Trying it Blind

Our 8th Annual Bottling Tasting was last Thursday March 1st. Jan from Douglas Laing and Darren from The Whisky Shop come together and present us with four whiskies that we taste blind. Scoring the whiskies throughout the night, the one with the highest is bottled by Douglas Laing with the Society's name on it. Jan and Darren gave us some great whiskies and a fabulous night with a couple of surprises was enjoyed by all. My tasting notes were confiscated with the others (the notes will go onto our bottling) so these notes are what I remember from the night.

Benriach Heart of Speyside
A welcome and warm up dram from the committee. A fairly light and sweet dram to get the palate thinking about whisky

Allt-A-Bhainne 11yo
This was the first whisky we tried blind. With only six votes, it came last in the competition. I thought it was very basic without a lot of character. I got burned hair and other such pleasantries on the nose. It finished with a lingering bitter taste.

Corey isn't too sure about the first dram

Craigellachie 12yo
Coming in at third place with ten votes was our second blind dram. A bit more complex than the first one as it had some spice and a little kick to it.

Ardmore 7yo 
With thirty-one votes, the third dram won first place and will be bottled with the society's name in the next couple of weeks. This one smelled of burned sugar cookies with red fruits and had a very complex body to it. My personal favorite of the night, I am pretty happy that it won.

Bowmore 9yo
Third place was awarded to the fourth dram of the evening. The only dram from Islay, this was very seaside smoky for me. Personally, I thought it was not as complex as the third one. But I know many people were upset that this didn't win. 

As the results were tallied and counted by the committee, Jan revealed that he had some whisky in the back for us to try. However we would have to share because he only brought one bottle.

Jan and his "one bottle" of Big Peat

A gallon of Big Peat (this version called the Really Big Peat) was brought out to the delight of everyone present. Everyone enjoyed it and it was an excellent close to the tasting. 

Braw, honeysuckle, mulled cider, Egyptian tobacco, and hot embers at the gates of Hell

On February 23rd, Nick Malcolm from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society came to our humble society with five bottles of single cask, cask strength whisky for us to enjoy. By bottling unusual whisky from all over the world, these drams inspire conversations and debates about tasting notes. Every cask they bottle is extremely unique and it really demonstrates everything that I love about whisky: its variable character.

Cask No. 97.21 "Laurel, meadowsweet and honeysuckle"
(Littlemill 21yo 54.7%)
Nose: light floral, treacle, chai tea with cream, citrus notes mostly mandarin that evolves into mandarin pancakes. "whisky warehouse" "pinewood and lemon sorbet," "play dough," "hint of pears." "herbal sorbet".
Taste: spicy, pine. cloves, rooibos, mexican rice, creamy, honey "gummie sweets," "coconut," "tropical lime".
With water: many more of those citrus notes and very fragrant fruits.

Cask No. 105.18 "Mulled cider and beef goulash"
(Tormore 28yo 54.5%)
Nose: sweet and sour pork, red apple pie, cloves, caraway. damp and rich. Applewood smoked bacon. "Guiness HP Sauce," "appley with spice," "oak, cognac". 
Taste: fresh. Promises to be a big chunky sherried whisky but is then very subtle. "licorice," "cider apple sauce," "Worcestershire sauce and bbqs, red grapes".
With Water: Sweet shop, bacon bits, brie, bleu cheese. Becomes more bitter like a struck match.

Cask No. 35.57 "Egyptian tobacco"
(Glen Moray 34yo 53.8%)
Nose: Big sweet notes, melon, cherimoya, pineapple, lots of fruit, flavored tobacco. "juice green apple skin, lemon abas oil," "old brewery," "coke float"
Taste: Wow. Pipe tobacco, toffee, fudge and caramel. Youthful vigor but dry in the mouth. Banana fudge. "salted leather," "candyfloss/ fruity sweets," "vanilla ice cream"

Cask No. 93.50 "Hot embers at the gates of hell"
(Glen Scotia 20yo 58.6%)
Nose: trout, algae, polluted river, pork fat, bacon grease, sulfur, mackerel, dirty and fatty. "old socks," "rotting, or dull old water".
Taste: stick to your teeth fat, chips in hamburger fat, burned oil. "ember oil," "gasoline," "clammy" "ash".
Through Water: citrus and toffee

Cask No. 33.115 "Man that's braw!"
(Ardbeg 11yo 55.4%)
Nose: salty sticky toffee pudding, sea side custard, salty caramel, cherries, pepperoni and pineapple. "Charcoal orange-creme crates" "sea weed" "hints of leather"  
Taste: serious bite, burned veggies (sweet potatoes, bell peppers, butternut squash) cooked red onions. But still very sweet and light. sublte hints of moss, earth. sits at the front of the mouth. "wet peat. a burning barn" "hot dogs with mustard. open wood fireplace" "Islay- 'nuff said."

The whiskies were so good, even Tom was smiling!