Off Topic Single Malt Notes
Bill Spohn
Notes from a Scotch tasting with dinner last night. Several of us discovered
that we had collected single malts over the years (I have a couple of dozen,
and some of the others have similar hoards). It seemed a good idea to get
together and try some!
We started with a flight of lighter malts before dinner and finished with 5
heavier ones afterwards.
All malts were nosed and a small bit tasted neat, before adding a little water
to open up the nose and smooth the flavours on palate.
Invergordon - a single grain whisky, likely made from a blend of grains. A
clear and rather alcoholic nose, and in the mouth simple, a bit oily, and hot.
Auchentoshan - a triple distilled whisky with a nice fruity lemony nose, smooth
in the mouth, but ending hot and a bit rough.
Mortlach - this from a bottle found in my cellar. The distillery was shut down
in the early 80s, though, I believe, recently reopened. The price on the bottle
(C$7.35) was cause for reminiscing. A nose of bread and malt, and a very malty
impression in the mouth, quite smoky.
Abelour 10 year old - darker, with a toffee/caramel nose, and smooth in the
mouth - very good value.
Glen Garioch 12 - pronounced 'Glen Geery', this is not seen very often. A nose
of liniment and lemon, medium bodied, with light peat coming in at the end.
Then, just so this will be a wine note, with dinner I opened a bottle of:
Borgogno Barolo Riserva 1990 - I am doing an Italian Brownbag tonight, and felt
like a preview. A tarry nose was the best part of this, and when first tasted
it showed as excessively lean and acidic. With food, it came around quite a
bit, but it is still not as interesting as some of the older bottlings from
this producer have been, and it seems to me to be inferior to the 89, though I
haven't tasted it for a few years (no doubt time to open a bottle).
After dinner:
The Balvenie 12 - the 'Doublewood' version. Medium colour, sweet nose, fruity
and pleasant.
Glenfarclas 12 - a fat, rich Christmas pudding nose with raisins and currants!
Also a bit hot. Sweet in the mouth, long and smooth. I marked this one, along
with the Abelour, as one to watch out for.
Highland Park 12 - a leaner, more elegant nose, medium bodied and sweet malt in
the mouth, a tad hot and really benefited from the addition of water. A lot of
things going for this malt, but not quite enough to be a favourite of mine.
Ardbeg 17 - another distillery that had shut down for some years. I have a
bottle of older whisky from the Connoisseur series of bottlings, and this is
from the new regular bottling of obviously old product. An excellent nose of
iodine and peat, with undertones of pear and vanilla. The flavours explode in
the mouth. An excellent malt and on the favourite list!
Bowmore Darkest - 12 years in Bourbon casks, and a couple more in sherry make
for a 14 year (labelled as a 12) whisky. Quite dark colour (the name is no
coincidence). A smoky elastoplast nose, dark and medicinal in the mouth,
intense and very long finish. You either love or hate this style. I love it.
We decided that we must repeat the event, with different malts, at least once
and maybe twice more, until we run out of whisky to taste, so more notes may be
forthcoming.
Bill S.
Joseph B. Rosenberg
worst time I ever had post tasting was caused by a single malt tasting done
by Harry's in DC 20 years ago.
I never got so drunk so fast in my life.
Bep
"Bill Spohn" <wsp...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010222120348...@ng-mo1.aol.com...
john taverner
5
> heavier ones afterwards.
>
> All malts were nosed and a small bit tasted neat, before adding a little
water
> to open up the nose and smooth the flavours on palate.
>
may be
> forthcoming.
> Bill S.
Bill
Did similar tasting a few years back.
IIRC
The star was 25 Macalan, soft and sherified. Smooth as a baby's bum.
The Island malts are too pungent for me, Islay malts remind me of listerine.
Chacun son gout!
John
cwd...@webtv.net
and the 15 yr. old is a bit better. I do know Laphroaig may be a bit too
full for many tastes, but I find the complex nose and taste interesting.
Pigs Nose 5 yr. old and Sheep Dip 8 yr. old are listed in the winter
Brown Derby catalog. I have a feeling that these two lower priced malts
may be a bit raw. It might be interesting to slip one in your next
tasting, especially if it is blind. It would be interesting to see how
people describe the taste and smell.