Hi all, I recently ran into this interesting and slightly dilapidated looking mini bottle of Canadian whisky in a whisky shop I discovered. It was on sale for $5, so I figured why not and grabbed it amongst other items and drams.

Turns out it's a pretty old bottle, and the bottle seal sticker indicated it was from 1980- the dustiest Canadian whisky I've ever seen, discovered by accident! I knew I had to open it and taste it, so here are my notes:

Canadian Club Classic 12yr, 1980 (40% abv)

*Nose*

sweet and pretty creamy marshmallow;

rye whisky-like baking spices (cloves);

old oak (antique furniture);

umami, caramelized sour fruity (a bit like unsalted soy sauce, with a bit of fermenting fruit)

I know it sounds strange but it doesn't actually smell bad.

*Palate*

marshmallow fragrance and sweetness;

brown sugar earthiness;

old oak (antique furniture-like);

a bit of dark choco bitterness;

a hint of baking spices (cloves)

*Finish*

Medium-short.

marshmallow

dark choco bitterness

hint of oak

*Conclusion*

Man, it's kind of wild how good this thing is. 

It tasted a bit similar to an old bottling of Old Overhold from around the 1970s~1980s I tried once at a bar, but this one had a much stronger (and pleasant) old oaky character alongside more complexity on the nose (that odd umami fruity mix). Compared to modern Canadian whisky I've tried (modern Crown Royal at a similar proof point), this thing tasted almost magical.

And for $5? I'd grab a dozen if I could lmao. Too bad this one seemed to be the last one on shelves!

I'd love to know everyone's experiences with Canadian whiskies! Cheers!

Hi everyone,

I'm curious how people here keep track of their whisky collections.

Do you use:

• An app?
• A spreadsheet?
• Pen and paper?
• Or do you just remember what's on the shelf? 😄

If you do use an app, I'd be interested to know:

• Which one?
• What do you like most about it?
• What's the biggest frustration or feature you wish it had?

If you don't use an app, what's the reason?

I'm just interested to see how different collectors manage everything, whether it's 10 bottles or 500.

Cheers! 🥃

I recently chanced upon this bottle of Tomatin 33 Years 1988 first filled PX Sherry Cask for US$800 with proper provenance (the seller received this as a welcome gift reward for their credit card membership registration, the delivery receipt from the credit card issuer is intact, cask & bottle number all checks out. Since they don't drink, they rather sell it for cash). An airport duty free listed the same bottle for US$1.8k

I don't drink whisky and is not deeply knowledgeable in this subject area. I've not heard much of Tomatin before, the brands I know were just the mainstream ones. But I thought this would make a nice gift, seeing that the year is also my husband's birth year.

My only concern is whether the taste would suit him. At home he drinks his whisky neat (recent purchase he enjoyed is Hibiki Japanese Harmony Master's Select). When ordering cocktails he always go for old fashioned and negronis (mostly negronis).

The tasting notes for this bottle I found online were:

Nose –Gingerbread with raisin sauce. Hints of stewed pear and plum with cinnamon and star anise. A layer of salted caramel leading into molasses before a slightly tannic black tea note. Whiffs of pipe tobacco and polished oak.

Taste –A distinctive malty backbone upon which waves of orange bitters and dark chocolate meet sweet rum-soaked raisins. The gingerbread flavour slowly re-emerges.

Finish –Long yet subtle with the bitter elements from the palate fading to leave sweet baking spices.

Would like a second opinion from actual experts like you whether I should go ahead and buy this bottle or get other bottles within the same budget? Any recommendations appreciated.

TIA x

Hi all, I'm here with another whisky from MARS- and this time, it's one of their very old, pre-closure Komagatake single malts!

I happened to run into this bottle during a Japanese whisky event a short while ago, and just knew I had to get a dram of it! Since the event was more of a fair and didn't have the proper tasting setup, I stored the dram in a sample container and did the tasting elsewhere (pic 2)

I've written a bit about Hombo Shuzo MARS and their Komagatake Distillery before (such as their newer single cask and their 40th anniversary special), but here's a brief background summary:

Hombo Shuzo (aka MARS') founded their Komagatake Distillery in 1985, in a valley amongst the Japanese Alps in Nagano Prefecture. The location, at an elevation of 798m above sea level, has cool summers and very cold winters, which provided an aging profile much more similar to Scotch distilleries.

However, due to the market crash in Japan during the late 80s and major recession in the 90s, the distillery ceased operation in 1992 and remained dormant until its revival in 2011. 

