Which bottle did you just buy and why?

I just bought a bottle of Douglas Laing's Rock Oyster malt blend for my whisky club. Why?

•It's new enough and odd enough that I'm sure nobody in the club will have had it before.

•It sounds light and zippy enough to be a good choice for the summer.

•Its price ($60) just happens to be just about exactly the amount of "club money" we still had for this year.

•I really want to try it for my own sake! Zippy salty oceanic whisky is totally my style. If it's as good as I hope, I'll probably return to the store for another bottle just for me.

Anybody heard any reliable rumors about what malts are supposed to comprise this blend? The label touts malts "distilled on Scottish islands including Orkney, Jura, Arran, and Islay." Jura and Arran are gimmes. Orkney is probably Highland Park, unless they were hoping to infuse this blend with bland. Islay could be just about any of them, especially considering how many different Islay malts they put together in their Big Peat. So I guess I'm mostly wondering whether anything else is supposed to be in there. I notice they use the word "including," which opens to door to other stuff being part of the mix too. Just based on the flavor they were going for here, I'd've expected Talisker to make an appearance.

@Ol_Jas I'm looking forward to hearing your report on this one. I've looked at it before but not tried it yet. I have had another vatted malt which was a collection of young malts from 6 different isles (Skye, Orkney, Jura, Ilay, Mull and Arran) and called 6 Isles (by Ian Mcleod). Despite its young age I quite enjoyed it.

Just one more bottle of the Hazelburn 9 Year Old Barolo Cask.

@Hewie , it'll be a few months before we open that Rock Oyster.

I've had that Ian Mcleod "Six Isles" malt blend, and I thought it was great too.

An interesting looking imperial quart bottling of the classic Glenmorangie Ten Years Old - for the duty free market and bottled at the export strength of 43%.

Always keen to collect old bottlings from a time when good whisky was simple and uncomplicated.

Went to the LCBO to pick up a bottle of wine for the ex and found several bottles on clearance. Picked up these 2, I had just finished a WP10 I had for 2 years and had refused to pay the current asking price. 20% off was just the nudge I needed. The Aultmore was on my want list but I thought it was overpriced, 20% off helped convince me.

Just put a bid in on an auction site for 4 miniature bottles of Glenfarclas 40 year old. Fingers crossed as i've never tasted this one!

This one has been on my list for a long time but I've not tried it yet. Yesterday it was on a one day special for $60 NZD ($41 USD, 32 GBP) so I bought a bottle. I've read mixed reports about it so I'm interested to see how it goes. Any lovers or haters out there?

@Astroke

So, what LCBO store do you shop at? I don't see either the WP or the Aultmore 18 listed as on sale anywhere in the LCBO. Not on the LCBO site or in Liquery.com, either.

@Hewie off topic but wow I didn't realize there was such a big spread between USD and GBP right now.

@Hewie The Bunnahabhain 12yo, is definitely a staple for my whisky library. I fell in love with it a few years ago. It definitely has characteristics I like in a whisky. Some people do not care for the level of 'oak' in it, but I didn't think there was an over-power oak(ie) flavor to it. I found the spices (descriptively Christmas cake), sweetness (vanilla/light caramel), oakiness, and a hint of sea side, all working in concert. I will always have a bottle of it accessible.

Took a trip to Washington State, and picked up a bottle of Glengoyne 15yo. Sadly, Glengoyne isn't sold in Colorado, so when I had the opportunity to get to a State which does sell it, I had to pick up a bottle. I also picked up a bottle of 12yo Redbreast CS, as well as a bottle of Glenvlivet Nadurra 16yo. The 16yo Nadurra is becoming harder to find in the Denver Metro area, so I thought I needed to make sure I got this, since I thoroughly enjoy it.

I got the 12yo Redbreast CS, since my friends recommended it to me, and I haven't had it. I do enjoy the 15yo Redbreast, which has a 46% ABV. I am looking forward to opening up the CS 12yo, B1/15 at 57.4% ABV. The other reason is, it is slightly cheaper in Washington than it is in Colorado. HA!

