Which Water of Life Did You Purchase Today - Spring/Summer/Fall 2013

[thiemb]

I picked up a few of the Delilah's Compass Box's as well after trying it at the release party. I opened one right away at home and its been my go to pour lately. Also brought one along on a guys' weekend last week and the bottle got destroyed in about a day. A really delicious, easy-going sipper. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up one or two more of these before they are gone.

[portwood]

2 x Aberlour 12yo "double cask" 43% abv

Stocking up before the further watered down version arrives on the shelves

[Trey Manthey]

Made it back to the states with a haul from Scotland. I was trying to focus on either unavailable or sentimental bottles, as space in the luggage was limited.

GlenDronach 1993 Cask 1618, Hand bottled by me

A delicious 19 year old sherry cask from the gift shop. I wish I had skipped a couple of my other purchases and just bought a few of these.

Highland Park "Magnus" - A "limited edition" (11,000 bottles) from a few years ago with a very cool bottle and wooden stand. Stood out in the tasting enough for me to want to lug home the ridiculous packaging. Apparently they had found a couple cases of these and just put them out in the gift shop.

Cadenhead Highland Park 1988/2013 25 year

This is a small batch that was available in the High Street store. I wasn't feeling a few samples that the guy brought out, and was about to leave empty handed, but he mentioned that if I could stretch my budget a little bit he had something "really special." Wow. I got one 70cl and another 25cl so I could drink it while traveling. Another one I should have bought multiples.

Cadenhead Heaven Hill Bourbon, 61.2%

I don't remember much about this one. I saw they had a bourbon on their board for a pretty reasonable price. I know it was aged at Heaven Hill for 8 years and then sent to Campbelltown to age for another 5 years. It tasted great after about 5 samples of cask strength scotch, so on that merit I bought a half bottle.

Balvenie Hand Filled Samples from Warehouse 24

If you sign up for Balvenie's "fan club" and do their distillery tour, you get some perks on their already excellent tour. One of these is getting to fill your own bottle (20cl) using a whisky thief in Warehouse 24. They had a few casks out; I went with a 15 year old bourbon cask and a 12 year old sherry butt. The tasting in the warehouse is pretty awesome. They don't bother with glassware, opting to just splash a few sips worth into your cupped hands.

Mortlach 2013 "Spirit of Speyside" NAS

Lively, sherried stuff. Complex but not weird. I usually pass stuff like this up without trying it, but my wife's friends who run an outstanding whisky bar/shop out of Dornoch Castle (http://www.whiskymaltshop.com) poured her a dram. She started raving about it, and I ended up having one of them at the end of a night of fantastic drams. When I asked them where I could get a bottle, they made a point of telling me it would be impossible at this point. The next day I was in Brora and popped in the Clynelish gift shop and saw a bottle tucked under the counter. I mostly bought it out of spite, but it was worth it to have something both me and my wife like.

Duncan Taylor Dimensions Mortlach, 18 year, cask 4463

I'm not happy I bought this. It was an impulse buy because I was running late for my Balvenie tour and was staring at a wall of IB releases in the Duncan Taylor showroom. Bourbon cask. Pale straw color. It might be decent, but I just have a feeling it will be boring. I could have gotten another HP25 for the same price.

I also picked up a 35cl 1988 Auchroisk, a half-full bottle of SMWS 76.14 (also Mortlach, gifted to me by my Macallan-loving B&B owner when I told him I dug it), a Glenfarclas 15-21-25 sampler set, and MANY mini bottles to try random stuff and to bring hiking. All of these we consumed before heading home.

[brettckeen]

I picked up a few of the Delilah's Compass Box's as well after trying it at the release party. I opened one right away at home and its been my go to pour lately. Also brought one along on a guys' weekend last week and the bottle got destroyed in about a day. A really delicious, easy-going sipper. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up one or two more of these before they are gone.

