Maggie’s What are you drinking right now!?

Great Divide Yeti, about to smoke a Liga Privada and open a Clown Shoes For a Few More Unidragons, been wanting to try Clown Shoes Imperial Stouts for some time as they are rated really high, found a place near my house that carries like 6-8 of their offerings with probably 4-5 of those Imperial Stouts, very excited!
 
Highland Park 12yr Orkaidian Highland Single Malt from one of the islands where some of me ancestors lived nearly 1000 yrs ago. It is slightly smokey, earthy, sweet with some dried fruit nose and a smooth finish. With two drops of water it opens up into a fantastic dram that tastes like "Home". Dalmore 12 is another Highland single that is amazing. Fruitcake, no smoke. Vanilla, Caramel, Cherries, etc. Rasins, dried plums, and it only gets better as you sip it. Elijah Craig 12 - Oaky, sweet vanilla/caramel, spicy peppery finish. Big bold flavor. You can taste the rye in this one. Not for the faint of heart. Not at all smooth but good nonetheless.

Irish

Irish,

I used to drink Highland Park almost exclusively when I was in my twenties, single and chasing girls. It was great back then. I settled down, got married and drifted away from Highland Park. I bought a bottle a couple of years ago and it was just terrible. It tasted like it had been strained through an old, well used army cot. It tasted nothing like what I remembered and I don't think I could even finish the bottle. Do you have any insights as to why ? I've been drinking Johnny Walker Black and am perfectly happy. I'd like to try another bottle of H/P, but if it's the same as the previous one, I don't want to waste my money.
 
A lovely Brunello Di Montalcino with Pronghorn Wellington. Worlds collide...

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Irish,

I used to drink Highland Park almost exclusively when I was in my twenties, single and chasing girls. It was great back then. I settled down, got married and drifted away from Highland Park. I bought a bottle a couple of years ago and it was just terrible. It tasted like it had been strained through an old, well used army cot. It tasted nothing like what I remembered and I don't think I could even finish the bottle. Do you have any insights as to why ? I've been drinking Johnny Walker Black and am perfectly happy. I'd like to try another bottle of H/P, but if it's the same as the previous one, I don't want to waste my money.

I am far from a Scotch expert. I do know what I like and I used to hate scotch because all I had ever tried was the run of the mill every day crap blended scotch like Cutty Sark, Dewars or Chivas. Most of it came from large Speyside distilleries and they had to do something with the lower grade barrels. I think the HP scotch like any small batch single malt is going to vary from batch to batch. I tried an 18yr old Elijah Craig bourbon earlier this year and it tasted like it had been strained thru old molded gym socks. Not good. Craig is usually one of the best. I recently scored a bottle of Highland Park's 2017 special release called Valkyrie. It was the top championship scotch at a recent whiskey championship with a score of 99/100. I have not opened it yet but anticipate something heavenly. Best bet is to try another bottle. HP12 or HP18. I had mentioned Dalmore 12 as one of extraordinary taste. Try it or the 18 if you can find it. Monkey Shoulder is a speyside blend that is great and at a bargain price. Some of the smokey Isla scotches take time to develop a taste for. While Highland Park is not an Isla it is peated and has some of that same medicinal peak smoke in the flavor. This may vary from batch to batch and it is possibly that they scooped up some rat turds with the malt in that batch and it tainted the brew, lol. Or maybe they did not scope up enough, lolol. I am not aware of any changes in their process which impacted the quality.

One last thought. I have found at least in my case that the taste of a good scotch or bourbon is greatly affected by what I have eaten most recently or am eating at the time. A pickle or other acidic treat often wakes up the taste buds and enhances the dram. Pickles, berries, pineapple, are all good. Or a good cigar if you smoke. If I have eaten spicy food such as Tex-Mex or Indian cuisine, I am done for the evening. It ruins the taste of a good scotch. I was at the USGP in Texas last weekend and Johnnie Walker is one of the sponsors and they were giving away free scotch & soda/ginger/lemon drinks all weekend long. Two at a time. With fresh mint, lemon, lime, ginger, Rosemary and other condiments to doctor it up with. It was great!

Irish
 
A box of 100 from the Bluffton Oyster Company... on the half shell and baked... A few bottles of Patz & Hall to chase it all...

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Blanton's finished up an old bottle that's been neglected for a while and started a new one. New one was bottles last week
 

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New Belgium Imperial IPA. 9% and seriously hopped. Quite tasty. The mild buzz needs chased with some water me thinks.

Moses, that looks tasty and did you buy local to you or online? We have a couple good stores near me and am planning a special dinner for the little lady who loves Cabs over Christmas when our kids are at their other parents, leaving us unattended to get into trouble.....
 
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New Belgium Imperial IPA. 9% and seriously hopped. Quite tasty. The mild buzz needs chased with some water me thinks.

Moses, that looks tasty and did you buy local to you or online? We have a couple good stores near me and am planning a special dinner for the little lady who loves Cabs over Christmas when our kids are at their other parents, leaving us unattended to get into trouble.....

It is terribly tasty. And it's an especially good value for Stag's Leap. It's not a particularly bold or large cab, which made it great for 28 day dry aged rib eyes. That bottle was bought at Perrine's in Atlanta and enjoyed in Hilton Head. Let me know if you can't find it and I'll see what I can do.
 
Thanks Moses. I found it online for 39, not sure about shipping. Looks like many of their others are very pricey, especially the cask 23 or some such madness.
I plan to serve with filet and a little crab legs on the side, some rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes and undecided on the veggies (asparagus or green beans).

If that sounds reasonable I will hop right on it tonight or tomorrow.

thanks. Im a hillbilly that can be a little classy at times....... or more as needed.
 
Thanks Moses. I found it online for 39, not sure about shipping. Looks like many of their others are very pricey, especially the cask 23 or some such madness.
I plan to serve with filet and a little crab legs on the side, some rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes and undecided on the veggies (asparagus or green beans).

If that sounds reasonable I will hop right on it tonight or tomorrow.

thanks. Im a hillbilly that can be a little classy at times....... or more as needed.

39 is reasonable. Buying several should negate the shipping cost/bottle. Post pics, please.

I have no idea if I am ever classy, but I have redneck tendencies that anyone outside of my closest circle could not possibly imagine. Fine spirits, fine food, fine guns, even better company, and conversation that would singe the devils tail. That all makes for a good life.
 
On rare occasion I like peach vodka and oranve juice . Since this is a holiday weekend I asked my love to pick up some peach flavored vodka . Orange juice is a staple in my house except for tonight . So after 5 peach vodkas and orange aide I am officially set down for the night .
Yeah I know this is heracy but I got the job done . Think I'll put the bottle inthe freezer ala Ivan .
 
Pretty good stuff, at least in that it goes down real easy, so things get out of hand before you realize it. It had a bell on top that people would not stop ringing. The more I complained the more they rang it. So I took a machete to the bottle. No one was injured and the bottle was already empty.

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