Got my Brora samples yesterday and immediately opened one. It's great stuff, but really not worth the $1k+ per bottle. I'm pretty happy trying a few $20 samples though. Here are my notes:

Nose: smoky, citrus, maritime, a little herbal. Pretty strong nose neat. With water: more accessible but similar notes. Smoky, more herbal this time. Lightly grassy.

Taste: smoky, closed. Needs some water. With water it really opens up. Starts sweet, then smoky, then spicy. Very complex. Coating sweet wax mixed with cinnamon.

Finish: spicy, lightly smoky, fairly long. A waxy, grassy feel remains for a long time.

Overall: excellent complex whisky, but I don't think it's worth the price. One of the few whiskys where I find the palate more interesting than the nose. A better nose would have made it spectacular.

92/100

Thanks for the review, El_T. I was ganna ask how it was a couple days ago lol, but figured you would've posted about it if you had a dram already.

Zero posts for national bourbon day huh. I cracked open my Booker's Dot's Batch for the GoT season finale. Idk if all batches are as good as this one, but I think Booker's is the best value for the money from all the bourbons I've tried. I also had Eagle Rare 17 last week, and I don't think I would pay $80 for it (let alone $220 or however much it's going for these days)

My order of Kavalan VB has been held in customs for a week and a half now. Part of me thinks the guys at customs know their whisky and jacked it, but idk.

i was thinking of making a old fashioned after some years.
but the only video i could find was this 1.

it made me sad
it showed me again that i´m a old guy and that my tastebuds would probably not like what the cool kids(hipsters) are drinking nowadays....
(3 oz of bourbon look a bit much in that video too)

That video is hilarious. Yea, that's more like 8 oz of the Beam in that one.

Depends on if you measure before she pours it all over the table though.

My samples got here pretty quickly (one week), but they were in a small box and said "crystal samples" in the description. I noticed that Whiskybase doesn't label their packages as alcohol and maybe someone at customs caught up on that and is being an ass about letting them through. When I bought from the Best of whisky shop the box was labeled as containing alcohol and I had to go pick it up from the post office. The shipment did take quite a bit to get here so you just have to be patient sometimes.

Just wondering if anyone has tried this:

http://www.highwest.com/spirits/36th...led-manhattan/

Sounds fantastic but wondering if a bottled Manhattan can live up to a top-shelf drink ordered at a bar. High West whiskey is supposed to be very good so I would think this might be worth trying.

Rev: I've had it. It's not terrible, but like all the bottled cocktails I've tried it's way too sweet IMO.

All: k&l now has maker's mark cask strength 750ml for $60. Prob still a little more than I want to pay, but it's better than how much I was seeing the 375ml go for.

Mann: old fashioneds are great. And you'd love what the hipsters drink these days. Spirit forward classic cocktails have been the big trend for the last 5-10 years. Thankfully the bastardized version of the old fashioned with muddled fruit went out of style in the 90s. Check the cocktail thread for more inspiration!

@EL D
i made myself a old fashioned but i used other ingredients.
brown sugar,better cherries other bitters and Eagle Rare 10y(but a bit less than in the video)only the orange stayed the same...

will probably try another one tonight with rye and without any fruits...

lol, I saw that old fashioned video get torn apart in a whisky group I joined

man, she ****s up everyone of those cocktails that she makes.

she made a long island and said it was texas tea because it had tequila, facepalm

Mother of god.

All,

Hahaha just actually watched this, "3 ounces" lolololol

Edit: mint julep is even better!

OmgOmgOmg....

Traded some stuff and am getting this guy soon. One of my unicorns...

foo,

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha, I love this girl.

She can serve me up 2oz pours on the rocks all day.

not exactly dining but I need to get someone a gift of nice whiskey.
I know nothing about liquor as I don't really drink so if someone knows a good place to buy good whiskey in Vegas (my place is in Henderson so anywhere from here to the strip) I'd appreciate it.

im assuming a regular liquor store is not gonna have fancy stuff.

if you have a specific whiskey rec pls share.
and no I have no idea what he likes other than he has alot of high end scotch.

looking to spend ~$100.

Rbk,

If he has a lot of high end scotch, rather than going for a scotch I'd take a gamble and buy the most expensive bottle of rye they have under $100.

OK that's better than getting him some fancy bourbon iyo?

Rbk,

You're getting horrible advice in the Vegas fine dining thread.

Not sure I agree w. Devil re: going American whiskey if he's a scotch guy, but if you do, here are a few decent options I found online in Henderson:

Taylor single barrel:
https://m.totalwine.com/eng/product/...rrel/125138750

Highest bourye:
https://m.totalwine.com/eng/product/...urye/116659750

Willet 8 yr rye:
https://m.totalwine.com/eng/product/...8-yr/144555750

Taylor rye:
https://m.totalwine.com/eng/product/...-rye/130861750

Highest midwinter's nights dram:
https://m.totalwine.com/eng/product/...dram/144522750

If this guy knows anything about bourbon/rye, he'll prolly be most impressed by the willett.

From a straight taste/value perspective, I'd go (in this order):
-highest midwinter's night dram
-willett 8 rye
-Taylor rye
-Taylor single barrel
-highest bourye

Hope this helps.

awesome that is super helpful tytyty.

foobar,

what would you suggest?

I just think going American whiskey when he's a scotch fan is a bit of a gamble. I know nothing about scotch though.

If you go american, based on the quick list I found above, I'd go with either the willett or the highwest midwinter's night dram.

if $100 is a hard limit, go put $15 on your favorite 4-way in roulette. If you lose get him lagavullin 16 imo.

don't buy him a mccallan, because unless its the 18, he will know you were too cheap to buy the 18.

willet rye is a great idea as well, but a scotch snob may not appreciate it. He should if he's not a snob though

There are a ton of bottles for ~$130 that i would recommend though

not a hard limit just a ballpark.
if there is something way better for $130 that's cool.

Rbk,

If you want to get scotch, I'd go with the Michel couvreur single single for $100 or any of the A.D. Rattray bottles in that range.