Old Ballantruan Tweet Tasting

A rather special Tweet Tasting organised by Steve Rush of The Whisky Wire and Tomintoul Distillery to launch the rare peated Speyside Single Malt, Old Ballantruan 10 Year Old Single Malt. Alongside Steve was Master Distiller Robert Fleming from the Tomintoul Distillery.

Old Ballantruan is made in the Tomintoul Distillery within part of the most famous Scotch whisky producing region, “Speyside Glenlivet” using peated malt barley. It's unusual to find a heavily peated malt whisky from Speyside. The Old Ballantruan whiskies contain the smoky phenolic notes that are associated with Islay malts while in the background are sweet notes that characterise the Speyside region.

Old Ballantruan is made using heavily-peated malt barley with a total phenol content of 55 ppm (parts per million). This sits at about the same level as some of the peatiest Islay malts, whereas the most delicately peated malts may have a ppm content of as low as 2 or 3.

The tasting samples came beautifully packaged, with the two bottles nestling in a bed of hay within the 'Old Ballantruan' marked box, which had been carefully tied with string.

So promptly at seven o'clock, Steve and Robert kicked of the evenings educational entertainment. These two whiskies certainly qualified as new whisky discoveries for me and from the pre-tasting banter on Twitter, Old Ballantruan was a new experience for many of the tasting panel.

Ready for the Tweet Tasting kick-off

Whisky Discovery #214

Old Ballantruan NAS (50% abv)
Speyside Glenlivet Peated Single Malt Whisky
circa £32.50 70cl

The Original' Old Ballantruan'

For our first dram of the evening we started with the standard Old Ballantruan, a no age statement whisky, that has been around for just over ten years being first produced in 2001 as an experiment at the Tomintoul Distillery. 

It is bottled at roughly five or six years of age from a mixture of  refill hogsheads and refill barrels, at 50% abv without any chill-filtration.

Robert told us that the peat used not sourced near the sea hence more burnt wood notes than medicinal notes would be expected

So what did I think?

On the nose I was getting stable straw/hay, musty peat, fresh firm strawberries, there was a light BBQ smokiness and sweet caramel toffee drifting in and out. With a drop of water the strawberries ripen!

On the palate it was smooth and peppery, but not overly so. There was a sweet smokiness, orange peel and charcoal notes. There's an immediate pepper blast on the long finish which turns salty with an earthy peat taste with cumulates in a coffee bitterness.

Some of my favourite tweets for Old Ballantruan:

@whiskyrepublic Pungent, thick, overripe bananas

‏@WhiskyTasting The smell of a big damp warehouse or cricket store at the end of winter... 

@TIA568B Strong peat notes, cereal malty character, I think there's a bit of creaminess in there some where, quite meaty - BBQ and some hay

‏@LRWhisky It is very sweet and smoky, almost like burnt damp wood with heather on 

@RMWEdinburgh Good nose! Plenty of sweet cream and smoky peat but what really hits is strawberry yoghurt

@KirstyPryde1 Peatier then I expected, very smooth, very little burn, soft vanilla, caramelly sweetness 

Whisky Discovery #215

Old Ballantruan 10 Year Old (50% abv)
Speyside Peated Single Malt Whisky
circa £46.00 70cl

The new 10 Year Old

We then moved on to the headline dram of the evening, and tasted the recently released 10 year old. Again this has been matured in selected oak casks and bottled at 50% abv without chill-filtration in order to maintain it's layered and integrated peaty flavours.

Robert informed us that Faemussach peat is used for the 10 Year Old with malt kilned in Kirkcaldy. The same cask types are used, refill hogsheads and barrels, but the longer maturation mellows the peat slightly. 

Official Tasting Notes:
Colour: Rich gold
Nose: Gently spicy with smoky “peat-reek” deliciously balanced by a sweeter creamy core 
Palate: Some gentle peaty smokiness equipoised with a sweet, creamy, malty backbone
Finish: Climbing finish of sweetness gradually replaced with smoky depth

So what did I think?

It's amazing what the extra years in the casks has done to this peated spirit. This was much lighter on the nose with lemon notes almost floral and very delicate.

On the palate I was getting creamy lemon cheesecake  complete with the malty digestive biscuits. There was light peppery kick at the very end, with the smokiness of the peated spirit only coming through in the finish.

I went back to the remainder of my sample a few days later. Again I poured both drams and decoded I should nose the 10 Year Old first this time. The peated whisky is more evident second time around and without the Original dominating my senses first. It is still much more delicate that the Original and I'm still getting the lemon cheesecake, but the gentle peat-reek is definitely there now, drifting across the vanilla and creamy core.

