#BTC19 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 19th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Kate @kccjf and Callam @glen_scotia

Their theme was Anniversary Dinner party!

So as usual the other 26 of us worked our way through the 5 blind drams, sharing our thoughts and giving a score out of 5 before they were all revealed at the end.

Dram 1

Appearance: Pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs.

Nose: a little astringent to start - young, high ABV? There's a little orchard fruit, some strawberry and an earthy / mineral note.

Palate: hick spicy arrival, black pepper, pineapple, peaches, apricots. Very dry with a nutmeg spice as the liquid disappears.

Finish: short and sharp - lots of spice, some citrus and a little sweetness.

Dram 2

Appearance: another pale gold dram, swirls cling as a hairline crack in the glass, form small beads and fall as slow thin legs.

Nose: stewed orchard fruit: apple & pears drizzled in honey and vanilla custard. A tinned fruit syrupy note here too. There's a little bit of spice on this one but the ABV seems a lot lower than the first dram.

Palate: thick sweet arrival - honey and brown sugar, then the spice arrives - ginger before being left with a medley of tropical fruit: pineapple, mango, peach, banana and a drying icing sugar note,

Finish:  lingering ginger spice, a little tropical fruit and honey.

Dram 3

Appearance: again pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs.

Nose: maritime peat smoke - salty, minerally, ashy. There's some tropical fruit in here, a little sour citrus zest and a little burnt rubber - Ledaig?

Palate: sweet tropical fruit to start: dried pineapple, mango and kiwi with salted caramel then a drying icing sugar / ashy note - maybe Caol Ila? The smoke and spice follow on after the fruit - dry smoke, ginger spice - Yummy anyway!

Finish: lingering ashy smoke, ginger spice and a little salinity,

Dram 4

Appearance: again pale gold - we have a theme here! This is the Main course! Swirls cling as a hairline crack, slowly form small beads and fall as slow thin legs.

Nose: huge rubbery, oily, smoke notes, a little salinity and a little marzipan - nutty, sugary. This is Ledaig all day!

Palate: sweet honey and sour citrus to start, a little dry spice and then a blanket of peat smoke, rubber, tar and seaweed. It's Ledaig with attitude. The ABV is quite high - I'm guessing mid to high 50s.

Finish: lingering sweetness, salt and smoke.

Dram 5

Appearance: again pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line and fall as slow thin legs.

Nose: a lot of sweetness coming here - Sauternes maybe? Orchard fruit, citrus, a little berries maybe? High ABV, maybe a little young? Maybe from south of the border...

Palate: thick sweet arrival, syrup, honey, stewed orchard fruit, a little strange after the peat of the previous 2! There's some light berry notes and a peppery spice as the liquid disappears. Nice.

Finish: medium length sweet fruit and a little spice - like a desert wine - got to be a Sauternes cask finish.

The drams were:

Dram 1 was Glenfarclas SMWS 1.226 8yo @ 58.4% ABV

Dram 2 was Clynelish SMWS 26.191 10yo @ 58.7% ABV

Dram 3 was Glen Scotia SMWS 93.176 8yo @ 59.4% ABV

Dram 4 was Ledaig SMWS 42.74 14yo @ 58.7% ABV

Dram 5 was Glen Grant SMWS 9.210 17yo @ 56.7% ABV

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