Which bottle did you just buy and why?

@Astroke, not your drinking arm, I hope.

@ajjarrett no worries, I am a two fisted drinker, so I can adjust :)

@Astroke Then it wasn't a big sacrifice. ^_^

@Astroke i can imagine! To think it was abailable for about $80 only a few short years ago...

Thaks to @paddockjudge and aomeone who didn’t show up to a tasting, I got to try it without opening mine.

very informative discussion gentlemen. I had always wondered to myself why the UK went up in 3% intervals. If the whisky industry ever needed informed, passionate whisky people to use their whisky superpowers, I do believe they would look to us first.

@casualtorture, I've wondered about it for years, viz. "what in the world is special about moving from 40% ABV to 43% to 46%? And why would everybody in the UK whisky world agree that there is something God-ordained about using 3% ABV increments?" When something has seemed weak at 43%, the "they" "always" seem to say, "Oh, that would be better at 46% ABV!" and never, "Let's bottle everything at 50% ABV or Cask Strength, whichever is higher."

I just figured out these relationships for myself today, after doing some online research about imperial proof. I have long suspected that something like this was the case, i.e. that the people doing the distilling have some internal measure to which they refer by which they SWAGedly rationalize the way they make their decisions. (Reminder: SWAG = Sophisticated Wild-Ass Guess.)

@Astroke, Left arm and leg or right?

@Victor, let us give credit where it's due. :)

The good people at Bruichladdich, at least, do seem to follow your idealistic standard: "Let's bottle everything at 50% ABV or Cask Strength, whichever is higher."

At least, that seemed to their trend over the past couple years. Is it still?

I picked up my Kilkerran 12 from the KGBO today. I almost picked up a bottle of A’Bunadh as well, but it was Batch 59 and I promised myself I’d only buy one if it was Batch 60. Logical? Not at all. But I’m trying to reel in my spending.

A friend brought these in for me from Alberta and at somewhat reasonable prices. The Michter's Barrel Proof Rye/Toasted Barrel are fantastic. This is the second bottle I have purchased. The KC Rye CS was on my short list.

I exchanged a bottle I know I did not love for a brand that gets no love from most whisky aficionados. Sure, there was lots on offer at KGBO's flagship store but, this one was on it's own.

@fiddich1980 I’ve got a soft spot for Glenfiddich, but I don’t buy it often. But bottled at > 50%!!?? I wish !!!

@OdysseusUnbound About a year or so ago it was all over the LCBO. Never having liked a Fiddich I didn't pull the trigger...but I thought of it.

@fiddich1980, et alii, I am on record for half a dozen years of being a big fan of Glenfiddich 15 DE. It's probably the only OB Glenfiddich I consider worth buying. Old release was fabulous with almost no length of finish. So good, though, that I love it anyway. Maybe this current stuff has a finish.

@Victor I almost did not pick this up. I actually, left the store and after coming home. I looked up a few reviews from Connosr, Tomodera, Serge, Ralfy and malt-review.com. Your review indicated the lack of a finish, @Robert99 was enjoyed it, and @Megawatt rated it as "the whisky to have on a desert island". I was browsing Canadian, Bourbon, Irish, Scottish Blends, Single Malts, and World Whiskies, at the LCBO. Add to this the assortment of furnishings wines, casks, Solera, NAS, Age statements, etc... All I really wanted, was a simple whisky, at high strength with a decent age statement at a reasonable price. The reviews that really made me want to buy it were from MoM, and Whiskyexchange. People were complaining about how the whisky went cloudy when they added water or ice. Also, for sentimental reasons Glenfiddich, was the first introduction to SM by a Scottish high school teacher. It maybe awhile before I open this bottle. I still have all those bottles from the "Epic Tasting and Farclas Vertical" to work through. Hopefully, when the Glenfiddich 15 DE is opened, the nose, palate, and finish are on target. Fingers crossed, no sulphur, bad cask, clean distillation, and skillful SM blending.

@fiddich1980, I bet that you will like it. Even people who do not like Glenfiddich often make an exception for this one. 51% ABV gives a fully legitimate concentration of flavours. When my bottle from 2011 got low I went for about 4 years without ever seeing the 15 DE again in my area. It was only from the LCBO with the help from (and trade with) a friend that I was able to buy a second bottle about 2 years ago. I haven't opened up that one yet, but I am delighted to own it.

@fiddich1980 - Like others, I've not been impressed with any Glenfiddichs I've had but would definitely like to try it like that!

