#BTC68 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes and results from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 68th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Cameron @cameronhobbs

His theme was "It's Your Round!", all the drams featured distilleries which were also the names of golf courses!

Here are my tasting notes:

Dram 1

Appearance: Light gold in the Glencairn, swirls cling as a thin line, form small beads and take a while to fall as slow thin oily legs. 

Nose: Loads of orchard fruit to start, apples, pears and apricots. There's some honey, cut grass and some liquorice hints. Lemon zest and a little icing sugar.

Palate: Thick oily arrival, immediately spicy, a little sour grapefruit and lemon zest. Drying. There's some golden syrup, honey and more lemon.  A little young maybe? High ABV?

Finish: Lingering lemon zest, peppery spice and a little drying icing sugar. Scored a 2

Dram 2

Appearance: Mid gold in the Glencairn, swirls cling as thin lines, bead up immediately and fall as slow thin oily legs.

Nose: A little meaty to start, some cardamom too - curry tonight? There's some beer hints?  Some toffee pennies, berry hints and a little musty cut grass.

Palate: Thick juicy arrival, tinned fruit syrup, honey and some brown sugar. High ABV suggesting youth but there's some berry complexity and a little citrus zest. Some sour grapefruit and dry icing sugar left on the tongue as the liquid disappears.

Finish: Long spicy finish with tropical fruit and funk. A rum cask maybe? ABV c58%. Scored a 2

Dram 3

Appearance: Dark gold in the Glencairn, swirls cling as a thin line, bead up immediately and take a while to fall as slow thick legs. 

Nose: Meaty! Gravy browning or Oxo cubes. There's some berry hints: blackcurrants, strawberries and black cherries. There's some overripe vegetables, a little dunnage funk suggests a sherry cask - interesting drams.

Palate: Thick meaty arrival, smoky bacon crisps, beef dripping, a little tar. The berries from the nose have all but gone, we have tropical fruit and some lemon zest now. A little peppery spice left on the tongue.

Finish: Lingering spice, rum and raisin ice cream and a bite of citrus zest. ABV c58%, sherry cask matured. Scored a 3

Dram 4

Appearance: Bronze in the Glencairn, swirls cling as a thin line, forms small beads which hand for a while before falling as slow thick legs.

Nose: Dunnage funk, PX jammy notes, meaty. There's loads of berries and cherries, some medicinal notes and a little citrus. 

Palate: Thick sweet arrival: honey and brown sugar. Then thinks turn spicy: pepper, cloves and a little nutmeg. There's some burnt orange skin, black cherries and a hint of toffee.

Finish: Long and dry: berries, cherries and lemon zest, A little meaty. Favourite so far, 50% ABV PX sherry cask, scored a 4

Dram 5

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

Nose: Dirty smoke to start, BBQ meats and a little orange zest. Are we burning orange skin again 

@whiskynwhiskers.bsky.social. Some sweet peanut notes and a hint of maritime breeze.

Palate: Thick sweet arrival and then immediately smoky. There's some honey, toffee and burnt orange.  A little ash and some baked ham. Yummy! 

Finish: Lingering smoke, spice and a little sweetness. I'm thinking a 58% sherry cask peated dram - Caol Ila? Scored a 3

The drams were: 

Dram 1 was a  Aberfeldy 2014 10yo Single Cask #252 [KCC]

Dram 2 was a Loch Lomond 2007 15yo Single Cask #21/1127-8 (Sauternes) Master Cask Collection

Dram 3 was a Kingsbarns Founders' Reserve 2022

Dram 4 was a Ballindalloch 2017 7yo Single Cask #410

Dram 5 was a Annandale 2016 6yo Single Cask #519 MOS (Peated Oloroso)

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!