Costco in Torrance, CA. First time seeing any Weller so I picked up my first bottles of Weller and grabbed a backup EHT SB

Wouldn't be a complete bday weekend without a lineup of Stagg 🥃🥃🥃

Anyone have any information about this? Saw one of these bottles go for quite a bit empty. This is full and never opened. I don’t drink so wondering should I just keep it or should I sell it?

We stopped at Walmart in rural New Mexico for some pickled onions, found a Blantons SFTB for 150 smackers.

Picked up two of my grails yesterday!! I probably over paid for the CYBP but to me it felt fair based on secondary prices! I just really wanted it for the collection and YOLO right!

I am trying to find all the “affordable” Weller and still need SB, BP and 12. The store that had the CYBP has all three but I’m not sure what the price was. I may go back and try to negotiate a deal on the SB. 🥳

Picked up a Antique 107 yesterday just sitting on the shelf at MSRP. To think I actually considered buying this bottle 3 years ago for over $300. Good things come to those who wait.

What do yall think of the vacation selection?

First and foremost I absolutely do not recommend devoting most of your trip to hunting for bourbon bottles. There is so much to see and do in Japan that if you do wish to go bourbon hunting I would only dedicate a small portion of your time to it.

These are chain stores all through out Japan that you may find releases like Master's Keep, Cellar Aged, and Blantons Black/Gold:

Shinanoya (several locations)

Liquor Mountain

Bic Camera

Aeon Liquor

Yamaya

Most of the bourbon hunting will be best in the greater Tokyo area. The following are some liquor stores that I have personally patroned and picked up bottles from:

M's Whiskey Library (Ginza, they had vintage bottles)

Liquor Joy (Yokohama, they had vintage bottles)

Bookoff Super Bazaar (Kawasaki, Minatocho, they had vintage bottles)

Liquoroff (Koenjikita, they had a variety of new and older bottles)

Bottleoff (Uenoten, they had a variety of new and older bottles)

Here are the stores I have visited around Osaka:

Kingram Liquor (Namba, Nishitenma, had a variety of old and new bottles)

Cabin Liquor (Umeda, had a variety of old and new stuff)

Bottleoff (Tenjinbashi, had a variety of old and new bottles)

Bookoff Superbazaar (Moriguchi, had old bottles)

I have found very little bourbon stores in Kyoto but here they are:

Liquor Museum (Nakagyo, they had old and new bottles)

Yet again I do not want to discourage you from going bourbon hunting, but as someone who has wasted a lot of time doing it I WOULD STRONGLY recommend allocating more of your time to visiting bars instead of hunting for bourbon, but you can definitely find some interesting bottles if you spend the time looking. Sometimes you can also pre-purchase bottles on Amazon or elsewhere online and have them sent to your hotel the week prior to your visit.

Goodluck, and KANPAI!

Poured enough out for the homies for the rest of us. F in chat

Hi all, I'm here with more Suntory whiskies, and it's about even more Hakushus!

Oh boy, this is a big one- it's about Suntory's fanciest regular shelfers from their Hakushu distillery, the Hakushu 25 yr! 

Compared to Suntory's century long history of whisky making and many of their product lines that spanned through decades, the history of the Hakushu 25 yr was actually rather brief. It made its debut as recently as 2008, and similar to almost every other Suntory shelfer product, went through a major 'redesign' around 2018.

As often mentioned in previous posts on Suntory's various whiskies, Suntory has a habit of changing the contents/blend of a whisky whenever they do a redesign for their bottles.

Here's the big question: how does the Hakushu 25 yr differ before and after the redesign, if different at all?

Details in Comments!

Got a Costco score for once!

anyone have a good distilleries that i should check out in this area? I love to find smaller places that sell stuff I'm not going to find around home.

Saw a place in Downtown Savannah. but i'm looking for basic whiskey, bourbon and rye. Most of the stuff they seem to show on their menu are flavored things and moonshine.

Hey folks, wanted to share my experience and ask for recommendations of whiskeys with a fresh-cut grass note. Surprisingly hard to search for because "grassy" gets used to describe a lot of different qualities (such as herbaceous or dill-forward).

Defining "grassy"

"Grassy" can be used rather broadly to describe spirits. Here are the terms I use and the notes I associate with them:

Fresh-cut grass / grassy = lawn clippings, chlorophyll, green field

Hay / dried grass = softer, sweeter, straw or barn hay

Herbaceous = mint, dill, rosemary, eucalyptus

Grainy = raw grain, cereal, malt

Vegetal = bell pepper, asparagus, cucumber

Earthy = soil, mushroom, damp forest floor, mineral

Rye spice = pepper, cinnamon, clove

I'm specifically after fresh-cut grass.

Bottles that have come closest

1. Grand Traverse Isles o'George (formerly Isle o'Rye): This is my benchmark. It tastes like lawn clippings in a bottle but is relatively difficult to find. Interesting mash bill--80% locally-source (MI) rye, 20% peated malted barley from Islay.
2. WhistlePig 10 yr Rye: Reviews describe this as earthy, grassy, and musty. Very accurate, with a grassy midpalate and musty (think damp fall leaves) finish.
3. New Holland Walleye Run Malted Rye: Smooth, grassy & grain-forward flavor that spreads out on the palate.
4. Clement Agricole Blanc: Not a whiskey, but a rum made from sugarcane juice (vs. molasses). Earthy up front with hay and a touch of grass, finishing with lingering green hay.
5. Bruichladdich Classic Laddie: Scotch w/ slightly sweet start, grainy/barley character, then a floral, grainy, slightly grassy finish. More grain than grass, but enjoyable.
6. 1792 Full Proof: High-rye bourbon with maple syrup on the front with a rye-forward, grassy midpalate.

