B.K.

AERSTONE by the Glenfiddich gang. Was introduced to this yesterday, it comes in 2 expressions , something like "smooth & mild" and then "rich & smoky" we had the first one, nice, easy, gentle dram that's a pleasantly smooth offering. My mate did not tell us anything about it, he just gave us a glass, I thought it was nice malt from his wide range and once we were all finished he brought the bottle out to top us up and broke the news to us that he only paid £25 for it in TESCO. Turns out its a new entry level malt from the people at W G S based out of the Girvan site and loosely related to the Ailsa Bay brand. Can certainly recommend it if your just looking for something mellow to enjoy !!

I worked with a guy, late 90's early 000's (he was my equivalent covering the Midlands & Wales) Twice a month he would claim for staying in a hotel somewhere around the Cardigan Bay area, which was nothing unusual back in the day, as that was all our normal work patterns, staying out 2 nights a week, every week. Problem arose when a new boss started in the accounts department in the groups head office in Swindon and just happened to notice his expenses one month and took it upon himself to check his previous claims. Home printed hand written receipts or as was the rumour at the time that he had nicked a book of receipts from one of his official stays there, none the less ...... silly b*****d hadn't realised that the new boss man was originally from that said town in Wales, what a coincidence there, and enlightened everyone that the hotel he had claimed to be staying in for all these months had in fact burnt down and been condemned the previous January, some 16 months earlier. Like I said silly bugger, but not a well liked guy, so no tears shed !! Dilemma he was offered by the big wigs was, pay back the missing £000's immediately and sack yourself OR lets see what the police have to say (& still pay it back) !! LESSON TO BE LEARNED HERE.

OH YES !! That's a lovely dram and not what people expect it to taste like, the word ISLAY tends to put certain folk off. Just try it !

Sorry, but am I missing something here, I just don't get this McKenna love in, both in here and on the media channels, every time people put their preferred teams up, his name is always in there & a lot of the times the media are doing interviews, you guessed, its a comment from S McK. I stand to be corrected but we have players in the squad who are every bit as good as or maybe even better, so why clamber to shoehorn the guy into a relatively settled and confident back line, when he is nothing better than bang average. In the interest of fairness, I have nothing against the guy and will wholly support the team the managers selects, but just wondered if I was missing something about this lad, other than his size !!

Dulled the effects of a 4-1 defeat yesterday with a few out of a bottle of Glenrothes Robur Reserve Single Malt Whisky 1 Litre: Amazon.co.uk: Grocery Only this morning, sore head an all, did I realise it was a ltr bottle. Never mind, I still fair enjoyed it !!

When I read that and you said you had a few winners this week, with the prices of some of the winners, you should be shootin' for the top shelf !! Hope you've faired better than I have, but there's always today ?

Like previously said, the auction houses will do whatever you want , because which ever way you cut it, they will make a profit from you, the trick will be getting best value for money for yourself. Obviously not knowing the facts of your situation, but why not consider asking the auction house how much they would charge for long term storage for you because they will have insurance in place to cover it ! Just saying like !!

Yes I know where your coming from, to be honest I've tried doing it a few different ways, but the last couple of months I've just blotted out a Thursday night as whisky club night and settled down on the couch with my samples and watching Kristi & Andy on YouTube on the big screen, then if I fancy another dram after their finished I just dip into my collection, fair passes the night !! Fair enjoy P&S, its a great way to try samples in the comfort of your own home and with expert advice on hand without taking the cash & taste gamble in The Pot Still, Bon Accord, The Grill etc, lets face it, if you break it right down your "double" from P&S only costs you £6, no a bad return !! Slanj !

Plastered all over it "Not suitable for dishwashers", schoolboy error !! I bought it along with a "good" bottle, as a wee treat off a recent works bonus, but yes, I AGREE, a bit pretentious. Recently tried the Tomintoul Cigar Malt, it was one of the 5 Pour & Sip samples the other month, always thought Tomintoul was "mild & gray" if you know what i mean, but this was a game changer, most enjoyable, slanj !

Recently this has been my glass of choice. 1920's Professional Blenders Nosing Glass. Bit on the dear side at £25 each from Master of Malt, but I'm worth the treat.

Like I said, I'm only the messenger ! But the comments made above, about the Islay malt, were 2 of the same points I made to him, my other point was & I think its more relevant, I doesn't need to be one of the 8 traditional distilleries on the Island that produce it, knowing the poetic licence that Aldi & Lidl use to lure you in to buy their produce, it could be any distillery that is prepared to produce a sufficiently peated expression in their desired volumes. When you think about it, there are some cracking smoky / peaty expressions from distilleries that are on the polar opposite side of Scotland to Islay, for instance, Balvenie do one, H P are another one, even Ardmore !! Then you have the more likely candidates of either Tobermory or my suggestion ........ Ledaig, although that doesn't fit the age statement argument.. The game continues !!!!!

Don't shoot the messenger !! I have a mate (also a whisky drinker) who from time to time works in and around the bottling halls at some of the drinks companies, he swears by the fact he was told a few xmas's back, that the discount supermarkets version of the Islay malt is Kilchoman & the Speyside expression is Tamnavulin. On tasting, I can see where he's coming from, but have absolutely no proof, but I suppose that's another layer to the beauty of tasting, sampling & guessing, everybody will pick up something different. The old adage is "If you like it, its a good one"

Mr Tourette, can I assume, that like me, you are a subscriber to Pour & Sip, these drams were recent tastings and not the types you could wander out and buy a bottle of just anywhere. For what its worth, I recently tasted the Swedish dram, Mackmyra, Gront Te (green tea) @ 46.1% and must say it was pretty enjoyable, not saying I would rush out and hunt a bottle down, just a very palatable drink !!

In ! ..... whatever it is

Wow, u may have unwittingly set up our next competition. 2 OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE SCALE that you have recently tasted ! You started with Pendryn to Bunna 18 I give you Haig Club to GlenDronach 15 Over to you lot.