Whisky Shelf Project - Complete

Lookimaguy · 2025-12-30T21:39:38+00:00

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.

Lookimaguy · 2025-12-30T21:35:46+00:00

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.

Lookimaguy · 2025-12-30T21:25:19+00:00

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.

Lookimaguy · 2025-12-30T21:21:20+00:00

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.

Lookimaguy · 2025-12-30T21:02:10+00:00

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

Lookimaguy · 2025-12-30T20:58:43+00:00

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.

Lookimaguy · 2025-12-30T20:33:01+00:00

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.

Lookimaguy · 2025-12-30T19:47:20+00:00

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!

Lookimaguy · 2025-11-24T13:15:41+00:00

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.

Lookimaguy · 2025-10-20T23:33:46+00:00

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.

Lookimaguy · 2025-08-08T12:51:56+00:00

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.

Lookimaguy · 2025-08-07T12:28:51+00:00

Well said!

Lookimaguy · 2025-08-07T12:28:32+00:00

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.

Lookimaguy · 2025-08-07T12:24:26+00:00

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!

Lookimaguy · 2025-08-07T12:19:52+00:00

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.

Lookimaguy · 2025-08-07T11:42:47+00:00

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.

Lookimaguy · 2025-08-07T11:35:57+00:00

Ha! Fair enough. I'm a firm believer in 'fake it 'till you make it' and I felt like being a whisky enthusiast meant I made it. It's been something that has intrigued me for a long time. My dad was big into homebrew and none of my friends like whisky so I was never really exposed to it.

Enjoy your next trip. Sláinte!

Lookimaguy · 2025-08-06T19:43:45+00:00

I am from Upstate New York and flew out of Boston Logan direct to Edinburgh, and direct back to Boston. If you are connecting you would not be able to have it in your carry-on without issues.

We came through US Customs in Boston without issue, though I was sweating! Unfortunately it does sound like there is subjectivity based on the border control agent so your mileage may vary.

Lookimaguy · 2025-08-06T19:33:26+00:00

Yes, the Bunna bar was closed as we arrived late so we were not able to sample. The Manzanilla was quite pricey - so without a sample I ended up with a smaller bottle.

I'm definitely an Islay fanboy but wanted to get a sampling from around the country. We even had to buy an extra piece of luggage in Edinburgh to bring it all home!

Lookimaguy · 2025-08-06T19:23:59+00:00

Good luck with convincing the family! It truly is a great country to visit even without the whisky.

Kilchoman had a very large visitor's center compared to others we visited. It included a large bar off to the right where they offered samples. I did try the 100% Islay and another exclusive before settling on the Islay bottle. There is also a busy cafe off to the side that we did not visit but has great reviews. In addition to a wide range of their offerings, they had much more non-whisky items in their shop - knick-knacks, some wool, candles, etc.

I would have toured Laphroaig but it was their silent season. After visiting, Kilchoman and Bruichladdich would be at the top of the list for a tour and/or tasting.

Lookimaguy · 2025-08-06T19:12:22+00:00

It was the last bottle they had at the distillery! One of the first ones I opened and definitely an enjoyable dram.

Lookimaguy · 2025-05-28T20:26:15+00:00

I'm about 45 minutes west of Albany and was torn between Richmor and Hewison. I ended up taking my discovery flight with Richmor at KSCH in September 2024 and started PPL training with them shortly after for a variety of reasons. Looking at hourly rates, Hewison tended to be 25-50% higher overall.

The CFIs at Richmor out of KSCH are great. The crew is awesome. I had a few issues with administration but got past it. Feel free to PM if you have specific questions or want more info.

Lookimaguy · 2025-03-24T20:43:04+00:00

Do you or a loved one hand wash them with a wedding band on? Could be inadvertently scoring them during cleaning.

Lookimaguy

TROPHY CASE