Which bottle did you just buy and why?

@RianC As far as I know everything is under the Sagamore name. Currently they have their standard rye, cask strength, double oak (very nice!), vintner's finish and port finish (which won World's Best Rye Whiskey at 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition). prnewswire.com/news-releases/… They did have a cognac finish that they sold and all proceeds went to the flood victims of Ellicott City, but that is now sold out.

@Victor No word (at least they didn't give anything away yet) about when their liquid will start being bottled. I think they are doing the same as Glendalough who's liquid comes from Cooley; they are just finishing it in various casks.

1)WT Rare Breed 116.6: retrospective reason: I can't yet deal will many high proof whiskies, and this certainly does not taste very heavy and is quite good, with or without water. 2)JW Black: a starter for tastings and weekdays: for me, the end of a log day of hobbling and teaching 3) A replacement of Laphroaig 10(for when the price goes up) 4) A'bunadh Two places from which I I wanted to buy it had only a few bottles left.

I really want to try a blind comparison of 'farces 105 and A'bunadh 64. I'm sure the difference in abv and spice in the Aberlour will give up the game.

@TracerBullet For those who haven't done the Sagamore Pandry Tour, it's we'll done with every step of the process represented. The gift shop has interesting products like Port/Rye and others. The bar has everything. A great outing if you have friends visiting. Pours were nice too! I know that they are relying on other manufacturing sources, but so did Willett a few years ago It's an admirable project.

Well, I am in Tokyo now, and I got two bottles on my list (mentioned in another post on the the thread about what you plan to buy)

Glen Garioch 15yr: 53.7%; NCF and NC

Glencadam 15yr: 46%; NCF and NC

And...yes, I did get some Japanese whisky, but I still need to take photos. Those will come later.

@ajjarrett I have the GG 1999 which is this same bottle less 1 year aging. Had already finished 1 bottle and picked up another. Glen Garioch is one of the better priced SM's in the Whisky world. Nice find.

@Astroke

This is my first time to buy a GG. I had tried it at a friend’s place when he hosted a tasting, and I knew I had to get my hands on a bottle.

Three of these I purchased, with a help of a friend, here in Tokyo. The fourth was a gift from another friend. Now I know that in Taipei they are spoiled for choice, especially excuse of the prices, but I really don’t want to leave.

Yes, I know the Nikka Whisky From the Barrel is an NAS and likely to have coloring and have been slightly chilled filtered, but it is still darn good. Yes, I did use the word, darn.

But having tried this before buying a bottle, I knew I wanted to have it in my whisky library.

Another note, this is quite up there in price both in the US and in Taiwan, when you consider it is an NAS and only 50cl, but here it was just around $27 USD per bottle.

Lucky!

@Astroke

When did you get your first bottle of GG? I must admit, and I suspect I am not the only one, it is one of those distilleries/bottles I see on the shelf and had passed up for a long time. And being a person who had to apply “opportunity cost” to most of my purchases I never did take the risk to buy it before I was able to try it. Only problem is, I was never able to try it, so I never did buy it, until now.

@ajjarrett The first bottle was the 1999 Sherry cask (about 3 years ago), takes a little time to open up, the 1998 Wine Cask matured was next, very nice, then the Renaissance Chapter 1, very good as well and I have an unopened 1995, a sample I had was also very good, Bourbon cask with a touch of peat. Three of the 4 are cask strength (Wine cask at 48%). All were between $120 and $140 Cad tax in.

@Astroke

Was it intentional youbstayed away from the 12yo and other expressions that some people might label as “entry level”? Anyway, it sounds as if you got the “right” introduction to Glen Garioch. I haven’t even tried the so-called “entry-level” expressions such as the 12yo or NAS, and I am not sure I will ever will. Unless I try before I buy, and like it.

@ajjarrett not really interested in their entry level bottles when their cask strength bottles are so reasonably priced

Ordered this Gordon & Macphail Balblair in Nova Scotia, price was just too good for this bottle to ignore.

@Astroke

I agree. Oh yes. I was just at a liquor store near Shimbashi station and I tried the GG 1999 wine cask. I don’t mind a hint a pest but for some reason I didn’t like the peat lingering amongst the other flavors and aromas, but I am glad I tried it.

