So, what are you drinking now?

@Victor Mine was pretty coincidental to Covid. Like many others, I ended up with a quarantine beard, but then when I wanted to shave it off I was met with wild protests from my daughter. So, ever since, I'm pretty much stuck with a short-beard version. I guess it pretty much matches with the grey on the temples though :D

@Victor I think my appreciation of music - and Jazz, of whisky, as well as of art, have quite a bit in commonalities. I think it's about the difference between "watching and seeing" (art), "tasting and sensing" (whisky) and "hearing and listening" (music). It took me quite a while to appreciate all three, but once I got over the initial hurdles, my level of appreciation seems to follow hand-in-hand with my ability to discern, distinguish and 'pick apart' the many nuances they respectively offer.

@OdysseusUnbound Two thumbs up for Joe Pass.

I thank @bwmccoy for the first three whiskeys I am sampling this evening. .It has taken me 3.5 years to report on two of these samples, but that was only because I was saving them for a special moment to try them. I realize that you would like some feedback on them. Now is finally the time.

First, Dry Fly Straight Triticale Whiskey, 44% ABV. Triticale is a wheat-rye hybrid. I've had this one before and like it very much. The effect here is closer to rye than to wheat, which is not surprising because rye is so much more aggressive than wheat.

Next I am having my first tastes of Dry Fly Wheat Whiskey with a port finish, 45% ABV. This is 3 yo, and is a distillery bottling. Very nice, and interesting to see the wine mixed with a wheat based whiskey.

Third, Westland Distillery Cask # 3824 Single Cask aged 58 months, 5 types of malt and a rum finish, 54.7% ABV Wow! These malts are potent, and you can really taste chocolate in the 'chocolate malt'. Very impressive and unusual. This whiskey makes a strong statement and a very good one. Bravo, Westland Distillery!

And, fourth, Wigle Wheat Whiskey, 46% ABV, 14 months old, small cask series, Batch 11, a sample from my sister. Wigle is a Pittsburgh distillery. Mr. Wigle was sentenced to be hanged in the 1792 Whiskey Rebellion but was pardoned by George Washington. I have usually been indifferent to most of the Wigle products in the past, but this particular wheat whiskey is very enjoyable. I would be delighted to own a bottle of this whiskey. Yes, that's right...in the US it is entirely possible to mature whiskeys to the point that you can greatly love to drink them, sometimes in as few as 10 months in the wood. This aging is even more accelerated by the greater cask exposure of maturation in the small casks. I say again-- I do not give a blanket endorsement to Wigle products, but I do recommend this one.

@Victor - glad you liked the samples! I’m living vicariously through you because I haven’t had any of those bottles in my cabinet since shortly after I gave you those samples. FYI… just found out today that I may be coming to DC for a work conference later this year. If so, I hope we can meet up again! That would be a real treat!

I’m in awe that you saw the Doors. That would have been amazing. I’ve had the opportunity to see some great acts; B.B. King, Joe Bonamassa, The Stones (twice), The Police, Eric Clapton, The Who, to name a few, but the one I wished I could have seen was Stevie Ray Vaughan.

My wife is having an Old Fashioned (Maker’s Mark 46). I’m having a Jerry Thomas Manhattan made with Rittenhouse BiB. The Knob Creek was fine, but I’ve missed the Rittenhouse!

@bwmccoy it would be great to see you again!

I'd have loved to have seen all of those concerts you mentioned. One of my big disappointments was attending an outdoor Smokey Robinson and the Miracles concert which got rained out 5 minutes after they took the stage. I think my biggest surprise was seeing the Everly Brothers in the 1980s for a reunion concert. Boy those guys were great.

I grew up listening to Motown, and the Doors were just about the only white band I listened to in high school. The Doors, Incense and Peppermints by The Strawberry Alarm Clock, and Cream. Yes, I am an Eric Clapton fan.

@Victor I could probably find myself a piano player...

