Which bottle did you just buy and why?

@Nozinan I meant to say the 10 is a favourite, but not quite in the same league as the other two. I was basically just tasting the 10 as a Springbank reference before tasting the other two. But bang for buck it is hard to beat. Serge and Ralfy both give it high marks. I have never had an opportunity to try the 12 CS, but if I ever see it I will jump on it based on the excellent reviews it gets here.

A couple of bottles of an interesting looking release called 'Vega' - a 23 year old blended malt (pure malt) that has been bottled unchill-filtered and at cask strength from a vatting consisting of a number of single malt whiskies that have been matured in sherry and bourbon casks.

Bottled by the young independent bottlers: North Star Spirits for their 'Limited Edition No. 1' series - judging from the colour, it would appear that there is a healthy proportion of sherry cask matured malt used in its makeup.

These bottles are two of the 400 bottles available worldwide and the last two on the shelf as of this afternoon. Locally available at AUD$150, these are much cheaper than the standard bottlings of Johnnie Walker Blue Label - thus a no brainer.

@sengjc A little pricy but for 23 YO CS limited release how could you resist? it would be great to know how it tasted.

@MadSingleMalt what store has HP 18 for $70?

@Nozinan

Yes, for sure. Thus I got 2 bottles - one to drink and one to keep.

Not really pricey by Australian standard, then again everything is more expensive in this southern continent.

@sengjc , @Nozinan 23-year-old cask-strength Scottish malt whisky for $150 AUD sounds like a great deal to me. And Serge has been all over it late, in case you didn't know. It's his July "Favorite Bang for the Buck" bottling. whiskyfun.com

@BlueNote , thanks for the photo-finish results of that Campbeltown face-off! You really got me jonesing to open my Kilkerran 12 now, which I'll do exactly one month from today with my whisky club.

The Springbank 12 CS is indeed high-quality, but personally I don't like its heavy sherry as much as love other stuff that Springbank makes; it's not as distinctive from other distilleries' sherried whiskies. The real gems to look out for are the small-run "Wood Finish" oddballs, like the old Claret Wood, Madeira Wood, and whatever else they put out again in the future—oh, how I hope they put out more stuff like this in the future.

All hail the Springbank guys!

@nooch , the $70 Highland Park 18 was at a Hy-Vee in Madison, Wisconsin. It was their last bottle on close-out, but since I promptly returned my previous HP 18 that I'd paid over $100 for, they might very well have put that one on offer for $70 too. I haven't been back in there.

So I'd have to call it a fluke. Sorry!

@MadSingleMalt I consider the Springbank 12 CS and the wood finishes to be 2 different animals.

I do like the 12 CS on its own.

As for the Claret Wood, I would be extremely happy for anyone who could post about it on this thread because as a one-off from years ago I wouldn't expect it to be available anywhere. I found some stragglers a few years ago for a reasonable price, and would add to my stock if I ever came across it again, but I doubt that will happen.

@BlueNote, Correction: Springbank calls those small-run releases "Wood Expressions," not "Wood Finishes"—in case you're trying to track any of them down.

And in the interest of making @Nozinan "extremely happy," I will now post about the Claret Wood on this thread:

I call it sharp, fresh, sweet, rich, and sharp (sic). And drying at the end, which I like. And awesome. And, really, unique among all whiskies I’ve had in my career so far (~eight years of regular single malt drinking). Springbank Claret is the only sherry- or wine-matured whisky I’ve had that combines the rich sweetness with a pointy sharpness that keeps it from being heavy and dull. I love this. It’s not an everyday bottle for me, but when I need a break from the cheapies and the peaters, nothing’s better.

About the character: I don’t know that is really has SPRINGBANK character, but it has a distinctive character of its own.

Springbank continues its streak of producing the only non-peated whiskies that I really get excited about.

(I suspect he meant that he wished someone would post about finding one to buy, but such is life! )

@MadSingleMalt @Nozinan I'm always a bit cautious about anything with an oddball wine component, but there seems to be consensus that this one is exceptional. And let's face it, Springbank rarely puts out anything that is not at least very good, and usually excellent. Thanks for the good info, I'll get the Oregon inlaws to see what they can find.

Cheers

@MadSingleMalt You are correct...I can gush about how great it is on my own. I would like to see other Connosrs get lucky enough to find this for themselves. Not everyone can come visit me...

@BlueNote , the whisky world's consensus seems to be that credit for Springbank's quality oddballs goes to their full (or at least, long) maturation in the oddball casks. They don't just dump the bourbon-aged stuff into a wet cask for five minutes to soak up the previous cask contents.

Octomore's arrived just need right occasion and company to warrant opening.

Could not resist and 2 Cairdeas and a 10CS batch 9 ordered.

