Show us your whisky! Vol 2

[yellowbentines]

bern said:

Picked this up from the distillery on a recent visit. I've been drinking their gin for years.

Very pleasantly surprised for a first time 8 year old. Slightly peaty and quite a lot going on once you add a little water.

Looking forward to future releases.

I snagged a couple of bottles of batch 00001 on launch day - might keep one and drink one.

Family connection to the Island and the original illicit whisky makers of Pabbay, so they were emotional purchases more than anything really, if it tastes good that's a bonus.

[Mr Trophy]

[BAMoFo]

Blown2CV said:

More batsttery from ardbeg. Ardbeg rollercoaster. Two old whiskies. Sounds good. 1981 from the year the distillery closed, then 1989 from the year it reopened. Ok cool. What’s the price you say. Must be a few hundred quid. Poss less than a thousand but maybe not.

Eighty five grand.

I've got three bottles left out of the four bottles of Ardbeg Rollercoaster Committe Release that I bought back in about 2009. They have done very well out of their marketing, but the one that you refer to takes the biscuit at that price!

Edited by BAMoFo on Saturday 18th November 21:54

[QuartzDad]

How would the auctioneer get a taste, do they have an open bottle somewhere?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67466202

[Pflanzgarten]

https://www.houseofmalt.co.uk/product/nikka-yoichi...

Tried this yesterday, astounding value for money at that price.

Also swung by The Lakes on Friday to pick up their latest distillery only release and it’s off the scale if you like a Sherry bomb. Very, very drinkable.

[NRS]

QuartzDad said:

How would the auctioneer get a taste, do they have an open bottle somewhere?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67466202

They recorked it at Macallan, so there might have been a mini-sample. Or they used one of the more ‘common’ versions of it.

[General Price]

NRS said:

QuartzDad said:

How would the auctioneer get a taste, do they have an open bottle somewhere?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67466202

They recorked it at Macallan, so there might have been a mini-sample. Or they used one of the more ‘common’ versions of it.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/oct/19/world...

The Guardian said:

This particular bottle is one of the 12 of Macallan 1926 bottles which in 1993 had their labels designed by the Italian painter Valerio Adami. Its unique selling point is that it is the first to have undergone reconditioning by the Macallan distillery, involving the replacement of the capsule and the cork – and a 1ml liquid sample being taken to test against another 1926 bottle at the Edrington offices in Glasgow.

I see the hammer price was 1.75 million,nice commission if you can get it.

[eein]

For any cask hunters out there... 8 Doors distillery (the new one at John O Groats) is doing another cask sale. Very limited number. Will be available on Tuesday 28th at 7pm on their website.

Options appear to be the below in first fill American oak. Sherry options as well, but no prices as yet.
- 250L £4,890
- 130L £2,980
- 50L £1,980

[Pflanzgarten]

https://lakesdistillery.com/products/cascade?varia...

New Lakes, online this weekend and a thousand numbered bottles £190

[C70R]

C70R said:

I think I'm going to go in halves with a good mate on a Bunnahabhain cask, which has currently done a year in a PX Barrique, so we're not going to be seeing it for a while. I'm going to go and pick up a bottle of some Bunnahabhain PX just to be sure, but I'm 99% confident that it's a bit of me.

This is only the second cask I've ever (part) bought, and I was drunkenly persuaded into the last one at the Feis Ile open day at Bruichladdich. Keen for the thoughts of those who've done the same.

After a bit of clueless haggling (who'd have thought?), I managed to get a few hundred quid off this and so we've gone ahead and paid today.

I think we're going to leave this one a bit longer than the one at Bruichladdich. I'm expecting the Bruichladdich one to be close to the Classic Laddie in style, so we'll probably bottle and drink it before 10 years is out. This one I reckon we're going to aim for 12-14 years and see how it's doing before we bottle.

Barrel buying isn't for impatient folks like me...

Edited by C70R on Tuesday 28th November 12:14

[LeighW]

Went to Dram Fest Leicester last weekend. I may have tried one too many, as on the way back to the hotel I managed to smack my shin into a low bench that ran out in front of me.

It's always good to get to try some whiskies that you'd either not usually consider buying, or perhaps never even heard of.

