Well… my Whisky Lady adventures continue!

With December being full of merriment and mischief as the year came to a close, our original tasting group cancelled our monthly tasting session with many members traveling.

However my new group – The Whisky Ladies of Mumbai – were not deterred from swirling, sniffing, sipping and mmmmm…. swallowing!

In honour of one member’s last days in India before returning to the US, we decided to enjoy a Goan theme featuring a quintet of whiskies kindly provided by Paul John’s master distiller Michael John for our ladies sampling pleasure.

Paul John Christmas Quintet

Here’s what our ladies quaffed in our Paul John evening with some rather cheeky tasting notes!

• Bold Single Malt 46% – Launched as Paul John’s peatiest offering… yet surprisingly delicate
• Brilliance Single Malt 46% – Soft start to our evening…
• Classic Select Cask 55.2% – Potential to be a ‘classic’ Paul John style
• Edited Single Malt 46% – What got us going Goan 
• Peated Select Cask 55.5% – By far the evenings favourite! Bacon yummy goodness!

Singapore Airport’s Whisky Wall

For me, December also meant a trip to Singapore which whisky-wise featured:

• Direct from airport to The Flagship for an enjoyable sampling range of whiskies – Triple thumbs up for Indra and team!
• A pit stop at The Bank for a quick nip of a Miyagikyo 15 year…
• Mandatory check-in at La Maison du Whisky to stock up for 2016 sampling sessions!
• A most sociable Saturday evening which morphed into an impromptu whisky tasting of Crown Royal’s Northern Harvest Rye, Bruichladdich Organic, Springbank 10 year, Kilchoman Machir Bay

Little Mill, BenRiach, Lochside, Laphroiag

I caught up on sharing tasting notes for whiskies sampled during my June 2015 Singapore trip:

• Lowlands – Little Mill 25 year 1989/2014 50.9% – Berry peaty please
• Speyside – BenRiach 21 year 1988 Cask No 4423 54.8% – Sweet honeysuckle rose with spice
• Highlands – Lochside 1981 51.2% (Gordon & MacPhail) – Respect!
• Islay – Laphroaig 16 year 1987 46% (Silver Seal) – A flowery Laphroaig? Really??

Inver House Master Class (Photo courtesy International Beverages)

Finally posted notes from the July 2015 master class with Master Distiller Stuart Harvey:

• Old Pulteney 12 year – When you are in the mood for some maritime merriment!
• Speyburn 10 year – Surprising and often under-estimated
• Balblair 03 46% (bottled 2015, 1st bottling) – Bright delight

My other goal was to ‘catch-up’ posting about all the whiskies tasted in November! Yes this is a repeat of last month’s list… just now with  links to all the tasting notes!!

Hibiki Harmony, Aultmore 18, Glenburgie 15

For our original tasting group, in November we enjoyed:

• Japan – Hibiki Harmony NAS 43% – Pleasant 
• Speyside – Aultmore 18 year 46% – A ‘nice’ nip of the Buckie Road…
• Speyside – Glenburgie 15 year 43% – An elegant ‘Downton Abbey’ of whiskies

Forty Creek, Oban, Nikka, Sheringham (Photo courtesy @Shrutis)

Plus the Whisky Ladies had a mini world-tour:

• Canada – Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve 40%  – A little Canadian oak action!
• Japan – Nikka Blended Whisky 40%  – An interesting though schizophrenic whisky
• Scotland – Oban 14 year 43% – Familiar friend
• Canada – Sheringham William’s White double distilled grain 2015 45% – Distinctly different

Flashback to  the 1980s with rare malts enjoyed as part of the Malt Maniac‘s 20th anniversary:

• Auchentoshan ‘Pure Malt’ 40% – A beautiful breakfast dram
• Port Ellen 26 year 50% – What a treat!!
• Lagavulin 16 ‘White Horse’ 43% – A classic!

Phew! I’m nearly caught up! Until the new year –  Slainthe!

Curious to know more? Start with Whisky Lady’s monthly missives on Everyday Asia:

• Whisky Lady – November novelties
• Whisky Lady – October offerings
• Whisky Lady – Sulty September
• Whisky Lady – Awesome August
• Whisky Lady – July journeys
• Whisky Lady – June joy
• Whisky Lady – May merriment
• Whisky Lady – April adventures
• Whisky Lady – March madness
• Whisky Lady – February fun
• Whisky Lady – January journal

You can also find even more Whisky bits ‘n bobs on:

• FaceBook Whisky Lady in India – https://www.facebook.com/WhiskyLadyIN 
• Twitter @WhiskyLadyIN