So, what are you drinking now?

Opened a fresh bottle of Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie tonight. I must have had a bottle of this on the go for at least the last couple of years. A very good vatting in my opinion. Cheers all.

Aberlour a'bunadh Batch 70, The Speaker's Selection (it's a Canadian Federal politics thing) vs. Glenfarclas 105. Now Aberlour is probably my favourite distillery, but the 105 is deeper, richer, and more flavourful cross the board. There's just some weight to the nose, body, and finish that the Aberlour lacks, which is something I never thought I'd say...

Fortaleza Blanco Tequila, 46% ABV. This is a sample which a friend gave me a year ago. It was pretty good then when the bottle was just opened. It is much better now after a few months of air time in a small sample bottle from which some was consumed a few months ago. .

@YakLord really interesting comparison.

I stopped buying the a bunadh a few years ago but really loved batches 45 and 49. Often thought about getting another of these at auction. I have always remembered these to be better than the 105 although I am aware that memory plays it’s tricks with these things. Best way is to directly compare as you have done. Nice one.

@Timp I think on balance the 105 is a little rougher and greener than the A'Bunadh, especially earlier batches. 33 was my first and hooked me, and I've found some excellent batches since. The 44 and 47 were great. I have a spare 49 and if you really liked it I can save it for you if you are ever in Ontario.

@YakLord I am ashamed. As someone who has run for a seat in Parliament 3 times, I should have kept up to date with one of the most important decisions that Parliamentarians make. I thought the Speaker's Scotch was Aberlour 10 (or was it 12), but that was the last one. I think should I become speaker, I would really enjoy that part of the job... But I might break with tradition and choose a Canadian whisky... Doc Livermore, keep the CS Lot 40s and Wisers' flowing...

@Nozinan Previous speaker, Regan, wanted Glen Breton, but ultimately chose Aberlour 12. Current speaker, Rota, went with Aberlour a'bunadh.

@YakLord I think it's a step up. If my party wins I am sure we will choose an even better scotch.

@YakLord - thanks for your input on the The Bobby Burns. Actually, all I could taste was the Glenmorangie X (which is not a good thing). However, I like your idea about using a sherried whisky!

Tonight, having an Old Pal. I’m not a Campari fan, but got the mix perfect tonight. For me, usually Campari overpowers, but tonight it’s just a slightly bitter earthiness in the finish. 2oz Knob Creek Rye, 1.5oz Dolin dry vermouth and 1.5oz Campari with a lemon twist.

@bwmccoy That's interesting, because the X just disappeared in the Mamie Taylor I made on Wednesday. I may have well have used vodka, as all I could taste was the lime and ginger beer.

Tomorrow (Sunday) night, a local restaurant owner and I are hosting a Burns Night event. We aren’t doing a traditional dinner. Rather, this is a chance to get some friends together for what we are calling A Toast to Robert Burns. While this isn’t a Society event, we will be pouring the Society’s Burns Night bottling released exclusively for the US chapter. I sampled it tonight, so I could talk about it at the event. Glen Grant SMWS 9.224 (14 year - May 2007) “Harvest hayride happiness” - 1st-full ex-bourbon barrel - 61.7%. Without water, the nose had honeycomb, lemon cake and burlap. The palate is ripe pear, spicy, tobacco and ginger. With water, the nose is now marzipan and burnt sugar. It seems richer and deeper. The palate is blackberry and gooseberry. It has a slight bitterness, is drier and wood notes are now present. Even though it is a little hot without water, I prefer it this way. I really like the flavors that come through without water. Either way, it is a really good dram and should be well received at the event.

I finished tonight with Glenrothes SMWS 30.108 (12 year - Feb. 2008) "A Taste of Home" - Refill sherry butt - 64.3% ABV. Aromas of clove, ginger and cinnamon. Notes of custard and pancakes with maple syrup.

@Nozinan Thank you sir, that is a very thoughtful and generous offer. One that I would like to accept if we get out to Ontario and if you have it still unopened. Obviously something of your choice that I can procure here would be coming your way in return.

Because of your country’s stunning natural beauty and incredible mountains and forests Canada is high on my list of places to travel to. Amongst my forestry colleagues Canada is almost a must visit place. It does seem as though it’s a long time since we planned foreign trips given the pandemic upheaval. Maybe it’s time to plan. Regards. Tim.

@Timp Well, I'm not sure that I'm in any position to add more bottles to my collection, but there might be something that comes up closer to the time you make the trip. Either way, I doubt I will be opening that bottle any time soon. I still have a little of my open bottle left, considerably more of the batch 50 left, and I'm scheduled to open batch 53 in April when I turn 53...

Whisky & Food Tasting led by Martine Nouet. Oban 12yr (chilled), Lagavulin 2005/2021 DE, Glenmorangie Lasanta, Glenfarclas 15yr, and Balvenie Doublewood 12yr.

@Nozinan If we could just bring Jack Layton back things might be a lot different. You’d win next time for sure.

As I mentioned in my previous post, last night I led a very informal Burns event at a local restaurant / Whisky Bar. In addition to the official Burns Night Society bottling, I had the following

Glen Grant SMWS 9.224 (14 year - May 2007) “Harvest hayride happiness” - 1st-full ex-bourbon barrel - 61.7%.

