What was the last bottle you finished?

@RianC If you are going by reviews, Ralfy gives some positive marks for Balblair in general.

Port Askaig 100 proof. It took a while to settle but it was wonderful towards the end. I scored it 87 but had I reviewed it recently it would have been 88 - 89 easily.

Needing to make room in my cabinet, @paddockjudge, in for a visit, was kind enough to find a better home for three of my bottles, a 1/4 full Glenrothes 1998 open since 2013, CC Chairmain's Select opened in January 2015 (2/3 full), and Ardmore Traditional cask 1l (half full) purchased who knows when and opened in 2014.

These are bottles that take up space and I was never reaching for them. There may come a time when I regret purging them, but I doubt it.

Finished a bottle of WT 101. It went fairly quickly because, according to my wife, I was pouring it for everyone a few weeks ago when we celebrated my second son’s 11th birthday.

@OdysseusUnbound, how much Wild Turkey 101 will be consumed when you celebrate your eleventh son's 2nd birthday?

@Victor I’m not sure, but it won’t be with my current wife. Three sons is the limit, according to her. But seriously, keeping in mind the limited variety of bourbon available in Ontario, Wild Turkey (101 and Rare Breed) is how I think bourbon should taste. That and OGD 114.

@RianC, I hardly drank enough of that Balblair to pin down what I disliked about it, and I never took any notes.

Alls Is can says is that I opened it alongside an Old Pulteney 12, and every single time I went to pour a "natural" style scotch, the OP was the clear choice.

@MadSingleMalt interesting definition of 'natural'. Just out of curiosity, how would you compare Talisker 10 to OP 12 in that respect?

When I go for 'natural', I tend to come to Talisker 10 which I perceive to be a 'whisky, the way I always thought whisky would be'. (if I then want to add some sherry, there's a multitude to pick from ranging from HP12 to....you name it, and if I want to get some smoke and iodine in there there's also a multitude of Ardbeg, Laga, Laphroaig etc etc...).

@RikS For me, "natural" just means ex-bourbon with little-to-no peat.

In my mind, Talisker has way too much peat to go into the "natural" bucket. By yourdefinition, though, it certainly fits! I love Talisker.

@MadSingleMalt So Amrut would probably the most natural single malt around. They have 46% and CS versions that are traditionally matured, I assume in new oak or bourbon casks, and then there are the single cask bourbon cask expressions.

Of course there are the wine cask (+ orange peel casks) , peated styles too, but the natural ones are among the best in class.

@Nozinan, I can dig it. A basic Amrut is on my (shrinking) gotta-try-one-of-these-days list. I only ever had a Fusion.

@Nozinan I'm not sure you can identify one as the most natural - there are a number of distilleries who do ex-bourbon, unpeated whisky with a "craft" presentation ie uncoloured, unchilfiltered, higher ABV. Remember that thread on "just the Barley"? Plenty of good contenders on there for natural or bare bones whisky.

Just to throw my hat in the ring, I would prefer that said "natural" whisky, in the case of Scotch especially, shouldn't be too heavy on the oak trickery. I find a lot of distilleries are finishing or bumping up their whiskys (especially NAS) with heavy handed oak use.

It provides a kind of instant appeal but leaves no room for the distillate to speak and doesn't leave you with anything memorable to remember them by.

Redbreast 15

I opened this back in March, and its final dram slid into my belly on the way out the door to a concert last night. It never did much to impress me. I won't buy it again.

@MadSingleMalt How come? What didn’t you like about it?

@OdysseusUnbound, there just wasn't much there. For me, it basically read as a very generic whisky of fine quality.

I'm beginning to suspect that the charms of additional aging are lost on me.

@MadSingleMalt @OdysseusUnbound

I'm hoping to find out what the fuss is about. My nephew has a friend who (for some reason) seems to be selling a number of bottles for half the current price. My BIL is picking up Redbreast 15 for $55 in Calgary (and a Ballantine's 17 for $45). I'm hoping to get a taste when I visit in December.

@cricklewood - Likewise (hat thrown in said ring)! I would take 'natural' to mean barrel strength, NCF, no added colour and would add in organically and preferably locally grown barley. Not too many of them about but I guess Bruichladdich put out the most whisky that is closest to that definition?

