What was the last bottle you finished?

@Victor Well yes but that's just to overcome the use of sherry during the much longer shipping period compared to shipping to Scotland, I guess. Good idea, but it doesn't say anything about the cask itself or the seasoning, I'm confident it is a sherry seasoned cask like the others whereas you suggested the sherry that goes into them is more mature or more "actual sherry".

@WhiskyNotes I cannot say that I know for sure. Sounds like you do not know either, but assume it to be the more common practice. Even if the Amrut casks are merely sherry-seasoned rather than dumped from mature sherry maturation, the issue of sulphur candling prior to transport would have been avoided.

@Nozinan, perhaps you could ask an Amrut Rep about this when you go to Spirit of Toronto in about 6 weeks. Maybe you could get an answer, maybe not.

@Victor Sadly, I won't be at SOT this year. The Ontario Medical Association, in its infinite (lack of) wisdom, has decided that every once in a while it's annual meeting has to be outside of Toronto and this year it chose Ottawa, and it's the same weekend.

Really sad, because the NBC masterclass is only 15 dollars this year.

And unless I missed something on the website, Ashok won't be there. Amrut has not had a presence to my knowledge since 2014 and SOT is poorer for it.

Whistlepig rye, single barrel store pick from third base wine and spirits. I held onto the last of it for as long as I could.

What a solid whisky, it has a great mouthfeel and the oak and spices were well balanced.

I was able to score two more bottles form the same cask. One found its way to ADL superfan @paddockjudge and the other is stuck in limbo and might never make it across the border due to the sudden unreliability of my mule.

@Victor This didn’t disabuse you of any and all romanticism regarding “sherry” casks? It is my understanding that the sherry used for whisky casks is not drinking quality sherry, since actual sherry tends to use a solera system and the casks aren’t taken out until they’re unusable.

@cricklewood, The WP 10 yo single barrel bottling for Third Base tasted closer to 13 YO "M" series WhistlePig than it did other 10 yo single barrel bottlings. By far my favourite 10 yo WP. Thank you.

@Victor I have bought two more bottles of A’bunadh since that horrible batch 45 (54, 56, 58). And none have really done it for me. And with the recent price hike in Virginia I have to say that I think I am done. To be fair, I am not sherry monster Connor. I am a peat head. In no way am I trying to bash sherry monsters or the A’Bunadh line. The fact is that it just doesn’t grab me. I have loved the Amrut Intermediate Sherry line (I have only tried batch 2, 4, and 5). To me that is a perfect sherried whisky. I love that it is not fully sherry matured. Typically, I have only enjoyed sherry casks when used as a percentage of the whole like Springbank 12CS, Benromach 10yo Full Proof, or Ardbeg Uigeadail. Notice all of those have peat in them. Maybe I really just enjoy a touch of sherry with my peat? I tried one fully sherry matured single cask 19yo Bowmore that was out of this world. Sadly, so was the price.

@cricklewood I know the feeling when your mule becomes unreliable... It makes it very hard to play the long game.

I still have 1 bottle of Writer's Tears CS, 2 bottles of Bladnoch (Armstrong era), and a bottle of Booker's in Florida. Since they arrived my friend has moved to Canada and again to California. I despair that I may never see those bottles...

@Nock A'Bunadh (batch 33 in particular) was one of the firsh single malts I ever tried. It may have been the 8th single malt and 6th Scotch, opened at my first ever scotch tasting in 2011. It was not the Macallan 25 that I tasted before it, but that bottle, that turned me on to whisky.

I have tried 13 different batches (plus one fake poured from an A'Bunadh bottle) and only found 2 to be sub-par (really only one was bad, and may have been sulphured).

Now-a-days I don't reach for it as often. I'm pretty sure I like it as much as I used to (batch 49 is above average), but I've discovered so many other expressions and styles over the last 8 years.

But every time I pour myself a dram, I remember why I like it so much...

@Nozinan ouch it seems you have more at stake than I do.

It's part of the risks of the game I guess. I'm just happy I was able to get the judge his bottle from that run.

My next foray is trying to get some friends visiting China to bring something back from duty free. Wish me luck.

@Nozinan I am glad you are a fan. I always wanted to be a fan. I remember buying one of the early batches (maybe 14, 15 or 16?) back in the day. I wasn't grabbed back then either. I wanted to like A'Bunadh because it was the only real alternative to Macallan Cask Strength.

