Whisky Tasting at Fine Malt Whisky

May's tasting was presented by John Eastam from Gordon and MacPhail and featured Longmorn 1973, Mortlach 1970 and Ardbeg 1979.

April's Tasting ... BenRiach Distillery in the form of Alistair Walker, Regional Sales Director and son of the founder of BenRiach, visited us

Delights on offer includde 16 year old, 20 year old, 25 year old, 15 year old Dark Rum Finish, Curiositas, peated 12 year old Port finish and last but not least a 1972 limited batch 4 single cask bottling. Phew!

BenRiach has been awarded the accolade of 'Distillery of the Year' at the Malt Advocate Whisky Awards 2007 in New York and won five silvers and one bronze medal at the 2007 International Wine and Spirits Competition. more on the BenRiach 40 year old

March's Tasting Review Full to the cellar rafters with a good sprinkling of new folk, relishing the aromas, chortling in the vapours, so with a full house we had a equally full and international programme of drams.

Highlights included : Penderyn Welsh Malt Whisky...(nose) Honey and figs...(palate) Chewy malt and biscuit, medium flavour and body, (flavour) Sweet oak, rounded and a dram to watch when it reaches greater age.
AnCnoc 16 year old...(n) Grassy 'n' heather aromas, Vanilla sponge cake...(p) Big n rounded malt, medium sweet, lemon (f) superb addition to the range that brought us the uncomparable 12 yo.
Mackmyra Preludium 06... (n) raw spirit but ultimately clean and pronounced, vanilla and sweet toffee, (p) Long and genorous, thick malt style of its very own...Sweden's long awaited 1st whisky distillery.
Nikka Yoichi 10 year old...(n) Great richness of purpose, crisp clean malt and vanilla (p) Leaps and grabs you with complete politeness, chewy oats n quince jelly....a personal favourite.
Wild Turkey 10 year old Russell's Reserve...(n) Roasted almonds, raisins soaked in oloroso (p) Stewed apple and sticky toffee through sweet corn (f) long and enduring to crisp wheat bite...the 'Kitchen Chicken' kicked and was gobbled.
Ardbeg 17 yo 40 %...(n) Subtle peatiness with some apple smoke, brine and vanilla pods (p) great bounce of fresh mint then sweet oils of coconut into (f) salt, malt and crisp ardbeginess.

February's Tasting Review - Duncan Taylor Tasting review

Thanks go out to Jacqueline (Sutherland) and Ronnie (Routledge) for a show of impressive bottlings. Another packed cellar rooms tasted malt whisky expressions ranging from 12 years old to 40 years old, from a 12 year old peated (Auld Reekie/Islay) vatted malt through to a 40 year old grain (Invergordon) whisky at 50.3 % abv.

Highlights included: Invergordon Grain 40 year old ...(nose) Oyster shell pure sweet aromas with toffee apple (p) Mindboggling grain providing more sugars with great length and consistency...
and
Glen Esk 25 year old sherry cask...(nose) Oloroso magic, imagine being inside of the barrel itself! We were there and remained so into the night until the sheer delight had to give way to thoughts of revisiting the same again ...and again...
and
Glen Elgin 16 year old 46 %... (nose) Heads up for this opener with rich aromas of sugar spiced tea with full on depth (palette) Lapsang Souchong? Rounded malt flavours with balanced vanilla oak more like it!

More about them at their web site www.dtcscotch.com

Burns' Night Whisky Tasting....Haggis, Tatties and Neeps
We celebrated the immortal memory of the bard Rabbie Burns, with light hearted voice and really serious drams of the finest order... Some interesting background reading to be had here 'Did Rabbie have a favourite dram?' Be mindful of a favourite saying of Burns' - "Freedom and whisky gang thegither".

******************************2007 reviews******************************

In November Gordon Wright from Alchemist came to present our tasting. I give you his manifesto in his own words:
I have long wanted to put together a collection of the world’s finest wood-aged spirits. For fifteen years, firstly with my family’s distillery – Springbank - and latterly at Bruichladdich, I toured the world promoting the best Single Malt Scotches.

During that time it was my privilege to meet some extraordinary distillers and taste their wonderful creations. I found complexities and a sophistication of flavour in their spirits equal to those found in the greatest single malts. I now invite you to share my experience and discover the delights of the world’s finest spirits.
The selection will be extended over time to include other classic wood-aged spirits from around the globe.

