#BTC35 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 35th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Duncan @newdramrising

#BTC31 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 31st #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Patrick @LeaskPatrick

Whisky Advent Calendar 2022 - Dram reviews

Those great people at @DrinksByTheDram sent me an Advent Calendar for the run up to Christmas! For the whisky fans amongst us this makes much more sense than a chocolate one!

Now the idea with an Advent Calendar is that you open 1 door each day from the 1st December through to Christmas Eve... But please enjoy your whisky responsibly! Sometimes it may not possible to open a dram each day, you could share with mates or save a couple to enjoy at the weekend?

#BTC21#BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 21st #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by John @jwbassman_

#BTC18 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

 These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 18th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Damian @newdramrising

Side by side : A Talisker flight

Until 2017 Talisker was the only distillery on the Isle of Skye, built in 1830 it's now one of Diageo's workhorses. 

Here I'll try five different bottlings.

BTC9 #BlindDrams Tasting Notes

These are my tasting notes from the Blind Tasting Consortium's 9th #BlindDrams evening.

These drams were picked by Richard @MckWhisky

Mini-review: French No.63?

Blind sample from @GregsWhiskyG

In the glass : Interesting brown coloured bottle so I had no idea of colour before I opened it. But it is quite a dark coloured dram, swirls cling to the glass and not much in the way of legs.... High ABV?

Nose: This seems quite complex - there's a little dunnage warehouse, some damp hay, maybe even a hint of smoke? After a little time in the glass there's some honey and toffee coming through too.

Palate: Lots of honey, very sweet, a little toffee. Not getting any of the smoke from the nose and not much in the way of spice. I think I'll reverse my thoughts on a high ABV - this seems to be a low 40s% ABV. From the honey notes I'd suggest a Speyside or maybe a Highlander?

Finish: A hint of spice on the finish, and again maybe some smoke? Lovely malty finish - very warming. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest a Benromach ?

Any Port in a storm?

One of the great things about the internet is the opportunity to 'meet' people you wouldn't ordinarily have met or even come across! Twitter, in particular, is great for this and I have met and 'spoken to' loads of people on Twitter especially about whisky! Friendships have developed including drinking whisky 'together' and swapping samples. Over the last few months I've amassed quite a collection of samples and decided the time has come to try and get some tasted!

The sample box

I wanted to try and be a little creative so have grouped some of them together, as the title suggests all these samples have been finished in Port casks.

First up colour - they all look beautiful in the glass!

L-R Tomatin, Talisker, Glenmorangie, Edradour

I also tried to find out how long each had actually spent in a port cask but Talisker wouldn't tell me.

So on to the tasting notes!

Distillery : Tomatin
Whisky : 14 year old Port Cask
Sample from : @WhiskyWings
Characteristics : 700ml, 46% ABV. Not coloured, NCF.
Distillery's info : "Soft, smooth and sweet, benefiting from its time spent in Tawny Port casks which previously held port for around 50 years. Rich but balanced aromas of red berries, sweet honey and rich toffee develop into aspects of light fruits and nuts on the palate and an abiding finish of smooth fruit salad"
Price : £54
Colour : Pale Gold
Nose : Raspberries and Apricots with sweet red berries developing over time, the port was there but only just.
Palate : Oily, salted butter, more of the red berries
Finish : Chewy vanilla
Overall : This one had spent the shortest in a Port Pipe and it showed, not much of a Port influence.

Link : 14yo

Distillery : Talisker

Whisky : Port Ruighe NAS

Sample from : @The_Cask_Blog
Characteristics : 700ml, 45.8% ABV. Coloured, Chill-filtered.

Distillery's info : "Double matured in port casks, this malt is a toast to the Scottish traders who braved the high seas and were instrumental in the foundation of the port wine trade. Port Ruighe, pronounced ‘Portree’ is the Gaelic spelling of the once-bustling trading port on Skye. The port finish combines Talisker’ s powerful maritime character with succulent sweet notes of rich berry fruits for a superb taste experience."

Price : £50

Colour : Pale Gold (Coloured)

Nose : Sea salt, a little smoke, and some winey aromas, completely different from the Tomatin.

Palate : Continuing from the nose - sea salt but a bit of yin and yang with a sweetness - slightly confusing! there is some oakiness and some honey there too but over quite quickly.

Finish : Smokey with a spicy pepper finish.

Overall : I just didn't like this one, the nose was very strange and on the palate I just couldn't make my mind up about the salt and sweet thing.

Link : Port Ruighe

Distillery : Glenmorangie

Whisky : Quinta Ruban 12yo

Sample from : @SpikeyDog120
Characteristics : 700ml, 45.8% ABV. Coloured, NCF.

Distillery's info : "The darkest and most intense whisky in the extra-matured range, Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban has spent 10 years maturing in American white oak casks, before being transferred into specially selected ruby port pipes from the Quintas or wine estates of Portugal. Extra maturation in these port pipes develops Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban into a voluptuous spirit with a complex balance of sweet and dry flavours and an intriguing contrast of smooth and crisp, cooling textures. Non chill-filtered for additional aroma and mouthfeel."

Price : £50

Colour : Pale Gold (Coloured)

Nose : Sweet honey developing into dark chocolate with a hint of orange - yummy! The Port was there as a foundation.

Palate : Some sweetness, more of the honey and chocolate but with some underlying vanilla.

Finish : Warming and spicy with lots of maple syrup.

Overall : This was a lovely dram, the nose was delightful and the finish was superb.

Link : Quinta Ruban

Distillery : Edradour

Whisky : 2001 SV Port (13yo)

Sample from : @The_Cask_Blog
Characteristics : 500ml, 56.3% ABV. Not coloured, NCF.

Distillery's info : "Nose: Red berries, oak and fruity port richness. Palate: Velvet texture. Smooth but lively on the palate with heather and oak, maple syrup, orange and spice. Finish: Warm spices with lingering red fruits."

Price : Discontinued

Colour : Pale Gold

Nose : WOW - this is liquid walnuts! As soon as I poured it out of the bottle it filled the room, nosing just intensified the aroma. It did fade over time and revealed a hint of butterscotch and the port.

Palate : Really nutty! More of the walnuts and a little almond - much like a Dundee cake but this cake was full of chilli too!

Finish : Drying, due to the higher strength, again more of the nuts and that lingering spicy chilli!

Overall : I really enjoyed this one, but nearly lost it - when I mentioned Edradour to my wife and let her smell the dram she disappeared with the glass! This is the dram which had spent the longest in a Port Pipe and it showed - on the nose and palate.

Link : Discontinued but newer version available

Summary : It was a close thing between the Glenmorangie and the Edradour for first place! I think the Glenmorangie just took it on the finish. The Tomatin was third but the Talisker was a distant fourth. I normally love smoke in a whisky but the combination with the port just didn't tick my boxes.

Dark Storm from Talisker

This is a travel retail bottle which my brother bought me when he visited from the USA at the beginning of the year, as you can see from the photo - it's nearly all gone now!

The box says it's "a deep, dark and rich Talisker, matured in selected heavily charred casks to give extra spice and smoke." and to be honest I've got to completely agree!

Whisky : Dark Storm (NAS)
Characteristics : 1ltr, 45.8% ABV. Chill filtered.
Price : £70
Colour : Dark Amber - but coloured.
Nose : Wood smoke, orchard fruit, some smokey bacon - very BBQ like!
Palate : Very spicy, a little salt and some smoke.
Finish : A sweet honey taste remains in the mouth after a spicy black pepper finish with a little smoke.
Overall : It's a funny kind of smoke - wood rather than peat but it's delicious! The spice is really nice, some have likened it to chilli but I don't think it's that harsh - maybe like biting into a black peppercorn?
Link : Dark Storm