What are you lusting over?

@maltygirl, My pleasure! Spent the day shopping with my wife - haven't done that in twenty years...I need a smash of Macallan CS. lol

@paddockjudge

I've avoided all shopping his week except the retrieval and rescue of my BTAC bottle.

Tip to others....LCBO didn't even ask for ID...

Recent acquisitions have scratched many of my lusty itches, so I think what I'm most lusting over now is the batch of Springbank 12 CS that Serge recently reviewed (#9, 54.3%). Unlike a'bunadh, these batches aren't explicitly labeled and finding a particular one is a bit of a crapshoot. Most of what I've been able to find is the same batch I bought myself about a year ago (#3, 55.3%), which I won't rebuy. One place has yet another batch (#6, 53.1%), which I plan to somewhat begrudgingly buy when I can get over there again. I bet it'll be good, but Serge described that #9 in such dirty terms that it really rose in my imagination. It's just hard to find.

I suppose I'm also lusting a bit over Octomore. Stores by me have both the 5.1 and the 6.1 for around $150-$160, which I guess is cheap by Octomore standards but still crazy by, say, Laphroaig 10 CS standards. Or to be more practical about it, I have nearly that amount remaining in my whisky piggy bank but I have it mentally earmarked for the Springbank I talked about above plus a bottle of Connemara CS that one not-so-local store was recently selling for $52 (a steal!). Is one Octomore better than those TWO bottles? I doubt it, especially when the high phenols are reputed to resolve themselves into "a bed of feathers" and other such terms that I've seen in reviews. But as a certified (but not yet certifiable) peat head, I know I'll always wonder about Octomore—and I'll probably yell at myself if I decide to buy a bottle down the road when prices below $200 are no longer to be had.

@OlJas, 'bed of feathers' is an Orpheus thing. Don't expect that with other Octomores--and it is absolutely divine. You really have to taste it to believe it.

Personally, I am a big fan of the 5.1. I've tasted it, wish I had a bottle of it. Yeah, Octomore is expensive. Am I sorry I put up the scratch for a couple of bottles of it? Hell no.

@Victor, you're killing me! :) I'm trying to talk myself out of that Octomore 5.1, and here you are playing the peaty devil on my shoulder. I might just need to get scheming on how to add a few buckaroos to my whisky piggy bank.

@OlJas, where there is a will there is a way. You've already discovered one of the keys to whisky success: generous relatives. There are others.

@Victor, right on. I might be getting involved with a local whisky club. If I do, as soon as they allow a newbie to vote on bottle acquisitions, I'll be stuffing the ballot box with votes for Octomore. (@Beloitpiper, if you're reading this, I'm kidding!)

So I kept my whisky money in the piggy bank so far, and now I'm looking at a Springbank 14 Fino cask at cask strength for around $95. I used to think that was exorbitantly expensive, but now a'bunadh is pushing into that neighborhood. Which would I rather have--I sweet sherried NAS whisky that I didn't really love the first time I bought a bottle, or a sharper, age-stated whisky from my favorite distillery? Yes, I know that's a false choice, but it makes the decision easy so leave me be! :)

Anyone know anything good or bad about those Springbank 14 YO CS Finos? Our old Connosr friend Rigmarole authored about half the total reviews that you can find online. Beyond his stuff, there's just a little commentary here and there to be found.

Everything about it sounds like good honest whisky, and its ancestry from Fino instead of Oloroso sherry should protect me from oversweetness. At least that's my hope.

@OlJas, you can find Springbank CS online here: shop.southlyndale.com/Springbank-12-Year-Ca…

They are the next state over so I don't think you should have any issues. Perhaps give them a call to make sure it is the correct, I found them to be very helpful when I placed a call from Guinea earlier this month.

I didn't mention it is specifically noted as the batch 9-54.3% on the site.

@NAV26 , the elusive batch #9! Nice find. Thanks much for sharing.

That place also has good prices on Ardbeg Ten ($45). And stocks of the Laddie 10. And they're out now, but they had Laphroaig Cairdeas for $60.

So yeah, a nice nice find!

Willett Family Estate rye or Bourbon

Won a bottle of 2015 WLW BTAC in the LCBO lottery so that's off the list and fantastic.