The lakeview Binnys has a lot and westlakeview liquors took a good amount.

[MyOldKyDram]

I thought this sounded great until I got to the price and proof. Easy skippin for me.

[devillighter]

Picked up another Tun 1401 Batch 3 - how these are still on the shelf I do not know...

[LostBottle]

Added a Yamazaki 18 (at the old price) as a backup to my current open bottle.

[tanstaafl2]

This is one I wanted to purchase but didn't! Saw a Knappogue Castle 1951 in the flesh so to speak. I would love to have one and it wasn't even $1000! It was only $999.99...

I would really like to have one more than AH Hirsch or other pricey bourbons but just couldn't pull the trigger at the price. I would be afraid I would never be able to make myself open it! Interestingly it looked to be a screw cap top.

[sutton]

A JW Gold Label for $76 ... read it was going away in the US market (of course, same rumor on the Green and that is still around) then saw David D loving it and Ralfy giving it just an OK. I've had good luck from a number of reviews from both of them, so I thought I'd find out for myself - the price was about the lowest I've ever seen on it in these parts.

[devillighter]

This is one I wanted to purchase but didn't! Saw a Knappogue Castle 1951 in the flesh so to speak. I would love to have one and it wasn't even $1000! It was only $999.99...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]16621[/ATTACH]

I would really like to have one more than AH Hirsch or other pricey bourbons but just couldn't pull the trigger at the price. I would be afraid I would never be able to make myself open it! Interestingly it looked to be a screw cap top.

I have run across a few of these in my dusty hunting travels, for a bit less than $1000 if i can recall correctly.

[tanstaafl2]

I have run across a few of these in my dusty hunting travels, for a bit less than $1000 if i can recall correctly.

Would love to have one but it would have to be a bit more than a bit less than $1000 before I would likely be willing to take the plunge. And unfortunately that probably isn't happening.

[LostBottle]

Picked up a couple OB Mortlach; to help defray shipping expense, I tacked on a sherried Lagavulin.

[zillah]

Just shipped in.

[ChainWhip]

Picked up a couple OB Mortlach; to help defray shipping expense, I tacked on a sherried Lagavulin.

That's putting it lightly... Hah!

[Trey Manthey]

Picked up a couple OB Mortlach; to help defray shipping expense, I tacked on a sherried Lagavulin.

Jazz Festival bottling? That's one I really wish I had picked up while I was on that side of the pond.

[sutton]

Just shipped in.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]16625[/ATTACH]

Nice! Would be very interested in hearing what you think about those Tomatin 18's ...

[zillah]

Already have a bottle open in the back nad its almost gone. :grin: Love em for the price. $55 where I am from. It is not the best scotch I ever had, but it it is a fantastic deal. What other 18 can you get for $55?

Here are some tasting notes:

Nose: White grape juice, apple fritters, cinnamon frosting, roasted rosemary, pancake syrup, white bread, canvas, smokey charred marshmallow, a1 steak sauce, honey comb, tropical fruits

Taste: Sweet pineapple and orange at the front, immediately followed by creamy baking spices, cinnamon, pepper and splintering oak mid palate, then ends with savory heather, liquorice, char and chocolate; chewey and viscous, little bitterness despite a lot of tannin

Finish: medium length of char, cacao, sage, oranges, smarties; starts slightly medicinal but ends sweet and clean

Overall: Excellent Malt. I was a bit disappointed at first, but this is a treasure trove if you sit and sniff for awhile. There is a very faint smokey, savory and herbaceous component underneath that I can't put my finger on. At first I was worried that it was a poor sherry cask, but the more I contemplate, the more I realize that there is some peat hanging around! (At least I hope my experience picked it out correctly) This is made from refill oak, so this may have been married with old peated malt casks or Tomatin slightly peats their malt, neither of which they don't say. Indeed, a mystery. At least the notes match the distillers on the box: "hint of smokey heather." So, I must be doing something right and boy do I enjoy it! The nose never backs down - I quit recording by the third glass. Yes, the third glass because its greatest strength is that it is delicious.