In 2011, with the economy and the liquor market warming up again, MARS revived their whisky making, and began producing new whiskies while also selling blends and single casks of their very old barrels stored in their Komagatake cellar from the 1980s. These real, old Komagatakes were rather stand out in quality, with one extra old blended item winning the world's best blended whisky award from WWA in 2015. 

This bottle here is precisely one of such releases: it's a 30 year old, American White Oak aged Komagatake whisky, distilled in 1986!

Tasting details in comments!

Honey, orange marmalade, and a little smoke are the first things I notice. Then some dark fruit, cedar, and a light herbal note start showing up.
The palate is rich without feeling heavy. More honey, citrus, gentle peat, and just enough oak to keep everything balanced.
Everything feels well integrated. The smoke never takes over, the fruit stays present, and the sweetness ties it all together.

Store owner walked with me thru the store today and reached back on a shelf and pulled this out and told me I wouldn't be disappointed.

Well it wouldn’t be summer in Japan without new can highball products coming to Lawson every couple of weeks. These two “Legit Highball” products are an interesting approach to the Isle of Raasay distillery getting into the Japan highball game. 99.9% Isle of Raasay malt whisky to get around the law requiring Scotch whisky products to be bottled/canned in Scotland, thus allowing the canning to happen in Japan, keeping the price at a reasonable ¥370. Nothing mindblowing, but perfectly respectable highballs. Interesting how they went with a totally different vibe for the can design compared to their “antique craftsmanship” style bottles.

I have just recently started getting into some better whisky then what i usually drink. I had the pleasure to taste a 12 year Aberlour and and The Deacon. They were quite pleasant for someone who just got into finer stuff. I would love to hear some recommendations for whiskys at around the same price range. I was thinking about Monkey Shoulder

Hi all! Seeing a post on Glenfarclas reminded me that I've also tried one of their whiskies somewhat recently!

This is another bottle shared by one of the Korean drinking buddies who came to visit. He was kind enough to leave this bottle (amongst others) at our local whisky store & bar for sharing!

Glenfarclas 25 yr (1990s bottling), 43% abv

Honestly, I don't know much about this brand except they're Speyside, have been around for a long time, and primarily make sherry cask whiskies. I've seen them on store shelves and auctions from time to time, with significantly friendlier price tags for higher age statement items too. Always kind of wondered how that'd happen, please share any info if available!

Here are my notes:

*Nose*

gently ester-y;

mushroom broth umami;

stewed and caramelized red fruity note (apple, pears, red raisins compote);

polished oak (furniture-like)

*Palate*

mellow,  milky creamy oily mouthfeel;

umami mushroom broth fragrance;

caramel/maltose;

polished oak (furniture-like);

light bit of dark choco (60%ish) bitterness;

fruity compote but with a bit more ripe fruity funk, less prominent than the nose;

spices (nutmeg);

Very low alcohol sting, minimal astringency

*Finish*

Medium.

ripe red fruity funk;

Mushroom broth/unsalted soy sauce umami character;

spices from the palate;

hint of oak

*Conclusion*

I can see why the Korean friend wanted to share this one, it's quite a lovely older bottle indeed!

It's not super complex, sure, but it's got a very well balanced, mellow older sherry cask whisky profile. The nice, oily mouthfeel, with the caramelized red fruits, caramel, a bit of chocolate and most notably that umami character makes for a great drinking experience.

The sherry profile, particularly the balance of caramel, fruity and umami character, reminds me quite a bit of the older 1990s bottlings of some of the Yamazakis I really like, which had unfortunately gotten quite ridiculously expensive nowadays. 

In that sense, I really do appreciate this Glenfarclas!

Thanks for reading, cheers!

Hi all! I'm here today with another Scotch I tried a while ago, and yep it's another Macallan.

As weird as it may sound, this bottle was one of the first Macallans I've ever tried. 

I was recommended this bottle when considering a Macallan to try, so I got a dram from the store and tried it waaay before I got into tasting Scotch. I vaguely remembered not liking it that much compared to the items I usually drink (bourbons, ryes, Japanese whiskies). 

Now that I'm a bit more accustomed to Scotch (and more specifically Macallans), I decide to give this dram another go and see what I think of it now!

Macallan 18 yr Sherry, 1981 (43% abv)

*Nose*
notably sulfuric funky;

Concentrated, more sour than sweet dried red fruity (prunes, dried mixed red berries, raisins, orange peel); 

sweet and slightly bitter burnt brown sugar;

a bit of maltose malty character;

a slight bit savory/umami character(seaweed broth); 

polished oak note (furniture-like) in the background

*Palate*

a slight bit solvent fumey; slightly oily; 

sweet and sour dried red fruity note (dried apricot, prunes, raisins, orange peel); 

noticeable polished oaky note (furniture-like);

sweet and slightly bitter raw brown sugar/molasses;

some dark chocolate with a bit of bitterness;

a bit of maltose malty character;

a sulfuric funk, but less pronounced than the nose implies; 

a hint of umami character (also a bit similar to seaweed broth)

low alcohol sting, very low astringency

*Finish*

Medium. 

