Which bottle did you just buy and why?

Picked up the latest release of the Sagamore Barrel Select - Whiskey Thieves Edition. Why? I'm a member of the Whiskey Thieves, this is a relatively small release ands I live rather close to the distillery. They have allowed WT early access Wednesday-Friday. Saturday is Whiskey on the Waterfront and it will be available to everyone else at that time.

Benromach 10/100. 2 bottles.

Why?

It is discontinued and I may never get the opportunity to buy it again. And at $86.10 all-in, it is less expensive than I paid in 2015.

I worked really hard in July.

A medical student in Calgary recently used an excuse of "I live an exemplary life so I gave in to temptation" to justify raping a passed out woman - this infuriated me. Don't get me started.

So I figure, if the worst I can say is I succumbed to temptation and bought 2 bottles of scotch (which I will share with others), that's not so bad.

@Nozinan

Of course, I gave this post a "like" for the whisky you got, and not for the med student who justified raping a woman the way he did. We do live in age where "affluenza" is becoming a legitimate excuse for crimes committed the "affluent." So, why not when someone lives, exemplary life," up until the point of the crime. Hmmm.

Now, back to the whisky!

Good choice, and good reasons.

Kilkerran 8 CS---not sure if I have a review for it in me. First sip--incredibly complexity, fruit, spice....wow. I might be a Campbelltown fan.

@Jonathan I guess Longrow is next on deck...

I’m in Lunenburg and I visited the Ironworks Distillery. I sampled 5 different rums, and the woman working there was quite forthcoming about which had additives (caramel and spices) and which didn’t. Even the Bluenose Rum, which is their sweetest, wasn’t overly cloying or sugary. I succumbed to the lure of their “Rum Boat Rum” which is matured in their floating warehouse, a ship in Lunenburg harbour. The Rum is a blend of 2-6 year old Rum, with no added colours, sweeteners, or spices and bottled at 90 proof. I was surprised at how nice it was as a sipper. No acetone, spirity bitterness whatsoever. Lots of vanilla and tropical fruits.

And now I’ve succumbed to the lure of lower prices. I bought a bottle of El Dorado 15 year old for about $18 less than I would have paid in Ontario. I know it’s got added sugar, but according to the internet, it’s only about 15 or so grams per bottle. If nothing else, it will make for an interesting comparison with the Rum Boat Rum.

@OdysseusUnbound Hopefully you visit The Port store in Halifax, lots of nice Scotch there for a decent price. Also if you are so inclined Bishop's Cellar on the waterfront has Kilkerran 8 cask strength for $85, or Springbank 15 for $108

On behalf of my club, I just bought an A'bunadh and a Glenfarclas 105 (the NAS version) because they were priced well at around $70 each and I'm planning a spooky "sherry monsters" theme for October.

@MadSingleMalt - Nice buys! I've been thinking of adding some well-sherried whiskys to my stash and the 105 in particular is high on the list. Great value. I think the Glendronach 15 would be my 2nd choice. A'bunadh has gone silly price over here and I can't say I fell in love with the bottle I had.

@OdysseusUnbound El Dorado 15 is a good purchase, it's the best of the regular line-up and is a well constructed rum despite the dosage.

I was in Montreal the other day and I went into the SAQ on Mountain st. I am not a fan of Canadian Whiskey. However, I am a fan of the Montreal Canadiens. While looking at their single malts one of the staff asked me if I was a fan of the Canadiens. I said I was. He went to the Rye section and came back with a Wiser's product called Robinson. He told me it was named for Larry Robinson. Anyone who is a Montreal fan knows who Larry Robinson (Big Bird) is. It is a 6 year, aged in bourbon and wine casks. While I thought it was interesting, it wasn't tempting me until he said "I have a signed bottle in the back". Robinson had been in the store the week before, when it was released and had signed 50 bottles. He had 5 bottles left. When I left, he had 4 bottles.

@Astroke Sadly we didn’t get to Halifax this time around. Oh well...

@PeterG7 that was a nice touch to offer you the signed bottle of the Robinson blend, I didn't know they did this kind of thing. What did you think of the new store on De La Montagne? It's swanky but I am not crazy about the layout.

