The Autumn Whiskies: Clynelish 23 year old 1991 van Wees The Ultimate

It remains a mystery.  A 23 year old Clynelish bottled by a reliable independent company, with a rave review from Serge, selling for €70(!!!!), remained unsold at European retailers for months.  Seriously, how does that happen?  Though I don't like buying blindly, I could not pass this up.

To put a finer point on what a bargain this was, consider that many of the needlessly mythical 1997 Clynelishes are going for TWICE the price of this older scarcer vintage.  In this case we have indie bottler, van Wees, to thank.  Their "The Ultimate" series is often both well priced and of good quality.

Distillery: Clynelish

Independent Bottler: van Wees (The Ultimate)
Type: Single Malt
Region: Highlands (Northern)

Age: 23 years (October 29, 1991 - November 11, 2014)

Maturation: Hogsheads
Cask numbers: 13213 and 13214
Bottle: 296 of 507

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(Sample pulled from the middle of my bottle)

With all of that in mind, I was very unimpressed with this whisky when I first opened the bottle.  It was a swirl of odd musty notes and burnt plastic.  And this wasn't just from the first pour.  The upper third of the bottle was very difficult.  But gradually, very gradually, it began to clear up...

NEAT
The nose leads with lots and lots of lemons.  Other fruits roll in and out: peaches, tangerines, pears, and a hint of banana.  There's also quite a bit of honey and barley on top, with small notes of cocoa powder underneath.  After 30 minutes in the glass, the whisky picks up notes of sugar snap peas and watermelon rind.

At first the palate proves simple.  A jumble of citrus fruits meet pepper meets baking spices.  Then a small musty dusty note in the background.  But after 20+ minutes in the glass, the whisky opens up.  A big spry fresh herbal note bolts forward, followed by honeydew, Angostura bitters, and a wisp of smoke.  It's never sweet, but it does have a slight plastic note.

In the impressively long finish, the citrus fruits take a backseat to toffee, fresh tobacco, barley, and the musty dusty note.  Like the palate, it's never sweet.

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
The oak moves forward in the nose with small notes of caramel, vanilla, and pencil shavings.  But the fruit (grapefruit and watermelon rind) remains.  New curious notes of parsley, cilantro, and burnt barley appear, as does a brief floral note.

Fresh parsley and thyme hit first in the palate, then cucumber skins.  It's slightly bitter and has a whiff of mossy peat.  A bit of the plastic note lingers.

Those vegetable and bitter notes carry into the finish.  It also picks up the watermelon rind note form the nose and gets slightly sweeter overall.

COMMENTS:
As you may have gleaned from the notes, this is a quirky whisky.  Actually, the nose is great, period.  The palate presents more of a challenge.  Not only does one need to get to the middle of the bottle to find the good spot, but once one pours it in a glass it needs a lot of air to really open up.  Once there, though, it can be very entertaining (positively or negatively, depending on one's palate).  The plastic and strange musty notes never really left this whisky and they're what keep this whisky from soaring.

Availability - Scarce
Pricing - it was priced €70-€80 last year
Rating - 84

The Autumn Whiskies: Ardmore 13 year old 1990 Gordon & Macphail, cask 12275

Calm yourselves.  Calm yourselves.  Yes, I finally opened a bottle from my Ardmore stash.  For those who don't know, I'm a committed fan of independent Ardmore, specifically of the distillations done before they switched to the indirect heating of their stills in 2002.  I bought several bottles of single cask Ardmore, then guarded them like Smeagol and his ring.  And then this one found its way to freedom.

Being that the whisky lived in the bottle almost as long as it lived in its cask, the expected happened upon opening:

FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU-

Thanks to my increasing (but still novice) skill at salvaging broken corks, I was able to pluck out the lower half the cork without losing it into the whisky.  As you can see in the background, I have a stash of saved corks with various gauges, and I was able to match up the George T. Stagg closure to this bottle.

