Which bottle did you just buy and why?

Not a whisky but an Armagnac. This one, specifically ...

masterofmalt.com/armagnac/bas-armagnac/…

Ive been enjoying the bottle of Spanish brandy my Mum gave me and it's almost gone so was looking for a decent replacement. After doing some research, it seemed that Armagnac may be better suited to a whisky drinkers palate and this bottle, at ten years (so XO?), seemed to get good reviews across the board.

@paddockjudge - only 40% though! If you put this bottle next to one of those brutes above I think its French pecker would visibly shrink

@RianC Take it easy on the French and shrinkage....we aren't working with much to start with

@OdysseusUnbound - yeah but I hear it gets very cold in Canada?! There's an excuse for anything if you look hard enough

@RianC “Like a frightened turtle.”

@OdysseusUnbound - Or a pile of pennies ...

Maker's Mark 46. Why? Because my wife and I attended a virtual Maker's Mark tasting a couple of weeks ago and the 46 was used in a Black Manhattan cocktail that we had to start off the tasting. I love Manhattan's and this version is excellent. Wanted to add it to my cocktail repertoire. The recipe is 2oz Maker's Mark 46, 1oz Fast Penny Spirits (Seattle, WA) Amaricano Amaro, 1 dash (specifically 3 drops) Angostura bitters and 1 dash (specifically 5 drops) Orange bitters. Garnish with dehydrated orange and amarena cherry. By the way, one dash of bitters = 4-5 drops. In addition to purchasing the 46, I also ordered on-line 2 bottles of the Fast Penny Spirits Amaro that are being shipped to the house, so it will be a few days before I can make this cocktail.

@bwmccoy I hope that maker's mark cocktail is to your liking at home as well and invokes the memories of a pleasant night! I've always found maker's to be a real unique whisky. I have never tasted anything quite like it. I think it might be one of those "either you like it or you don't" whiskies.

@bwmccoy I had a Black Manhattan as well but I used Bulleit Rye and Averna Amaro (pretty much how I've always made them). Would be very interested in trying your recipe. I have never heard of Fast Penny Spirits Amaro until you mentioned them so I will have to keep an eye out for it!

@Alexsweden - I'm actually not a fan of Maker's Mark 46. I much prefer their standard bourbon and its Cask Strength variant much more than 46. I will probably never drink it neat, but it worked so well in that Black Manhattan recipe that I wanted to make it exactly like we tasted it at the tasting. In fact, I tried to make a Black Manhattan per the recipe with a bourbon that I have in my cabinet and it was a disaster. The only difference was not using 46 and instead using the bourbon I had on hand. It was then that I decided that I needed to purchase a bottle of 46, if for no other reason than to make the Black Manhattan. It was so good!

@TracerBullet - I've never had any Amaro until the tasting that we did with Maker's Mark, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it was pretty good neat, not that I would ever drink it that way, but it worked so well in that Manhattan recipe that I had to buy a bottle (I actually bought 2 because it is free shipping when buying 2 and I plan to make a lot of these Manhattans.) I'm also supporting a small, women owned, local business. Fast Penny Spirits is in Seattle and right now, they only make 2 different Amaro's, so I wanted to help them out. Here's a link to their website;

www.fastpennyspirits.com

It appears that they ship to your state, if you were interested.

I just bought a Tamdhu 15 Year. Why? Well, I had a $100 LCBO card burning a hole in my pocket and a friend of mine (whose nose and palate I trust) said it was really impressive, even at the LCBO price of $150. Also, Ralfy scored it 90/100, but his description of it was more convincing than any score. Complex, fruity, evolving over time, but not an overwhelming sherry monster. Top it off with 46% abv, natural colour, NCF and it’s worth a $50 punt, imho.

@OdysseusUnbound for that price you could get a A'Bunadh and a half...

@Nozinan Yeah but A’Bunadh is hit and miss from batch to batch and there’s nothing subtle about it. I’m also willing to bet that a large percentage of the whisky that makes up each batch of A’Bunadh is significantly younger than 15 Years Old. Not that there’s anything wrong with that...

@OdysseusUnbound Tamdhu 15 from some reviewer is too hot, for others; spot on and warming. I consider it close to the old Glendronach 15, a step up, having more subtle complexity and balance. It is clean as opposed to those "unlit match sticks", on the Macallan 12 Sherry. It is a well suited Oloroso Cask matured single malt for the holiday season. I hope you enjoy it.

My opinion: This is apparently, going to be part of Tamdhu's core range. The first release is probably, going to be the best of the releases.

@OdysseusUnbound Sounds good, but pricey for a 15 year old. How would you compare it to Glenfarclas 15, which on a good day can be had for under 100 bucks?