@ajjarrett I think that's the same batch I have. My first bottle was fantastic! I look forward to your impressions.

@casualtorture I just banged the NZ$ into a converter in my browser and that was what it said so I assume it's right. Anyway, it was a good deal for me!

@ajjarrett As I mentioned it is one which appealed to me but having never tried a sample I was a little reluctant to but a bottle. I opened it last night and fell in love from the first taste. Your notes on it are spot on! I've browsed through a few reviews on the net and there is such a huge range to how people find it - many don't sound anything like the same whisky. Puzzling. Anyway, I'm happy and would enthusiastically recommend it to others.

@Hewie it's good stuff. Money well spent.

@tfahey1298 The clearance sale was at the Ancaster Store, Golf Links Rd. I see the 3 remaining Aultmore 18 bottles in the locked cabinet at their old price of $180. Of course that does not mean that is the price as the clearance bottles were at the main entrance of the store. Usually when they are on clearance they stay on clearance.

@tfahey1298 The discounts or "clearance" bottles @Astroke is referring to are for a specific store. Certain stores will put bottles on clearance usually around 20% off (though I sometimes see 30%), until they are gone, first come first serve. This is on a store to store basis and is up to the manager, I think. Some stores are notorious for always having whisky bottles on clearance while others will have the odd bottle of wine or nothing at discount.

@Nozinan I guess I should hold off from asking this question before tasting it, but oh well. What were the nosing and tasting notes you got from the 12yo Redbreast CS?

@Hewie

The Youtube review that inspired me to get my first bottle of the was Ralfy's first review of the 12yo Bunnahabhain. I was sure I wasn't going to get a bottling that was at all close to what he was reviewing since it was a couple of years old, but I was curious about this whisky. Some of the notes he mentioned in the review, I didn't get, while a few were still present. My hope is, that Bunnahabhain keeps up consistency with their 12yo over the next few years. There was one note, I forgot to mention in my previous post. There is a lovely nuttiness to it to. I am not able to pinpoint which type of nut, but I do know that drinking the 12yo Bunnahabhain goes well with snacking on almonds.

@ajjarrett Here's a link to the review:

connosr.com/redbreast-12-year-old-cask-str…

@Nozinan Thanks for the link to your review. I read it, and I will review it again once I start trying the Redbreast 12yo CS.

Just picked up Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1 (1990 - 23yo). Aside from reading some great things about this bottle, I chose it in part because I'll likely not have the opportunity again in a couple of years. It's an intriguing experiment and Jim McEwan's final Black Art as head distiller.

Just got Ardbeg Dark Cove because it was 25% off at Kensington Wine Market and it had been on my list.

@Mancub a favorite of mine and down to 1/3 bottle, I was lucky enough to get it at $250 before the LCBO raised the price to $350. I did just pick up the BA 5, which is more Sherry forward (according to the few reviews) than the 4.1 which is more Wine influenced. Good stuff.

@Astroke happy to hear the 4 is a good one! I wish it was still $250, that's quite the deal. Even at $350 though it seems reasonable compared to the prices I've seen in the States. Which do you prefer? The 5 hasn't made its way to the LCBO yet and I imagine when it does it will be priced $100 more. You'll have to let me know how they compare and which you prefer. Cheers!

@Mancub Amazing that in Alberta the BA 4 is >$250 still. I have not opened the 5 yet. Strange that Nova Scotia got a few bottles but no where else in Canada, yet.

Just picked up a cadenhead small batch 27yr old Glenrothes. Why? Because it has a rum cask in the blend and is supposed to be fantastic. Review will follow.

@Astroke is Nova Scotia as rural as I imagine it to be?

@casualtorture Hard to know what you are imagining, but NS, has cities and rural areas just like most of the US and China. And most countries, for that matter.

Halifax seems to be where the best whisky is concentrated in the government liquor stores.

The Annapolis valley has some great wineries.