What was the last bottle you finished?

My latest decimation was a Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength. It's one of the few bottles that I buy over and over, and I'll buy it again.

In another thread long ago, I asked about any Japanese whiskies that are not just good, but that embody Japan in some way. I remember saying I wanted the equivalent of how someone could ask what Scotland tastes like and the answer is "Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength!" it's such a winner in every way.

@Pudge72 family is the most important thing, it's so wonderful to support each other. It make me feel good to buy my wife something and it makes me feel great when she comes home with a bottle of Scotch for me. I'm sure the bottle was amazing. Love Talisker too.

@FMichael Longmorn 16 is a favorite, rich and a spice to it, reminds me I need to get another bottle, thx!

@OIJas Amen to that brother. I'll buy that one over and over again. I see that Laphroaig is coming out with the 15y again. I haven't had that expression in many years. Can't wait to try it again!

@OlJas This is a blog about finishing bottles. To decimate is to remove 10%. So either you have 90% of your bottle or it is now a 9 YO CS

@FMichael The Balvenie 12 DW is $96.04 Cdn here in Manitoba in including tax. That is currently a little over $78 US before the banks take their ripoff. I will be passing on this one from now on!

@Nozinan ah, you got me on the legal mumbo jumbo.

But I checked the definitions and it appears that "to destroy a great number or proportion of"—i.e., the more casual, non "dec-" definition—has become its main meaning. And so, rather than admit I was wrong, I will instead cite my preservation of a sample from that Laphroaig to explain how I drank "a great proportion" of that bottle—enough to send the bottle itself into the recycling—and so decimated it.

Does that count as "finishing" the bottle? That's one for the courts to decide.

@OlJas sounds good to me....

Yesterday I finished my highland park cask strength edition. Nothing spectacular. I had hoped that some time would mellow it out and bring forth the beautiful butterscotch that was dominant in my friends bottle but no. Next highland park will definitely be the 12 year old.

A sample bottle of Glenmorangie 'La Santa'; It's been open for over a year in a couple of different containers, this the last 'drop' of a very enjoyable bottle which started out rather disorganized, gangly even but improved all the time it was open. Time and air weave their magic once again, of course the containers get smaller as the 'tide goes out', and rightly so!

I actually wanted to house 100ml. of Ardmore Trad. 46%, so, so long to the Glenmo. which I will replace, not so the Ardmore which now masquerades as Traditional; oh dear! Down in the bottom corner of the label in small print 40% - Thought I had a winner 'til I spotted the 40%, same price as the 46% which had a hike to Au.$74.99 just before the change over...sneaky!

Tulgatsgaaya!

@A'bunadhman: Anyway, while I was out at DM's Liquor Barn I had a snipe at the spirits manager about the Ardmore demise and lo and behold, he scurries off and comes back with what I'm thinking is going to be a 'Legacy' bottling @ 40%; not so! What he hands over is the last bottle of Traditional Cask @ 46%. Thank you very much, but how so? - It was in the 'Hub' (On Line Distribution) stock but it's the last one!

It doesn't hurt to 'stay in good' with Managers; this fellow has hunted down some obscure bottles over the years incl. some 375ml. Buffalo Trace @ 45% when the bottles were down-graded to 40%. Not a bad bloke, either!

Slainte.

@A'bunadhman, "It doesn't hurt to stay in good with Managers" is an extreme understatement.

These guys and gals, especially in the US, get no love from anyone but the occasional connoisseur. They are used to being vilified by the public for dealing in "demon rum" and "whiskey, you're the Devil." They are blamed for drunk drivers. They get robbed and are in physical danger for their lives more than are most businesses. And they are expected to be experts in all the thousands of products they deal in, which is well nigh impossible-- about as feasible as being a physician expert in all areas of the human body.

Treat liquor store managers well, with respect and politeness, and show sincere interest, and most of them will help you out.

Just finished off my bottle of AnCnoc 12 last night in front of a small fire outside in the yard. It just got better with age. Will have to get another in the next few weeks.

@Nozinan, @paddockjudge, @newreverie, in honor of you guys and others cornering the market on Bookers and Independence Day I pulled out two old bottles of Bookers last night. The first dram was a fantastic 2006 bottle, and the second was an amazing 2004 bottling of Bookers. Sadly the 2004 is gone, it was the last 100ml I had decanted for a special occasion. No backup bottle for the 2004, but I do have a full backup of the 2006.

