; maybe a tad software, but not much. Copita has mellowed and I'm getting more notes of citrus and pine. The Glencairn didn't change that much and is still my favorite of the 3 for nosing, but with water, the Copita is much improved. Again, no noticeable difference on the palate.

Overall, my rankings are Glencairn first, followed by the Copita and then the Tulip, which was my least favorite by far for nosing. The only thing the Tulip did better than the Glencairn and the Copita was that the legs were more predominant in the Tulip glass.

Interesting experiment. I may do this again from time to time with different whiskies to see if I get the same result.

@bwmccoy very interesting experiment. Cheers for posting it up.

@bwmccoy you will likely get a much wider range of experiences if you vary your glass design a lot more. I would add a medium or small brandy snifter, a huge bowl brandy snifter, the NEAT glass, and the Norlan glass. If you try all of those, along with your copita and your two tulip glasses (Glencairn as a tulip) you will get some HUGE contrasts, both from the nose and from the palate.

Dry Fly Straight Triticale Whiskey, 44% ABV. Thank you, @bwmccoy for this 375 ml bottle you gave me 2.7 years ago. Triticale is a rye-wheat hybrid grain. I was lukewarm on this bottle when it was first opened but have been quite enthusiastic about it since it has taken some air to develop. The Dry Fly people like to think that this has flavour characteristics of both wheat and rye, but to me thinking you can taste the wheat influence or feel the mellow finish of wheat is wishful thinking. Rye dominates whatever it touches, though sometimes mixing wheat with rye can muddy the field sufficiently that neither grain's good flavours can be clearly tasted. I think of the flavour profile of Dry Fly Triticale Whiskey as being like a slightly unusual rye whiskey.

Now I am having some Old Forester Signature 100 Proof Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This bottle has been open for about 10 years, is still 55% full, and I have never liked it until the last several months. Amazing what a "little" air can do. I have also tasted from a different batch of Signature which I liked right away, but that didn't happen to be the bottle I bought.

@Victor Triticale - That is the whisky of the future - unless the producers run into some tribble...

@bwmccoy Thanks for taking that on. The results are quite surprising since all three of those glasses have about the same diameter of opening and are not that different in shape. I don't doubt that you could detect differences, but as @Victor says, doing the same experiment with a more diverse range of glasses might yield even more pronounced differences. I'd be very interested in the results if you do that. Cheers.

@Victor - I have a ton of glasses, but I only have these 3 types. If I get more variations, I will add them to my experiment if and when I do it again. A friend of mine has a bunch of 70oz snifters that we use when I am over at his house. The "goldfish bowls" provide the best nosing results that I have ever experienced. Unfortunately, they are hard to find, but I would love to have one for myself. One of these days...

@BlueNote - It's hard to tell in the picture, but the Glencairn has a bigger bowl at the bottom of the glass and a slightly larger opening than the tulip or the copita which I believe is the reason for the better results that I experienced for nosing.

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

@bwmccoy I bluntly assert that if you get around to trying out the Norlan and NEAT glasses that you will have experiences with them, not all good, that you will get form NONE of these other types of glasses. Tulips and copitas-- slight differences. Modest sized brandy snifters, more differences. Huge snifters-- big differences. Norlans and NEATS-- something from another galaxy. You have a substantial whisky budget. Do you really want to deprive yourself of knowing these experiences of how drastically the shape of the glassware can change the smells and tastes of what you are experiencing?

(Suggestion: if you get NEATs or Norlans and must buy 2 for an order, get somebody else to split the order with you. These are primarily for demonstration and conversation purposes. You will likely want to use neither of these glass designs as a primary drinker. I love having Norlans around, but primarily for their effects at softening rough whiskis, and as beautiful beer tumblers.)

Tonight, a Springbank 10 and now a Ledaig 13 whiskysponge offering while watching the England V Denmark football match. Lovely whiskies and not a bad game so far! Cheers.

@Timp Huge win for the English boys. I guess I'll have to have another dram of the JW Celebratory Blend. It's going to be one hell of a final.