@BlueNote I haven't opened the Tamdhu 15 yet. The Glenfarclas 15 runs $106 here, and Macallan 15 runs $200, so I'm assuming that Tamdhu is more luxurious than Glenfarclas, but not as luxurious as THE Macallan. That's how these things work, right? But seriously, the friend who recommended Tamdhu 15 said that he believes Tamdhu's current bottlings to be closer to what "older" Macallan bottlings were. I've never had an "older" Macallan so my point of reference for that comparison is non-existent.

I just bought a bottle of Ardbeg Ten. It is the first bottle of malt whisky I really appreciated ten years ago. I bought a bottle of Ardbeg wee beastie 5 yo a week ago. I am tasting them head to head. Well, the winner is Ardbeg Ten. Who among you is surprised? I love the raw power of the animal Ten. The wee beastie is just too sweet and soft. It is the difference between a cougar and a deer.

@OdysseusUnbound It would be good to get your thoughts on the Tamdhu when you've had a taste. I haven't had anything from THE Macallan in my cabinet for a few years now. I'd like to try the new version of the 12 year old Sherry Cask, but not for $135 plus tax.

@OdysseusUnbound I cashed in an AP 20 plus $60 for the Tamdhu 15.

Had an opportunity to get these Smoke Wagons at their retail cost, so had to be done

@Astroke - very interested to see what you think of these when you open them!

Well, I guess it is officially bourbon hunting season in my neck of the woods. The last few weeks many bourbons have been hitting the shelves of my local ABC stores. One thing that sucks about living in a state-run liquor store monopoly is that incompetence abounds.

For the intrepid hunter it can mean easy pickings if you know where to look, when, and are just lucky.

For example I saw a bottle of Whistle Pig Rye 12yo Old World 43% which is supposed to retail for $129.99 here in Virginia. But some idiot entered it in my local store as $64.99 so I bought a bottle to try. I expect to not like it at $65.

This week saw the release of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof in Virginia. Not just the fall release of the C920 . . . but also the release of B520. Yes, that is correct. Virginia, in their infinite wisdom, held on to all of their B520 and so released it all along side of the C920. They also released all their Larceny Barrel Proof, Buffalo Trace, Blanton’s, Eagle Rare, Angels Envy, and I think even a few Old Weller Antique’s.

I was able to pick up one bottle of Larceny Barrel Proof C920 . . . and then I went to town on the ECBP C920 and B520. The rule is that you can only pick up one bottle per day . . . but if you hit multiple stores that all put out on the shelf, you can quickly amass a small collection. Which is just what I did.

What is a guy to do after that? Open your bottles and see if it is worth acquiring even more. So, I did. And I just did a blind tasting of all of the ECBP batches for the last two years. That is 6 batches in all. Which will emerge as my favorite? Check out the other tread on “what are you drinking now.”

Purchased today:

1 bottle of Whistle Pig Rye 12yo Old World 43%

1 bottle of Larceny Barrel Proof C920

3 bottles of ECBP C920

5 bottles of ECBP B520

@Nock Does this site have an age requirement? because that list is pure whiskeyrotica...

@Nock Those 8 ECBP's would have run you a total of just north of $1,120.00 Canadian in Ontario.

@Nock @Nozinan

*Warning the following post might not be suitable for some audiences (drinkers).

Hmmm.

How do I respond? Ah, not so well phrased, "What a catch!"

The reviews for the batch 2 are very positive and combined with the $275 Cad in Nova Scotia, which appeared to be the lowest price on the planet.

@bwmccoy Opened the Small Batch, had 3 pours over a week and found the nose very good. The palate seems closed right now, but getting better. Zero burn at 100 proof but am hoping for better results. I will revisit in a few weeks.

@Astroke - thank you! I hope I get a chance to try their whiskey at some point!

@bwmccoy I think the Uncut/Unfiltered is the only way to go with the exception of a store pick.

An odd collection here, the Cask Strength Ontario Rye purchase was a fluke as there were 48 bottles at the distillery, one per customer. At only $65 Cad it seemed like a must buy.

@Astroke, I’m not impressed with Last Straw. I’m still waiting for my prepaid bottle from Rye Cask #1.

Now, North of 7 are men of honour with some damned good whisky. I was part of a barrel pick, the goods were delivered as promised and there is a barrel of rye further aging for our future enjoyment.

... if you are a micro-distillery and you place nice, a group of thirsty whisky maniacs may just throw $15,000 - $20,000 at you for whisky, during a pandemic, when the other micros are scrambling to be hand-sanitizer specialists... just saying, play nice other guys, cuz right now N of 7 is getting a barrel or two full of cash from us... every year