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Whisky Lady – September 2017
September’s Whisky Lady tastings was a mixed month as one club didn’t meet and another did but it was a rare session I missed due to travel! Naturally I augmented with other experiences and shared the final set of tasting notes from our remarkable July which had seven different sessions!
The gents from the Bombay Malt & Cigar club met late August with an unusual selection of three Single Grains and two Indian whiskies:
- Girvan 8 years (2006/2014) Cask 532398 46% (Berrys’)
- Strathclyde 25 year (1990/2016) DL11335 51.5% (Douglas Laing’s Old Particular)
- Invergordon 28 year (1987/2015) DL11004 56.5% (Douglas Laing’s Old Particular)
- Sula’s Eclipse Blended Whisky 42.8% & Rampur 43%
Our whisky ladies had a lovely Sunday sundowner with this quartet:
- Mortlach NAS 49% – Sweet on the nose, apricot wood on palate… bit of a disappointment
- Arran Amarone Cask Finish 50% – Think pink summer blush, perfect afternoon sipper!
- Lochside (1981/2005) 43% G&MP – Stunning, simply stunning
- Aultmore 5 year (2007/2012) 66.8% Master of Malt – Provoked a very divided reaction
Whereas our original club enjoyed the following (alas without me as I was off gallivanting in the North America!):
- Writers Tears Cask Strength (2016 Release) 53%
- Springbank 12 year Burgundy (June 2016 Release) Cask Strength 53.5%
- Springbank 12 year (January 2017 Release) Cask Strength 54.2%
I also held a bottle polishing-off session with experiments in barley, wheats and more:
- Buckwheat from Bretagne, France – Eddu Silver 40%
- Ancient barley from Islay, Scotland – Bruichladdich Bere Barley (2008) 50%
- Hordeum Wild Barley Grass from Colorado, USA – AD Laws Hordeum Straight Malt 2 year (Batch #1B) 42.5%
- Triticum wheat from Colorado, USA – AD Laws Triticum Straight Wheat 2 year (Batch #1B) 50%
- American Corn, wheat, barley & rye – A.D. Laws Four Grain Straight Bourbon (Batch 8) 47.5%
Plus a sample session with Duty-Free No Age Statement (NAS) drams:
- Auchentoshan Heartwood 43% – Fermented fruit and pear tart
- Highland Park Einar 40% – Soft peat, accessible… quite “NASpy”
I shared July’s tasting notes from our “Dream Drams” evening with an exceptional set enjoyed with India’s Malt Maniac Krishna Nakula featuring:
- Mortlach 37 year (1976/2013) 43% G&MP – Classic restrained old style Mortlach
- Lochside (1981/2005) 43% G&MP – Simply a beautiful dram with an incredible finish
- Mosstowie 35 year (1979/2015) 48.1% Signatory – Lomond stills, nuanced complexity
- Aultmore 5 year (2007/2012) 66.8% Master of Malt – Punches boundaries of cask strength!
Plus revived the Whisky Tips with:
- A few ideas to keep in mind if you find yourself in need of Operation ‘House Clean’ – Whisky Style
- Vacu vin for whiskies – A way to keep your open bottles of whiskies from oxidation by using something like a ‘vacu vin’!
- And if you find yourself wanting to share a sample or two from your collection… some tips on whisky samples storage
Curious to know more? Check out recent Whisky Lady’s monthly missives:
You can also find even more Whisky bits ‘n bobs on:
- FaceBook Whisky Lady in India – https://www.facebook.com/WhiskyLadyIN
- Twitter @WhiskyLadyIN
Whisky Lady – March 2017
Once upon a time, March 31st used to mean year-end sales push with everyone running around, heaps of energy, effort and much more!
While I no longer have such direct business pressures, I do still need to do the accounting books so did a little whisky cabinet spring cleaning to pull out a few older oxidation bottles to have on hand for a late evening post numbers wind down. Great plan… til a cold happened. And I never waste good whisky on a stuffed up nose!!
So instead, my March round-up will not feature my hidden gems, instead share that it did bring some merriment and mischief with a trip to Jakarta and Singapore – including a nip into The Single Cask and La Maison du Whisky.
Alas March missed two of our usual tasting group sessions – both the BMC and our underground original club. However nothing was going to stop our Whisky Ladies from their monthly tasting!
And what did the ladies chose? A few less common slightly ‘Risky Whiskies‘:
- France – Brenne Estate Cask 40% – A delightful light, frankly ‘girly’ bubblegum whisky
- France – AWA (Authentique Whisky Alsacien) Pinot Noire 42% – A wine influenced playful, flower bouquet of a whisky
- USA – Virgil Kaine 2016 Ashcat 45.6% – Bourbon with a twist!