In truth, not many new (to me) whiskies that I tried really blew me away, the highlight was probably Yoichi Single Malt - an absolute riot of things going on, yet balanced at the same time. The most "memorable" was a New Zealand whisky called Scapegrace. I can't remember exactly which one it was, but it was utterly, utterly disgusting. How that stuff got the nod for bottling is beyond me. Avoid!

[eein]

eein said:

For any cask hunters out there... 8 Doors distillery (the new one at John O Groats) is doing another cask sale. Very limited number. Will be available on Tuesday 28th at 7pm on their website.

Options appear to be the below in first fill American oak. Sherry options as well, but no prices as yet.
- 250L £4,890
- 130L £2,980
- 50L £1,980

Only 8+ years to wait.

Now I've got 4 casks in total... my retirement (when it comes) is going to be a very happy one.

[C70R]

You're braver than me, buying a cask from a new distillery!

[eein]

It is a risk, however they are credible enough. I've been around it a few times, talked to the owners, and their whole approach and business is sensibly done and managed. They have a key advantage to keeping cashflow going in that they are on the car park at NC500 main stop John O Groats and run an excellent cafe.

My other 3 casks are also are relatively new distilleries - Bonnington, Wolfburn and Uile-bheist. You simply cant get new casks from main brand distilleries anymore, so it's either a n00b outfit or a unknown-usually-for-blended place. Or you pay loads for a name with a few years on the cask.

There's still some of the smaller casks available...
https://8-doors-distillery.myshopify.com/collectio...

[C70R]

eein said:

You simply cant get new casks from main brand distilleries anymore

My Bruichladdich cask was bought direct from the distillery, and the Bunnahabhain from Cask 88. Cask 88 have had a few well known brands (that weren't my bag) on offer recently. Maybe worth getting in touch?

[GG89]

I'm not a whisky drinker but I picked this up in Oban when I had a few too many beers and loved the look and feel of the casing.

[Gribs]

C70R said:

You're braver than me, buying a cask from a new distillery!

The prices seem daft to me. At least £19 a litre for new make spirit from a distillery with no history. I just don't see where the profit to justify the risk is going to come from. My cask was filled at £6.50 per litre of alcohol so £4.14 per litre that went in the cask and that's from a distillery with over 200 years of history.

[C70R]

Gribs said:

C70R said:

You're braver than me, buying a cask from a new distillery!

The prices seem daft to me. At least £19 a litre for new make spirit from a distillery with no history. I just don't see where the profit to justify the risk is going to come from. My cask was filled at £6.50 per litre of alcohol so £4.14 per litre that went in the cask and that's from a distillery with over 200 years of history.

I can only assume that, having been and met the owners, it's a gamble that he's hoping will pay off. I paid not a million miles away from his cost per litre for my casks at very well-established distilleries.

Where is yours held, out of interest?

[NRS]

eein said:

It is a risk, however they are credible enough. I've been around it a few times, talked to the owners, and their whole approach and business is sensibly done and managed. They have a key advantage to keeping cashflow going in that they are on the car park at NC500 main stop John O Groats and run an excellent cafe.

My other 3 casks are also are relatively new distilleries - Bonnington, Wolfburn and Uile-bheist. You simply cant get new casks from main brand distilleries anymore, so it's either a n00b outfit or a unknown-usually-for-blended place. Or you pay loads for a name with a few years on the cask.

There's still some of the smaller casks available...
https://8-doors-distillery.myshopify.com/collectio...

Not sure if you saw it, but Bonnington have their first release which also happens to be a single cask. It's a bit strange, it really sneaked out under the radar and is still available. I know the market has slowed down a bit, but surprised to see an inaugural still available at this price.

https://milroysofsoho.com/products/bonnington-cask...

Speaking about Bonnington then the 3rd cask from the Chain Pier distillery is going on sale today. I've got the first two, and hoping to get all of them for a big vertical tasting in the future over a weekend most likely. There is only 36 casks ever made, so it would be possible. The first was one of the better new distilleries I've had, the second (a shiraz cask) was a bit more sketchy.

[Pflanzgarten]

https://www.houseofmalt.co.uk/product/secret-speys...

Desperately trying not to buy one of these for Xmas, first fill oloroso for 18 years is going to be right up my street-it’s a Macallan apparently.

Anything that price is for investment and the display cabinet usually but I do like to open something special on Xmas eve but this is massively over what I normally spend.