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:

• Whisky Lady – August 2017
• Whisky Lady – July 2017
• Whisky Lady – June 2017

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

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