Mostly the polished oaky note, some dark chocolate bitterness, a hint of the molasses note, , a hint of sulfuric funk

*Conclusion*

I think I can pinpoint why I didn't like this whisky back when I first tried it: it's the sulfuric character. The sulfuric funk in this specific Macallan felt much more prominent than most of the other ones I've tried thus far, and for past me who had just begun trying Scotch, it must've stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the usual profile of whiskies I was accustomed to.

Now that I've tried a bit more different types of sherry cask Scotch and have gotten more accustomed to the sulfuric character that may occasionally show up, I actually found this Macallan to be pretty good after all!

It has quite a complex profile one would expect of a proper 1980s~90s Macallan- the dried red fruity, the maltose, brown sugar, dark chocolate, and quite a bit of the sherry cask sulfuric funk. However, when compared to the even older Macallans, this one no longer had the rich, nutty butter character (which I personally associated with Golden Promise barley), while also having rougher characters on the palate and mouthfeel.

Overall, I found its profile most akin to a more sulfuric Macallan Oscuro, with slightly different fruity and spice characters! Though personally, I'd still prefer the Oscuro over it, as I prefer my sherry cask Scotch without that much sulfuric character.

Okay I've written quite a bit about Macallans now, I think I should probably start writing about some other Scotch instead lmao

Thanks for reading! Cheers!

Hi all, I'm here today with more Suntory whiskies: this time, it's their distillery exclusive bottles from the Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries!

These are the NAS, Non-Chill Filtered special single malts only sold at the distilleries' gift shops, available only in these 180ml bottles and limited to one bottle per person!

Details in comments!

Hi all, I'm here today with another Nikka whisky- this time, it's on their highly beloved blended whisky, Nikka whisky from the Barrel!

In 2025, Nikka from the Barrel reached a tremendous milestone: the 40th anniversary of its creation! To celebrate this monumental occasion, Nikka released a special edition of this whisky- Nikka from the Barrel Extra Marriage!

This special edition is sold as a set alongside the regular version in the store I got them at, perfect for a side-by-side tasting!

Details in comments!

Speaking of which, the store I bought the set from also offered a complimentary special flask with the purchase (pic 2)! Great marketing, my Nikka!

Hi all, here's another Scotch I tried recently, and yeah... another Macallan!

I swear I'm not deliberately trying to chase after these progressively more and more extreme bottles, I just keep running into them lmao. Here's how that happened:

Last week, I paid another visit to my whisky friend's bar (Yep, the same bar where I tried the Macallan 18 yr Sherry Wood 1971 and the Macallan Private Eye). I visited mainly because I wanted to say hi and share some obscure stuff I got with the owner.

After sharing and chatting with the bar owner friend, he told me he had just opened a bottle of very, very interesting Macallan. Considering I've tried quite a few other ones at his place, I ordered a dram without thinking much. I was *not* expecting it to be this one!

The Macallan Pure Highland Malt Scotch Whisky 80 proof, 1961 (45~46% abv)

From what I've heard, Scotland has their own definition of 'proof' for whiskies and is completely different from the system used in the US. The bar owner friend says this one's 80 proof is roughly equivalent to 46% abv. He also pointed out that this bottle was exported to the Italian market. 

AFAIK, this was also one of the Golden Promise barley era Macallans, and is also fully matured in sherry casks. Here are my notes:

*Nose*

gently estery;

old oak (antique furniture-like);

maltose (very typical of Macallans), alongside some nuttiness (almond butter);

cooked & caramelized red fruity compote (stewed red jujube, dates, orange peel)

gently sulfuric;

spices (nutmeg);

hint of leather-like tannin

*Palate*

Nutty oily (almond butter);

mixed caramelized red fruit compote from the nose (stewed red jujubes, dates, orange peel), but just the sourness and fragrance and without the sweetness;

old oak (antique furniture-like);

cacao powder & slight bitterness;

earthy tobacco;

gently sulfuric;

dry, lightly leather-like tannin;

Baking spices (nutmeg);

minimal alcohol string, lightly astringent

*Finish*

Medium-long.

Quite dry; spice note (nutmeg), earthy tobacco, cacao powder & some bitterness, caramel but just the fragrance, hint of old oak from the nose & palate. 

