A few days later a DM came through asking if a few of us were possibly interested in trying a sample? What could we say?
A date was set and some #dramples of the Glenfarclas and 4 other blind tasting samples sent out.
One of these drams was a little older than the others! |
Rather than the usual tweet tasting type format that we are used to he held a Google Hangout instead - this meant we had live video and sound - meaning we all got to watch each other try the drams and see & hear the reactions!
@MaltMan_Mike & @Tim_Squixl |
So first up was dram #1
Nose : Apples and pears, marzipan, some spice
Palate : Sweet honey, some spice and a little banana
Finish : Short and spicy, slightly creamy
Overall : An OK dram but not great, I felt it just lacked a little something.
We all had a guess at the region, ABV, distillery and expression - Mike kept score!
This turned out to be The Gauldrons Blended Campbeltown Malt from Douglas Laing (46%)
Palate : Sweet honey, some spice and a little banana
Finish : Short and spicy, slightly creamy
Overall : An OK dram but not great, I felt it just lacked a little something.
We all had a guess at the region, ABV, distillery and expression - Mike kept score!
This turned out to be The Gauldrons Blended Campbeltown Malt from Douglas Laing (46%)
@Whisky_Viking |
Next up was another pale dram, #2
Nose : Tropical! Pineapples with vanilla - and a nice spicy element.
Palate : Lots of vanilla, more of the honey and a mild chilli spice.
Finish : The spice came through on this one and a long vanilla finish.
Overall : Definitely thought this was a grain from first nose and turned out to be right - but wasn't expecting a Japanese one!
This turned out to be The Chita Suntory Whisky (43%)
@GentlemanGrimm |
Third of the evening was another pale dram #3
Palate : Honey, some pineapple and a little spice but seemed weak and watered down.
Finish : Orchard fruits with a little spice.
Overall : I was disappointed with this one, and even more so when a found out what it was - usually a huge fan of GM but this one just didn't do it for me, I think the low ABV let it down.
This turned out to be The Glen Moray 15yo (40%)
@GavsDrams |
Fourth up was the Glenfarclas 1957 (50.3%)!
Palate : Sour blueberries (in a nice way), the ABV stripped the moisture from your mouth. A little vanilla and a gingery spice.
Finish : More of the oak, a sweet sherry note but masked again by the slightly sour note.
Overall : A nice dram, easily the oldest (57yo) and most expensive (£10k / bottle) I'd ever tried. Some interesting tasting notes from everyone but I felt it was loosing it's whisky identity and taking on too much oak - maybe it had spent to long in the cask?
Yours truly! |
The final dram of the night was one I'd supplied #5
Palate : Loads of smoke, some salt, can tell its a young whisky.
Finish : Long lingering BBQ smoke.
Overall : A lovely dram, typical Islay but not medicinal - so that narrowed it down a little.
This one was a Creative Whisky Company Islay Single Cask (50%) which is reckoned to be a youngish Bunna!
The Whisky Viking changed hats for each dram! |
A really enjoyable night tasting a great range of drams including a real special from Glenfarclas. The Hangouts aspect really made the evening - being able to talk rather the tweet to each other and see the reactions of tasting and each other comments made for a great night.
Thanks to @MaltMan_Mike for the samples and @whisky_viking @GentlemanGrimm @gavsdrams & @Tim_Squixl for making a great evening!
There was even time fro some PorkiePorkiePorkie pies afterwards! |
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