N.B. regarding previous conversation about UK mindset ABV incremental bottling units: 51% ABV is the closest whole integer ABV (by a very little bit: 89.25 imperial proof for 51% ABV vs 91 imperial proof for 52% ABV) to 90 Imperial Proof. Glenfiddich is not releasing the 15 yo Distillery Edition at Cask Strength, but at the fourth 5 imperial proof units ratchet higher than the legal minimum.

I’ve always wondered why Glenfiddich is so locked into 40% and 43% ABV releases. Are they pitching their product to beginner drinkers or those people who have heard of their name and figure this is a top notch whisky? BTW... I understand that Glenfiddich is no longer the top selling single malt whisky. Glenlivet has taken over first place. I guess Glenfiddich can’t use that as a selling point any longer.

@DaveM The best description for Glenfiddich from this article "light and estery". Here is the recent stats on the top 10 international whiskies by case volume sales.

scotchwhisky.com/magazine/features/…

@fiddich1980 I actually like Glenfiddich 12 as a light sipper. It’s simple, but I always get bright green apples and toffee from it. I like the 15 Solera as well, but I rarely buy it as there are many I prefer at that price range ($80 CAD).

I notice in a related article that the # 10 most sold (blended) Scotch brand has nearly double the case sales volume of the # 1 selling Scottish Single Malt brand. Statistically, when you say "Scotch whisky" you are still talking blended Scotch whisky. It is only in our private little salons, tasting rooms, and internet cubbyholes that such is not the case.

@DaveM, these big companies make their money on volume. They crave expansion of their market to those who are not used to drinking spirits. I expect that they are happy to keep the ABVs low of their big release whiskies in order to make them approachable to potential new whisky drinkers.

An example of the raising of ABV to expand market sales: Tequila. Tequila is heavily consumed in Mejico at 38% ABV. Tequila is sold in the US at 40% ABV. Why? That's simple! The US consumes more tequila than any other nation on earth. The Tequila producers bottle it at 40% ABV because that's what the Americans expect if they are to buy a bottle of it. In this case increased ABV increases sales.

@fiddich1980 - I'm surprised to see Singleton on that list! Thanks for the link

@OdysseusUnbound - Funnily enough I was thinking about the 15 Solera earlier. It was one of those I really wanted to like (got it as an xmas present the year before last) but it just seemed a a little flat and 'sugar coated'. The 12 isn't bad, and I'd drink it, but it has a strong pear note that seems to take over and doesn't sit that well with me.

@RianC The Glenfiddich 12 is, to me, one of the most consistent and dependable single malts on the market. Yes, batch variations exist everywhere, but I’ve experienced much less with this whisky than with others. I find the 15 Solera much less cloying than some others. And $80 isn’t crazy (here) for a 15 year old whisky. It’s just that there are 3 Laphroaigs around that price range and I’m a sucker for Laphroaig. But all this ‘fiddich talk has got me thinking about the 15 again..

@OdysseusUnbound - You're right about batch variation. I guess Glenfiddich's general profile just doesn't overly appeal. I can see why some would like it though, it's, at the least, a well made malt.

I'd be happy to sample some of your 15 though! You know. . . Just to be certain

One of the online whisky merchants advertised Glenlivet Nadurra (first fill American oak and Olorosso) for a reasonable price. I've tried a sample and I wasn't impressed enough to get a bottle even on special. It just doesn't do it for me. I've not ever tried the 16 year version though - it sounds like it was a cut above.

@Hewie, your taste is reflecting the Connosr mainstream there. Nadurra 16? Thumbs Up! Other Nadurras? Usually not.

I've said this before, but it's just a word that Glenlivet happened to have put on the label of various unrelated whiskies. I don't see any real connection between the old 16-year Nadurra and the things they put that word on now.

Kinda like Laphroaig's "Cairdeas" whiskies. There's no through-line except "this is the word we put the label each year when we release a one-off."

Just bought a springbank 15 fresh port cask strength (society release) and .... the most expensive bottle I’ve ever bought ! Completely stoked for the day I eventually drink my glenfarclas 40 ! (I’m sure I’ll find the right occasion very soon...) more importantly than either of these purchases though ... a friend of mine in the states just got me a bottle of my favourite belly warmer and brought it over to sunny England with him. Belmont farms - Kopper Kettle will make sure our reunion is just as memorable as it should be. Cheers all