Which bottle did you just buy and why?

@casualtorture I continue to be impressed that WT is able to turn out batch after batch of this (admittedly fine) CS stuff at the same ABV each time...

@Nozinan yes it's been very consistent, and good.

Rather than waste my time entering "lotteries" for overpriced Bourbon, I made a trip to the local monopoly liquor store and picked up a Green Spot. My notes from March 2012 state "very good, buy at ~$70". The price at the time was $84.95 and there were other options in the $70 range I had not yet tried. Fast forward eleven years and the sticker price now reads $82.95 ($2 off "sale"). Hot dang, looks like Green Spot was a decade ahead in the whiski inflation game*! I opened it as soon as I got home and, yup, still a delicious whiski, now at a relatively cheap price (though it would probably benefit from an extra 3-6% ABV). A bottle in hand is worth 3 pappiez in the bush! With that in mind, I think I'll go back for a Yellow Spot ($130) and hope they restock the Redbreast 12CS (another I left on the shelf in the past because I thought expensive at $110 but now $120 seems "reasonable"). *With the recent inflation driven price spikes, I suspect whiski prices will plateau and we will probably see many bottles 10 years from now on offer for the same prices we have today.

Not been drinking much scotch recently but purchased these ones recently.

From right to left Longrow Hand filled distillery exclusive 58% - heard and read more good reviews so got hold of one.

Decadent Drinks Equinox and Solstice Ben Nevis 7yrs 48% - always like the sponge selections and decided to get a few more this year. This is a lovely one.

Decadent Drinks Notable Age Statements Mortlach 10yrs 58.5% - as above and the colour just sold me this one. As well as it being Mortlach!

Whisky Sponge Edition 66 Caol Ila 12 yrs 56.3% - as above and the last sponge Caol Ila I purchased was a cracker so thought another wouldn’t go amiss. Also they describe it as marrying peat and sherry, and to my mind done well it can make great whisky.

Glen Scotia 15 46% - This one was sat in a little village shop on Dartmoor looking dusty so I thought I would get it. Haven’t had one in a few years and this is a 2018 bottling.

Jura 14 rye cask 40% - read others talking about this positively and saw it on offer at £30 in a local supermarket. It’s very nice and a good Jura in my view.

Black Bottle 10 yrs 40% - saw this one in a local supermarket and always like the standard black bottle. Be interesting to see how different this blend is from the nas.

Cheers

A day too late but I picked up two bottles of Irish whiskey today:

• Redbreast Lustau: this one is always good and is relatively well priced by LCBO standards.
• Waterford Organic Gaia 2.1: this one was not well priced, but I figure I’d try it at least once to see what all the hoopla is about.

Went back to the whiski monopoly and bought a Redbreast 15 ($135)* and a Yellow Spot ($130). I'm liking the RB 15 even more than the first bottle I bought back in 2011. It's not "better" than the 40% 12 yr but it's more refined and a bit more complex, though noticeably more woody. The first impression of the Yellow Spot is a step below both Redbreast's and think I prefer the lower ABV NAS green as well. *and to think I hesitated at paying $85 for the same whiski "back in the day", LOL!

@Timp - nice haul! You do well to get those Sponge bottlings. I got all excited the other day when I saw the Mortlach one but then crumpled when I saw they had sold out . Happened with a Master of Malt bottling of Mortlach recently too.

Speaking of - has anyone had a MoM single cask? They appear to be getting positive feedback and there's a Craigellachie and Royal Brackla, both ex refill sherry maturation, and under £50, with 'au natural' presentations. Seems too good to be true in the current market ...

@RianC the Mortlach 10 58.5% is still available on the decadent drinks website and yesterday I picked up the equinox and solstice Mortlach 10 48.5% from royal mile whisky. They still had some this morning.

These are two bottlings from a 8 year old refill sherry butt. The whole lot was then re-racked into a fresh sherry butt for two years. The first half was bottled at the lower strength and followed late last year by the 58.5% version.

Judging by the nice looking Mortlach bottles you posted the other day, adding to your Mortstash, you might not have room for any more!!

It is such a nice distillery though and when it’s good it’s very good isn’t it.

@bwmccoy I really have enjoyed the bourbons and ryes from Peerless so far and have visited the distillery twice. Very interested in what you think of the SMWS bottling. At the distillery they release single barrels frequently of both their rye and bourbons. They aren't cheap but they are unique.

I was visiting family last week and stopped at a liquor store with my brother-in-law to pick up a few bottles of Irish Whiskey for St. Patrick. Of course I had to swing by the scotch aisle but did not expect much as bourbons and ryes rule in the south. As expected the selection was thin but then I spied a bottle I have not been able to find back in Maryland. Ardbeg Hypernova. They didn’t have one bottle either, there were six on that shelf! My go to stores in Maryland have been unable to get a bottle. Needless to say, we picked one up.

@TracerBullet LOL !!! It must be tough for Ardbeg with all of those special releases. After a while what new sensational name can you come up with after you have used so many of the obvious ones? Same applies to folks like SMWS, Willett Family Estate, Bruichladdich, TWE, and all prolific multi-product bottlers.

I certainly love the whisky from Ardbeg, but I have to smile at the names they give them.

Even with that, I am very happy that they keep putting out what they and we hope are distinctive releases of flavour variants, and do not merely content themselves to establish a homogenous averaged-out distillery style. Some casks and small groups of casks are virtuosi and deserve a stage all their own, not drowned out by the flavours of the more typical barrels. Our hope is that the producers have well identified the virtuoso performers and not merely engagted in wishful thinking about their degree of talent.

@TracerBullet @Victor So Ardbeg has released Supernova and Hypernova, does that mean the next one will be Ludicrousnova? (Spaceballs reference anyone?)