The menu included: Auchentoshan 16 year old; Macallan 14 year old; Highland Park 15 year old; Springbank 10 year old; Port Charlotte 5 Year Old; Armagnac 14 year old - a great night was had.

Review of Bruichladdich Night September 27th 2007.

Full thanks go out to Don Maclellan from Bruichladdich for his presentation on 27th September. I can report that the Laddie Links 14 year old received the most attention - a rich spicey/herbal nose, full throttle malty oatmeal balanced with vanilla barley cream. 'I doubt the pass the bottle approach will be repeated..' was commented and I'd have to concur, but every once in a while, hey. Thanks mainly to you guys for making it a night to remember.

Back to Fine Malt Whisky home page

Whisky Tasting Nights - contact Dave on 01384-394518
Gordon & MacPhail Variety Night with John Eastam - Thursday 23rd July Johnny Dram returns to the den to offer up some of the more exotic Scotch malts that have lay maturing in the warehouses of Elgin for more than 20 yrs. Food : Cheese & biscuits Ticket price £25 Starts 7:30 Talisker with Colin Dunn (Diageo) - Friday 26th June is now sold out Our great friend and whisky fiend Colin Dunn will showcase the Isle of Skye nectar, a much welcomed 'vertical' and the 1st time we have ever covered Talisker in this way. Taliskers on trial: 10 year old, Distiller edition; 18 year old; '57 North cask & 25 year old. Food : Cheese & biscuits Ticket price £25 Starts 7:30 Please contact Dave on 01384-394518 or email david@nickollsandperks.co.uk to book your place		Tastings to be held in the Whisky Vaults at Stourbridge (see map) All tastings 7.00 pm for 7.30 pm start. All tastings aim to finish around 9.30 pm. Ticket Cost £20 per seat. Jim Murray Whisky Tasting Nickolls & Perks shop and cellars in Stourbridge High Street - review Numbers are limited to 35 places. Bookings taken over the telephone on 01384 394518. Via E mail: info@finemaltwhisky.co.uk
Details unless stated otherwise: Start 7:30 pm Duration: 2 hours Food : Cheese and oatcakes Venue: The Whisky Vaults 37 Lower High St Stourbridge DY8 1TA	For more about our Whisky Tasting Club send an email using the link below
****************************2008 reviews************************** Thurs 18th December was the Christmas Special with John from Gordon MacPhail - Tickets £25** We all like to relax and enjoy this time of year and so the big old bottlings came out for the treat of treats...Glen Grant 1960, Tullibardine 1973, Strathisla 1967... It don't get much better than this.
Reviews of tastings gone but not forgotten... October 24th Tasting The Arran Experience. This was the first time here for the guys from Arran. Having reached 10 years of age recently and now offering a number of varying expressions the table was set for an enlightening evening. On offer were the Robbie Burns Dram, a 10 year old, twelve year old, an Arran Bourbon, an Arran Oloroso and an Arran St Emilion. October 16th Tasting Ardbeg Masterclass. Micky Heads the current distillery manager wove the Ardbeg magic - some pictures - click here September's tasting The Bruichladdich Distillery Experience. Whether it's making Waves or making Links the Laddy laddies do it pretty well. A full array of 'Laddy' bottlings were here to sample. Importantly a few new releases on taste....the Bruichladdich 'PEAT' bottling, a couple of sherry cask 10 year old bottlings 'Oloroso' and 'Manzanilla' and a 2nd Edition 18 year old + NEW 21 year old! Class all the way with representation from the distillery on the night June's tasting Springbank Distillery on Tour, the guys came down again from Campbeltown to bring us this year's latest news 'n' booze. 2008 is the year for Longrow and we tried 3 brand new expressions on the night (world exclusives no less) including the Longrow 18 year old, for which there exist only 2000 bottles world wide. May's tasting was presented by John Eastam from Gordon and MacPhail and featured Longmorn 1973, Mortlach 1970 and Ardbeg 1979. April's Tasting ... BenRiach Distillery in the form of Alistair Walker, Regional Sales Director and son of the founder of BenRiach, visited us Delights on offer includde 16 year old, 20 year old, 25 year old, 15 year old Dark Rum Finish, Curiositas, peated 12 year old Port finish and last but not least a 1972 limited batch 4 single cask bottling. Phew! BenRiach has been awarded the accolade of 'Distillery of the Year' at the Malt Advocate Whisky Awards 2007 in New York and won five silvers and one bronze medal at the 2007 International Wine and Spirits Competition. more on the BenRiach 40 year old March's Tasting Review Full to the cellar rafters with a good sprinkling of new folk, relishing the aromas, chortling in the vapours, so with a full house we had a equally full and international programme of drams. Highlights included : Penderyn Welsh Malt Whisky...