Whisky Tasting : New Malts

 Regional, Whisky tasting, the cabal. These things all feel right together.

the July tasting was all about new malts. Or at least, new ones to Regional. 

I do wonder why I put the pictures up, even I'd admit they all look the same :)

Glen Ord Signatory 100 proof 11yo 57.1%

N: ash, lemon, spritzic, banana, bourbon, young, sweet, marshmallows, pears, vanilla, coconut

P: apple, sparkly, lemon, prickly sour, metallic,

F: not great, sour, long, hot

6.5/10 Not a fan, the sour notes were not engaging and the nose promised a lot more than the palate delivered.

Came 7th with 6.69

Blackadder Sherry Snake 57.3%

N: apricot, chocolate, currents, leather, creamy, lovely, sherry, fruity, demerra sugar

P: chocolate, complex, spicy, bitter, sherry, burnt caramel, dry

F: spicy, bitter, short, no complexity

7/10 slightly more interesting than the Glen Ord, but nothing to make me go 'wow', which I guess for Blackadder, is a wow moment.

6th with 7.59

Glenfarclas 105 16yr 60%

N: apple, fruity sultanas, run, apricot, copper, coffee, bananas, dry, chilli, engine oil

P: lmeon, spritzic, dry, fruity, incr alc, hot

F: med-long, hot, spicy

8/10 Like most people, I've got a soft spot for the 105, it's been a bit hit and miss recently, but this one is more hit.

4th with 7.94

GlenAllachie 2009 14yo 58.4%

N: sweet lemon, reduced stock, spicy olive oil, old xmas cake, butterscotch

P: lemon, oily, sweet, cardamon, peppermint, dry

F: med-long, dry

7.5/10 I like it, but I sort of thought it was a bit simple? maybe? dunno. A quaffable dram, but not one of hte top GlenAllachie's. 

5th with 7.74

Mystery: Whisky Cellar Blended Malt S.W. 8yo 'Sweet Smokey Robusto' 52.5%

N: sherry, smoke, peat, chocolate, tobacco, smoked salmon, sulphur, tannins

P: smokey, sherry, smk salmon, ash, chocolate, sweet, lovely balance

F: med long

9/10 This I liked, a lot. Also crazy cheap (for what it is) so a bottle is now in my cupboard. Came 1st with 8.41 so I wasn't the only one who liked it.

Caol ila Signatory 100 proof 9yo 57.1%

N: peat, sweet, rubber, sugar, smokey, solvent, sulphur, iodine, beef tea (yeah thanks Richard), smokey

P: rubber, dry, sweet, smoke

F: med ash

8/10 It's a Caol Ila, it's good. Only reason I didn't buy a bottle is I've got *a few* like this already. Came 3rd 8.2

Kilchoman Whisky Galore Exclusive Marsala Cask Finish #18/882 57.6%

N: fruit salad, bourbon, hint peat, solvent, wet dirt, potpurri, chlorine?

P: chocolate, smooth, complex

F: med-long, hot spicy

7/10 eh I liked it, but not loved it. Came 2nd with 8.38 so my views maybe wrong 

Whisky was drunk. We had views. And I bought a bottle. Everything seems to be going to plan.

Last.FM update #4

 #4 ? Bloody hell, I'm almost doing a series...

* Target for the year was to hit the 20,000 individual track plays for the year, to which end I'd set up a spreadsheet to analyse how things were going, what my current run rate was, and what I had as a required run rate. My aim was to try and hit 20,000 by end of October as that gave me a couple of months if I needed them. Also, 2000 tracks a month was a nice round number. 

At the end of July, if I was sticking to the plan, I'd have hit 14,000 tracks (my 2,000 a month). In an attempt to overdeliver, I was sitting around 14450 giving me significant latitude for relaxing. But that, that would be the wrong approach.

where are things at? As of yesterday afternoon, 14654. 

Evrything looks great, Current run rate continues to hover just under 70 a day, and my required run rate is sits at 35 a day (although this is planned against 31 Dec). 

Huzzah !!!

Current listening: Deep Purple - In Rock (anniversary edition)

Last.FM update #3

 #3 in a surprisingly continuing series! 

To recap:

* Target for the year was to hit the 20,000 individual track plays for the year, to which end I'd set up a spreadsheet to analyse how things were going, what my current run rate was, and what I had as a required run rate. My aim was to try and hit 20,000 by end of October as that gave me a couple of months if I needed them. Also, 2000 tracks a month was a nice round number. 

