What did you buy at the liquor store today? (2013–)

[scubadoo97]

Just got a private barrel selection 6 and 14 yo Dickel as well as some Jefferson 10 rye and barrel selections of Knob Creek, two Old Weller Antiques and an Elmer T Lee

[Kerry Beal]

Bottle of JM white agricole and a small bottle of Myer's Rum.

[lesliec]

Punt e Mes, Cynar, Noilly Prat (oily rat?) and Lighthouse gin.

[Plantes Vertes]

Managed to conceal my misdeeds from Santa for another year and I was rewarded:

[tanstaafl2]

What is the square bottle on the right sideways to the camera? I feel like I should know but I don't.

[Plantes Vertes]

It's an agricole called St Aubin. I had never heard of it before - apparently it's quite new. I'll let you know what it's like.

[FrogPrincesse]

It's an agricole called St Aubin. I had never heard of it before - apparently it's quite new. I'll let you know what it's like.

From Mauritius. Very cool.

[Hassouni]

It's an agricole called St Aubin. I had never heard of it before - apparently it's quite new. I'll let you know what it's like.

A friend of mine brought me a bottle from his biz trip to the island - good stuff! Not easy to find, I bet (certainly never seen it here)

[tanstaafl2]

It's an agricole called St Aubin. I had never heard of it before - apparently it's quite new. I'll let you know what it's like.

A friend of mine brought me a bottle from his biz trip to the island - good stuff! Not easy to find, I bet (certainly never seen it here)

Interesting. The only Mauritian rum I have seen readily available is the molasses based Starr white rum in the odd triangular bottle. I have been told Pink Pigeon rum from Mauritius can also be found in the States but have never had it.

As best I can tell from a very brief search St. Aubin is the only rum that qualifies as rhum agricole in Mauritius and comes in an unaged 100 proof white, several spiced flavors and possibly several aged versions.

http://www.rhumsaintaubin.com/en/index-en.php

Look forward to your impressions!

[Rafa]

Malacca. Medium-bodied and mildly off-dry, bright and tropical with cinnamon and grapefruit. Don the Beachcomber, as a gin.

Edited December 18, 2013 by Rafa (log)

[Rafa]

Also, Branca Menta, which I intended to use in holiday baking, but which I like enough neat and as a substitute for cremes de menthe in cocktails that I'll probably make it a staple of my bar. I'd had it before but it had never made much of an impression.

I also received and assembled a new home bar, but that wasn't bought at a liquor store, so I apologize for this off-topic excursion.

[EvergreenDan]

Rafa -- If you find a good use for Malacca, let me know. It tastes like global warming killed all the pine trees.

[Rafa]

Nothing too seasonally appropriate, I'm afraid. It makes a very good Tom Collins, and I've had success substituting it for light rum in Tiki/tropical drinks, which I've been making a lot of as a flipped bird to the weather. I made a version of the Donga Punch with it that I liked a lot. Not many recipes call for Malacca specifically; I have this ruby port-augmented sour and this flip on my to-try list.

[choux]

Yay! BCLDB has finally gotten Bulleit Rye. We've had then bourbon for a while, but the rye has only shown up in the past week. Any suggestions for first drink? Just a refill on the Beefeater, gotta have my G&T. Whoever suggested somewhere to add a splash of Campari to a G&T, it makes for a delicious drink, it doesn't taste right to me without it anymore.

[ChrisTaylor]

I was feeling a little bit patriotic. I bought two bottles as I'm going to experiment with alchemy and see if I can magically turn one into a bottle of high end rye. Stay tuned, kids.

As for the Rhum I'm still figuring on what'll replace my Banks 5 once I finish it off. It's a bit too hard for me to get in Australia (I imported a bottle from Whisky Exchange and had someone bring me another on the way back from London) and while I like it I don't know if it's quite special enough to justify the expense of importing it.

Edited January 10, 2014 by ChrisTaylor (log)

[EvergreenDan]

Let us know what you think of the white JM. I love it myself, but haven't compared it to many others.

Edited January 10, 2014 by EvergreenDan (log)

[Hassouni]

Bought this right before Christmas:

Possibly the most superb, iconic (and iconoclastic), and classic independent whisky of my generation has now been discontinued thanks to a lousy sale by the board of directors to Remy Cointreau. The sole dissenting vote was by founder who resurrected the Bruichladdich name and pioneered their approach.

This case assures I have enough for years to come, because we may never see it again. RIP Independent Bruichladdich and the Progressive Hebridean Spirit.

[tanstaafl2]

Managed to aquire a number of things recently including some Clement single cask rum, Clement Bleu Canne rum (Ti punch here I come!), a 3yo dark rum from the Netherlands of all places called Flying Dutchman (made by the same distiller, Zuidam, that made one of my favorite unknown ryes, Millstone 100), A couple of interesting Armagacs, Darroze 20 and 1996 Chateau de Pellehaut, as well as a bottle of I have been trying to acquire for a while, the Teeling Vintage Reserve 21yo Single Malt Irish whiskey finished in Sauternes casks.

First picture is a bit dark unfortunately.

I didn't buy any high end rye recently but I may try to practice a bit of alchemy myself and magically turn one that I have in the bunker into an otherwise unobtainable Australian whisky...

Going to be a busy weekend!

[ChrisTaylor]

Let us know what you think of the white JM. I love it myself, but haven't compared it to many others.

I've only had it in a mojito so far--a fairly robust mojito, mind, with both the lime and simple scaled back a bit--and thought it was good. Assertive enough to make its slightly musty, grassy presence known. I'll try it in a daiq next, I think.

[FrogPrincesse]

If it's anything like the 40°, it should make a really nice daiquiri...

[Chris Amirault]

Exactly: bracing and crisp and terrific.

[Czequershuus]

My stop the liquor store to restock some Tonic Water(Fever Tree) and Appleton V/X turned slightly more expensive(it always does) as I started to browse. Ended up also grabbing some Cinzano Rosso, which I surprisingly have not tried yet. Also a bottle I have been considering ever since I spotted it a while ago, Maraska Pelinkovac, an Croatian bitter liqueur often compared online to Jagermeister. Worth the risk or under 20.

Tasted the new bottles, and they were both good choices. Cinzano strikes me as kind of between the flavors of M&R and Carpano. Less bitter than Carpano, less sweet than M&R. It has a nice balance. The Pelinkovac is awesome. Not much resemblance to Jager, (though I do like Jager) it is much less sweet, more on par with a drier amaro, like Averna, but it is not rich and spicy. It is deeply bitter, lots of flavor from the wormwood. It could really see this working in cocktails.

[lesliec]

Rittenhouse 100 and KetelOne Genever. I'll be relying on you lot for some good ideas with the Genever.

[ChrisTaylor]

It works nicely in a Last Word. Do not under any circumstances--even the sort of apocalypse Cormac McCarthy might write about--use that shit with tonic water, tho'. No matter what. Never ever.

[lesliec]

Yes sir, Mr Taylor, whatever you say, Mr Taylor.

We had a Supercool Vieux Carré from Kindred and found it most acceptable.