GM is always providing a wide range of quality Is, but SV has released a brunch of Symington choice IBs which are really stunning. so my heart goes to SV this year for the best IB❤
I wouldn't want you to be "heartbroken" by the result! Ok, bad joke aside I just looked into some of the Symington Choice bottlings on Whisky Base and many sound astounding! Can't wait to see who wins on Nov. 4th! Cheers 🥃
Oh interesting picks Henri! All of these do seem worthy though! The one that sticks out to me is Adelphi for best Independent Bottler. Does Adelphi have a large presence in New Zealand(apologies if I misremembered where you are at)? I have enjoyed many Adelphi bottlings, but they don't have the same level of representation in my market as G&M or others. Excited to see the results on Nov. 4th. Cheers Henri 🥃
They deserve the accolades! Good to hear the Polish Oak is a good one. I have a sample of the Polish Oak Single Cask I need to get around to. It's sold out in my area now but I'm still excited to try it. Cheers Sandy 🥃
I suppose, when it comes to best value, it depends on where you live . In Oregon we don’t have Kilkerran 12, but you can find it at Total Wine in Vancouver, Washington for about $125 before sales taxes, which brings the full price to around $140! I know it’s also about the quality, not just the price but I guess for us the best value would be the Classic Laddie, at about $56.
That's...atrocious. KK12 should collect dust at that price. Hopefully it makes it's way across the Columbia River soon. Classic Laddie at $56 is an enormous value. I was getting it as low as $70 Canadian for a long while, but I've seen recent price increases in multiple Canadian provinces in the last 6 months. Watch for it in your area just in case. Enjoy that Laddie! Cheers 🥃
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Matt. My picks are: Best Value: KK12 Best Blended: Chivas 18 (I should have abstained but I have had Chivas 18 before and it is pretty good...but like you I haven't had all of them) Best Blended Malt: Orchard House Best non-Malt: Elijah Craig BP (Close 2nd is Jack Daniels SBBP) Best Distillery: Springbank but Benromach is knocking at the door. Best New Distillery: Raasay Best IB: G&M (SMWS insights are spot on. Probably going to win but they shouldn't) Best World Whisky: Abstained Best Scotch Whisky: Springbank 10 Cheers
Great picks Watchman! All of these are very justifiable! I gotta get my hands on a bottle of EJCBP, I've heard so many great things about it. I really enjoyed a sample of the Raasay inaugural release, eager to try more. Hoping for a good show and maybe one or two surprises! Cheers 🥃
Yikes! Brutal price on KK12. yeah, UK prices are not North American. Based on North American pricing Ledaig 10 is the no brainer for me at $63. Great pick Dileep. Cheers 🥃
"Tre Kronor" representing the Ardnamurchan! They've got a really good chance of taking it I think. That said I've almost rinsed my Ardnamurchan AD release, gotta look for another in short order. Cheers Benza 🥃
Solid picks Matt, hard to argue with any of them really. It will be a close one this year I think so yeah I'm very excited to see how it turns out! Cheers!
Thanks Sertug! I'm hoping for some surprises this year. Very much looking forward to the awards on Nov. 4th. Hope to see you in the live chat that day! Cheers 🥃
Unfortunately Matt I will be on a flight at the time of the awards show so I'll have to catch up once it's done. I'm sure it'll be fun for everyone involved though @@whiskyonthewestcoast
I actually bought the bunnahabhain 12 cast strengh from their distillery. Half the price was shipping plus duty free so all together was around 160 Canadian. I was also lucky enough to find spring bank 10 at my local store for 105 with gst. Live in alberta my self.
Glad you were able to import a bottle of the Bunna 12 CS! I don't live in Alberta so when I order from outside of Canada I usually have to get a friend to do it for me and then ship it to B.C. Makes it a bit of a process but it can totally be worth it. I also only now got my first bottle of Bunna 12 CS(2023) and I'm excited to try it. Happy New Year Tristan. Cheers 🥃
💯👍 on your take on Ardnamurchan. I feel the exact same way, and it's actually a distillery, which distilate character I can recognize over and over again across bottlinngs and cask types. Love it... Excellent walk through 🥃
Thanks Benny! You're right, it really retains it's distillate character regardless of cask type, at least at the ages we've seen so far. Extremely promising. Hoping they win big at the OSWA's. Thanks for your comment. Cheers 🥃
Man, whisky pricing is just so weird. Signatory is the absolute availability and value king of IBs here in Germany, even with their fancy single barrel cask strength releases, whereas G&M is at least 1,5x the price on comparable releases (so I've never had any of their stuff, despite hearing about their great cask policy and all). Guess it really does greatly depend on the importer and how the margins they take in the individual import regions...
It is weird, but what you're telling me about the market in Germany makes sense(also, Auf geht's Deutschland!). I always hear such glowing praise about Signatory's quality/value but never understood it. I'm glad though that Germany has an IB providing what G&M provides here in Western Canada. Cheers 🥃
Thanks John! It'll be a fun Award show this year, hopefully there are a few surprises. Your latest Laphroaig videos have given me some FOMO for this years Cairdeas. I tried it at Laphroaig but was a little encumbered after our warehouse tasting. By that I mean everything tasted excellent after that much whisky lol. Looking forward to finding that one. Cheers 🥃
Great picks! I totally agree about the Yoichi. I had one last night and its a great balance of industrial and fruity. Definitely interesting. Cheers, Matt!
Thanks Sheldon! Yoichi is getting some well deserved attention these days. I just learned that the Yoichi 10 year will be released in the B.C. Spirits release this November, so I'm gonna do my best to get a bottle. Cheers buddy 🥃
Sounds like we're quite in sync with our picks Kirby! Glad you enjoyed the video. Looking forward to enjoying the awards on Nov. 4th. Hope you get a back up bottle of KK12 soon! Cheers 🥃
@@whiskyonthewestcoast I don’t know Which bottle to open though the three bottles that I got last week are from February 2023, but the first bottle and I got was from January 2023 which do you think I should open?
Very interesting, thanks a lot! We consumers really get killed by our stupid governments' terrible barriers to entry when it comes to all the great whisky's we don't get.
Thanks for watching(perhaps in between Spiderman playthrough sessions haha!). The customs, duty and tariffs make it a lot tougher on us to find a deal, eh? I don't really believe that will ever change, but I'm hopeful for the occasional deal. Cheers 🥃
What's Kilkerran 12 doing in a "Best Value" category... it has no business being in there, super expensive compared to the others (even Port Charlotte 10 is pushing the envelope).
nevermind, just realized it's based in UK prices. So this specific award is basically a fairy tale for the entire planet except for the UK. not good if they want these awards to be taken seriously.
@@canal-do-guga-namurasorry for that but its Scotch so prices are based on UK market. US sellers take advantage on current hype and make some profits. Just greed. 🤷♂️. 😁🥂🙋🏻♂️
