#BTC58 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes and results from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 58th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Andy @RoyEasing

#BTC52 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes and results from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 52nd #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Paul @pswhisky.bsky.social

DrivenByDrams Speyside Tour - Benromach

The first day of the DrivenByDrams gang Speyside trip had us heading for Benromach.

We passed a few distilleries on the way!

Duncan Taylor An Iconic Speyside Octave

Established in 1938, Duncan Taylor is an independent whisky merchant with one of the largest privately held collections of aged single malt and single grain Scotch whisky casks.

One part of their range is Octaves, let's find out a little more:

#BlindTasting Series 6 Episode 1

Series 6 Episode 1

After what seems months and months, and actually was! the #BlindTasting team finally managed to organise a night when we were all free to kick off Series 6. The team have swapped more drams and tonight we need to try and work out what they are, but more importantly tell us what we think of them without knowing where they are from. #NoPreconceivedIdeas! If you haven't followed us before you can catch up with all the previous series here.

#MiniTasting - Chorlton single casks

@ChorltonWhisky is an independent bottler based in Manchester with some really nice bottle labels on each of their drams.

They have bottled over 25 casks, at the time of writing, @ScotchB78 supplied 3 drams for @jwbassman_ @WhiskynStuff, and myself to try!

Side by side: A swoop of Macallans?

Rather than review drams by themselves I'm doing a little series comparing some 'side by side'.
There may be two or more, they may be from the same or different distilleries, similar ages, ABVs and types or not as I decide!

This time we are reviewing three different drams from the @Macallan distillery aged range, the 10yo Sherry Oak, 12yo Double Cask and 12yo Fine Oak - what differences are there?

Drinks by the Dram Advent Calendar Sneak Peek @TwitterTasting

#TweetTastings are coming thick and fast at the moment for @TheWhiskyWire and I was lucky enough to be selected for the latest one from @DrinksByTheDram, this one giving a sneak peak at one of their many Advent Calendars.

Each Advent Calendar is filled with 24 x 30ml of the most thrilling whiskies known to humankind, from a 50 year old Scotch to superb Irish and American whiskeys, and expressions from some of them most exciting world whisky distilleries. Everything from superb single grains to rare single malts, award-winning whiskies from famous distilleries from rich Speyside whiskies to smoky Island malts.

You've still got time to order one in time for 1st December - they are available from here.

For this #TweetTasting we received 5 samples in one of their standard boxes:

By 7pm many of us were in Festive Spirits and all ready to start!

First up was the Macallan 12yo Sherry Oak

My Thoughts:

Nose: Cereal, chocolate, spice, hint of porridge and fudge
Palate: Lots of spice on the tongue, quite drying but sweet with it, getting some chocolate, some wood and a little dried fruit. Not the full on Christmas Cake thought...

Other peoples opinions:

Second was the Bain's Cape Mountain Single Grain

My Thoughts:

Nose: Vanilla, love heart sweets, (Dried Banana Chips : From @RumDiariesBlog)
Palate: Oily buttery sweetness (this feels better than 40%), a little spice then a huge kick of them banana sweets at the end!

Other peoples opinions:

Third was The Blended Whisky Company's The Lost Distilleries Company Blend - Batch 10

My Thoughts:

Nose: The 51% hits you straight away, some apples and pears, wood, and a hint of spice in the background.
Palate: Lovely rich dried fruits - must have been soaked overnight in whisky! This is what the @The_Macallan should have been - Christmas Cake in a glass! Slightly drying and getting ginger and cinnamon spices too.

Other peoples opinions:

Fourth was Mackmyra's Brukswhisky

My Thoughts:

Nose: Limes, coconut, wet dog and a little spicy mint, nose is developing as it sits in the glass - porridge notes coming though and just a hint of smoke.
Palate: Very light, slightly oily, sweet and spicy, some orchard fruits and the porridge from the nose.

Other peoples opinions:

The final dram of the night was Kilchoman's Sanaig

My Thoughts:

Nose: Peat smoke hits you straight away but there is also the sweetness from the sherry, some saltiness and smoked fish?
Palate: Wow - slow down now - not sure about this at all - there is an awful lot of peanuts..... very spicy but can't get that peanut taste to go, very strange. Quite drying too. What an unusual dram!

Other peoples opinions:

Conclusion: I thought the Blended Whisky Co Blend was superb - Christmas in a glass, the Banes came a close second, Single Grains are really impressing me this year! The Kilchoman and  Mackmyra are great every day drams, perhaps a little young? I was actually disappointed with the Macallan - it just seemed ordinary.

Many thanks to Drinks by the Dram for supplying the #dramples, @WhiskyWire for organising and all my fellow #TweetTasters for making it a great evening and for kicking off Christmas!

Other reviews:

Peak Whisky