The March meeting was a ‘blind tasting’ of whiskies carefully selected by Tom. On arrival we were greeted by a place setting for each of us with five carefully arranged glasses of whisky identified 1 to 5. The only hint given was that they were all Scottish Single Malts and they all hailed from somewhere above Glasgow and below the Shetland Isles – so that narrowed it down to the 4 Scottish regions and around 100 distilleries!
Whisky 1 – A bright copper colour with some vanilla honey and young spirit on the nose. Some sweetness in the taste – banana maybe, slight saltiness, slight aniseed. A short and uncomplicated finish.
Whisky 2- A warm amber colour with oak, some orange and sweetness on the nose. A distinct sherry/caramel taste with a long lasting finish leaving a slight saltiness.
Whisky 3 – Very dark, strong aromas of sherry, wood, dark fruits, leather, Christmas pudding. Honey sweetness and spice to the palate with a long spiced finish.
Whisky 4 – Very light straw in colour, floral, peppery, salty aromas with vanilla notes. Taste - some saltiness, slightly buttery, spirit burn. A shortish, unremarkable finish.
Whisky 5 – A light golden colour with grass, slightly medicinal and some smoke to the nose. Reasonably long salt and pepper finish.
Various guesstimates (some very close and some well off the mark!) were made as to the region of each whisky, the age and the approximate cost and each of us then ranked the whiskies in order of personal preference before all was revealed.
The whiskies were:
Whisky 1 – Glen Marnoch 18YO (Aldi Special) - £25
Whisky 2 – Tomintoul 21YO - £55
Whisky 3 – Ben Riach 15YO - £39
Whisky 4 – Tobermory 10YO - £29
Whisky 5 – Talisker 10YO - £35
Whisky 1 – Glen Marnoch 18YO (Aldi Special) - £25
Whisky 2 – Tomintoul 21YO - £55
Whisky 3 – Ben Riach 15YO - £39
Whisky 4 – Tobermory 10YO - £29
Whisky 5 – Talisker 10YO - £35
Interestingly, although we had some wide ranging estimates of age and value, when individual preferences were aggregated the Tomintoul came out top with 33 points, followed by Ben Riach with 26 points, Talisker with 21 points and the two cheaper whiskies Glen Marnoch and Tobermory trailing with 16 and 12 points respectively.
This blog was written by Sean McCarrick - SWC Member.
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