Some of my favourite tweets for Old Ballantruan 10 Year Old:

@WhiskyTasting Golly this is totally different. Drier, more Autumnal, far less coastal. This could go either way
@the_josephellis I'm getting smoked mangoes on the nose!! Do smoked mangoes even 
@MasterOfMaltAM softer and sweeter definitely, i'm getting some stem ginger also, with some bread on the side
‏@KirstyPryde1 autumn leaves, on a crisp day, toffee apples and damp, peat and horses breath 

‏@ifotou Nose sweet and mellow a little white wine like, more hay and wheat some smoked campfire smells mixed with fleshy fruits

@themisswhisky On palate: white grape juice, buttered toast, cardboard from cereal box, ‏@TIA568B Really creamy lemon curd, delicate sweetness, homemade shortbread (corners), saltiness still there, but died down almost baking soda 

As per previous Tweet Tastings there was a great deal of tweeting going on and to see what happened search on the #OB10TT hashtag on twitter for the full story!

Yet another great experience and another highlight of my whisky journey, registering a fabulous four new ‘discoveries’ A massive THANK YOU to Steve Rush at @TheWhiskyWire and to Robert Fleming and everyone at the Tomintoul Distillery @TomintoulWhisky

This events tweet tasters were: @TheWhiskyWire @TheMissWhisky @MasterOfMaltAM @WhiskyDiscovery @ifotou @rodbodtoo @LRWhisky @WhiskyRepublic @theWhiskyReview @WhiskyTasting @steveprentice @galg @EdinburghWhisky @TIA568B @Whisky_Demon @Saint_Jimmy @KirstyPryde1 @TWSYork @the_josephellis @fr1day

If you want to be included in the next Tweet Tasting make sure you are following @TheWhiskyWire on Twitter to find out what is happening.

For more information see: http://www.thewhiskywire.com and for information about Old Ballantruan Whisky see http://www.angusdundee.co.uk/content/ballantruan.htm

Whisky Discovery #196

Bowmore 15 Year Old Darkest (43% abv)
Islay Single Malt Whisky
Circa £50.00 70 cl

The first of my four dram Bowmore experience

First unsuccessfully tasted at The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show, however I got a second opportunity at a recent meeting with  Morrison Bowmore Distillers UK Regional Sales Executive, Phil Nickson where being the first of a four dram Bowmore introduction went down a great deal better.

The 15 Year Old 'Darkest' has been matured in an inspired combination of both bourbon and sherry casks, it's the final three years spent in Oloroso sherry casks that gives the rich, deep colour reflected in its name, and its warming finish.

So What Did I Think?

Like I said this went down MUCH better than my first attempt, and it really is a great dram. I wouldn't take too much attention of the references to it's colour as this has been 'homogenised' with the addition of spirit caramel as so many of the whiskies seem to be these days.

That said, don't let this put you off. The nose is rich and fruity, dried fruits with figs and dates, some candied peel, there's dark toffee and chocolate notes. There's that Bowmore Islay smoke  along with some sweet licorice.

Again a good rich feel in the mouth and on the palate the candied peel tastes decidedly more orangey. There's a little spicy wood, and a pine or cedar type note, and dark cherries. The finish seems to be drying, almost like black tea tannins before some whispy wood smoke rolls in and gently fades.

This is definitely one I would like to add to my shelf in the future.

Whisky Discovery #195

Bowmore 1985 (52.3% abv OB, Bottled 2012, 70cl)
Islay Single Malt Whisky
Circa £300.00 70cl

My second 'Dream Dram' on the Sunday afternoon

This was my second 'Dream Dram' at the 2012 Whisky Exchange Whisky Show and one of just 747 bottles released 26 year old distilled in 1985 and bottled in 2012

The Bowmore Vintage 1985 has been aged for 26 years in hand selected bourbon and sherry casks, and matured in the legendary No.1 Vaults, Bowmore's warehouse which is located below sea-level on the island of Islay.

The expression is remarkably rich and fruity, balanced with the trademark Bowmore sea-salt tang, and possesses more smoke and depth than the earlier Vintage releases. This unique edition is a classic Bowmore; smoke, fresh Atlantic sea-salt and layers of fruit complexity.

It comes presented in a wooden gift box with a ‘weather-beaten’ brown leather strap and copper buckle, each bottle is also accompanied by a hand-signed and numbered certificate by the Bowmore Distillery Manager, Eddie MacAffer.

So What Did I Think?

Despite the photograph showing this to be golden it was much darker without the camera flash casting it's brilliant white light through it.

The nose had some lovely peat smoke aromas wrapped around chocolate and dark cherries. Citrus notes of orange and grapefruit come through on the palate, not light and fresh citrus but moodier and darker. The chocolate notes continue on the palate along with some sweet honey and a salty tang. It finishes with the cherries, dark cocoa rich chocolate and the delicious almost 'leathery' peaty smoke.

Unfortunately it's still above my drinking budget, so won't be something I'll be buying, but if you can get the chance to taste this, grab it with both hands!

