#MiniTasting - Chapter 7 Blends

@Chapter7whisky is an independent bottler originally based in Switzerland, I've tried a number of their single cask bottlings and generally been very impressed!

They have bottled nearly 40 casks, at the time of writing, but this time @jwbassman_ supplied three of their blends for @WhiskynStuff, @ScotchB78 and myself to try!

"Chapter 7™ is an independent bottler's brand that Selim Evin created in 2014 with passion and curiosity to explore whisky.  We started off by bottling single casks from Scotland's lesser known distilleries. Malts that are backbones of famous blends but known to a few. Our journey continues driven by curiosity, uncovering malts from Scotland, Ireland, grain whiskies from Scotland and recently we began vatting malts, exploring the fascinating world of blending."

📷John

Dram		Lowland Blended Malt	Speyside Blended Malt	Highland Blended Malt
Characteristics		46.2% ABV, NCF	46% ABV, NCF	46.8% ABV, NCF
Distillery info		None!	None!	None!
Appearance		Drams in reverse order, Highland, Speyside, Lowland!
		Very pale in the glass, swirls take a while to bead up then fall as slow thin legs.	mid gold in the glass with some #Bubblation, swirls cling nicely then fall as as slow thick legs.	Another pale dram, gravity defying swirls lead to thin fast legs.
Nose	Brian	There is some new make qualities in here, earth, meaty notes with just a hint of porridge. There is some icing sugar in there - hinting at a dryness.	I'm sure there is smoke there somewhere? Some damp hay, that icing sugar again and caramel.	This one gives some of the same new make earthy / meaty notes as the Lowland from earlier. There's porridge notes with some spice and stewed orchard fruit.
	John	I'm getting that icing sugar sweetness but there is something pretty earthy there too and a metallic top note. Getting a touch of honey and some wet straw and an over brewed tea thing going on too... interesting!	This has a much more robust nose, fruity, malty, digestive biscuits, getting a touch of leather too - does this have some sherry influence? No smoke on this for me!	An altogether much more herbal, cereal/malty nose than the other two drams. There is a sweetness to but it's brighter not drying like icing sugar - pear drops?
	Paul	Malty, getting the digestive biscuits, sweet, tiny hint of smoke - doesn't seem to be peated, but there is something there. Already interesting! Seems like coastal notes in there to?	Sherry influence straight away, Stewed red fruits, old leather chair in a old book shop, Cinnamon. Slight polish/acetone, just slightly.	Honey, vanilla, quite fresh - grassy, pears, apples, malty, wood spice.
	Scott	Rich, thick, i'm getting a bit of smoke almost tarry note, pineapple, rum and raisin ice cream with a slight hint of new make - oily, rusty boat feel about it	Deep, rich, autumnal fruits, treacle toffee, some spicy oak. Now getting salted caramel, toffee sauce or even a sticky toffee pudding	Wet washing, mineral like, fresh but with a deep sherried rich note in the background
Palate	Brian	Thin arrival, loads of tropical fruit, some honey and vanilla. A nice spiciness on the tongue.	Lovely sweet arrival of honey and red berries gives way to loads of chilli spice on the tongue. Bitter dark chocolate is spot on - we talked about one a few months ago from @AldiUK which was a Chilli Chocolate - seems to fit the bill here!	Thick and creamy on the tongue, loads of honey sweetness with stewed pears and a spicy edge.
	John	It's certainly got a youthfulness to it, big vanilla, quite a thin texture	This one has a lovely texture to it, pretty thick and mouth coating, sweet and fruity and big spices towards the finish but with a dryness too.	There is a lovely sweet and sour on the palate
	Paul	Fruity, green fruits, like the others say "earthy", Vanilla and still a bit of sweetness. Its young but its nice.	Quite spirity, still getting the leather, bitter chocolate, coffee, malty, red fruits. Id guess at quite young again. But the flavours are there, just a bit more "punchy" not quite rounded yet.	Still quite spirity, Honey and vanilla is there. Bit of sherry influence in there maybe? getting the green fruits to. Lots of wood spice and chilli
	Scott	Vanilla straight off, mango, pineapple, slightly drying near the end with a metallic note.	Thick and chewy, honeycomb, definite sherry influence, moves onto bitter chocolate, quite dry. There is that sort of sour, tart finish - sour cherry chocolate?	Honey, melon, Granny Smith apple peelings, sherry influence again.
Finish	Brian	Fairly short, nice balance of spice and smoke with a little note of the earlier Icing Sugar as John noted. Certainly drying in the mouth.	A lovely spicy warmness, a touch of sour cherry and drying oak.	Very fruity - apples and pears - sweet honey and a nice spicy bite.
	John	Slightly drying and spicy at the end, that icing sugar makes a reappearance too.	I'm enjoying this one - I think there are some older components in this... finish is pretty long and there is that wood spice drying element too.	The sweetness carries to the finish and just leaves you wanting another sip...
	Paul	Sweet then earthy. Really reminds me of the @aerstonewhisky we had the other day	Fairly short, but nice brown sugar sweetness. Cinnamon.	Quite short. Orchard fruits, wood spice and chilli all the way down. Young but again the flavours are there. Nice.
	Scott	Drying,  bittersweet, sugary lemon, sure there is a hnt of smoke or char in there too	Medium long, spicy oak, agree with @MaltMusings on the sour cherry.	More green apples, ginger, drying oaky spice right at the end. Top dram!
Overall	Brian	I know we have no idea of distilleries on these drams from @chapter7whisky but there aren't that many choices for Lowland - @Auchentoshan @bladnoch @AilsaBay / @aerstonewhisky? I've not had much @Auchentoshan so it's not something I recognise. I'm sure there's a little smoke here - do they make a peated dram or is the smoke from the other part of the blend? Not sure I'd buy a bottle but wouldn't turn down another dram!	Nice - worth getting a bottle!	Yes I agree - this one is the best of the three so far - bang on with hitting the spot! Lovely dram! 1. Highland,  2. Speyside, 3. Lowland
	John	It's not bad at all, but I think the nose is the most interesting part of this dram for me. I'm thinking Glenkinchie, maybe a young Bladnoch but doesn't seem creamy enough for that. Not sure @AilsaBay was around when these were put together. The smoke must be too subtle for me - didn't really pick up on that at all.	Seems to hang together pretty well this one, a very decent dram, would happily have a few more of these 😊	Maybe I'm just getting warmed up, but this one is hitting the mark for me. I enjoyed the Speyside but this one is better for me right now 😋 this is lovely dram, I would buy a bottle of this one 👍 Best of the night for me 😊 1. Highland,  2. Speyside, 3. Lowland
	Paul	Auchentoshan and Aerstone this is saying to me. That new makey note, triple distilled? The earthyness from Aerstone?	I'm not sure on the price, but id buy this.	1. Speyside, 2. Highland, 3. Lowland
	Scott	Thinking some Auchentoshan in here. I think this is a blend of peated and non peated components	An easy sipper this one. Would happily have another.	Overall a very moreish dram, could very easily drink a lot of this. 1. Speyside, 2. Highland, 3. Lowland

📷John