Tastes

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 08 January 2021). Nose: Iodine, seaweed, BBQ, bacon, Frazzles crisps Palate: Salt / saline, black pepper, bonfire and smoke. There’s fleeting glimpses of tropical fruit - bizarrely pineapple Finish: Black pepper, chillies, green bell pepper, with a smokey & ashy finish I really liked this young Talisker. It has some of the feistiness of the 57° North, although not quite as well integrated. It’s a whisky with a bit of fight in it. Hints of tropical fruit with a salt and pepper hit. Nice! Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the tasting on the night, but the folk at GSC kindly sent me a copy of the video to watch later. This meant I couldn't see the results of the poll at the end!

Nose: Chocolate raisins, fruit and berries Palate: Berries and fruit upfront. Chocolate orange, dried/ candied fruit Finish: Apple and pear sweetness, leather and wood. Short, dry finish. Stays sweet, but sours on the aftertaste. There are lots of interesting layers here, but they don’t quite integrate into a cohesive dram. Having said that, it has a creamy and syrupy mouthfeel that is pleasantly warming. I was pleasantly surprised by this and would happily have a few of these over an evening.

Nose: Zesty, orange, children’s sweets Palate: Sweet and fresh, ‘zingy’. There’s apple and pear notes, but slightly artificial tasting (like the taste of fruit flavoured sweets). There are background hints of oak and salt Finish: Short finish. Sweet apple and pear. Light wood notes/ hints. This is quite a fresh tasting and fruity whisky. There’s a sour, slightly bitter note as it dissipates that flattens out to a woodiness and quickly disappears.

Nose: Floral, honey, salt & brine Palate: Sweet, baked fruit and candied orange, light smoke, bready with a light hint of liquorice Finish: A dry, spicy finish. Black pepper, lightly woody. A long, warm finish. A little watery on the mouthfeel. This is a light and easy drinking whisky. It’s not the most exciting dram, but it’s pleasant and one I tend to keep going back to time and again. I had already reviewed this before they added a the Viking branding as a standard 12y/o. It’s essentially the same whisky with a new marketing slant.

Batch 1 1of 1,177 bottles Nose: Sweet, pastry, oak, nutty Palate: ‘Hot’ upfront, spicy (black pepper and baking spices), citrus and apple Finish: Milk chocolate, slightly herbal and a citrusy aftertaste. The overall impression is of a hot and spicy dram, which is perfectly pleasant but a little thin on the mouthfeel.

Blended batch: 5 Age: 11y/o Nose: Toffee apple, sweet wine, vanilla, ginger, oranges Palate: slightly ‘hot’ and spicy - chillies, black pepper - milk chocolate, summer berries and sweet orange. Slightly floral background notes Finish: More spices, but developing into a dry, sweet woodiness as it dissipates. A medium-long finish which slightly sours (grapefruit/citrus) on the aftertaste. Overall, this is a surprisingly drinkable dram in its own right. A little hot, but there’s plenty of layers of caramel, spice, citrus and orange, with a woody finish, to keep it interesting. This particular blend has a bit of an interesting story. It was blended and bottled by SMWS in partnership with Tempest Brew Co. SMWS provided them with a batch of ex-bourbon casks and Tempest used them to cask their Rye Double IPA. Once the beer was done, SMWS then used the casks for a blend of malts (previously from 1st-fill hogsheads) to be finished for 14 months. As a final note to this one, it would only be fair to mention that I had to try it in an Old Fashioned (as was intended - the clue is in the name!): 60ml SMWS Old Fashioned blended 10ml maple syrup 2 dashes orange bitters 2 dashes aromatic bitters Stirred over ice Applewood smoked under a cloche for (around) 1 minute Verdict: It makes a damn fine Old Fashioned! Better than most bourbons (to my taste) and very moreish!

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 05 February 2021). Matured in 1st-fill Kentucky bourbon barrels 1 of 4,900 bottles Bottled: 10-06-2020 Nose: Ash, peat, tropical fruit Palate: Smoke / burning embers, sweet BBQ, charred meat, salt/brine, green pepper Finish: Tobacco, leather, ash, salt & brine. To me this tastes like a sweet Caol Ila. It is very ashy on the aftertaste, but the sweetness livens it up. Came joint second out of the six whiskies, with 17% of the final vote for favourite of the night (4 votes), however this is possibly because there was an absolute standout dram at the tasting which was the runaway winner of the night. 87% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky (20 votes).

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 05 February 2021). Matured in a first-fill Oloroso sherry hogshead for 12 years Bottled: October 2020 1 of 323 bottles Nose: Honey, raisin/sultanas, oily & buttery notes Palate: Milk chocolate raisins, demarara, dark berry fruit, vanilla, molasses Finish: Leather, caramelised fruits, black pepper, demarara rum on the aftertaste This is an exceptionally good dram. Dark, caramelised fruit, vanilla and dark rum. Delicious. It also got my vote for first and I'm currently trying to justify to myself spending this amount of money for a 12y/o Glenrothes! I've not quite pressed the button to buy yet, but I suspect I might just be delaying the inevitable! Fabulous! Came strong first out of the six whiskies, with 52% of the final vote for favourite of the night (12 votes). 91% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky (21 votes). This was the standout dram at the tasting and the runaway winner of the night.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 05 February 2021). Cask No: 800470 1 of 132 bottles Distilled: 28-11-2011 Bottled: 14-09-2020 1st fill bourbon barrel Nose: Fudge, banana, earthy, vanilla, cream Palate: Toffee/fudge, coconut, herbal, fruity Finish: Floral/herbal on the finish. Bay leaf & tarragon. Quite a burned/toasted note on the aftertaste Came joint last out of the six whiskies, with 4% of the final vote for favourite of the night (1 vote), however this is possibly because there was an absolute standout dram at the tasting which was the runaway winner of the night. 91% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky (21 votes).

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 05 February 2021). Bottled: February 2019 1 of 256 bottles Nose: Crisp, floral, gorse, summer fruit & berries Palate: Creamy, spices, fruit, coconut. The initial taste is mostly savoury/floral with the fruit on the back note Finish: Spices and black pepper. Quite a dry, earthy finish Difficult to pin down tasting notes for this whisky, it seems to move between creamy, peppery, floral and fruit with each sip. Water completely kills the nose and sweetens the palate. Came joint second out of the six whiskies, with 17% of the final vote for favourite of the night (4 votes), however this is possibly because there was an absolute standout dram at the tasting which was the runaway winner of the night. 70% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky (16 votes).