@cricklewood It was a nice touch to offer the Robinson bottle. The last time I was in Mtl the store was on St Catherine. I spent the better part of an hour looking for it. I finally stopped at another SAQ and they gave me directions to the new location. The new one is smaller I think, and the back wall is devoted to wine. I got another surprise at the store! I told them that I was a single malt guy and gave them my price point. They were very engaging and suggested some whisky I could consider. Then they asked if would care to have them sampled. Who was I to say no. One he recommended and that I tried (forgot the name) was very young and a tad harsh to my liking. I think it was because it was so young. I finally settled on a loch lomond 18 year and a Tallisker 2007 distillers edition. They let me try both. Sometime during my visit, my wife mentioned that it was my birthday without me knowing. Gaston. the sales staff told me to wait a moment and went into the back room. He came back with three glasses (one filled with water) and two bottles. One was a 26 year old Bowmore and the other an 18 year Highland Park. He said "Happy Birthday, Salut" and poured me a healthy dram of each. I sat at their tasting table thinking never in a million years would the LCBO have done this. Have to tell you the Bowmore was crazy smooth.

Took delivery of three bottles of Old Pulteney 21yo. Purchased the bottles online last March, and arranged for a girlfriend to pick them up for me in Texas. She arrived for a visit last week with my precious cargo intact. Reason for purchasing two fold. I enjoy both the OP 12 and OP 17 versions and have wanted the opportunity to savor the OP 21 version too. And with Old Pulteney discontinuing both 17yo and 21yo (replaced with 15yo and 18yo versions), I figured that existing supplies of OP 21 (readily accessible to me) might evaporate rather quickly; so I acted. Truth be told, I had been contemplating this purchase for several years now. I guess it took the threat of waiting too long and missing out on acquiring OP 21 to kick me into action.

@cherylnifer Good for you for making a great purchase. I'm a fan of Old Pulteney. I really like the salty notes.

@TracerBullet interesting purchase and you also got a mention in the most recent episode of whiskycast! Very cool.

@cricklewood Yeah! Caught that this morning. Would really like to taste that rye in the Laphroaig casks!

@PeterG7 Yeah the lease of the Signature store on Ste-Catherine ran out and this new one took almost 2 years to open as part of the new build of the "luxury" shopping district that will house Holt-Renfew/Ogilvy's. Technically the store on Maisonneuve close by has a better whisky selection and hosts the Thursday tastings.

Sounds like you had a good shopping trip there, the SAQ has greatly improved the service they offer and if you go to these type of locations you will often get the ability to try the open bottles they have. While we often nit-pick the SAQ for many things I was shocked to learn that the LCBO offers no such thing. I had never leisurely shopped there it's always been to pick up specific items. It's kind of baffling.

I'll be curious to get your thoughts on the Loch Lomond 18, I have my eye on it, I enjoyed the 12 but found it a bit too linear.

@cricklewood Some KGBO locations offer tastings..... for a price.

@TracerBullet yes I think Laphroaig cask rye could be very interesting, I've always thougth both that and the right sherry casks (oloroso or Fino) would be interesting with rye.

@Nozinan yup I've used the services of the Queen's Quay location and paid to try things like Talisker 25 or some of the LCBO exclusive single casks. The SAQ similarly has machines you can get samples from if you use a card you load with funds. It's just that on top of that they also usually have some bottles open for staff/client's to taste as a sales tool.

It's mostly the lack of the educational side of training at the LCBO that surprises me.

@Nozinan 86$ for two bottles?

@PeterG7 Good choice. My uncle had a conure named "Larry Bird." If only only his shelf life were as long as the bottle you just bought. Seriously, that's an awesome purchase. Will you drink it or sell it?

@PeatyZealot is there any word on the Longrow Peated? I'm considering.

Kilkerran 12: these bottles never come to my local store..... Almost bought Longrow Red 11 55%---but the price was dear and for that cash I need to be sure. Not sure how Pinot Noir will work with peat...

@Jonathan I can tell you it's pretty flippin fantastic. It doesn't have the sweetness of a sherry maturation - it is more red berry and the tannin gives a complementary tobacco leaf / old leather note.

@cricklewood I'll be sure to let you know what the the 18 is like.

@cricklewood The LCBO on Rideau St. in Ottawa sometimes has fee tastings. You need to be there at the right time