#BTC13 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 13th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Paul @derekcuster

Dram 1

Appearance: mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thick line and fall as slow thick legs. Initial nose : Pineapples?

Nose: strange musty dunnage funk, tropical fruit - pineapple, apricots, kiwi, banana. Brown sugar, icing sugar and honey add a loads of sweetness.

Palate: very sweet arrival, a little alcohol kick and a bit bite of spice. The tropical fruit, sugars, and honey from the nose are back but with a bite of ginger spice. This is nice but is it #scotch? I'm thinking Mackmyra too!

Finish: short, sweet and spicy - nice - I'd happily buy a bottle!

Dram 2

Appearance: mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as  a thick line and fall as slow thin legs. Initial nose: spicy banana curry

Nose: were going down the tropical fruits road again - pineapple, banana, kiwi; again the sugary sweetness but this time joined by a little milk chocolate and dried fruit.

Palate: wow that's a bit weird... high ABV takes a little time to get used to then there's some herbal notes - cut grass, rosemary, sage. There's some tropical fruit here but it's dried, the icing sugar taking the moisture from the mouth.

Finish: drying with a strange astringency... Not overly keen.

Dram 3

Appearance: mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, slowly forms beads which eventually fall as slow thick legs. Initial nose: Dunnage Funk

Nose: oads of musty dunnage funk, flowery herbal notes - damp hay, pine needles (thanks John). There's some milk chocolate and sour citrus in here too - grapefruit?

Palate: oooh I like this... musty orchard fruit - close to going off, Pontefract liquorice cakes. Curry leaves and cardamom seeds leave a lovely spice on the tongue as the liquid disappears. It's a Rampur and I like - I must be ill!

Finish: long lingering curry spice and a bite of sour citrus - nice!

Dram 4

Appearance: mid gold in the glass (Stella Artois

 colour) swirls cling as a thin line and fall as slow thin legs. Initial nose: minty lamb chops

Nose: grilled meat, mint toothpaste, pine needles and a little wood polish. There's some orchard fruit hiding in there too and a little citrus zest.

Palate: wow this is weird - very gin like... reminds me of a Welsh whisky I had - Dà Mhìle? There's some meaty new make notes, curry powder and polish - not keen.

Dram 5

Appearance: gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, form thick beads and fall as slow thick legs. Initial nose: Seaside BBQ

Nose: BBQ smoke, maritime breeze, seaweed. Huge ABV - prickling the nose - are we in Campbeltown? Hints of tropical fruit - pineapple kiwi and mango. 

There's some medicinal notes too - so maybe Islay?

Palate: thick oily arrival with orchard fruit and honey gives way to BBQ meats, medicinal peat smoke and a good wallop in the face of peppery spice!

The drams were:

Dram 1 was Mackmyra Intelligens AI - 46.1% ABV

Dram 2 was Deanston 2002 Pinot Noir Finish - 50% ABV (The first dram to have appeared twice in a BTC tasting!)

Dram 3 was Kaiyo - 53% ABV.

Dram 4 was Stauning Bastard - 46.3% ABV

Dram 5 was a La Maison du Whisky bottled Bunnahabhain Staoisha - 62.1% ABV

Bottles not in the tasting order...

The theme was #SwirlingTour with Paul taking us through five world drams!

More information about the Blind Tasting Consortium and the scores for all of our tastings can be found here!