@Astroke ,thanks for reviving a fun old thread.

For me, I don't think I'm really lusting over anything these days. Most of the bottles I used to really chase have either gone into my welcoming belly (Lagavulin 12, Talisker 57, Springbank 12 batch 9, Kilkerran WIP 2015 CS) or are in my stash for the future (PC7, Connemara Turf Mor, Springbank 14 Fino). I guess I'm still lusting over Octomore, and that lust was slightly renewed recently when I found a local store that sells the 6.1 for about $140—the lowest I've seen for any edition.

That said, the next bottle I'll probably buy if I can swing it is Longrow Red Port.

@OlJas I have the Springbank 12 batch 10 and it is one of my favorites, had to get my sister to send it from Nova Scotia. Being in Ontario I am forced to lust for quality Bourbons. :)

@OlJas Can I as a question for clarification? When does lust end? Does purchasing the bottle end the lust period? Does actually possessing the bottle count? Or does it have to be open. I've been pining for the Benromach 100/10 since I saw @Maltactivist's review. I bought it a few weeks ago, and my brother just brought it to Canada this week. But I don't know if I'll be able to open it before May.

Brora - every year Diageo rolls out yet another well matured bottling of this exquisite nectar but at a price that is quite ridiculous, close to the AUD$2,500 a bottle while the G&M bottlings sit around the AUD$1,100 a bottle mark - just a little too rich for my blood even if money is not an issue. Sensibility easily triumphs over lust and I don't think that I can bring myself to open the bottle even if I did end up purchasing one so it will just end up being a cupboard space filler gathering dust. Yet the yearning is still there, tantalising, tormenting.

I suppose I shall have to be contented with what little drams I can scrounge from tastings and make do with Mortlach and Clynelish.

Octomore 8.X!

1977 Pulteney!

I raised the subject of this bottle over on the My Annoying Opinions blog and the great blogger over there used it as the launchpoint for a larger discussion about whisky values. (In case you're keeping track of who's who, note that I haven't renamed myself on that site. Ol' Jas is the same as me.)

myannoyingopinions.com/2017/08/…

@nooch , you might find this interesting:

reddit.com/r/Scotch/…

@MadSingleMalt hahaha. That's what I was led to when I clicked the link in my email. I'm 99% sure it was marketing. I eventually clicked the link again and it led me right to it.

Sheep are so easy to lead.

Clynelish

Why? For good reason, really. I've gone through a couple different bottles over the years and never been at all impressed. But my wife got this liquid handsoap for bathroom that's just perfectly thick and golden, like Clynelish always sounds in its most glowing reviews. Every time I wash my hands in there, my mind flashes to some waxy, waxy Clynelish.

Ardbeg

Need I say more?

Probably.

Near me: The 19yo is about to hit shelves. The 22yo is about to hit shelves. The Supernova SN2019 is about to hit shelves. I want three of each. I can't even afford one of each right now. Lust abounds.

@Nock I don’t mean to be a negative Nancy, but just about every review I’ve heard for the 19 Year Traigh Bhan, from regular people who aren’t insiders, has been lukewarm to negative...

@OdysseusUnbound I have read all those reviews. But that still doesn't dull the Lust. Everyone also says, "If you are an Ardbeg fan-boy and simply need every bottle of Ardbeg the you are going to buy it." Here is the collection from a year ago. I have picked up a few more Ardbeg's since then. I need a new picture . . . but having the 21 and 23yo . . . the need for the 22 and the 19 causes a bit of lust.

And the Supernova? I need to complete the collection. I am convinced it will be the least "Supernova" of the releases. Does that dull the lust? No.

@Nock That's a nice selection of Ardbeg, I know how you feel, I am the same way about my Octomore collection. (:

@PMessinger do you still have any 2.2 Orpheus?

@Victor No I don't have that one anymore. Don't know if anymore is available in this area.

Although I have a bit of a lust for the Ardbeg 19, at $350 it is never going to see the inside of my cabinet.

I'm lusting after the new 2012 vintage Port Charlotte Islay Barley because an older edition of it (2008) is one of my favorite-ever whiskies, and this new version just started appearing on local shelves. It's even a couple bucks cheaper.