Side by side: Independent Glenturret

@DrinkGlenturret distillery have had a bit of a renaissance since leaving the Famous Grouse stable, a new brand and new bottlings but obviously still the same liquid.

I've talked about Glenturret's recent take over and new releases before here and here, but this time I'm going to look at four independent bottlings.

Side by side : An indie Glentauchers flight

Built just before the turn of the 20th Century, Glentauchers has always been a Speyside malt used for blends.

Occasional indie releases can be found, let's see what they are like!

#LetsTrySomeWhisky - Balblair

It's been a while but the Anglo French #LetsTrySomeWhisky gang got back together to try our third set of drams - this time a flight from Highland distillery Balblair.

Let's see what we thought!

#BlindTasting Series 6 Episode 2

Series 6 Episode 2

After a winter hibernation the #BlindTasting team were back to continue Series 6, trying to work out what the 5 drams they'd swapped were and to tell what we thought of them without knowing where they were from. #NoPreconceivedIdeas! If you haven't followed us before you can catch up with all the previous series here.

Mini-review: Tropical Budgie?

This sample swap from @GeoffGilmore1 was Gordon & MacPhail's Glenburgie 10yo

Mini-reviews: Indie surprise!

This sample swap from @WhiskynStuff was a Gordon & MacPhail Balblair 10yo

Gordon and MacPhail @TweetTastings

Thanks to Steve @TweetTastings for selecting me for a great evening on twitter trying the new Discovery range from @Gordon_MacPhail.

The Discovery Range is a new addition to G&M's portfolio, it's an introductory range offering "an utterly dependable and consistent choice of our finest single malt whiskies, each expression sits within the bold flavour profiles of either 'Sherry', 'Smoky', or 'Bourbon'"

Benromach 20th Anniversary @TweetTastings

This week I was pleased to be included in the @TweetTasting to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the restart of production at @Benromach after the distillery was taken over in 1993 by  Gordon & MacPhail, refurbished and re-opened in 1998.

As is usual with these things a few days before the tasting a parcel arrived...

Three samples were enclosed including the Benromach 10yo, 15yo and newly launched 20th Anniversary Bottling.

Another trip to the Prince Of Wales

I'm very lucky where I work that they let us out at 12 noon every Friday, this gives us a chance to visit some local hostelries and sample their wares. One of our regular haunts is the Prince Of Wales at Foxfield, it's a small pub on the Cumbria coast which boasts it's own brewery, regular beer, gin, rum and music festivals - check out their website.

There are normally 8 real ales on the bar plus a couple of ciders and many bottled delights. They also have a great, ever changing, selection of whiskies!

The Whisky Blackboard

This week they held a Dark, Strong Beer & Cider Weekend so we had to visit!

So whilst some of my colleagues made their way through the list of beers, I started with a few whiskies.

Distillery : Mannochmore

Whisky : 12yo (Flora & Fauna)

Characteristics : 700ml, 43% ABV.

Colour : Light Gold

Nose : Vanilla, Christmas cake spices

Palate : Smooth mouth filling vanilla, orange hints and those Christmas spices.

Finish : Long spicy finish

Overall : This is the first time dram which I spotted on the board from a distillery I couldn't remember sampling from before. It's part of the Flora & Fauna range of limited releases - I don't think these are very common?

Distillery : Linkwood

Whisky : 15yo (Gordon & MacPhail)

Characteristics : 700ml, 43% ABV. NCF, Uncoloured

Colour : Dark Gold

Nose : Vanilla and oak with a touch of cereal

Palate : Sweet vanilla, developing into chocolate

Finish : Long spicy sweet finish

Overall : Another dram which I spotted on the board from a distillery I couldn't remember sampling from before and definitely the best of the three I tried on the day.

Distillery : Dalmore

Whisky : 12yo 

Characteristics : 700ml, 43% ABV. NCF, Coloured 😟

Colour : Dark Gold

Nose : Sherry and vanilla, 

Palate : Dry sherry with hints of oranges and marshmallows

Finish : Long dry finish dominated by vanilla with a hint of spicy orange

Overall : Pretty standard fare this one but it was the first time I'd tried a Dalmore. Honesty I wasn't really impressed - nice bottle and presentation but just a little plain for me.