So, what are you drinking now?

Yesterday (Saturday) was my wife and I's 17th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by attending the final event of Seattle Cocktail Week called Cocktail District. Fortunately, it was much more than just cocktails. In fact, while I stuck to mainly whisk(e)y, there was a gin hall, Tequila / Mezcal wing; basically any spirit you wanted was available. Over 5.5 hours, I sampled almost 30 expressions plus some cocktails along the way. We also attended two classes.

We started off in an Old Forester Old Fashioned cocktail class. We made 3 versions.

1 was made with their rye, a sugar cube and their own Hummingbird (rose and citrus) bitters. The sugar cube was placed in the glass and soaked with 500ml of bitters that was then muddled before adding the whiskey.

2 was made with their 86 proof bourbon, simple syrup, a quarter slice of orange, a maraschino cherry and their Bohemian (spiced cherry & chocolate) bitters. The orange slice and cherry were muddled in the glass before adding the syrup, bitters and whiskey.

3 was made with their 100 proof bourbon, Old Forester Perfect Old Fashioned Syrup, their Smoked Cinnamon bitters and garnished with an orange twist and a lemon twist.

2 was my favorite. #1 was ok and #3 was way too sweet for me.

After that, we visited the Hendrick's gin booth to see their Negroni cocktail making machine. Of course, we had to sample a Negroni from it. I'm not a huge Negroni fan and it was pretty much a standard Negroni.

Next up was a sit down tasting with Johnnie Walker. Even though I'm not a huge Johnnie Walker fan, this was probably the best of the night based on selection and presentation. We were poured High Rye, Black Label, their Cabernet Wine Cask Blend and Blue Label. All were tasted neat first, then with a few drops of water added. I've not had the High Rye or the Wine Cask before. I would rank them in the following order; Black, Blue, High Rye and Wine Cask. After that, we were served a Johnnie Walker cocktail that was said to be their version of a Manhattan, but it didn't have any similarity to a Manhattan to me. It was very earthy and herbal. The best part was they had a machine that put a smoke bubble on top that would pop after a few minutes. I didn't care for the cocktail, but the presentation was awesome!

Next we had two expressions of Paul John Indian whisky. Nirvana at 40% ABV. Not my favorite, but the Paul John Mithuna at 58% ABV was amazing!

Next up was Glenfarclas 12 and 25 year. Both were lacking to me. Hardly any sherry influence whatsoever.

Next we tried a New Zealand Black Gin called Scapegrace. This was really good!

Next we had Saint James Rhum Vieux Agricole Cellar Reserve Single Batch Pure Cane Rum from Martinique. 51.3% ABV. Distilled 08/06/2015. Bottled 09/12/2020. Bottle # 588 of 3835. This is a whisky drinkers rum!

Next, a visit to the Ardbeg table. Started with their newest release Fermutation. I really couldn't tell much difference from their standard releases. It was a very good Ardbeg. Next, I tried Blaaaack. I loved this one! The real treat was a chance to try their 25 year old . Blaaack was my favorite, followed by 25 and then Fermutation, but they were all really good!

I next had a dram of Laphroaig 10, but chose not to have it with the oysters that were being offered as a pairing.

Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select 47% ABV

Cooper's Craft Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. 41.1% ABV.

Whistle Pig 12 year Old World Rye. While this was nice, there is no way that it is worth the price. The person at the table says this goes for $250 - $300 retail.

Starward Australian Whisky Single Cask Release. 54.9% ABV. This one was first aged in a fresh (wet) red wine barrique from the Barossa Valley before finishing in a charrerd American Oak barrel. Aged 3 years. Distilled 12/2016. Bottled June 2020. This was really nice.

Starward New World Projects French Oak Fresh (wet) red wine cask USA Single Cask. 57.8% ABV. This was even better than the previous one, but I love French oak. I'm not a big fan of Starward's standard range, but some of their single cask and / or special releases are outstanding. Both of these fit into that category. Really nice whisky!

Coppersworks Plum Gin. This is created using basically the same process as a Sloe Gin, but only with plums. Way too sweet to drink. I would pour this over pancakes or ice cream. However, it was very balanced. The juniper notes were front and center. The plums did not over power the other flavors. The only negative was how sweet it was.

Copperworks Special Release #41. A combination of Pale, Genie and Baronesse malts. Aged 37 months in 9 casks. 96.4% New American Oak and 3.6% Oloroso Sherry. 50% ABV. This was nice, but tasted the same as a lot of other Copperworks standard releases. Nothing special.

We finished the night by attending a High West class where we had their American Prairie Bourbon, Double Rye and A Midwinter Night's Dram.

A fun night with my lovely wife. My favorites of the night in order were the Ardbeg Blaaack, Ardbeg 25 year, A Midwinter Night's Dram and Paul John Mithuna.

