OK thanks, looks like uigeadail is cheaper at my local off license than online.

I order most of my stuff from klwines.com
Good prices and usually fast shipping.

Bevmo.com seems good too but I haven't ordered anything from the store yet.

Ah yes. Good call Timon. Those were the two main ones I was trying to recall and couldn't. Both had seemed worth checking out.

Just checking in... El Diablo pointed out this thread to me in OOT's "Bar talk..." (aka cocktails) thread. I don't normally frequent EDF but I'm subscribed now.

Totally grunching, since I've only read the last page of this thread, but here's a question that probably fits: My friends and I bought several bottles of Macallan 25 on sale 4-5 years ago, $280 a bottle. Fine, at that price. But none of us are really *that* enthused about it, and the price has skyrocketed in the last few years, I see some going for over $600. So what should we do with the unopened bottles? Ebay seems like quite a hassle, and I don't know where else to get rid of them. Certainly don't feel like drinking it when it goes for that much, and I'd rather have a Highland Park 25...

Fitz,

If I recall correctly a few of the whisky sites have a consignment type arrangement. Heck if I can recall which ones though.

I generally steer clear of Ebay if I can help it. In recent years fees have skyrocketed and between ebay fees and paypal fees (which everyone uses) you get a bit hosed. It is however not much of a hassle at all. Long gone are the days of needing HTML knowledge to list on ebay. Any monkey with a digi cam and internet connection can pull it off in a matter of minutes these days.

No idea whether it's common but I've also stumbled across a few decent bottles on craigslist over the past couple years. It seems pretty rare though so it's probably not the best option.

Edit- I have no idea whether Macallan 25 qualifies but here are a few starting points:

http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/wanted.aspx

http://www.rarewhiskysite.com/produc...ld-whisky.html

http://www.whiskymaltshop.com/

A 20 yr? For $45? Snap buy of course.

Tastes as you'd expect. Lacking in bite and complexity. But still solid for the price.

toss,

I had that recently and thought it was amazing for the price. Previous Kirkland bottles like this have been Macallan, but I've had a 15yo Kirkland Macallan and it tasted pretty different. Also, they've labeled those as Kirkland 15yo Macallan, 18yo Macallan, etc., so it's prob not Macallan. I've searched the net looking for info (usually these get identified on some forum pretty quickly), but haven't found a reliable identification yet. Nonetheless, I think it's a great buy for $45. Here's a good post on it: http://www.drinkhacker.com/2013/01/1...y-cask-finish/

All,

A friend is having a whiskey+chocolate party tonight. On the menu:

Bowmore Single Malt Scotch, Darkest 15 year
XOX Truffles' Noisette truffle (hazelnut, sprinkle of sea salt)

Compass Box Orangerie Scotch Whisky infusion
Socola Chocolatier Sriracha Flying Rooster

Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whisky, 100 proof
Godiva Chocoiste Milk Chocolate Pearls

Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve 10 Year Bourbon
[a surprise for you...]

Yeah, lots of speculation and stuff on the scotch.

This chocolate sounds very interesting. I love the rooster but I have a hard time imagining a good taste from adding it to chocolate.

Yeah, seems like the vinegar component would be a turnoff.

Sad to hear about the tasting. I'd love to hear your reports on some of those that will be at the bar, especially the Charbay and the two Anchors.

Freaked me out for a sec when I saw your cabinet because the wood and size look similar enough and I had my GT Stagg in the same spot. Did a double take thinking it was mine.

The Bowmore 15 yr darkest is quite good. I'd rec it to any Islay lover.

Just had the most amazing scotch experience on a job in Houston, TX.

Went to my favorite scotch bar downtown and the rep for Lagavulin happened to be there. She saw that I was having a hard time trying to pick my next pour since they have approximately 200 different scotches there. Just a crazy list (book).

She decided to buy me a Lagavulin 21 to the tune of about $85 a dram. Just amazing, although what do you follow that up with? Pretty much ended the night after that one. Tasted like the 16 but with an extra richness that is not really describable. It was also cask strength so it needed a little bit of water to tame it down some. It was hot neat. I am a really big fan of the 16 so this was something above and beyond the normal for me. $30 is usually my max per dram of anything.

Some other notables from the bar that I got to taste were:

Mackinlay Shackeltons 1907
Ardbeg Day
Ardbeg Galileo
Ardbeg Supernova
Compass Box Flaming Heart

Yea, it was a pricey 2 days.

They have a Dalmore 1981 there but I couldn't pull the trigger on that one this time. Maybe next time.

Well, I just finished my 1.75mL of Maker's yesterday and the whole experience went pretty well. I noticed being able to taste it more later on in the bottle but this is probably due to just getting used to it after the first couple days. Overall, I have only had Maker's and Buffalo Trace straight so far and a few things stood out. Buffalo Trace definitely seemed more "smokey" and didn't have near the amount of flavor compared to Maker's. I noticed some fruity undertones in the Maker's and this obviously added to the flavor. At this point, I would need to taste them one after the other to truly be able to say more, however, I can say without a doubt that I would be able to tell the two apart due to the fruitiness of the Maker's. I will be buying another bottle either during the week or on Friday to continue surveying other whiskies. I am going to look for Bulleit and Eagle Rare again but doubt the liquor stores in my area will be restocked already so I am open to other suggestions. I realize that most of the higher end bottles are only available in 750mL, but am going to try and purchase another half gallon for this time mainly due to my nittiness. Fire away with the suggestions...

