So, what are you drinking now?

Last night (Wednesday), Braeval SMWS 113.53 (11 year - Jan. 2010) "A bit of a bibelot" - 1st-fill ex-bourbon barrel - 62.6% ABV.

Glenlossie SMWS 46.128 (11 year - Mar. 2010) "Lotta good stuff" - After 9 years ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill toasted Caucasian oak barrique with toasted heads - 54.5% ABV.

For Friday night happy hour, a couple of Jerry Thomas Manhattan’s made with Old Forester 100 proof rye.

Last night (Saturday), Glen Grant SMWS 9.235 (17 year - Mar. 2004) "The proof is in the finish" - After 15 years ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill ex-Spanish oak Oloroso hogshead - 55.8% ABV.

Blair Athol SMWS 68.71 (12 year - Feb. 2009) "Rather scrumptious" - After 10 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill Oloroso hogshead - 58.6% ABV.

Yesterday, celebrated Easter at my brother-in-law's house. We had the following drams.

Speyburn SMWS 88.27 (12 year - Feb. 2009) "The nutcracker" - Refill ex-Bourbon hogshead - 54.0% ABV.

Mannochmore SMWS 64.127 (12 year - May 2009) "Going luxe" - After 9 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred into a 1st-fill custom toasted American and European oak barrique cask - 58.4% ABV.

Inchgower SMWS 18.45 (11 year - June 2010) "Hola!" - After 8 years ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill ex-Oloroso hogshead - 57.3% ABV.

Glenburgie SMWS 71.87 (10 year - May 2011) "Cowboys at dinner" - After 8 years in an Oloroso butt, transferred into a heavy charred 1st-fill puncheon - 58.2% ABV.

Caol Ila SMWS 53.401 (10 year - Apr. 2011) "Islay karate" - Refill ex-bourbon hogshead - 57.4% ABV.

Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Tonight, finished off my bottle of Ben Nevis SMWS 78.55 (8 year - Dec. 2012) "Slow sapid surrender" - 1st fill ex-Bourbon hogshead - 59.4% ABV.

Opened two new bottles over Easter: Royal Brackla 11 (MoM bottling). This seems lovely, big, golden malt and refill sherry sweetness. Spicy and rich. Very good first impressions.

Last night was a Lagavulin DE. This one was a bit underwhelming. Lots of pear and orchard fruits with some hard to define peat and heavy tannins. Not bad but I doubt worth the price tag. Let's see what some air can do.

The GlenScotia Victoriana I opened a week or ago has also started to.open a bit. Seems quite oak char heavy but there is a lovely richness of Malt there too so it balances out. Quite bourbon like, actually.

Cheers

In Vancouver, Canada for a few days, so naturally, last night, I drank American whiskey. :-)

I brought several sample bottles for my wife and I to enjoy while we’re here.

My wife had a dram of Robert Burns single malt from Arran.

I finished off the last sample that @Victor gave me last fall. Pappy Van Winkle 15 year (2010 release). 53.5% ABV. The dram is pictured below. Thank you again @Victor for your generosity with the samples that you sent me home with!

I really don’t know where to post this kind of review. If any of you have suggestions, I am happy to move it. Let me know.

I have been a big fan of Stagg Jr since it came out in 2013. At the end of 2022 it has finally dropped its “Jr.” status and is officially just “Stagg.” One of my local friends was just given a bottle of Batch #16 for his birthday in March. He asked me if I knew anything about the bottle . . . Why yes, yes I do. He graciously allowed me to take a sample. And I knew what I had to do. On Easter Sunday I again found myself alone for the whole afternoon. So, it was time for an Epic Stagg Jr. tasting. I have saved samples of 9 batches from #1 to #16. I have been saving @Nozinan’s sample of Batch #7 since he gave it to me in 2018. At long last.

The set up? I poured 15mL of all 9 samples into blue nosing glasses labeled on the bottom. Put lids on and mixed them up. I tasted them blind in sets of three (with more than an hour between each tasting set). I didn’t know it at the time but here were the groupings and order. #16, #6, #4 then #11, #2, #9, and finally #7, #1, and #5. Here were my results:

Short score in batch order: Stagg Jr. 67.2% (Batch #1) = 95%

Stagg Jr. 64.35% (Batch #2) = 87%

Stagg Jr. 66.10% (Batch #4) = 93%

Stagg Jr. 64.85% (Batch #5) = 90%

Stagg Jr. 66.25% (Batch #6) = 92%

Stagg Jr. 65% (Batch #7) = 93%

Stagg Jr. 65.95% (Batch #9) = 86%

Stagg Jr. 63.95% (Batch #11) = 89%

Stagg Jr. 65.45% (Batch #16) = 92%

Tasting order with thoughts:

Stagg Jr. 65.45% (Batch #16) = 92% – This ended up as the first nose of the night. So, for better or worse it really did set the bar for this tasting. I will say it started off fantastic with nice baked brown sugar that was deep luscious and luxurious. What I really noticed is how much less alcohol burn it had compared with #6 and #4 right after it. It really seemed to be one of the lowest proof batches, but it still had all the depth of flavor of #4 which was impressive. There were two slight nocks. First, the finish wasn’t as big and epic as #6 and #4. Second, I ended up preferring the nose of #4 just slightly, but preferred this to #6. That is why it ended up just below #4 and tied with #6. Still, a really good batch from my friend Steve. It is his first bottle. He typically just drinks Buffalo Trace. He told me that this bottle has ruined him for bourbon. Very true.

Stagg Jr. 66.25% (Batch #6) = 92% – For a long time this was nosing dead even with Batch #16. This one had more heat to it and slightly less fruit. It was a hair more thin in the midrange than #16. I prefer this style with more of a caramel baked brown sugar and cast-iron baked crumble. But I had to give the edge to #16 on the nose. This is big, bold, spicy, and sweet. But just slightly thinner than #4 and #16. However, on the finish it took the edge back. So it ended up tied with #16. This batch is slightly thinner and slightly more powerful than #16. But that is really splitting very fine hairs. Still, one of the better batches for sure.

Stagg Jr. 66.10% (Batch #4) = 93% – Across the board this was a good batch dominated by brown sugar with only a slight fruit note of cherries. I tend to not like that sour note (of cherry or lemon) in my bourbon. So, it started off at a disadvantage. Initially my thought was I preferred #16, then #6 with this batch last. But the more I came back to it the more complex I found it to be and the more credit I had to give it. It really came roaring back on the palate and finish. It always maintained that hint of cherry and fruit, but it was always balanced by brown sugar, maple syrup, and spice. It ended up my favorite in its group of #6 and #16. And it survived well in a sample bottle since 2016.

Stagg Jr. 63.95% (Batch #11) = 89% – This was a nice batch all around. It was very much in the same vein with baked brown sugar, caramel, and baked crumble. Not bad, not sour, not overly oaky. My main complaint is that it was much thinner than the rest of the batches . . . by quite a bit. It didn’t have the depth and richness of the others – particularly in the midrange. It was thin on the palate, but still hand an enjoyable finish of brown sugar, red hots, and oak.

Stagg Jr. 64.35% (Batch #2) = 87% – This batch had a wonderfully thick and rich nose of brown sugar, maple syrup and a fruit compote. It was deep and rich across the register from low to mid to high range. One of the best noses of the night; more enjoyable than every batch except for Batch #1. Sadly, the palate and finish were both thinner and far more sour than the nose let on. Very sour lemon notes on the palate and finish kind of ruined it for me. It is possible this was from being in a sample bottle since 2015 . . . but looking back on my notes from November of 2015 I had almost the exact same reaction then – loved the nose, sour palate and finish. I scored it 86% in 2015 and only looked up my old score after this blind tasting.

Stagg Jr. 65.95% (Batch #9) = 86% – This was the clear stinker of the night. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a decent barrel proof bourbon. You immediately get brown sugar and lemon peel. But the nose had a very strong sour note to it that really puts me off. It was also very thin and drying compared with the others. Looking back at my old notes it looks like I really enjoyed it during my first two tastings (both blind) in January (93%) and then August (93%) of 2018. But by December of that year the bottle had taken a sour turn and scored 86%. So, my guess is that sample bottle has simply maintained that “soured” batch since 2018 when I rebottled it. Shame. I do believe it was much better when freshly cracked.

Stagg Jr. 65% (Batch #7) = 93% – This nose immediately came across as a classic Buffalo Trace nose with brown sugar, rock candy, and light ripe cherries. I could easily spot elements of Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, and even Weller. It was nicely balanced across the spectrum from deep sweet low tones of brown sugar and oak, a nice complex midrange of maple syrup, rock candy, and soaring high citrus and cherry notes up high. A really great balanced batch. Clearly, I wish I had owned a bottled. @ Nozinan thank you so much for the sample!