Here's a picture of the Hendrick's Negroni machine. It was fun to watch it operate to create a Negroni cocktail.

One final picture. Here's the Johnnie Walker cocktail with the smoke bubble on top. After a few seconds the bubble pops and the smoke falls down around the cocktail (you can see the cocktail behind mine where the bubble has burst). Pretty cool! Here's a link to the tool used to create the smoke bubble. flavourblaster.com

There are 2 versions. One pro version for bartenders ($475) and the home version is only $271.

@bwmccoy , Bryan, I wish you and your lovely wife a very happy 17th wedding anniversary!

Thank you for the great pictures and the interesting Seattle Cocktail Week report.

The rhum agricole you mentioned and the high proof Paul John product sound to be right up my alley.

@bwmccoy great post! What an event! Congratulations on your anniversary.

One question. Did you not find the first old fashioned a little unbalanced with 500 mL of bitters?

@bwmccoy I think Willy Wonka had a machine like this in his factory.

@Victor - Thank you! This was my first time attending. I had no idea what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised by the large number of options available within each category. The layout was so large that I never even found the Tequila / Mezcal section. My wife and I plan to go back next year. It would be great if you could attend with us. I would love to get your thoughts and opinions as we taste through all of the offerings.

@Nozinan - I would love to tell you that I put the 500ml in there to see if anyone actually read my post, but I'm not that clever. While I do like the bitters in my cocktails to be on the heavy side, 500ml is a bit much. :-) The actual measurement is 0.5ml of bitters. I'm sure there's a joke in there about Americans and the metric system, but I digress. Seriously, thank you for catching that and calling it out.

@ajjarrett - My thoughts exactly!

@bwmccoy, you get a free pass on the metric slip. I have a hunch that @Nozinan wanted info about the special glass which holds a cocktail containing 500 ml of bitters.

Happy Anniversary! Congratulations!

@bwmccoy You two kids don't look old enough to have been married for 17 years. Happy Anniversary and many more to come.

@bwmccoy - Happy Anniversary!

Those cocktails look amazing especially the smoke bubble one. My partner is now desperate to see the Hendrik's machine in action too.

@paddockjudge - Thank you! I think we need a machine bigger than the Hendrick's Negroni machine to make a cocktail that uses 500ml of bitters. :-)

@BlueNote - Thank you for your kind words. If we look young, it's all thanks to my lovely wife.

@RianC - Thank you! I feel sorry for the poor person who has to break that machine down, pack it up, move it to the next event and set it up again!

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

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

@bwmccoy A couple of hefty ones.

On Tuesday night, happy hour at a local bar, I had a cocktail called a Libertarian; Old Forester Rye, Slane Irish Whiskey, honey, apricot, lemon and fernet. It was earthy and herbal. Nose reminded me of a bitter IPA beer, which I liked. It was pretty good, but probably wouldn't order it again.

Last night (Wednesday), finished off a sample of Ohishi Port Cask 43.3% ABV. Of the rice based Japanese whiskies that I've had, this one was by far the best. Still not great, but a enjoyable drinker.

I also finished off my bottle of Copperworks Distilling Company Special Release 34 WA state peated malt (Skagit Valley Maltings) aged for 49 months in 8 new American oak - 52% ABV. This was a decent dram, but it had no detectable peat or smoke.

Tonight, while playing on-line poker with the guys, Glen Moray SMWS 35.298 (7 year - Aug. 2013) "Big bumper bag of buttons" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.7% ABV. This was a left over from my Society tasting almost 2 weeks ago. It's always had a great nose, but the palate tonight tasted the best that it ever has. A significant amount of air sitting in the bottle for the past 10 days or so really improved the palate.

Finished the night with an absolutely lovely dram. Glenrothes SMWS 30.108 (12 year - Feb. 2008) "A Taste of Home" - Refill sherry butt - 64.3% ABV

For happy hour tonight, my wife wanted an Old Fashioned, but that didn’t sound very appealing to me. I made her an Old Fashioned and I made myself a Jerry Thomas Manhattan. Both were made with Knob Creek 100 Proof Rye. She didn’t want a second cocktail, so I made myself an improvised Black Manhattan. Improvised meaning that I didn’t have enough Makers Mark 46, so I added Knob Creek 100 Proof Rye to get the 2oz whiskey needed for the cocktail. I wasn’t sure how good it would be with mixing the bourbon and the rye, but I was pleasantly surprised.

My first dram was a Port Charlotte 10 yo Heavily Peated. It surely is one of the best 10 yo entry whisky's from Islay. My second dram was an Ardbeg Ten. I was a little surprised. It is still tarry, salty and maritime. It is still very fruity: lemon and lime. Then I tasted waves of choclate and marzipan. I couldn't remember that these flavors were so strong. It seems that the ferocious animal has been transformed into a furry pet. It still has its teeth and claws. It just changed its ways. It is a very good dram. I like it a lot. Talking about batch variation....

