What did you buy at the liquor store today? (2016 - )

[tanstaafl2]

A few new additions in preparation for St. Patrick's Day! The Dair Ghaelach is interesting because of its finishing in virgin toasted Irish oak casks that were very limited. Not much left of Irish forests! Barrels from tree #6 are the ones available in the US. Barrels from other trees went to other markets.

 

Somehow the scotch also managed to sneak into my cart...

 

[tanstaafl2]

I forgot this new find at the store from a couple of days ago called La Quintinye Vermouth Royale. It is from the makers of G'Vine gin and caught my interest because it is made with Pineau des Charentes. That seemed a bit different. I did not see the blanc or the dry but they did have the rouge in stock.

 

 

 

Seemed like a vermouth that could be a standalone drink and of course I have always been a fan of PdC. Definitely sweet up front as described but does evolve into a nice light balanced bitterness with a variety of spice and botanicals. The dryness carries into the finish and unlike the linked reviewer I was quite happy to drink it on its own. But the sweetness up front might not be for everybody!

[Rafa]

The Dair Ghaelach is quite good. A much classier drink to imbibe tonight than green beer.

[scubadoo97]

On January 17, 2016 at 11:38 AM, tanstaafl2 said:

 

Interesting. Don't think I have ever seen a box for the Plantation Single Cask rums. I presume there is a label on the back indicating which particular rum that is? Back when the Plantation 20th Anniversary came in the wide short bottle it had a box (and typically still does now that it is in a taller bottle as I recall) but not the vario0us single cask bottlings, at least in my area.

Bruce, late reply but  it was is 2004 Old Reseve Belize finished in port casks. 

 

A few few malts recently purchased

 

Edited March 17, 2016 by scubadoo97 (log)

[tanstaafl2]

23 hours ago, scubadoo97 said:

Bruce, late reply but  it was is 2004 Old Reseve Belize finished in port casks. 

 

A few few malts recently purchased

 

 

Well that seems like it might be an interesting rum. How is it?

 

I have most of a case of the Plantation 1998 Guadeloupe left that looks similar with the black label and rattan wrapping. Nice rum but never saw one in a box.

 

Scooping up the last of the Yam 12 I see. Best to get it while the gettin' is good!

[scubadoo97]

2 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said:

 

Well that seems like it might be an interesting rum. How is it?

 

I have most of a case of the Plantation 1998 Guadeloupe left that looks similar with the black label and rattan wrapping. Nice rum but never saw one in a box.

 

Scooping up the last of the Yam 12 I see. Best to get it while the gettin' is good!

Got that right. My cuz in nyc couldn't find it anywhere and ended buying the Y12 from Japan.  A little store by my house had it at a great price so I stocked up and bought all they had.  

[DianaB]

 

I was offered this at a friend's house a short while ago and for me, to date, it is the nicest tasting gin I have tried. It took me a while to find a vendor but I'm glad I persevered.  Of course my experience is limited but the only other small distillery gin I bought didn't seem worth the extra cost. Not sure how widely this is marketed but I would appreciate the views of anyone who has tried it.

 

Below is the Champagne we buy annually having met M. Ducoisy by chance at a friend's B&B. In our view this is a beautiful wine in its own right. It makes a French 75 worthy of a special occasion. Of course tastes differ and I'm sure everyone has his or her own preference.  I collected our supply a couple of weeks ago, seems an eternity now..... 

 

 

Toying with the idea of applying méthode Rotuts to a bottle of Gewurtztraminer for the same cocktail. Has anyone tried the method with a similar wine?

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

14 hours ago, DianaB said:

Toying with the idea of applying méthode Rotuts to a bottle of Gewurtztraminer for the same cocktail. Has anyone tried the method with a similar wine?

 

No, but now I'm sure thinking about it.  I have a gewurtztraminer in the closet.  Maybe try it with less expensive bottle first?  Hmm.

 

Folonari Soave is the house wine here and I can report when used for MR it makes a pretty mean French 75.  Results may vary depending whether you follow the gin school or the Calvados school.  I go for Calvados in the French 75, myself.  Why would a French artillerist be drinking gin?

[FrogPrincesse]

A French artillerist would be drinking Calvados straight, and would absolutely never dilute it with Champagne... 

[DianaB]

3 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

No, but now I'm sure thinking about it.  I have a gewurtztraminer in the closet.  Maybe try it with less expensive bottle first?  Hmm.

 

Folonari Soave is the house wine here and I can report when used for MR it makes a pretty mean French 75.  Results may vary depending whether you follow the gin school or the Calvados school.  I go for Calvados in the French 75, myself.  Why would a French artillerist be drinking gin?

 

If I apply MR to a bottle of Gewurtztraminer it will be the imported (to France) version that sells for less than 4€ rather than the Alsacian version which is significantly more expensive. 

 

We make French 75 with cognac, I haven't come across a recipe that suggests calvados but might give it a try. According to David Embury (The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, 1948) gin can be added "but then, of course, it no longer should be called French."

[Craig E]

Obtained my first bottle of passion fruit syrup. I welcome ideas for its use.

[FrogPrincesse]

Tiki of course. A favorite is Don the Beachcomber's Cobra's Fang. Jim's Special, which is rum & tequila-based, is quite nice too.

Edited April 1, 2016 by FrogPrincesse
clarification (log)

[lesliec]

The fruits of today's excursion:

 

 

The nocino is a local (Nelson) one which I shall use for comparative purposes when my own is ready in a couple of weeks.  The Four Roses is a restock.  Decent mezcal is really hard to find here, so I grabbed the Minero when I saw it.  And I shall use the Barbancourt for making Supercool Vieux Carrés, among other things.

[joiei]

 A couple of roses and my limit of 3 Pirate Bombs from Prairie Artisian Ales.  The Pirate is going into the closet.  Very limited and oh so delicious.  An imperial stout aged in rum casks.  

[tanstaafl2]

On ‎4‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 9:14 PM, lesliec said:

 

The nocino is a local (Nelson) one which I shall use for comparative purposes when my own is ready in a couple of weeks.  The Four Roses is a restock.  Decent mezcal is really hard to find here, so I grabbed the Minero when I saw it.  And I shall use the Barbancourt for making Supercool Vieux Carrés, among other things.

 

What do you use as your Genever? The Kindred Cocktails recipe seemed to suggest a rye malt based genever. Don't have any Rogge style genever on hand. Perhaps the Bols barrel aged would be a reasonable option. I wonder if the dry rye St. George gin would work?. Or maybe the Anchor Genevieve?

[lesliec]

1 hour ago, tanstaafl2 said:

What do you use as your Genever?

 

I make my own!  (Sorry ...)

 

[tanstaafl2]

18 hours ago, lesliec said:

 

I make my own!  (Sorry ...)

 

 

I should have guessed that was the case!

[tanstaafl2]

 

Have gotten a bit carried away of late with a bunch of different online and local purchases to include a spate of Irish whiskey and a recent splurge at The Whisky Exchange.

 

Temptation got the best of me and I just had to get a different "tree" of the Midleton Dair Ghaelach. So I ordered one from TWE and now I have "tree" #9 to compare to #6. But of course you can't get just one bottle when ordering from TWE so I had to get a few more!

 

 

That included a special bottling of Yellow Chartreuse from the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France Sommeliers because I love chartreuse in all it's many forms and lets face it, I can't resist something odd and unusual! It was inspired in part by a recent post about a cocktail from our own resident "Princess de Grenouille"!

 

Also included were two TWE exclusives, a 22yo cask strength Irish single malt with the humble name of "Finest Irish Single Malt" (Presumably Cooley whiskey) and a 15yo cask strength Glenfarclas (both a bit of a gamble).

 

The one I am most curious about though is the Spirit of Hven Sankt Claus which was an award winner by Whisky Advocate with an interesting history. Again a cask strength offering of a single cask of Merlot finished Swedish whisky offered as a Christmas special. Probably doesn't get much more unusual than that! The description of distillation in the comments by the distiller make for an interesting read. I hope it lives up to the hype!

