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In my haste to sample I forgot to take a pic! here's one from the whisky exchange instead |
The second dram has a very inviting deep amber hue and plenty of non-bourbon cask character*. I get butterscotch, caramac bars and banana skin on the nose but also an odd aroma redolent of partially melted acrylic plastic which transports me back to my school construction lab. Thankfully there's no plasticky notes in theflavour instead a spicey warming bananas mashed in honey withginger and cloves...tastes like a dessert. Vanilla comes through strongly in the finish, even more so with a drop of water but actually its so well balanced it doesn't need that. I could happily drink a lot of this but it turns out I can't afford to at £100 a bottle!
* Its certainly non bourbon-cask and not a whisky at all but a cognac. Wow who'd have thought I'd like something derived from the fruit of the vine!
Our final drop of the evening appears an innocuous wan gold but with a nasal burning grainy raw spirit note. In behind that is soreen maltloaf, freshly cut and a savoury umami meaty note. Its not until adding water that I spot the huge great whack of peat smoke lurking around the corner to pound my unsuspecting tastebuds into submission. The same is true of the flavour, with just a subtle hint of ashes in behind pre-watering but a full haybarn on fire smoky-sweetness appearing afterwards. Or smoky high quality silage as one tweeter mentioned. Turns out that this one is the Islay though it could easily have been a smoky speysider. Tricky beasts these whiskys, obviously need to train the palate a bit more!
So thanks as always to Steve at the Whisky Wire and cheers to the Whisky Lounge crew for supplying the samples, and once again affirming that in order to appreciate whiskys you need to go beyond whiskys in your sampling repertoire to give you other reference points, that cognac was fantastic. I can certainly recommend the rutter though and will buy one myself when funds allow. This tweet tasting was a preview event of the Whisky Weekender happening next weekend in London, if that sounds up your street then check it out.
For more thoughts on the drams in question take a look at #WhiskyWeekender on Twitter or see Pete's blog.
For more thoughts on the drams in question take a look at #WhiskyWeekender on Twitter or see Pete's blog.
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