Springbank SMWS 27.111 (22 year - June 1995) "A coal bucket of marshmallows" - Refill ex-Sherry hoghead - 48.8% ABV.

Craigellachie SMWS 44.140 (14 year - Oct. 2006) "The fruits of one's labours". After twelve years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred into a 2nd fill PX sherry hogshead. 63.2% ABV.

Orphan Barrel Muckety-Muck 24 Year Old Single Grain Scotch Whisky - 45% ABV.

Caol Ila SMWS 53.363 (10 year - Nov. 2009) "Delicious earthy smoke" from a refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 57.7% ABV.

Tonight, a peated Allt-A-Bhainne SMWS 108.19 (7 year - Nov 2011) "Forget Convention!" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 64.6% ABV.

Celebrating Burns Night at home tonight;

Dallas Dhu 1980 (29 year) Signatory Bottling (Distilled Oct 31, 1980 - Bottled Mar 17, 2010) Cask # 1855.

GlenDronach SMWS 96.34 (11 year - March 2009) "Stroll Through the Seasons" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.2% ABV. Rated this recently opened bottle; 88.

Glenrothes SMWS 30.108 (12 year - Feb. 2008) "A Taste of Home" - Refill sherry butt - 64.3% ABV. Rated this bottle as well; 93.

Goofing around with a couple of open bottles:

First up, Ballantine's 17:

Nose: clover honey, orchard fruit, sun drying cut hay, lavender, sweet wheat

Palate: honey, crisp ambrosia apple, green bartlett pear, biscuits, touch of smoke, barnyard, peat

All balanced - no component dominates, medium mouth feel

Finish: med, long on grain flavour, ending on peat smoke.

Then I started looking for a 2nd dram from my open stash. I decided on a Yoichi Single Malt NAS:

Weirdly, similiar to the Ballantine's 17 with the differences being the Yoichi seemed to have sharper/younger flavour profile, without the barnyard flavour. Funny, peat and smoke levels are similiar. Yoichi distinctively, maltier.

Rated a couple of open bottles tonight.

Glen Grant SMWS 9.224 (14 year - May 2007) “Harvest hayride happiness” - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 61.7% ABV. Rating: 87

Peated Allt-A-Bhainne SMWS 108.19 (7 year - Nov 2011) "Forget Convention!" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 64.6% ABV. Rating: 88

Tullamore DEW Single Malt Irish Whiskey, 10 years old, 40% ABV, from the Cooley distillery. I've always liked this one, and understand why Jim Murray once wrote that this was the best thing he had ever tasted with the Tullamore name on it. It has subtle influences from Madeira, Port, and Sherry casks.

Greenore Single Grain Irish Whiskey, 8 years old, 40% ABV. This bottle has gotten sweeter and richer over long years of being open. I didn't think much of it the first few years the bottle was open, but love it now.

Clontarf Blended Irish Whiskey, 40% ABV. This bottle tasted good freshly opened, then went in a bad direction for a few years and was a big disappointment, but has gotten sweeter and better as of now, 10.9 years after the bottle was opened. I understand this to be Bushmills malt and Midleton Grain whiskey.

Stranahan's Colorado Single Malt Whiskey, Batch #128, 47% ABV. This is an especially nice batch of Stranahan's. Sometimes one notice the new charred oak maturation they use a lot, which can be easily overdone. Not here. Pleasant, zippy, malty.

Casa Noble Anejo Tequila, 40% ABV. The first 2 or 3 bottles I owned of this I was crazy about. They probably came from the same batch. This one started out not anywhere near as sublime, but air has been kind to it and I have no trouble enjoying it now. I like Casa Noble Crystal (blanco) and Reposado too, though all benefit a lot from air exposure. For example I had to wait a long time for my bottle of Reposado to blossom. It did, and then I was very happy with it.

On-line poker night with the guys;

Copperworks Distilling Company Special Release 34 WA state peated malt (Skagit Valley Maltings) aged for 49 months in 8 new American oak - 52% ABV.

Laphroaig 10 sherry oak tonight. Cracked open the bottle and very impressed. Seems to be a very good integration of peat and sherry, one of my favourite combinations if done right. Only had a couple of drams tonight but if the bottle continues this way, will definitely get another before a new batch comes out. We know how these things change! Cheers..

Having a pour of Eagle Rare. I must say, it’s better than expected. Very similar to standard BT, but obviously aged longer. There is more oak, more cherry flavour, and a bit more chocolate. Not so great that it’s worth hoarding for an apocalypse, but worth having on hand if the price is right.

Tonight we ate at my mother’s place, a “simple” meal of home-cooked jerk chicken, coconut rice, mashed potatoes, fried plantain and salad, washed down with ginger beer (the good, alcohol free kind that tickles your nose).

After dessert we went up 2 flights to my aunt and uncle’s. My uncle has pretty advanced dementia but it seemed he was having a good night so I asked my aunt if he could have some scotch. We used to have a dram when I came over before the dementia developed. He has a few bottles but the only open one was Dalwhinnie 15. So we each had a very small pour. His with ice, the way he likes it. It was nice to share a little Scotch with him for the first time in almost 2 years (damn COVID).