The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show Part 2

Monday the 8th of October was the Trade and Press Day and, fortunately for us, bloggers were invited, so Kat and I made our way down to London following the morning rush. Unfortunately it wasn't as nice a day on the Monday, the heavens opened when we got to London Bridge so had to purchase an umbrella at London Bridge Station for Kat (you can’t mess a girl’s hair up) then dodge the puddles running from shop front to shop front trying to keep dry. We’d arrived a little early so decided we’d stop for a coffee and a bite to eat before making our way down to Vinopolis.

The coffee served was so hot when I went to sip it, that it cleaned of my taste buds from my tongue leaving my palate ruined for the whisky show. I really wasn't expecting that from what I thought was a quality deli. Coffee should never be made with boiling water and this was absolutely scalding.

Stopping outside Vinopolis and hiding under the railway bridge we spot Jon from Living Room Whisky (@LRWhisky)and shelter from the rain until the queue subsides, before making our way into the show to pick up where I left off yesterday.

The first dram of the day

It seems that our preferred starting point for whisky shows is the SMWS stand when in attendance, so that’s where we headed for catching up with Joe McGirr (@SMWSLondon) and meeting Georgie Bell (@BellesWhisky) for the first time. Explaining my palate predicament to Joe he suggested a light palate conditioner in the form of SMWS 35.60, a rather special 39 Year Old Glen Moray, distilled on the 11th October 1971 which was just so amazing I had to go back for a second take.

We caught up with Jon again and while he was being introduced to the Yoichi I tried yesterday and with my palate suitably refreshed I looked for something else that would be gentle on my palate and picked SMWS 7.78, a fabulous 20 Year Old Longmorn which again needed a double take it was that good. 

We popped across to see Melanie Stanger at the Springbank stand on the way over to catch up with Darren Rook of The London Distillery again before heading upstairs to the food pairing room, (like me, Kat is always hungry) which we hadn't stopped at yesterday. Spotting Mackmyra Whisky and the lovely Angela D’Orazio (@AngelasShare) we sampled the 05 Special and the new 09 Special while nibbling canapes.

We decided to look for some lunch in the Brasserie only to find that there was no hot buffet today and that sandwiches would be brought out later, and so we headed on up to the Mezzanine and bumped into Amanda (@TWLAmanda) and Eddie Ludlow (@TWLEddie) from The Whisky Lounge (@TheWhiskyLounge) on The Glenlivet stand and managed to catch up with Ian Logan (@ianthegaurdian) again.

Seeing sandwiches being brought up we decided we ought to grab some quickly, along with a coffee from Weanie Beans Coffee Lounge conveniently set up in the middle of the Mezzanine. We met up again with Jon from Living Room Whisky here and sat down for a short while, and we managed to get Colin Dunn to come and serve us a drop of Brora 35 Year Old while still sitting in the coffee lounge – yes we were waited on by Colin!  

After thoroughly enjoying the Brora we shifted over to the Diageo stand and were introduced to James Hill where we sampled the recently released Lagavulin 21 Year Old which was just stunning – no, really stunning. We met Oliver Klimek (@OliverKlimek) here too, who was also enjoying the Lagavulin 21 Year Old. 

So what do you follow a Lagavulin 21 Year Old with, why a Port Ellen of course! Yes we sampled the 12th release from Port Ellen, a 32 year old gem of a whisky.

We had to beat a hasty retreat from the Diageo stand after that having booked ourselves on a Cocktails Masterclass with Colin Dunn and Alessandro Palazzi from The Dukes Hotel. I've never been a cocktail drinker, I've had Margaritas and Gin and Tonics before which is the closest I've been to one, so thought I might learn something, and with Colin Dunn in charge thought it could be a bit of fun too!

Three whiskies were used for the the base of the cocktails, two I had tried before, Talisker 10 Year Old and The Singleton of Dufftown 15 Year Old, and one new to me, Johnnie Walker Gold Reserve

Cocktail Discovery #2

THE FABULOUS NEGRONI (Rocks Glass) Twist on Negroni

• 30 ml Talisker 10
• 30 ml Aperol
• 20 ml Cynar
• Method :Build
• Garnish : Orange and Lemon peel

Cocktail Discovery #3

THE GOLDEN ERA (Frozen Martini Glass) Twist on Rob Roy

• 50 ml Johnnie Walker Gold Reserve
• 10 ml Ratafia
• 20 ml Calvados
• Lemon Twist
• Juice of Griottines  Cherries 1 jar( if you have)
• Method :Mixing Glass, Shaken
• Garnish : 2 Cherries

Cocktail Discovery #4

JOHN’S WELL (Rocks Glass) Twist on Manhattan

• 45 ml The Singleton 15
• 15 ml Kina Martini
• 15 ml Crème de Cacao
• Juice of Griottines Cherries

I'm glad we got a chance to try each of the whiskies on their own beforehand as the cocktails didn't do it for me. It was great fun, but I preferred my scotch neat.

Realising that time was rapidly running out and that I still had yet to meet Marcin Miller at Number One Drinks for my introduction to Japanese Whisky. The stand was packed and Alwynne (@themisswhisky)  and Jon from Living Room Whisky were propping one end of the stand up having spent the previous forty five minutes minutes getting their introduction.

Marcin handed me over to Ed who took me through a fabulous collection of very special Japanese whisky starting with something that I had heard mentioned a number of times during the day, Chichibu The First. A long awaited release from Ichiro Akuto's Chichibu distillery - their first whisky, aged for three years and bottled at 61.8% abv

From Chichibu we moved to the Karuizawa distillery and ‘Spirit of Asama’ was tasted before what was one of my highlights of the day a 30 Year Old from a 1982 Bourbon Cask.

This was promptly followed by the Karuizawa 1983 ‘Noh’ Sherry Butt 28 Year Old and for my final dram of the show the Karuizawa 1984 Sherry Cask 28 Year Old

It was great to catch up with so many people we know on Twitter, as well as meeting some new friends. You can find all the photos of the drams we tasted on our Facebook Page - pop across and 'like-us' there please!

The full dram list with links as and when applicable!

• Whisky Discovery #201 SMWS 35.60 39 Year Old Glen Moray (42.3% abv) 
• Whisky Discovery #202 SMWS 7.78 20 Year Old Longmorn (53.6% abv) 
• Whisky Discovery #203 Mackmyra 05 Special (47.2% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #204 Mackmyra 09 Special (47.2% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #205 Brora 35 Year Old (48.1% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #206 Lagavulin 21 Year Old (52% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #207 Port Ellen 12th Release (52.5% abv)
• Cocktail Discovery #1 Monkey Shoulder & Oranges
• Whisky Discovery #16 Talisker 10 Year Old (45.6% abv)
• Cocktail Discovery #2 Talisker based cocktail with Aperol and Cynar
• Whisky Discovery #208 Johnnie Walker Gold Reserve (40% abv)
• Cocktail Discovery #3 Johnnie Walker Gold based cocktail with Calvados VSOP and Ratafia Cherry
• Whisky Discovery #115 The Singleton of Dufftown 15 Year Old (40% abv)
• Cocktail Discovery #4 The Singleton based cocktail with Chino Martini and Crème de Cacao
• Whisky Discovery #209 Chichibu The First (61.8% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #210 Karuizawa Spirit of Asama (48% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #211 Karuizawa 1982 Bourbon Cask 30 Year Old (46% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #212 Karuizawa 1983 ‘Noh’ Sherry Butt 28 Year Old (57.2% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #213 Karuizawa 1984 Sherry Cask 28 Year Old (64.5% abv)

The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show Part 1

I have been really fortunate this year, I've won a few whisky gifts from the competitions entered this year, as well as having some great invitations to attend whisky shows. I was really looking forward to the ‘Trade Day’ of The Whisky Exchanges Whisky Show at Vinopolis, but really wanted to go to one of the public days too.

It’s not a cheap day out at £99.00 a ticket and so was resigned to the fact that I couldn't really stretch the budget this year, and would have to settle for the Trade Day only which was booked for Monday 8th. However, I wasn't going to simply give up and wait. I entered every competition I could find, on the internet, on Facebook and on Twitter surely one of my numbers would come up.

Slowly throughout the week leading up to the show, winners of pairs of tickets were being called up, and I wasn't one of them, no emails, no phone calls, and by now the show had opened. There were tweets from friends who were at the show saying how wonderful it was, it only made things worse, I really wanted to go on Sunday.

Then late on Saturday afternoon a Tweet went out from The London Distillery – simply re-tweet to win a pair of tickets for Sunday’s show, I did, each time I was asked to, and so late Saturday evening I received the tweet I was waiting for. A pair of tickets were mine!

I asked my wife to join me on this special day out, to come and meet some of the wonderful people I have met at the whisky shows this year. I was so excited I could hardly sleep on Saturday night!

It’s quite easy for us to get into London, the trains run from Bedford into the heart of London every 30 minutes, and with Vinopolis located just ten minutes walk from London Bridge Station, it was very simple as the Bedford to Brighton train stops right there, no underground, buses or taxis to worry about.

By the time we got into the city the sun had burnt off the morning mist that we saw on the way down, and it was starting to look like a beautiful day. We arrived at the venue a little after midday. The initial queue we saw lining up had subsided while we enjoyed a coffee, and were able to walk straight in to the first hall and to be met with a mouth watering selection of whiskies from around the world.

Where should we start? 

First we went over to catch up with Darren Rook and his team, Distiller Andrew MacLeod and Online Marketing ; Marco Nijholt from The London Distillery, to thank them for the pair of tickets, and to catch up with progress with his project.

