What's your latest whiskey purchase?

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Forgot to add this, recieved these the week before last .... 2 Kaappogues, the new 1998 and the limited edition 1994 Master Distillers Private Selection

[waver929]

Whop, just bought a bottle of 15y Old Jameson Pure Pot Still... but sadly not for me! (It was 125€... is this a good price? Whiskyexchange sold it for maybe 300 pounds?!?)

It is a birthday present for a good friend of us an all his friend threw in some money...

[varizoltan]

Whop, just bought a bottle of 15y Old Jameson Pure Pot Still... but sadly not for me! (It was 125€... is this a good price? Whiskyexchange sold it for maybe 300 pounds?!?)

It is a birthday present for a good friend of us an all his friend threw in some money...

it was a good price for it

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Excellent price and probably a fair price ... you'll find it hard to get it for much less anywhere else. Possibly you may get it for that on ebay as irish whiskey is i=not reselling well currently but specialist retailers will look for a hell of a lot more for it.

Did you by in privately or from a local off icence

[shanel23]

Just picked up a bottle of Tyrconnell Port finish - love that stuff

[waver929]

Did you by in privately or from a local off icence

I bought it at a local bevarage market... We don't have such thing as "off license", you can buy spirits in every supermarket. This particular shop specializes in whisky and all kinds of Spirits and wine. Maybe you want to check it out:

http://www.thewhiskytrader.de/

Pretty cool to have a shop with ca. 2000 whiskys close-by.

[jcskinner]

Inspired by Michael and Luke's superlative smokey whisk(e)y tasting, I picked up a Laphroaig triple wood (one litre!) and a Caol Isla Zinfandel finish this week.

I also grabbed a Celtic Nations to replace the one the society drank way back in the days of our earliest tastings in Bowes. You don't see many of those around any more (not since the Scotch Whisky Association decided it was naughty to vat Irish malt and Scotch).

And a 1993 Daluaine to add to the nipper's birthyear whiskey collection.

So far, I've opened the Laphroaig (which is great stuff, and my palate for smokey whiskies is notably more tolerant thanks to the education I got the other night) and the Caol Isla, which is downright superb. The only problem may be ensuring there's some left in the bottles for when the other half gets back to the house, since she's already miffed at having to miss the tasting on Thursday!

[bredman]

Plenty of shopping for me recently. The Irish i got was another Connemara CS 57.9%. And a Cadenhead's Cooley 13 Cask Strength 60.6%.

[IainB]

I also grabbed a Celtic Nations to replace the one the society drank way back in the days of our earliest tastings in Bowes. You don't see many of those around any more (not since the Scotch Whisky Association decided it was naughty to vat Irish malt and Scotch).

Do you think they might turn up at my door with an injunction to stop my home blending experiments?

What utter nonsense! I'm not a huge Bruichladdich fan but I have a bottle of this and I doesn't try to pass itself off as either Scotch or Irish - what on Earth could be their probelm?

[jcskinner]

Afaik, they objected to it on the grounds that it wasn't Scotch, basically, because it had some Irish in it.
Then there appears to have been stern words issued to Bruichladdich by the SWA, and they were persuaded to abandon their plans to issue 9 such bottlings.
Hence there is and only ever will be one.
We opened my last one back in the early days of the society, and if I recall, it was ok, nothing spectacular, quite light and inoffensive really. But I decided to replace it because you don't see them around much, and it was only 45 euro in a German supermarket!

[IainB]

The thing is it never said it was Scotch. And a few years before there was the Jon Mark and Robbo's one which was basically Cooley and Bunnahabhainn. Wasn't a particularly exciting whiskey either but no SWA fuss at the time. I think maybe Bruichladdich and SWA don't see eye to eye.

[jcskinner]

You're quite right.
I don't see why the SWA should get to dictate who does what with their products so long as everything is properly labelled (as opposed to their own arseways labelling system that calls vattings blended malts! )
I suppose they have more sway over an actual distiller like Bruichladdich than they would over Cooley (obviously) or John and Robbo who are merely vatting their own casks. I think there was a good old chat about what actually happened on the Whiskymag forums a good while back.

[IainB]

And the other thing is that many blends produced in Asia do contain a percentage of Scottish malt added to lacal malt and grain - it even happens in Japan. At least Ireland and Scotland are neighbours. And the original whisky nations.

[jcskinner]

I wonder what the SWA would have done had it been Diageo vatting Bush and Talisker, for example?
You may be right in thinking that there was a degree of animus towards Bruichladdich. But I don't really recall the ins and outs of it.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I wonder what the SWA would have done had it been Diageo vatting Bush and Talisker, for example?
You may be right in thinking that there was a degree of animus towards Bruichladdich. But I don't really recall the ins and outs of it.

Not a whole pile because the SWA is basically run by the big corporates like Diageo (28 Distilleries) Pernod Ricard (19 Distilleries) Inver house (6 Distilleries) and a few other big players that have 5 distilleries and of course the big global blended brands. These account for 90% of all the scotch production.

The SWA is funded by all these big players and the board members are made up from their own ranks.

