What are you having yourself?

[zenmonk]

After receiving Jim Murray's 2011 Whiskey Bible I was somewhat surprised to see Jameson receive a 95 rating. As I usually use Jameson for hot whiskey I thought I would give it another go and I still don't get it. Lovely sharpish taste but the finish just disappears. I would not rate it that highly. Had a trusted Redbreast 12 and a Bowmore 10 which really overpowered everything and left me sorry for having it.

[bredman]

Glendronach 15, ( a sample - cheers Steve ). Burnt rubber on the nose, quite dominant. Something of a recovery on the palate, and a better finish.

St. Magdalene 17 1981 CC 43%. Another sample, and fine stuff.

Springbank 15 OB 46%. A fine dram, even the lightest whiff of sulphur doesn't spoil it. I love the oranges and good balance on the finish.

Caol Ila Natural Cask Strength. The ever reliable, and not noticeably tanned. That'll do.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Started with a Laphroaig 10yo ... just needed something to blow off the cobwebs

Followed by Aldi's Specially Selected Irish Single Malt ... this is not bad for the price but I reckon there is a slight woodiness to it that is a flaw rather than a good charachter trait but and the same time not worth worrying about.

Finished off with a Coal Ila 25yo BF bottling ... excellent balance of sweetness and light peat but I must admit I prefered the Laph tonight as I think I just needed and was in the form for that kick.

[bredman]

Inverleven 15 G&M 1990 40%. Unripe apples on the nose. But pleasant enough.

Glen Elgin 1995 12yo CC 46%. Not much going on, but a easy dram, quite nice.

Glentauchers 12 OMC 1994. I'm getting to quite like this. A sample has been taken, as it's number is up.

[Carl]

The Bushmills Black Bush - I could spend hours going on about the attributes. I can't get over how wonderful it is. It is the most perfect whiskey I have found so far, regardless of price or age, single malt or blended. It hits all the right notes for me, every time.
I have yet to taste an Irish Whiskey that I don't like. Original Bushmills or Jameson are great, too.
I finally found a bottle of Bushmills 1608 400th Anniversary, which I have tucked away for a special occasion. It will likely be the only bottle of that I will ever own. I also got a bottle of the Bushmills 16 year. Although excellent and interesting, especially from 3 different casks, it still does not measure up to Black Bush in my estimation.
I think my next purchase will be the 12 year Red Breast. I have heard many wonderful things about that one.
Of course, I will always be sure to have a full bottle of Black Bush on hand!
Cheers,
Carl

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

A very solid whiskey alright and I can see why you might prefer it over the 16yo. I always have a bottle of it on the shelf too.

Welcome to the forum by the way.

[bredman]

Eagle Rare 10 Single Cask. With due diligence i am learning to like bourbon, i've had a few recently that i like - all Buffalo Trace produce. This is so spicy it almost has a fizz on the finish.

[JohnM]

Tried the two batches of Dun Leire... I actually prefer the second one. It's mustier and has a bit less citrus. Lovely easy drinking whiskey. I'll get a bottle if I get a chance.

[bredman]

That's good to hear John.

The Ileach CS while watching The Life Of Brian. "Wait 'til Biggus Dickus hears of this"

[zenmonk]

Clontarf Black label. Have this a few years and have criminally neglected it. Think it is a grain (I got this many years ago) but no longer available as a grain. According to Jim murray he was involved in the original bottlings from which era this certainly comes. Not alot of info on the bottle except that it is triple distilled and charcoal filtered.
Really impressed with this whiskey. A thumping finish and taste that lights the mouth up. More of this tonight I reckon.

[DavidH]

Clontarf Black label. Have this a few years and have criminally neglected it. Think it is a grain (I got this many years ago) but no longer available as a grain. According to Jim murray he was involved in the original bottlings from which era this certainly comes. Not alot of info on the bottle except that it is triple distilled and charcoal filtered.

I don't think it would say "triple distilled" on it if it was the old grain version. First, because grain whiskey doesn't go through the batch pot process (I know IDL has 3 columns in their grain still but...). Second, correct me if I'm wrong, the grain whiskey came from Cooley back in the day and they promote double distillation (not that it's exactly relevant for grain).

Clontarf and Knappogue Castle used to be owned by different companies. When they merged, they had all their stuff (pretty much) from then on made at Midleton. Hence the "triple distilled".

[IainB]

Clontarf Black label. Have this a few years and have criminally neglected it. Think it is a grain (I got this many years ago) but no longer available as a grain. According to Jim murray he was involved in the original bottlings from which era this certainly comes. Not alot of info on the bottle except that it is triple distilled and charcoal filtered.

I don't think it would say "triple distilled" on it if it was the old grain version. First, because grain whiskey doesn't go through the batch pot process (I know IDL has 3 columns in their grain still but...). Second, correct me if I'm wrong, the grain whiskey came from Cooley back in the day and they promote double distillation (not that it's exactly relevant for grain).

Clontarf and Knappogue Castle used to be owned by different companies. When they merged, they had all their stuff (pretty much) from then on made at Midleton. Hence the "triple distilled".

I repsume you mean the Clontarf is primarily from Midleton - the Knappogues these days are almost all Bushmills.

[IainB]

Tonight so far my current favourite Scottish blend - Bailie Nicol Jarvie - what a great whisky for the price.

I'm going to follow that up wiht my newly arrived Blue Hangar 4th Release and after that we'll see.

Having a McGrath's Irish Red ale on the side.

[bredman]

Balvenie 12 DoubleWood. Pleasant on the nose but the palate is dull, and the finish is short.