After leaving The London Distillery stand we bumped into Diageo Supremo, Colin Dunn, who told us that we must come upstairs to see him as he had some very special drams on offer. Not knowing where to start first I spotted a Three Ships Whisky, decided I should start with my first ever South African Whisky as a palate awakener!

Three Ships Limited Edition 10 Year Old South African single malt whisky, distilled and matured at the James Sedgwick distillery in Wellington South Africa, bottled at 43% abv, there’s a wonder that there is any of this left at all after 10 years in the South African climate – a huge ‘Angels Share’ of circa 10% was quoted! It certainly was just the ticket to wake up the palate

As always, a fabulous line up at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society Stand

From here we made our way over to the SMWS stand to catch up with John McCheyne and discuss where I should be looking to spend my ‘dream dram’ tokens, while there John poured me a lovely drop of SMWS 116.25, a 25 Year Old Japanese Whisky from the Yoichi Distillery, distilled on 20th March 1987 and matured in a first fill ex sherry butt, yielding just 485 bottles at a 59.2% abv. John warned me that this was a bit of a sherry monster, very rich and very sweet, he was not wrong!  The sweet sherry influence was massive on the nose, and the sweetness was throughout the taste and finish.

From one sherry monster to another as I decided that I should make my way over to the Glenfarclas Stand to go for my first dream dram. We met George S Grant who poured a generous dram of the Glenfarclas Family Casks 1963 release VIII. Ever since starting my whisky journey I've been searching for whisky that was distilled in 1963, my birth year. I know it’s just a ‘pipe dream’ as at almost £600 it’s way out of my league, but it was fabulous! 

My first 'Dream Dram' of the day - Born in '63

This was another 'liquid history' moment. After 48 years in a Sherry Hogshead this was bottled in October last year at 50.4% and yielded just 194 bottles. After nosing it for as long as I could stand, I dived in.

Nose: Huge Sherry hit initially, almost Port like. Stewed oranges and lemons seasoned with cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.

Palate: Rich and luxurious, more sherried fruits and chocolate notes. Just fabulous!

Finish: Sweet rich fruits, long and luxurious.

Overall: So pleased I was able to taste this great whisky.

After sampling my dream dram 48 year old I decided I should try it against their 40 Year Old, just to compare.

I then asked George what his favourite dram was, he recommended that I tried the Glenfarclas 105 20 Year Old, which I did immediately, but his everyday favourite was the Glenfarclas 15 Year Old – which was my favourite when I tried my first three Glenfarclas’ at The Whisky Lounge London Fest earlier this year.

With lunchtime calling we headed off to the Brasserie for the hot buffet where all of the dishes had used whisky in the cooking. There was a choice of three mains including a Thai Green Curry! Well we had to didn’t we?

The vaults of Vinopolis are just enormous there was so much room around the stands and the three show halls were well seperated. 

The oldest Auchroisk released to date

After lunch we made our way upstairs to the Diageo stand and sampled a 30 Year Old Auchroisk which was just beautiful. Despite being told a number of times, I was still unable to pronounced this distillery properly, but then I heard a couple of different pronunciations during the afternoon too, so I wasn't the only one!

I tried this without water initially and then went back for a second to try with water. This is Diageo’s oldest bottling from Auchroisk released to date. 

It's a vatting of refill European and American oak matured whisky, distilled in 1982 and bottled after 30 years. Outstanding quality, but at around £230 a bottle and only 2976 bottles available it won’t be around for long.

Nose: Light initially but soon grows in depth and complexity. Fresh, crisp, juicy fruit; orange peel, banana, and pear. There's a slight suggestion of smoke. Water increases brings a more floral fragrance and brings up sweet fruit with vanilla custard 

Palate: Smooth and sweet, with a mouth-filling texture, then warming, with notes of my dear old Mum's 'big fruit-cake'. 

Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 Year Old, with' man's best friend' in the foreground

By now, Ian MacDonald, Head Cooper from The Balvenie started showing everyone his cooperage skills – there was quite a din while he was knocking a barrel into shape as you can imagine.

With the banging over we went across to where we met Dave Craig from Spirit of the Spey , who was helping out on The Balvenie stand, while sampling some Balvenie Caribbean Cask., a 14 year old Balvenie finished in specially selected Rum Casks for six to eight months. We also caught up with Andrew Forrester, Balvenie’s UK Ambassador. I was hoping to be able to try the new 17 Year Old Balvenie Doublewood, but unfortunately it hadn't been brought to the show.

David Fitt, Master Distiller from The English Whsky Co.