The wood, bourbon or otherwise, is a big part of what makes whisky 'whisky'. I'm not sure if I'd see sherry as anymore (un)natural than bourbon?

On a tangent - It does make me wonder how 'ye olde whisky' used to taste as I'd guess it was matured exclusively in locally grown Scottish (or wherever they were making it) Oak and only used to mature barley distillate? That said, most of it probably never saw the inside of a barrel . . .

@MadSingleMalt, you like "zippy". Age diminishes "zippy". Peat, smoke, brine, the stuff you most like--none of those are enhanced by age. Grain flavours can be "zippy", but usually become far less so after a lot of used oak conditioning "mellows" them and used oak flavours are progressively added and take more prominence.

It has been a long time since I have tasted Redbreast 15, maybe 6 years. At the time I didn't even like it, much less prefer it to Redbreast 12. Lots of old used oak flavours which do not appeal to me. If somebody gave me a bottle of Redbreast 15 I would probably look to trade it away.

@Victor, you're totally right about my stated preference for zippy—and a tip o' the hat to you for the thought.

But even when I go into a different type of whisky that supposed to offer different pleasures (say, a fruity Irish whisky with a healthy amount of barrel time), I'm worried that I can't even taste the goodness that's supposed to be offered up—let alone enjoy it. I don't know if I could tell you what the Redbreast 15 really brought to the table over the 12, for example.

Maybe I should have done a 12 v 15 SBS before the opportunity was lost to me.

Don't put too much attention on this. I'll keep thinking about it, and maybe do some experimenting when I get a chance.

@MadSingleMalt It comes with time. Your ability to detect nuance, I bet, is better now than it was 2 years ago. I've certainly noticed I get more out of nosing and tasting than I did a few short years ago. I'm no supertaster, but I think now at least if someone offers me somethingrare AND special, it's not a wasted dram. I can actually appreciate it.

@MadSingleMalt the 12 is better. I had the 12, the 12cs, and the 15 at a whisky show. The 12cs was the standout. The 21 is transcendent.

I killed a Corryvreckan last night. Great stuff: super fresh, sharp in a good way, spicy. In a word, zippy! :)

Given that I have two unopened Tens and that I got my fill of the annual one-offs a while back, I predict that Corryvreckan will be the only Ardbeg that claims any more of my whisky money over the next few years.

@MadSingleMalt You’re making me want to open my Corryvreckan!!

@nooch I thoroughly enjoy the 12 CS, 15yo, and 21yo Redbreast. I have done my best to appreciate the differences, and even similarities, these expressions have. I just wish I had a budget which would allow me to make each one a daily dram, especially the 21yo. As some of you know (posted on another thread) I got my hands on a couple bottles of the 21yo.

Now, to post something related to this thread. I am not sure if I am the only Connosr that has had difficulty coming up with a post for this thread. You see, after moving from Beijing back to the US, which was two years ago as of the 27th of July, I haven't finished any bottles. So, I guess the lats bottle I did finish was either a bottle of 15yo Redbreast or the 16yo Nadurra, I had in my library before moving. I gave the rest of my library away to friends, yes, to remember me by. HA!

@OdysseusUnbound Me too. Next time I host a whisky tasting that doesn't include my Talisker 57 N glutton...

@MadSingleMalt Corry vs oogie- you go corry? I haven’t had it. Only a bottle of the oogie. What differences do you find?

@ajjarrett I empathize.

Of the 13 bottles that left my open collection in 2018, I think 4 were opened in 2016 or later. 6 were either given or traded away with between 25-50% remaining. One went back to 2011 and another I opened in 2010...BEFORE I started getting serious about whisky.

The problem, I think, is a desire to try new things and an inability to get back to open bottles.

Last year, in an effort to keep my collection from growing, I opened several bottles at the end of the year. This year I am forcing myself to end the year with fewer OPEN bottles as well as sealed. Next year most of the almost finished bottles will be gone, so the job will be even harder.

If only more whiskies came as 200 cc bottles...

@OdysseusUnbound, what are you waiting for? We got perfect fall whisky-drinking weather down here!

@MadSingleMalt sounds like the Corry is challenging the Oogie fanclub?!