What We're Drinking Now (Vol. 1)

We get asked on a regular basis: “what are you drinking right now” or ”what’s your current favourite”. Maybe some folk just ask to be polite, but if I think about it, I often ask the same question of my fellow whiskybrothers and sisters. As a whisky-lover you are always curious what others are drinking; maybe it’s to draw inspiration, maybe it's to get a viewpoint on various whiskies and/or just to make sure you haven’t overlooked something you ought to be drinking.

In what will be a reoccurring segment, one of the WB team will share four of their current favourite whiskies with you. There is only one, simple requirement: the whiskies must be available in reasonable numbers (i.e. it can’t be that limited that it sells out by the time you read this). Other than that, they can add whatever commentary they like.

Maybe this will inspire you to try a new whisky, maybe you will learn a thing or two, or maybe you’re currently drinking one of the same whiskies, in which case we can have one of those I-see-you-you-see-me, head nod moments.

Since I’m responsible for the creation of this segment, I’ll go first. in no particular order, I present the four whiskies I am drinking right now:

Blanton’s Original: When summer comes along, I always find myself drinking more bourbon; a generous pour with a few blocks of ice is a great substitute for a beer (or a gin and tonic, #justsaying). Currently, that bourbon is Blanton’s Original. I’m a massive fan of Buffalo Trace, the distillery that produces Blanton’s (as well as several other bourbons and rye whiskeys), but as far as a premium bourbon goes, this is very hard to beat.

Balblair 2005: I think this is such an underrated distillery and has been for the last several years. Few distilleries are producing such consistently finessed standard releases, that are both lighter in style and still rich in flavour. A very approachable whisky with impressive nuance for it’s age and price.

Redbreast 21yo: If you love Irish whiskey and you haven’t had this yet, you need to take immediate corrective action. It is without doubt, one of my favourite standard releases (across all whisky, not just Irish), and I was very disappointed when it dried up from our shelves. Thankfully, it is back in ample supply and worth every drop.

Ballechin 14yo WB Single Cask: I’m biased here, as I selected this cask on my trip to Scotland last year, but I genuinely love this whisky (although I’m not convinced all the WB team feel the same way!). Ballechin is single malt produced at the Edradour distillery, but unlike the namesake unpeated whisky, Ballechin is peated. The peat used is from the Highlands of Scotland, so it is a different take to the standard peated whiskies from Islay with their coastal influence, resulting in a more savoury whisky with notes of a wood-fire and none of the salty sea air or medicinal/iodine notes.

That's it for now folks. Feel free to share what you're drinking, or your thoughts on the above whiskies, in the comments section below. Slainte!

P.S: If you'd like to find out more about the whiskies, just click on the respective images to go to the product's page.