Many of you fab folks who follow Every Day Adventures in Asia (Mostly)  are not so enthu about my whisky posts… Starting from now, there will be at MOST one post a month from our private whisky tasting club in Mumbai, India.

For those special few interested in more whisky posts – do check out / follow my new blog Whisky Lady devoted to various whisky sampling adventures!   

Without further ado, here is this month’s one and only whisky post…

Tasting Notes from 16 October 2014

This month featured whiskies from Japan’s Ichiro’s Malt Chichibu’s The Floor Malted 3 year, Blair Athol 16 year and Glen Deveron 20 year.

Chichubu The Floor Malted

Ichiro’s Malt – Chichibu The Floor Malted 3 year, 50.5%

• Colour – Light, young and sassy
• Nose – Bright fresh peaches, dried apricot and coconut… after airing a bit, bananas and sweet honeyed caramel also made an appearance
• Taste – Strong, dry and nutty with a coffee bean bite, bitter sweet and very woody
• Finish – Woody, coffee lingered
• Water? Too piquant for most, water spoilt it with even only a few drops

Reactions – Scottish or not? Must be matured in burboun casks, hence the honey and fruit, age indeterminate…

The reveal – A more difficult to find Japanese offering that is a mere three years old! From 2009, bottled in 2012. We sampled bottle # 8791 of 8800.

Blair Athol (Old Malt Cask)

Blair Athol 16 year (Old Malt Cask) 50%

• Colour – Deep gold
• Nose – Heather, saddle ready to go horseback riding, subtle caramel, more distinct matured cheese, sour curd, citrus orange, in the ‘rancio’ category
• Taste – Coconut oil, sweet and clearly an older whisky from a bourbon cask
• Finish – Long, delayed spice
• Water? Too enamoured with the full flavours to be distracted by a drop of pani (water)

Reactions – An excellent winter whisky without smoke

Quote of the eve – As though an elegant lady sauntered in the room, then turned out to be completely wild in bed!

The reveal – Part of Hunter Laing & Co’s Old Malt Cask series. From May 1997, bottled in Oct 2013, 1 of 545 bottles.

Glen Deveron 20 year

Glen Deveron 20 year, Royal Burgh of Banff Collection

• Colour – Dark amber…. So dark couldn’t help speculate perhaps some of the colour was ahem… enhanced?
• Nose – Sweet all spice, some jackfruit, banana pie, perhaps a hint of caramel too?
• Taste – Oily sweet, sherry with caramelized orange
• Finish – Fresh mint, brass
• Water? Spice and nothing else

Reactions – Oddly disappointing… perhaps as the Blair Athol had such an unmistakable character or the Chichibu was such an interesting start, the Glen Deveron didn’t stand out. The nose was promising, taste was somewhat familiar and the finish had more of that toothpaste mint than a fresh sprig.

The reveal – While I initially blithely listed this as “Glen Deveron” distillery, turns out it is actually part of Macduff Distillery, which was acquired by William Lawson Distillers, which became part of the Martini & Rossi corporation in 1980, acquired by Bacardi in 1992, who put their subsidiary John Dewar & Sons in charge of the Macduff distillery. So… think I’ll stick with calling it Macduff distillery?!

Chichibu, Blair Athol, Glen Deveron

Calibrating the palate…

We also discussed that while somewhere along the way we abandoned the ‘spit the first sip’ rule, there is a very clear rationale behind it.

Why spit? Acquaint the palate with high alcohol content, let it go so can clear the way to enjoy the real flavours. In a sense, it is all about calibrating the palate for the delights to come.

So does age really matter? At the hands of a master, apparently a mere 3 year old ‘toddler’ can out-class a 20 year old ‘adult’!

Once again.. for those who can’t get enough whisky posts – stop by and say hello to Whisky Lady!  

Related articles:

• Whisky Tasting (18 September 2014) – Kentucky Straight Bourbon: W L Weller Special Reserve, Buffalo Trace, 1792 Ridgemount Reserve, Elijah Craig
• Whisky Tasting (21 August 2014) – Compass Box Trilogy – Great King Street Artist’s Blend, Spice Tree + Peat Monster
• Whisky Tasting (17 June 2014) – Tyrconnell, Ledaig Island, Talisker Dark Storm
• Whisky Tasting (17 April 2014) – Singleton Artisan, Sullivans Cove, Bowmore 21
• Whisky Tasting (20 Feb 2014) – Jura Superstition, Glen Garioch 1797 Founders Reserve, Ardbeg Corryvreckan
• Whisky Tasting (19 Dec 2013) – Food + whisky pairing with Cragganmore, Talisker, Lagavulin, Springbank 18 year
• Whisky Tasting (Nov 2013) – Jameson, Green Spot, Redbreast
• Whisky Tasting (Oct 2013) – Balvenie Triple Cask, Wasmund’s, The Speyside
• Whisky Tastings (Sept 2013) – Glenturret, Auchentoshan, Kilchoman Machir Bay
• Whisky Tastings (Aug 2013) – Glen Breton, Bruichladdich, Bunnabhain
• Whisky Tastings (July 2013) – Glenlivet, Edradour, El Dorado
• Whisky Tastings (June 2013) – Oban, Deanston, The Six Isles & Yellow Spot
• Whisky Tasting (16 May 2013) – Singleton, GlenDronach, All Malt, The Belgian Owl
• Whisky Tasting (18 April 2013) – Speyside Trio: Balvenie Carribean Cask, Tomatin, Knockando