Shipping from auction houses in the UK or Europe can be crazy expensive for just one or two bottles, so I tend to leave things in storage until I have enough bottles that the per-bottle shipping cost is reasonable. For whatever reason, this time it took many months at several auction houses until it was worth shipping, so I have an end-of-year bounty. And there is still one more I haven't shipped from.

Compass Box Whisky Whisky De Table 1-3, Optimism, Morpheus, the La Maison du Whisky release of Hedonism Maximus, a signed early release Hedonism, a *first release* Hedonism (I am excited), and Canto Cask 10, 35, & 36. That brings me to six of the 16 Canto Casks.

Ardbeg Smoketrails Côte Rôtie Edition (the second release) and Renaissance (the last missing piece in the Very Young, Still Young, Almost There, Renaissance sequence).

Glenmorangie 30 year Oloroso Cask Finish, The Taghta (a replacement bottle as I volunteered mine for a tasting which almost killed it), SMWS 125.50, and Westport 2006 (Glenmorangie in a clever disguise) from Coastalboy. But the best get was the Cask Masters sample set with fairly full samples of A, B, and C. C is what later became The Taghta. I haven't had A or B since the Cask Masters tastings way back in 2013. I also picked up a few editions of The Glen of Tranquillity.

Lastly some oddball stuff. A North British 40 year old Cask Strength Single Grain. Diplomatico Distillery Collection No 1 Batch Kettle Rum. And Jack Daniel's Winter Jack Tennessee Apple Whiskey Punch, for a special tasting we have coming up. 😉

#Whiskey #Whisky #Scotch #Rum #CompassBox #Glenmorangie #Ardbeg #NorthBritish #Diplomatico #JackDaniels

We had just a couple of good friends over for an un-themed, let's just play it by ear tasting, and it was a great night.

We started off strong by cracking the Glenmorangie Pride 1981 & 1974. Both fantastic, of course. It might be sacrilege, but I think the 1981 benefits from a couple of drops of water.

We continued on with the Glenmo with the 30 year Malaga finish. This suffered from the classic Glenmo problem of weak corks. It snapped in half with the lightest pull. Fortunately, after past experiences, I acquired a few tools and was able to extract the other half without it crumbling.

We stayed with Glenmo for the next dram as well, with the Tuiga 25 year. Very nice and light.

Switching it up we moved to a a North British Distillery Clan Denny 50 year Single Grain. Not complex, but elegant in its simplicity. Very enjoyable.

Jumping the pond we next enjoyed a Parkers Heritage 10 year Bourbon from heavy char barrels. This definitely benefits from a little water. Lots of flavor here. This beats Pappy any day of the weak, IMHO.

The conversation had turned back to grain whiskies and one of my friends mentioned he noticed the bottle of Haig Club in my cabinet. I picked this up many years ago for like $25 and never got around to opening it, so we did tonight. It is not at all complex, but pleasant and an easy drinker. I could see it being nice with a rock on a warm day, or in a highball. I sent it home with friends since they liked it, and the blue glass bottle.

Jumping around the globe we cracked a bottle of Amrut Greedy Angels 8 year, from India. It was quite nice, with layers of flavor. But the two of us who have had the 10 year agreed the 10 has more depth and complexity.

We crossed the pond again to crack the WhistlePig Boss Hog VIII Lapulapu's Pacific that I picked up last night, breaking my streak of only owning the odd numbers. (I also won IV & VI in an auction yesterday, so that leaves only II.) I had this on a cruise last fall and it is as good as I remember, with the rum cask notes coming through. But we all still felt VII was still the favorite Boss Hog.

The rum cask switched to conversation to rum, and one of my friends ran home to grab the rum they brought home from their recent honeymoon (they're literally two houses over), Leyenda. Low proof, but very easy to drink. I could see this being very dangerous as it would be easy to put away a lot. Which they did on their honeymoon.

I kept us on rum after that by pulling out the Kō Hana Rum I'd brought home from Hawaii last year. It was even better than I remembered. We ran through all five that I have. The Koho is very pleasant to sip, just a nice rum. But the Koa really adds some layers and depth, so good. The Kea white rum has a very, very vegetal nose, but is surprisingly mild on the palate. We all agreed it would be dangerous in a cocktail, or just with a splash of pineapple juice. The Kila does not drink like a 61% ABV rum, it is so easy to sip. But it does open up more with a little water. The Kokoleka, rum with cacao & honey, oh, damn, that's dessert in a glass. We poured the most of that one, and I wish I'd bought more since they can't ship to MA. Very good.

Then we leapt back to Scotland with a Springbank 15 that was a big change in pace. Lots a flavor, and nice depth.

And then it was time for something completely different from down under. I was recently given a bottle of Mr Black Amaro finish coffee liqueur, with the only request being to try it and report back. So I poured both the standard Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur and the Amaro for side-by-side. Mr Black is my favorite coffee liqueur, very nice to sip straight but it also makes a hell of a Caucasian (White Russian, some of you get the reference). The Amaro is also great. I was concerned it might be too bitter, but it absolutely wasn't. I got a lot of citrus, and the nose was pure Terry Chocolate Orange to me. Just a bit different, and still an enjoyable dram.

We wrapped things up with another major shift. At some point my friends had said they liked having a good sipping tequila on hand, and I remembered I screwed up a while ago and bought a second Clase Azul Gold, and opened it before I caught my mistake. So we pulled that down and gave that a try to wrap up the night. They liked it, so I sent the bottle home with them as I don't really need two open bottles.

And that was it for the night. Damn good times.

Oh, and we started with dinner from Fugakyu Cafe and desserts from Harvard Sweet Boutique, which you may notice in some of the photos. Both are highly recommended.

This is how I like to enjoy a few drams, with good friends.

#Whiskey #Whisky #Glenmorangie #NorthBritish #ClanDenny #ParkersHeritage #HaigClub #Amrut #WhistlePig #Rum #Leyenda #KoHana #Springbank #MrBlack #Scotch #Rye #Bourbon #ClaseAzul #Tequila