So, what are you drinking now?

@fiddich1980 you inspire me to try to pick apart some of the whiskies I have and do more reviews.

I have some plans for Canada day. A 40% whisky contrasted with a single barrel whisky from the same distillery. May take a whole month to get it ready!

27 year old Balblair and Nick Drake on a rainy, miserable west coast Sunday afternoon.

@BlueNote, nice selection(s). Is that the 1990 Second Release? I've got the '91 Third Release. It's a bright, warm day in the near north, a good match for this 2018 release. I know someone else who is fond of this particular offering...eh @cricklewood?

@paddockjudge Yep, that’s the one. I had 2 bottles, now down to the last half of the second one.

I’m jealous of your weather. April and May, so far, have been the worst on record here. Lots of rain and daytime temperatures in the very low teens and generally around 10C. That Balblair is about the only thing that warms the cockles lately.

Cheers

@BlueNote canvassing in the blazing sun, I am envious of your mild temperatures…

@Nozinan Haha. If they were any milder I’d be back into the wool and down wardrobe….and the winter peat monsters.

@BlueNote - Very similar weather here in the Seattle area; above average rain (still getting measurable snow in the Cascade mountains) and well below average temperatures. I'm not complaining though because about 75% of the U.S. is under some level of drought.

On Saturday night, I had the pleasure of going over to @jordytropp's house for dinner and drams with him, his lovely wife and some friends. We all had different drams over the course of the afternoon / evening, but I had the following;

Started off with Grander Single Barrel Panama Rum 11 year old (10 year in ex-bourbon cask, finished for 1 year in an ex-Ardbeg cask). 62.4% ABV. If I drank this blind, I would have thought it was whisky. Not overly sweet. Maybe a tad sweeter than a single malt, but not much. The peat influence from the cask was present and noticeable, but not overwhelming. A really balanced, enjoyable aged sipping rum!

Deanston SMWS 79.6 (9 year - April 2012) "Rough and jumble" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 60.8% ABV.

Longmorn SMWS 7.269 (17 year - Feb. 2004) "Luscious, silky and sensuous" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 55.5% ABV.

Benromach Hermitage Distilled 2007. Bottled 2016. 45% ABV

Corsair Triple Smoke (Beechwood, Cherry & Peat) American Single Malt Whiskey Pot Distilled 40% ABV.

But the star of the show was a friend brought a bottle of 1977 Vintage Porto from Fonseca's. 21% ABV. This had a lovely brownish red hue to it and the palate was sublime. I'm no expert on Port, but this was a stellar stuff!

A great afternoon / evening with great friends, drinking excellent wine and spirits and sharing a lovely meal prepared by @jordytropp's wife.

Last night, I continued rating some opened, unrated bottles. I compared a couple of single cask Strathmill's head-to-head that were distilled on the same day (March 25th, 2010) and had similar cask maturation.

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.

Strathmill SMWS 100.29 (11 year - March 2010) "Misbehaving in a country house" - After 8 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill ex-Oloroso hogshead - 57.2% ABV.

While they are similar in so many ways, they are also quite different. 100.29 is lighter in color and has more wine influence on the palate. 100.27 is darker in color and is more balanced, but I rated them both 93. Even with their differences, I like them equally. Lovely drams!

Only 8 more unrated bottles to go.

Having an Arran 10 whilst sat in the basement looking out at the rain with this as an accompaniment. @BlueNote @bwmccoy - we've had an unusually dry patch so some rain is, for a change, rather welcome.

Great malt this but I've over done the water, hey ho!

@BlueNote - love me some Nick Drake too but the mood has to be just so! Your current climate sounds perfect, if that's the right word?!

This evening, while watching Mariners @ Jays, a sip from the first release of Mister Sam. Rumoured to contain BTAC juice. A BIG whiskey, bottled in Montréal at a gentle 66.9% abv. I was tempted by the talk surrounding a couple of bottles available at the upcoming Waddington’s auction on 31 May. Only 1200 bottles released, valued to be $1900 - $2100. Originally the MSRP was $350 CDN.

Wouldn’t it be nice to share a sip of this at the ballpark with @bwmccoy and @Victor!?

@paddockjudge - I’m watching the Mariners / Blue Jays game as well while drinking a Vieux Carre cocktail.

I would love to see a baseball game in Toronto! Seeing it with you and @Victor would be the icing on the cake. Add in a sip of Mister Sam and that would make it a trifecta!

@bwmccoy, Cheers!

I think I'll double up for that double play

@bwmccoy wait! ....make it a triple for the trifecta

@paddockjudge, @bwmccoy I can easily imagine sitting at the game with you two guys!

And drinking the drinks, too, of course.

Good times! Thanks for thinking of me, boys!

Watching a baseball game is a long contemplative endeavour, much like the unhurried appreciation of fine whisky...and good friends.

Had a second Vieux Carre before dinner. After dinner, rated 3 more open, unrated bottles.

