@Soba45 depending on where you live, you may not be able to get springbank bottlings without getting lucky, taking off work, or well you might just not get them. I also do somewhat question them given I think we've seen a noticable drop in quality. Being in the US - I'm buying a LOT of springbank as the popularity hasn't gone crazy, but those in UK are really struggling to find them from what I hear.

@dhsilv2 Yeah that's why I like Springbank. They stated they aren't ramping up to meet demand. They have seen to many booms and busts so they plan years ahead for what they want to make and do it. You get variety without loss of quality..no pressure to mkt, crap blending. It's ready when it's ready. Middleton is also a good example. They built a micro distillery to focus on experimental ranges i.e. method and madness, they look the long view (the range is already 14 years old when though just released) and if pans out now they will ramp up so in another decade or so they have good stuff to sell. Playing the longer quality game not being driven by short term quarterly results. That's why those two are my top 2 favorite distilleries variety without compromising their ethos or quality.

@Soba45 well, it's dealing with exponential demand and a product that can take not just years but decades to make more of. Given the quality of the bourbon Brown Foreman is putting out lately, I'm pretty confident that they'll not be a long term problem for Glendronach...however success in whisky these days is a bit of a poison pill. Once demand goes up, their is a shortage of your product or the age has to get younger and you'll have to start blending more barrels that perhaps otherwise would have gone to independent bottlers. Darned if you do, darned if you don't.

@dhsilv2 And to add it's not just whiskey it's any product for me. I'd rather focus on quality then variety and fashion. I just think whiskey is getting infected with the worst of consumerism...fast fashion

@dhsilv2 Its more the shear volume of middling stuff rather than NAS persay I have an issue with. If the mkting dept isn't in charge you can tell as generally lower new releases better quality e.g. Glendronach until Billy Walker left and Brown Foreman took over. Now they are rapidly pumping out sub par crap

@Soba45 Fair enough, but this was age stated as are some other newer HPs so, they seem to be going the right direction after their odd trip of nas bottles.

@dhsilv2 Itd be interesting to try but definitely not seeking it out. The endless NAS releases have worn me out just trying to keep up so I've just switched off HP unless something mindblowing comes along. Same with Bunnahabhain and other NAS proliferers

@Soba45 This was all bourbon casks vs exotic casks which is why this one cost so much less. This was a show case for their spirit instead of casks, which I have noticed many tend to dislike, but they did it with a price well under their 18 year. I am surprised by the dislikes.

@PBMichiganWolverine Usually their 17 yr offerings are great. Ice, Light, Dark etc....but they are a few times the price so the price should have been a give away I guess. They probably had too much dud aged stock so decided to make something of it

@PBMichiganWolverine I believe it was a one off, but it's gotten pretty good reviews from a lot of people. I haven't reviewed it but I'd be expecting a 3.0 - 3.5 from me which is a very strong score.

@dhsilv2 even worse...at least i had hopes in their aged statements. Wondering if it’s a one off

@PBMichiganWolverine this one is 17 years old, the bottle discloses the bottling and barreling dates.

NAS HP is synonymous with disappointing , and also Vikings