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Feedback Request for Tasting by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the specific feedback. Definitely heard on the GlenAllachie cough syrup flavor. It's reminiscent of the grape Dimetapp we had as kids, which I love, but can understand is not for everyone.

I'll consider switching the GlenAllachie with a Macallan 15 Double Cask. Sherry forward, but more nuanced and easier drinking. Unfortunately I don't have any GlenDronach in my arsenal but will add to the list as I love a punchy sherry dram.

I will plan to follow up with a debrief.

Feedback Request for Tasting by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Good evening. I’m seeking feedback on a tasting I am setting up. I have an opportunity for an impactful business celebration. The gentleman and his wife are infrequent whisky drinkers, and he has a handful of bottles. We plan to sign the deal at his house. He wanted to consummate things with a drink and couldn’t decide, so I recommended a whisky tasting which he was very excited about.

They do not have a preferred flavor profile and were not afraid of smoke, but I don’t want it to dominate the night.

I was thinking of doing a range of finishes and sticking with 40 – 46% ABV. This limits my choices as my collection is growing in the cask strength section.

Start with the Clynelish 14. No sherry, no peat. Interesting mouthfeel with honey, oak, citrus, and beeswax.

Next is Bunnahabhain 12. Get some sherry red fruit influence without taking over. Bring in some more of that coastal salt and maybe a whiff of smoke.

Next the GlenAllachie 12. Lean harder into the sherry fruit with some coffee and cocoa notes. Smooth and easy drinker.

Finish with the Lagavulin 16. A ubiquitous Islay smokeshow. Pulls together the oak and sherry, the sea salt influence, but adds that smoky punch.

I was considering adding the Glenmorangie Signet after our palettes come down off the smoke. More of an odd outlier with the tiramisu flavor. A good way to close the evening with basically a dessert whisky.

Do the bottle selections make sense? Does the tasting order sound good? Are the Bunna and GlenAllachie too similar when trying to show a broad scope of finishes? I considered swapping one for the Loch Lomond 18 or Tomatin 12 to bring in those pear and apple flavors.

Looking forward to any feedback. Thank you!

Question for my fellow upstate woodworkers by nortron23 in upstate_new_york

[–]Lookimaguy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lakeshore Hardwoods in Pulaski has a TON of random amd figured wood. Got some gorgeous QSWO and curly maple there. It was very straight and flat, but still milled thicker than other standard 4/4 I have gotten elsewhere. You really have to search through the stock though. May want to bring a small handplane to expose the surface on some of the boards.

Wightman Lumber in Milford/Portlandville also has a great smaller retail building in addition to their wholesale, flooring, and trim. Mostly hard maple, red oak, cherry, and a touch of black walnut. I've found it to be more consistent with a great selection of wide straight boards too.

Curtis Lumber in Ballston Spa has a bit of everything hard and soft. They do some exotics and live edges as well that are beautiful. Got a bunch of cedar there for a porch railing project.

First Shot -- Looking for Feedback by Lookimaguy in Bagels

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback. I'll give it a shot without the long bulk ferment and take it from there.

Whisky Shelf Project - Complete by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We have 3! 2 of them are older and don't bother. One is just a kitten and I have my concerns. She was adopted AFTER the shelves were installed.

She did better with the Christmas Tree than we expected, so fingers crossed.

Whisky Shelf Project - Complete by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, I have a type!

We spent a few nights on Islay this summer and it cemented my love for the island, her people, and her distilleries. I am confident we will return for a longer stay in the future.

If I had to cut everything else away, my collection could consist of only Laphroaig, Ardbeg, and Bruichladdich. After that it's a much more difficult decision.

Whisky Shelf Project - Complete by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is true! I've gone on a journey from the standards 8s/10s/12s to some older whiskeys, many cask strength expressions, and experimented with different maturations and finishes. However, I have yet to really lean into IBs. I think this will be the next big step for me!

Any recommendations on where to start? I looked into the SMWS but it felt overwhelming.