I have seen the 2015-1 and 2015-2 Bookers both around town, I think I'll go get one of them today for his fallen 2004 brother.

Finished off a Four Roses Single Barrel. I don't remember how old this bottle is or what the code is. Some of these SB are pretty good, this is a Fruitier not to spicy bottle. It nice to close out a bottle, I just need to rest opening anything new.

Macallan Cask Strength, 59% 750ml, bottle code: L0573M L10 15 08 15:45.

Wiser's Red Letter (a crowd favorite at a friend's gathering last night) and 20 Year Old Plantation Rum (a delicious rum indeed that easily beat the Appleton 21 in a side-by-side tasting)...

@JayRain might that be the 20th anniversary Plantation rhum from Barbados? Fine drop in deed, at a fair price.

@CognacFan That would be correct - cost wise, it is a mere pittance compared to the El Dorado 25 so am comfortable w the cost.

Side by side the Plantation blows away the Ron Zacapa 25 as well

Glenfarclas 12 yo. This is the last pour of this 4 years opened bottle. It is currently the best it has been.

Thomas H Handy Sazerac Rye, 2012 Release 66.2% abv. I gave the last 75 ml away to a young couple present at our tasting yesterday.

Sazerac Rye. "Baby Saz" Rye, 45%, NAS, believed to be 5 or 6 years old. This bottle was open for about 5 years. It was understated to the point of being weak and a bit non-descript at first,...and was at its best, and very good, during the last few months I/we drank it.

I am trying to make room in my cabinet to open new bottles I recently acquired. My rule is that can't have more bottles open then I have room in my whisky cabinet. So tonight was a night to feed my "living bottle." I said goodbye to a Caol Ila 12yo that has been open for 5 years, a Clynelish 14yo that has been open for 3 years, a very poor bottle of Lagavulin 16yo that has been open for 2 years, and a Glen Moray 12yo that has been open for almost 8 years.

I have started a fresh "living bottle" of only single malt whisky. I am keeping track of the amount in (and out) as well as the ABV in a spread sheet. I am also putting in the ages to generate an "average age" just for my own personal amusement (I know its not legal).

@Nock , that living bottle stuff is fun. At this point, I have a "bit of everything since ~2011" bottle, an all-Islay bottle, and all-Campbeltown bottle, and junk bottle

In the junk bottle, I recently put to rest a poor Bowmore IB from Murray McDavid, some Charbay R5 that I really didn't like, a heel of Glen Moray 10 YO Chardonnay, and a healthy dollop of Connemara CS. The last two aren't really junk, but I'm not too excited about them and I want them to offset the actual junk.

@Nock Great idea. I've always wondered if certainly whiskies age better than others. What do you think of putting glass marbles in bottles to "preserve the broth" after it does down far enough instead of pouring the contents into smaller bottles?

@Cunundrum, glass marbles should be a great option, compared to argon gas or similar. I've definitely considered that. I guess there would be some bottle loss due to coating the marbles, but I can't imagine it would be significant.

