Buried...

I thought I was going to have time today to play catch up, but as usual a number of opportunities fell into my lap and I went scrambling off in five different directions, trying to finish a number of tasks I never even planned on starting. That's the holiday season, though, so you can't really complain about it. If you're not expecting the unexpected then you're bound to go insane. I was at the post office yesterday picking up a package and people were groaning and grumbling about the wait. I was thinking, "If you didn't think there was going to be a huge line at the post office in December, then you're the idiot."

In any case, where was I?

My wife and I have started the process of looking for a home and I can't help but reflect on how similar the whole idea of housing is to the current whiskey boom. The new era of flipping has people saying things like, "Well you probably won't be living there for long, so just look for something you can sell in a few years." I'm thinking, "No, actually I do want to live there. That's why I want to buy a house. So I can live there." It reminds me of people who buy extra bottles of Handy, Stagg, or other hard-to-find bottles when they see them, knowing full well they'll never drink them. They're for investing--for a possible sale down the line. I remember when people would buy whiskey to drink it. Do people no longer buy houses to live in?

What's new this week?

-Our 1996 Pellehaut Armagnac $59.99 came back into stock today. My friend Steve over at SKU's Recent Eats was a big fan of this, as were many drinkers who are making to switch from Bourbon over to brandy. It's the most Bourbon-like brandy we found on this year's trip. And it also sold out ridiculously fast after the word got out about how good it was. We've got another 120 bottles for the holiday rush.

-The Fuenteseca Tequila should be in stock by tomorrow afternoon. When we send the email out to the big list these will sell through in hours. Believe me. If you want one you need to buy one at some point this week. The waitlist has thousands of customers on it.

-There are a number of new selections from the Exclusive Malts that JVS just brought in that really impressed me today. A young and affordable Laphroaig, a fantastic 21 year old blend, and a super-mature Longmorn made my shortlist. Those should be here tomorrow.

-I ordered some of the new Bowmore Devil's Cask today. That should be here tomorrow, but I haven't tasted it. I added the Glen Garioch Virgin Oak to that order as well, which I did taste at WhiskeyFest this year. I remember loving it. A lot.

-I tasted three new casks of Kilchoman today, all Bourbon barrels. I bought two of them. They were sooooooooooooooooo good I couldn't pass them up. They'll probably retail for about $100 a bottle and they'll probably trickle out of here at a slow drip, but I don't care. Kilchoman is hands-down the best distillery operating in Scotland today. Quote me on that if you want. I'll write it in caps if you missed it: KILCHOMAN IS THE BEST DISTILLERY IN SCOTLAND. They just keep getting better, and better, and better. These new K&L casks should be here by next Spring and they're just stupid good. Cask #74 is bright, fresh, with that type of peat that goes between smoke and cinnamon. Then it just explodes into this sweet grain burst of malted barley and candy corn. Cask #172 is heavier, more oily, more phenolic, and more brooding, but the depth is there. The smoke is covered in fresh peat moss and there's almost a Thanksgiving stuffing (maybe that's just leftover residue in my mouth?) flavor that comes midway, before finishing with citrus and sweet vanilla. Mindblowing. What is their whisky going to taste like at ten years of age?

That's it for now. Gotta run. I'm getting buried under email. If I don't answer each one as it comes I'll never get back to them. It's just not possible to answer this much email.

-David Driscoll