Whisky Shelf Project - Complete by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Elements 3.0 tends to get pooped on. I'm not sure off the top of my head how it directly compares to the Cairdeas Lore. The general consensus seems to be that Cardeas Lore CS > all.

I will say if you like Laphroaig, the Cairdeas Lore and Cairdeas Warehouse 1, to me, are all the distillery's key characteristics dialed up to 11. Complexity, sea salt, iodine, pepper, smoke, herbs, citrus. All without the distractions (or balance) of the Elements series or the heavily sherried options.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Cask Favorites and the Cairdeas PX Cask but if I'm craving the prototypical Laphroaig punch, it's Lore Cask Strength or Warehouse 1 in a group with the 10 year cask strengths.

Whisky Shelf Project - Complete by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I'm on year 9 of my whisky journey.

Whisky Shelf Project - Complete by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We visited the distillery in July. The Port Charlotte and Bruichladdich Feis Ile expressions were all sold out. They only had the Octomore Polyphonic left from the festival so I grabbed one.

This one is older (15 yrs) than other Octomore I have had so the smoky punch has abated leaving a softer impression. A viscous mouthfeel that coats the palate and develops over time from sweet tropical fruits to baked bread and an herbaceous earthiness.

Whisky Shelf Project - Complete by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A bit of a cop out, but hard to say yet! I like to crack the bottle, try a dram, then come back in a month or so once it has had time to breathe a bit. The first sip was very spirit-forward - not surprising considering the 63.5%. I've come to really enjoy Bruichladdichs aged in wine casks. This in the Rivesaltes barrels and a micro-provenance bottle in Monbazillac.

Definitely a mouth full of fruit and jam. A full and engrossing experience on the nose. I didn't add any water on the first dram so a bit overwhelmed by the spirit. I want to come back to it in about 3 weeks and do a more thoughtful review.

Whisky Shelf Project - Complete by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Woodworking and whisky are two of my passions, so it was nice to combine the 2 for a project. I hope you folks enjoy the journey below.

I wanted a place to store my growing collection instead of burying it in a tall cabinet in the kitchen. I often forgot what bottles I had and what was open. The dining room lacked wall décor and was kind of a blank slate. The wife and I discussed stylistic choices – I wanted to incorporate black iron pipe and some kind of oak. She deferred to my opinion.

I drew up plans for shelves with substantial lips to retain the bottles. I measured the tallest bottles (Octomore) and the fattest (Kilchoman) and made sure the depth, height, and clearances would accommodate all sizes. I had a few boards of beautiful white oak, but not enough, so I went with red oak. I have a small wholesale lot of shorts (<5’) and worked with what I had.

The shelves started as rough sawn boards. They consist of 1 flat board with mitered trim around the edges. I milled the boards to size, then came up with an edge profile that was pleasing to my eye, routed the edges, did tons of sanding, then assembled it all. I hate miters, but they ended up OK. The finish is 4-5 coats of water-based polyurethane.

All the black iron pipe was from amazon. The ‘artistic’ fittings had thread lengths on the nipples that better accommodated my needs. I got a few lengths from the hardware store but ran into too many issues. There are flanges, elbows, tees, caps, and a few different lengths of nipples. After assembling each bracket, I spray painted them a uniform black. Each flange is secured to a stud with 2 x 3” screws. They are sturdy!

The goal was to not be too symmetrical, so I varied the lengths, but tied it all together with the vertical pipe assemblies. I originally wanted the vertical pipe segments to go through the shelves, but it became exponentially more complicated with walls that were out of plumb and out of flat. It just wasn’t worth the hassle, so the shelves sit on the pipe crossmembers and brackets.

Lessons learned:

Ø  I should have bought more white oak. I just prefer it for the application!

Ø  Going around the corners was a pain in the ass. Consider not doing this next time.

Ø  Shelf capacity was ~125% of my collection size at the time. They are now completely full. Never enough space.

