It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 5, 2020 So last night over Xbox, I was telling my wiser-but-far-less-well-endowed friend that bourbon has a greater range of flavors and more intensity of flavor than scotch. He told me I was high. I wasn’t. He then said something very insightful: “I think you’ve just trained your palate to see past the wood notes in bourbon, opening up the flavors. That charred oak influence doesn’t exist in scotch, but the way they manipulate grain and peat is kind of like how bourbon distilleries manipulate barrel aging. Until you get used to that, the grain and the peat is all you’re going to taste.” I’m paraphrasing, but you may recognize one of the two reasons I call him my wiser-but-far-less-well-endowed friend. I’m going to spend more time on scotch to see what I can figure out. If only there were a generous community of knowledgeable scotch drinkers to recommend some new scotches for me. ‘Preciate y’all! This was a recommendation from @cascode Cheers! Nose is delicious. There’s smoked meat, sea salt, embers. I’m grilling on the beach. That body was unexpected. Very thick and oily. Up front is heavy whipping cream. Milk chocolate. Butter. Sugar. There’s a hard left turn halfway through the body, and the sweetness begins to turn on your tongue to salty and savory notes, even before you swallow. That finish though. Beef jerky, a spicy cigar, rauchbier. It lingers with you for about 3 minutes. I timed it. Longer if you’re a mouth breather. This is a fun one. I have experienced smoked flavors before with Connemara, but I don’t think I’ve ever had something jump from sweet to salty like that mid sip. That chocolate and cream is also new—something I’ve often found in a bourbon yet never found in a scotch. Unfortunately, the novelty wears off during the drink, and toward the end of a 3 finger pour there was a peat buildup that made the sweet flavors hard to detect. I think it would be a waste to pour another one of these tonight, but I’m actually really excited to pour another one tomorrow, perhaps after trying a new scotch from Islay. ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!