Stagg Jr. 67.2% (Batch #1) = 95% – I know I am alone in loving this batch. When it was first released in 2013 it was met with harsh reviews and criticism of being way too hot and too tannic. I loved it then. I love it now. It is my favorite batch. I haven’t tasted any since 2018. And blind tonight among 9 batches of Stagg Jr. it was clearly different from the other batches. It was much darker than all the rest. It has deep dark almost burnt brown sugar and strong wood notes that were almost tannic. There isn’t a hint of fruit, citrus, or sour cherries anywhere. It was just huge baked brown sugar and cast iron. I tasted it next to #7 and #5. Where #7 was a balanced example of Buffalo Trace distillate, this was a deep dark monster. I could almost believe this was a batch of George T. Stagg.

Stagg Jr. 64.85% (Batch #5) = 90% – This batch also had those sweet and sour notes of brown sugar and a splash of lemon juice. On the thinner side in terms of flavors, depth, and mouthfeel of the batches, but not the thinnest (that was #11). But all that thinness does make it seem younger. A decent batch, but clearly not my favorite. Maybe because it was in competition with #7 and #1. It rides the line of a good enjoyable batch.

@RianC do you have a batch code to that Victoriana? It is typically written in white laser code on the back bottom of the bottle.

I have two.

L5 136.21 15.07.2021

L4.314.22 10.11.2022

I found my 2021 much deeper, richer, with more smoke and complexity. The 2022 was brighter. But I did just open it in January and it has really started to improve. Still, I don’t like it as much as that 2021 batch.

@Nock if I were you I would just post this as a review of Stagg Jr, with a title something like "Stagg Jr Vertical Tasting of Nine Batches."

For a score you could just give it a single number score averaged out over the nine batches..

@Victor Thanks! I don't love having to make up an arbitrary grade and ABV, but I think it will work. I just made a "general grade" for Stagg Jr. from my experience and put an generic ABV of 65% which seems about right. But, good thought my friend.

@Nock - yes I can just about read it L4 345,20. 10.12.20.

Seems then that this bottle is an earlier version than both of yours, assuming that's what the date is giving.

I expect it to develop with air but there is definitely a strong note of deeply charred oak and a touch of menthol. Not that that's a necessarily a bad thing, just a bit unexpected. I do enjoy the 'thick' maltiness of Glen Scotia though and hope this starts to assert itself over time. Great mouthfeel too.

@bwmccoy I like that glass. What is it?

@RianC I never liked the Lagavulin DE. For about the same money I find the 12 year old Special Editions much better. It's getting pretty pricey over here, though.

@BlueNote - I was it on offer, still not cheap though, hence the buy. Seems too sweet and not 'Lagavuliny ' enough for me. The 12 is a much better whisky but I won't pay what they ask these days.

@BlueNote - The glass was designed in Seattle by a whiskey enthusiast and an engineer. They refer to it as an American whiskey glass. To me, it’s a nice combo of a rocks glass on the bottom and a Glencairn or tulip glass on top. I like the weight of it, but I still need to compare it to my other style glasses with the same whisky to see how the nose and palate compare and determine if it changes my preference for Glencairns over all other glass styles that I own. The reason I brought the glasses with me is that I still have the box they came in, so it’s safe to transport them. :-)

Below is a link to their website, if you want more details / info. The glasses were given to me by a friend who is in the whisky industry and had partnered with the glass makers for one of her events.

www.whiskeywhisdom.com

@RianC @Nock I'm liking the Victoriana that I'm currently working on. The code is difficult to read. I think it's: 1.034.22 03 02 2022. There is no L visible.

@bwmccoy Thanks, I'll look it up. It just looks like it has a nice heft, and I like a bit of heft. Although my dear wife is not at all hefty.

@RianC There's always the 8 year old which is very good and a reasonable price. The 16 is now a stupid price here.

@bwmccoy I've got a serious case of Ben Nevis envy.

Yesterday (Thursday), we had lunch at an Irish pub / restaurant that we've visited on previous trips to Vancouver called The Irish Heather / Shebeen. They are known for their extensive whisky selection. With lunch, I had a local ESB beer, but for dessert, my wife and I decided to have a dram.

She had Compass Box No Name No. 2 (48.9% ABV) which is 75.5% Caol Ila (refill ex-Sherry casks) plus 10.5% Talisker (ex-bourbon), 13.5% Clynelish (ex-bourbon) and 0.5% vatted Highland malts (new French oak casks).