@Astroke

I also tried the Maltman Secret Speyside 16yo. It was definitely one I would have bought, and would have made for me first IB; however, they only had the one bottle and Thule use it for tasting. Boo! I won’t upload a photo since I was unable to buy it. Ha!

@ajjarrett The Wine Cask (Bordeaux) is vintage 1998 and I am surprised you got those Peat notes as the last batch of Peated (lightly) GG was the vintage 1995, just before the temporary closure. When they reopened they no longer used Peat from what I have read and I did not get any on my GG 1998 Wine Cask matured.

@ajjarrett - I'd agree, it is darn good!

I just picked up my “lottery winnings” from the LCBO: a bottle of Elmer T Lee.

@Astroke

I guess I didn’t look at the label close enough. I was too excited to try it. Ha!

Ok, I know this is thread is about bottle you bought, but some of us have snuck in bottle we have been gifted. Well, a friend of mine, who I was able to seeing when I came to Tokyo in January, because he was in Hokkaido, for me a gift from the Yoichi Distillery. It is a nice 18cl bottle.

@ajjarrett I like the Nikka Whisky from the Barrel too much to care if it's NAS and probably has coloring...I don't consider myself a purist, but I feel this Nikka is so good, I'll make an exception. It has been very hard for me to find here in the Bay Area. I regret not buying another bottle when I had the chance.

@RianC

I just wish it was a bottle I could post on this thread and not the thread about “what you didn’t buy”. Ha

Very short trip to Calgary. Not planning on shopping but it was on the way....

Wine and Beyond apparently took some of the miniatures from their unsold advent calendars and put them up for individual sale. 20% off if you buy three.

These 3 seemed reasonably priced, and considering I wouldn’t want a full bottle of standard Connemara, Balblair ‘05 or Ardmore Legacy, this was a great opportunity to try something new.

I just picked this up.

Why? Because it is an age statement Bourbon (7 years) at 101 Proof (50.5%) from Heaven Hill and it is only $12.79 a bottle plus tax.

Essentially it is a bottle of 7 year old Elijah Craig at 50.5% for under $13 a bottle.

The total came to $81.34 for 6 bottles. It is my go to house bourbon. Further, it is the best value for money out there as far as I am concerned. I haven't seen it on my shelves in over 3 years. So, when I saw it back on the shelf I bought all I could.

@Nock - Seems like a winner and I can't believe that price! love the label as well.

I've put myself on a budget and have not bought a whisk(e)y / bourbon in over a month. Instead, I've been doing minor home renovations and upgrades. This looked interesting (in a gimmicky way) and I figured it was worth a punt. Not a lot of reviews and those reviews available seemed, polarizing.

A Nikka Pure Black. As for the reason - truth be told, I'm not that sure. Impulse, I guess.

I remember seeing a Ralfy review years ago and he gave it 91 after a so so review (it seemed) and I was curious, but the price and small bottle always put me off. I've also not had a Japanese whisky for some time so it will be interesting to see how it comes across.

@fiddich1980 - What's so unique about it?

I'm going the other way at the minute . . buy, buy, buy! I said to my partner just last week that I wouldn't buy anymore until xmas and then went on Amazon

I am also going to buy a Nikka WFTB as soon as we get our 'posh' supermarket vouchers through . . . Now that was a damn, no, darn good whisky!

@RianC A Kentucky Bourbon by Fred Noe (Knob Creek, Booker, Bakers), "partially finished in Wine•Sherry Casks", and blended by Shinji Fukuyo(Suntory). Fred Noe has been experimenting in blending bourbon, Canadian rye, and 40 year old Canadian whisky. His last one was Little Book Chapter 2 which was successful and tasty.

@fiddich1980 - Ah, thanks. I've heard good things about the Little Book and hope you find this one as enjoyable as folk here seem to enjoy the former.

@RianC Funny enough, I was debating which bottle to open NFTB or Nikka Pure Malt Black. I suspect either one would be a great summer dram. Wishing you the best on the summer dramming and enjoy the new job(without the back issues) and the whisky perks it bring.