very sadly, not available here (it may be available elsewhere in Canada, but in our province all liquor sales are regulated by a single board that selects products available). I do really appreciate the recommendation though, something a little different and not too pricey it sounds.

I just had a vendor give me a fifth of Johnnie Walker blue. I didn't think much of it until I saw the box it came in. Is this high dollar stuff? Is it worth it? I don't drink these days and just thought about giving it to a coworker or customer but I dunno.

http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=610002

Diablo,

Do you feel like shelling out $700 for a taste of Highland Park 50?

http://blog.wingtip.com/2014/01/21/h...s-open-public/

ET,

No!

worst i ever paid for 1 whisky was 30 euro for a 35 year old brora.
would never dish out 700$ for 1 drink.

Considering how rare those bottles are, 30 euros for a drink of 35yo Brora seems like a good deal. How was it?

it was at a whiskyfair and it was really great.
was much smokier than i expected from a 35yo.
was super complex
but what i remember most was:smoked bitter oranges

Had dinner at bobby flay steak in borgata tonight. They had A. H. Hirsch 16 (gold foil) ridiculously under market price at $15/glass. Fwiw, going market rate for a pour varies wildly, but is safely $50+.

So anyhow, no tasting notes as I have a pretty bad head cold, but was cool to try it at a bargain price i guess.

my roommate was tryin gto tell me that opening a bottle of scotch, and not sucking the air out of the opened bottle, causes the quality to diminish. Also said that for certain brands, McCallan especially, this happens very rabidly.

Is there any validity to that?

been working my way through an Aberlour 12, which is great, been moving slow though because its sitting next to two bottles of RVW.

Couldn't find the Glenmorangie Quinta ruban or the Bunnahabbhain 12 at the spot by me so the HP12 is next.

thanks again for the rec

I don't think that's valid. I have lots of open bottles and haven't noticed any kind of spoiling in them.

What I've read is that once you're reaching the bottom of the bottle there may be some effects in quality because of the air to spirit ratio, but last weekend I finished a bottle of HP12 that had only a couple of ounces left and that I opened originally over a year ago and really didn't notice any weird flavors.

I forgot to mention earlier in the week that I finally had my first Manhattan at Mitchell's Steakhouse in Columbus, Ohio. The food wasn't that great, however, the drink itself was awesome. I was gonna get it with Bulleit Rye as I remember El D saying he preferred Rye in cocktails and I had never actually tried anything rye. However, my buddied ordered a Manhattan with Bulleit right in front of me so I had to be different. This forced me to get it with Knob Creek Rye because I needed to be different haha. It was exceptional, all I really noticed was that it tasted like a milder Knob Creek neat which is absolutely fine by me.

Followed this with my personal go to thus far Laphroaig 10 (due to price no doubt) when the steak came out and it really made me realize why there is so much love for a peaty scotch with steak itt and the steak thread. Truly amazing and I regret not getting another one. The only thing that seemed a bit off was charging $13 for the Laphraoig. That seemed a little steep to me as I have only had to pay ~$10 here in Indy for the same drink. I really should have checked the prices on the alcohol menu it possibly could have led to getting a bit more value. Thoughts?

If you like the Laphroig 10 I think you should definitely check out their quarter cask, slightly more expensive but worth it imo.

Cracked open this scotch tonight that I had received as a gift back around Christmas time:

I typically prefer a heavy, peaty, single malt so this light, honey-coloured whiskey was likely not going to hit the mark for me — and it didn't.

Nothing terrible about it, but the maple, honey sweetness is just a bit too sweet for my preference. Quite smooth and silky actually. If I was just knocking scotch back all night with a friend or two this would be a good bottle to share. And I think that just might be what I do with this bottle.

I have to say that I did the enjoy the Campbeltown Loch more than the Dewar Rattray Glenglassaugh, 29 yrs., single malt that I tasted and reported on a couple of weeks ago.

Meh… maybe I'll go pour myself a second shot...

Had Springbank 18 and Balvenie 17 peated cask tonight. The Springbank 18 was excellent but I don't know how much of an improvement over its younger brother the 15 which is one of my favorites. I wasn't too impressed about the Balvenie peated cask, it tasted more woody than peated to me. Not bad, but I wasn't too crazy about it for the price.

ET,

Balvenie 17 peated cask is one of my top fave whiskies!

It tasted very bourbon-like to me. Do you think that's why it's one of your favorites? Because it's not really that peaty. To confirm that I poured myself some Laphroaig 18 when I got home and the difference in levels of peat is huge.

whisky thread experts,

can someone clarify the status of the Ardbog? Some people are telling me it was a one-time limited edition, and others are telling me it's a recurring limited production (more like the A'bunadh). ???

cliffs tasting notes? I like the Ardbeg 10 and dislike the Corryveckran and haven't tried the Uigeadail. I am not one generally for insane peat bombs, prefer some subtlety or balance.

Ardbog is like a better version of Ardbeg 10, and the majority of Ardbog's mix is the 10

I like smokiness though...I would snap choose Ardbog over Pappy. If you like the 10 can almost guarantee you'll like Ardbog. I haven't had Corryvreckan and haven't opened my Uigeadail yet to compare, though

Started watching Bob's Burgers and came across this spirit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe

Anyone try it?

There's more discussion about different spirits in the OOT thread.

But get some and try a Sazerac.

its a 1 year thing,like the rollercoaster.

MF,

I will retry this comparison and get back to you!

All,

Re: the whole oxidizing etc question.

Just drinking the last shot of a balvenie 21 portwood that has been the last bit of a bottle left for a long time (many months at least).

No off flavors and all the delicious portwood flavor is still there.

Only difference is it might taste a touch hotter, but I don't have a control unfortunately.

I have an almost finished bottle of hp 18 and a brand new bottle, so I'll do a head to head taste off of those soon.