Plus a birthday bonus and bourbon:
- Lowland – Auchentoshan 40 year 41.2% – A whisky lady birthday treat! Happy Bday Pooja!!!
- USA – Willett Pot Stilled Reserve 47% – Great with a cube of ice!
I also shared notes from an amazing evening with Krishna Nakula when we sampled:
- Undeclared 22 year (1990/2012) 46% – Sweet spice with a lovely long finish
- Glenlivet 19 year (1995/2015) 58.1% – Banana spice, nutty cereal…
- Amrut 5 year (2010/2015) 56.5% – Finally an Amrut I really LIKE!
- Kavalan Solist NAS Sherry Cask S081229026 55.6% – Yet another brilliant Kavalan!
- Benriach 20 year (1994/2014) 54.7% – Lots of different elements, not quite in harmony
Plus a few extras like:
- Whisky Tip for Asia – “Take a “shot” of ice cold water” (Murray Campbell, Bruichladdich Brand Ambassador for Asia)
- Whisky Live Singapore – Ladies Room + Amrut
- A look back on the remarkable Nordic Whiskies Journey
- Recap of the Whisky Ladies bitching at the International Scotch Day
- And “Of all the gin joints!” on Native Brew’s early gin experiments for the Whisky Ladies
Curious to know more? Check out recent Whisky Lady’s monthly missives:
You can also find my Whisky Lady in India avatar on:
- Blog https://whiskylady.co/
- FaceBook Whisky Lady in India – https://www.facebook.com/WhiskyLadyIN
- Twitter @WhiskyLadyIN
Whisky Lady – December Delights
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
Whisky Lady – November Novelties
As quiet as this blog Everyday Asia’s been lately, my other blog Whisky Lady has been quintuply busy!
November brought incredible ‘novelty’ with a grand total of five (yup! That’s 1, 2, 3, 4.. 5!!) whisky sampling occasions exploring a wide range from the affordable and accessible to the impossibly rare with insane prices!
It was such a busy whisky tasting month that most reviews started in the status of *Notes forthcoming! (more…)
Whisky Lady – May merriment
Welcome to Whisky Lady‘s 5th instalment summarising May’s whisky tasting adventures. Finally after a two month hiatus, our merry malt tasting group had our ‘proper’ session. We sampled blind whiskies from three countries:
- USA (NY) – Hudson Single Malt NAS 46% – Something ‘different’ in a small barrel, hand crafting, unusual 375 ml bottle… doesn’t mean the whisky is any good. Just skip it!
- Scotland (Highland) – Deanston Virgin Oak NAS 46.3% – Decent delicate and slightly dull dram. Perhaps a refreshing spring cocktail made with a light hand and subtle flavours
- Ireland – Teeling Single Malt NAS 46% – Trust the Irish to create a sociable whisky! A complete treat – the kind of whisky you to pull out and enjoy with friends
May tasting session trio (Whisky Lady)
In addition to our monthly sessions, I held a most enjoyable tasting with another whisky lady where we tried:
- Miniatures of Auchentoshan 12 year, Three Wood and 18 year – Pleasant but not special, consider if someone else is paying and all you need is a whisky to accompany nibbles and other action
- Auchentoshan Cooper’s Reserve 14 year – Clean, straight-forward with a whiff of sherry character but doesn’t quite pull it off
Auchentoshan quartet (Whisky Lady)
HITS – Unlike most months where it is tough to chose a ‘favourite’, the Irish Wishky Teeling is the only one I would consider stocking in my whisky cabinet for sociable evenings.
MISS – Also unlike most months, there was a clear ‘warning’ too – I still shudder at the Hudson. Don’t… I beg you just don’t…
Another highlight was Whisky Lady invaded Man’s World May edition with an interview with Dr Bill Lumsden.
MW May 2015
In honour of Ardbeg’s 200 year, I also published further extracts fro the Bill Lumsden interview focused on Ardbeg.
June should bring some interesting tasting adventures as I will be traveling to Singapore, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto, Canada then carry on to London in July. Let’s see what mischief and merriment can be had! Slainthe!
Curious to know more? Start with Whisky Lady’s monthly missives:
- Whisky Lady – April adventures
- Whisky Lady – March madness
- Whisky Lady – February fun
- Whisky Lady – January journal
You can also find Whisky Lady on:
- FaceBook Whisky Lady in India
- Twitter @WhiskyLadyIN
Everyday Asia 