A couple of us were talking on Twitter about the excellent #TweetTastings which Steve organises, his popular they are and how difficult it is to get a place.....
A couple of us were talking on Twitter about the excellent #WhiskCo blind tastings that we had taken part in early in the year....
A couple of us were talking on Twitter at sharing some sample swaps....
I put the three together and invited a group of us to do a #BlindTweetTastingSampleSwap or #BlindTasting for short!
The idea was very simple, the five of us would each bottle up five sets of three identical samples of our own whiskies, they didn't have to be expensive, just the ones we were drinking ourselves at the time. Then we'd post a set of three to each of the other members of the group. At £2.90 a parcel it cost us just over a tenner each and we'd each receive 12 'new' drams to try.
Now I said 'new' as obviously we didn't know what each of us would send, it could be drams we already owned or had sampled - would we recognise them?
So I bottled up five sets of whisky and labelled them A1, A2 and A3. All different drams out of my own collection and posted them off.
@jwbassman_ did the same with B1, B2 and B3. @SpiritAndWood did the same with C1, C2 and C3. @GentlemanGrimm did the same with D1, D2 and D3 and finally @WhiskyWings bottled and posted E1, E2 and E3. We were all set!
We'd agreed to split our tasting over 3 nights spread over 6 weeks or so. The plan was to taste A1, B1, C1, D1 and E1 on the first evening, 2s on the second and finally the 3s on the third. The first #BlindTasting was set for the evening of 29th June!
Unfortunately due to a cock-up by @GentlemanGrimm's Postie he didn't receive the 'C' samples in time so we did a last minute switch to A1, B1, D1, E1 and A2!
So first up was my A1 sample - here's some of the thoughts:
So quite easy from the nose to identify an Islay distillery - but which one?
A1 was actually Bruichladdich Port Charlotte Islay Barley - yummy!
Here are some of @GentlemanGrimm's thoughts on the dram
@jwbassman_ led the 2nd tasting - so what was sample B1?
Was @WhiskyWings on to something here - Japanese?
At this point @WhiskyWings started a world tour.....
The rest of us just kept guessing...
@WhiskyWings was still on his world tour....
B1 was actually a DL Glenturret - yummy!
Here are some of @GentlemanGrimm's thoughts on the dram
@GentlemanGrimm led the 3rd tasting - so what was sample D1?
A very spicy number... but from where?
D1 was actually a TLDC Auchnagie - yummy!
Here are some of @GentlemanGrimm's thoughts on the dram
@WhiskyWings led the 4th tasting - so what was sample E1?
E1 was actually Penderyn Madeira - another yummy dram and one a couple of us had had before but didn't recognise this time round!
And on to the final dram of the night my sample A2
A2 was actually Benromach Sassacia Wood Finish!
Here are some of @GentlemanGrimm's thoughts on the dram
Overall we had a brilliant night - five great whiskies and nearly 3 hours of great company, chat and fun!
The funniest part of the evening was definitely @WhiskyWings world tour on dram B1 !!!
 |
| Japan? Ireland? Scotland? Mongolia? |
And of course this was just the first evening of three...
Join us again on the 13th July for part 2!