whisky lovers

[CountyFan]

My Longmorn 16yo went to the bottle bank in the sky this weekend. It will be sorely missed. 

[Ned Nederlander]

11 hours ago, invergowrie arab said:

I'm naturally suspicious about anything that is "designed" to be drank cold. 

My grandad is a Grouse fan and says it was fine though. It's certainly darker than it was but it was pretty peely wally before so don't know if that's a cause for concern 

My Dad and his brother loved it and that was their tipple of choice during get togethers - it was an easy add to the Christmas list.

Couple of years back you suddenly couldn't get it and I did a quick google search this week expecting that still to be the case but no it's available albiet in a slightly darker colour

I've ordered some but just wondered if anyone knew about the re-availability and the colour change.

[gannonball]

11 hours ago, CountyFan said:

My Longmorn 16yo went to the bottle bank in the sky this weekend. It will be sorely missed. 

Thoughts and prayers at this difficult time xo

[Enigma]

Has anybody here finished a whisky in their own small cask or matured new make etc. Keen to sherry a small cask and finish something off in it as it seems like an interesting thing to do and wondered if anybody here had done something like this before?

[V.Aye.R]

Has anybody here finished a whisky in their own small cask or matured new make etc. Keen to sherry a small cask and finish something off in it as it seems like an interesting thing to do and wondered if anybody here had done something like this before?

Yeah, i bought a wee (i think 1litre) cask a few years ago.

Seasoned it with cheap bourbon and worked ok.
Then seasoned it with Mulled Wine (tried to copy Mackmyra Vinterglod) and left it too long.

Its a cool wee experiment but is an ornament for me now on the shelf. Wouldn't discourage you though!

One tip is the maturation caught me out, even after 2 months it tastes like licking the planks of wood in B&Q.

[Bairnardo]

53 minutes ago, Enigma said:

Has anybody here finished a whisky in their own small cask or matured new make etc. Keen to sherry a small cask and finish something off in it as it seems like an interesting thing to do and wondered if anybody here had done something like this before?

Interested in the responses as I am keen to give distilling a go in the next couple of years. Worked with a guy who did it and his whisky was remarkably passable. He aged it using barrel chips rather than actually putting it in a barrel. They worked rapidly so you could get some of those, sherry them then use them on whisky.

[vikingTON]

On 10/06/2020 at 15:03, Archie McSquackle said:

So much for that idea. Tesco prices seem to jump about and it's now £32 rather than £24. I'll just need to keep an eye on it.

For those that are interested, they've now got Bowmore 12yo at the cracking price of £25 (I've already got a bottle or would have gone for that).

Bowmore 12 is down to £25 on Amazon at the moment so I've ordered a bottle of that with a December 10th delivery date. Handy price point for a Christmas present as well.

Old Pulteney 12 is £24 on there as well but my experience of their stuff hasn't been good so I'll pass on that. Got Glenrothes 10 for £22 last week as well which should be enough for the festive period. 

[V.Aye.R]

Lidl selling a 16yo Islay @43% from tomorrow. This is their Christmas offering at £34.99.

Great value, whichever distillery its from.
(guessing Lagavulin or Caol Ila?)

[Bairnardo]

The always wonderful BB&R sherry matured is back on Amazon at 27 quid.

[V.Aye.R]

Bowmore 12 is down to £25 on Amazon at the moment so I've ordered a bottle of that with a December 10th delivery date. Handy price point for a Christmas present as well.
Old Pulteney 12 is £24 on there as well but my experience of their stuff hasn't been good so I'll pass on that. Got Glenrothes 10 for £22 last week as well which should be enough for the festive period. 

OP12 is amongst the best value and quality out there IMO.

The salty maratime kick might not be everyones taste to be fair.

Ive tried pulteney thats been independently bottled and just lovely when its not been messed with.

[HeartsOfficialMoaner]

Drinking this Pikesville straight rye. It is spicy and has a sweet finish, it's lovely.  I'm feeling quite smashed. I'll have to stop, work tomorrow.

