Which bottle did you just buy and why?

@BlueNote yes sir! For me 66.8% is a righteous ABV!

If the flavours are good, then they are all the more enjoyable when they are more concentrated.

I can enjoy the subtle easy-going stuff too, though.

@Victor I'll have to save you some. I think the flavours are there too.

Found these online recently and they were reasonably priced, could not resist as I never had the Trinity and was hesitant to open my last 11 Souls that I found years ago at 30% clearance

Had a bit of good fortune this week and won £30 on the lottery. Nice! Then, in my Saturday golf roll up, I came first (off a 4 hcp, I might proudly add ) and won just over £40! Even nicer!

Well, what does one's mind turn to with some extra cash in their pocket?

Mortlach 2012 - 11 Year Old - Signatory Small Batch. Must be a new release and there wasn't much left so got one. A mix of ex-bourbon and oloroso casks.

I also got another Maclean's Nose blend from Ardnamurchan/Adelphi. Just because

You will see in my most recent "What are you drinking now?" post that I visited Dry Fly Distilling earlier today in Spokane, WA. I've been to their distillery before and I like their whiskey, but they've recently moved their distillery to a new location because they've out-grown their original location. I wanted to check out the new location. They serve lunch, so with lunch, I had a flight of their whiskies and decided to purchase a couple of bottles, but with approval from my wife, a couple of bottles turned into 3.5 bottles and a handle of pre-made cocktail. Details (and photo) below.

A half bottle (375ml) 3 year Straight Wheat Whiskey (45% ABV).

6 year Straight Triticale (Rye & Wheat hybrid grain) Whiskey infused with DOMA Coffee beans inside the barrel. (45% ABV).

Dry Fly's Irish-style whiskey. 5 year Single Pot Still, Single Cask whiskey. (45% ABV).

A handle (1.75L) of a pre-made cocktail. An Earl Grey Old Fashioned (13% ABV).

A Cask & Release series bottling. This is their Straight Wheat Whiskey finished in an ex-beer barrel. In this case, the barrel was from Kettlehouse Brewing (Bonner, Montana) and had previously held their Cold Smoke Scotch Ale. (45% ABV). This had notes of dry cocoa powder and chocolate. While it is very drinkable on its own, I'm thinking it will make some killer cocktails.

Back from a 2-week trip to Ireland and Scotland. I am still trying to get my act together as I have yard work and job responsibilities to catch up on but here are the scotches that were picked up on the trip. Most are distillery exclusives or hand-fills/single barrels. There are a few that I picked up (like Arrival) because I knew it would be difficult to get in the states.

And the second pic. One bottle is missing from these pictures. It was a Winter/Halloween SMWS bottle we picked up at The Vault. Society cask number: 6.66, The Devil’s Call. 13 year old at 59.1% ABV.

I found a picture of the Society bottle.

I was at a tasting at the North of 7 Distillery in Ottawa today. A group of people organized by @jasonhambrey to select a cask for further maturation and then bottling.

We ended up picking one cask (a wheated three grain bourbon-style whisky that will be bottled in the near future at CS, and another, a 4-grain, that will be left another year to mature.

I’m not a big player in this private cask purchase but it was great to be at the table.

The night before we were at @Jasonhambrey’s home and we tasted a pastis from the distillery. So I picked up a bottle while I was there.

Yesterday was "Distinction" liquor release day in Manitoba, Every 6 months or so the MLCC releases a very limited number of bottles of drams that are not usually available in our province. I got up a bit early, made my coffee and drove to a nearby city to hopefully get some bourbons that are not available year round (if ever). When I got to the liquor store 20 minutes before opening time there was already 16 folks lined up and I almost stayed in my car and drove home but did stay. Was able to grab a few bottles. Happy to get Elijah Craig Barrel Proof batch A122, a bottle of Eagle Rare 10 and an EH Taylor small batch BIB. These are not usually sold here and also bought a bottle of Alberta Premium cask strength fifth release 64.2 ABV, a Buffalo Trace single barrel and a Woodford Reserve 1000 ml bottle of Distillers Select bottled for and selected by MLCC. All in all did not do too bad but was hoping to get a Stagg but they were gone by the time I was allowed into the store. Only 6 bottles were available at the store I went to. My best buy of the day was the ECBP A122. The MLCC updates their website every few minutes and most hard to find bottles had disappeared from inventory an hour after the store opened.

