The contents of Monsta's glass...(read OP)

It would certainly be possible to AusPost a single bottle, they do have the wine postpaks in the foam. The question would be if the thicker bottle would fit in that, and what the postage costs would be. Freighting with a courier is of course expensive to Darwin. MBS does seem to have it, more expensive than Nick's however - https://www.mybottleshop.com.au/glenglassaugh-torfa-single-malt-scotch-whisky-700ml

Will PM you with another possible 'cheap' store in terms of freight.
 
Ooh, I see what you mean about Mybottleshop - prices across the board seem to have risen 20% since last week.
They had Glenfarclas 12 for $99 and 15 for $109 last week I am sure.
 
Having read many reviews over the last few days I geared myself up to go and buy my first $100+ bottle of whisky this morning.
Abelour A'bunadh appears to have been a fan favourite in batches up to the low 50s but then went through a bit of a rocky patch between until batch 60. I did my due diligence, and worked out that batch 61 came out around February, so that should be plenty of time for at least batch 60 to have hit these shores right?
Well maybe, but certainly not Darwin, where the only batches I could find (55 & 57) in Vintage Cellars were right in the middle of the rocky patch.

I give up trying to buy locally until I read Dan's has opened. Now to go back to the online offerings and confuse myself more.
 
Don't overthink it. You're overthinking it. The Abundah will be a great value bottle if you like the sherried styles, regardless of the batch arguments.
 
OK done.
Glendronach 12 YO,
Signatory 2007 Glenlivet 10 YO
And 10% off any other orders for the rest of the year.
 
Rather than potentially waste lots of money on whiskies I wouldn't necessarily like, I've been tasting, trying, and testing some of the cheaper blends recommended by Ralfy in his youtube vlogs to see if I like certain flavours in whisky (and therefore am willing to buy a bottle of SM) as well as to train myself in discerning flavours and enjoying it more.

I ended up buying all that I could find locally except for Monkey Shoulder
  1. Ballantynes 12 YO
  2. Teachers Highland Cream
  3. Vat 69
At first I couldn't discern much difference between the three, I could just taste "scotch". But now with numerous tastings and comparisons I've managed to tease apart some flavours / sensations and found that they are quite different.

  • Ballantynes 12YO is the one that first struck me as being different from the others. I found a distinct sweet, fruity / sherry scent and taste to it that has grown more prominent now I know what I am looking for.
  • Teachers Highland Cream doesn't have the sherry flavour at all, but still has some fruit, and introduces a very light peat smokiness which I didn't find as offensive as I thought I might.
  • Vat 69 has been a bit more troublesome for my palate, although now I am starting to find a bit of a honey sweetness to it, with a very slight smokiness. If the three this has been my least favourite so far.
I think I have listed them in my favourite order. The sherry fruit of the Ballantynes really has started to stand out to my taste, so I have (as mentioned previously) decided to "invest" in a couple of that style Single Malt whiskys (in the post above).

However I had my head turned this weekend. A friend bought me a bottle of Glenmoranjie Original (which I already have a bottle of) and a couple of Glencairn glasses to go with it for doing him a few favours recently. While I was at his place we had a little tasting of that and a couple of his recent birthday presents - a Select Cask Laphroaig and Laguvilin 16. I nearly rejected the Laphroaig on first sniff as I got a whiff of used ashtray which really was unpleasant, but persevered and was surprised to find my preconceived notions were different. The peaty smokiness wasn't totally overpowering and I couldn't taste the tcp medication flavour that I have always associated with Laphroiag since I first tasted it years ago. The Laguvulin surprised me in a pleasant way as well. I've not tried either enough to talk about specific flavours within, but I've tasted enough to know at some stage I will investigate further. I do still prefer the Glenmoranjie, but the divide between that and a peaty whisky is not the divide it once was.

I presume its a placebo effect, but the Glencairn glass seems to have concentrated scents and flavours far more than I would have given it credit for, especially when I keep the glass in a stubby holder in the freezer (sans liquid) and add the whisky / room temp water to it.
 
Found out one of my cow-orkers is a serious scotch drinker and was given a sample of Abelour A'banadh batch 55 from him.
At 60.4% it could hardly be called a shy whisky! Way to strong to drink neat, but unfortunately I drowned the small dram I poured with water. Still tasted very nice but will wait to finish the last of the sample on another night.
So in finishing the night off with a Teeling Irish whiskey instead.
 
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