Tastes

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Sherry Casks Tasting, 19 March 2022). This was a mixed tasting that included sherries, gin, brandy, rum and whiskies – the theme being the sherry. Nose: Mocha, coffee, and chocolate, raisins, dates, malt loaf, orange zest, cinnamon Palate: Burnt caramel, flambéed orange, vanilla, lightly charred oak, cocoa, chocolate raisins, dark chocolate Finish: Medium long finish. Dark chocolate, dried fruit (dates, prunes, figs), liquorice, leather, ginger, allspice. Distilled: 21 Dec. 2011 Bottled: 03 Feb 2022 Cask No: 482 Signatory bought Edradour from Pernod Ricard in 2002, so it's an odd combination of an IB from the OB owner. However, this is nothing like a standard Edradour, so I do (kind of!) get it. Punchy and full bodied for it's 46%. Heavily sherried, with all you'd expect from a sherry bomb - chocolate, dried fruit, prunes and hints of ginger and Christmas spices. A great wee dram. There is no direct comparison between the tastes, however there was a vote at the end with the scores shown as (Liked % / Favourite % / Price). Following the tasting, I purchased a bottle of the Edradour and a couple of half bottles of the Mira La Mar PX. - Lustau Don Nuno Dry Oloroso Solera Familiar (80%/20%/£20.50) - Mira La Mar PX (half bottle) (87%/20%/£11.20) - Boatyard Old Tom Gin (60%/0%/£37.00) - Cardenal Mendoza Solera Gran Reserva Brandy de Jerez (93%/47%/£59.00) - Valdespino Ron Viejo Rum (67%/27%/£70.00) - Signatory Un-Chillfiltered Collection Edradour 2011 10y/o Whisky (87%/40%/£63.00) - Millstone Single Malt Whisky Peated - PX Cask Dutch Single Malt Whisky (80%/20%/£61.50)

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Sherry Casks Tasting, 19 March 2022). This was a mixed tasting that included sherries, gin, brandy, rum and whiskies – the theme being the sherry. Nose: Light peat, salt/saline, caramel, barley sugar, icing sugar. Hints of heather honey and Frazzles crisps Palate: Salty and floral, malt loaf, chocolate digestive biscuits, orange, candied fruits, dates, honey, sherry (obviously!) Finish: Medium long finish. Salted caramel, chocolate, sherry (an odd mix of PX and Oloroso notes), Demerara sugar, dried fruit, oily. There is a fishy/BBQ note on the finish. This was tasted blind and I initially thought it could be a Kilchoman, it has a lot of the same young, damp peaty, grainy notes - although not quite as well integrated. Overall though, this is a peaty sherry bomb. Youthful and easy to drink but not a lot to it over the peat and sherry. There is no direct comparison between the tastes, however there was a vote at the end with the scores shown as (Liked % / Favourite % / Price). Following the tasting, I purchased a bottle of the Edradour and a couple of half bottles of the Mira La Mar PX. - Lustau Don Nuno Dry Oloroso Solera Familiar (80%/20%/£20.50) - Mira La Mar PX (half bottle) (87%/20%/£11.20) - Boatyard Old Tom Gin (60%/0%/£37.00) - Cardenal Mendoza Solera Gran Reserva Brandy de Jerez (93%/47%/£59.00) - Valdespino Ron Viejo Rum (67%/27%/£70.00) - Signatory Un-Chillfiltered Collection Edradour 2011 10y/o Whisky (87%/40%/£63.00) - Millstone Single Malt Whisky Peated - PX Cask Dutch Single Malt Whisky (80%/20%/£61.50)

