Welcome to the new WOLS blog. This is where we will keep a record of what was sampled and what occured during our tastings and events, so if for any reason your memory of events is slightly blurred (I can't possibly imagine why), then this where you will find all that lost knowledge.
We kicked the year off with our regions tasting, giving the inexperienced whisky drinker an oppourtunity to get to grips with the variety of styles and flavours whisky has to offer.
The first whisky was an Auchentoshan 12 year old, a lowland whisky which exemplified the light and floral style of the region. This was followed by an Aberfeldy 12 year old, which represented the Highlands. This is the largest and most diverse region, so one whisky cannot really represent so many distilleries. It was, however, a very popular dram, and notes of honey and its' general sweetness made it a very easy drinking whisky. Next up was the Islands, with the Arran 14 year old representing. This was a winter whisky, with the typical island spice and warmth, but without any noticeable smoke or peat. Our fourth whisky, a Speyside, was a bit of a special one - the Macallan Directors' Edition. This came without an age statement, but did the region justice with its' overtones of oak and the nutty influence of the sherry cask which Macallan is famous for. Number five was the first cask strength whisky of the night, a Springbank 12 year old Cask Strength from Campbeltown. Spicy, with a hint of salt and an oily texture, the region was well served by this whisky. Finally was our Islay whisky, the Laphroaig Quarter Cask. This had the peated edge which characterises whiskies from this particular island, but with a delicate sweetness which perhaps made it a good introduction for those who had not yet experienced the distinctive heavy smoke of peated whiskies.
We also had a small presentation from the committee and a few friends to our current president, Eimear, who turned 21 last Monday. Those who know her will be aware of her love for one specific Islay distillery, Ardbeg, and a whisky born the same year as her probably won't last long on her shelf!
That pretty much rounds up events from our first meeting of the year. Please feel free to leave plenty of comments here, and we will be uploading some photos, especially of the fantastic doodles and poems which were drawn on the tablecloths. Please keep it up, and we hope that everyone had a great night.
See you again soon!
Scott
