Given the scarcity of Japanese whisky these days I decided to give Kavalan a try and nabbed a Kavalan Sherry Oak Single Malt (not the soloist version) with my last liquor run / shipment (cough NC ABC sucks cough).

It's okay but the raisin / date on the nose isn't my favorite but the finish is quite nice.

Will have to give the ex-Bourbons a try on my next purchase.

You've said it all. The only thing I like is select bottles of Glenlivet 15 come with two free Titleist balls. I get the scotch, my dad gets the golf balls :D

I've always been meaning to try Kavalan.

It's really bleak -- and of course I'll never had a real shot at the BTAC / Pappy lottery since I assume it's completely rigged for friends and family members of NC ABC employees

I opened a bottle a blue label I had gotten as a gift a few years ago for a Thanksgiving toast - I forget how good drink is....and that it's available outside of airplanes :D

It is really that good huh? Never tried it. Paid a lot for a bottle of Macallan 25.

I don't think it's a holy grail drink but I truly do enjoy it. I enjoy it more than my Caol ila 25

Agreed it's not the holy grail, but it has a very unique old wood (kind of like an old library aged wood smell) with a hint of peat type of taste. But it's nowhere like an Islay peat in terms of any peatiness hint. It's just there.
Some people will say that there is no difference in taste between say, a Black and Blue (or even a Green/15/Platinum/18 and Blue), but if you drink them enough, you'll see there is a marked difference from the Blue, IMHO.
And don't get me wrong, I enjoy Black as well. I actually really like Double Black, tbh. :)

IMO the big benefit of JW is the consistency. It's like ordering a Sam Adams at a restaurant -- you know what to expect, you want something a little better than the swill (Bud / Coors / Miller) but you don't know enough about the local brews to take the risk that you end up with a crappy beer you hate. You go with the Sam Adam's or JW because it'll taste exactly the same every time and satisfy what you are after

I made an impulse purchase last week of Tomatin 14 year old port cask single malt. I'm disappointed. It does not taste at all like a scotch. The label ticked all the boxes. The product did not. Lovely reddish color, though.

I'm used to sherry cask. Never had port.

Tawny Port, no less. Does a scotch aged in sherry casks taste like scotch?

I think a Scotch finished in sherry casks tastes different than one aged only in American oak.

I gave the Tomatin 14 Tawny Port Cask a try. It's kind of in between a sherry finish and a port finish, closer to the latter, but with some of the creamy oxidation of the former. It's not what I expected in a Scotch at all. Not bad, but not what I would expect. Drinks boozier than the 46% ABV, which I was a bit concerned about (as the sweetness of port cask finishes IMHO can overwhelm lower-proof whisky; I've had some foul 40% stuff and some fantastic 55%). The barley is there, for sure, so you don't mistake it for a bourbon. I kind of like it, but would reach for it when I'm looking for a cask-finished whisky, not a normal Scotch.

Have tried oaky scotches. They lack the smoothness of scotch in sherry cask.

Last week I flew into TYS and drove to Asheville (it was cheaper). As Tennessee isn't like North Carolina and has private liquor stores I stopped at one and picked up a bottle of Oban 18 for $109. Let me tell you it's worth every penny.