A few whiskies tonight. I signed up for a Tomintoul/Glencadam tasting awhile back but I had failed to notice that the tasting was at 11 am on a Tuesday. No worries, I’ve been tasting them all by myself for the last few hours. Reviews to come of:

• Tomintoul 10
• Glencadam Origin
• Tomintoul 16
• Tomintoul Peaty Tang

@OdysseusUnbound Nice, will look forward to reading your reviews.

@BlueNote yeah a great if not a little fortuitous win. On balance of play they deserved the win though. Looking forward to Sunday.

On another note, the Ledaig bottle is really shining. Lovely gentle sweet cured smoked meat nose with a slightly farmyard, dirty, touch about it too. Not had much from this distillery before and wasn’t too impressed with the two independent bottlers samples I have had. Glad I purchased this one.

Last night I had a Corona beer to start but then quickly turned to the harder stuff watching the football. Opened a JW Celebratory blend - very ginger-bready and sweet with great balance, nuttiness and soft spice. Grain was integrated perfectly - a superb modern blend.

Then had a Glendronach 15 as I suspected they had similar traits and, yes, there were but the maltiness really come through, especially in the finish and development. Then a Glen Scotia 15 - man, if I thought the GD seemed malty ... Excellent whisky that definitely shows itself well in a flight.

Finished with a celebratory Smith & Cross rum. This bottles been open near two years now and is as good as ever, possibly better and certainly more approachable neat. The 'Dunder funk' was imposing on the nose but the palate becomes very sweet and, yes, @Nozinan, I was definitely getting some nutmeg!

I'll admit I was a bit wobbly after all that but it's the first time in my life we've actually made a final, and after so many 'nearlys' it felt good! Big test now in the final and a toss of a coin could call it for me. Heads, England

@Timp - Where do you buy the whisky sponge bottlings? Honestly, when I first saw one, I thought it was a piss take

Something else I observed last night was just how much a malt improves after first drinking a blend. I used to do this almost ritualistically before every malt, but it's faded a little recently.

Even a little blend to whet the whistle really does better showcase the complexities and nuances of a malt. Well, for my palate anyway. Cheers.

@RianC nice flight to accompany the match. All the sponge bottles come from Decadent-Drinks.com Last time I looked they still had a couple of bottlings still available on the site.

Got a Ledaig, two Clynelish and an Edradour on the go at the moment as he seems to have quite expensive older aged bottles ( out of my range ) or ones similar to mine at a younger age and around or just below the £100 mark. I think I have only sent you the Edradour so far, so if any of the others take your fancy I can stick them in our our next sample swap. Speaking of which I never sent you a list of all of the bottles I have open, so you can choose what your interested in next time round.

Last night, while watching the Yankee / Seattle Mariners baseball game, Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2010 - 50% ABV. This is liquid barley. Love it!

@bwmccoy The Mariners need a new Ichiro. And maybe a new Griffey Jr. and a new “Big Unit” I think I’m dating myself here.

@BlueNote - ah, the good old days of the Mariners! I'm dating myself right along with you. :-)

Tonight, while playing on-line poker with the guys, Ben Nevis 6 year (Dec. 2013). Full maturation in a 1st Fill Amontillado Gorda. 67.6% ABV. Single Cask Nation bottling.

Tonight, a Black Manhattan made with Maker’s Mark 46.

Ending with a peated English dram;

St George's Distillery English Whisky Company SMWS 137.7 (7 year - Feb 2012) "How to kill your dragon" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 65.5% ABV.

A wee splash of Glenturret 12 Maiden release 46% from a sample generously donated by @Weirdo and another of Dartmoor whisky Oloroso matured 46%. Had to have an English whisky while watching the football final and it’s the only one I have at the moment. Hope it brings us luck! Cheers all.

@Timp Condolences. I had a can of London Pride. That didn't work either, unfortunately. The Italy goal probably wouldn't have happened if the initial save hadn't bounced back off the goalpost. I hate shootouts.

Pity about the stupid English fans booing the Italian national anthem.