What Wee Dram Are You Enjoying Now? - Spring/Summer 2015

[amg]

"Get rid of" makes it sound like you're not enjoying them? Hopefully that's not the case!

If so, I'd be happy to help you out with those!

[Memphis]

Glendronach 15 first, and it made me reach for Mac 18. Good night of sipping

[Darwin]

"Get rid of" makes it sound like you're not enjoying them? Hopefully that's not the case!

[Mr. Bourbon]

Finishing off a 750ml of MM.

[Jazz Nut]

2oz. pours of Springbank Cask Strength 53.1%, and the newly opened Springbank Sherry Wood 17 year old. I have liked all the Springbank 12 year cask strengths I've bought, glad I drank the 17 first, since the 12 has such a LONG finish. I like both, but from a QPR ratio, the 12 C/S wins.

[amg]

Trying Green Spot for the first time, right after a pour of RB12. Even though they're both 80 proof, the Green Spot seems thin and grainy by comparison. I don't understand the premium that this commands.

[tanstaafl2]

Trying Green Spot for the first time, right after a pour of RB12. Even though they're both 80 proof, the Green Spot seems thin and grainy by comparison. I don't understand the premium that this commands.

[Scotch Neat]

Tried a bottle of Green Spot, not something I could drink I gave it to a friend.

[unclebunk]

Tried a bottle of Green Spot, not something I could drink I gave it to a friend.

Wish I was your friend![emoji2]

[GaryT]

Some HP12 - such a pleasant pour that I don't pour often enough

[GaryT]

Enjoyed a few pours of some dusty Lot 40 while reading Lew Bryson's "Tasting Whiskey" on the back porch. Something about fresh air, reasonable temps (80ish?), and malted rye that all seemed to be pretty close to how I picture heaven. :toast:

[tanstaafl2]

Going through some sample bottles that I have been meaning to get to for some time while refreshing my memory on the past season of Game of Thrones. Have watched about half of them already but wanted to start over and try to get through them all in order in a short period of time so it is fresh. 4 down, 6 to go.

And speaking of being fresh we matched the viewing with some interesting whisky samples that I have had for a while but never had a good opportunity to try in the right setting. First was the 21yo Rosebank OB at 107.6. Simply a beautiful yet relatively simple whisky. Solid but not deep mouthfeel with some light oak influence balanced against the delicate floral nose and palate with a long comforting finish. Nothing radical, just good in every phase. We compared this to the CS 13yo Rosebank from 1991 that was finished with a bit of sherry casks, unlike the 21yo as best I can tell which was all plain oak. Sweeter but still shows a similar pedigree. I suspect the 21yo is also from around the same time period in the early 90's just before the distilleries sad demise in 1993.

Next we popped open a couple of young selections from the Scotch Malt Whisky Selections, one a 9yo from Glen Scotia, a small distillery in Campbelltown and the other a 12yo from Balmenach, a really heard of distillery from the Speyside region. The Glen Scotia was describes as having seaweed, sushi and Abroath smokies and it was pretty much spot on. Lots of sea influence here but in a generally pleasant way. Rather enjoyable in fact. The Balmenach was a good bit subdues ad while it was OK it did not seem to be anything noteworthy. Maybe those smokies had affected my palate!

Next it was a bit of a change of pace as we tried two young new peated American malts from the Lost Spirits line out of California. The first was the Seascape II at 130pf which was fermented with Pacific Ocean water. Now that seems to be a twist! I thought it might prove to be similar to the Glen Scotia and it was... In a way. Unlike the earlier one this one had a bit of funk in the seaweed nose rather as if a couple of crabs had gotten tangled up in the seaweed and died in the sun on the beach. That profile carried through the palate and into the finish as well. It was also a touch hot so a bit of water of the unsalted variety was added but unfortunately it only seemed to highlight the funk. We moved on to the Leviathan III which was reported to be twice the peat as the Seascape but apparently still has the sea water fermenting technique as best I can tell. It was also aged/finished in "sherry seasoned French oak casks" which I presume means barrels soaked in sherry for a bit before using. It too had a touch of the seaweed/crab thing going on which I presume comes from the salt water brine fermenting. But this was much more sherry forward and despite having twice the peat didn't taste anymore peaty than the last one. Sherry kept the smoke and burnt rubber largely in check until the finish were it tended to take over. And interesting bottle and one I would consider buying if at a reasonable price, where it still available. I think the ran around $50-$60. But these are clearly not classic malt profiles. to get back to that we decided to clear the palates, eat a bit and have one more round to finish the viewing for the evening.

To do that we decided to finish with a taste of Bowmore The Devil's Cask first fill sherry. A 10yo at 113.8. It was paired with a sample of the Laphraiog Cairdeas 2013 NAS Port Wood finish at 102.6. Both did a very nice job of balancing the finish with the peat. Bowmore was a bit like the Bowmore 15 with some rich sherry notes and brooding peat influence that gave it an almost chocolaty character. The Laphroaig, a bit lighter in color, had a nice mildly tannic note balanced with moderate peat and the deep red fruit notes of the port peaking around the edges. Would love to have a bottle of either one of these for my very own!

And those made a very nice conclusion to the evening!

[unclebunk]

Closing in on the last of my bottle of Aberlour 10 and will then finish off the last of the Balvenie 10 Founders Reserve; two extinct favorites that I'm really going to miss.

[unclebunk]

Fabulous on another surprisingly autumnal evening here in Chicago.

[risenc]

If by "enjoy," you mean simply drinking -- then it's Slyrs, a single malt from Bavaria. A German friend brought it over for me. It's, well, let's say it's not quite ready for primetime. A lot of acetate and diacetyl, so basically bananas and cheese. The finish has some odd, and not unappealing, basil to it. But really, I expected more from the home of the BMW and Andechs.

[Darwin]

A cool front moved in so it's Dalmore 15 tonight. :toast:

[zillah]

Just turned the big 3-0 so now I am naturally enjoying a 30yr scotch. Popped open a Tomatin 30yr old and man is it delicious!

[unclebunk]

Finished bottles of Dalmore 12 and Aberlour 12 with a friend on Saturday night. In my mission to thin the herd of open bottles currently in my liquor cabinet, Aberlour 10 and 16 remain on deck to be finished this week.

[JDSmith619]

Buddy shared his Lagavulin 12yr with me last night and it might have converted me. Didnt think I'd ever make the transition but really enjoyed that pour.

[BigRich]

I've been fighting off some kind of cold or something for days. It's monkeying with my taste buds quite a bit so I'm hesitant to pull from the whiskey closet despite the whiskey having a positive effect on my cough. Towards the back I spotted a bottle of Kirkland's Signature Blended Scotch which

Is helping nicely.

[whiskeyagonzo]

Just arrived from TWE. Cheers!!

[unclebunk]

Finally finished off my last remaining bottle of Aberlour 10.:frown: Then moved on to a healthy pour of Powers John Lane while listening to Planxty's kickass second album, "The Well Below The Valley," out on the deck on a fine, cool July evening.

[Special Reserve]

This morning while trying to watched the weather delayed Open, I'm enjoying a nice neat pour of Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist, what a delight! I wish I had more than one bottle in the bunker.

[BigRich]

Belated birthday pours tonight. Hedonism Quindecimus and The General from Compass Box

[Vosgar]

Mrs. Vosgar was able to get us an upgrade to 1st class on British Airways for our trip to Switzerland and northern Italy, so I forced myself to take advantage of free pours of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. Hats off to BA for being very generous!

While in Switzerland, I was able to try Swiss Highland Single Malt Whisky in both the Classic and Ice versions. The Classic is 46% ABV and was much better than I expected, being nicely balanced, flavorful and with a decent finish for what I'm guessing is a relatively young whisky. The Ice is 58.5% ABV and supposedly gets its name because it's aged in an ice cave in the Joungfrau mountain. This concept makes absolutely no sense to me and might explain why I thought it came across as kind of harsh, even after adding water a couple of times to try and tame it a bit. I don't see how the wood can do its thing when the temperature never changes but I'm certainly no expert on these things. Regardless, it was fun to try a couple of whisky's I'd never had before.

If you ever happen to get to Varenna, Italy, which is on Lake Como, Lagavulin 16 will be your drink of choice. For some reason it's dirt cheap there. We stopped at a lakeside bar for a drink before dinner and they had it for 8 Euro's ($8.66). That price also included peanuts, olives, carrots, potato chips and a small dish of macaroni salad to snack on. We then went to a restaurant where it was only 5 Euro's ($5.41)! The next night at a different restaurant it was again only 5 Euro's. I don't know how or why but I certainly took advantage of it since Lag 16 is a favorite of mine. We're home now and back to reality, the place we went to last night charged $18 for a pour.........I passed.