@bwmccoy, those are some excellent live performances you have mentioned. B.B. King played a couple of nights here in Sudbury. That was a treat.

@Victor, The Doors were my "house band" for my teen-aged years. To this day I remain a fan. The opening to L.A. Woman never, ever, gets old. Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee made many spins on my turntable as did Mississippi John Hurt.

@paddockjudge Mississippi John Hurt is an artist who never gets the respect he deserves. I’m happy anytime anyone mentions his name.

Macaloney's Invermallie @ 46% ABV, aged in a Recharged Portuguese Red Wine Barrique (Cask 44); another of my OWG Christmas Samples. Not sure I really like this one...

Little Book Chapter 02: Noe Simple Task Batch # 29, 59.4% ABV, released 2018. Thank you @paddockjudge for this wonderful sample. This Jim Beam Master Distiller Freddie Noe experimental blending of US and Canadian whiskies is truly extraordinary. It tastes distinct from anything else I have ever tasted. That's great to see that Booker Noe's grandson is a highly skilled blender. In 2011, just before the whiskey madness began in earnest in the US my late wife Julie attended a bourbon dinner at a DC restaurant with about 30 people at which Freddie Noe presented the whiskeys. At that point in time, before the frenzy, even the people at the dinner didn't really have any idea what it meant to have the Beam master distiller there just to present whiskeys for them over a good meal. As a result Julie got Freddie Noe pretty much to herself and chatted him up for about 15 minutes.

@Victor I had a small sample of this sent to me by a friend, too. Finished it on Friday evening. It's a testament to what blended whisky can be. Absolutely amazing, and certainly did not drink like it was that high an ABV.

@OdysseusUnbound, Mississippi John Hurt is simply a pleasure to listen to. He is so much more than a one-song phenom, but his renditions of The Chicken Song bring a smile to my face...every time.

@Victor, I am pleased you were able to get into Little Book Chapter 02: Noe Simple Task Batch # 29, 59.4% abv. I have spent a lot of time with this intriguing blend, so much so that I created a dozen variations using similar products to what Freddie Noe employed. His creation utilized Alberta Distillers13 YO Rye, CC 40 YO double distilled corn, and KC Rye 8 YO, as did I; however, the CC 40 YO which I employed was merely 45% abv.

The ratio which I believe to be closest to Freddie's original blend is Alberta 13 YO Rye, CC 40 YO Corn, KC Rye 8 YO in the ratio of 51:17:32. In a 750 ml bottle the quantities would be 380 ml,125ml, and 245 ml accordingly. This would equate to (rounding) a simple 3:1:2 when pouring freehand.

I am no at all surprised that Julie could engage in a conversation at length with the Jim Beam Master Distiller. A truly wonderful woman.

55.95 % a.b.v. Alberta Distillers13 YO Rye 380ml

68.9 % a.b.v. CC 40 YO double distilled corn125ml

59.9 % a.b.v. KC Rye 8 YO 245ml

@paddockjudge thank you for the detailed information. I fully understand why you are so enthusiastic about this Little Book # 02 whiski. It is so remarkable that I easily understand why you are interested in reproducing it for your continued enjoyment.

@Victor All this talk about LB II makes me want to dig out the half bottle I have left (I think I originally picked up 2 for myself but I let one slip away) and try it again. It's been nearly a year since I've poured it. Sadly I'm on call so I can't use it for "charting", @BlueNote.

On Saturday night, went over to my brother-in-law’s house.

Dailuaine SMWS 41.142 (13 year - May 29th, 2007) “Jam-packed with darkness”. After initial maturation in an ex-Sherry butt, finished in a 1st-fill ex-PX butt. 57.5% ABV.

Ardmore SMWS 66.193 (7 year - Sep. 17th, 2013) “An engine starter for cold mornings”. 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel. 61.3% ABV.