Moved on to the Balvenie 21 PortWood. Much better, though the nose was odd at first, very slow to open up. Reminds me of the wwwforum Tamdhu slightly.

[JohnM]

Tonight so far my current favourite Scottish blend - Bailie Nicol Jarvie - what a great whisky for the price.

I'm going to follow that up wiht my newly arrived Blue Hangar 4th Release and after that we'll see.

Having a McGrath's Irish Red ale on the side.

You are going big on the Glenmorangie.

A few beers for me tonight. Augustiner helles and dunkel. Lovely.

[bredman]

Balvenie 15 Single Barrel 47.8%. This is by far the better of the hat-trick of Balvenie i had tonight.

Bruichladdich 10 46%. An old bottling - this one.

[DavidH]

I repsume you mean the Clontarf is primarily from Midleton - the Knappogues these days are almost all Bushmills.

Yeah, that was a slip. I meant Irish Distillers, not Midleton. When Knappogue and Clontarf merged, they consolidated their sourcing with Irish Distillers, which owned Bushmills at the time. Their contract is still, last I heard, with Irish Distillers, even though Bushmills moved to Diageo.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Balvenie 12 DoubleWood. Pleasant on the nose but the palate is dull, and the finish is short.

Moved on to the Balvenie 21 PortWood. Much better, though the nose was odd at first, very slow to open up. Reminds me of the wwwforum Tamdhu slightly.

Never been impressed by either the 10yo or 12yo DW ... It has kind of kept me at arms distance of Balvinnie since. Probably is one of those distillery's that needs to be a bit stronger in the abv stakes for me ...

[bredman]

Balvenie 12 DoubleWood. Pleasant on the nose but the palate is dull, and the finish is short.

Moved on to the Balvenie 21 PortWood. Much better, though the nose was odd at first, very slow to open up. Reminds me of the wwwforum Tamdhu slightly.

Never been impressed by either the 10yo or 12yo DW ... It has kind of kept me at arms distance of Balvinnie since. Probably is one of those distillery's that needs to be a bit stronger in the abv stakes for me ...

I couldn't agree more. The Balvenie 15 Single Barrel is a huge improvement though, not only because it's 47.8%, but better all round. The H2H2H of these three showed the DoubleWood to have 'sour' woody notes.

[bredman]

Nadurra 16 1007D 57.7%. I shall compare this with the latest release ( i have a bottle ) soon.

Glenlivet 16 Nadurra 0410J 54.4%. For a comparison with 1007D.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Have tried this before on around the 80 mark and failed but now with over 100 bottles open I feel things are getting out of hand. The plan is to down size ... Started Friday and instead of picking out what I am in the form for I am going to start with the low level ones ... So far Greenspot, Bowmore 18 & Connemara knocked on the head. Tonight a cadenheads Glen Keith nearing the end of it's life ... It's been an enjoyable project so far

[IainB]

Tonight so far my current favourite Scottish blend - Bailie Nicol Jarvie - what a great whisky for the price.

I'm going to follow that up wiht my newly arrived Blue Hangar 4th Release and after that we'll see.

Having a McGrath's Irish Red ale on the side.

You are going big on the Glenmorangie.

A few beers for me tonight. Augustiner helles and dunkel. Lovely.

Yeah I don't know what's come over me on the Glenmorangie. In fact on Friday I moved onto the Glenmo Malaga 25 and the 1977. I was never a huge fan of the Glenmorangie 10 or any of the standards so I don't know what possessed my to go on a Glenmo buying binge - but they've all been great. Also I've a tendancy to op a bottle, have one or two, and then not touch it for months so I've decided to continue wiht the 1977 as a regular until the bottle is empty. I'm really enjoing it though, so it's no hardship. Shares some of the attraction of the Bushmills Millenium - very different whiskies of course, but the uncluttered bourbon cask with loads of understated complexity had a similar appeal.

[IainB]

Last night it was the Blue Hangar again first - for fans of big sherry this is a lovely vatted malt and reasonably priced for the quality.

Then the dregs of a Linkwood.

The onto the usual (lately) gaggle of Glenmorangies, before a complete change of direction to two Midleton 1973 25yos - casks 86583 amd 86584. I think I prefer the latter, which is unfortunate as that's the one with only 2 measures left.

And that's what I'm starting with tonight. Now that I think of it it's not a bad idea to start a tasting session with the final one of a previous tasting session - I think you can be more objective on your first drink and it's interesting to compare to the impression from the previous tasting.

Wasn't there an ancient greek custom of deliberating on all important decisions twice - once sober and once drunk.

[TheWhiskeyBro]

This is too much for me, first I discover there are two Midleton 1973 Pure Pot Still 30YO Cask #41421 & Cask #41422 [800 bottles total I presume]

Then thanks to Iain I now find that there are three Midleton 1973 25YO Pot Still Cask #86583, Cask #86584 & Cask #86585 [1000 bottles total I presume]

Another day another new cask of Irish whiskey discovered

[IainB]

This is too much for me, first I discover there are two Midleton 1973 Pure Pot Still 30YO Cask #41421 & Cask #41422 [800 bottles total I presume]

Then thanks to Iain I now find that there are three Midleton 1973 25YO Pot Still Cask #86583, Cask #86584 & Cask #86585 [1000 bottles total I presume]

Another day another new cask of Irish whiskey discovered

What's interesting is that it's often suggested that for these special releases they scour the warehouses and only select the very best casks. Surprisisng then that the 3 best 25yo casks from 1973 were sequentially numbered.