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Just a quick snap of the final dram of Whisky Advent 2024, right as my Christmas Eve guests were set to arrive. Just posed things on the sideboard in my dining room, with the table of sweets I've been baking over the last few days in the background.

Merry Christmas!

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A photograph of a Glencairn glass of whisky on a pink marble surface, with a view to a dining room with a table loaded with baked goods and a small white Christmas tree lit up with a string of lights visible in the background.

Another night of prep. This was taken as I was about to trim that big slab of Florentine bars in the background down into individual cookies. The dram's an expression I haven't had before from a distillery that's a nostalgic thing for me: Mortlach 21 Special Release 2020, cask strength at 56.9%ABV.

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A photograph of a Glencairn glass of whisky with a slab of Florentine cookies visible behind (almonds and candied orange peel in a caramel base on top of shortbread). The cookies are sitting on top of a white cutting board, and everthing is sitting on a butcher block surface.

Fully into Christmas Eve prep now, so here's today's dram with the apple-rye-brown butter blondies I just pulled out of the oven. It's Caol Ila 32 Year Old 1991 Old & Rare Platinum from Hunter Laing, 41%ABV, which went into a cask the year I graduated from college and is the second in a row that has spent more time maturing than my adult children.

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A photograph of a Glencairn glass of whisky being held in the photographer's hand, with a tray of blondies streaked with apple butter in a pan in the background.

Makin' my Ten Spice syrup recipe on Day 21, now that I'm in prep-for-Christmas-Eve mode. The dram keeping me company is The Character of Islay Fiona Macleod 33 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky, from an unnamed Islay distillery. It's named for the pseudonym of Scottish writer and poet William Sharp (an interesting story in and of itself, told well recently on The Allusionist podcast).

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A photograph of a Glencairn glass of whisky surrounded by spices including vanilla, black pepper, allspice, clove, cardamom, orange peel, bay leaf, ginger, star anise, and cinnamon. A portion of a notebook appears in the lower right, with the title and a bit of the ingredient list for "Ten Spice Syrup" visible on the page.

Day 20's whisky with day 20's dinner: beef stew and biscuits. The whisky is That Boutique-y Whisky Company's bottling of Glengoyne 17, Batch 1, at 49.1%ABV. The beef stew and biscuits are homemade, and delicious.

Dried fruit, vanilla, orange, and cinnamon on the nose; vanilla, honey, figs, orange marmalade, and a whiff of leather on the palate; the finish gives way to walnuts, cocoa, and some woody tannins. Leans a bit sweet for me.

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A photograph of a Glencairn glass of whisky next to a fired clay bowl of beef stew on a wooden table, with some flaky homemade biscuits visible in the back of the scene on a pale green knitted tea towel with a brown stripe.

Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs, crawl through an air duct, cause an explosion, maybe defenestrate a German guy… man, that was *not* the Christmas party I expected. Anyone know if bearer bonds are still valid with a little bit of char on them? Yippee-ki-yay. This fists-with-your-feet thing sure works better without the broken glass.

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A photograph of a Glencairn glass of whisky sitting on top of some (prop) bearer bonds that are a bit singed around the edges, as if they'd been through, say, an explosion at Nakatomi Plaza.

Day 18 is my annual calendar signing night, apparently. The year before I started this whole whisky Advent calendar project, I began putting together photo calendars for my Scout camp's alumni association from my photography at the camp. I do all the work, sign and number the series, cover the printing, shipping, and credit card handling costs, and donate 100% of the price to the association.

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A photograph of a doubles glass of whisky sitting on top of an Camp Cachalot 2025 photo calendar, in front of a stack of calendars. A pen sits on top of the calendar as well, ready to sign it, and the small bottle the whisky came in, labeled Glen Scotia, is near the stack on the right.

Got home from the Jacques Pépin book signing/dinner tonight to dram 17, Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire & Cask Strength 10 Year Old (Batch 04), a partly sherry-finished single malt from an unnamed Islay distillery @ 58.3%ABV.

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A photograph of a Glencairn glass of whisky sitting on top of an open copy of Jacques Pépin's "The Art of the Chicken", signed "To Dennis, best. Jacques Pépin". Part of a copy of the program/menu for "An Evening with Jacques Pépin" is visible in the lower right corner.

Day 16 of Whisky Advent is a mouthful: Douglas Laing's Old Particular Fanatical About Flavor Teaninch 12 year old 2009 (cask 15437), a single cask single malt. Lemon, hay, and something sweet on the nose; malty sweetness, cocoa, and warm spices on the palate with just a little bit of peat; the peat comes out a bit more along with clove and allspice on the finish. Very, very tasty tipple.

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A photograph of the fingertips of a hand holding a Glencairn glass of pale whisky, with an antique clock and some cut crystal glasses on a wooden sideboard behind. The lighting is chiaroscuro and comes from the right-hand side of the scene.

Lochlea single-cask Ex-Bourbon single malt at a healthy 60.2% ABV cask strength for Day 15.

I get some vanilla and green apple on the nose; more apples and pears on the palate, with some malt that lingers into the finish, which has some pepper-y, ginger-y heat from the alcohol. Nice and smooth, though, despite the strength. Lovely for a young whisky.

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A square photograph of an Edinburgh crystal glass with a finger of amber whisky in it, on the aged wood surface of an old Table Talk Pies promotional case.