To my own sorrow I liked the Mac much better. For years it remained a regular fixture on my bar. I would buy a bottle every two or three years. Until, that is, I went to pick up another and it had been discontinued (what year was that 2012 or 2013?). I am one of those who secretly has hated Macallan for almost two decades. I think part of the hatred was stoked by the early cries of doom from the late Michael Jackson (whisky writer). He wrote long ago of Macallan's practice of ending the use of Golden Promise Barley. He told us to watch for the distillery to slip in quality in the name of profit. He stirred my ire for the distillery back then. I have only watched it continue to decrease quality while upping their branding and marketing. Dang I hate them. But oh how good was their Cask Strength? Very. That is why there new Classic Cut is such a strong disappointment for me.

@Nock Agree on most counts (except I haven't had the depth and breadth of your experiences).

I think Macallan CS is one of the best Sherry bombs out there (well, it's no longer out there...). It has some unique notes (I think @Victor would refer to them as low pitch) of prune and other dried fruits that I rarely if ever get in other malts. I would never have tasted it if I hadn't traded for a bottle of it with @paddockjudge, and neither of us would have scored a total of 8 bottles at original price, in 2014! I'm very grateful for the 2 bottles he allowed me to hang on to, and while the bottle he gave me is almost gone, maybe we can taste from a fresh bottle in the future...

@Nock, of course it would be Macallan Cask Strength that brings us to agreement. I love that stuff. I'm not a luxury whisky buyer because I absolutely hate to pay a premium for any bottle of whisky, but there a few expressions of whisk(e)y that entice me to open my wallet, Macallan Cask Strength is one of them.

I'm not a fanboy of A'Bunadh, @Nozinan is. He once sourced ten bottles of Mac CS after it was discontinued, kept two, returned two, then only delivered six to me. I think it was his A'Bunadh bias that influenced that decision. I don't know if I can ever forgive him.

@Nock ....perhaps if he opens another Mac CS I could find it in my heart to forgive....lol

Only a great friend like @Nozinan would deliver the goods. I truly appreciate his generosity and thoughtfulness. I have opened and shared two bottles per year of Macallan Cask Strength for the past five years.

Another bottle came to me two or three years ago from @Robert99. He happened upon an orphaned bottle in a SAQ store. I was floored by his generosity. A couple more bottles came from Alberta Tim in Edmonton. Good whisky, good friends!

Cheers! tumbler_glass:

@paddockjudge That was incredibly generous. Have you noticed the Mac CS bottle prices on the auction sites? They are going for stupid crazy money. Typically 500-700 euro and up. (which is $750-1200 Canadian). We apparently are not alone in our mutual appreciation for the departed Mac CS.

Hoard your remaining bottles well! Sadly, I doubt we will see the like again from Macallan. And with all the talk of the lack of fully matured sherry casks . . . I'm not sure we will see the like from any other distillery in the foreseeable future. Sad indeed.

@Nozinan I can't believe that @paddockjudge is correct . . . you actually returned some bottles of Mac CS to the store??? Say it isn't true!

@Nock

We were stupid. I say we. And I mean we.

My brother in law found 2 bottles at $93 Canadian out the door. We bought them.

There were nine bottles at $73 dollars out the door. My BIL took 8. Unclear why we left the 9th. Then because we had the cheap ones, the decision (and @paddockjudge agreed) was to return the 2 higher priced ones.

At the time TWE was selling it at £125.

We were stupid. I could have had 3-4 in the bunker instead of 2.

@Nozinan, @Nock, I was only the bobble-headed sychophant. lol

When asked how many I wanted, I replied, whatever you don't keep for yourself.

@Nozinan, I'm just having a bit of fun. I am ever so grateful to have rec'd half of a case of Macallan Cask Strength. Thank you again.

@Nock, I will open and share a bottle of Mac CS before I sell it at any price. I have one tucked away for a friends and family moment. That is some very special juice...and it blends well with mature Laphroaigs.

Last night I finished off a bottle of Joseph Magnus 50% bourbon batch #7 (finished in oloroso, PX, and cognac). An odd bourbon. Sweeter than typical bourbon. I have heard very good things about their Cigar blend, but I doubt I will every buy another bottle of this. It was one of those curiosities that I allowed myself to dabble in. Sadly, the price of admission ($91.99 plus tax) is well beyond what I am willing to pay again for the experience. One of those buying experience where I thought, "Why did I buy this? What was I thinking?" At half the price I might try it again.