~JB


edit: I forgot to mention that my preference between the two lies with Maker's Mark for the time being. This is purely due to flavor.

All,

Thoughts on the whiskey+chocolate party I mentioned earlier.

First off, it was an amazing idea for a party. I strongly recommend it. Also, turns out that if you put trays of chocolate next to whiskey, lots of women who normally would recoil at the idea of straight whiskey will gleefully pour and sip whiskey neat. Thoughts on the items/pairings:

"Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve 10 Year Bourbon
[a surprise for you...]"
Snickers was the surprise. This was a good simple combo to start with, and along with the Snickers, the bourbon went down pretty smooth.

"Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whisky, 100 proof
Godiva Chocoiste Milk Chocolate Pearls"
The Rittenhouse is one of my favorite cocktail ryes, but I wasn't a huge fan of it for sipping. These little godiva chocolate balls were ****ing delicious, though. Kind of mild next to this strong rye, though, not a great pairing.

"Compass Box Orangerie Scotch Whisky infusion
Socola Chocolatier Sriracha Flying Rooster"
This scotch was interesting. Very light, quite a strong orange flavor. I never would have pegged it as a scotch, tasted more like an armagnac or something. Not terribly into it. The chocolate was pretty impressive, but pretty blow you away levels of spiciness - definitely left your mouth feeling like hot Sriracha. But it also made the whiskey taste like nothing. Not a great pairing here - should have been w/ a cask strength whiskey with a strong flavor.

"Bowmore Single Malt Scotch, Darkest 15 year
XOX Truffles' Noisette truffle (hazelnut, sprinkle of sea salt)"
I like this scotch a lot. And this combo was amazing. He had this bourbon smoked sea salt to eat a pinch of along with the rich hazelnut truffle. Eating that along with this flavorful scotch really highlighted the flavors of both. This was a great glimpse into the great potential of a whiskey/chocolate pairing party. Of course, that would require tons of tasting of different whiskey/chocolate combos - tough job, right?

Overall, great party, everyone had a lot of fun and got pretty drunk

toss/druid: Chocolate worked surprisingly well. Vinegar element was pretty muted by the rich chocolate. But damn it was legit hot and strong Sriracha flavor. Only people who love Sriracha would enjoy this.

nomad: Big fan of the Darkest.

guller: Damn, what bar? And how much (ballpark) were those shots? And was the rep hot?

Jock: You are are a pretty impressive drinker.

I'm still in the college mindset that I should have gotten rid of two years ago! I may become responsible at some point.

It should be noted that I had a bit of help from a friend of mine. I think he drank ~1/3 of the bottle so I'm not as impressive as I led on to be.

Work is almost over and I'm already thinkin about getting another bottle haha. No bueno...

Not hot.

Lag 21 - $85
Mackinlay Shackeltons 1907 - $30
Ardbeg Day - $25
Ardbeg Galileo - $18
Ardbeg Supernova $25
Compass Box Flaming Heart - $22

Pretty close to those prices, if I remember correctly.

The bar is Reserve 101 in downtown Houston. Just an incredible selection.

Guller,

How was the Flaming Heart? I've enjoyed the Peat Monster from Compass Box but have a hard time coughing up that kind of money for a blend when Lagavulin 16 (among others) is the same price or cheaper.

Guys, grabbing myself one of these:

http://www.binnys.com/spirits/Ardbeg...th_160070.html

Looking for something from the same store:

i) $40 to $75
ii) Very yummy
iii) Flavour contrast to the Uigeadail.

Gimme three options, cheers!!!

PG,

They seem to have everything, so just surf the thread for good recs in that price range.

They have Willett 9 and 10yo Cask Strength Bourbon, I'd go with one of those.

I went ahead and bought a 750mL of Eagle Rare on Monday and was quite impressed with it. I have had it before but was shooting it and didn't really get the full effect. This time around I definitely enjoyed it. I noticed it had a lot of flavor but couldn't really place what it was. A buddy of mine who loves this stuff mentioned that there were floral undertones, so possibly that's what I was tasting.

I followed this up yesterday with a cheaper bottle. Decided to go with the Canadian Club 12 year http://www.hitimewine.net/CANADIAN-C...-12YR-750.html. I was unsure whether the price difference would matter that much as I am new to all of this and can't place most of the flavors yet anyway so I was surprised at how much it did. The Canadian Club had very little flavor (almost like water at the beginning) and had a bit of a smokey finish that tasted a bit wood-like. I wouldn't buy again but have about half the bottle left and look forward to having some after work to wind down.

So far, I am really enjoying trying the different whiskies. I've noticed that I am not well versed in realizing exactly what it is I am tasting but am able to tell the general idea (i.e. smokey, fruity, etc...). I assume that is relative to my experience but am not sure. My rankings so far go: Maker's Mark>Eagle Rare>Buffalo Trace. I can't wait to purchase some of the more expensive bottles in the future to see what the rage is about. Thanks for the brief help given above and it should also be added that I am really enjoying reading through this thread.

~JB

Jock,

It has begun. Cheers!

(The wallet and woman will soon start to lament whisky, this thread, and us. Don't say you weren't warned.)

Haven't visited this thread in a while. The Misses got me a bottle of Knob Creek single barrel. My first single barrel bottle. Its stout but damn its good

Is that the 120 proof bottle? I had some of that and it tasted like fire water. Lots of flavor but burned the hell out of my chest haha.