Which bottle did you just buy and why?

@Victor The ex-Bourbon Cask is what really sold me. It seems like every Scotch single malt is wine-finished or wine-matured these days. And while I like many of these malts, I really enjoy an ex-bourbon Cask maturation for its ability to let the spirit “shine on its own” if that makes any sense.

@OdysseusUnbound of course, it makes perfect sense. Bourbon residue does not overpower Scottish malt. Do a 100% sherry or other wine cask maturation and much of the time all you can taste is the wine. The tradition of Scottish whisky allows the flavour of Scottish malt whisky to be 100% hijacked by wine casks, or more, accurately by wine-sloshed casks. If you "treat" the casks before the liquid is added, that is OK, but don't even think of putting anything into the liquid while it is in the cask.

One very exciting day in the future I will open up my bottle of this one:

connosr.com/kilchoman-single-cask-293-2007…

I put that bottle's desirability up there with Ardbeg Supernova and Bruichladdich Octomore.

@Victor i dont recall in which discussion you posted but are you saying that the particular sweetness in burboun is from t the virgin casks and not the mashbill? I do recall you said once that the corn spirit is pretty tasteless and neutral... If so, why is that sweetness not present in malt whisky from bourbon casks?

@RikS there is a little bit of residue from bourbon barrels used later for malt whisky maturation, but the sweet component of the residue is quite small, I would say. Dissolved into a hogshead, say, it doesn't amount to much.

I would not say corn spirit is neutral in flavour, just that it is not typically sweet, because the sugars have been fermented into sour excreted byproducts of the yeast. The question of how much residual, i.e. unfermented, sugar remains in any whisk(e)y is an open one, because no one apparently documents that rather important and interesting measurement. Taste some unaged corn spirit for yourself. Fermented corn spirit gives a strong flavour when it is unaged, but that flavour quickly is overtaken when aged in oak (especially new oak) or combined with grains with much more flavour, such as wheat or rye. If I were to estimate the flavour intensity of the four common whisky grains on a 10 scale I would put it about like this:

Corn 1/10

Malted Barley 2.5/10

Unmalted Barley 4.5/10

Wheat 5/10

Malted Rye 8/10

Unmalted Rye 9/10

This is why corn never messes up blended Scotch whisky, but wheat does. Wheat clashes with peat, smoke, and wine. Blended Scotch Whisky which does not work is typically the result of poor flavour combining.

@RikS I believe Dr Don Livermore once said something to the effect of “there’s more sweetness imparted to any whisky from 18 months in charred virgin oak than from 10 years in first fill casks.” Bourbon must go into virgin oak casks whereas Scotch single malt rarely does.

2 more bottles of Compass Box No Name. After opening my bottle last night, I knew that I needed more for stock as it won't be available again. Beautiful whisky!

Bought a bottle of Jameson's (just the standard regular old stuff) last night for a tasting paired with Jameson's Beau's Cask and the Beau's Strong Patrick Ale...We all found the effect of the Beau's casks to have a subtle effect on the Jameson's.

@KRB80 hey, how about a review? Tell us something specific about Compass Box No Name that will make us want to lay out $ 150 for this bottle.

@Victor I will try to sit down and dedicate myself to that in the near future. :)

I just picked up a bottle of Green Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey. I’ve never owned a bottle. A good friend keeps some on hand most of the time, and I’ve always found it rich beyond what the 40% abv would suggest. I’m getting more into Irish Whiskey these days so I figured I’d take @Victor ‘s advice and “get it while you can” as this one isn’t always available at the KGBO. In Soviet Ontario, Whiskey shoot you!

@dloewen, nothing wrong with standard old Jameson's!

I just picked up a bottle of Highland Park Viking Scars 10 yo because I need to acknowledge my image as an experienced warrior.
I hope it's not an April joke but Serge Valentin of WhiskyFun gave it 90 points recently and it's only €37;. Perhaps it ain't Lot 40 Cask Strength but it will be a surprise anyway .

Highland Park used to be one of the best distilleries in the 20th century.

Glenturret SMWS 16.33 (8 year - Dec. 2009) "Melville’s other monster" - Re-charred hogshead - 62.0% ABV

Why did I buy this? Because it’s heavily peated and because I’ve never owned a Glenturret before.

Went into one of my local places to grab some beer for the fire tonight (first beautiful day/night!), and decided to check out the single malt section per usual. In addition to Talisker 10, I noticed that Deagio has now reduced the price for Clynelish 14 as well it seems. The price at the store went from $60 to $40 and I couldn't help myself! If the quality hasn't been compromised in recent years, this is an absolute bargain. Although I'm not a big Deagio guy, it's nice to see [drastic] price reductions amidst these days of ever inflating prices, often times even completely bloated prices with real reason as to why.

I have spent WAY too much on scotch this past month but this cheap purchase will save me some money in the long run. lol

@KRB80 just a few days ago I nearly posted about just now starting to see some signs of whisky prices cracking a bit. I don't think that it is slack demand. I think that it is ferocious competition for the whisk(e)y dollar/pound/euro. The competition may be greater in the USA than in other countries currently, with those 1,500 (2,000?) small US distilleries on line. There are probably 1,000 now in the USA which produce whiskey.

@Victor That's a great point. I can only hope that other distilleries/distributors will start to join in on the competition.

@KRB80 You mentioned Diageo. Diageo is a competitor. Sure, they'll price 'what the market will bear' when they can, but they will price to retain market share when they need to.

@Victor & @KRB80 - Funny you mention price drops, I thought the same thing recently. Not by much, and not 'across the board' but I've definitely been seeing more and more 'deals' and reductions and prices on some malts coming down by a few pounds.