Wife will be unhappy at £420 in a week on 5 bottles hope she is speaking by time we go away in September.

@Pete1969 Through thick & thin, for richer or poorer, right?! ;)

@Pete1969 "Till death do us part."

@BlueNote and if you drink all that at once it won't be long....

Bushmills Black Bush. We finished the bottle of Jameson that my mom purchased. I said I'd buy the next bottle. The bottle is being shared by three of us, so we're keeping it under $40. I'm shocked at how good this is. I'm keeping detailed tasting notes as I'm definitely writing up a blog post on this. Black Bush will, without a doubt, make it in to my regular "budget" rotation. The sherry is present, but not overwhelming and it has a nice little hint of cinnamon and licorice on the finish.

@BlueNote "Till Death Do Us Part", which when purchased by the American networks, turned into "All in the Family."

Now to answer this thread's topic. I went back to small liquor store, which still had two bottles of the 16yo Nadurra, 0613X, and I picked up one. Yes, I can already hear what some of you are about to type, "Why didn' you pick up the second bottle?" Good question, I have no answer to. HA! I might just have to go back, and hope no one has picked it up. According to the manager, no one who shops there has bought them, but me, recently.

@ajjarrett "Those were the days"

Is that the 60.2% ABV version? If so it would be good to get your impressions. If it's good you better get back and grab the other one.

@BlueNote

It is the 54.7 ABV. I am sure it will still be a good dram to enjoy, and I do plan on picking up the last bottle, assuming it is still there.

@ajjarrett I have had that one and it is excellent. The two I have now are 08/14 at 55.7%and I have not opened one yet. Reports are that it is also excellent. I saw the 60.2ABV version recently in Oregon but did not get a batch number. The 16 seems to be the only version of Nadurra worth having and it's good to know there are still some around. Enjoy.

@BlueNote,

I wish I could agree with you about the 16yo Nadurra being the only 'expression' with getting. I don't make that assertion only because I haven't had the others under the Nadurra name. I guess I should at least try them (definitely before I consider to buy them) just so I can compare, and not rely on people's comments. It seems a mixed bag for Nadurra, but from what I have heard/read, there are more not-so-complimentary comments being made about the various 'NAS' Nadurra expressions.

If I do get a chance to get that last bottle, I will certainly mention it, but not the reason why, since it is obvious.

@ajjarrett

"Nadurra" used to be their branding for that one superman whisky they made for the whisky geek crowd: a health 16-year age statement, cask strength, yada yada yada. Then they just started slapping that term onto a bunch of crap that bears no resemblance to the original Nadurra.

My advice: Don't feel like you have to try these new NAS things just because they bastardized & reused a brand name that used to be on something you liked.

So my good friend who owns a nice liquor store gets in touch and let's me know that he got in a few Kilkerran/Springbank/Longrow releases today so I couldn't resist...

Springbank 13 Single Cask

Kilkerran 8 Cask Strength

He also had a Springbank 20 Single Cask exclusively aged in Bourbon Barrels but it was $309. Yikes! May go 1/3 on it with him and another friend though.

@KRB80 , saaa-weet! Were those all in the Boston area?

A few Qs if you don't mind:

•What are the specs on the 13 single cask? Cask type? Price? Widespread availability?

•Stateside availability of that Kilkerran 8 CS is probably the best tidbit I'm getting from your post. Woo! Do you mind sharing the price on that guy?

•What was the new Longrow?

•When will your Campbeltowntastic friend be opening his Wisconsin location? :)

@MadSingleMalt It was in Providence, RI. On the back of the bottle it says, the SB13 SC was distilled in December 2003, bottled in April 2017, matured in fresh sherry casks, and limited to 474 bottles. It also says that it is an exclusive bottling for Pacific Edge Wine & Spirits; the importer.

The price for the Kilkerran 8CS was $82 and the Springbank 13SC was $130. The Longrow was the Red 13yr Malbec release.

I'll be sure to ask him about expanding out into Wisconsin! LOL I know the RI distributor for Springbank/Kilkerran and wish it was possible to just purchase the bottles straight from him! Imagine?

The what: My latest LCBO online order showed up today: Glynnevan Double Barreled and Twelve Barrels.

The why: They are from small Canadian NDPs (No, @Nozinan, not that NDP) and I'd heard some good things, as well I like to support Canadian whisky start-ups.

Thanks, @KRB80. I gotta admit that price for the Kilkerran 8 CS is about $15 more than I was hoping for. But consarnit, I'll still pay. They got me where they want me.

@MadSingleMalt Lol, yep...they got me by the short n' curlies as well. I was expecting it to be the same price as the 12...$65-$70. But alas...