Tasty whiskybooze!
Sep. 2nd, 2005 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
julietNotes from a whisky-tasting... (currently present: myself, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dogrando, kitty_goth, boyofbadgers, mrs_leroy_brown, marnameow, lots & lots of lovely whiskybooze, almost all from Islay). We are being Ponces, & very pleasant it is too.
Bruichladdich 15yo: very tasty. The word 'heathery' was mentioned. Definitely not as good with water in (Highland Spring, no less. All mod cons here, my friends). [Later edit]: Rick says "it's a bit like a big sloppy hug & a wet kiss, after having all the others" (this after drinking all the below, & him returning to a glass of this.
Next three tried all at once rather than having a glass each
Bowmore Dawn (finished in port cask): Nice. Port-like sweetness & fruitiness. Probably suffers next to the following one...
Bowmore Dusk (finished in Bordeaux wine cask): Rick "Fucking hell, that's fucking amazing". General high levels of approbation. Very complex flavours. Spicier & warmer "Christmas pudding taste" (Rick again). It is felt that another glass should be poured & passed around, just to check it really is that good. It is. "Smoooooooooth" (Bec). (Pete is now reading out the tasting notes, but that's clearly cheating).
Bowmore Darkest (finished in sherry cask): Really fairly boring. Doesn't taste like a Bowmore (& normally Bowmore is pretty distinctive). Just tastes of sherry & that's it - very flat. Very phenoly. No one wanted to finish it! According to the box, it won some international gold medal in 2000. General bafflement. "Were they all drunk?" (me).
Bunnahabhain 12yo: Very smooth & buttery. Marna notes it having a slightly orange/spicy taste. Pleasantly unchallenging/comforting. Would go very well with fires & wooly blankets (Marna). Ben said he would prefer Springbank over this (I think he is suggesting they're similar). There is a Pome on the bottle, entitled 'Westering Home'.
Discussion of Festivals Past has led to Rick's remembering the following joke (overheard at Reading 1998 or some such): "Why did the monkey get lost? Because the Junglist Massive." And the potential Onion headline "Person On Drugs Gets Dance Music" (identity of the individual involved in this reminiscence disguised to protect the something-or-other).
Ardbeg Very Young (distilled 1998, bottled 2004, i.e. 6yo): Very phenoly, but actually not as rough as I expected. Rick says it has a "wet twig" to it (can see that, yes). Bec & Pete say "baby wipe/baby lotion" (more on the aftertaste). Remarkably easy-drinking for a 6yo. Ben made the error of drinking a Large Slug & swore extensively (it's cask strength). With a little water, very caramely. General surprise, in that we were expecting it to be much less pleasant.
Laphroaig 10yo: By way of being a reference whisky for the next one. No one has that much to say about it, cos we've all had it before often enough. Tasty, TCP-ish, all the usual stuff.
Laphroaig Quarter-Cask (a blend of various ages between 5 & 11 years, then aged in a quarter-sized cask for 18 months): Rick: "I christen this: Log". A chorus of the Ren & Stimpy Log Song begins (well, we are several whiskies in by now...). It is very woody indeed. Bec is mentioning 'ash'. Ben reckons it's not that phenolic but other people disagree (I reckon it *is* as phenolic, but there's lots of wood over the top so it doesn't taste so much). I don't like this as much as when I tried it in the Laphroaig distillery (when we said 'christ, this is fantastic, we must have a bottle') - Pete says that he's drunk it half-a-dozen times since we bought it & changed his mind every time about how much he likes it. Rick says his tongue feels prickly. Marna is Not Keen. With a tiny splash of water it's improved. Ben reckons it's a winter whisky - good at the warming.
Redbreast (the only non-Islay): Rick: "It has a weird drop across the taste profile". Marna: "sweet & fluffy" (in disparaging tones). General agreement that it's quite sweet. I'm not drinking this one - have had a fair bit already & am terrified of getting the sort of whisky hangover I had after Pete's & my encounter in a pub in Fort William with 3 blokes from South Uist who insisted on buying us Quite A Lot Of Doubles. There was Error the next day.
