Which bottle did you just buy and why?

Another few more bottles of the Perpetuum. I do like this very much.

Balvenie 12 years Single Cask. Why? It was one my list quite some time, 100% first fill Bourbon Cask and I've got good memories of Balvenie 15 years Single Cask. Now the 12 years is on sale for € 50,-. Normal price € 68,-. That's a no brainer: sold (1 to drink, 1 to stash)!

Some of my purchases made it into town this week, A Springbank 15 yr and Inchgower 14yr Flora and Fauna. I had them both a year ago and really enjoyed them. The Inchgower will be opened shortly hopefully it's as good as my memory thinks it is!

My sister was nice enough to bring me back a Scapa 16 yr when she was in Fargo this week. It's been a great week!

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Rittenhouse Rye 100 Proof Bottled in Bond. Why?

•I wanted something to drink on ice this summer.

•I saw a recommendation for it someplace. I don't know nuthin' about different rye brands, but a recommendation + 50% ABV is good enough for me.

•By scotch single malt standards, it was cheap!

Best value good Rye I know of. Enjoy it @OlJas

A friend just saw bottles of Evan Williams Single Barrel 2006 on local Michigan liquor store shelves and bought one, giving it positive tasting review. I swear the 2005 only became available just this past February. Friend thought the 2006 was much better than the 2005 so when I encountered the EWSB 2006 at local grocery, I bought one for myself. Got to admit I do not share my friend's positive review of the 2006. I found it harsh, bitter, with a very pronounced "grassy" finish. Profile strongly similar to another bourbon I do not care for. EWSB has been a stellar part of my every-day whiskies, but this one may cause a riff in our relationship.

Bushmills 10 yr.

Wanted something different, and a bit 'softer' on the palate for this summer.

Back from the Whisky Show 2015 (an Australian whisky expo by the more independent companies) and picked up a Kilkerran WIP 5 Bourbon and an Antiquary 21 Year Old Blended Scotch. I quite liked these two when I had a taste during.

Also picked up a couple of the Johnnie Walker Green Label 15 Year Old - 2015 release for nostalgic reasons.

Even though I've tried a handful of Tennessee whiskey, and Kentucky bourbon - I can honestly say that I really enjoyed any of them until today.

Was at my local Costco, and there were several bottles left of the 2006 Single Barrel Evan Williams 'Costco Edition' ...For $20 - what the hell for I seem to recall a few reviews here giving it thumbs up.

I'm glad I made the purchase since this is by a large margin is the best bourbon I've had to date.

Some interesting tidbits: Barreled on Oct 2nd 2006, Barrel #202, Bottled on May 11th 2015...Not bad for an 8 yr old bourbon.

EDIT to the above post.....What I meant to say was that I hadn't enjoyed any of the Tennessee whiskey, or Kentucky bourbon until the Evan Williams single barrel.

@FMichael ; still not liking my bottle of EWSB 2006. Have to believe I got a bad bottle. Glad to here yours is up to the task.

@cherylnifer If yours is a 'Costco Exclusive' you might try to return it since they have a very lenient policy on such things.

Just realized that the standard EWSB bottlings are 10 yrs, and not 8 yrs like mine...Now I'll be 'forced' to get a standard SB bottling to compare.

I recently put in an order for four different K&L's four roses private barrel bottles. I still think the private barrel selections are one of the best bourbon's in that price range (even at K&L's slightly higher prices). This will give me seven of the ten recipes...still trying to track down those last three.

Was at a two day local conference and wanted to have a bottle for the room (forgetting to bring something with me) - criteria was a distillery I have not tried and under $100. Decided on the Aultmore 12.

After letting it sit for 30 minutes, still found it lacking an identity and a bit young but is not inoffensive either. Would not be one to try again but won't be used as a shrimp marinade either (right now reserved for the Glen Breton 10)

@FMichael : mine is the standard bottling. Given it was distilled in 2006 (assuming that is what the labeling year is indicative of) and released in mid-2015, it is more like 9yo stock. Would like to try and identify the batch or cask mine is from and get a bottle from a different cask/batch to compare. My buddy still likes his. Says it is much better than EWSB 2005 but not quite 2003. We really liked the 2003; even more so than the 2000 or 2001.

@cherylnifer My bottle from Costco is a little over 8 years, and the bottle I had just picked up at a local liquor store is just over 9 years, and I'm enjoying both.

My brother in law in Calgary alerted me to the presence of a Glendronach single cask 17 YO cask strength bottling for one of the local liquor chains. it did receive a good mention at a local tasting. On sale for ~$83

In contrast, a 11 YO was $120 and an 18 YO was single cask was $190 so it seemed like a pretty good deal. A similar (same 17 YO age and ABV) bottling at a competing store is selling for $120.

This is where the network of whisky buddies really plays an important role. A Connosr friend will be getting two of these Dronachs for himself. My B-I-L was happy to pick them up for him. Without the network he would neither have been aware of the opportunity or had the means to act on it. And believe me, I get as much and more out of the partnership.