Auchroisk SMWS 95.52 (15 year - Jan. 2006) "Moorish and moreish" - After 13 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill Spanish oak Oloroso hogshead - 56.2% ABV. Rating: 90

Macallan (SMWS cask sample) 12 year (Oct. 2008). After 10 years in Oloroso butt, finished for 2 years in a 1st-fill Oloroso hogshead - 63.6% ABV. Rating: 94

Kilchoman Machir Bay - 46%ABV. Rating: 88

@bwmccoy, high praise for a recent Macallan 12 YO. I’m glad you’ve had better luck than me. Someone at SMWS picked a gem. I simply stay away from Macallan these days, too many disappointments……perhaps this is a glimmer of hope….. mmmmm, cask strength single cask Macallan

@RianC Great stuff. We have Ry Cooder to thank for bringing these amazing Cuban musicians to the attention of the rest of the world.

@Victor I agree with your last sentence: those who think baseball is slow and boring do not understand the fine points and subtleties of the game. A great play by a third baseman or shortstop followed by a laser beam throw to first base is a thing of beauty. A hitter who can hit a ball coming at him at 95 mph, or a pitcher who can make you swing at a ball you thought was in one place but wasn’t actually there when you swung the bat; these are the things that make baseball a beautiful game and make me want to be at that Jays/Mariners game with you guys.

I would now like @RianC to explain cricket please.

@BlueNote I have been asking @RianC to explain cricket to me for quite a while now.

@BlueNote @Victor My wife and I have been to a few Blue Jays games (usually when my Red Sox are in town) but she’s not as concerned with the finer points as I am. She would call the things I notice “nerdy” . I try to read the infielders’ positions, the batter’s stance, and “predict” what the play will be.

@OdysseusUnbound I enjoyed your piece in Malt yesterday. Very interesting. I noticed that your blog was down a while ago so nice to see your now contributing to Malt. Looking forward to your next review. Cheers.

@paddockjudge - Full Disclosure... That Macallan cask sample was from an event with Charlie Maclean called the Tasting Panel Experience where attendees judge SMWS cask samples just like the Society's tasting panel does to decide which casks get bottled, what that bottle's name should be and what the tasting notes are. Charlie referred to this Macallan sample as "horrid", but I liked it the night of the event and I've liked it every time I've had it since. I know Charlie has tasted the best of the best from Macallan so he has a different perspective than I do, but I can't find any fault with it. Honestly, it reminds me a lot of the Macallan Cask Strength (Red Box) bottles that we all know and love. I wish I had some of the old red box Macallan to taste head-to-head with this sample, but I will have to rely on my memory of it.

It's 2:45am local time and you may be wondering why I am up this late on a "school" night. Well, I was asleep, but was rudely woken up by my phone alerting me to a potential issue (malware) on our network at work. Fortunately, it was a false alarm, but my nerves are too rattled to go back to sleep right away. I decided to have a dram before trying to go back to sleep.

I'm rating one of my open bottles that was also from the Charlie Maclean event; a sherry finished Linkwood.

Linkwood (SMWS cask sample) 14 years (July 2006). After 12 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, finished for 2 years in a 1st-fill Oloroso hogshead - 58.8% ABV. Rating: 89. I would have rated it higher, but it tastes pretty hot even after adding some water.

I'm going to try to get some sleep now...

@Timp I was done with reviewing (other than on Connosr of course) but I interact with Taylor of Malt on Twitter fairly often. He asked me privately if I would be comfortable providing some Canadian content to Malt. When I told him that:

1. I'm not an expert on the subject of Canadian whisky and
2. I'm not a cheerleader who thinks every Canadian whisky is a 99/100 point whisky

Taylor told me that was all good. The contributors to Malt have diverse palates but it's not a site that has corporate sponsorship. I also like their 10 point scale as it's a bit more user-friendly than the 100 point scale. I don't hate the 100 point scale but the difference between an 86/100 point whisky and an 87/100 point whisky is sometimes unnecessarily difficult to determine.

@bwmccoy, ah yes, the horrid bottle of Macallan which Charlie poo-poohed. Thanks for sharing. I wonder when last Charlie Maclean paid for a bottle of whisky?

Tonight, a couple of Black Manhattans before dinner made with Maker's Mark 46.

Last night, rated another open bottle.

Longmorn SMWS 7.269 (17 year - Feb. 2004) "Luscious, silky and sensuous" - 2nd-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 55.5% ABV. Rating: 87

I found myself unexpectedly at home this evening after a number of SNAFUs. This bottle was purchased in April and arrived in my home last night.

I have wanted to try a non-peated CS offering from M&H for some time. The one I bottles at the distillery was matured in an ex-Islam cask. I originally found one of these (different batch) in the US and it may be years before it makes its way here. This batch was purchased on sale in Calgary.

I’m glad I bought it, and glad I opened it. Neat it is a bit hot but with the Ashok manoeuvre the nose is beautiful and fruity, and with some water the palate is lovely.

Celebrating World Whisky Day with a couple of pre-dinner cocktails.

My wife had Keto Old Fashioned’s made with Maker’s Mark 46.

I had Jerry Thomas Manhattan’s made with Rittenhouse Rye BiB.

@Nozinan are you tasting the pomegranates? I do hope so, even if it took knowledge of the cask finish to help you to identify them. I am hoping that M & H will give us some Slivovitz/plum brandy cask finishes in the future as well. Grapes have availability as their major advantage to superimposing fruit flavouring onto malt whiskies. I see other dark fruits with at least as much flavour appeal as grapes. For me, probably more appeal.