Whisky Tasting : New Malts

 Regional, Whisky tasting, the cabal. These things all feel right together.

the July tasting was all about new malts. Or at least, new ones to Regional. 

I do wonder why I put the pictures up, even I'd admit they all look the same :)

Glen Ord Signatory 100 proof 11yo 57.1%

N: ash, lemon, spritzic, banana, bourbon, young, sweet, marshmallows, pears, vanilla, coconut

P: apple, sparkly, lemon, prickly sour, metallic,

F: not great, sour, long, hot

6.5/10 Not a fan, the sour notes were not engaging and the nose promised a lot more than the palate delivered.

Came 7th with 6.69

Blackadder Sherry Snake 57.3%

N: apricot, chocolate, currents, leather, creamy, lovely, sherry, fruity, demerra sugar

P: chocolate, complex, spicy, bitter, sherry, burnt caramel, dry

F: spicy, bitter, short, no complexity

7/10 slightly more interesting than the Glen Ord, but nothing to make me go 'wow', which I guess for Blackadder, is a wow moment.

6th with 7.59

Glenfarclas 105 16yr 60%

N: apple, fruity sultanas, run, apricot, copper, coffee, bananas, dry, chilli, engine oil

P: lmeon, spritzic, dry, fruity, incr alc, hot

F: med-long, hot, spicy

8/10 Like most people, I've got a soft spot for the 105, it's been a bit hit and miss recently, but this one is more hit.

4th with 7.94

GlenAllachie 2009 14yo 58.4%

N: sweet lemon, reduced stock, spicy olive oil, old xmas cake, butterscotch

P: lemon, oily, sweet, cardamon, peppermint, dry

F: med-long, dry

7.5/10 I like it, but I sort of thought it was a bit simple? maybe? dunno. A quaffable dram, but not one of hte top GlenAllachie's. 

5th with 7.74

Mystery: Whisky Cellar Blended Malt S.W. 8yo 'Sweet Smokey Robusto' 52.5%

N: sherry, smoke, peat, chocolate, tobacco, smoked salmon, sulphur, tannins

P: smokey, sherry, smk salmon, ash, chocolate, sweet, lovely balance

F: med long

9/10 This I liked, a lot. Also crazy cheap (for what it is) so a bottle is now in my cupboard. Came 1st with 8.41 so I wasn't the only one who liked it.

Caol ila Signatory 100 proof 9yo 57.1%

N: peat, sweet, rubber, sugar, smokey, solvent, sulphur, iodine, beef tea (yeah thanks Richard), smokey

P: rubber, dry, sweet, smoke

F: med ash

8/10 It's a Caol Ila, it's good. Only reason I didn't buy a bottle is I've got *a few* like this already. Came 3rd 8.2

Kilchoman Whisky Galore Exclusive Marsala Cask Finish #18/882 57.6%

N: fruit salad, bourbon, hint peat, solvent, wet dirt, potpurri, chlorine?

P: chocolate, smooth, complex

F: med-long, hot spicy

7/10 eh I liked it, but not loved it. Came 2nd with 8.38 so my views maybe wrong 

Whisky was drunk. We had views. And I bought a bottle. Everything seems to be going to plan.

Last.FM update #4

 #4 ? Bloody hell, I'm almost doing a series...

* Target for the year was to hit the 20,000 individual track plays for the year, to which end I'd set up a spreadsheet to analyse how things were going, what my current run rate was, and what I had as a required run rate. My aim was to try and hit 20,000 by end of October as that gave me a couple of months if I needed them. Also, 2000 tracks a month was a nice round number. 

At the end of July, if I was sticking to the plan, I'd have hit 14,000 tracks (my 2,000 a month). In an attempt to overdeliver, I was sitting around 14450 giving me significant latitude for relaxing. But that, that would be the wrong approach.

where are things at? As of yesterday afternoon, 14654. 

Evrything looks great, Current run rate continues to hover just under 70 a day, and my required run rate is sits at 35 a day (although this is planned against 31 Dec). 

Huzzah !!!

Current listening: Deep Purple - In Rock (anniversary edition)