Next up we headed over to a new feature for this show, ‘Meet the Makers’ where David Fitt, Master Distiller at The English Whisky Co. was being interviewed by Ian Buxton.  David had a bottle of yet to be released Chapter 12, a five year old whisky that had been matured in a PX Sherry Butt. We managed to catch up briefly with Ian Buxton afterwards, who kindly signed my 101 Whiskies books before stopping to chat with David and find out a little more about Chapter 12. Due to be launched in November, David had spent all day Friday bottling this single cask, and thought it was only fitting to bring a bottle to the show. I can tell you it was fabulous and will be looking to get myself a bottle of this very soon.

We then found the Irish Distillers stand, where I spotted a bottle of Yellow Spot 12 year old Irish whiskey, something I had been looking to try since tasting their Green Spot earlier this year. We were very fortunate to be introduced to Billy Leighton – Midleton’s Master Blender who introduced me to ‘Barry Crocket Legacy’ first before sampling the Yellow Spot.

Seeing Ian Logan was free on the Glenlivet stand was free, we introduced ourselves and sat down to talk about whisky, The Glenlivet as well as what Ian does when he’s not working. While there Ian pulled out a small bottle of something he had drawn from a 1977 European Oak Sherry Hogshead just four days previously from The Glenlivet warehouse #1 . I can tell you that this was just amazing!

Ian Logan, Brand Ambassador from The Glenlivet

With time running away with us we returned to the Great Halls, the second ‘dream dram’ token was now burning a hole in my pocket, and following the great experience of my first Bowmore last weekend decided that I would try the Bowmore 1985. This was the first Islay of the day, and the first whisky my wife did not like the nose of!

I followed this with a drop of Bowmore 15 Year Old Darkest, which unfortunately did not follow the 1985 that well for me. 

In addition the staff on the Bowmore stand were not that attentive, it was the first time we had experienced this less than enthusiastic welcome all day. I was hoping to find out a little more about Bowmore, but the inattention led me to pour away the remaining 15 Year Old Darkest, a first time ever I have thrown whisky away at a show.

With the final half hour of the show already starting we headed to catch up with Billy Abbott who was busy looking after the Whisky Show Exclusive Bottlings who selected four fantastic drams for me.

Starting with a wonderfully fragrant Rosebank 21 Year Old, which I think was my wife’s favourite ‘nose of the day’. 

We followed this with a Glentauchers 35 Year Old, a Glenrothes 40 Year Old and my final dram of the day a wonderful Littlemill 22 Year Old, which also happened to be my 200th Whisky Discovery!

Last pours had been called and so we made our way around to say some last goodbyes and thank you’s before heading home.

What a fantastic day out we had and I'm certainly starting to save towards attending next year’s event immediately!

Kat and I attended the following day, so for PART TWO click here:

The full dram list, with links to separate blog posts where applicable and when finished!

• Whisky Discovery #184 Three Ships 10 Year Old  Limited Edition (43% ABV)
• Whisky Discovery #185 SMWS 116.17 25 Year Old Yoichi (59.2% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #186 Glenfarclas Family Casks 1963 Release VIII (50.4% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #187 Glenfarclas 40 Year Old (46% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #188 Glenfarclas 105 20 Year Old (50% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #189 Auchroisk 30 year Old (54.7% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #190 The Balvenie 14 Year Old Caribbean Cask (40% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #191 English Whisky Chapter 12 (46% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #192 Midleton Barry Crocket Legacy (46% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #193 Yellow Spot 12 Year Old (46% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #194 The Glenlivet 1977 European Oak Sherry Hogshead Cask Sample (58% abv est)
• Whisky Discovery #195 Bowmore 1985 26 Year Old (52.3% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #196 Bowmore 15 Year Old Darkest (43%)
• Whisky Discovery #197 The Whisky Exchange Rosebank 21 Year Old (48% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #198 Single Malts of Scotland, Glentauchers 35 Year Old (50.9% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #199 Aged and Rare Glenrothes 40 Year Old (45.1% abv)
• Whisky Discovery #200 Single Malts of Scotland, Littlemill 22 Year Old (55.7% abv)

SMWS Tweet Tasting

This special Tweet Tasting was hosted by Steve Rush of @TheWhiskyWire and Joe McGirr of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society and was the beginning of a whisky filled weekend all centred around The Whisky Exchange’s annual whisky show held at Vinopolis

On the eve of the tasting the postman delivered a rather splendid package of four specially selected drams in celebration of The Whisky Show. The box proudly stated that this was the third release of the series, and my box was one of just 390! Every bottle released by the SMWS is drawn straight from the cask, at cask strength, and each of the casks have been carefully selected by their tasting panel (something I would love to be part of one day).

I was well prepared for this tweet tasting, leaving work a little earlier than usual to make sure I was ready with my four glasses, water, notebook, twitter screens etc. Then the phone rings. My daughter Kat too had got everything prepared, but went to grab her samples and found she had left them at work! With 15 minutes to go, it was too late to run back to work to collect them, so seeing as I was closer and ready I told her to get her butt here while I found a second set of four glasses for her.