@Nock I had two samples of Joseph A. Magnus bourbon. The first was sulphur ruined. The second was quite good. $ 100 is a lot for even the good one. Throw in the risk of a bad batch, and it is not a good bet to buy a bottle...if you are sensitive to sulphur. Yes, the better batches would make a very nice $ 50 bourbon.

Just finished off the last of a bottle of Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength batch 008. Wow what a whisky! I do believe it is my favorite batch yet! A peated whisky at 10 years of age with an ABV at 59.9%??? Crazy. Most Islay peated whiskies go well under 60% by the time they are 10 years of cask aging.

My theory is that you can find ABV over 60% in scotch when a.) they bottle the spirit off the still higher than standard 63.5% (like Bruichladdich which fills casks at 68.5%-72%, and Aberlour which fills at 69.1% supposedly)

b.) the spirit is put in to extremely re-used casks that are nearly inert. I remember all the Diageo Rare Malt whiskies released in the 90's that were all 20 years and older most right around 60% . . . crazy. Why don't we see more of that?

c.) the ABV remains much higher in casks aging in certain regions like Speyside or the Lowlands. (You have that Glenfarclas 40 year old 105 (which is 60%) from several years ago . . . how did they do that? Supposedly, there was some spirit put in the cask right of the still so near 70%)

I guess ultimately each cask is different and gives off a different angle share. I am just grateful for each decimal of ABV.

@Nock I asked a similar question about cask ABV, while visiting Shelter Point Distillery on Vancouver Island last year. The answer I received indicated that the ABV on a few casks actually, increased. Where as, the majority of spirit in the majority of their cask deceased over time. Shelter Point were using previously filled Jack Daniel's barrels.

Very interesting. Knowing the climate of Vancouver Island (I lived in Vancouver for several years) I am surprised that they experience any barrels increasing in proof (as can happen in Kentucky). The whole ABV does seem to be one of those mysteries that has just enough consistence to make you think you know what is happening. But surprise! Each barrel is different. This is one reason I am fan of single casks.

Finished the last of Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey last night with friends. Glad to have poured the last drop so as I can now move on and buy Jameson's Black Barrel for the same price and it'll most likely be way better! Nothing wrong with the Teeling, it's acceptable (I was never wowed). But now knowing there's a Jameson that I think I'll enjoy so much more and for only $30, I'm in.

@archivist Was Teeling Small Batch underwhelming? I was incredibly disappointed with Teeling Single Grain but I didn't want to paint them all with the same brush...

@archivist Jameson Black Barrel is a really nice whiskey, but I found that time was NOT its friend. If I re-purchase it, I'd definitely gas it.....or make sure I consumed the whole bottle in under 2 months.

@archivist, decanting into small bottles with little air space is even more reliable for preservation.

When I strongly suspect that a whisk(e)y is fragile and vulnerable to deteriouration I will decant it just as soon as I am convinced that its best flavours are showing.

I do not have the experience of owning a bottle of Jameson Black Bottle, yet, but it would be first on my list if I were short of Irish blended.

@dloewen Yes, the Teeling Small Batch is underwhelming - at least my bottle was. I could have it as an everyday drinker and it'd be OK (if I didn't have much else to drink). It's slightly caramel-like with vanilla and has a clean finish - but that's it. One note, same note, and not much else.

I've tried the Single Grain and wasn't impressed with that either. However, I do have one bottle of Teeling Single Barrel Carcavelos Finish I bought a few years ago and it's very good. It might have been a limited release, but I do wish I had bought another bottle.

Based on my experience with the small batch, and the single grain, I'm not keen on spending money to try the single malt -- but I am still curious and hope there will be a bottle shop tasting near me so I can try it.

@OdysseusUnbound Thank you for the tip! With the way things have been going at work, I imagine I will have no problem finishing the Black Barrel in two months or less...

I just finished a Glenfiddich 12 that was gifted to me and that was kept at my in-laws’ place. It was a very decent pour, exactly what I expect from this bottle. Hopefully the Wiser’s Lanny McDonald that’s also sitting there is getting better with time and air.