[being updated as we go along...]
dogrando, kitty_goth, boyofbadgers, mrs_leroy_brown, marnameow, lots & lots of lovely whiskybooze, almost all from Islay). We are being Ponces, & very pleasant it is too. Bruichladdich 15yo: very tasty. The word 'heathery' was mentioned. Definitely not as good with water in (Highland Spring, no less. All mod cons here, my friends). [Later edit]: Rick says "it's a bit like a big sloppy hug & a wet kiss, after having all the others" (this after drinking all the below, & him returning to a glass of this.
Next three tried all at once rather than having a glass each
Bowmore Dawn (finished in port cask): Nice. Port-like sweetness & fruitiness. Probably suffers next to the following one...
Bowmore Dusk (finished in Bordeaux wine cask): Rick "Fucking hell, that's fucking amazing". General high levels of approbation. Very complex flavours. Spicier & warmer "Christmas pudding taste" (Rick again). It is felt that another glass should be poured & passed around, just to check it really is that good. It is. "Smoooooooooth" (Bec). (Pete is now reading out the tasting notes, but that's clearly cheating).
Bowmore Darkest (finished in sherry cask): Really fairly boring. Doesn't taste like a Bowmore (& normally Bowmore is pretty distinctive). Just tastes of sherry & that's it - very flat. Very phenoly. No one wanted to finish it! According to the box, it won some international gold medal in 2000. General bafflement. "Were they all drunk?" (me).
Bunnahabhain 12yo: Very smooth & buttery. Marna notes it having a slightly orange/spicy taste. Pleasantly unchallenging/comforting. Would go very well with fires & wooly blankets (Marna). Ben said he would prefer Springbank over this (I think he is suggesting they're similar). There is a Pome on the bottle, entitled 'Westering Home'.
Discussion of Festivals Past has led to Rick's remembering the following joke (overheard at Reading 1998 or some such): "Why did the monkey get lost? Because the Junglist Massive." And the potential Onion headline "Person On Drugs Gets Dance Music" (identity of the individual involved in this reminiscence disguised to protect the something-or-other).
Ardbeg Very Young (distilled 1998, bottled 2004, i.e. 6yo): Very phenoly, but actually not as rough as I expected. Rick says it has a "wet twig" to it (can see that, yes). Bec & Pete say "baby wipe/baby lotion" (more on the aftertaste). Remarkably easy-drinking for a 6yo. Ben made the error of drinking a Large Slug & swore extensively (it's cask strength). With a little water, very caramely. General surprise, in that we were expecting it to be much less pleasant.
Laphroaig 10yo: By way of being a reference whisky for the next one. No one has that much to say about it, cos we've all had it before often enough. Tasty, TCP-ish, all the usual stuff.
Laphroaig Quarter-Cask (a blend of various ages between 5 & 11 years, then aged in a quarter-sized cask for 18 months): Rick: "I christen this: Log". A chorus of the Ren & Stimpy Log Song begins (well, we are several whiskies in by now...). It is very woody indeed. Bec is mentioning 'ash'. Ben reckons it's not that phenolic but other people disagree (I reckon it *is* as phenolic, but there's lots of wood over the top so it doesn't taste so much). I don't like this as much as when I tried it in the Laphroaig distillery (when we said 'christ, this is fantastic, we must have a bottle') - Pete says that he's drunk it half-a-dozen times since we bought it & changed his mind every time about how much he likes it. Rick says his tongue feels prickly. Marna is Not Keen. With a tiny splash of water it's improved. Ben reckons it's a winter whisky - good at the warming.
Redbreast (the only non-Islay): Rick: "It has a weird drop across the taste profile". Marna: "sweet & fluffy" (in disparaging tones). General agreement that it's quite sweet. I'm not drinking this one - have had a fair bit already & am terrified of getting the sort of whisky hangover I had after Pete's & my encounter in a pub in Fort William with 3 blokes from South Uist who insisted on buying us Quite A Lot Of Doubles. There was Error the next day.
[being updated as we go along...]
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Date: 2005-09-02 10:55 pm (UTC)