January was nearly travel free!!! Til the 31st Jan when I hopped on a plane to Bangalore…

However I still couldn’t join all whisky related sessions…. sigh…  thus is the life of a working gal, even if the Whisky Lady element remains!

All our Mumbai based whisky groups had an opportunity to meet.

It kicked off the Bombay Malt & Cigar gentlemen hosting with the Whisky Ladies for an evening of three Douglas Laing blends and one Sansibar blend:

• Highland blend – Timorous Beastie 46.8%
• Lowland blend – Epicurean 46.2%
• Islands blend – Rock Oyster 57.4%
• Sansibar’s Spicily Sweet 48%

As the Whisky Ladies had already joined the gents for a round of independent blends, we decided to have a completely random evening of “Contributor’s Choice” which resulted in:

• Mars Iwai Traditional Blend 40% – An affordable blend from Japan sometimes found lurking in Mumbai’s Duty Free
• The Glenrothes Manse Reserve 43% – For some, a welcome opportunity to revisit. For others a wonderful introduction…
• Glenmorangie 19 year 43% – Newly released, snatched from London’s World of Whisky shop at Heathrow days before our evening
• Bunnahabhain Ceobanach 46.2% – A peaty departure from Bunnahabhain’s lighter non-peated Islay style

Our original club met however I alas could not make it… however samples reached my home so was able to compare my independent impressions with those jotted down by our guest writer Nikkhil… keep you in suspense for a bit longer…

Beyond the tasting group meetings, there was also an:

•  Impromptu gin evening with a few friends
• Kreuzritter Elixirium Digestivum 30% 
• An attempt to give Smokehead another chance
• And brush with McClelland’s in Canada

Plus a Rum Quintet:

• Diplomatico 40%
• Zacapa 23 Solera 40% vs XO 40%
• El Dorado 12 year 40%
• Criterion 10 year 56%

Plus notes from previous sessions….

From Whisky Ladies Après-ski Austrian posts:

• Waldviertler J.H. 5 year Single Malt 41% + Waldviertler J.H. 6 year Rye Malt 41%
• Wieser’s Uuahouua Pinot Noir 40%

And our BMC’s “Peat Unusual” theme with narry an Islay whisky…

• Speyside – BenRiach 25 year 46%

Also my “O Canada” celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary:

• Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye 45% 
• Gooderham & Worts Four Grains Canadian Whisky 44.4%
• Wayne Gretzky No 99 Red Cask Whisky 40%
• Shelter Point Single Malt Whisky 46%  (Batch 2, 2017)
• Barrel of Sunshine Liqueur 30%

Finally caught up with “BMC goes Bourbon” night featuring:

• Jefferson’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon 41.14%
• St George 43% (American single malt, an aberration from our bourbon theme)
• Blanton’s
• Buffalo Trace’s Stagg 64.75%

Curious to know more? Check out recent Whisky Lady’s monthly missives:

• Whisky Lady – December 2017
• Whisky Lady – November 2017
• Whisky Lady – October 2017

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

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