I was fully prepared for this #SMWSTT, Kat was too, but minus the whisky

So promptly at seven o’clock, with a full house, Steve and Joe kicked of the evenings educational entertainment, and seeing as each of these are single cask whiskies, each fully qualified as a new whisky discovery:

Whisky Discovery #180

SMWS 48.33 'Marshmallows and Chocolate Éclairs 9 Years Old (58.9% abv 10cl)
Single Cask Speyside Lossie Malt Whisky
Only available from the SMWS

Dram #1 A 9 Year Old Speyside Lossie

We kicked off our Tweet Tasting with this 9 Year Old from the Balmenach Distillery. Distilled on 25th November 2002, and matured in a first fill ex-bourbon barrel. 

It was my first ever Balmenach, which as far as I can tell was once a contributor to the Johnnie Walker blends. 

The distillery is currently owned by Inverhouse Distillers, and they haven’t as yet, produced a single malt bottling from this distillery, although a limited number of bottles of Balmenach 27 Year Old and 28 Year Old have been produced for their Highland Selection series. This was a rare treat indeed!

The label reads "Scents of bubble-gum and fondant, becoming fruity and sweet. Hot taste with orange peel and jalapeno chillies. Water softens it; melons, ferns, dusty marshmallows. The texture is soft and sweet: chocolate éclairs, toffee and lemon zest"

So what did I think?

I found vanilla, oranges and sherbet lemons on the nose initially, it was quite 'zesty'. After a little while in the glass it becomes sweeter with a little fruit, but there was a dusty chalkiness to it as well. On the palate there is an initial sweet vanilla creamy mouth feel, orange blossom, before building up to a fiery pepper kick which quickly subsides when swallowed. The finish has both a light sweetness and saltiness at the end.

With a drop of water the nose becomes much sweeter, and the dusty marshmallows are very clear to me and I still could pick out the orange zest. The water softens the mouth feel taking away some of the fiery pepper leaving smooth vanilla caramel and lemon zest.

I returned to this after the tweet tasting with some good quality vintage Cheddar cheese which went exceptionally well with it becoming like a creamy vanilla custard.

Some of my favourite tweets for 48.33:

@LRWhisky I find oranges and vanilla, before being taken to an old fashioned sweet shop (childhood memories from Chester!)
‏@SMWSambassador With water toast and marmalade thick cut. Smooth and delicate, think just a drop or 2 really works for this dram
‏@rodbodtoo Palate Wow, that's a punchy dram! Super sweet, super smooth. Like Tate & Lyle Golden Syrup
@the_josephellis Palate - truly amazing! Creamy orange sauce with an oily texture
@dvdbloke  Sweetie shops, powdery anglo bubblegum. Certain creaminess

Whisky Discovery #181

SMWS 44.52 'The Artist, the Brewer and the Baker 22 Years Old (52.1% abv 10cl)
Single Cask Speyside Spey Malt Whisky
Only available from the SMWS

Dram #2 A 22 Year Old Speyside Spey

For the second dram of the evening we were treated to this 22 year old from the Cragellachie Distillery. This had been distilled on the 9th October 1989 and matured in a refill ex-Bourbon hogshead. 

This was another distillery I've never heard of previously, and I found out that there has only been one official bottling released from the distillery, that being a 14 year old, first released in 2004, so another treat for us!

The label reads "Aromas of paints, canvas and linseed then dried fruits, chutney and shortbread. To taste it's oily, hoppy and dry. Water adds pencil shavings, brine, tangerines. Honey and pink icing on the palate with fresh challah bread.

So what did I think?

My initial nosing notes read “Damp woody leafy forest floor, pencil shavings, light turpentine nose to it too.” After a little while in the glass the nose started to open up, there was more citrus zest coming through, but I could still find a sort of oily note to it, like the oiliness of old turpentine, that had been used to clean brushes a number of times. I read the label and picked up on the Linseed oil, that was what I was trying to put my finger on, I was getting old fashioned putty on the nose.

I really loved the complexity of this dram, both on the nose and on the palate; it needed of time in the glass, and with a drop of water became so much sweeter, with icing sugar although I wasn’t able to determine the colour! The woody dampness subsided to putty and pencil shavings on the nose.

Returning to it later in the evening I found that it has got a vegetal almost Anejo Tequila nose to it (and I hadn’t touch a drop of that evening)

Some of my favourite tweets for 44.52:

@rodbodtoo I Just Spilled Chocolate Orange Milkshake On A Newly Varnished Bench On A Hot Day (is what it should be called)
@whiskyrepublic I'm about 30 yards from that bench, under an apple tree, just next to a shop where ladies do nails
@TWLJoe The nose takes me back to detention, old wooden school desks but seems this old desk is filled with maple and pecan slices
‏@whiskyrepublic Could it be a "heavy wet coats on a bus in winter" kind of dampness?
@SMWSambassador With water I get the dampness. A wood after the rain in Autumn. A great dram for a walk in New Forest before lunch
 
Whisky Discovery #182

SMWS G5.6 'Bye, Bye Miss American Rye 18 Years Old (65.3% abv 10cl)
Single Cask Grain Whisky
Only available from the SMWS

Dram #3 An 18 year old Single Grain Whisky

We were really being spoilt at this Tweet Tasting! Next up was an 18 year old single grain whisky, distilled at the Invergordon Distillery on the 20th May 1993 and matured in a virgin toasted oak hogshead. This single grain was all about the wood it had been matured in.