[HeartsOfficialMoaner]

Big outrun tomorrow morning at SMWS. Quite a few in there to choose from. I think I'll miss it but there are some I'd love to try.

Good luck to the members getting what they want. It's only quite recently I have noticed  HOW BAD THE SITUATION IS WITH FLIPPERS! 

[GiGi]

Would be no situation with flippers if people just stopped buying from people trying to pocket a markup. I'll certainly never line someone else's pockets for hoarding bottles just to rip off the people that want to drink it.

[HeartsOfficialMoaner]

8 minutes ago, GiGi said:

Would be no situation with flippers if people just stopped buying from people trying to pocket a markup. I'll certainly never line someone else's pockets for hoarding bottles just to rip off the people that want to drink it.

Yep. I think the problem starts when the bottles go to auction sites which are open world wide. 

I was reading this last week.

https://malt-review.com/2020/11/12/a-royal-mile-whiskies-tomatin-port-charlotte/

I don't think SMWS are doing enough/anything to stop this going on. 

 

 

[invergowrie arab]

SMWS cancel your membership if you flip bottles. A lot of the popular bottles are 1 per member too now. Not sure what more they can do.

I have my eyes on a couple tomorrow but still have 3 unopened from last outturn so might struggle to justify it.

[HeartsOfficialMoaner]

9 minutes ago, invergowrie arab said:

SMWS cancel your membership if you flip bottles. A lot of the popular bottles are 1 per member too now. Not sure what more they can do.

I have my eyes on a couple tomorrow but still have 3 unopened from last outturn so might struggle to justify it.

There are auction houses with multiple accounts buying up all the bottles. It's big business. It gives the SMWS high profile. 

I

[V.Aye.R]

I think the auction sites have their place. There is a bad culture of profiteering on certain distilleries and releases but in general if you have a bottle you've bought along the way and now it'll go for silly money, who's not going to be tempted to cash in.

How long does the SMWS flipper ban apply for? You can't sell anything ever or just not right away? I don't have a membership nor have tried anything from them.

[invergowrie arab]

9 hours ago, HeartsOfficialMoaner said:

There are auction houses with multiple accounts buying up all the bottles. It's big business. It gives the SMWS high profile. 

I

It doesn't really matter how high profile the SMWS is if members leave because they can't buy bottles. I think they have latterly (in the last 6 months) realised this.

They also seem to be holding a lot more back now having realised that if people want to pay serious dough they should get it, some of the latest releases have less than half of their bottles available.

Just on the SMWS I was almost done with them. At the sub 100 quid price point almost everything was under 8 up and harsh as anything. Last 6 months has been superb though I have had about 8 bottles and all excellent.

[V.Aye.R]

I don't see the attraction of SMWS personally. £60 membership for a chance to buy what I feel is quite pricey whisky.

Indy bottlers have been a safe haven for me of late but the prices are going up.

I generally don't like buying blind, tastings are a great way of finding that one favourite out of 5 or 6.

[BigTidy]

As far as I understand it, if SMWS know that you're flipping then it's a lifetime ban. However, obviously you can get another account with a different email address etc and people can have multiple accounts.

SMWS has really blown up in the last couple of years. Around the start of the 2010s you could get any bottle you wanted without a rush but now they're all gone two minutes after going on sale. If you live in Edinburgh, or now Glasgow, then there's the advantage of going to the members rooms so it's not just about being able to buy bottles. The vaults in Leith is a great wee bar, although I have been paying £5 a month this year for the privilege of getting in and haven't been once. Normally I'd pop in a few times though.

SMWS tastings have been a decent zoom whisky chat during lockdown although the quality of the drams is a bit hit or miss that can all add to the experience. 

Plenty of other indie bottlers out there though. 

On another note, me and my pals have started a couple of social media whisky accounts, basically taking all our whisky chat from whatsapp and sticking it online. If anyone is interested 

Insta: @thewhiskymachine

Twitter: @whiskymachine