I had a dram of Midleton Very Rare Vintage Release Bottled in 2018 (40% ABV). Serial # 12375. Both of these drams were about the same price. The reason I went with the Midleton is because I wanted to try something I haven't had before. It was a very nice dram, but not worth the price point, in my opinion, especially at 40%.

Later, after returning to our hotel for the evening, my wife had her Robert Burns Single Malt from Arran. I worked my way through a few of the samples that I brought with me.

Balcones Lineage Single Malt (47% ABV). This is a combo of Scottish and Texas-grown barley aged in both refill and new oak barrels, hence the name Lineage. Nose: mulled cider, fruit and tea. Palate: caramel, oak and manuka honey with a hint of cinnamon in the finish.

Balcones Brimstone Smoked Whisky (53% ABV). I didn't like this one at all! I couldn't get past the burnt rubber notes on the nose. The palate was a little better with tobacco and herbs, but the burnt rubber remains. I'm very glad this was a small sample.

Port Charlotte Islay Barley (50%). Much better! This one has more barley forward notes with the smoke / peat coming in light in the finish.

Finished the night with Port Charlotte 10 year (50%). This one is even better than the Islay Barley in my opinion. Much more smoke and earthy peat in this one. Best of the day / night.

@bwmccoy I agree on the Port Charlotte 10. So far it seems to be a bit under the radar and overshadowed by some of the othe Islay big boys. Definitely worth bunkering a couple while it's still affordable.

Glad you enjoyed your visit to Vancouver. Where did you stay?

@BlueNote - Thanks. We’re having a great time and some nice weather. We’re in town until tomorrow (Saturday) and staying at Hotel Le Soleil. We’re taking in a minor league baseball game this afternoon. The Anaheim Angels high-A affiliate team is taking on the Bluejays affiliate.

@bwmccoy baseball with BWM, good times!

Ardbeg Galileo, 49% ABV. There is something very big to celebrate in the DC area for the last couple of days. Dan Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins, then the Washington Football Team, now the Washington Commanders, has announced that he will sell his NFL football team. For those outside the DC area it is almost unimaginable how big this is to DC NFL fans. The team had a proud history and a good record until Snyder took over the reins 23.9 years ago. I have felt for at least the last 15 years that the DC team would never prosper in a big way again until this guy is out of the picture. There are legions who think that same thought that I do. The relief among many is palpable, like being released from prison after a long incarceration. I salute the resurrection of enthusiasm among NFL fans in the DC area. Dan Snyder's ownership is nearly dead. Long live the ownership of the Washington NFL franchise by anyone else.

@bwmccoy You'll enjoy that. It's a great little ballpark. Fingers crossed for the weather.

@BlueNote the only Minor League game I was at was in Calgary. The brother in law’s brother in law of a friend of my mother (or something like that) owned the Calgary Canons. My mother’s friend’s niece took me to a game (and ended up in medical school a year behind me). They played vs the Vancouver Canadians. It was lots of fun, especially getting to watch future stars like Tino and Edgar Martinez play. I’ve had a soft spot for the Mariners ever since.

@Nozinan The Mariners my team if the Jays are not playing up to par. But man, are they looking good so far this year. They just put an end to the Rays streak. I love the new rules.

@BlueNote - We had great weather at the game yesterday. Even got a little sun on my face for the first time since last summer. :-)

@BlueNote and @Nozinan - Likewise, I root for the Blue Jays as long as they aren't playing the Mariners. :-) I would also like for Montreal to get the Expos back at some point.

Last night (Friday), after returning to the hotel, my wife and I had some drams. She finished off the Roberts Burns Single Malt from Arran that I brought for her. She also finished off the last of my Inchmurrin SMWS 112.99 (18 year - Sep. 2003) "Feels like a caress" - After 15 years ex-bourbon hogshead, transferred to a 1st-fill Sauternes barrique - 51.4% ABV.

Later, we compared a couple of expressions of a new Australian whisky (pictured below). Morris has been in the wine business since 1869 and is now using their wine casks to age their whisky. First up was their single malt (44%). My wife did not care for this one at all. I thought it was OK, but it did have a slight harshness that I attribute to being young (no age statement on the whisky). The next expression was their single malt finished in a Muscat barrel (48%). The finishing took away the harshness and added a little sweetness. This one was much better and both my wife and I's favorite.

I finished the night with an AnCnoc Rascan single malt (peated - 46%). This was a very nice, lightly peated expression. Notes of green apple, citrus, toffee and leather with the smoke coming through in the finish.