Distillery: Ardmore

Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Region: Highlands (Eastern)
Type: Single Malt

Age: 13 years old (October 19, 1990 - October 1, 2004)

Maturation: refill bourbon barrel
Cask: 12275

Alcohol by Volume: 58.6%

NEAT
Its color is of pinot grigio.  A good start.

The nose is very spirity up front.  Barley with a light band-aid peat.  Salt water and beach tones.   Mild horse stable and citronella candle notes.  Soft sugariness meets green grapes and limes.

The palate is a touch hot at first.  There's a moderate sweetness, tart citrus candy, a slight herbal bitterness, and wood smoke.  Hay in a horse stable.  The oak feels more toasted than charred giving it an aromatic spice note I can't pin down, though it reminds me of Spice Tree.  A cayenne pepper bite develops after some time in the glass.

The finish is full of cooling menthol with a little bit of sweetness underneath.  Then wood smoke, herbal bitterness, and the hay in a horse stable note.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
The gentler nose picks up more citrus and mint.  The peat mingles nicely with the fruit.  The farmy note remains, now existing alongside a little bit of seaweed.

The palate gets creamier and saltier.  The peat goes peppery, Talisker-style.  A little bit of cocoa floats in the background.

The simple finish becomes more warming, holding onto that peppery peat note.  It's sweeter than the palate, but keeps the nice herbal bitter note.

COMMENTS:
Thanks to the refill barrel, this Ardmore is youthful without being under-matured.  It may read closer to 8-10 years than almost 14, but it works because the spirit is so damned good.  I would have loved if more fruit had shown up on the palate to give it more complexity and to demonstrate the best Ardmore characteristics.  But still, it has the beachy peat, wood smoke, and good bitterness I like so much.  If you can find this bottle, I think it's worth the $70ish I paid for it two years ago, but definitely not the $125 I saw it selling for elsewhere.  Save that money for an older Ardmore or for groceries.

For another take on this whisky, see Chemistry of the Cocktail's review of this very bottle.  He found more fruits than I, but also more alcoholic heat.

Availability - Happy Hunting!
Pricing - probably all over the place
Rating - 87

The Autumn Whiskies: Smooth Ambler Old Scout 7 year old Rye, batch 39

Spring has sprung.  That means it's time for me to write about my Autumn Whiskies: one Old Scout Rye, one indie Ardmore, and two indie Clynelishes.  I'll review them in the order of expected post complexity: from easiest to hardest.

First, up the rye.  As you may know, Smooth Ambler is a West Virginia-based spirits company that has until recently bottled only whiskies produced at Midwest Grain Products WonderFactory™.  Like a few other new companies, they did the NDP (non-distiller producer) approach while their own distillery was being built.  Now they are distilling, so now they're bottling their own stuff, MGP stuff, and their stuff blended with MGP stuff.  For instance, their Old Scout line will continue to be MGP whiskey probably until their own bourbon and rye gets old enough.  Though I have heard stirrings that the rye batches were temporarily(?) discontinued.  If you know more about this than the usual rumors, please let me know.  (After I'd written this post, I found out the rumors are true, this rye has been discontinued for the time being.  Crap.)

I've haven't had a bad Old Scout yet: two single barrel bourbons, one K&L exclusive bourbon, and three of the rye batches.  Click here for some of those reviews.  My Autumn bottle was of the 7yo rye, batch 39.  It was a good drinker.  My wife and I enjoyed it, but I got the last drop.

Oh, my beard was so tiny at that time. Adorbs!

Brand: Old Scout
Bottler: Smooth Ambler
Type: Straight Rye Whiskey

Age: 7 years

Maturation: New American Oak

Region: Maxwelton, West Virginia (Distilled in Lawrenceburg, Indiana)
Mashbill: 95% rye, 5% malted barley
Batch: 39
Bottled: 6/9/14 (by Nathan)

Alcohol by Volume: 49.5%

I'll keep these notes short and sweet because this one hits the target every time.

