So, what are you drinking now?

@RianC I’ve done the same thing with small heels or leftover samples. Results are sometimes great, sometimes “interesting” and sometimes drain worthy. You win some, you lose some.

@BlueNote - Dont know why I hadn't thought of it before to be honest?! I often end up with about 15 ml left in a bottle and it's too small for a worthwhile 'drinking' pour in its own.

Have to say that adding water didn't help! It got very sour and watery on the palate very whisky. Hey ho!

On Friday afternoon, I needed to restock the liquor cabinet for my weekly cocktails. I was out of Maker's Mark 46 and I had to pour out the half bottle of Rittenhouse that was so nasty. I took note of the batch number so I wouldn't get the same one again, but when I went to the store, all of the Rittenhouse BiB was gone. I'm wondering if they pulled it because it was so bad?

Anyway, after looking at every Rye they had (not a huge selection), I picked one that was the highest ABV (50%), but still relatively inexpensive. It was $5 more per bottle than the Rittenhouse, but I was able to stay at 50%. I chose the Knob Creek Small Batch Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey 100 Proof.

After getting home, I had a small sample of the Knob Creek before making a couple of Jerry Thomas Manhattan's for my wife and I. It is sweeter than the Rittenhouse, but made a decent enough cocktail. I will return to Rittenhouse, but the Knob Creek works just fine for now.

Last night (Saturday), we had some friends over for dinner and drams. We started the night by finishing off my bottle of Teaninich SMWS 59.51 (30 year - November 1983) "A refined cocktail" - Refill hogshead - 51.5% ABV.

Next up, Dallas Dhu 1980 (29 year) Signatory Vintage Collection Bottling (Distilled Oct 31, 1980 - Bottled Mar 17, 2010) Cask # 1855. This was everyone's favorite of the night.

Next, I opened up a Glen Elgin 14 year (2006) The ImpEx Collection - Cask #9800012 (ex-bourbon barrel) - 52.5% ABV.

Then my friends had my wife and I blind taste 5 whiskies that they brought.

1) Red Spot 15 year Irish Whiskey

2) Fettercairn 1998 29 year Signatory Vintage Collection. I correctly guessed that this was Scotch and it was my favorite of the 5.

3) Wanderback whiskey (Oregon) Batch #5.

4) Saint's Alley The Herald - Straight bourbon whiskey finished in Armagnac casks - 53.5% ABV

5) Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye - 65.1% ABV.

After that, our friends opened up a new bottle that they had just purchased on their way to our place at Westland distillery. It is the distillery's latest single cask release. Cask # 6268 is 100% heavily peated malt, aged for 53 months in new American oak before being finished in an Amarone wine cask for 27 months. 54.5% ABV.

Next we compared 2 Fettercairns head-to-head;

Their 29 year Fettercairn that was part of the blind tasting above (Distilled December 7th, 1988, Bottled May 29th, 2018). Matured in ex-bourbon hogshead cask #2006. Bottle #130 of 244. 58.5% ABV.)

Fettercairn SMWS 94.10 (13 year - Aug. 2007) "The gentle beast from the east". After 11 years in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry hogshead - 56.0% ABV.

These two were so different that it was hard to tell that they were even from the same distillery. Both are very good, but completely different.

Finished the night with a Foursquare 2008 Single Blended Rum exceptional cask selection Mark XIII. Ex-bourbon cask. 12 year. Pot & Column distillation. Released April 2020. 60% ABV.

A fun night with some great friends.

@bwmccoy what did you think of the APCS? That one was the batch that He who should not be named called the World’s Best whisky in 2019…

Sitting outside having a dram of Kavalan Vihno Barrique on this strangely warm, windy evening. Feels like storms coming in. This bottle has been open since March 2020 and air has helped open it up even more. Such a good whisky. Impressed every time I have it.

Last night was this little gem. A 26-yo Bruichladdich from 1992 coming in at 54.9% ABV. This was a lovely dram. Lots of floral notes and a touch of spice. Where can I get a bottle?!! More like this please!