Caol Ila SMWS 53.363 (10 year - Nov. 12th, 2009) “Delicious earthy smoke”. Refill ex-bourbon hogshead. 57.7% ABV.

Tonight, Glen Scotia SMWS 93.148 (12 year - Feb. 29th, 2008) "Tour de force". After ten years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, it was transferred into a first fill ex-port hogshead - 56.4% ABV.

I’m having a small pour of Weller Antique 107. I bought 6 bottles before they replaced the screw cap with a cork and increased the price by $30. But as @paddockjudge often says, the price doesn’t affect the taste. This is a fantastic bourbon but it’s still a shame about the price increase.

I’m now having a bit of Green Spot while waiting for the Instant Pot to finish our beef stew. This is one of the few lower proof whiskeys I truly enjoy.

@OdysseusUnbound it's good to be able to have some supply of Old Weller Antique 107. Around here they are never on store shelves any more and the opportunity to buy a bottle is rare, even at a scalper's price. I well remember 2011 and prior when one could walk into a store here and buy half a dozen bottles of OWA107 off the shelf at around $ 20 per. Then the madness hit in 2014, every single Buffalo Trace Distillery bottle became allocated, and now people scalp them (i.e. the AVERAGE price =) for $150+. I'm pretty sure I included OWA107 on a Connosr post c 2011 as a "best buy bourbon for under $ 30". I do have a couple of bottles on hand myself at this point.

@OdysseusUnbound I "won" the opportunity to buy 7-8 of these in an LCBO lottery in 2017. My records indicate I ended up buying 5, and I think someone else may have purchased one of mine directly from the store. I opened one, and the other 4 were distributed / traded to people who wanted them at cost ($35). Regrets? Sure. I could have let another one go as well and taken a sample in return. But I'm pretty sure all of those bottles were or will be opened and enjoyed. My bottle has been open 5 years and is still half full. For a whisky I scored 87... I really need to start having people over again...

@Nozinan I obviously enjoyed OWA107 more than you. I believe I scored it 90-91. I bought 6 at $36/per and this is the first one I’ve opened. It won’t last long, I know it. I’m having a post dinner Laphroaig Triple Wood and I’m remembering why I bought these up when they were still “only” $85/bottle. Wonderful “dessert” Islay whisky.

Tonight catching up on a K-Drama with my wife, I nursed a 15 cc pour of Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban.

I was considering comments from a few years ago where people talked about something that was their "daily dram". Now I could never understand that because I don't have whisky every day and I like variety, but as I was sipping and enjoying this I considered that this expression could be something casually enjoyed as a daily dram, if one had one.

@Nozinan I just replaced my bottle of the 14 year old Quinta Ruban. I agree, this is definitely one of Glenmorangie's best offerings. This one came in a weird tin container. I wish they would dump the unnecessary, costly packaging and just reduce the price of the whisky.

My top sherried whisky. I am curious to find out what the new Glenturret owners bring to the table?

@BlueNote Was that the yellow metal contraption? I saw it in Calgary and bought it for a friend of my in-laws because he has no understanding of whisky and I thought he would appreciate it, given the oddities I saw in his cabinet once. Then 2 of my nephews tested positive for COVID and we cancelled all visits outside the family.

So that bottle is in Calgary, waiting, and it could eventually end up replacing the one I have...

Earlier this week, finished off a leftover bottle from my last tasting. Glen Moray SMWS 35.298 (7 year - Aug. 2013) "Big bumper bag of buttons" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.7% ABV.

Tonight, my wife had an Old Fashioned and I had a Vieux Carre for happy hour.

Later, since my promotion became official today, I celebrated with a healthy dram of Ledaig 18 year (2001) Gordon & Macphail's Connoisseurs Choice single cask - Refill Sherry Butt - 56.3% ABV.

@Nozinan Yes, that's the one. Kind of a pointless exercise in over packaging. Thankfully, the contents redeem it.

@bwmccoy Good choice for a celebratory dram.