The nose has some nice dark fruitiness, like black cherry syrup.  Rye bread at the periphery.  Cloves, nutmeg, and carob in the middle, then smaller notes of oak pulp, clover honey, and lemon zest.  After 20 minutes in the glass, the whiskey picks up some barrel char, mint, and caramel.  The black cherries become maraschino red cherries.

The palate is very creamy, full of vanilla extract and spice cake.  Corn chips (though there's no corn in this).  Gingerbread, heavy on the ginger.  With that time in the glass, notes of black pepper and rye bread show up.  A little bit of lemon, a pinch of salt, and a hint of umami underneath.

More ginger in the finish, along with the nose's black cherry syrup.  Some tannins and citrus tang on the tongue.  Vanilla bean and soft rumbling heat.

Comments:
This was such a reliable rye.  I know these Old Scouts are getting tougher to find, but if you locate batch 39, know that you won't be disappointed.  That is, of course, only true if you like MGP rye.  Smooth Ambler set the ABV at a good point so that it's very drinkable neat.  Its price is/was very reasonable for a 7 year old MGP rye, especially since other companies (specifically Redemption) are selling 7yo batches for twice the price, though all of 10 degrees higher in ABV.

Availability - Many batches are still being sold by specialty liquor retailers, but they're getting harder to find
Pricing - $40-$55
Rating - 87  (this batch only)

WTF is This? Benriach 26 year old 1987 Exclusive Casks

Though I have criticized his whiskies before (and will now again), I like David Stirk.  When I met him in person three years ago, he was friendly, very funny, and a great presenter.  He also jumps head first into discussions with whisky geeks online, more so than most (or any other?) independent bottler.  I just tend to find cask-related problems with many of the Exclusive Casks/Malts releases.

There were the Bowmore and Aberlour bottlings for K&L (both of which I probably scored too highly), which had odd goopy buttery layers of oak sitting on top of immature spirit.  And then found the same problem with two whiskies (Glen Spey and again Bowmore) from the first round of US Exclusive Casks.  The first Ardmore he brought to The States is one of the only indie Ardmores I don't like.  But when the Exclusives DO work well, it's usually because the cask stays in the background, like with the K&L Fettercairn, K&L "Island Distillery", and the very first Bowmore he brought to The States.  But I will say I did like the cask influence (whatever sort of cask it was) on an Exclusive Casks Ben Nevis.

But then there's this Benriach.

photo courtesy of Steve H.

I split the bottle with whisky buddy Steve H., and I think we're both glad neither of us were stuck with a whole bottle.  There appears to be a 26yo Benriach sold as a single cask by Exclusive Casks in Texas.  That cask sounds good.  This is not that cask.

Distillery: Benriach

Independent Bottler: The Creative Whisky Co.
Exclusive to: Total Wine & More

Age: 26 years old (1987 - ???)

Maturation: Oak, lots of oak
Limited bottling: 629

Region: Speyside (Lossie)

Alcohol by Volume: 48.7%

NEAT

Nose -- Bitter wood, burnt bark, coal, and lots of burnt peanuts.  Ammonia, walnuts, soap.  Peach, perfume, peach perfume, and caramel.  The soap note grows with time.

Palate -- Burnt peanuts, burnt hair, and loads of sugar.  Underneath there's some malt, toffee, roots, and pepper spice.  With time an acidic citrus note develops and, along with the sweetness, takes over the entire palate.

Finish -- Very sweet and very burnt.  There's some malt and toffee.  Citrus, no, diet orange soda.  It pics up the soap and woody bitterness after some time.

Um......water?

WITH WATER (~40%abv)

Nose -- The burnt stuff turns into lead.  Orange Pixy Stix and vanilla perfume.  Hint of white vinegar.  Smaller note of burnt wood.  Nope, here comes the burnt peanuts.  And "orange chicken" glaze with a savory stock.

The palate is less burnt, but insanely aspartame sweet.  Burnt peanuts.  Maybe a hint of apricots.

