ChrisTaylor

Hard to go wrong with Otago pinot noir, in my experience. Even when it's bad it's like pizza or shagging, you know? Nanny Goat Vineyard 2012. Fruity: raspberry, blackberry. Fresh. Easy drinking. Clean tannins.

Sichuan pepper? Can't say I've tried it but, I mean, the thought makes me want to totter off into the dark and buy some apples.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/02/how-to-debone-duck-feet.html

Are you consistent in where you purchase the meat?

I remember paying a not-insignificant amount for one bottle of each of the three Westvleteren offerings and postage from Belgium to Australia. My reaction was much the same as yours.

If anyone is still looking for pig heads in Melbourne--angellnorman?--the non-halal butcher in Dandenong Market always sells pig heads. Their service is decent so I'm sure they'd happily saw them in half, too.

Pho has served as Sunday breakfast on multiple occasions. It's nothing if not a steadying start to the day.

A local-ish bar serves a sarsaparilla/Fernet Branca combo. It works.

Glenkichnie 12. Nose of alcohol, stone fruits. Honey. Palate: fruity, floral. Pepper. Finish: licking an oak barrel.

Glenfarclas 25.

A visit to a craft cocktail bar last night reminded me of this thread. I find something unpleasant about drinking a salty drink. When salt is used to emphasise some other property of the drink? Okay. But too much, when the drink actually tastes of salt? Especially when the drink has been diluted to hell (removing any sharp edges)? Especially when it's some kind of flavoured salt? Disgusting.

I'm sipping some Tom Handy at the moment. It's ... difficult to pull it apart. Something so well crafted that, while complex, is difficult not to take as a whole. Rich. Sugar: not in the bland sweet sense, but in the deep, complex sense of molasses. Pepper. Allspice. Just a hint of bitterness. Of ... grass? Something green on the finish. Superb.

If you're in a state where you really can't be fucked making ginger syrup, would a ginger liqueur like Canton be a workable sub?

A couple of local brews Australian Brewery's Pale Ale. Never tried their products prior to this but they use cans. Unusual for a craft brewery. Heavily carbonated. Really needed to be decanted into a glass and even with a careful pour that took a while. Big on the citrus. Crisp. Yeasty. I rather liked this one. I reckon I'll check out the rest of their range. Cooper's Vintage '14. I think I need to revisit this one as all I came away with was a sense that, yes, I liked it. I have some bottles of '13 kicking around and it seems ... more approachable than they do but it's possible this is just due to age. '14 seems a little more restrained than last year's batch.

Revisit. Auchentoshan Triple Wood (2011). Sherry. A bite to it, even with a bit of water. Big on the sherry. Glace cherry. Rich.

Updated thoughts on the Laphroaig Quarter Cask. Honey. Smoke. Iodine. Salt. A certain oiliness.

I've never had W&N but I agree on S&C. I suspect you'd have that opinion about Inner Circle, too. I find these very funky rums can add a lot of depth and complexity to cocktails--a wee bit in a Mai Tai, for instance--but they are not rums I enjoy drinking straight or in more spirit-forward concoctions such as an Old Fashioned variation.

I'm also a huge fan of The Man Comes Around. Johnny Cash and Fernet and Cynar and mezcal? Ticks numerous boxes. /strokes Rafa's ego

What about fridge real estate? I mean, if you're hosting a party I assume there will be lots of other things in there. I think weinoo's suggestions are very practical. And, if you've never cooked a cake before, more realistic than neatly assembling a very large, layered masterpiece.

I've enjoyed most Glenfarclas expressions I've tried. Not so much the entry-level one but the 15, 21 and 25 are very good. Every so often I contemplate picking up a bottle of the 30 or 40 year old expression as they're reasonably priced, so far as whisky of that age goes.

Most bottle-os, including large chains, carry a very limited range of minis. Whisk(e)y-wise, barring sample or gift packs, you might get Glenfiddich 12, Chivas, Johnnie Walker (only the Red and Black variants), Jack (standard) and Jim (standard). If you're lucky you might find stores that have brought in a few different ones--and I think this is the case with the Ardbeg--as some kind of promotional thing through their suppliers or as a result of breaking up some gift packs. Nick's is happy to break up gift packs in that way as I guess there's enough people that'll pick up a $5-7 bottle of this-or-that to justify it. EDIT Anyway. A new addition to my collection: Springbank 12 cask strength. My first Springbank purchase, excluding a Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottling (which was, incidentally, my first taste of Springbank). It's not as complex as the SMWS bottling, obviously, but it was approximately half the price! Despite its reputation I think it's an approachable dram. It's just so ... balanced. Salt. Smoke. Bitterness, almost of the sort you'd associate with salad vegetables like radicchio. A bit of sweetness lurking back there. Prickly mouthfeel. A bit of oiliness that then surprises you by ending cleanly, almost crisply. I'm led to believe Springbank's various expressions can vary hugely from batch to batch and even bottle to bottle but this is just ... friendly. EDIT 2 Laphroaig Quarter Cask. Much more restrained than the classic. Dry smoke and iodine and salt without the hospital-on-fire.

They're not widely avaliable. My go-to bottle-o tends to pick up a few oddities, tho'.

A new addition to the collection: Dictador 12. Maple syrup. Vanilla. Praline. Lovely.

This was a mini. I have no idea how old the bottle was.

Revisiting Ardbeg Uigeadail. Intense heat. Sweetness under all that: sherry. Apricot. Cooked apple. Dry smoke that lingers. A magnificent whisky.