Whisky Tasting

I'd been promising one of the work colleagues he could sample a collection of my whiskies, things grew a little and in the end three of us combined bottles for an islands tasting.
Since I'd surprised the wench by taking the week off, I figured escaping for one evening of booze would be fine. *Result*
One of our intrepid band hadn't really had much whisky before, so we were trying to showcase a diverse range of flavours from the islands.
Our tasting was dominated by SMWS bottlings, as is only right and proper, and I would like to apologise in advance that the notes get more 'vague'.

SMWS 53.114 Caol Ila Smoky parma violets 55.2%, 342 bottles, refilled hogshead. 15yo, bottled 2007.

Orders from the bottles owner : we need to finish this one.

Nose: peat, salt, smokey bacon, hint of sweetness
Palate: salt, honey (strong), sugar, sweet, golden syrup
Finish: mid length, warm,hint of tingle.
Rating: 6-7.5/10 (I was more the 7.5 range, but it appeared we had a harsh group)

SMWS 4.131 Highland Park An Artists' Retreat 20yo sherry butt, 60% 542 bottles.
Given how much this bottle costs, we'd decided to drink it early before our palates were destroyed.

Nose: vanilla, sherry, cut grass, turps
Palate: honey, sherry, red wine, currents, xmas cake
Finish: big sherry, very light salt.
Rating: 8.5/10
Really lovely complex full bodied interesting island whisky. It's worth the price too. I liked the hint of salty-ness with the traditional sherry complexity. It worked well, a highlands whisky with island overtones.

Arran Malt - 13yo Sherry finish.
One of mine, so there's been tasting notes on here before.
Nose: sherry, strong, burned rubber, peaches.
Palate: sweet, and other words I can't read.

Generally, it was too simple, had limited complexity, and was probably too young. Which is pretty much what I felt drinking it on it's own. Also with the excellent complexity of the first two, it showed up how light this one is. 5-6/10

SMWS 73.34 Aultmore 16yo refill barrel, 58.9%
Yes, I know it's a Spey, not an island. Words were exchanged with the offender, but being such nice generous fellows we forgave him and drank his booze.

Nose: sweet, fruit, marshmallows, mango, peach, toffee, menthol (esp with addition of water)
Palate: sweet, dessert wine,
Finish: short
Rating: 7-7.5/10
As you can see our intrepid band were getting more creative in their descriptions and appeared to like this sweet whisky. From memory, Aultmore are more known for their contribution to Dewer's, but this cask suggests they are worth finding on their own. Tasty, sweet whisky.

We then had the Lagavulin 16yo as our plan was to round out the tasting with an exploration of Islay whisky's. And let's be honest, the L16yo is as good a place to start as any.

SMWS 3.168 Bowmore After Dark 11yo first fill sherry butt, 58.1% 269 bottles
Nose: leather, wood, tannin/oil, rich, treacle
Palate: smooth, cigars, leather, wood, cognac/brandy
Finish: explodes, but short
No rating on this one. But I'd thrown it in to confound expectations of Islay salty bacon whiskies. On nosing and tasting, you'd think this was a Highland or Spey, and older than 11yo. Lovely stuff.

We then had some Port Charlotte 8 to demonstrate how Bruichladdich can do a heavily peated Islay at cask strength. All liked this.

And then we had the monster.
SMWS 127.3 Port Charlotte Beach BBQ for older boy scouts, 8yo 67%, refill bourbon barrel.
Nose: singed nostrils, bbq meat, hint of sick
Palate: sweet, bourbon, rubber, hint of lime, gin'n'tonic
Finish: massive, rubber, medicinal
Rating 6.5-7.5/10
It is drinkable at cask strength, which prompted one of our panel to say "Good way to go". It's not a relaxing whisky, but if you want a big big Islay, it certainly delivers. It was probably the only thing that could get through the previous whisky in terms of flavour.

Big thanks to our intrepid tasting panel, I suspect the whisky cabal will be assembled again at some point. Especially with the winter weather coming in. Booze good.

B