Finish -- Peppery and cloying a.f. (as the kids say).  Lots of acid and caramel.  The burnt stuff gradually drifts back in.

COMMENTS:

Rarely have I found a whisky that's off-putting on so many levels.  The wood smells totally wrong, worse than an over-oaked old bourbon.  Then I'm not sure what's worse: the burnt peanuts or the overwhelming Nutrasweet.  Or the ammonia.  Or the soap.  Or the perfume.  Or the lead.

Time for conjecture!  What happened here?  Because there are 629 bottles, a lowish abv, and no cask number listed, I'm going to guess this was a batch of 3 or 4 casks.  Maybe even one that was underproof, thus the abv.  Perhaps the casks weren't larger than 200L due to so much apparent wood contact, specifically American oak contact.  Was this an attempt to bury (or blend out) a problem cask?  Possibly even that hypothetical underproof one?  Or because so many things are going haywire, were there multiple weak casks?

This whisky left me wondering "How?" and "Why?"  I've had only half of my bottle split and I don't foresee any reason to consume more of it.  As this is sold exclusively through Total Wine & Spirits (except in Minnesota), I truly hope unknowing customers aren't shilling out $150+ for this as a special occasion whisky.  And I hope this won't be someone's first experience with Benriach, because it would likely also be their last.  And I'm sure The Benriach Distillery Company Ltd would care for that about as much as I cared for this whisky.

Availability - Total Wine & Spirits exclusively (except in MN)
Pricing - $160
Rating - 56  (with water, high-40s without water)

A West Cork Trinity (or three whiskies) on St. Patrick's Day

Over the next few years we're going to start seeing a lot of new Irish distilleries trying to maneuver their way into the market.  One new distillery that beat the rest of them to the shelves is West Cork.  West Cork fired up their stills in 2003, then moved to a larger location in 2013.  And according to some sources, they've now hired the famous former Springbank master distiller, Frank McHardy.  They only distill grains indigenous to Ireland: barley and wheat.  Thus no corn in their grain whiskey.  They use only local natural spring water and they even malt some of their barley on site.  For more information on West Cork Distillers, see their official site, as well as these two posts courtesy of K&L Wines.

Since I fell for Irish whiskey before Scotch whisky, I'm always on the look out for more good stuff from Éire.  Many thanks to Jennifer Oakley of Kentfield Marketing Group LLC for these three samples.  So, yes, Warning: I didn't pay for these samples.

West Cork Blended Whiskey, 40%abv

Color -- Curiously this is the palest of the three.

Nose -- A fruit bomb.  Apples, apricots, a small note of banana, and strawberry Bubble Yum.  A steady vanilla note hovers above a hint of plaster (something I often find in Irish blends).  It's slightly floral at first, but grows much more so with time.  Violets, perhaps?

Palate -- Very very peppery at first.  In fact it takes a while before I can find anything else.  Then comes the brown sugar, caramel sauce, and Red Hots candies.  After some time a bold fresh ginger note appears.  The texture is pretty thin, despite the absence of chill-filtration.  Overall it's sort of reminiscent of a young Scotch grain whisky.

Finish -- Similar to the palate.  Lots of brown sugar, ginger, and pepper.  It grows bitterer and sweeter with time.

Comments:

The palate was so very different from the nose that it took awhile for me to figure out what I was tasting.  Had the palate matched the nose, I would happily recommend this.  As it is, it's certainly better than Bushmills White Label, though that's not saying much.  I don't think it can stand up to Middleton's blends, but it can easily replace any of the Cooley-based blends.  While it sounds like I'm damning this one with faint praise, the ability to match established brands so quickly is impressive.  But I'm still sticking to my usual Middleton blends for now.  ($20-$30)

Rating -- 77

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West Cork "The Pogues" Blended Whiskey, 50%malt/50%grain, 40%abv

As if Shane Macgowan needed more whiskey, West Cork partnered with The Pogues to get a little name recognition to sell this high malt blend.  Apparently, Frank McHardy was already involved with this one.