Picked up another Mortlach 2012 - 11 Year Old - Signatory Small Batch. Why? Still not opened the first but the feedback keeps getting better and it is purported to have lots of umami. Also under £70, which is decent for a 48%+ Mortlach, and craft presentation. Small batch too so won't hang around long.

Also bought a Balvenie 14 Caribbean cask. Why? Only ever had pours of this it and always enjoyed it, but never owned a bottle. I also thought my partner would enjoy the sweeter style.

@RianC Had a bottle of the Caribbean cask Balvenie a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so that it vanished very quickly. Jealous of your recent purpose.

@RianC @Jonesz I had a bottle of the Carribean 14 a few years ago. It was just to sweet for my taste, but I might see if I can get a sample and try it again.

@BlueNote I hear you re the sweetness Of Balvenie 14 Caribbean cask but I do have a bit of a sweet tooth from time to time. My only reason for not replenishing the bottle in my cupboard is that it is now almost $225 Cdn here in Manitoba including taxes. Simply cannot justify that expense.

@Jonesz About $200 here in Ontario. I've had it a couple of times at tastings and both times it's felt like the rum barrel finish was being used to cover up issues with the distillate that prevented it from being bottled as one of the 12 year-old expressions.

@Jonesz That's brutal. It's $179 with tax in here in BC. It's pretty unusual for anything to be cheaper than anywhere else in BC.

@YakLord A cask strength 12 year old Doublewood would be nice.

LCBO finally got tired of the 2022 Diageo "special releases" collecting dust (due to the ridiculous prices they set when released in March) and marked down the Lagavulin 12 ($168 down from $230), Talisker 11 ($140 down from $190), and Oban 10 ($133 down from $180).

Though the Lagavulin 12 has always received huge praise I tend to prefer the 16, so I passed on that one. I did order 2 bottles of the Talisker and one Oban, both still a bit pricey relative to "back in the day", but fairly good value (for Ontario, Canada) in 2023.

For the first time since these "special releases" have been available in Ontario, most have been available for more than a month or two. Only the Clynelish sold out at their crazy pricing ($300). Not marked down (yet): Cardhu 16 ($270), Glen Ord 15 ($204), and Mortlach NAS ($425),

@65glenfarclas I ignored the special releases when they came out earlier. But I have to admit to FOMO and with the $50 discount I picked up the Talisker.

Found North batch 007, a blend of 18-24 year old Canadian whiskies. After 2 years of trying to get a version of these back to Canada and more importantly to me has finally happened. When they finally showed up in the Buffalo/Niagara area I was able to get a friend to mule them to me.

When my family and I were in Spokane, WA in September, we visited a local distillery; Browne Family Spirits. My wife suggested that we join their spirits club. Who am I to argue? The level we signed up for is 2 bottles of their spirits once every 3 months. While you don't get to pick your two bottles, they will allow you to swap out if you don't want what they picked for you. Anyway, we picked up our first two bottles today; a Bourbon aged for a minimum of 4 years. The other bottle was a cold-brew coffee infused vodka.

The bourbon (45% ABV), which we tried back in September in Spokane, was liked enough, along with the other items that we tried, that my wife suggested we join their spirits club. Trying it today was as good as it was back in September. The bourbon is pictured below.

The cold-brew coffee infused vodka (35% ABV) is a WA state wheat vodka. I'm not much of a vodka fan, but this is really good. We liked it so much, my wife bought a second bottle for a Christmas gift. This will make some killer cocktails. The vodka is not pictured.

Two more Mortlachs - surprise! . I was trying to get some other bottles at auction (a F&F, specifically) but was hugely outbid so turned my attention to the IBs ...

Mortlach 10 Year Old Equinox & Solstice Winter 22 | Decadent Drinks - another Whisky Sponge offering that, I believe, is from the same casks as the sample of the 10 NAS Mortlach I recently tried, but slightly reduced in strength (still 48.5% though). It was excellent and needed a bit of water so, why not?!

Mortlach 10 Year Old 2012 - Artist Collective 6.6 (La Maison du Whisky). Had my eye on this for a whole and a gushing Serge review rubber stamped it. I don't always agree with Serge but, in Mortlachs, I think we are aligned. A very meaty, old style Mortlach, apparently. Yummers!

Both ex sherry with long finishing periods in fresh casks. Very dark colour too! I think Mortlach can take the modern, gloopy sherry notes better than any other malt I've had.

Cost £100 each, give or take, so not cheap but they are Xmas gifts, essentially. I just spend the money before I receive it. How festive ...