@Nozinan - I'm not sure how the APCS could ever be called "The best". At least not the batch that I had on Saturday night. Nosing it blind, I couldn't even tell it was rye, much less Canadian. Without water, it had a chemical, industrial, almost paint thinner note to it. However, with a few drops of water, it was much better. The chemical / industrial notes were replaced with a nice floral note. Still wouldn't consider it the "best", but it was much better.

Last night, I opened a bottle that I hand-filled at Bruichladdich when I was there in 2016. A non-peated 24 year (1992) Valinch (15 years ex-bourbon cask, followed by 9 years in an ex- Sauternes cask) - 50cl bottle #149 of 310 - 48.5% ABV (cask strength). This is the 19th bottle in a series called the Laddie Crew. This bottling honors Arlene Macfadyen, who was at the time (and maybe still is) the bottling hall supervisor. What an absolutely beautiful whisky. It's as good, if not better, than I remember it. Rating and tasting notes to follow after it has a few days air exposure.

@bwmccoy Are you sure it wasn't the AP 20 YO you tasted? released the same year?

My experience with all three APCS releases have been more than positive.

That said, it was Murray who called it the best... and he also said that of Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye...

Last night I pulled a 12-yo Balvenie from the calendar. 47.8% ABV and from a first fill bourbon cask. Delightful! (I’d buy a bottle of this one too!)

@Nozinan - I have verified that it was APCS Rye, not the 20 year. I have also revisited the sample that was provided by my friends with the same results. I wonder if this is a bad batch?

Last night, I revisited two other samples provided by my friends; Red Spot 15 year Irish Whiskey and Wanderback whiskey (Oregon) Batch #5.

Tonight, @jordytropp stopped by for a quick visit, so we had a couple of drams while catching up.

Bruichladdich 24 year (1992) Valinch (15 years ex-bourbon cask, followed by 9 years in an ex- Sauternes cask) - 48.5% ABV (cask strength).

Glenturret SMWS 16.52 (11 year - Dec. 2009) "Campfire breakfast on a damp morning" from a re-charred American oak hogshead - 63.4% ABV.

@bwmccoy What is the batch that is etched on the bottle? Mine is L9212ADB01340958 and it is fantastic.

Given the ABV you mentioned it was the 2019 release. I think @Victor has mentioned that even within batches there can be variations between bottles. And once you transfer into a sample bottle, it can be more complicated. I hope tat we can get you another sample of this that is not be tainted.

Had a dram of Inchgower 10-yo last night, 56.7% ABV. This is a new Speyside distillery for me. On the nose, lots of honey! On the palate, honey and caramel. It’s a sweet dram but not overly so. A touch of spice is there as well, but just a touch. Another winner!

Glencadam 15 tonight. A lovely dram. Cheers all.

Last night was a 12-yo Dufftown from 2008 at 58.8% ABV. This was dubbed “The Golden Cask (House of McDuff)” This was an enjoyable dram but without any standout characteristics. Mouthfeel was a bit thin.

Just finished a pour of anCnoc 24 and wrote a detailed review only to lose it at the last click. So I now need another three drams to calm down ha

Don't have the heart or will to write another just now, but will say it's a very complex whisky with elements of its age and distillery character coming through. Quite bitter and peppery at the death with lots of lemon, tobacco and dried fruits. 89.

Cheers @wierdo!

@RianC I feel your pain. Now I write the reviews on my Macbook and it autosaves, then I copy and paste. And then after conversation, if any, has died down, I export the review as a PDF for posterity...

The 9th Advent dram was Glen Moray 13-yo. Nice dram. Another one I would like a bottle of.

@Nozinan - I asked my friends for the batch number of the APCS Rye. I don’t think they understood my directions about the etched / printed code on the bottle. This was their reply: “Batch 1, happen to get it in Canada when it first came out, right before Covid hit. I believe there are 3 batches so far and hear there is some batch variation. Not sure exactly how much but know abv’s vary. This batch 1 is the Jim Murray whiskey of the year. Not sure I would agree with that but it’s good juice for the price.”