Color -- And this, curiously, is the darkest of the three by far.

Nose -- Wheat, barley, yeast.  Irish soda bread.  Burlap.  It's simple but very pleasant.  Not much oak getting in the way.  Smaller notes of flowers, strawberry candy, and maple syrup develop over time.

Palate -- It has the pepper note of the other blend, but here it's more under control.  It's less sugary than that one as well.  The lead notes are almonds, vanilla, ginger, and caramel.  Some citrus around the edges.  A light bitterness.  Maybe even some pie crust here and there.

Finish -- Toasty and lightly nutty.  A little bit of citrus tang, meets sweet & salty caramel, and ginger.

Comments:

A definite step up from the regular blend and *SPOILER* my favorite of these three whiskies.  While the palate is different in character than the nose again, with much more oak showing, it's a very easy drink and all its parts work together.  This one can certainly tangle with most of the Irish blends on the market.  Good on ya, West Cork & Co. ($30-$45)

Rating -- 81

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West Cork 10 year old Single Malt, 40%abv

Though West Cork started distilling 12+ years ago, when they released this single malt they elected to marry their whiskey with that of another distillery; due to the characteristics I'm finding, my guess is Cooley.  In Scotland, this would be a blended malt.  But apparently, even though this whiskey uses single malts from two distilleries they can still call it a single malt in Ireland.

Color -- Right between the other two, a light gold.

Nose -- Lots of banana!  Overripe banana, baked banana, banana candy.  Then cassia cinnamon, mint, and honey.  Then lemon candy, classic Old Spice, and Now & Later candies.  With time it gets a little grassy.

Palate -- Very similar to the nose, though thankfully a little lighter on the banana.  There's caramel, marzipan, malt, and a hint of pepper.  It's somewhat rummy overall, but then develops a small meaty note after 20+ minutes in the glass.

Finish -- A pleasant lingering pepper and ginger bite.  Not at all sweet.  Some tart limes.  The meaty note in the palate becomes a bit of a funky mouldering note in the finish.

Comments:

I'm not a fan of banana notes in whiskey and this is the banana-est whiskey I've ever experienced.  The late off-notes in the palate and finish are off-putting as well.  That being said, this is the least sweet of the three, which works in its favor.  The palate is mostly well balanced.  I have a feeling this will appeal to other people more than it does to me. ($30-$40)

Rating -- 73 (fans of banana notes will like this much more than I)

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As mentioned, the winner was "The Pogues" blend.  I knew it immediately, as it was nice and bready on the nose, while showing perk and balance in the mouth.  The prices on all three of these whiskies are very reasonable for such a small distillery.  The regular blend and the single malt are priced competitively.  Unless you hoard Pogues memorabilia, I wouldn't recommend paying $40+ for that blend.  But if you find it in the $30s and you actually like Irish blends and my notes sound appealing, then I'd recommend it.  In any case, I look forward to the future when West Cork puts out a single malt that's 100% its own.

Three more new Chieftain's single malts: Braeval, Glen Grant, and Fettercairn

On Monday I reviewed the first three of the six Chieftain's bottlings poured at a recent Southern California Whiskey Club event.  To quote that post: "The Whiskey Jug and Bozzy were also in attendance, see the Jug's post here, and Bozzy's posts here and here.  As I am wont to do, I took my pours in sample bottles back home with me so that I could process these whiskies in my hermetically sealed whisky laboratory."  Today the three oldest (and most expensive) of the half dozen.  Let's get to it.

My pic this time! As I mentioned on Monday, I paid for these samples via the event.

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Braeval 19 year old 1996-2015 Chieftain's

finished in a former red wine cask, bottled at 46%abv

Nose -- It starts off very nutty, think hazelnuts and cashews.  Underneath those nuts, a layer of milk chocolate and fresh cherries.  After 15 minutes or so, those notes dissolve into vanilla fudge.  With more time some notes of grass and clay arise.  With water, it gets a little grainier, dustier, and grassier.  The wine has been washed away aside from some berry candy.  A mild vanilla note develops as well.