Current Directors

Alberto Gavazzi Director and category director for whisky, gin and reserve brands at Diageo
Alistair Stevenson Managing Director, and legal and financial contact for Inverhouse, now part of Interbev
Bryan Donaghey Managing Director, and MD of Diageo Scotland
Christian Porta Chairman & CEO, CEO Chivas Brothers
Ian Gourlay Director and Senior Vice President, Operations & Supply Chain of Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc.
Ian Curle Chief Executive and director of the Edrington Group
John Broadbridge Director and Chairman of Dewars
Kenneth Robertson Director, and director of corporate relations Diageo
Michael Keiller Chief Executive, and Chief Executive of Morrison Bowmore Distillers
Pierre Pringuet Director General and Chief Executive Officer of Pernod Ricard
Paul Neep Chief Executive
Peter Gordon Chairman and non-executive chairman William Grant & Sons Ltd
Paul Walsh Chief Executive
Richard Farrar Director
John Bartholomew Company Secretary

See HERE

[IainB]

You're quite right.
I don't see why the SWA should get to dictate who does what with their products so long as everything is properly labelled (as opposed to their own arseways labelling system that calls vattings blended malts! )
I suppose they have more sway over an actual distiller like Bruichladdich than they would over Cooley (obviously) or John and Robbo who are merely vatting their own casks. I think there was a good old chat about what actually happened on the Whiskymag forums a good while back.

Mind you didn't they once have a go at Cooley over a proposal to call a whiskey Glen Mor even though the glen behind the distillery is called just that. Anyway I won't start that rant again.

[bredman]

Mind you didn't they once have a go at Cooley over a proposal to call a whiskey Glen Mor even though the glen behind the distillery is called just that. Anyway I won't start that rant again.

I didn't know that. Cooley should have done it, and took on the big monkeys. The whole Glenora debacle is a shining example that every now and then common sense prevails. A choice quote -

“We are in a glen, located in Glenville, next to the community of Glenora Falls and our distillery is called Glenora. There are 42 place names on Cape Breton Island that have the word Glen in its name,” said Lauchie MacLean, president of Glenora. “To us it seems pretty cut and dried.”

Which reminds me, i really must try the Glen Breton.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I didn't know that. Cooley should have done it, and took on the big monkeys. The whole Glenora debacle is a shining example that every now and then common sense prevails. A choice quote -

The problem with rediculous suits like this is that often the small guys cannot even afford to defend it eventhough they would probably win. Sometimes it's not just a case of who's right or wrong but who can drag it out ther longest.

This sometimes is the sad reality of big corporate clout. Believe it or not the SWA is one of the most powerful business/industry loby groups in the world. These guys have serious resources.

[IainB]

Mind you didn't they once have a go at Cooley over a proposal to call a whiskey Glen Mor even though the glen behind the distillery is called just that. Anyway I won't start that rant again.

I didn't know that. Cooley should have done it, and took on the big monkeys. The whole Glenora debacle is a shining example that every now and then common sense prevails. A choice quote -

“We are in a glen, located in Glenville, next to the community of Glenora Falls and our distillery is called Glenora. There are 42 place names on Cape Breton Island that have the word Glen in its name,” said Lauchie MacLean, president of Glenora. “To us it seems pretty cut and dried.”

Which reminds me, i really must try the Glen Breton.

Lauchie MacLean - It's a wonder the SWA didn't sue him to prevent him using his name on the basis that it might imply he's Scottish.

[bredman]

Just opened a box containing a Connemara Cask Strength 57.9%. I note the Conny CS from other outlets has a different abv, so i'm pleased to get one of these before they're all gone.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Just opened a box containing a Connemara Cask Strength 57.9%. I note the Conny CS from other outlets has a different abv, so i'm pleased to get one of these before they're all gone.

These are constantly different from batch to batch ... so check you L code to see what year it is from. However there could even be several batches in a single year too ... to be quite honest I don't know how often they come out.

I've had ones at 59.6, 59.2 and 2 totally different bottlings at 58.9

[DavidH]

I've had ones at 59.6, 59.2 and 2 totally different bottlings at 58.9

A little surprising. I recall Noel Sweeney saying they watered Cask Strength down just a tad to hit a consistent ABV. It avoids the hassle of getting new labels approved by Excise.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I've had ones at 59.6, 59.2 and 2 totally different bottlings at 58.9

A little surprising. I recall Noel Sweeney saying they watered Cask Strength down just a tad to hit a consistent ABV. It avoids the hassle of getting new labels approved by Excise.

Interesting David ... maybe that is the case now so, especially with the new label style. Thanks for that I did not know but certainly prior to some date the abv was a moveable feast . One to keep an eye on.


QUick Edit
Just checked CWS and they have the new labeled Cask Strength marked as 58% even so this may be from whence the new precedent came.

[jcskinner]

Bought another bottle of Old Comber 33 yo for me and the oul lad to share.

Can't afford it.

Don't care, though.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Bought another bottle of Old Comber 33 yo for me and the oul lad to share.

Can't afford it.

Don't care, though.

Nice one

Know what you mean

Fair Play ... sometimes it's good not to give a fiddlers