This was our ninth Whiskey Chaps blind tasting, in which @AyeWhisky (there is a link to follow Nick on Twitter at the bottom of the page) became our tenth volunteer to send us three blind whisk(e)y samples to nose and taste, and to see if we could guess anything about each of them, in return we send samples back.
Blind dram #1
Appearance
Light gold in colour with a hint of apricot thrown in, the swirl line breaks up into small teardrops. #thewhiskeychaps
Nose
Wow, I know straight away that I’ve not tried this before, very distinctive. #thewhiskeychaps
It’s not an aroma I know we’ll, so an usual cask I’m thinking. Juniper, cream soda, gherkins, there’s light wood too, like balsa wood, this is very unusual Nick. #thewhiskeychaps
It’s starting to calm down a little now, and I’m going to say green grapes or some exotic berry, a little menthol, green apple skins too. I’ve not come across anything quite like it tbh. It’s so intriguing.
Palate
There’s almost a really sweet smoke here, I’m going in for an early guess, on a cask type I’ve not really tried, but this is so unusual, is it calvados? #thewhiskeychaps
There’s a gin type element to this for sure, the gherkins are reasonably prominent, there’s also some spiciness too, white pepper, gooseberries, elderflower, quite wine like too. #thewhiskeychaps
You picked a cracking drop to send us mate that’s for sure, great for experience 👍#thewhiskeychaps
— Dram it Mick! (@StillSurreal) September 7, 2021
Finish
THAT flavour! Slight wood smoke, a dryness, butter, tropical fruits and black papper. Quite long and lingering, especially on the chest #thewhiskeychaps
And blind dram #1 is
Dram 1 is from Seven Stills in San Fransico! The distillery uses only the ready-to-drink beers from their portfolio for the production process of its whiskey. This release is double-distilled using their 10.8% craft stout, Imperial for the Czar. 1/2#thewhiskeychaps pic.twitter.com/eXVBRfL87p
— Nick (@AyeWhisky) September 7, 2021
My thoughts
What a fascinating dram to get during a blind tasting, so unique, and to be honest we both really enjoyed it. I personally want to taste the full breadth and depth of what whisky can be, and this is a prime example. I would say that this isn’t a dram for beginners, i’m sure some seasoned whisky drinkers wouldn’t get past a sip or two, it’s very unusual.
Blind dram #2
Appearance
Very light gold in colour this time, damp straw I’d say, medium thick swirl line that beads up really quickly, with slow medium thick legs. #thewhiskeychaps
Nose
Sweetness and wood here, tropical and stoned fruits, Parma violets, an old perfume, slightly dusty. #thewhiskeychaps
Again I’m going to say balsa wood, but very light, bitter lemon, lemon bonbons, predominately bourbon cask, with a finish? #thewhiskeychaps
Palate
Lovely and spicy, with some citrus tang, grapefruit, pomello, bitter lemon, lemon rind and white pepper. #thewhiskeychaps. I’m getting cocktail cherries now, black coffee, anise, cardamom, ginger nuts, wood varnish, linseed oil, it’s very nice tbh.
Finish
Medium in length, floral and sweet, white pepper, definitely more citrus bite, and then tannins, coffee, dark chocolate, spicy tingle still. #thewhiskeychaps
And blind dram #2 is
Dram 2 is Daftmill’s 2007 Winter Batch Release. Bottled at the tail end of 2019, it was released in early 2020. 46%, 12 Years Old and a marriage of 7 First Fill Ex-Bourbon Barrels.#thewhiskeychaps pic.twitter.com/bm1yL2fpL7
— Nick (@AyeWhisky) September 7, 2021
My thoughts
This is the first time iv’e tasted a Daftmill release, i have a sample to try, and it could be a different year to be honest. The nose is initially light on this, it certainly didn’t shout 1st fill bourbon cask, whereas the palate does. Plenty of spice on the palate, and i really enjoyed it, @whiskeychap didn’t enjoy it quite as much as i did.
Blind dram #3
Appearance
Reddish/pinkish in colour, lots of medium thick legs and teardrops. #thewhiskeychaps
Nose
wow massive nose initially, high abv, dusty, wood varnish, vegetal and a touch of menthol, quite foresty actually, damp wood. #thewhiskeychaps
Palate
Spicy too, lovely mouthfeel, possibly cask strength, becoming hot now, hot cinnamon kids sweets, cranberries, blood oranges and pomegranates, sweeter than Christmas pudding, perhaps a port cask?
There’s a beautiful sweetness with this one, it’s gorgeous actually, i really like this. There’s a little drying, dandelion and burdock, Dr pepper, sweet figs, really nice.
I can’t nail that sweet note, i love it but can’t recall what it is, that’s gonna bug me now. slightly unripe strawberries, when they are slightly bitter.
Palate: Chocolate cake all day long. Black coffee, light christmas spice and heavier white pepper/chilli spiciness. The ABV is higher on this one isn’t it? Mid 50’s? #thewhiskeychaps
— Whisk(e)y Chap 🏴🥃 (@whiskeychap) September 7, 2021
Finish
Smokey, punchy, lots of chocolate coated strawberries, black coffee, anise, nutmeg, liquorice torpedo sweets, yummy, plenty of oak, very nice indeed and quite long #thewhiskeychaps
And dram #3 is
Dram 3 is is a Glenrothes 16 YO Single Cask # 2364. 1 of 575 bottles, I picked this up several months back at auction. Aged for 16 years in a Sherry Butt and bottled at 58.7%. Purchased for £120 all in from auction.#thewhiskeychaps pic.twitter.com/nQke1KJy9Y
— Nick (@AyeWhisky) September 7, 2021
My thoughts
Wow, what a belter this one is, so much flavour, loads of depth, very robust too. The cask must have been a really good one, as i found this very clean, just a real sherry bomb with a touch of smoke for me, gorgeousness in a glass 🥰.
Overall tasting thoughts
We certainly get spoilt doing these blind tastings, we get sent wonderful whiskies by wonderful whisk(e)y folk, Nick has definitely continued this trend. We had a super evening, i got lots of guesses wrong this time, i’m always learning.
There are many more Tweets from this tasting, including our guesses, than i can list here, if you’d like to read more of them check out #thewhiskeychaps through Tweetdeck, and look for tweets of mine that have BT10 in them, and other tweets from around them in the Tweetdeck timeline.
The bonus 4th Dram that Nick sent us is the new kilchoman PX Sherry single cask 6yr old from the Aberdeen Whisky shop, also a super dram, definitly one i’d recommend tbh. Find it here.
Our next blind tasting will be with Ben – @WhiskyWithMolly, on the 4th of November, that’s going to be another great evening.
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