#BTC35 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 35th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Duncan @newdramrising

His theme was Making A Meal Of It where the whiskies we had tonight either were finished in or fully matured in a cask of another type of drink that you might have over the course of an evening’s meal In this case: starting the evening with a beer, a three course meal accompanied with red wine ending with a digestif of a sherry. 

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: pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, form small beads and fall as slow thin legs.

Nose: lots of lemon zest, buttered popcorn, honey, golden syrup and a hint of spice.

Palate: thick sweet arrival, honey, golden syrup, cough medicine. There's some apple and cinnamon cake, vanilla custard and a big bite of ginger spice.

Finish: short sweet and citrusy with a dry spice - nice. I'll give it a 2.

Dram 2

Appearance: dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thick line, forms large beads which fall as slow thick legs.

Nose: dunnage funk, toasted oak, Wither's Originals, Strawberry Toffos and a little honey. There's some dark chocolate, dried fruit and some ginger thins.

Palate: another thick sweet arrival, dried fruit, hedgerow berries, blueberry jam all pointing towards sherry cask for me but there's a big bite of spice - maybe virgin oak? Some dark chocolate and liquorice notes with ginger spice and a little balsamic vinegar

Finish: long, fruity and spicy. I like this one - solid 3 from me.

Dram 3

Appearance: dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thick line, bead up and fall as slow thick legs.

Nose: a little closed this one, a chemical note quickly replaced with cold BBQ meat, a little balsamic and some red berries. There's a little coastal note here too. A little weird.

Palate: thick sweet arrival, berries, honey, balsamic, a little salinity and a hint of smoke - this is yummy! A little wine cask here maybe?

Finish: long spicy finish with berries and balsamic vinegar - Yummy! I'd get a bottle. Solid 4 from me!

Dram 4

Appearance: dark gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line, take an age to bead up and eventually fall as slow thin legs.

Nose: the smoke arrives! There's a little dirty note here - Ledaig maybe? Meaty notes, a little salinity, some strawberries and liquorice. Dark chocolate and old oily wood. Maybe a little sherry or wine?

Palate: thick, spicy and sweet, loads of berries, dried fruit and peppery spice. There's some costal salinity, peat smoke and a lovely dark chocolate dryness. I'm thinking @Laphroaig sherry cask?

Finish: lingering smoke, berries & cherries and a little salinity. Yummy! Need a bottle of this - another solid 4.

Dram 5

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

Nose: more dunnage funk, more smoke, more salinity - we're being spoiled here @newdramrising! Dried fruit, dates, figs, cinnamon and cloves. This one promises a lot on the nose, can't wait to dive in!

Palate: thick chewy arrival, dried fruit, dates, figs, prunes. Balsamic vinegar drizzled over strawberries, blueberry jam, smoke. Huge sherry bomb but it could be from anywhere - I can't detect any distillery character that I recognise. It's still yummy though!

Finish: lingering sherried fruit, smoke and a little salinity - nice but not as good at dram 4. A 3 from me but I'd probably get a bottle!

The drams were:

Dram 1 was Glen Moray 2015 8yo Single Cask #6007289 (Handfill) (Beer Cask)

Dram 2 was Glenkinchie 2010 12yo Single Cask #001/2022 (Wine Cask)

Dram 3 was Benrinnes 2009 13yo Single Cask #301377 [BNSp]  (Wine Cask)

Dram 4 was Talisker 2014 9yo Single Cask #2022/02 (Wine Cask)

Dram 5 was Lindores Abbey 2018 4yo Single Cask #180591 (Sherry Cask)

The overall scores from our 28 members were:

Talisker had the tightest scoring range we've seen!

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