@NamBeist I think if I had one desert island peated dram it would be Ardbeg 10, hands down.

I had my first taste of whisky in March this evening. It's been so busy and I've been so tired the last couple of weeks.

A friend of mine gave me an open bottle of Milk and Honey Elements Sherry cask that he did not want anymore. I tasted it when he opened it late last year and liked it. This is my second taste of it, bottle half full. The sherry is clean, no hint of sulfur. It's a very good whisky.

@BlueNote That would be a tough call, but Ardbeg 10 would not be in the running for me. i think it would be between Octomore 7.3, 10.1, and Ardbeg Uigeaddail from Islay, or Amrut Peated CS.

@BlueNote One of my independent bottles of Port Charlotte for me. Probably my ralfy Meteorite bottle.

Last night I opened a bottle of Gordon and Macphail Mortlach 15.

A welcome increase in abv to 46% as I seem to remember this as 43% from previous bottles I have had? Really nice to taste that same Mortlach savoury note in the background which seemed a touch subdued from what I remember. Stunning honeycomb, light toffee, butterscotch and sherry sweetness with really engaging citrus notes that get the sides of your tongue tingling. I love that in a whisky.

Always been a good dram but this one is even better than I remember. Should have got two. Cheers all.

@Timp, Yes, Gordon and Macphail Mortlach 15 YO is one that I enjoy sipping. Thanks for the heads-up on the higher abv. I'll be watching for it....noticed the G&M Linkwood 15 YO is 46%.

@paddockjudge no problem. Interesting re the Linkwood too. A step in the right direction..

Last night, we had some friends over for dinner and drams.

Started off with Glen Elgin 14 year (2006) The ImpEx Collection - Cask #9800012 (ex-bourbon barrel) - 52.5% ABV.

Next was a celebratory dram of Dallas Dhu 1980 (29 year) Signatory Bottling (Distilled Oct 31, 1980 - Bottled Mar 17, 2010) Cask # 1855. It was celebratory because my boss told me on Friday that I was being promoted to Associate Vice President effective April 1st.

Clynelish SMWS 26.179 (17 year - Feb. 2004) "Eastern coastlines" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 54.5% ABV.

GlenDronach SMWS 96.34 (11 year - March 2009) "Stroll Through the Seasons" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.2% ABV.

Next, we finished off my bottle of Bruichladdich 24 year (1992) Valinch (18 year bourbon cask + 6 year Sauternes cask) - 50cl hand-filled bottle #149 of 310 - 48.5% ABV.

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

Glen Moray SMWS 35.298 (7 year - Aug. 2013) "Big bumper bag of buttons" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.7% ABV.

Next, our friends brought over and opened up a bottle that I have long wanted to try, but until now, have not had the chance. Caol Ila 18 year Unpeated Style. Bottled in 2017. Refill American Oak Hogsheads. 59.8% ABV. The nose contains chocolate, pine notes, herbal with black pepper and a hint of maritime note. On the palate, cocoa, caramel, peppery notes and orchard fruits. Finished with significant fruity and chocolate notes. What a treat to finally try this. It did not disappoint, but it is so different from peated Caol Ila.

Our friends also brought over and opened another special bottle. Amrut Special Limited Edition from an ex-Rye cask. Cask #709. Unpeated Indian Barley. Batch #23. Selected and bottled for the Drammers group. 60% ABV. Distilled July 2015. Bottled June 2021. One of only 150 bottles. This was so good my wife asked if our friends could get a bottle for us and apparently they can!

We finished the night by comparing 3 sherried Society drams head-to-head-to-head.

Strathmill SMWS 100.27 (11 year - Mar. 2010) "Colorful and flavorful" - After 8 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill Oloroso hogshead - 55.3% ABV.

Glenrothes SMWS 30.108 (12 year - Feb. 2008) "A Taste of Home" - Full maturation in a refill ex-sherry butt - 64.3% 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.

The Fettercairn's nose was almost non-existent compared to the other two, but for me, had the best palate. The Glenrothes was probably the best of three when comparing nose and palate, but they were all wonderful.

A fun night with great friends.

@bwmccoy Congrats on the promotion.

@Timp The G&M Linkwood was excellent at 43%. I'm looking forward to trying it at 46%.

@bwmccoy Congratulations. I'm sure you earned it. Do we have to address you Mr. Vice President now?

@bwmccoy Congratulations with your promotion !

@BlueNote yes enjoyed it too. That extra ooomph should help.

@bwmccoy Congratulations from me too. You must be very pleased.

@bwmccoy, Congratulations on your promotion!...good to know the Amrut ex-rye is an executive style dram.