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Cadenhead’s Ledaig 1992 21yo – Whisky Advent Calendar Day #9

Tobermory

In the wonderful world of whisky, I have a few obsessions. Young Glen Grant from ye olden dayes, Laphroaig 10yo (thank you Mr Forbes), well-aged grain whisky (developed at this session, under the watchful eye and generous pouring of Mr Storry), Laphroaig (again) and pretty looking minis (it’s only a matter of time before I become a mini collector – pray for my soul). But, the strongest of the lot is a love of whisky from Ledaig.

It’s become quite well known amongst my circle of whisky buddies that I’m fond of a drop of the stuff, so day #9 of this increasingly ill-advised advent calendar project is a dram I was given for my birthday – a Cadenhead’s Ledaig 1992, bottled at 21 years old.

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Annandale Rascally Liquor: Peated – Whisky Advent Calendar Day #8

Rascally Liquor Peated

On my booze shelf, I have a variety of strange bits and pieces. From Belgian eau-de-vie and gin picked up when visiting Westvleteren (as they’d run out of beer), to a bottle of lemon-infused lemon distillate (the result of my adding lemon zest to a bottle of experimental spirit given to me by someone who now makes gin in a much more legal fashion than when the bottle was gifted) there’s a range of things that I’ve not got round to drinking, despite intending to do so when I obtained them.

One of the more recent additions to my shelf of ‘this should have been drunk’ is something that’s on its way to being whisky, and therefore I reckon it’s eligible to drop into my whisky advent calendar – Annandale Peated Rascally Liquor.

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Glen Grant 1978 5 Years Old – Whisky Advent Calendar Day #6

I’ve got too many bottles open at the moment, and most of them are almost empty. Doing this ridiculous 24-days-24-posts thing is the perfect excuse to make a bit of space in my booze cupboard. Even if that space will inevitably be filled with open bottles again shortly.

Anyway, today’s dram is one that I’ve had open since my birthday in March, and despite being poured at a Whisky Squad session, there’s still a couple of drams left. Not for long.

Day #6 – Glen Grant 1978, 5 Years Old.

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Bruichladdich X4+9 – Whisky Advent Calendar Day #5

x4+9

As I said in my post from last week about the third Bruichladdich Micro Provenance tasting –aka #LaddieMP3 – I have a complex relationship with Bruichladdich. There are a couple of drams that have shaken my dislike of the whiskes which have been made since the distillery was revived in 2000, but the one that weakened my resolve the most was Bruichladdich X4+3.

As I said in that blog post, it was a whisky that I should have in no way liked – quadruple-distilled and only matured for three years. Yet, I loved it. At the second of the online Laddie Micro Provenance tastings, they dropped in an older version, but I wasn’t involved and just watched as people enjoyed it, only to entirely forget about is existence moments later.

However, the lovely Ben Cops of Ben’s Whisky Blog, who had tried the X4+3 at Whisky Squad with me, remembered the my look of consternation as I realised how much I liked it, saved me a bit of the X4+9 and pressed it into my hand the next time I saw him. I finally got around to trying it this evening, so it is now advent calendar whisky #5 – Bruichladdich Micro Provenance Cask #060, aka X4+9.

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The Spirit of Whisky Picnic – Whisky Advent Calendar Day #4

Whisky Picnic

Last weekend was the return of an event that hasn’t been seen for five years. A legendary whisky-fuelled party that I’m still kicking myself for not going to back in 2010 – Whisky Picnic.

After half a decade away, founders Duncan McRae and Nick Ravenhall have brought it back, and threw a Movember closing party on the evening of November 29. A Sunday. I mean, seriously: who drinks on a Sunday? It seems part of the answer is ‘me’.

Anyway, I brought home a souvenir, and it’s advent calendar ‘whisky’ #4: The Spirit of Whisky Picnic.

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Glen Mhor 8yo Gordon & MacPhail – Whisky Advent Calendar Day #3

Gordon & MacPhail

Going into this whole ‘write about 24 whiskies on 24 days’ thing without any kind of plan has turned out to be a good idea – it’s let me grab whiskies based on what’s happened during the day, good or bad.

The dram for day #3 is Glen Mhor 8yo by Gordon and MacPhail, bottled in the 1990s (probably) and drunk in honour of David Urquhart, who passed away a couple of days ago.

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Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye – Whisky Advent Calendar Day #2

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye

Last night was the Whisky Exchange Whisky of the Year tasting. While my thoughts on the whiskies up for judging will appear on The Whisky Exchange Blog shortly, they were not the only drams we tried. While TWE’s resident voting system geek (me) was off counting the votes cast (using a Contingent Vote, although altered to take the top three candidates due to a tie) to see who won, the attendees were treated to a mystery dram.

The whisky split the room. Most people thought it was good, a few really hated it, and one guy liked it more than any of the others we’d tried. What was the whisky? My second advent calendar dram: Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye – Jim Murray’s World Whisky of the Year 2016.

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