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Whisky Lady – October 2017
October was the 1st month that I juggled a new full-time ‘regular’ job that immediately plunged me into a demanding yet incredibly interesting project. And yet, what is a Whisky Lady to do but keep up with tastings too!
Thankfully it was a ‘slow’ month with only the Whisky Ladies and Original club’s having full tasting sessions. To keep things interesting, there were also were a few minis sessions too!
Our Whisky Ladies celebrated Diwali in all our finery and accompanied the festivities with Asia focused whiskies:
- From Japan – Hakushu 43%,
- From Bhutan – K5 40% vs Misty Peak 40%,
- And back to Japan Nikka From the Barrel 51.4% vs Super Nikka Whisky 43% (revival version)
Rye (Photo: Nikkhil Shirodkar)
Whereas our original club had a remarkable rye focused evening:
- Cody Road Rye (Iowa)
- Cascadia Rye (Português Port Barrels) 43.5% (Washington)
- High West Whiskey Double Rye 46% (Utah)
- Pikesville Straight Rye
My mini sessions had three distinctly different bents… The 1st was peaty with:
- Peat Chimney 12 year 40% (Wemyss) – Sea swept salty maritime peat
- Big Peat 46% (Douglas Laing) – Kept shifting and changing, overall delightfully
- Longrow 46% – Earthy, organic peat
- BenRiach Peated Quarter Cask 46% – Peppery peat, Christmas treat!
- Ledaig 10 year 46.3% – Farm peat, spice and straight forward
The 2nd was a revisit of Glenfarclas with:
- 15 year 46% – Straightforward, no pretence
- 105 60% – A full strength sherry berry cake, best had with a few drops of water
- 21 year 43% – Approachable and multi-dimensional
- 25 year 43% – A 2nd date dram that needs time to reveal its full character…
And the 3rd was not whisky at all but rum!
- Diplomatico 40%
- Zacapa 23 Solera 40% vs XO 40%
- El Dorado 12 year 40%
- Criterion 10 year 56%
October also introduced a new guest writer from our original club – Nikkhil Shirodkar – who provided the terrific notes on the September session I missed:
- Writers Tears (2013 Release) Cask Strength 53% – Alas didn’t meet expectations
- Springbank 12 year (June 2016) Burgundy 53.5% – A Burgundy wine twist
- Springbank 12 year (Jan 2017) Cask Strength 54.2% – The clear favourite! Gorgeous sherry and peat interplay
While I missed Mumbai, I did explore a whisky watering hole in Toronto… where I sampled a trio of bourbons at 1602 Dundas:
- Black Maple Hill Kentucky Straight Bourbon 47.5% – Mysterious origins, tasty results
- Basil Hayden’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon 40% – Double the Rye, interesting nose
- Elmer T Lee Kentucky Single Barrel Bourbon 45% – Cinnamon spice, oaky and bitter
The month closes with my hopping on a plane to Germany… let’s see what can be discovered next!
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 – 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
Cragganmore, Talisker, Lagavulin, Springbank 18 year
Part of a series of tasting notes from our private whisky club in Mumbai, India. This session was a special pairing of food and whisky.
Tasting notes from 19 Dec 2013:
For the last tasting of 2013, we celebrated with a special whisky-food pairing. Tasting notes were provided to the chef in advance and he was given full license to indulge his creative culinary talents to craft morsels to be complimented by the selected whiskies.
Our approach was to first sniff, swill and sample the whisky then to sip further with food. The idea was to savour both together and distil the flavours. Only after we ate and drank our fill of each course was the whisky revealed. The key was – could the whisky both stand ‘on its own’ and did it enhance the flavours of the food? (more…)
