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

Whisky Advent Day 11: North British 30 Year Old - Batch 6 (50.1%)

This one’s pretty light on the nose, having a hard time picking anything out.
I’ve seen “banana” in notes before but never really gotten it. This one, however, I taste banana more than anything else, and then a nice bit of spice underneath. Maybe a touch of a furniture polish sort of aftertaste. Water mellows it a bit but doesn’t change too much.

#WhiskyAdvent #Whisky #NorthBritish