*Conclusion*

Now this is another one of those exemplary old dusty Macallan! 

It was exceptionally well balanced with very strong presentation of old Macallan's sherry cask characters- the antique furniture-like oaky note, the mixed and very pleasant caramelized red fruits, Macallan's signature maltose & nutty oiliness, and a light hint of leather & sulfur I've experienced from older sherry cask whiskies. 

Furthermore, all of its prominent characters on the nose follow through to the palate, maintaining their integrity throughout the entire tasting experience all the way to the finish- truly one of the most impressive aspects about these exceptional whiskies!

Overall, I found this one's characters to be a bit more robust on the palate and finish than the Macallan 18 yr Sherry Wood from 1971, which I personally considered to be the best Macallan I've had! However, it was also even dryer, even a bit astringent on the palate. I can't really say for sure which one of these two I prefer- so I guess I'm just gonna say they're tied for me at the moment lmao

Thanks for reading, cheers!

Tasting notes for today:

Nikka Sessions is a great value blended whisky. The Nikka Tailored with its Big Ben Nevis presence makes me feel like a baller Japanese executive in the 1990s.

Macallan Harmony vs Taketsuru 2026 was a great study in cask mastery vs distillate mastery, and both are excellent.

Chichibu 10 vs Chichibu Hint of Sherry shows how aging takes the edge off Chichibu more than cask influence.

Yoichi 10 vs Smokehead 15 was surprising in how they both had a similar fruity/smoky balance, when I expected the Smokehead to be the more hardcore of the two.

The Akkeshi blend was surprisingly subdued for an Akkeshi. The Ichiro’s Special Edition had one of the best, most complex noses I’ve ever experienced, but the palate was not as well integrated. Cool out-of-my-budget experience tho.

This place is the best.

Anyone have experience with both the Rosebank and Glenkinchie distillery tours? If so, which did you prefer?

I'm going to be heading to Edinburgh for my first time in October, and these seem to be two of the most frequently recommended distillery tours. I only plan on making one day trip to a distillery, so I'll need to pick between the two. Both seem like solid options, so I'm just curious if anyone has any strong opinions between one or the other.

Hi all, I'm here with more Suntory whiskies- this time it's a Hibiki!

This one is an older version of the Hibiki 12 yr, which was originally released 2009~2015 before being pulled from shelves due to a shortage of stock whiskies (or so claimed Suntory).

As recent as the past month, Suntory announced they are bringing back the Hibiki 12yr- in fact, a renewed version has already been released as a travel exclusive bottle in several major international airports (none of which were in Japan lmao)!

However, as I currently do not have plans to travel through any of those airports, I won't be able to try out the new version for the time being. Which reminds me- I haven't yet written about the older, original version of the Hibiki 12 yr, so here it is!

Details in comments!

(The picture is a placeholder I took of an unopened bottle, because I forgot to take a picture of the bottle I got a pour from lmao)

I am a big bourbon and single malt fan. When it comes to Irish Whisky, Red Breast is a great example of a bottle I’d buy. I have a friend headed to Scotland and offered to bring me back a bottle. I associate Scotch with peat and smoke and like neither. Can anyone recommend a bottle or two to me? I’m looking to spend $100-200 on a good pour. Thanks in advance!

Whiskybase

48.3% ABV.
Matured in refill sherry casks.

Very gentle musty notes, those you’d expect from old bottles. Interesting point to note, this was bottled in 2008. So certainly not much room for the old bottle effect to happen. Despite much debates that it’s the OBE that produces mustiness, it may well not be the case.

Some fruity notes too but I can’t distinguish which. Chocolate. Sweetness, not a fruity one. Somewhere around grain-like sweetness or brown sugar. Leads to maltiness, then soy sauce. Parting the bushes. Oh I’m getting anise spice, licorice, touch of refreshing alcohol hits me as mint (certainly not boozy!)

Refreshing fruity flavors, western pears. Minerals. Hint of florals. Not so light, not so bright. I’m picturing some imaginary violet colored heavy scented flowers. Quite a bit of sweetness with a nice acidic touch at the end. Absolutely elegant. There’s some oak bitterness. Nothing to complain about. I just had to write it down for sake of documenting things.

Incredible dram for everyone to enjoy, minus the price tag I guess. I was lucky enough to taste it at a fair price. It’s intense and intuitive enough for those who don’t want to complicate themselves. It’s just a glass of whisky after all. It’s meant to be enjoyed. Plenty of complex notes to discover too, if that’s the joy for you.

Shared the glass with my father. Glad he got to taste a 40 years old whisky. His tasting notes were “this is so smooth! Maybe not as smooth as Ballentine’s 30y though” 😁