I'm sure there are a host of reasons but I sincerely hope that the out of touch price hikes of recent years have finally started to backfire and sales have been dropping off. I'm dubious about that but comments all over the web seem to suggest many have seen this as the last straw and won't put up with it anymore. Balblair being the latest 'offender'.

@RianC Agreed, and in reference to my 'just now' post, it's also been interesting how the A'Bunadh went from £49 to £89.... saw a sharp decline in sales... and is now coming back on regular offer here in the UK for £59...

Of course I understand how people want to jump on the whisky bandwagon ad squeeze out the maximum price elasticity for their expressions (and if that allows increased profits that can then be directed to new experimental expressions, I'm only happy in a way..), but equally I hope that the more 'in your face' and blatant spikes which have upset a dedicated following will create a penalizing backlash... Alienating a loyal customer base on a sunny day tends to be bad long-term business for the inevitable rainy day that's bound to follow sooner or later...

Cudos to e.g. Glenfarclas in that respect.

Easter hols for the next two weeks which means mucho Daddy day care. Was in the supermarket earlier getting some veg to make soup for lunch and having to constantly keep Tom's eyes off the Easter eggs that seemed to be everywhere . . .

Just as I'm thinking how easy it is to get kids attention with such prominent advertising I see a bottle of JD master Distiller No.4 on sale for £20 - I mean that's a good price and, well, yes, I'm a total sucker ha ha!

I bought a lagavulin 16 because I was given 75$ in LCBO gift certificates for Christmas. So, in reality I paid 50$. It is one of my go to malts.

@PeterG7 LCBO has the 8 for just a few dollars more than your gift card. I think that's the one I would go for. More affordable than the 12. Cheaper than its original release. Mind you I haven't tried subsequent batches.

Talking about price cuts. I've noticed the price of Highland Park 18 has dropped recently with most UK retailers. It's been around £110 a bottle in the UK for at least 5 years now. It hasn't dropped by a huge amount just, to around £99 (Amazon are doing it for £90). I guess going from 3 figures to 2 is a big psychological drop in price. It's interesting because Edrington group are scalpers of the highest order and wouldn't sell it for £99 if they thought they could get £99.01 for it.

Makes the Balblair price hike all the more baffling. I say again they won't sell much whisky at that price. Very few people in the UK are prepared to pay £120 for an 18 year old whisky. Even less £500 for a 25 year old.

Whatever Diageo is doing on the business end, they're doing it right. Stock price is up about 7% since I added it in January. I invest in what I know haha. But yes I have seen Diageo drop prices to retain and especially grow market share in emerging markets (Asia).

@casualtorture They certainly have the muscle to go about it that way.

@casualtorture - First off - nice one re. the shares. I know pretty much nothing about such things but imagine it can be a fruitful endeavour if one knows what one is doing?

When I got seriously into whisky a few years back many 18 yo malts were around the £70 - £80 mark i.e. Tali, Bunna, HP OldP etc.

Only the Tali, and to a lesser extent Caol Ila, has retained that price point to the present day with most going well above the £100 mark. I guess I'm trying to say that, yes, Diageo can be criticised for many things but in general their pricing is usually pretty fair.

I just bought a Singleton 12 of Dufftown. Why....?? Well, mainly because I happened to walk by a place that advertised it on sale for £14.99 (the Wine Rack, if anyone in the UK feel compelled). Secondly, because a quick look on the net showed some (surprisingly) positive reviews.

if low expectations make for the better parties, then this could be the party of the century... cause my expectations are pretty low. But, I look forward to try it / review it, and always good to have something inoffensive in the shelf for the guests who aren't used to the more intense varieties of things.

@RikS You're right! It has received good reviews. I have a couple in my cabinet. I believe it is a very good malt to introduce inexperience whisky drinkers to. My wife, who is not a whisky lover will, on occasion, drink this whisky. It's light and doesn't leave an after taste. So, enjoy your purchase.

@PeterG7 @bwmccoy @cricklewood So, Singleton 12 Dufftown... Just opened, and a small 3cl pour to see what this is all about. Well, frankly, it ain't bad! (as @paddockjudge would have said "it tastes nice for £14.99!" )

The nose is pretty light with some green banana, just about ripe papaya, light summer barley, lemon zest, apple peels...

The palate carries on well from the nose. At 40% it ain't exactly driving the flavours but it's all there. The malty elements shift into some powder sugar, vanilla stalks, banana again, a hint of black (not white) pepper, a touch of oak.

The finish is short to medium, with fried banana lingering a while and a sliver of pepper remaining.

In conclusion, this is not an expression I would ever have bought - but I acted on impulse as the price was so good. And, yes, now I'm pretty content to have it. No, this is not going to be a regular 'go back to' dram for me, but I can see how some days I'll want to revisit it. I can definitely see its place when a non-whisky drinker visits and starts oogling the cabinet for something to try, and it'll be interesting to see how it evolves with time.

Over the winter months I kept my whisky purchases to a minimum. Today I decided to purchase five new bottles. I have had Talisker 18 year old high on list. I finally was able to find a bottle. I swallowed hard at the price and bought it. I find I am enjoying Balblair these days. I bought the (19)99 expression. I have the Arran 10 year old and the 18 year old. I purchased the 14 year old to fill in the gap.

I have read good things about Deanston so I picked up the 14 year old Organic. The Pennsylvania state store had Aberlour A’bunadh batch 62 discounted to $70 US, so I bought one to add to the various batches I already have. This has drained my wallet at present, but I managed to fill some gaps for the moment.