#BTC49 BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes and results from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 49th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Cliff @KingsofYearron

His theme was As Christmassy As Die Hard

Dram 1

Appearance: pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a hairline crack in the glass, take an age to bead up and fall as slow thin oily legs.

Nose: orchard fruit: apples, pears, apricots; there's some acetone and a little salinity. A distant mustiness. There's some honey, dried pineapple and a little icing sugar.

Palate: thick dry arrival, very sweet to start but increasingly turning dry and salty. There's honey, icing sugar, the orchard fruit from the nose and a little tropical fruit. Some gingerbread and citrus notes. Turns musty and spicy as the liquid disappears.

Finish: short and sweet with a little mustiness and ginger spice.

Lovely dram to start the night, I'll score it a 3.

Dram 2

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

Nose: Foam bananas, blueberries, lemon zest and a little honey. Tropical fruit to the fore: pineapple, mango, kiwi and some dry apricot. There's a little salinity and some earthy hints.

Palate: thin sweet arrival, ABV has dropped a little from 1 dot. There's honey, icing sugar and tropical fruit from the nose alongside hedgerow berries and natural yoghurt. A little gingery spice as the liquid disappears.

Finish: short spicy and very dry. Nice nose but the palate and finish let it down.

Only a 2 from me.

Dram 3

Appearance: very pale gold in the glass, almost transparent. Swirls cling as a thin line in the glass, bead up and fall as quick thin legs.

Nose: dry icing sugar sweetness, stewed apples, vanilla and some rum and raisin ice cream. There's some tropical fruit notes and a little citrus.

Palate: gentle peat smoke to start, some stewed orchard fruit and then a bowl of tropical fruit. There's a lovely efference fizz here - are we in Loch Lomond territory? Lovely lemon zest note as the liquid disappears.

Finish: lingering tropical fruit, citrus and a little hint of smoke. Nice - favourite of the 3 so far.

Scores a 3.

Dram 4

Appearance: a bit of colour on this one, mid gold in the glass, swirls cling as thick line, bead up quick and fall as thick quick legs.

Nose: a little closed this one, has the ABV jumped up a bit? Icing sugar and honey - a little ice cream note. There's definitely a theme across these drams. Chewy caramel, strawberries and a little smoke.

Palate: dry earthy smoke, a little salinity and some tropical fruit. There's a dry icing sugar note and a bite of peppery spice. A little digestive biscuit, grapefruit zest and a little nutmeg.

Finish: short and smoky, a little dry and spicy.

Scores a 3 from me.

Dram 5

Appearance: pale gold in the glass, swirls cling as a thin line (a bit of theme here) bead up slowly and fall as slow thin legs.

Nose: damp cardboard, bacon frazzles and beach smoke - Ledaig? Caol Ila even? There's some earth notes, a little yeasty bread and a lovely lemon zest. Some berry notes hint at a wine cask finish maybe?

Palate: dry and smoky arrival, a little tropical fruit, salinity and a bite of peppery spice. This is a Caol Ila for me! Very drying and spicy as the liquid disappears. Another sip offer rum and raisin ice cream, toffee popcorn and a little citrus juice. Nice!

Finish: lingering lemon juice, peppery spice, smoke and tropical fruit.

Best of the night for me, scores a 3.

The drams were:

Dram 1 was Ardmore 2009 14yo Single Cask [MoM] Ardlair

Dram 2 was Tullibardine 18yo [SMWS] 28.100

Dram 3 was Ardnamurchan 7yo Single Cask [ChWh]

Dram 4 was Ardmore 10yo Single Cask [BNS]

Dram 5 was Ardbeg 8yo For Discussion

The overall scores from our 28 members were:

Cliff had produced a great set of graphics to introduce and then reveal each dram:

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