The label read "Clean, light and spicy; eucalyptus and apricot glaze, then allspice, five spice, Spiced rum, tea tree oil and bags of vanilla. Big sweet taste, with loads of oak – further released when water is added. Like an exceptional American Rye whiskey.

So what did I think?

I had only just recently revisited a 20 Year Old Port Dundas single grain release at the weekend, and it had a similar punchy grain nose with dark rum. There was also notes of Tea Tree oil, very spiced rum and raisins. There's a shellac element too, and toasted coconut, and very ‘Bourbonesque’. 

On the palate there was a huge vanilla burst initially then the fire of the pepper, before settling down to sweet caramel, with a light smokiness char too

Some of my favourite tweets for G5.6:

@the_josephellis I'm getting a hefty dose of desiccated coconut on this nose! Very rye like!
@SMWSLondon This is what I've been waiting for. Virgin toasted oak.
@DramStats Palate. Huge alcohol burn. very sweet vanilla. Develops into rum and aniseed with wood on the nose. Then finish of RUM BALLS! YAY!

Whisky Discovery #183

SMWS 3.194 'Surf and Turf BBQ 14 Years Old (58.3% abv 10cl)
Single Cask Islay Malt Whisky
Only available from the SMWS

Dram #4 A 14 Year Old Islay

For our final dram of the evening we moved across to Islay and this 14 year old from the Bowmore Distillery. Distilled on the 25th September 1997 and matured in a refill ex-sherry butt. 

At last we had a whisky from a distillery I was familiar with! Well I had heard of Bowmore, though only tasted my first Bowmore at the previous weekends’ Midlands Whisky Festival. 

The label read “Mussels, Cockles and Oysters to start with then smoky gammon and coal tar shampoo. The taste is salty, smoky bacon and boiled lobster meat. Little smoke on the palate and good balance of sweet and spicy notes” 

So what did I think?

I was immediately reminded of salt and seafood on the nose, and tweeted that this would go so well with a BBQ mackerel and Thai chilli lime and garlic sauce. I was also getting a faint rubbery nose. On the plate there was an instant salty smack, yet there was a pleasant sweetness too. 

On the palate I was getting a sweet scented pipe smoke taste, a little liquorice and a short peppery blast before mellowing, and finishing with waves of smoke from the the dying embers of burning charcoal and short peppery blasts.

Some of my favourite tweets for 3.194:

@DramStats Nose Ah! the Bowmore peat. Dusk BBQ on a beach. The bottle is so accurate it's hard to deny what it says
 ‏@jalcock1982 Nose spare ribs, sea salt, cider, smoke, shrimp, buffalo wings, sticky, pear drops
@the_josephellis Leave it in the glass for a good ten minutes. I'm really getting those salted prawns coming out
@thebonaccord  Saltcoats on a nice day chip shop fire nice dram
@DramStats Palate: We're still on the BBQ and we've marinated everything in honey. Ozone, sweet smoke, sticky ribs, pepper, sunset on the beach

As per previous Tweet Tastings there was a great deal of tweeting going on and to see what happened search on the #SMWSTT hashtag on twitter for the full story!

Yet another great experience and another highlight of my whisky journey, registering a fabulous four new ‘discoveries’ A massive THANK YOU to Steve Rush at @TheWhiskyWire and Joe McGirr at @SMWSLondon and everyone else at the SMWS as well all the Tweet Tasters for sharing your tasting notes with us all.

This events tweet tasters were: @TheWhiskyWire @SMWSLondon @SMWSQueenStreet @SMWSAmbassador @TheWhiskyBoys @WhiskyIleach @ifotou @bumpythechemist @jalcock1882 @EdinburghWhisky @dramstats @WhiskyRepublic @Rodbodtoo @LRWhisky @the_josephellis @steveprentice @PresleyKa @TonyWTC @dvdbloke @Whisky_Demon @TIA568B @DramaticWhisky @GlenfiddichJM @SpiritStirling @thebonaccord @TheWhiskyLounge @TWLJoe @TWLAmanda @WhiskyDiscovery

If you want to be included in the next Tweet Tasting make sure you are following @TheWhiskyWire on Twitter to find out what is happening.For more information see: http://www.thewhiskywire.com and for information about the Scotch Malt Whisky Society http://www.smws.com