Palate -- I know this sounds like nonsense, but there's a note that exists in the curious intersection of cotton candy and umami.  A slight plastic note.  Strawberry and peach candies.  Grows increasingly floral with time.  With water, it gets perfumy, tannic, and drying.  Notes of vanilla, plastic, sugar, and tart citrus arrive.

Finish -- Milk chocolate and dried berry notes make this feel like it was finished in an ex-sherry cask.  Secondary notes of honey and peaches show as well.  With water, there's floral perfume, cherries, and sugar.

Comments:

The sherry-like finishing blankets over most of the great Braeval fruits that are often found in ex-bourbon cask versions.  While water makes the nose less winey, it moves the palate from floral blossoms to floral perfume.  Aside from that I found it to be a decent average Speysider.  ($110-$125)

Rating -- 82

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Glen Grant 20 year old 1995-2015

first-fill bourbon cask finish (refill cask for its first maturation)

bottled at 55.1%abv

Nose -- Honey, limes, vanilla, and salted caramels arrive first.  Then silly putty, rose petals, and a hint of mint.  It gets more candied with time, and even picks up a big note of nougat.  With water, it picks up a big Cow Tales candy note which is balanced by a moderate earthy note.  Vanilla bean and a hint of roses.  A little bit of tropical fruit eeks out.

Palate -- Big.  Rich oak, lots of vanillins.  Lots of malt too.  Rich caramel, pepper, acidic citrus, and out of season peaches.  With water, now the citrus moves to the fore.  It's tart and peppery, lightly sweet.  Small notes of vanilla and caramel.

Finish -- Subtler than the palate.  Slight coffee bitterness.  Tart lemons, oak spice, caramel chews.  Pretty tannic.  With water, it's pretty drying.  A simple mix of pepper, vanilla, and sugar.

Comments:

I wonder if this would have been better if it had been bottled at 46% (which is what I lowered it to when I added water).  The nose is the best part, then the palate.  The finish gets a bit difficult with its woody tannic assault.  I kept looking for the good Glen Grant fruits (as I did with the Braeval) but rarely found them.  So it's another good middle of the road Speyside, but it's quite expensive. ($145-$160)

Rating -- 84

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Fettercairn 19 year old 1996-2015

ex-Oloroso sherry butt

bottled at 57.4%abv

Nose -- Insane.  Coming across as if it's almost peated, the nose also shows hints of floral soap, peppery sulphur, red Starburst candies, toffee pudding, caramel chews, and Loch Lomond-style industrial funk.  With water, there's a rumble of peat and sulphur.  Then dark chocolate, toffee, newspaper ink, and cheap cigars.  It smells old and musty.  The dirtiest sherry imaginable.
Important: Kristen's notes on the nose!  Smoke, marshmallows, and dried apricots.

Palate -- "Wow," says my notes.  Big chocolatey sherriness meets a bitter herbal liqueur.  Almond torte, stewed prunes, and hot pepper sauce.  A bit of an industrial edge makes the whole thing feel like Glendronach-meets-Springbank.  With water, it gets nuttier and more peppery, with no sweetness to be found.  Maybe some hints of dried cherries and prunes.  It's earthy and herbal as hell.

Finish -- Massive.  Some of the nose's dusty sulphur meets up with bitter dark chocolate, prunes, and toasted oak.  It's almost smoky.  With water, it gets a little drying and bitter.  Some dried fruits and dirt.  Gorgeous dirt.

Comments:

Fettercairn!  Often this distillery's stuff leans close to a Loch Lomond-type mess, but sometimes, sometimes, it totally works.  But only if you're into the style.  In this case it's three parts sherried Springbank, two parts sherried Glendronach, and one part Loch Lomond.  It feels much smokier than it should be; I don't know if that's due to the spirit's sulphur or the cask's sulphur or some actual peat sneaking in somewhere, but it works very well.  It's the only one of the six whiskies that had The Wow Factor, so it gets the highest score.  Price-wise, yes $120 is expensive.  But consider that single cask 19yo sherried Springbank and sherried Glendronach are $200+, and one suddenly gets a different perspective. ($120-$135)

Rating -- 89  (Please read the tasting notes rather than just relying on the number. This whisky won't appeal to all palates.)

