[Nisbeth]

Great notes Canman, but d**n you for recommending the Highland Park 18 - I am nearly convinced I should buy one but it's soo expensive

/U.

 

[Tyson]

Added Coal Ila 18.

 

[Tyson]

Added Bushmills 16 and Clynelish 14.

 

[daycart1]

Whoh, that's quite a reco on the Clynelish 14--I'll have to look for that. Going shopping this week.

 

[jasong]

Tyson,

Care to give those of us in the metro area a hint as to the identity of your store? I'm on the west side, so *pplejack is hard to beat but if I could find some boutique bottlings farther away I would probably make the trip.

--Jason

 

[Tyson]

jasong,
Argonauts on Colfax is where I do most of my shopping, mainly because they have a decent selection (got the Clyenlish and the Coal Illa there last week), and the best prices of anyone. They also run coupons for $6 off any purchase of over $50, which comes in very handy Of course there's AppleJacks, and since I work in Boulder there's a place called Liquormart that has a pretty good selection as well. But most of my purchases are at Argonauts, especially since they ramped up their scotch inventory recently.

daycart1,
Yep, it really is that good. For under $50 it's an amazing bargain.

 

[Canman]

Tyson, thanks for all the updates-I've been enjoying this thread. I just bought a bottle of Highland Park for $34. It's a great Scotch for the price.

There were some interestinghigh end bottles at the store I went to near my office. There is a bottle of Springbank 15 for $90 and from your description I would love to try it. There were also some private label bottlings (Scott's?) of vintage Glenlivet and Glenrothes from 1970 and 1974 for between $100 and $150.

How much is the Springbank 12 at your local store?

 

[daycart1]

What's the deal on all these "private bottlings" like the Scott, Signatory, etc.? Do they pick up barrels of the stuff at the distillery, hang onto them, then bottle it at their leisure?

 

[Nisbeth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daycart1 What's the deal on all these "private bottlings" like the Scott, Signatory, etc.? Do they pick up barrels of the stuff at the distillery, hang onto them, then bottle it at their leisure?

Yep!

/U.

 

[Tyson]

The independent bottlers take individual casks, age them (usually), and bottle them right out of the cask. In contrast, a distillery will have many, many casks from a given year, and will mix them together to give the best consistency with the distillery style. The advantage of the distillery bottlings it that you know that it will be consistent, and usually good. The advantage with independent bottlers is that you can get a whisky that is far better than the "averaged" bottling from the distillery. The disadvantage is that you can also get something far worse. Independent bottlings tend to be something of a crap shoot, and they also tend to be more expensive, which is why I don't generally buy them unless I can try them first.

 

[daycart1]

YOW, major Scotch action at Trader Joe's.

They have the Glenmorangie Burgundy so highly touted by Tyson for $32.

And check this: There is a TJ labelled Aberlour 10 for $13.95!

I'll post notes on these soon.

 

[Canman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daycart1 YOW, major Scotch action at Trader Joe's. They have the Glenmorangie Burgundy so highly touted by Tyson for $32. And check this: There is a TJ labelled Abedlour 10 for $13.95! I'll post notes on these soon.

Not bad! Too bad TJ's in my area doesn't carry alcoholic beverages.

 

[daycart1]

I can now second everything Tyson says about the Glenmorangie Burgundy. This is very flavorful; there actually seems to be more sweet winey influence here than in their Port/Sherry/Madeira finishes. Great stuff at $33.

I went to the local giant Booz-n-go yesterday to get Macallan 18 and the Clynelish 14. Both not there! So I decided to bail to a Springbank, but was faced with a nasty dilemma: the 15 y.o and the 175th anniversary 12 y.o. were virtually the same price! I had to leave them and get Hirsh 16 (a bourbon--sorry!) instead. Someone help me out here--which of these Spingbanks is the way to go? Edit: dang, I had forgotten that Tyson gave the nod to the Anniversary...


Quote:

Originally Posted by mjg Also he told me 18 year isn't being stocked right now, anyone know any idea why? Are they out of it?

Uh oh, when I was out just before mjg's post I saw some--now it was gone from the giant store I use. Did they skip a year or something? Dam*!

 

[mjg]

daycart1;
could possibly explain the recent price hike (at bottle buys, a giant liquor store by my parents place) up to 130.


Maybe they are tapped.

 

[Tyson]

Indeed, they are "tapped". That's why prices are going up, and it is also the reason they (Macallan) have come out with their new "Fine Oak" range. Imagine, Macallan aged in ex-Bourbon Barrels instead of ex-Sherry barrels. Might be interesting