In theory I needed to hit 10,000 by the end of June to ensure I was on track for 20,000 at the end of the year. The last post at the start of June pointed out that I'd already achieved that number, so the goal was to keep hitting 2000 tracks a month, which will mean a late Sept finish for the 20,000. After that, who knows! The world is a mollusc of desire. 

Today is the 9th of July, and I'm sitting at 12984. So things are looking very good. Graphs and tables look great, and as of today my required run rate (RR) is under 40 tracks. Everything is good.

What am I listening to right now? currently Various Artists 'Chess'. One of the few musicals I like. 

Whisky Tasting: Thirty Years of Tastings at Regional

 The 30th anniversary tasting by Daniel at Regional. Discussions between our cabal suggests we've been going (in various guises) for 25-26 of those years. Either way, we've had a few drams. Some of them have been quite drinkable. 

Tonights line-up falls under the 'quick drinkable' category. 

We opened with a welcome dram, Auchentosh 1L Dark Oak 43% which was adequate and qualifies as a non-challenging quaffing whisky. 

Ardmore 30yo 47.2% 1987-2018

• Nose: pears, sweet and savoury, medicinal, leather, fruity, coconut, wood
• Palate: white pepper, green apples, sweet, fruity, bitter, lemon, oily
• Finish: long, hot, minerals

8.5/10 A lovely, actually great, whisky. Complex, interesting, challenging. Came 5th with 8.83.

Springbank 15yo 46%

• Nose: toffee, sulphur, perfume, sweet, parmesan, phosphorus, wet dog, rubber
• Palate: light, hint of salt, spicy, liquorice, sweet, wet wool, dry
• Finish: medium, dry

7/10. Look, I'm just not a fan of SB, the nose is amazing and after that things are a bit mild. Probably good it was early in the lineup as I doubt it would have fared well after some of the later drams. Came 6th= with 7.98

Lagavulin 16yo

• Nose: band aids, medicinal, suppurating wound, bleach, rubber, coastal, damp, 
• Palate: salty, bacon, smooth, ash, peat, dry
• Finish: ash, long

9/10 This was the mystery. It's a consistently great whisky and whenever its thrown into tasting line-ups it always does well. I love it. Which reminds me my bottle died recently. Must fix that. Came 6th= 7.98

Berry Bros Rudd Glen Grant 1995 2022 barrel #119467 49.1%

• Nose: lemon, cheese, spritzic, fruity, sweet, apples, fruit salad, bourbon, green apples, coconut/vanilla
• Palate: fruity, light, sugar lemons
• Finish: medium-long

9/10 I may not have made masses of notes, but again a great whisky. Balance and complexity. Beautiful. Came 4th with 8.93

Glendronach 26yo 16/7/1993-2019 PX 8634 54.4%

• Nose: very fruity, vanilla, bourbon - hint, sherry, berries, metallic
• Palate: milk chocolate, wood, tannins balanced.
• Finish: medium peppery

8.5/10 the odds of a Glendronach brown and gold doing well? yeah i know, surprising innit. Came 3rd 9.07

Ben Nevis 25yo Blackadder St.41 51.9% 5/12/1996-6/2022 Raw Sherry Butt 2203

• Nose: sherry, xmas cake, woody, apple, tobacco, maple syrup, great !!! charred
• Palate: apples, chocolate, xmas cake, treacle, caramel, rubber, sulphur, coffee
• Finish: salt, long, chewy, complex, dry

10/10. It's great. Everything I want in a whisky. Came first with 9.66. Suggesting others were equally smitten.

Inchgower 20yo Blackadder 57.6% 7/1995-9/2015 Raw Sherry Butt #692

• Nose: sherry, fruity, lighter (than the 'Nevis), floral, musty, banana, linen, ?mouldy?
• Palate: sherry but hint of salt, coconut, sweet, waxy, parma violets, 
• Finish: med-long, complex

Somewhere between a 9.5-10 /10. In any other tasting, probably a 10. Truly lovely dram, came 2nd 9.2

Fair to say one of the top tastings we've had. When the worst is a Springbank, you really can't complain. 

Slainte Daniel !

Last.FM update #2

 Number 2 in what might be a regular series! who knows! I'm excited!

Target for the year was to hit the 20,000 individual track plays for the year, to which end I'd set up a spreadsheet to analyse how things were going, what my current run rate was, and what I had as a required run rate. My aim was to try and hit 20,000 by end of October as that gave me a couple of months if I needed them. Also, 2000 tracks a month was a nice round number. 

How are you going ?

Quite well thanks, certainly managing to keep above the 2000 / month required RR. At the start of June I was sitting around 10350 tracks, so over halfway for the Oct finish.