Which bottle did you just buy and why?

@JayRain, I'm up for some Boss Hog. it's only a matter of time before we coordinate a session. These WhistlePig releases have eluded me. Someday I'll corner a few.

@newreverie, I did my best last summer by purchasing a couple of bottles a short drive from Minute Maid Stadium. The Balcones True Blue didn't make it home, but the Bushmill's 21 YO did.

While on my American Whisk(e)y kick - what cabinet is complete without Buffalo Trace?

Buffalo Trace, Elijah Craig 12 yr, Evan Williams SB, and George Dickel No 12 have been wonderful surprises.

@paddockjudge True blue is a very very difficult bottle to find. I'd be interested in knowing what store you found that at. I have two bottles of True Blue 100 that I found earlier this year, but they are the only bottles I have ever seen of the stuff. I hope you find yourself in H-Town again soon. It will be quite a while before I am in the great white north. The closest I'll get this year is Seattle the first week of August.

@newreverie, Blue Corn not True Blue. Downtown store, less than two miles from Minute Maid. .

@Benancio

Did manage to sample a dram of the Laphroaig 15 Year Old 200th Anniversary Edition at a mate's place over the weekend. It is well placed between the 10 Year Old and the 18 Year Old - you can feel the raw power the 10 Year Old mixed in with the mellow and mature 18 Year Old in it without the sherry influence.

It's quite appealing but for the price, I am sure you are paying a bit of a premium for the intrinsic value because it is a commemorative limited edition bottling. If you like the 10 Year Old and fancy a bit more maturity, less bite, you will like this. If you enjoy the qualities of the 18 Year Old, probably stick to the 18 Year Old. If you are a collector or a fan of Laphroaig, you probably would want this in your collection.

A couple of bottles of private bottling Arran called "My Precious", bottled for members of the Whiskybase community. Why? Because I am a member of the Whiskybase community.

Also a bottle of Glendronach 18 Year Old finished in Tawny Port Casks. Slowly collecting the different Glendronach 18 Year Olds so that I will be able to do a horizontal tasting one day.

@sengjc

Most tastings that go over 4-5 samples leave me horizontal...

@paddockjudge It is as if the bourbon gods heard my cry and answered. Picked up a Balcones Blue Corn Cask Strength today. 121 proof of blue corn goodness! Didn't even know about it, a guy just kind of eyeballed me and told me he'd be right back with something special. I'll do my best to resist opening it until you can make it down for that G&W

@newreverie, where, oh where did you find it?...(don't give up your source unless it is a large chain)

Aberlour 10 saw it on offer for £22 read the reviews n had to give it a go. My first single malt after a few bourbons since Xmas, well worth the money.

@paddockjudge There is a new major chain in East Texas called Goody Goody. I've been into all of their Houston stores and they are top notch. The west side store is also their distribution center (sort of like the downtown Spec's you went to). I've spoken to the guy that brought me the bottle a few times and I was picking up 5 bottles from their private room. Now If only I can get into their double secret private room.... It isn't the first time I've been handed bottles from secret depths of that location.

@newreverie, The Private Room has a Prohibition-type feel to it. I am interested in your opinion of FC Heart of Gold and Corby's Lot No. 40, when you get around to opening them.

@paddockjudge I've opened the Lot40 and was very underwhelmed. I did a canadian night a few months ago after I found the G&W Royal Canadian SB < Lot40 < Pike Creek

@sengjc , is that Arran bottle Gollum-themed? I searched Google Images for it, but I found bubkis..

I just bought and opened a "Hand Selected" bottle of Knob Creek SB sold by a local liquor store. The owner described it as being milder and more refined than the typical KCSB profile, and I think he's right. Despite the abv, alcohol is hardly detectable in this one and I'm getting molasses, caramel and nuts on the nose, with the stronger rye flavors delevoping on palate and especially the finish. I'm glad that I can get barrel strength bourbon of this quality for 40$. The store that sells (North Charles Wine and Spirits) it is a fairly new discovery for me and they seem to be doing a SB bottling every month or two.

@newreverie can I ask which Lot 40 batch it was? I tried 2 from @Paddockjudge in April and the earlier bottling was much better than the more recent one.

@Nozinan I've seen Lot 40, are there date codes on the bottles?

@Benancio, there are date codes. A few batches from the 2012 Edition, and they are from 2012. The label changed in late 2014 and the "2012 Edition" was dropped. The earlier batches may be spicier.

@newreverie, I enjoy the Lot 40, but I enjoy it more as a sub-component of Wiser's Legacy which is about 1/3 Lot No. 40. Pike's Creek doesn't do much for me and I find the Royal Canadian Small batch to be a nice whisky, but not a spectacular whisky..

@OlJas

Try this:

shop.whiskybase.com/68582/…

Furor Roses; Small Batch, Single Barrel OESO. WL Weller 12

Found them at an incredible price, love the FR Small Batch and the WLW 12. And the OESO single barrel promises to be a keeper.

just picked up 1.75 liter of Old Weller Antique 107 proof...and a custom blend Angel's Envy....and 2 bottles of Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream (absolutely delicious) . It's been a good Friday!

The Spice Tree: 'Opened it too! I had hoped it might be a little like those first Spice Trees and initially I was disappointed, however after about 1/2hr. in the glass it is looking very good indeed, in fact, so good that it wouldn't surprise at all if it is as good as or even better! Into a large decanter with this Malt for a while, anyway! This is, or seems, less spicy than the old expression but is richer, fuller, delightful in the mouth and overall more stylish - And that all happened in the glass; it bodes well!

Bonam sanitatem!

WT101, FR Sm Batch, Blanton's Original, WTRB, Blanton's SFTB and Bookers for a Bourbon and BBQ night with a few friends from work. Also got myself a couple of A'bunadh and a Buffalo Trace online offer.

I've just bought a very interesting blended malt called Speyside Region bottled by Archives (Fishes of Samoa). This is a blending of well aged Glenrothes, Tamdhu and new make spirit from an unnamed distillery (Glenfarclas??) put in a single barrel for 13 years. It's only 44.7% abv indicating to me that the Glenrothes and Tamdhu was already pretty old when they casked it. Apparently they done it like this because the older malts were leftovers in their casks. This has the potential to be very tasty indeed and I'm looking forward to opening it.

Eagle Rare 10 - a gift from a contract worker who is moving on to a new role - cheers to their generosity and thoughtfulness...

I have the opportunity to visit a shop with better deals than I get at home. After narrowing my selection I've decided to go with either springbank 10 year old out amrut peated CS. I have no specific preferences regarding these two so I was hoping that you fine gentlemen and women would help me choose. Which one do you like the most?

@Alexsweden for me it's got to be the Amrut. The Springbank is very good but the Amrut is exceptional. Recently I've been making fantastic savings by getting my whisky from whiskybase in Rotterdam . Due to the Greek economic situation the pound is doing very well against the euro and I should imagine it's the same for the krona . For example the Amrut peated cs is 70 Pound's in the UK but only 38 pounds on whiskybase .I've made 3 orders now and I've received them all in 4 or 5 days no problem. Give a a go my friend we're both in the EU so take advantage .I wish I'd started buying from them months ago . I even got an Auchentoshan Valinch 2011 from them at a good price.

@Alexsweden, I'd go for the Amrut Peated Cask Strength. Springbank 10 is usually good, but I always prefer Cask Strength if I can get it, and Amrut is a first rate brand.