What do you think is the official start of Christmas?
- The first colourful house lights going up?
- The first dodgy Christmas tune in the shops?
- The first snow?
- The first Christmas advert on the TV?
- Opening the first door on your Advent Calendar?
Well for
@BoutiqueyWhisky it's definitely the last one! So to celebrate and to try and get us to buy one of their Whisky Advent Calendar's rather than a cadbury's one full of dodgy American chocolate they sent out a mini version for us to sample!
Included in the box were 5 #dramples of which 4 were, as yet, still to be released!
Apart from a couple of small issues with deliveries we were ready to samples the drams on the 30th November - so this is now the official start of Christmas!
Some people even dared to wear Christmas Jumpers for the occasion!
As usual with TBWC, all the fantastic
labels were created by
Emily!
First up was the Glen Ord 20yo
My thoughts:
Whisky : Glen Ord 20yo 51.9% ABV. 290 bottles
Nose : Very pale gold, fairly swift legs when swirled. Nose: orchard fruit, a little porridge and a hint of spice. Honey and vanilla start to dominate now, fruit fading into the background.
Palate : Light oil on the tongue, big kick from the alcohol 51.9% then settles down with lemon & lime with a ginger tingle. Definitely a sipping dram - the pepper bite is lovely!
With water: Blackberries just pop out on the nose! Palate is lovely - the orchard fruits stay but there is some strawberry in there too, spice settles down a little but is still a lovely long finish
Other people's thoughts:
Next was TWBC's Blended Malt #4 6yo
My thoughts:
Whisky : TBWC Blended Malt #4 Batch 1 6yo 53.6% ABV. 600 bottles
Nose : A pale malt, swirls stick to the glass ignoring gravity! Nose has lots of butterscotch, underneath which there's some damp grass, some rice pudding sprinkled with cinnamon and a slight off note I can't put my finger on.....
Palate : The rice and cinnamon jumps over the tongue, there's a lot of pepper kick and a residue of vanilla and brown sugar. There is a briney note too.
Next was TWBC's Blended Grain #1 50yo
Yes FIFTY YEARS OLD - the first time I've tried a whisky older (just!) than me!
My thoughts:
Whisky : TWBC's Blended Grain #1 Batch 1 50yo 47.7% ABV. 220 bottles
Nose : Lovely golden colour - swirls once again defying gravity - initial nose says coconut and tropical fruit. Very like Raffaelo chocolates (thanks @dvdbloke). Loads of coconut and limes - hints of candyfloss and toffee apple (all the fun of the fair!) very little in the way of spice on the nose.
Palate : Light oily mouthfeel, coconut mushrooms with a little hint of milk chocolate and strawberries, again no spice until very late in the finish but even then it's very gentle - YUMMY!.
Next was a Glenlivet 27yo
My thoughts:
Whisky : Glenlivet 27yo 48.7% ABV. 105 bottles
Nose : Light gold colour, swirls cling to the glass, very slow legs. Initial nose gives Tia Maria, pears and some yeast. Coffee, chocolate, berries, a little toffee and vanilla.
Palate : Lovely sweet buttery mouthfeel, full of sherry. Gentle apple and pear notes covered in a cinnamon and ginger spice.
Next was the second 50yo of the night TBWC's Blended Whisky #1 Batch 5 50yo
Whisky : TBWC's Blended Whisky #1 Batch 5 50yo 46.6% ABV. 2,000 bottles
I didn't get to try this one on the night, but others did.
Finally was TBWC's Islay #1 Batch 1
My thoughts:
Whisky : TBWC's Islay #1 Batch 1 56.9% ABV. 1,260 bottles
Nose : Quite a pale colour, lovely swirls and slow legs, initial nose is full of medicinal peat! Lots of peat smoke but intertwined with salty sea breeze, smoked fish and a little red fruit
Palate : The strength gets you at first then a sharp chilli spice gives way to gentle smoke and strawberries, there's a hint of peanut in there too - getting that a lot lately with Islays......
Huge thanks to Dave for guiding us, TBWC for supplying the drams and all my fellow Elves for a fantastic evening! Merry Christmas!
If you want to buy one of their fullsize Advent Calendars - they are available
here!
The clever ones amongst you may have counted 6 dram reviews, but only 5 in the photos - well there was a little mix up with Santa's Elves and some of us got a bonus dram!
