Hello all,

Well there was an exclusive meeting of the Sept held on the 28th October 2015.  Unfortunately our Gauger, Filip, was unable to attend due to other commitments so I had to improvise a little to establish a creditable flight of whiskies.  One urban myth that has held my interest is the saying that when you open a bottle of whisky you must drink it within one month, three months, six months or it will oxidise and go off.

At the meeting I presented an OLD Glenlivet 12 y/o Single Malt 40% which was opened originally in a meeting on 25th February 2015.  I matched this with a bottle of NEW Glenlivet 12 y/o Single Malt 40% which I purchased from Dan Murphy’s on Tuesday 27th October 2015.

Myself and those present were slightly surprised, firstly by the nose.  The OLD bottle had a strong fruity nose followed by a mouthy spice that burnt out at the lingering on the palate.  The NEW Glenlivet was smoother with noticeably less florals on the nose, however the mouth feel built up as it was consumed.  From the experiment I would say the myth is busted in that the OLD Glenlivet was still a good drinkable drop with some loss of length but a compensating rise in first taste.

I solved a peat v’s alcohol conundrum by serving a Glenlivet Nadurra 16 y/o Cask Strength 56.1% Single Malt next.  It had a subdued nose of floral fruitiness but turned out to be spicy and tangy on the tongue with an alcohol presence and a finishing slight saltiness.  Again this bottle had been previously opened and may have changed due to this.

We finished with a Bruichladdich Port Charolette Scottish Barley Heavy Peated Islay Single Malt 50% unaged whisky peated to 40 ppm. The peat was noticeable on the nose but was subdued like a good cigar smoke.  It was very smooth over the tongue with the smokiness hitting the back of throat.  At 50% the alcohol was un-noticable (such an unusual alcohol level) and it finished on a mild note.  Very drinkable to my mind.

For the evening the Nadurra pleased the most, just in front of the Port Charlotte with the NEW Glenlivet edging out the OLD Glenlivet.  Many thanks for guests Paul and Jim for their input for the evening and coming out on a not so great Queensland  liquid sunshine evening.

Gregory,
Exciser/Scribe