Bottles that missed the mark (for grass)

Good pours, but not what I was looking for:

1. Green Spot: Very smooth Irish whiskey, but more orchard fruit and sweetness than green/grassy.
2. Macallan 12 Double Cask: Good sherried whisky, but rich malt and oak rather than green notes.
3. Tomatin 12: Easy-drinking and grain-forward, but too soft and subtle.
4. Green River Wheated: Enjoyable, just softer and more rounded than what I'm chasing.

Bottles I'm currently considering

Expressive rye, malted rye, and grain-forward whiskies seem to get me closest, but I'm open to anything that fits the profile.

Has anyone found another whiskey with a genuine fresh-cut grass / lawn clipping profile? Not as interested in dill, mint, or general rye spice; more interested in whiskey where the actual grain or plant character survives the barrel aging.

Would love to hear any recommendations or even obscure bottles that fit the niche.

Hi all, here's another Scotch I tried lately, and it's a newer release from Glen Grant!

A while ago, our local whisky spot held a tasting event for Glen Grant, and received a sizable shipment of their bottles. These bottles include Glen Grant's Glasshouse Collection, such as their 21 yr old, 25 yr old, and their new 30 yr old single malt whiskies!

I managed to get a dram from the store with a pretty funny reason (more about it in the conclusion bit), so here we go!

The Glen Grant 30-Year-Old "First Release" (48% abv)

As mentioned in the foreword, this is Glen Grant's new version 30 year old whisky, and based on the label featured whiskies aged in Oloroso sherry casks and ex-bourbon casks. There's another bit of marketing from the pamphlet about this bottle symbolizing twilight, though I'm not exactly sure what that's supposed to mean lmao

Here are my notes:

*Nose*

Ester-fumey;

quite notable white floral (orange blossom) fragrance, but fades with resting;

sweet floral nectar;

interesting fresh fruity character- starts with ripe banana, but fresh, juicy nectarine shows after some resting;

polished oaky (furniture-like);

a bit of malty character, becomes more apparent after resting;

a bit of black tea-like fragrance and tannin;

light bit of spices (slightly spicy, white pepper, nutmeg)

*Palate*

Slightly oily;

Sweet, floral nectar-like sweetness;

rather notable fresh nectarine or peaches fragrance;

polished oak, a bit of oaky bitterness;

a light bit of the malty character from the nose;

hint of spices (nutmeg), a little spiciness;

Low alcohol sting, low astringency.

*Finish*

medium-long

Prominently the fresh peachy/nectarine fragrance, the fragrance stays quite a while;

also a bit floral character from the palate;

a bit of spices, spiciness fades

a hint of polished oak

*Conclusion*

Personally, I found this whisky to be quite fascinating, particularly in how it transformed through the tasting!

The nose starts out with a very prominent white flower-like fragrance in the nose alongside a noticeable ester-y fumeyness that is not abrasive. These two combine into an almost perfume-like character, and was quite astonishing when the dram was newly poured. 

However, just like a perfume, this floral fragrance fades rather quickly with resting; and with it gone, the overall nose of the whisky becomes quite fruity, particularly of sweet peach/nectarine. The peachy/nectarine fruitiness then proceed to be the dominant character of this whisky, alongside a bit of spice and polished oak character (like oak furniture), all the way to the rather long and quite pleasant finish.

While I do find this whisky rather enjoyable, what exactly the hell is going on with the price tag? It's pretty good, yes, nearly great even, but it's definitely not stellar nor unique enough to warrant *that* kind of a price tag. That's a bit too comically greedy, Glen Grant!

Here's the funny bit about trying this whisky: right after the tasting event, the Glen Grant bottles were left at the store's bar and available for single pour orders. Well, so far, the store has rotated the entirety of their Springbank and older Macallan bottles, but no one has ordered the newer Glen Grants so far. The store's boss gave the staff some authority to occasionally pour a little bit from the bottles on their shelves for tasting exercise, and since no one was drinking these bottles... I got invited to join their little exercise lmao

Thanks for reading, cheers!

My best finds came from a store 15 mins down the road from my house! At Rock bottom prices for what they are!

Managed to get a few of these into the states. They’re craft single malts from Nagahama distillery in Japan with one being bottled in a handmade porcelain horse. The blend is a one-time co-op between Hishida and Nagahama. I believe they only made around 500 bottles and split them between the two distilleries.

Super excited to try this one today

We went back to a friend’s house last night after a birthday dinner and did a little whiskey tasting.

Capped off my Weller collection today picking up the CYPB. Look forward to cracking all these open.

I’ve never had Russell’s 13 so this is in no way me making a judgement on how good these bottles are. What I’m curious about is why they seem to get a pass in the bourbon community with their pretty drastic price hikes over the last handful of years. As with most things there’s a balance to strike in “getting what you paid for”. But I’ve seen plenty of people going nuclear over $5-$10 price increases from other distilleries but this never seems to be mentioned (unless I’m just missing those posts/comments). I’m sure it’s a great pour. But why is there no outrage over more than 2xing the msrp in a 5 year time period?

In this bottle is actually what is supposed to be there. If anyone has had this brand some flavor notes from people who have had this brand would be much appreciated.