Behind door 14 was That Boutique-y Whisky Company's Ardmore Batch 9 19-year-old single malt at 50.2%ABV. Dried fruit rule the day here: strong on the nose, with a bit of sea air and lemon; turning to toffee and fruitcake on the palate with a whiff of smoke; and fading to prunes and a bit of oak on the finish. I liked this one quite a bit, but a full bottle is spendy.

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Day 13 is Glenfarclas' 25-year-old expression, finished in ex-Oloroso sherry, 43%ABV. This is the oldest of theirs I've tasted—I've had the 21 and the 15 before. Like the others, a big ol' sherry bomb. Right up front on the nose, along with vanilla, citrus, and leather; thick caramel, vanilla, orange peel, oak, and smoke on the palate; with a sweet finish that is oaky. 25 years in a barrel'll do that.

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A square photograph of a 3cl bottle of whisky, with a tan label and sealed with black wax. The bottle is labeled "Glenfarclas 25 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky" and states the 3cl volume and 43% ABV of the liquor.

Simple shot tonight. I try one along these lines almost every year; one day I'll figure out the lighting combination that gets me what I'm actually looking for. This is close.

The dram behind door 12 was the Kilchoman Sanaig, a NAS peated sherry-finished Islay single malt at 46% ABV.

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A square photograph of a Glencairn glass of whisky in the left third, sitting on a quarter-sawn white oak surface. It is in front of the bokeh-blurred spots of light from Christmas lights behind, which fill most of the background and are visible through the glass as well.

Another day that got away from me, between a late stay at the office and nasty weather traffic on the ride home.

Late nightcap also means quick photo; decided to grab a few of the analog cameras to frame things. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Polaroids, mostly because my grandfather worked for them for years, driving a forklift around their facility in New Bedford.

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A photograph of a Glencairn glass of whisky on an old wooden surface, with a Polaroid SX-70 camera to the right and an old bellows camera on the left, a film holder for the bellows camera visible in the front left. The light is casting a caustic glow from the whisky on the wood.

Wait. How did you think I learned about tasting whisky?

I kid, I kid. I was already more than passably familiar with brown spirits before this fun & informative book was published. Struck me I hadn't posed a dram with it yet in this exercise, so here it is for day 10.

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A photograph of a Glencairn glass of whisky on top of a copy of Betts, Sacca, and MacNaughton's book "The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey Know-it-All", sitting on an old dark wood surface. The light is from the right hand side and casts a shadow of the glass and whisky on the surface of the book.

Day 9 got away from me, so a quick photo of what has turned into a nightcap. The dram is Benriach's “The Smokey Twelve”, a (minimally) 12-year-old Speyside single malt that combines whiskies finished in bourbon, sherry, and Marsala, 46%ABV.

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The quick photo just backlights the Glencairn glass on an old cranberry box. What can I say? I like the way the texture of this old wood comes across in a photo.

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A photograph of a Glencairn glass of whisky on the face of an old cranberry crate labeled "Decas Bros 198" (with the last digit of the year obscured by the whisky.) The light is from the rear, and the whisky is casting its color onto the wood in front of the glass.

Moving into week 2 of the Whisky Advent calendar, and a wee bottle of Glenkinchie Distillers Edition 2022. NAS single malt, 43% ABV, "Amontillado seasoned'. A bit of the sherry on the nose, but mostly barley and a little oak; a bit of toasted malt on the palate, with ginger and white pepper; the finish is lingering and oaky. Drier than the last few selections, still tasty.

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A photograph of a Glencairn glass of whisky in front of a page of an open book standing upright behind the glass. The page is titled "Vemödalen: the fear that originality is no longer possible." Both sit on a grey slate surface.

Tonight's dram is a custom bottling of a 26-year-old Girvan single grain whisky finished in Oloroso sherry, at 50.5% ABV. 1/3

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A photograph of a Glencairn glass of whisky next to a copy of a 7" record from The Both, featuring the songs "You're a Gift" and "Nothing Left to Do (Let's Make This Christmas Blue)", with a small bottle labeled "Drinks By the Dram Girvan 26 Year Old 1996 Cask 910329 The Red Cask Co." Everything is sitting on a white marble surface.

Yes, it's chilly, but I get so few opportunities for natural light in this exercise every year I take what I can get. So, porch whisky for day 6.

It "Delilah's XXV" from Compass Box. Sherried NAS blended whisky @ 46%. Dried apricots, orange peel and sherry nose; very sherry-sweet on the palate with some spices, oak, more orange peel, and some vanilla; long, oak-y finish. Quite nice, but on the sweet side for me.

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A photograph of a man's legs leading to his feet resting on a porch rail. His left hand is visible and is holding a Glencairn glass of whisky. The short story "For John" by Kim Fu is open on his lap. A small empty bottle of whisky, labeled Compass Box Delilah's XXV is next to the mans feet on the porch rail. The sky is lit with a bit of color from an almost-setting sun.

Another new-to-me Flora & Fauna bottling for day 5, this time the Daluaine 16, a sherry-finished single malt from Speyside at 43%ABV, and Christmas-y again. Cherries, berries, sherry, and warm spices on the nose; ginger, pepper, honey/treacly sweetness, and orange peel on the palate; with that orange carrying into the finish with some oak and almond. The strong spices on the palate prevent it from seeming too sweet for me. 1/2

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