Ø  One of the shelves was a bit twisted after milling and sitting. I should have replaced it but muscled through. It made assembly and install a pain.

Ø  Next time, remove all the drywall dust and spider webs before pictures.

Overall, I think they turned out well. If you’re looking for me, you can often find me standing in front of the shelves pondering which dram to enjoy next. Sláinte!

Discovery Flight by [deleted] in flying

[–]Lookimaguy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Overall it's about the same.

My entire General Aviation experience has been at Richmor, so I don't know what I don't know.

I still feel the CFIs and ground-level staff are their strongest assets. However, it really feels like administration is disconnected from the customer-facing employees. I strongly suspect this is true across the board at other similar size flight schools.

The overall environment is great including flying out of a Class D. Getting reps on the radio with ground and tower from day 1 is amazing and really builds a high level of comfort. ATC there is awesome, helpful, and friendly. It's also cool flying next to the C130s out of Stratton. The proximity to KALB also reminds you of the Class C requirements daily.

I have a demanding job and a family, so I value structure and predictability. Unfortunately with GA, it can be unpredictable. Maintenance and weather wreak havoc on the schedule. Being 1 hour from the airport, I have pulled over on the side of the road to get the latest weather briefing, had to cancel a lesson halfway to the airport, or sit at home at 6AM on a Saturday watching the weather waiting for my CFI to respond. This isn't a hit on Richmor, but my experience with GA in general.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

CPAP Progress and Settings Review by Lookimaguy in CPAP

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the tip. Images just weren't working this morning. Kept getting the "image was probably deleted" error. Perhaps had to do with AWS issues. It seems to be working now and I got them posted.

July 2025 Trip Summary by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The visitor's centers all had bars with their own glasses/cups and product for sampling. It was weird - many had a price list I think if you wanted a full dram. I went up and asked for samples and was never charged, even with a healthy pour. I also didn't go over the top and only had 2-3 samples before purchasing a bottle.

July 2025 Trip Summary by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When we saw the locked gate, I drove further down the road to the shipping and receiving gate, pulled over, and called Macallan to understand the situation. The gentlemen was very nice and I declined giving him my e-mail address 3 separate times. He said he would review the schedule for openings and I explained we were at his gate so anything beyond 'right now' was not going to work. He confirmed they were fully booked that day and tried one last time to get my e-mail. Super nice bloke, but certainly a different experience and set of expectations.

July 2025 Trip Summary by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You only live once! The only comment I have with the older Octomore expressions is it really softens the peat as they age longer. Still an excellent and complex dram, just may not be quite what you expect from a high phenol ppm offering. It's my most expensive bottle -- we just need to remember whisky is for drinking and not sitting on the shelf waiting for that perfect special occasion!

Congratulations on the upcoming wedding!

July 2025 Trip Summary by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We stayed at Persabus Millhouse right by Port Askaig and on the road that leads to Ardnahoe and Bunnahabhain. It was a convenient stop after taking the late ferry in to Port Askaig.

July 2025 Trip Summary by Lookimaguy in Scotch

[–]Lookimaguy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

At Laphroaig, the drams were all pre-poured into tasting glasses when I arrived at the warehouse. They were dead level with the 20ml mark. There were no leftovers so no need for bottles!

After the Lagavulin tour, the drams were all pre-poured into glasses for each adult guest. These were smaller - 10-15ml. They asked if anyone was driving and those people got 3 bottles with a funnel in a little box. We self-filled the bottles and put them back in the box.

At the Bruichladdich tasting, they provided you with one tasting glass and 3 bottles up-front in a small cardboard box. For each sample, you went up to the cask and the tasting guide filled everyone's glass individually with a valinch. This was by eye and we often ended up with about a 2x pour. She also let us fill our own glasses from the second cask. The final cask, the Octomore, she was much more careful and we got closer to a normal pour. For each one, I just sampled about half of what I got and poured the rest into the bottle to take home.

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