On Wednesday night, the Executive Managing Director of the company that owns the Scotch Malt Whisky Society was in Seattle and wanted to meet for dinner and drams with me and the owner of the restaurant where I conduct Society tastings. With dinner and dessert, we had the following Society drams.

Started with Blair Athol SMWS 68.53 (13 year - Jan. 2007) "Sweet, sweet memories" - After eleven years in a refill ex-Oloroso butt, transferred into a 1st fill PX Sherry butt - 59.1% ABV.

Glen Grant SMWS 9.194 (12 year - Mar. 2008) "Floating through ferns" - Refill ex-bourbon barrel - 55.9% ABV.

Balmenach SMWS 48.120 (7 year - Oct. 2012) "Worm tub stodge" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.0% ABV.

Bunnahabhain SMWS 10.176 (11 year - Dec. 2007) "Tea-smoked salmon" - After nine years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred into a second fill Spanish oak ex-Oloroso hogshead - 59.2% ABV

We finished the night with Laphroaig SMWS 29.255 (23 year - April 1995) "Smoke over the machir" from a 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 56.6% ABV.

Tonight, Laphroaig 10 year Cask Strength Batch 012 (Feb. 2020) - 60.1% ABV

@RianC that AnCnoc 24 is excellent value for an older whisky (in the UK at least). Owned by Inverhouse though. So they'll probably ramp the price up at some point. Like they did with Balblair and Old Pulteney.

@RianC No question about it, that is enough to drive a person to drink. It usually happens to me when I'm doing some lengthy email to someone on my iPad. Four paragraphs in and an errant keystroke wipes the whole thing out. It usually results in excessive foul language and excessive whisky drinking.

@Wierdo I've yet to meet an AnCnoc I didn't like. The 125th Anniversary 16 year old unpeated and the peated version are both excellent.

@Nozinan @BlueNote - oh yeah I've lost plenty from ham-fisted swipes on my tablet and I still blame the damn thing

On this occasion though the whole review/screen froze literally as I had one button to click before the review went 'live'. I knew before I refreshed the screen what would happen but I had no choice Annoyingly though, it's happened before and I usually copy the text of the review before moving on a page but forgot this time. Man, the frustration is off the charts - "I thought machines were supposed to bloody help us?!" is my usual roar ha ha!

I remember losing my first ever completely word processed essay at uni when it followed a similar fate. I swear, I almost walked out of school right then and there.

@BlueNote @weirdo - I've only had the 12 prior to this but remember being very impressed, especially for a 40% whisky. It seems to have quite a pronounced lemon note in the distillate that I really enjoy.

Just finished off another sample - a SMWS Auchentoshan 18. Lovely dram this, can't remember what I scored it but it's easily a high 80's this time round. Fresh and fruity but with some chalky and deeper notes that are quite subtle. Different.

Now finishing off a sample of a Cragganmore 12 also from the SMWS. Needs a lot of water, I feel, but very lively and tingly on the palate with tart fruits, thick malty notes and drying oak. Very decent and makes me wish I'd picked up the peated version of their Special Release a couple of years back.

@RianC You're making me feel old. Back when I was in university we hand wrote all our papers and paid someone to type them. Remember typewriters?

@RianC The 12 is my wife's favourite. I can imagine what it would be like at 46%.

@BlueNote, in one of my courses, the Professor demanded that we type our assignments. I submitted the first assignment, lost 20 % for not typing and received 70/100. The secretary in that particular department offered to type all assignments for a fee. When asked by the prof why I didn't have my assignment typed, I told him that I wasn't about to pay someone (the secretary) a fee for service while she was already on the payroll. He offered to give me 60% as a final mark and I wouldn't be required to submit anymore papers or write the final exam. I agreed. The course was Managerial Finance.

A few years later we were neighbours in the same office building...we shared a dram at Christmas time.