After we got home I poured a little Amrut Madeira Cask. I think I’d only tried it once before, when I opened it for a bottle split at our first in-person tasting. I was more impressed with it this time, more fruity and less spirity.

Yesterday (Friday) afternoon, I had the pleasure of hanging out with @jordytropp and his lovely wife at their place for a few hours. Jordy poured the following while we were chatting and catching up.

12 year Caol Ila. Adelphi Selection bottling. Single cask. 294 bottles. Distilled 2008. Bottled 2021. Matured in a first-fill Oloroso Sherry Hogshead. Cask # 309451. 53% ABV.

Kilchoman Sherry Hogshead single cask (distillery bottling). Distilled April 2012, bottled July 2019. 50 ppm. 58.5% ABV.

Highland Park 21

Ardbeg 10 (forgot to make note of the batch number)

We finished with Jordy pouring us the last of his Ardbeg Grooves.

Thanks @jordytropp for sharing these amazing whiskies with me!

Happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrate!

I celebrated tonight with my wife’s amazing cooking. She can cook anything well, but rarely does Chinese food (she is a Chinese-Vietnamese Canadian). Tonight she made a great steamed fish, a noodle dish and a Chinese beef stew, and my sister in law (brother’s wife) dropped of dumplings. Dessert was similarly themed.

She nixed my suggestion to open a bottle of bai Jiao, so after finishing dinner and wrapping up my charting I decided on a 5 cc pour.

I decided to combine the colour theme for new year with something representing my Jewish Heritage and chose Milk & Honey Elements Sherry Cask. I quite liked it when @talexander opened it at a tasting - Thanks again for providing me with some to have at home (my bottle remains sealed).

Spent yesterday (Sunday) afternoon at a friend's house. He shared some amazing drams with me.

Cotswolds (England) Single Malt Founder's Choice matured in shaved, toasted and recharred American oak red wine casks. 60.5% ABV. Very fruity and floral.

25 year Bladnoch Talia Port Pipe Finish. 48.4% ABV. Such a beautiful whisky!

15 year Inchfad (Loch Lomond Distillery) from Single Cask Nation. Matured in a refill bourbon hogshead then finished in a Grand Cru Bordeaux Barrique. 53.5% ABV. This is peated. Notes of wood smoke, green olives in brine and ripe red berries. A really interesting dram. Interesting in a good way.

Ardnamurchan AD/CK.187 05:15. 59.4% ABV. Single cask #187. USA exclusive. Distilled 2015. Bottled 2021. 5 years. Unpeated. American oak barrel. Also very fruity and floral. Reminded me a lot of the Cotswold above.

Ben Nevis SMWS 78.41 (19 year - Dec. 1997) - "A real sherry monster" - Refill ex-Oloroso sherry butt - 57.1% ABV. I've previously owned this one and it lived up to my memory. It's not a sherry monster, but I love how it finishes dry and has notes of grape skin and grape nuts. A very nutty dram. My friend generously gifted a bottle of this one to me on the way out the door. What a very special treat!

Inchmurrin SMWS 112.49 (18 year - July 2000) - "Blackberries, bubble-gum and bougainvillea" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 55.4% ABV. Notes of vanilla, tropical fruits, fudge and flambeed bananas.

Inverleven SMWS 20.25 (30 year - Feb. 1989) - "My God, it's full of stars!" - Refill ex-bourbon barrel - 47.5% ABV (cask strength). What an amazing treat from a closed lowland distillery. Ester dominate flavors of fruits, grasses and spices galore.

Macallan SMWS 24.139 (30 year - May 1989) - "Beauty beyond skin deep" - Refill ex-sherry butt - 46.9% ABV (cask strength). Fruity, earthy and syrupy. This is the ultimate definition of an elegant whisky!

Bladnoch SMWS 50.95 (27 year - Jan. 1990) - "Magical moments" - Refill ex-bourbon barrel - 59.8% ABV. A fall feel to this one; apple pie with caramel sauce.

Miltonduff SMWS 72.45 (32 year - Nov. 1982) - "Two + Two = Five" - Refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 52.2% ABV. Fudge, honeycomb, peach, orange and honey.

Some very special drams shared with me by a very special friend.

@Nozinan Happy Lunar New Year! Saturday night we had a big group have a dinner party at a local authentic Chinese place. Tonight we had my dad and a friend from Taiwan over for dinner and my wife made several traditional dishes. They don't care for whisky so we had red wine. But my wife and I will have a dram of something peated I'm sure as a night cap. Hope you and your wife have a wonderful year of the Tiger.

@bwmccoy An incredible lineup of whiskies made even better through sharing the experience with a good friend.

I just opened the Darroze 12yo Les Grands Assemblages to close out the evening, while I listen to Kenny Burrell's album, "Midnight Blue".

First impression, extremely positive. Too early to identify specifics. However, I can tell you the nose and taste of the first pour of this is much more appealing, to me, than the first pour of the Marie Duffau 12yo was.