(nose) Honey and figs...(palate) Chewy malt and biscuit, medium flavour and body, (flavour) Sweet oak, rounded and a dram to watch when it reaches greater age. AnCnoc 16 year old...(n) Grassy 'n' heather aromas, Vanilla sponge cake...(p) Big n rounded malt, medium sweet, lemon (f) superb addition to the range that brought us the uncomparable 12 yo. Mackmyra Preludium 06... (n) raw spirit but ultimately clean and pronounced, vanilla and sweet toffee, (p) Long and genorous, thick malt style of its very own...Sweden's long awaited 1st whisky distillery. Nikka Yoichi 10 year old...(n) Great richness of purpose, crisp clean malt and vanilla (p) Leaps and grabs you with complete politeness, chewy oats n quince jelly....a personal favourite. Wild Turkey 10 year old Russell's Reserve...(n) Roasted almonds, raisins soaked in oloroso (p) Stewed apple and sticky toffee through sweet corn (f) long and enduring to crisp wheat bite...the 'Kitchen Chicken' kicked and was gobbled. Ardbeg 17 yo 40 %...(n) Subtle peatiness with some apple smoke, brine and vanilla pods (p) great bounce of fresh mint then sweet oils of coconut into (f) salt, malt and crisp ardbeginess. February's Tasting Review - Duncan Taylor Tasting review Thanks go out to Jacqueline (Sutherland) and Ronnie (Routledge) for a show of impressive bottlings. Another packed cellar rooms tasted malt whisky expressions ranging from 12 years old to 40 years old, from a 12 year old peated (Auld Reekie/Islay) vatted malt through to a 40 year old grain (Invergordon) whisky at 50.3 % abv. Highlights included: Invergordon Grain 40 year old ...(nose) Oyster shell pure sweet aromas with toffee apple (p) Mindboggling grain providing more sugars with great length and consistency... and Glen Esk 25 year old sherry cask...(nose) Oloroso magic, imagine being inside of the barrel itself! We were there and remained so into the night until the sheer delight had to give way to thoughts of revisiting the same again ...and again... and Glen Elgin 16 year old 46 %... (nose) Heads up for this opener with rich aromas of sugar spiced tea with full on depth (palette) Lapsang Souchong? Rounded malt flavours with balanced vanilla oak more like it! More about them at their web site www.dtcscotch.com Burns' Night Whisky Tasting....Haggis, Tatties and Neeps We celebrated the immortal memory of the bard Rabbie Burns, with light hearted voice and really serious drams of the finest order... Some interesting background reading to be had here 'Did Rabbie have a favourite dram?' Be mindful of a favourite saying of Burns' - "Freedom and whisky gang thegither". ****************************2007 reviews**************************** In November Gordon Wright from Alchemist came to present our tasting. I give you his manifesto in his own words: I have long wanted to put together a collection of the world’s finest wood-aged spirits. For fifteen years, firstly with my family’s distillery – Springbank - and latterly at Bruichladdich, I toured the world promoting the best Single Malt Scotches. During that time it was my privilege to meet some extraordinary distillers and taste their wonderful creations. I found complexities and a sophistication of flavour in their spirits equal to those found in the greatest single malts. I now invite you to share my experience and discover the delights of the world’s finest spirits. The selection will be extended over time to include other classic wood-aged spirits from around the globe. The menu included: Auchentoshan 16 year old; Macallan 14 year old; Highland Park 15 year old; Springbank 10 year old; Port Charlotte 5 Year Old; Armagnac 14 year old - a great night was had. Review of Bruichladdich Night September 27th 2007. Full thanks go out to Don Maclellan from Bruichladdich for his presentation on 27th September. I can report that the Laddie Links 14 year old received the most attention - a rich spicey/herbal nose, full throttle malty oatmeal balanced with vanilla barley cream. 'I doubt the pass the bottle approach will be repeated..' was commented and I'd have to concur, but every once in a while, hey. Thanks mainly to you guys for making it a night to remember. Back to Fine Malt Whisky home page
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