The posse blind tasted two samples from our whisky friend Gordon – @gordonsmith63 (Twitter follow button at the bottom of this summary), we had to make guessed as to what we were drinking.
Blind Sample #1
Appearance
This is deep gold in colour, it’s very viscous on the glass with syrupy beads.
Nose
Wow that’s a slap, good ABV, conifer/juniper, cereals, spring water, wood varnish, damp leaves, black cherries I think too, it’s full on.
Varnish Is A Great Shout Mick
— RestlessNative (@RockNRolla60) June 4, 2021
Palate
It’s quite subtle, for 5 seconds, then there’s lots of spice. Star anise, cardamom, black liquorice, coffee grinds, there is a sweetness to it but it’s not coming forward yet for me.
Cranberries, a touch of grapefruit, golden syrup, and espresso finish off the palate. Definitely chilli’s, and hot cinnamon kids sweets too for me. And a sweetness is coming through, possibly cream soda? Dandelion and burdock too I think, this has a lot going on.
Yes to eucalyptus Sean 👍. #TheWhiskeyChaps
— Dram it Mick! (@StillSurreal) June 4, 2021
Finish
Quite long, spicy and warming, chilli’s, espresso, cranberries with a little drying, very peppery, white pepper, dates, cinnamon, lots of oak, jeez this could go on some.
Dram 1 – Finish – shortish, bitter orange and pepper. There’s something green there, maybe its the linseed note, can’t tell.#thewhiskeychaps
— Gareth Jenkins (@jenkaloid) June 4, 2021
The sample is
#thewhiskeychaps Dram 1 is the first in the series of the @Northstarwhisky vega series matured for a minimum of 23 years in Spanish and American oak . pic.twitter.com/zoduSMCWuv
— gordon smith (@gordonsmith63) June 4, 2021
My thoughts
What a slap around the face kind of whisky this is. There’s some sweetness, mainly fizzy drink-ish, then loads of spices, full of spices, some hot spice, did i say it’s spicy? Lol.
I haven’t tried this whisky before, and now i have i can see why Gordon bought a few bottles. Loads of depth and spices, lots of oak, it’s a proper mouthful alright, and not for the faint hearted that’s for sure. I really enjoyed it.
Blind sample #2
Appearance
Also a deep gold in colour, beads up on the swirl line with syrupy medium legs and teardrops.
Nose
Well that’s my nose hair gone, wow, that’s got to be up to near 60% ABV surely. It’s making my eyes water lol. This is a forest walk any day for me, it’s meaty too, pine cones, again there’s a sweetness in there somewhere, I’ll find it.
More wood varnish, it’s dusty too, I think this might need water, it’s a bit uptight for me atm.
Dram2 – A – Another bronzey one. slow thin legs.
— Gareth Jenkins (@jenkaloid) June 4, 2021
N – buttery salted caramel, love this already – Werther’s originals
some fresh ground black pepper hiding there
some nutty stuff happening – hazelnuts, touch of the old window putty#thewhiskeychaps
Palate
Now there’s some sweetness, red berry sweetness, quite like Port Charlotte tbh. Strawberries, raspberries, smoke, milk chocolate, lime, grapefruit, chilli’s, could it be some from Bruichladdich?
I’m liking the black/redcurrants 👍, quit me Jammy tbh. Reminds me of new make too. #TheWhiskeyChaps
— Dram it Mick! (@StillSurreal) June 4, 2021
Finish
I was enjoying it so much i forgot to do the finish on the evening, i’ll do proper reviews of them both.
The sample is
#thewhiskeychaps Dram 2 is an @SMWSUK 41.127 Dailuaine pic.twitter.com/vrn1F4Yans
— gordon smith (@gordonsmith63) June 4, 2021
My thoughts
Another cracking dram picked by Gordon, it’s so full of aromas and flavours. It was obviously a great dram, and upon finding out just what it was i wasn’t surprised, i do like a drop of Dailuaine, iv’e not tried a bad one yet to be honest, this is another super bottling of it iv’e got to try.
Overall tasting thoughts
We all had a thoroughly enjoyable tasting, of two super whiskies, with plenty of laughs, as we like during tastings we host. Gordon did us proud here, he picked absolute belters for us to sample, and caught us all out to be honest, we made some good guesses between us, but just couldn’t nail them down in the end.
There are many more notes and comments for this tasting than i haven’t listed here, if you’d like to read more search #thewhiskeychaps through Tweetdeck.
Thanks to gordonsmith63, RockNRolla60, @jenkaloid, and @whiskeychap
Follow @gordonsmith63 Follow @RockNRolla60 Follow @jenkaloid Follow @whiskeychap Follow @thewhiskeychaps Follow @StillSurreal