The taste is the best part. Fruity, woody, spicy, creamy, savory and herbaceous, it is incredibly well rounded with fruits taking a bold lead but not overpowering. In addition, it is incredibly drinkable. No harsh tannin or bitterness. Your taste buds just water. The finish is aggressively bitter and medicinal at first before settling down to a clean fruity, candy like sweetness. Very well put together!

[Trey Manthey]

That must be the most that anyone has ever written about Tomatin!

Seriously though, I don't know why I developed a predisposition against it, as I've never even tried it. I literally drove past the distillery a couple weeks ago without even considering a stop in the gift shop. I think I need to pick up some of the 18 and give it a fair shake.

[zillah]

I, like you, had an aversion to it as well, considering that others have the same aversion. I have been doing my research on it because $55 for an 18 year old sounded too goo to be true. I was sick and tired of paying double that for the legacy malts.

Tomatin originally made malt for blends only. It's signature was that it provided a very fruity component - my favorite part of their profile. Most of this stuff went to Japan for Japanese Blends.

Only recently did Tomatin start releasing its product as single malts. It has been having a hard time trying to make a name for itself. The standard malts - the 12, 15 and 18 - had been getting poor reviews but the Master Distiller have been doing his best to open Tomatin up to discerning whiskey buyers. Their

release, combined with offering their standard malts as NCF, have help put them on the map.

They still don't have anything that is a knock out of the park - or least that I have had - but the 18 is fantastic in my book. I heard the 15 is great, too. (its ex-bourbon only) The one I really want to get my hands on is the Tomatin 30. It is ex-bourbon, but I have seen prices for it as low as $200. A 30 year old malt for $200! In a way, I sort of see Tomatin as HH was before the bourbon boom. You know, when you could get the EC18 for $40. It had some good whiskies at a great value. Sure, nothing is really better than what the best distillers can offer, but for the price, it can't be beat!

[sutton]

Thanks Zillah, great notes. Makes me want to go find one myself ...!

[LostBottle]

Jazz Festival bottling? That's one I really wish I had picked up while I was on that side of the pond.

[ChainWhip]

Not that one. I am making up for a mistake I made back in 2007.

She was the one that got away?

=]b

[Max Power]

I'm on my way out today to pick up a Balvenie TUN 1401 Batch 3 and Batch 6. I've been told that the Batch 9 is going to be coming out very soon.

[bigtoys]

Walked into my local Liquor Barn and saw this. Another SB'er had made me aware of the Tun series, so, although I couldn't find any quick info on Batch 9 on the www, I took a chance and grabbed it.

I'm a long time Balvenie fan--mainly DoubleWood and PortWood. Guess I should think about the DoubleWood 17 yr old, too.

Now that I'm home, I check Balvenie's website and see this is a brand new release (October) for the US only. My lucky day!! :cool:

from the news post:

“We’ve identified what we believe to be an unprecedented range of liquids to comprise this Tun 1401 batch from the vast library of very rare whisky currently maturing at The Balvenie Distillery,” said David Stewart, our Malt Master of over 50 years. “The end result is a complex and completely unique marriage characterized by dark fruits and marmalade on the nose. Its richness and smoothness is underpinned with dark chocolate sweetness, delicate honey notes and a distinctly long, spicy finish.”

here's a link to the whole thing: http://us.thebalvenie.com/news/announcing-tun-1401-batch-9

edit/addition

somehow these tasting notes (from Wine Enthusiast) on the Balvenie 30 yr old ($800) don't make me want to go out and grab a bottle

"Bouquet offers hints of mead, almonds, pencil eraser, coffee grounds, pork and old leather. Palate entry is intensely resiny, smoldering warm and waxy;...

Edited September 30, 2013 by bigtoys

[ChainWhip]

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