Not bought, but a present from my wonderful sister, @Maddie, a bottle of Kilchoman Cask Strength 2021, 58.3% ABV. Not only is she getting pretty good at knowing what I'm actually likely to like, but she is after 12 years of drinking Scotch with me, even starting to like the peaty smokey stuff herself. I did not count on that day ever arriving, but it appears it is actually here. Years and years of familiarity has finally resulted in acceptance.

Yes, my wild-ass 80 year old sister has finally developed a taste for peaty-smokey whiski. Of course she liked Bruichladdich Octomore Orpheus 2.2 the first time she tasted it 12 years ago, but in those days if she liked it she just ignored the fact that there was peat and smoke present.

For reasons unknown to me, the 2023 (and possibly last) release of Alberta Premium Cask Strength has not yet been offered by the LCBO. Thanks to @fiddich1980 for piggybacking 2 of these on an order from Alberta.

One will be a gift for a friend who enjoys Canadian ryes, and to whom I’ve gifted the other expressions, and the other one will be opened as soon as I have the opportunity.

If I like it I will try to get a backup, as my open bottles from each batch are bound to run out sometime in the next 15 years….

Glad to see you were able to get the APCS piggybacked. Anxious to hear your thoughts on the 5th release.

@Jonesz First impressions favourable. I don’t have a lot of experience with each of the other releases (they are good but so are 85%+ of the other open bottles) but it seems to me in neck pour that this year it is a little less sweet than last year. And while present, the caramel is not as prominent and maybe the vanilla is more prominent. The nose is fantastic and becomes fruitier with air, but still drier than last year.

If this is what it’s going to be like it will be a good next 10 years. I may pick up a backup.

@Nozinan now you've done it I will have to pick up another before they disappear from the MLCC shelves!

Calgary Haul

This is what I will be bringing home from Calgary this year.

I purchased the Signatory Speyside 18 M after tasting it from @fiddic1980. By far the most expensive bottle of whisky I have ever purchased for myself. Very reminiscent of Macallan CS, but a bit older. The challenge will be getting myself to crack it in the near future and not wait for the perfect occasion.

The Amrut was also purchased in advance and was waiting for me when I got here. I would love to compare this to the Portonova. And if the stars align and I get to open my portonova with a friend (we’ve only been taking about this for 8 years) I will be able to.

The Glenlivet was a gift from my father in law. As far as we are all concerned here it’s a generous wonderful gift. It IS listed at the LCBO and that is all I will say about that.

The M&H was on my Secret Santa wish list. If I had not received it and it was still available in Calgary I would likely have picked it up tomorrow or Wednesday.

So four bottles. Three hopefully to be opened in 2024, and one to transform into something special should the LCBO offer up something special…

Four new bottles post xmas.

Two rums to start: Hampden Estate 8. Eyed this for a while and saw it on offer (and had vouchers) so bit. Gets very good reviews by Whisky folk. Big estery, Jamaican tropical fruit bomb at 46%.

Pussers Deptford Dockyard. A 'special' bottling to.celebrate 52 years since the Royal.Navy's Tot was ceased (looks like the lads and lassies will be getting busy again quite soon ...they might need a stiff drink!) and at Navy strength. A blend of four countries, mainly Guyana. I do like Pussers and rum reviewers were positive. As expected, an old style, British Navy rum. Heavy molasses. Got it from Master of Malt who had 20% off all stock!

Onto whisky: Another bottle of Mortlach 10 by LMDW. Again, MoM had a few bottles left so bought one in the sale. I have already opened the other and it is gorgeous! Very, very meaty, lots of pine resin notes and rich. Almost like a broth!

That and the Pussers for £145. Not too bad at all!

A Glenrothes 12 single cask from Royal.Mike Whiskies. Never tried any before but heard it is rather old skool and toffee driven with some savoury notes, so should enjoy it. It was a staff pick too and from an ex sherry butt. Looking forward to trying this one. Again, vouchers meant I almost got it for free. Sweeeet!

So a healthy start to 2024! Wish I could say the same for my poor tummy, currently, but lots of lovely booze to look forward to. Dry January? Pah!

@Nozinan - I had a chance a few months back to pick up one of those Signatory Macallans 17 for just over £100. I hesitated and they all went.

Then, a few weeks later, the 18 comes out and it's over £200 a bottle. That's too rich for my blood ...

Shame though as I expect I would like the more old skool sherry vibe they supposedly have. Not a complaint, more a bemoan at missing a good opportunity. Hey ho. Enjoy!

Be keen to hear your thoughts on it when you do crack it