Tonight, I finished a Blackadder Peat Reek 200 ml 61.2% bottle. It was pretty good. Probably a Caol Ila. With some water the palate improved but the nose declined. The nose wanted a little water and the palate more. So they fought a bit with each other. This made the whisky hard to please. I really miss the bottle of 45% Smoking Islay that I had last spring. It was quite nice. Anyway, tonight is the eve of my birthday and I sat drinking and listening to poetry on Youtube. I listened to some readings of Neruda by a melodramatic English man, and then got tired of the sentimentality; so I decided to switch to Bukowski reading Bukowski at Bellevue Community College. Wasn't long before I got tired of the hyperbolic arc of extremity that I once liked as a man half of my present age but now I find the bulk of it just a little too calculating and even suspicious as cultural programming designed to alienate the sexes from each other, and to push men into the cold embrace of bad living. Basically to erode society so it can be controlled easier by crushing an appreciation of goodness, honesty, and respect out of the general population. I don't trust Bukowski as I once did. It even occurred to me that the monthly income he received from John Martin, a man who did not have much money to his name, is highly suspect. Martin was probably just a front for the CIA and Bukowski was probably on the payroll. Big deal. One thing is certain: his letters to bosses at the post office reveal the true man who was servile, ingratiating and eager to please, even desperate. Not the upstart rebel he played in his writings. Anyway, here at the lodge, it was another night of drinking and listening and some readings of poetry. A pleasant enough way to usher in my birthday. And now, before bed, I think I will taste a bit of 22 year old Clynelish. The bottle is oxygenating nicely and tastes much better than it did upon first uncorking over a month ago. This little bottle of Blackadder smells a little of vanilla and the sea now. I think I will cork it and sniff it for a few days, here and there, before washing it out and making it ready as a whisky saver little bottle for when the big ones go down a little too low over a little too much time to play it safe. These days, I no longer invite friends over to finish my bottles as I once did. I've found that my friends are generally ungrateful sponges and I have less patience for them than I once did. That's what a few hundred more waxing and waning moons will do for a man in a city like the one in which I live, where life is cheap and good whisky is getting more and more expensive. Blackadder is a class act and I hope it has not gone the way of the Dodo. What a handsome little bottle this is, with a wooden stop above the cork and a nice shape to the bottle, rather stout in a pleasing way and with a label that reminds me of pirates for some reason. I really do like Blackadder a great deal and hope the company has not fallen on hard times. Give me another single cask of Ardbeg and I will continue to be a loyal patron and to spread the good word. Praise be to clever independent bottlers of those casks that seem to escape notice until they are sold like an act of serendipity.

Wiser's Legacy L12303, every bit as savoury and satisfying today as when it was opened in April. This same bottle was used in the Legacy blending exercise in Collingwood, ON in April of this year. I encourage Legacy fans to to attempt the exercise with friends, it's a blast!

Here's the exercise info:

Great fun for all regardless of your favourite whisky style or preference. This blending exercise will enhance the understanding of the relationship between grain, wood, and distillation method. It is educational and a wonderful gateway experience for those willing to explore bold and new frontiers.

Paddockjudge Legacy Recipe:

The resulting blend is about as close to Wiser's Legacy as you can get without opening a bottle of Legacy. Much of the fun is derived from experimenting with varying ratios and product substitutions.

Here is an excerpt from my comment to @Robert99 on his review of Wiser's Legacy

There is a lot going on with Legacy. Glancing at my collection of notes from a master class, and subsequent discussion, with Dr. Don Livermore, who succeeded David Doyle (2007 Red Letter and the launch of Legacy, 2010) as Master Distiller at Corby's/Wiser's/ Meagher's, this particular expression is a blend derived from varying styles of whisky; pot still rye, malted rye, column and pot still corn and barley whiskies. The rye whisky component is Lot No. 40. The barley whisky is particularly delicious, most notable were the grassy notes that are characteristic of column still production. Believe it or not, the star of the show was the pot double-distilled corn whisky - absolutely incredible, like a long-aged Cameron Bridge single grain Scotch.

Dr. Don Livermore indicated the age of the whiskies employed to be 10 years (Red Letter being 13 years, finished in new oak for approximately 5 months and basically column distilled). The new oak used to age all of Legacy's component whiskies is undoubtedly a large part of the unique flavour profile exhibited by this blend; however, the method of distillation is equally influential and makes its mark on Wiser's Legacy. Each of the component parts are truly very fine examples of the various grain varietals, but the method of distillation sets each apart from the other. The floral and fruity aromas from the rye component (Corby's Lot No.40) can be attributed to the copper pot single distillation. The relative absence of any sulphurous, grassy, or soapy notes indicates to me that the proportion of pot distilled whiskies is much greater than that of column distilled whiskies."

@paddockjudge

But after a few years on the job, wouldn't he have to change his name to "liverLESS"?

Liver-NO-more

Smith and Cross Jamaican rum 57% ABV - Last 100 or so CC went into a banana flambé and I supplemented with a little Havana club. It's like adding nutmeg!

I won't miss that bottle though. When I first opened it I bought 2 more.

Bunnahabhain 12yr old, and Fourty Creek Barrel Select, Johnnie Walker Black. Not all at once though. (: