Go to TW today ask if they have any good whiskey. Guy goes yeah but I can't sell it. Buffalo trace antique collection but it's all on reserve. Constellation prize Stagg jr. and pliny one is gone . http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/...psuk4c6vmd.jpg

had this one yesterday at a tasting.

not bad
salted caramel with the typical tropical fruits only playing second fiddle and the peat is a backburner.
sadly not €145 good in my eyes.

Scotch lovers,

A couple of new ones:



The benrinnes (17yo k&l cask) is reminiscent of a dessert wine, ton of vanilla and fruit, just smooth sweetness in this one. Packs a bit of a punch too. Very good stuff. http://m.klwines.com/p/i?i=1236186

The bowmore Devils cask 3 was awesome. Huge sherry notes combined with big smokiness. Loved this one. http://m.klwines.com/p/i?i=1257810 oddly, it's priced at around $100 in the US, and around $200 everywhere else.

I've been meaning to write this post for a while but somehow it skipped my mind. A couple of months ago a friend invited me and a couple of other people to an informal Scotch tasting at his house. He has a collection of almost 200 bottles.



He started with some blind tasting, then brought out the heavy calvary, and finally let us pick whatever we wanted to try. Here are some quick notes I took.

1) Littlemill 12yo: fairly drinkable, not much complexity, good starter for a tasting. I thought this was nothing remarkable, but it was nice to try a now silent distillery.

2) Arran sauterness cask: sherry, perfume and a little camphor on the nose, sweet and peppery on the palate, and a short but sweet finish. I have never liked an Arran before so I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Think of it as a less sweet Glenmorangie Nectar D'or.

3) Mortlach rare old: sherry tones with a little muted flavors. Never liked Mortlachs much, this wasn't the exception.

4) Convalmore 36yo: this is probably the most expensive Scotch I have ever had (~$900). Nose: sherry, wood tones, some camphor and eucalyptus, very complex!. Taste: woody, spicy. Very long finish with sherry and lingering pepper. This was an amazing whisky.

After this I stopped taking notes and went to pick something myself. I didn't want to abuse his expensive bottles so I went for fairly priced stuff that I've never tried. Had the Wolfburn which was very young but fairly smooth and complex for a 3(?) year old whisky. To end the tasting I had the Port Askaig 19, which I heard is sourced Caol Ila. It was excellent! This is one that I'm ordering today, and hence why I remember to write this post.

Happy Thanksgiving, cheers!

For Cyber Monday you can get $20 off the Wintersmith Ice Chest. Really upped my old fashioned game with its crystal clear ice spheres that look cool in the glass and melt evenly rather than cracking.

Costco had fine whisky by the front with instant rebates. Johnnie Walker Blue for $170

Received a bottle of The Octave Craigellachie 2008, 55.0% for a Christmas present. I googled for reviews but couldn't find much. Anyone know anything about this scotch?

Got lagavulin 8 for Christmas and you can definitely taste the lack of age. Harsh, simple, not a fan. Had the 16 beside it and being that they are almost the same price I can't find anything good to say about the 8. Really enjoyed the 12 though the few times I've had it.

Drop a spoonful of water and let it rest for 10 minutes, it should improve. The 8 is not my favorite Lagavulin but I don't think it's bad at all.

I bought and drank a Bottle Of Suntory on xmas and really enjoyed it. It was 35 bucks. Prior to that I usually just drink Johnny Black.I've been drinking everything on the rocks. My wife just bought me a bottle of Glenlivet 12 as she knows I've been enjoying whiskey. Guess Ill follow the advice in the thread and try it neat and just switch to rocks after the first glass or 2 if necessary.

Um,

No reason to be all or nothing. Sometimes I drink stuff neat, sometimes with a little water, sometimes with ice. When I'm drinking whiskey on the rocks, I do usually prefer one big ice cube. On the rock, I guess.

American Whiskey fans,

Budget whiskey - any reason to pick up this WL Weller for $21.99? (my default bourbon I usually keep around for random on the rocks/cocktail drinking is Eagle Rare 10)

Non-budget whiskey - I've had it once, but only after quite a few other drinks, so don't quite remember exactly what I thought of it. But people really rave about this whiskey. Worth getting the High West Midsummer Night's Dram for $89.99? K&L keeps getting 30-50 bottles of a time of it, which sell out within the hour. Wondering if I should grab one next time.

Re: midsummer night's dram. Load the boat imo.

Re: Weller. Meh, decent wheater...Nothing to write home about imo.

D,

For budget bourbon I prefer http://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1031933

The WLW special reserve is meh, if you can ever find the 12 year tho buy every bottle you can.

On NYE, local bar has tasting of 12, 15 and 20 year Pappy for $160/person. What do you guys think? I've never had Pappy and would be interested, but price seems steep and, while my girlfriend and I enjoy a good bourbon (our favorite is Blanton's, of which we have a bottle), we aren't exactly connoisseurs. Worth it? My girlfriend found the tasting and has offered to pay for it, but that makes me more hesitant to have her spend that much.

Yeah, do it. It's not really "worth it" but should be a fun thing to do w. Your girl for new years.

I was leaning toward doing it but now what turns me off is this bar is in Downtown LA but they have another location in San Diego, and I just noticed the location in SD has the following for just $125:

Old Rip Van Winkle Bourbon 10 Years Old ⠀
Van Winkle Special Reserve Bourbon Lot B. 12 Years old⠀
Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye 13 Years Old⠀
Pappy Van Winkle 15 years Old⠀
Pappy Van Winkle 20 Years Old⠀
Pappy Van Winkle 23 Years Old

They put in the 23 year rather than the 12, and they add tastes of the three other Van Winkles all for $35 less.

I mean, if you're gonna do it, do it because it's a fun new years thing to do and don't sweat the money IMO.

Easy decision to me. I'm taking the second choice everyday.

The second choice being drive 120 miles to San Diego on NYE, drink lots of Pappy and drive 120 miles home?

Take the $70 your saving and get a hotel room with your girl. Seems like a good excuse to get a room and make an evening of it.

No, second choice is get a room, drive 120 miles, drink a bunch of booze, have dirty hotel nye sex. Drive home next day. Obv.

Edit: jz beat me to it

What hotel room are we going to get on NYE for $70 in SD?

You can enjoy this swanky place

https://www.hotels.com/hotel/details...=1&ZSX=0&SYE=1


Or you could spend more than that... I'll even answer your next question of what to do when you're there?