Also rescued from being bought by someone else were a bottle of Amrut CS (more recent bottling in a canister) for $80 (not available in Ontario) which will allow me to preserve my limited 2007 editions for longer, and an Amrut Peated CS in a box (so must be an earlier batch than at the LCBO) for $12 cheaper than here in Ontario.

The only problem is I'm buying faster than I'm drinking and this purchase leaves me with 7 unopened bottles more than my total at the start of 2015. I had hoped to keep my inventory at the close of the year to no more than 10 bottles more than I started. And I have 6 months, an A'Bunadh 50, and Forty Creek Whisky weekend still to go.

looks like I need to find people to help me empty some started bottles so I can open some of these and meet my target.

A bottle each of the Ardbeg Perpetuum and the Glenmorangie Tusail - these were on a 20% off sale.

A couple of bottles of the Glendronach 18 YO Marsala Cask - I hear a lot of good things about this limited bottling.

A bottle of the Glenlivet Nadurra Oloroso Cask Strength Batch OL0614 - tasted in store and quite liked it for the price, something different to the 105 and the A'Bunadh.

A 2006 Tamdhu matured for 9 years in sherry wood and bottled at cask strength by Van Wees for their 'The Ultimate' series - something left field to broaden my horizons.

Another bottle of 1990 Mortlach 24 YO that has been matured in a sherry butt and bottled by Signatory for their 'Vintage' series before the predicted price rise to stupid levels the current pricing of new release distillery bottlings appear to indicate.

A bottle of 1988 Balmenach 25 YO bottled by Signatory for their 'Vintage' series, another left field proposition to further develop my whisky experience.

@Sengic Wow. It seems you have a lot of nice evening ahead of you! I would really like to hear about the Glendronach. I simply really like there malt, so I am usually sold to there offering.

As for me, I just get myself a bottle of The Lost Distillery Gerston. Yeah, I know, a NAS blend. But if it is good enough to get a 91 from Ralfy and a 94 from Maltactivist, it will probably be good enough for me; after all, like Oscar Wilde was saying, I have the simpliest taste, I like the best.

Cheers!

Talisker 25 because I'm shocked at how high the better bottles of bourbon have gotten. It seems $500 isn't all that unusual. Are old bottles of Pappy worth well over $1,000? I don't think so. So...am I better off with the Talisker at almost half the price of today's 18 to 21 year old bourbons and ryes? Gotta think so.

@bobnoxy, I agree with your logic. I would pay $1,000 for two of Talisker 25 before I paid $1,000 for any bottle of Pappy.

Hi All

Just brought two bottles - Both as something to celebrate the birth of my first child (A little girl)

Glendronach Single Cask 1994 #54

Benromach 10year old - Thanks to Ralfy for the tip!

@KiwiJames- Congratulations on the birth of your daughter!

Those are two nice whiskies you chose to celebrate the occasion, too.

@KiwiJames- Congratulations on the birth of your first child! It may seem a long way off, but time passes so very quickly. In the blink of an eye she'll be all grown up and starting her own family...you'll need another Glendronach '94 when that happens.

@KiwiJames- cheers to the birth of your daughter - a great joy to be sure and plenty of exciting times ahead

@Nozinan As we discussed prior, I bought in to your challenge of buy less and for the most part have done quite well. Outside of an impulse purchase last week (which if I had brought a whiskey with me, I could have foregone), the majority of my 'purchases' have either been in the US (selection I cannot get here) or gifts from friends.

My focal points have been to reduce the number of open/closed bottles and to decrease the pace of total bottles (I appreciate the 'keep a sample' perspective but I am a 'live for the now' person and feel that there will always be good whiskey to appreciate).

Going to NYC in a couple of weeks so will likely come back w three bottles but also expect to finish two bottles (Blanton's Green Barrel at Friday Poker, Benriach Importanticus while watching the Game of Thrones season finale tonight) before I go.

Thanks for the inspiring thoughts to question the spiralling purchases - I have definitely entered a period of reasonability. Don't get me wrong, I truly enjoyed my period of excess and am content w my own stash/stockpile; however such a period is best followed by stability.

I bought a Connemara CS because I finally returned to the only local store that has a decent price on it ($58), and I need one of these puppies to compare to the Connemara Turf Mor that I brought home from Northern Ireland last year. Now that I've got the Turf Mor's "compare and contrast" buddy, I'm free to open it—though I'll probably still wait until fall.

@InGreatSpirits Four Roses is great, I love the single Barrel. I have just seen the limited edition SB at cask strength here locally. Can you tell me which of the seven you like best? Or rate them 1 to 7? They have different mash bills and yeast strains. Try an Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, great value also.

stumbled across a trio of dusty balvenie during my visit to fatima today and i just couldn't resist. 10 y/o founder's reserve, 12y/o double wood, and 15y/o single barrel - all nicely displayed in a wooden plinth. balvenie is my first whisky love so this purchase just made sense. the founder's reserve is not so easy to find these days, and the single barrel was distilled in 1989.... nifty!