June 2014 Whisky tasting

Well this post might be a bit tardy but there is a new tasting coming up so I thought I should get this done before then. These are the whiskies we tried at our June 2014 tasting event.

These are the bottles people brought for us to choose our tastings from. I must say these gentlemen do have good taste!!!

We started with the Balvenie Caribbean Cask, 14 Year old, 43% alc/vol

Most of us liked this one it had spicy and fruity notes. MP was not a fan. KB said that he was not usually a fan of Balvenie but likes this one finding it a bit fuller than their other expressions. 

Next up was the Highland Park Herald. There was no age statement and was 43% alc/vol

The Highland Park Herald got thumbs up all around. Consensus was that it had a dry flowery bitterness . BP thought it had some sherry notes but the rest of us couldn't find it. We guessed it was aged in virgin oak. Very pleasant and drinkable despite a lack of strongly pronounced flavour notes. Very sexy without being obvious. 

Glenmorangie Portwood Finish, no age statement, 43% alc/vol.

We found this to have dark chocolate and orange notes. It had a rich full body. Thumbs up all around.

BenRiach 12 year old Sherry Wood, 46% alc/vol.

We found this to have a very pronounced sherry essence which seemed to give make it reminiscent of a Canadian Whiskey. DB said "I could drink this all night."

Number five for the night was the Port Charlotte An Turas Mor, no age statement, 46% alc/vol.

Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the bottle. We found this to be great up front but dies in the end to a very mediocre finish. KB described it as "astringent". DB compared it to faecal matter but his opinion should be taken with a grain of salt since after all he does prefer Canadian Whiskies. 

A new one to me was the Bunnahabhain Darach Ur Batch #9, no age statement, 46.3% alc/vol.

This got mixed reviews. Some of us peat lovers were disappointed that there was not discernible peat flavour. A pleasantly briny whisky with a clean oak flavour and fresh green grass.

We all love Macallan so we were excited to try the Macallan Sienna, no age statement, 43% alc/vol.

Very intense flavour up front. Some of us thought it was the best whisky of the night. A bit premature if you ask me as we had not even brought any peat to the table yet! All reviews were positive and just confirms our belief that there are no bad Macallans. 

Aberlour a'bunadh Batch 21, no age statement, 59.5% alc/vol.

The a'bunadh has always been a group favourite. Hot and spicy up front. KB shared that this was his first whisky and it seduced him. Had a bit of a burnt caramel flavour reminiscent of a Skor Bar. 

"The old standby that's still standing by!" - Baker Sr.

Here comes the peat!!!! BenRiach Birnie Moss Intensely Peated, no age statement, 48% alc/vol.

"Distillers seem to be depending on the process rather than the age to sell a whisky." - KB

He could be right as most of the whiskies we tried this time around had no age statements indicating that they were probably closer to 8 years old which I understand to be the minimum for scotch whisky. And of course considering the old adage of time being money aging a whisky is costly.

Not that this was a complaint because this particular whisky had thumbs up all around with particular enthusiasm coming from the peat lovers among us. 

 Last among our official whiskies was the Port Charlotte Scottish Barley Heavily Peated

No age statement, 50% alc/vol.

 Of course this was only liked by the peat lovers in the group. The rest snubbed their collective noses at this wonderful whisky.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the wonderful leg of lamb that JP cooked up for us with all the fixings. It was delectable. Thanks JP!

Look for another posting coming soon. I will try to be a bit more prompt with the next blog post.

Until next time,

Sláinte!!!