#BTC34 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 34th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Mike @WhiskyWings

His theme was Back To The Future

So as usual the other 27 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: very pale gold in the glass, swirls clings as a thin line, bead up slowly and eventually fall as slow thin oily legs.

Nose: quite closed this one - herbal grassy notes, lemon meringue pie, vanilla and a little stewed orchard fruit. There's a little smoke or cask char here, some salinity and a little minerality.

Palate: Thick sweet arrival, loads of ABV - 60% even? There's syrup covered tropical fruit here, pineapple and mango mixed with spicy ginger. A little Bounty Bar & Lemon bonbons adds sweetness. A dry maritime salinity left on the tongue as the liquid disappears. a little drop of water really opens this up, turns up the dial on the tropical fruit and salinity. This is all oily and costal with a hint of peat - I'm with @jwbassman_  this could be from @GlenScotiaMalts

Finish: lingering lemon, salinity, tropical fruit and a hint of smoke. Young ex-bourbon MP @GlenScotiaMalts for me. I'd have a bottle. Score: 4

Dram 2

Appearance: light gold in the glass, swirls clings as a thin line, eventually beads up forming an inverted crown with slow thick legs

Nose: a little smoke, some meatiness and a hint of mint. There's some orchard fruit notes here - red apples, quince and apricots. Golden syrup and icing sugar suggests sweetness. Flux capacitor turned up to 10!

Palate: similar to 1 dot: tropical fruit, coastal minerality, honey sweetness and a dry salinity as the liquid disappears. There's a little more citrus on this one : lemon zest dusted in icing sugar. No water needed here but must be 58%

Finish: lingering salinity, citrus and tropical fruit. Yummy dram! I'm scoring a 4 again!

Dram 3

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

Nose: a little different from the previous pair, some old oak, a hint of varnish, toffee and faint tropical fruit and berry notes notes. A hint of sherry cask maybe? The salinity and smoke from the previous pair has gone too.

Palate: thick sweet arrival with toffee, toffee and more toffee. Cherries and berries give a lovely fresh fruit note followed by some dried fruit, dates and prunes. A little ginger spice and then sweet icing sugar dryness.

Finish: long and spicy - ginger and dried fruit - a little citrus and dry icing sugar. Yummy! Another 4 from me!

Are all of these #BlindDrams from the same distillery? With them getting older as we go through each?

Dram 4

Appearance: light gold in the glass, swirls again cling as a thin line, take an age t bead up and eventually fall as slow thin oily legs,

Nose: This is very different from the previous trio: yeast, liquorice, marzipan and some caramel. There's a little green apple and some pine loo cleaner. Different!

Palate: loads of chewy liquorice and some drying icing sugar. There's some stewed apple, some dried fruit and a little cinnamon spice. Berries suggest a wine cask finish maybe?

Finish: long and hot, berries, cinnamon and that ever present liquorice. Not as good as the previous - only a 2 from me.

Dram 5

Appearance: light gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line bead up slowly to form an inverted crown and eventually fall as slow thin legs.

Nose: sherry soaked dried fruit, dates, figs. Some cinnamon and icing sugar suggesting spice and sweetness. A little vanilla, a coastal note and some minty freshness!

Palate: a little off parma violet note here - some minerality and dry prune juice. There's a little artificial cherry notes, some marzipan and a touch of peppery spice.

Finish: medium length toffee, berries and  marzipan. Not liking this one a 1 from me...

The drams were:

Dram 1 was Glen Scotia 2016 7yo Single Cask #1453 (FF  Bourbon MP)

Dram 2 was Glen Scotia 2013 10yo Single Cask #9 (FF Bourbon)

Dram 3 was Glen Scotia 2004 19yo Single Cask #301 (RF Sherry Butt)

Dram 4 was Glen Scotia 1999 24yo Single Cask #858 (RF Sherry HS)

Dram 5 was Glen Scotia 1991 32yo Single Cask #532 (FF Bourbon)

WOW!

Mike had managed to obtain these from the Distillery in return for donating all of our money to charity! An amazing gesture from Glen Scotia with a chance to try as Mike said "So, Back to the future was the theme. We are dipping into the future!!! Tonight you have sampled single cask drams, all at cask strength and none of which have been released. They may never be released as single casks. All have been selected from one distillery!"

The overall scores from our 28 members were:

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