@TracerBullet - Thanks for your thoughts on Peerless. When I made my purchase a few days ago, the Society also had the first cask from MGP (SMWS RW5.1) available. While it was cheaper than the Peerless, after consulting with my local bourbon / rye expert (@jordrytropp), I went with the Peerless. The Society Peerless was $145 USD, but I had a $50 Society gift card. It was also free shipping week, so with tax, I only paid a little over $100. In looking at my local Total Wine's website, they are selling standard Peerless Rye (2 years old, 53.8% ABV) for $98 + Washington state tax which takes the total to about $135. (The Society MGP was $115.)

The Society Peerless arrived yesterday (picture below), but I haven't opened it yet. When I do, I will report back on my thoughts of it.

@TracerBullet - I'm anxious to get your thoughts on the Hypernova. @jordytropp tried it before I did and he thought is tasted more like Mezcal than it did Scotch. It may have been the power of suggestion, but when I tried it, I agreed with @jordytropp's assessment. I found it to be ok, but wasn't interested in purchasing a bottle of it. Hypernova in no way compares to Supernova, in my opinion, especially the first release of Supernova.

@bwmccoy Well, I get the reason you lean toward mezcal. That makes sense. I still get the Ardbeg base in the background though. I am at a disadvantage as I have never tried the Supernova so I can’t speak to that but I would not be surprised if it was a better release.

Overall I do like the Hypernova. Is it worth what Ardbeg is asking for a bottle? Probably not. I’d feel better if it was about $135-150.

This is one of the reasons I am cutting way back on these “special” bottles. They are pricing me out of the market plus the value vs price is rarely there, IMO.

@bwmccoy Here are a few of the Peerless single barrel bourbons I have picked up.

@bwmccoy These are the last two. Double Oak bourbon release from last year and the small batch rye. I don’t have any single barrel ryes currently.

@TracerBullet - That's a really nice collection! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

@Timp - Many thanks for the heads up but only just seen the message!

As it happens I splurged last night on two Master of Malt IBs - Craigellachie 11 @65.4% and Royal Brackla 11 @60.6%. Both gone the distance in a refill sherry butt and, from what I can tell, are getting very good feedback. Should be decent and I do like a refill sherry maturation! Was tempted by the OB RB 12 but hear it's a bit sherry swamped. This should do nicely and both decent colour to them. Each under £50 too!

Gutted to miss the Mortlachs though but can't justify another buy just now. But yes, I've not had a bad Mortlach yet. It's that savoury, Bovril note - amazing! Got a wee sample of the Signatory Vintage one tucked away for you, just waiting until I've got a bigger pile before I send.

I'm also deliberating whether to crack one of them right now ... There's room in the open pile ...

@65glenfarclas - be cautious buying Redbreast CS. Lots of reports that recent batches have been a bit below par. Ralfy (like him or not) has recently confirmed this.

Pusser's Gunpowder Proof Navy Rum (54.5% ABV)...it was $44.50 at the SAQ...

@YakLord Nice grab. I picked up a quarter of a bottle (we did a split) to try it, and I think it's quite tasty.

@Nozinan Given that's about what the standard Blue Label was the last time the LCBO had it in stock, I think it was a good choice.

Well, after posting my barrel proof bourbon thoughts on that discussion thread I realized that I just needed to put my money where my mouth was. I haven't had a bottle of Rare Breed on my shelf in over a year . . . and it is currently on sale here in Virginia . . . so off I ran to pick it up. On a fresh crack . . . it is a great barrel proof bourbon for $52.57 out the door. It can compete and beat most things in the $50-$100 price range in my opinion. It is a shame I am so biased against Wild Turkey products. I don't know why.

@Nock "Biased against Wild Turkey products" ???? HOW DARE YOU!!!!!????

Kidding. We all have preferences. I love WT with all my heart (or tastebuds) but there are plenty of really popular whiskies I don't care for.

@OdysseusUnound. Yes, they clearly make a good product in Rare Breed. I am ashamed to admit that I have been biased against them for so long. It was Wild Turkey 101 that did it to me.

@Nock hey, any bad experience, particularly a bad first experience, can "bias" a person against a product or a brand for a very long time. From my perspective the real villain in the story is expecting consistency in any brands or products in the whiski world. If I had rejected a brand forever because of a bad or meh first experience I would not now be drinking any:

1) Talisker

2) Lagavulin (bad first bottle, not bad first tastes from other bottles)

3) Highland Park

4) Elijah Craig 12 yo (standard)

5) Old Fitzgerald (standard)

6) Buffalo Trace (standard)

7) Knob Creek 100 proof (standard)

8) Springbank (bad bar samples)

9) Sazerac Rye (standard)

10) Eagle Rare 10 yo

11) Glen Kinchie, Speyburn, Jack Daniels, Jameson, Johnnie Walker Red, etc., etc.

Boys, I've known some women over the years who have broken my heart. But that doesn't mean that I should no longer take interest in women.

The ONLY brands in the whiski world to which I give high grades for consistency in the production of products of high quality are Laphroaig and Amrut. I'll loudly say what I've said before: anyone who thinks that he can never get a bad bottle of Lagavulin, Talisker, or Springbank is merely lacking in experience.

While we would all LIKE to know what to expect when we go to take a sip of whiski, the fact is that we DO NOT and CAN NOT reliably know what we are going to get. The meeting of our bodies with each sip of whiski is a unique event, which retains an element of unpredictability of unknown and variable extent. Sometimes we relish the unique experience, but most times we tend to expect and hope that the "new" experience will be a repeat of a previous pleasant experience.

@Victor "Boys, I've know some women over the years............"

I'm imagining you delivering that line in your best Bogart voice.

@BlueNote I do like Bogart. Bacall too.

@Victor "You know how to whisle don't you Victor? You just put your lips together and blow."