#amrut — Public Fediverse posts

These are a mixed bag.

The Highland Park Whisky was included with admission to the tasting that kicked off this year's Go Whiskey Week at Julio's Liquors

The Amrut Malt Gurus is one of the Greedy Angels. I already have the 10 Year, but I had not previously seen this Peated Sherry Finish, so that will be interesting to compare.

And the Single Cask Nation Teaninich I grabbed after a recent gathering where we tried some Teaninich and really enjoyed it. Plus I get to support SCN and my friend Joshua Hatton.

#Whiskey #Whisky #Scotch #SingleCaskNation #Amrut #HighlandPark #Teaninich

Today I met up with a friend who kindly accepts shipments on my behalf when I can't ship directly to MA. He's been holding this for me for a while and today we were finally able to connect.

The first part of the haul is from Compass Box Whisky. K&L Wine Merchants just did a new bespoke with CB, a sequel to their original 5th & Harrison release. This time they did two labels for the same release - one a new 5th & Harrison and the other Culver & Sepulveda.

I picked up another bottle of the 2000 inaugural Hedonism. I like being able to have friends try this and see where Compass Box started, and how Hedonism evolved. Having a backup bottle makes you a little less reluctant to pour. There were only 690 of them.

The last Compass Box is a UK release of Secrets of Smoke which came with a leather carrying bag, an envelope with 11 puzzles, and a padlock. See my previous post about the puzzles, which are frustrating me.

I can solve all but one of the puzzles, but I have no idea what the numeric answers mean, and how they relate to the padlock - if at all. I feel like this was part of an event where there was a large puzzle these answers helped to solve, or that this auction was missing some item that would tie things together. And I can't find any information online.

I also picked up Amrut Malt Gurus European Exclusive Ex-Oloroso Cask Lightly Peated, Cask 3822. Filled July 2015 and bottled August 2022.

Last, but not least, I picked up the 2019 Hampden Estate Rum Great House Distillery Edition. This was the release that kicked off the Great House annuals. I started with the 2020, so this backfills the run.

#Whiskey #Whisky #Scotch #IndianWhisky #Rum #CompassBox #Amrut #HampdenEstate

I've been sitting on bottles from Whisky Auctioneer for over six months as the shipping cost per bottle drops significantly as the number of bottles increases. I recently pulled the trigger on shipping and by last week everything had arrived - just in time for me to get sick. I finally opened it all tonight.

I picked up a number of Glenmorangie. The Maltman's Special Reserve 18 year. MH Private Europe 21 Year Cask 9. 1993 Swamp Oak Single Cask. 1991 Mount Everest bottling. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society 125.27 & 125.75. Crom 16 year Westport Warlords & Warriors Edition Thulsa's Choice. And Wilson & Morgan 18 year Westport.

Compass Box also got some love. I picked up Hedonism Maximus - the market release as I already have the LWDW bottling. Two additional bottlings of the standard Hedonism from 2018 & 2019. Canto Cask 17 & 124 - that brings me up to 8 of the 16. The Nectar 10th Anniversary release (I have the 15th). The "Double Single" original Craigellachie Hotel release from 2004. The Peat Monster 2008 bottling. And D is for Demi John.

And then a smattering of others. A Clase Azul Mezcal San Luis Potosi. Amrut Single Malt Rye - the first ever Indian Single Malt Rye. Three Clan Denny Single Grain bottlings - Garnheath 43 year, Invergordon 47 year, and Dumbarton 48 year. Wild Turkey 13 year Distiller's Reserve. Ardbeg Smoketrails Manzanilla Edition - a second bottle as I've shared my first at a few tastings and it is getting low. And, last but not least, a non-auction bottle from Julio's Liquors, Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Rye "Si" for the Loch & Key Whisk(e)y Society.

There were four other bottles, but those are for others.

#Whiskey #Whisky #Scotch #Rye #Bourbon #Mezcal #Glenmorangie #Westport #SMWS #ScotchMaltWhiskySociety #CompassBox #ClaseAzul #Amrut #ClanDenny #Garnheath #Invergordon #Dumbarton #WildTurkey #Ardbeg #KnobCreek

We had a cozy little gathering with just a handful of friends Saturday, with no theme other than to try some 'good stuff'. We whetted our appetites with a couple of small sample sets my wife gave me shortly after we met. 12 samples in total, just enough for small tasting pours.

Friends brought Mehkong cane spirit from Thailand. My neighbors brought a 23 year Glen Rothes 1997 Cask Strength and a nice beer from Amory’s Tomb Brewing Co., which we used as a palate cleanser part way through the evening.

I just kept pulling things, and in the end we went through 20 of my bottles over the course of the evening. It was an amazing night, so many good bottles.

Not in the order we did them, in part because I didn't record the specific order and in part because I can't be arsed to try to remember:
Wild Turkey Master's Keep Triumph
High West Bottled In Bond rye & Cask Collection bourbon finished in Barbados rum barrels
Glenmorangie 1987 Margaux Cask Finish, Distillery Manager's Choice bottled 2001, Cote De Nuits Wood Finish, 30 year Oloroso Cask Finish, Tain L'Hermitage 1975, Tain L'Hermitage 1978, Year of the Rabbit 23 year old, Grand Vintage Malt 1991, and Carn Mor "Celebration of the Cask" Westport (Glenmo in disguise)
Amrut Greedy Angels 12 year, Spectrum 004, and Single Cask Single Grain
Clan Denny 1991 Cameronbridge 29 year & 1978 Port Dundas 33 year single grains
Copper & Cask "Roxie" rye & "French Kiss" bourbon from Julio's Liquors
And, last but not least, Compass Box Great King Street Experimental Batch 00-V4

There may have been a couple of other random silly things at the end... 😉

#Whisky #Whiskey #Scotch #Rye #Bourbon #IndianWhisky #WildTurkey #HighWest #Glenmorangie #Amrut #ClanDenny #CopperAndCask #CompassBox #GlenRothes #Mehkong #Westport

This is what got poured last night, in approximately the right order...

Hedonism^2
Rogues Banquet
Myths & Legends I, II, & III
Vellichor
Ultramarine
Delos
Artist #7 by La Maison Du Whisky
Tobias & The Angel
The One I Love
No Name #3
Experimental Grain Whisky
Circus
The General
Phenomenology
Bern's
Three Year Old Deluxe
Hedonism Quindecimus
Hedonism The Muse
Hedonism Felicitas
Orangerie
Affinity

And an oddball at the end - Amrut Greedy Angels 10 Year Old

Oh, I completely spaced on the pre-release bottle of Teeling Single Barrel Cask Strength Loch & K(e)y Virgin Oak that John brought that we kicked things off with.

#Whiskey #Whisky #CompassBox #Amrut #Teeling

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