 

And finally I got a refill on Perique because, well, you can just never have too much Perique!

 

Locally I managed to acquire the new CEHT Seasoned Wood and also picked up a bottle of viognier wine from the Condrieu region of the northern Rhone valley because another bottle I discovered recently in my buying spree was a cask strength offering from a small French distillery near Grenoble called Domaine des Hautes Glaces. Their first cask strength single cask release in the US that I know of was fully matured in viognier wine from Condrieu so I thought it might be fun to compare the wine to the whisky. Age is unknown but can't be over about six since that is about how long they have been around but tons of color and flavor!

 

 

 

 

[Czequershuus]

Tax refund time means I get to restock my liquor cabinet! No picture this time, but in addition to many restocks I picked up some Corze Reposado, High West Double Rye, and a special treat, Goslings Family Reserve. The High West was  great choice, the Corzo is nice but over-priced, but the Goslings is classic.

[blue_dolphin]

12 hours ago, Czequershuus said:

Tax refund time means I get to restock my liquor cabinet!

 

I am working on my taxes at the moment so any spending will have to wait to see how things come out.  One way or the other, I will want a drink !

[haresfur]

The haul from my US trip. 

The Corner Creek and Dry Fly whiskey were presents (I have great friends). The Northern Harvest Rye was from Costco because I was curious, it was not expensive, and it's distilled in Gimli Manitoba (waves flag). The rest were from Cask that we stumbled across in San Francisco after deciding not to spend an outrageous amount of money on opening day seats for the Giants (I think this will be a better value).

[tanstaafl2]

Some new toys to play with. I have been picking up the annual Caol Ila unpeated bottle from the Diageo "special release" each year but for some reason it never showed up in Atlanta this year. So a friend did me a solid and sent me one! This year (the 2015 release) is a 17yo cask strength bottle weighing in at 111.8 proof and aged in used bourbon. Each year is a bit different in some way and typically a bit older. 2012 was 14yo aged in European oak, probably sherry. 2013 was the Stitchell Reserve blend of unpeated Caol Ila and 2014 was a 15yo unpeated from used bourbon. It is interesting to taste the underlying Caol Ila distillate without the peat (there is typically a little peat but not much in these bottles).

 

I also was able to get a bottle of a 23yo Bowmore fully matured in port that was distilled in 1989 and bottled at a cask strength of 101.6 proof in 2012. One of my favorite bottles of whisky is a 16yo Bowmore that was also fully matured in port distilled in 1991 (peeking out from behind the 23yo Bowmore) so I am really looking forward to trying this one.

 

Fun stuff!

 

 

Next up may be some Marie Gallant Rhum Agricole called Capovilla just for fun. Anybody tried that one?

[FrogPrincesse]

34 minutes ago, tanstaafl2 said:

Next up may be some Marie Gallant Rhum Agricole called Capovilla just for fun. Anybody tried that one?

 

Is it this one? I haven't, but it sounds wonderful...

[tanstaafl2]

48 minutes ago, FrogPrincesse said:

 

Is it this one? I haven't, but it sounds wonderful...

 

That is one of the options but it is the 2015 version. There is also a blanc version and apparently a cask strength version. I don't know which to choose! Might have to just get them all...

 

Rather spendy though. Apparently the price has sky rocketed in 5 or so years!

 

Don't you just love how they spelled Sauternes! At least I presume that is what they were going for. Auto correct at it is finest perhaps?

[FrogPrincesse]

4 minutes ago, tanstaafl2 said:

 

Don't you just love how they spelled Sauternes! At least I presume that is what they were going for. Auto correct at it is finest perhaps?

 

Oh, Sauternes. That's what they meant! "Saturn casks" had me scratch my head a bit, but that description was full of interesting imagery, including ox-drawn carts, so I didn't really give it a second thought. Thanks for the laugh!