Which bottle did you just buy and why?

@BlueNote - rrp is about £75, so anything from there upwards ...

A pic of most of what we picked up from the local distillery (some ciders are, hic, awol).

The gin was very nice. A little sweet but very well-made, as is all their stuff. Clean as a whistle. Also tacked on a Mortlach as a stand in for my two extra bottles.

@RianC It hasn't been available here for quite a while. I'd be stockpiling at that price.

Lagavulin 16. Why?

When it’s good it’s so lovely that it’s worth the punt to see if the latest batch cuts the mustard.

Haven’t opened it yet however my father in law is visiting in a few weeks so will crack it open then.

The man is in his late eighties and has drunk some phenomenal drams in his time but loves his Lagavulin so will see what he thinks of this one.

Cheers.

@Timp I love me some Lagavulin 16 too. However, my desert island dram would be the double matured Lagavulin.

Traded a Macallan Edition 2 for the 2021 THH. I was never going to open the edition 2 as I purchased it thinking about a future trade. So this looks to be a wise purchase at $135 Cad when I purchased a second bottle of the Mac from Nova Scotia a few years ago. This bottle will be opened as soon as the 2012 THH I have on on the shelf is gone. The throw in sample of the Booker's 13 year Rye was an unexpected icing on the cake.

@Astroke good move. It is always good to add to your stock of Handy. I've still not tasted that 13 yo Booker's Rye. @paddockjuge, @newreverie, @Benancio, and I were staring at a couple of bottles of it on a shelf in New Mexico in September 2016, but no one wanted to pull their $ 500 asking price trigger--up from the listed $ 300 original price, but a far cry from today's $ 3,575 average asking price.

wine-searcher.com/find/…

Looking back, that $ 500 plus tax price looks like a bargain. But that's just looking back. Your sample should by today's standards be a $ 200+ drink, a lot more than the bottle of Macallan originally cost you. Yes indeed, you made a very good move.

@TracerBullet yeah the double matured was another favourite of mine also. Haven’t had a bottle for a couple of years so on the list!

@Timp - How much did you pay? It's taken a huge hike of late ...

Agree though, usually a solid dram and one of the quintessential malts.

@RianC £70 from Waitrose in Exeter. Seems about the going rate at the mo.

I picked up a Wild Turkey 101 today. I hadn’t seen it on the shelves in a few weeks and I’ve been out for awhile. I don’t like to be without a bottle of this stuff. I’m hoping it doesn’t become the “next big thing”.

Picked up a G&M Discovery Caol Ila 13 at the weekend as happened to be passing a decent bottle shop and saw this nestling amongst more expensive drams.

It cost £52 and so far has been worth it. A soft, sweet, and smokey whisky with interesting notes of citrus. A definite smokey finish ending in limes. I think it will open up a bit as the bottle gets aired.

If G&M wanted to give someone a very pleasant first experience of smoky whiskies to encourage them to discover more then they have achieved their aim. Cheers all.

Picked up a Kilchoman Small Batch. Batch No. 5, 1260 bottles in the batch. Sauternes cask/Bourbon Barrel/Sherry cask. 48.3% ABV (Cask Strength)

Why? I like Kilchoman and Sauternes cask finishes. This looked intriguing and it was not a ridiculous price either at $85. This may get cracked open tonight...

@Timp - That's good to hear, nice one! I've looked at that series a few times, especially the Caol Ila but never bit - probably due to having quite a few of them in the stash. It can be excellent whisky, CI, and probably offers the best value on Isla.

@TracerBullet - That looks lovely and good.price too! Let us know how you find it.

@Timp What is the ABV?

@Nozinan Those Discovery bottles are usually 43% ABV

@Timp If the bottle wasn't there you'd think you were looking at a glass of white wine. Lovely looking stuff.

@TracerBullet Sweet. Is it just me, or can Kilchoman pretty much do no wrong these days?

@Nozinan @Astroke yep your right 43%. I have had a bunna from this range also and a nice dram too. Interesting marketing, although the increase in price as you go up the ranges puts me right off. Shame.

Since they changed their branding and dropped some lines I really want to like their stuff but still miss their brown tubed cask strength line.

Still got a half full 2006 Caol Ila from this range and my what a good whisky that was. Still keep half an eye at auction for these. Maybe next month!

@TracerBullet bet that one’s a stunner.

I have no Kilchoman in the stash at the mo which is a shame. Didn’t go to the distillery last year as visiting most of them on Islay was a pain due to covid restrictions and most years have picked something up from their shop.

Also be interested to see what you think when you crack it. Love those sweet casks too.

Well, it has been a while since I have posted on this thread, especially something whisk(e)y related. Of course, I haven't posted anything recently about armagnac on the brandy thread. Anyway, here are three recent purchases I made recently. Two of them on Saturday and I decided to go back to the store to get their third bottle. Yes, I cleaned them out. Why? Because I could. I am a sucker for anything ex-sherry cask matured, and the 10yo Glenallachie have been a topic with online reviewers, especially Batches 5, 6 and 7. However, I am not sure if B7 has made its way to North America or not.

So the three bottles are of B6 (B5 reminds me of Babylon 5, hahaha) 57.8%ABV, and yes, Natural Colour and Non Chill Filtered. For those who love the trinity mantra there you go.

I also stopped at a Totalwine store on the way home to use the gift card my second brother gave me for Xmas. I ended up getting a bottle of the 18yo Arran, which makes it my second bottle. Why did I end up getting a second 18yo Arran? Well, the Total store near me, doesn't carry many bottles I am really interested in at the moment, except for the Arran 18yo. Now, if they carried some of the Darroze Armagnac Unique Collection, I would have gone that direction. Nevertheless, I think I walked away with something good. I won't post a photo of the 18yo Arran seeing that I likely posted a photo of my first bottle earlier.

Cheers.

Sorry for the fuzziness of the photo. Here is a clearer one.

Lagavulin 12 YO Special Release natural cask strength 56.5% abv., refill casks.

Picked this one for my son-in-law, he’s a Lagavulin fanboy. His birthday is in December…. Surprise!!!

I also have one resting in Montréal. Thank you @cricklewood.

Won a raffle tonight for a 2oz sample of Caol Ila 1982, 35 year, 58.1% ABV. I had a choice of 6 stellar Scotches and chose the CI 35 year. Before I picked it I quickly went to whiskbase where I saw a score of 96 from @markjedi. Seemed a no brainer when I saw that score.

@paddockjudge I’d buy that Lag 12 just for the killer label graphics.

@BlueNote, that Lag 12 label is fierce!

Just picked up the newly packaged Arran "The Bothy" Quarter cask and "The Bodega" Sherry Cask. We'll see how the newer Arrans hold up. Fingers crossed it stays my favorite distillery. Glenmorangie has been climbing my ranks, as has Ledaig.

@Astroke a score that high from him would be a 110 from me so I trust you made an excellent choice!

Grabbed a bottle of The Balvenie DoubleWood, 12 yo. I have not had one in a while and it was always one of my favorite non-peated whiskies for a daily dram. I know, it’s a bit anemic at 43% ABV, but I still like this one.