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Of these six whiskies, my favorites come from the sexy sexy distilleries of Glenburgie and Fettercairn.  The Glenburgie highlights barley and fruit, keeping the oak tinkering to a minimum.  Meanwhile, the Fettercairn is big and rough and crazy, bringing in some brawny dirty sherry to a funky spirit.  There were no duds amongst the six as they all sit in the B- to B+ range.  And even though these were mostly Speysides, there's a good variety of experiences amongst the bunch.

OC Scotch Club Tasting on 3/24 at Chapter One

Hello, I am the author of this blog and I will return you to the regularly scheduled whisky reviews tomorrow, specifically the second half of the Chieftain's tasting (see part 1 here).  In addition to closing my eyes while tapping on random keys to create my posts, I do other whisky things, some of which I document on Facebook and (much more on) Twitter (and someday soon there will be an Instagram page aside from my personal one).

One of my favorite whisky things to do is lead whisky tastings for groups of happy whisky people.  When presenting I go light-to-medium on history and production trivia, depending on the audience, but I do not tell the crowd what they're supposed to smell and taste in each whisky because that knocks the humanity part right out of the situation.  If one smells bubblegum while I smell burnt shrinkwrap, that's cool.  That's the experience.  That subjectivity is why we're drinking this stuff in the first place.

Once a month, I lead tastings for the OC Scotch Club.  Andy Smith (aka Mr. LA Scotch Club) and I confer a few weeks before the event and select bottles.  Then we book a location.  Then we invite people to show up and drink whisky while I drone on at the center of the party.  Because we like weird stuff and familiar good stuff, we tend to pick some of both.

For instance, we're having Dinner and Whisky at Chapter One in Santa Ana on the 24th.  For food there's burgers & Mac 'n Cheese & Fish 'n Chips & Caprese to choose from.  All awesome things.  But then there's the whisky, even awesomer.

Auchentoshan 13 year old 2000 Exclusive Casks.  Everyone I know who tried it thinks it one of the best indie Auchies ever.  So I tracked down the last bottle available.

Ben Nevis 18 year old 1995 Montgomerie's Select.  It's Ben Nevis, so that's enough for me.  For you, just know that Ben Nevis is an old-school, often lovely, sometimes unusual, always entertaining single malt.  Plus this one is actually available at all or most Total Wines around here, so in case you like it at the tasting you can easily track it down for a relatively reasonable price.

Fukano Japanese Whisky (the K&L cask).  Wait, that's not scotch.  Of course not.  It's a malty bourbony whisky that's actually made from rice in Japan, which Andy scooped a bottle of it before it vanished.  I might even pour this one first because it's delicate.  If you want to know what all the hype was about, here's a chance to taste it.

Inchgower 20 year old 1995 Hepburn's Choice (K&L excl).  It's a 20 year old sherry bomb from a distillery that doesn't get enough love, probably because there are so few indies (and offishys?) of it.  Plus it's a double decade sherried whisky that doesn't cost $200+.  This is the one I'm looking forward to the most.

Lagavulin 12 year old Cask Strength, 2014 edition.  Finally, I drop the sledgehammer at the end.  It'll leave everyone's face feeling warm and peated.

So, there it is.  Lowlands, Highlands, Speyside, Islay, and the most eastern Scottish isle, Japan.  If you're in the Orange Country area on March 24th, I recommend you click on over to the site and buy yourself a very-inexpensive-for-California food-and-whisky ticket.  I mean, friggin' Lagavulin 12yo CS and bacon-loaded Mac n' Cheese?  Hope to see you there!