Tastes

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 23 April 2022). Nose: Nutty, orange, mocha coffee, dry fruits Palate: Fruit cake, Christmassy, chocolate cherries, orange zest, chocolate raisins, crystallised ginger. Strongly sherried. Finish: Medium finish. Stone fruits, dates, leather, chocolate/cocoa, coffee. Sherry-sherry-sherry!!! Sours on the aftertaste. PX & Oloroso sherry casks This is a heavy, mouthcoating sherry-bomb! Lots of cocoa, chocolate and dried fruit notes. You really notice the cask strength, it has a slightly harsher feel on the palate for it. Very tasty, chewy and unctuous. Good dram. Came joint second out of the six drams, with 14% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 50% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky. There was a lot of negative talk in the chat rooms about the how the ownership of Glendronach now distribute the bottles, which could have negatively impacted the score.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 23 April 2022). Nose: Emulsion paint, hairspray, floor polish, vanilla, ginger, hay, gorse. Slightly floral. Palate: Woody, nutty, treacle, golden syrup, toffee, burnt sugar syrup, butterscotch, light berry notes in the background. The main taste on the palate is the barley - it's very dominant and almost overpowering. Finish: Long finish. Leather, oak, charred, sweet fruit and berries, cocoa powder. Slightly dirty/dank aftertaste. The strongest taste is still the barley. First fill 100 litre ex-bourbon Distilled: 26 Jan 2018 Bottled: March 2022 1 of 178 bottles Cask No: 54 Bottle No: 36 Plumage Archer barley Brewer's C yeast This is all about the barley. An uncompromising, chewy mouthfeel. Oily, funky, grumpy, dark and full-bodied. This is not a beginner's whisky. It has a challenging profile, but I have to say it has a lot going on. Not one you could sit and quaff - one to ponder over a dram or two (max!) Came joint first out of the six drams, with 21% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 79% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 23 April 2022). Nose: Honey, light citrus, orchard fruit (green apples), dry oak Palate: Dusty initial mouthfeel. Rich spices, green apple, lemon/lime, cocoa powder, toffee Finish: Medium long finish. Rich chocolate, mocha coffee, leather. Loads of fruit and citrus on the aftertaste. Hints of dry peat. 1 of 1,320 casks This is a nice, easy drinking toffee/mocha whisky. There's a nicely layered character, moving through toffee, spice, orchard fruit and coffee - moving and changing with each sip. A decent wee dram. Came joint second out of the six drams, with 14% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 93% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 23 April 2022). Nose: Lemon, vanilla, stone fruit, hay, green/grass, aniseed Palate: Sweet, fruity, quite hot, zesty lemon/citrus, green apples, nutty, gristy Finish: Medium finish. Spicy and sweet, black pepper, ginger, lemon, lightly toasted nuts. Sours on the aftertaste. Slightly numbing. Fruity, zingy and nutty. The overall impression is young and hot, with lots of citrus and spice. It's OK, not a bad dram, but a little fresh and youthful for my palate. This whisky has been designed to drink as a youthful dram, with a different profile being used for their whisky currently aging. Came joint second out of the six drams, with 14% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 64% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky.

Nose: Dates, raisins, orchard fruit, chocolate, mocha, vanilla. Light fragrant spices Palate: Treacle, fig rolls, ginger, dried fruit, dates, dried fig, ginger. There's a note of oaky Malbec wine underneath the darker notes. Finish: Medium short finish. Dark cherries, dried fruit, flower honey, vanilla, leather. Quite a dry tannic aftertaste. This is a luxurious, intense whisky. Chocolate, dried fruit and a kick of oak. Great dram! £62.95 for a 500ml bottle.

Nose: Frazzles crisps, BBQ pork, toffee, damp peat, white pepper Palate: Bacon, damp peat, black pepper, dusty, black tea, light orchard/stone fruit, light summer berries Finish: Long finish. More of the damp peat, leather, cocoa and a light saltiness This changes through the layers as you sip - berries, chocolate, leather and pepper, all with the peaty backbone. There's loads going on in this dram. Interesting, layered and tasty. A good dram overall.

Nose: Burnt sugar, Crêpes Suzette, oranges. There's a rather artificial note on the nose. Palate: Baking spice, caramel, butter, vanilla, sweet sherry, kirsch Finish: Medium long finish. Light smoke, summer berries, cherries and chocolate. 1 of 5,252 bottles This is a juicy dram that has lots of berries and cherries with a chocolatey finish. Unfortunately, it does taste a little one dimensional and cheap. It's a decent enough dram.

Nose: Chocolate, cherries, orange peel, orchard fruit Palate: Vanilla, summer berries, fig jam, dark chocolate cherries. Quite a 'hot' dram. Finish: Short finish. Ginger, baking spices, leather and wood. This is a session dram. Chocolatey and pretty tasty, but quite hot on the palate. Easy to drink but just a little too hot to be a regular quaffing whisky. Easy drinking, 'though.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Ardnamurchan & Adelphi Tasting, 01 April 2022. Hosted by GSC, and presented by Graeme Mackay and Connal MacKenzie from Adelphi). Nose: Barley sugar, forest fruit, strawberries and cream. Very light on the nose. Palate: Raisins, currants, icing sugar, lemon cheesecake, honey sweet, orange. Finish: Medium short finish. Light sherry, buttery, chocolate orange. There are hints of leather and liquorice on the aftertaste. You get some of the funky distillery character, with a load of light, icing sugar sweet spirit. A great wee dram! 1 of 348 bottles 5 unpeated sherry octaves, married into one hogshead. One octave each was picked by a team from Ardnamurchan distillery as part of a fundraising exercise. In May 2021, the five walked from Fife to the distillery, raising funds for the Ben which is the Scottish Licensed Trade Benevolent Society. One brought from the Adelphi archives for the tasting, so no longer available for sale (unless you can find it on the secondary market). Came first out of the six drams, with 35% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 91% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky. This got my vote for favourite of the tasting.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Ardnamurchan & Adelphi Tasting, 01 April 2022. Hosted by GSC, and presented by Graeme Mackay and Connal MacKenzie from Adelphi). Nose: Savoury, salty, light peat, sweet honey Palate: Sweet peat, light smoke, oily, fennel/aniseed, hay/floral. You do get a little medicinal/Fisherman's Friend funkiness. Finish: Medium short finish. Black tea, salt saline, sweet smoke. Very gentle peat on the aftertaste along with white pepper and touches of apple and pear. Peated to 30ppm 95% peated ex-bourbon barrels from 2015 5 casks of unpeated from 2015 2 hogsheads of Oloroso from 2016 2 hogsheads of PX from 2013 This is a nice gently peaty dram. There's a gentleness of the spirit despite it being a cask strength. This is what I would consider an entry level peated dram. Easy to drink and enjoy. Shows the character of the spirit - it's not all about the casks. Came joint third out of the six drams, with 15% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 91% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky.