Discover Whisky

Continuing the tasting notes we come to the third (not counting the bonus one) of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s offerings.

Bottling 35.32

34 years old, 55.1%, 183 bottles

Colour

Light

Nose

Pear drops, liquorice, someone mentioned spangles - a real blast from the past. I immediately started to feel that this one would not match my preferences.

Initial taste

Complicated and confusing rather than complex, my impressions were of a fiery, coarse nature. On this one I found the society’s tasting notes completely at odds with what I was getting from the whisky. Pear drops again, a sourness, flavours of allspice (which is a spice I don’t like), and a type of bitter citrus rind that I couldn’t pin down.

Later taste

Water improves it (not something I often say) but it’s still a very back of the throat taste that I found quite unpleasant.

Finish

More of that pear drops lingered rather  too long

Conclusion

After about three tastes I gave up on this one as it was not to my taste at all. While there are malts that I am not keen on I honestly have never disliked one as much as this. I suspect it was probably at the lower end of most of my fellow taster’s preferences too, although one of them rated it her favourite of the night. It takes all sorts - you couldn’t pay me to drink this one!

It was a relief to move on to the fourth.

Bottling 28.22

19 years old, 57.8%, 631 bottles

Colour

Very pale

Nose

Spirity, wood, and a curious scent that eventually reminded me of ham and pea soup,

Initial Taste

Front of the tongue, warm, rich,  nutmeg, dark. The flavour improves with time, with hint of charred steak and bitter orange. Quite drying though. Once again I found the supplied notes a little different to my own impressions with none of the Thai curry they mentioned or apples. Though it was interesting that someone had mentioned that pea soup that I got in the nosing.

Later Taste

Water produces a very palatable taste with lemonish notes and gets rid of that dryness. I wouldn’t go quite as far as the chocolate limes one of the original tasting panel had mentioned but it was certainly quite sweet.

Finish

Not the longest but very satisfying.

Conclusion

If drinking it neat I can imagine an Ardbeg drinker quite enjoying it, although it comes from a very different area, but if you don’t like a dryish palate then you’ll probably want to use a little water at which point it opens out into a sweeter character altogether.

On to our last of the evening and it was a really interesting choice, not at all what we were expecting from knowing the name, an Islay generally associated with maritime imagery.

Bottling 10.70

11 years old, 55.7%, 283 bottles

Colour

Very pale

Nose

A flashback to a childhood smell of swimming pool towels, lanolin, and after discussion with Mike we settled on a hint of potassium permanganate.

Taste

Middle of the tongue, rising up the gums. A strong pungent taste which, while not the normal taste for this distillery, was identifiably that complex signature that Islay drinkers love and others seldom come to terms with.

Later Taste

More of the traditional saltiness that this malt is usually associated appears with a little water, but it holds up very well and I can agree with the notes mention of leather and heather.

Finish

Substantial

Conclusion

You’ll either love it or hate it. If you like Islay then I’d definitely recommend giving it a try.

Our thanks again to the Society for their hospitality and another interesting selection.

On Thursday Mike and I met up at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s rooms in Edinburgh’s Queen St for their second tasting for whisky bloggers. This matched up with their quarterly release of new bottlings - always a major event for their members. Our fellow bloggers were a mix of familiar faces and new, and soon showed themselves as having a range of different palates.

Olaf was again our host and regaled us with more stories of his early membership (he was the first overseas member before moving to the UK and later Edinburgh) and the beginnings of the Society. The selection of whiskies for our delectation was his choice and promised to give us a fresh perspective on some different distilleries’ production. The one thing you soon learn at these events is that the casks that the Society gets bear little relation to the standard shop-bought output from these distilleries.

So, on to the whiskies themselves.

Whisky 1

Cask 37.45 - 22 years old, 56.5%  (230  bottles available)

Colour

Light honey

Nose

Leather, marzipan.

Taste

Initial taste

Front of the tongue. Spicy, intense. The society’s panel mentioned Victory V losenges and I can agree with that. There are also flavours of spicy duck as you’d get in a Chinese restaurant and hints of the dark sauce that’s usually served with crispy duck.

Later taste

No change in character, just a rounding of the flavours

Finish

Long, warming.

After a little water

Sweeter, more light honey, later hints of lemonade.

Conclusion

Very nice. Very interesting, I could definitely enjoy an evening with this. Most of my fellow panelists agreed. Way better than anything I’d tasted from this distillery

Whisky 1a

This was a  surprise bonus from Olaf - same distillery as the first but this time it had spent 15 years in Sherry casks.

Strength was a surprising 60.4% though there was little sense of overpowering spirit. A lovely rich nose that immediately suggested festive celebrations. Tastes of slightly singed Xmas cake; very rich, smoother than the first version despite the additional strength but even more spicy. A touch of Rum coming through.

Rather surprisingly water really draws the strength out of it,  makes it sweeter. Later on it’s still rich.

You probably couldn’t drink much of this at its full strength but you’d enjoy what you did. Definitely a malt for special occasions. Diluted it’s a different dram, still interesting but not with the same character.

Whisky 2

Cask 26.63 - 12 years old, 58.7% (580 bottles)

Colour

Pale

Nose

Nail polish immediately - everyone seemed to agree on that. Hints of Rosemary, something I couldn’t immediately identify but which was probably the Chartreuse mentioned in the society notes, plastic.

Taste

Spicy toffee! Yeah, strange concept isn’t it? The initially puzzling background taste resolved itself into oak wood chips.

Finish

Oily, oaky.

After a little water

Water smooths it off, more pleasant but less character.

Conclusion

This is an odd one. There are aspects that are interesting but it doesn’t really hang together properly for me. There’s too much oiliness and the nose is confusing - it doesn’t seem to match the taste.

(Tasting notes will continue in the next post)