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 18 March 2022). Nose: Smoke, wet wood, caramel, sweet and a little salty. Black pepper and plums as a subtle backnote Palate: Sweet smoke, walnuts, pepper, ginger, dark chocolate. Strangely soft, sweet smoke. Finish: Long finish. Burnt sugar, dark fruits, quite smoked, but still containing lots of dried fruit and malt loaf. Christmassy. 46 Madeira hogsheads, filled in 2016. This is an interesting dram, not bad - quite woody and smoked, with a good amount of fruit. Not particularly remarkable. Juicy, salty and ultimately drying. A decent dram. Came third out of the six drams, with 7% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 100% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 18 March 2022). Nose: Dried fruit, baking spices, cinnamon, coffee, molasses, orange, milk chocolate Palate: Dark chocolate, raisins, dried figs, plums, peach. There's a vanilla and orange undertone which is dominated by the sherry finishing. Finish: Long finish. PX sherry, chocolate, coffee, mocha, raisins and cherries. Leather and dry tannic oak on the aftertaste. Big and complex. Sweet, coffee and chocolate are dominant, but there are subtleties - peach, orange, port and vanilla. There is a lot going on here. Another great Glenallachie sherry bomb. Quaffable for a 56.8% whisky! Exceptionally drinkable. Came joint last out of the six drams, with 0% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 87% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 18 March 2022). Nose: Vanilla, wood, honey, toast and butter. Sweet. Palate: Black pepper, oak, sweet, barley sugar, orchard fruit (pear/plum). There is a little aged mustiness on the palate. Finish: Long finish. Dry, wood, pepper, liquorice, banana bread, sweet oak and vanilla Distilled: Nov. 2001 Bottled: Dec. 2019 Refill hogshead no. DL13784 1 of 273 bottles The finish reminds me of those old fashioned menthol liquorice and blackcurrant sweets. There's a load of sweet oak and vanilla. This is a lovely, aged and oaky whisky that manages to retain it's sweetness. Nice. Came first out of the six drams, with 53% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 87% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky. This received my vote for favourite.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 18 March 2022). Nose: Green/grassy, plum, peach, lightly floral Palate: Sweet, honey, oak, spice (white pepper), orchard fruit, nutty oak. Wisps of char. Finish: Long finish. Oily, orange, oak/wood, baking spice, damp/musty, dry Fino sherry on the aftertaste. 1 of 1237 bottles OB are now The Deveron who are owned by Dewars (in turn ultimately owned by Bacardi) 500mm bottle This quite an oily, but oddly drying dram. It has loads of slightly jaggy layers, but overall is not bad at all. Came joint last out of the six drams, with 0% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 67% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 18 March 2022). Nose: Floral, citrus, light hairspray, gorse and heather Palate: Caramel, citrus, orange. Slightly sour note, black pepper, gristy barley, tinned pears. Honey sweetness. Finish: Medium long finish. Darker on the finish than the palate. Brown sugar, baking spices, tobacco, leather and oak/ash. Souring darkly on the aftertaste. Parcel of 10 casks from Mannochmore Distillery Honeyed, fruity and spicy. A little souring on the finish. Quite peppery behind the fruit and darker as it sits on the palate. This is a nice dram, but the sour notes brought it down a little. Came joint second out of the six drams, with 20% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 80% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 18 March 2022). Nose: Sweet, citrus, orange, honey strawberries Palate: Vanilla, salted caramel, very sweet, icing sugar, buttered popcorn Finish: Medium short finish. White pepper, tannic oak, more of the salt and sugar that is evident on the palate, summer berries. Nice grippy mouthfeel on the palate. You can absolutely taste the White & Mackay in this whisky, but with a far deeper and sweeter combination of layers. Salt and sweet, lots of orange and a good bit of ice cream and buttered popcorn. 1 of 196 bottles Cask no: 300250 Came joint second out of the six drams, with 20% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 80% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky.

Nose: Sweet, orange zest, honey, Golden Syrup caramel, floral. Palate: Slightly ‘hot’, peppery, zingy fruit (citrus), stone fruit (peach), caramel. A lovely soft, buttery mouthfeel. There’s an almost herbal note underneath. Finish: Quite a long finish, warm, butterscotch and malt loaf. Light spices, caramel and gently spicy. Softer citrus on the aftertaste. I had tried (and enjoyed) the Batch 1 and was pretty impressed. I was also looking forward to seeing what they did with subsequent releases of the core range, to see if they had tweaked the recipe, and I’m surprised to say that this is very, very similar to the Batch 1. They did do a lot of market research before the first core batch release and they seem to be sticking with the taste profile. I’m glad this their approach overall, it’s still a great light summer dram and has a decent complexity for such a young dram. I’ve found myself going back to this a few times and have even started looking out for it in the bar - always a good sign. I just bought a replacement bottle! BATCH. 11 Distillation dates: February, March, May and June 2018 Number of bottles: 5040 Spirit recipe: Light and Fruity Yeasts: Anchor & Fermentis Cask mix: 65% STR Red Wine, 35% Ex-Bourbon Cask numbers: 2018 / 51, 120, 243, 240, 36, 37, 47, 48, 101, 233, 229, 230, 299, 23 Disgorging date: 21/10/2021 Bottling date: 01/11/202 - 29/11/2021 Bottling strength: 46% Non-chill filtered. Natural colour.

Nose: Earthy, vanilla, dried fruit (berries/cranberries). Golden syrup and demerara sugar. Quite 'fiery' and hot on the nose! Palate: Chocolate, damson jam, dark treacle, salted vanilla caramel (although slightly burnt caramel). Finish: Long finish. Dark cherry and damson jam, chocolate, hints of black pepper and chilli. Light citrus on the aftertaste. Pedro Ximénez and Amontillado casks Batch 2 This is an unctuous and luxurious dram with a great mouthfeel for it's relatively low ABV (44%). A great salty and sweet dram.