By popular demand we decided to make our August tasting a blind. Our gauger sourced some fine scotch whiskies from five prominent distilleries, but promised us a few twists to keep everyone off guard.

It really did work and resulted in a number of surprises.

Whisky #1

On the blind we found this Whisky to be light and sweet, with some rich wood notes from what we assumed was some good time in the barrel. Some of us noted hints of vanilla and even a very light pepper finish, but not much of a tail to speak of. The general consensus was that it was a nice every day whisky for easy drinking, but not necessarily a special occasion drink.

Many found the nose somewhat familiar, but just couldn’t place it with certainty. Guesses included Highland Park, Macallan, Glenlivet, Glenfiddich and even Dalwhinnie.

The overall score turned out to be an average of 7.1 out of 10, and not that much of a surprise when it was revealed as an 18 year old Glenfiddich Small Batch Reserve.

Whisky #2

Not knowing what this was to be, it actually had a deeper taste to the first, leading a few of us to the belief that it may have spent some time in wine or possibly even sherry barrels. It was rather sudden on the most, yet dry to the taste with a bit of smokey peat and earthy flavours. The flavour was mostly up front without too much tail, yet we believed it possibly had a higher alcohol volume to the first whisky.

Suggestions tried to narrow things down to a 12 year old from somewhere to the west of Scotland, as well as a few guesses of Glenmorangie and Glenlivet.

Bringing in an average of 7.4 out of 10, we were all surprised and impressed that this was a 17 year old blend from Ballantine’s.

Whisky #3

Both on the nose and the palate this whisky was boldly peated with some smooth, sweet flavours carrying on behind the smoke. Believed to be a low age statement, it was enjoyed but thought to have needed perhaps another decade in the barrel. Over time the pettiness receded a bit, making way for more floral notes on the nose and some citrus/lemon and even banana flavours.

The peat had us all leaning towards this being an Islay whisky, likely to be Ardbeg, Kilchoman, Bowmore, Coal Ila or even Octomore. Boy were we wrong.

Bringing in a 7.7 out of 10, we were all shocked to discover this was a cask strength Glenlivet that had been aged in peated casks.

Whisky #4

With a very smoothly sweet, floral nose, this quickly gave the impression of a well rounded Whisky. Those sweet notes on the nose carried through nicely on the palate, and carried along a longer tail than envy thing else we’d sampled that night. There were some sherry notes in there, vanilla, light spice, some soft peaty notes, as well as earthy oak flavours.

There was a fair bit of disagreement as to where this could be from and how it was made. Some held to it being a good 12 year old, others felt it was well aged. The soft sweetness led some to think it was a Glenmorangie, possibly the Lasanta or Nector dork but others disagreed.

Clearly the favourite of the night with an average of 8 out of 10, we were quite surprise at the reveal of a Talisker 18 year old, as this is many of our member’s favourite distilleries and still we didn’t pick it.

Whisky #5

We’ve been promising for some time to break out a 5th bottle any night we have over 15 attendees, and this night had a great turnout, in spite of a few out sick with the flu.

While this rather smooth Whisky was simpler than the previous drams, it was still intriguing, with soft caramel notes and even a little bit of spice. The tail hangs around for a while, but quite subtly. There was more on the tongue than the nose, with many noting hints of raisins, port, butterscotch, all brought together in a rather pleasant balance.

We were all leaning towards something of the Speyside or Lowland region, with one member even suggesting  it could be a Johnnie Walker.

With an average of 7.5 out of 10, this was the second Whisky of the night to prove a good blend can stand up to a single malt. It was a Johnnie Walker Green Label with 15 year age statement.

Info Sheets: QMWS-August-Blind-Tasting

The blind tasting certainly was an eye opener, in that distilleries known for certain characteristics can still come out with the odd surprise. We’re in the process of working out what to put together for our next tasting, but for now, remember to keep Wednesday the 6th of September.

Slainte,
Nath Martyn
Chieftain