Hi all,
I have just returned from one of our regular whisky tastings held regularly for the Polish whisky enthusiasts grouped round my website, whisky.pl, and I thought I would share a few very fresh impressions with you.
The menu included: McGibbon's Provenance expressions of:
1) Glenrothes 1990 13yo 46% vol. 2) Rosebank 1990 14yo 46% vol. 3) Craigellachie 1991 12yo 46% vol. and Douglas Laing's Old Malt Cask expressions of: 4) Glen Garioch 1988 15yo 50% vol. 5) Glentauchers 1992 12yo 50% vol. Adelphi bottlings: 6) Caol Ila 1990 12yo 57.5% vol. 7) Glenlivet 1977 26yo 57% vol.The expressions being extremely limited, none had had any before. Also, nobody knew what exactly they were tasting, the name of the distilleries, the age, cask type, etc. being held secret until after the tasting of a particular expression.
The Glenrothes was the only disappointment of the evening. Flat, nail-varnish type notes, totally uninteresting. Especially if you know how good Glenrothes can be.
Rosebank was very typical for the distillery, but I'd say supreme to the standard F&F bottling. Mild, flowery, some vanilla notes. Finish a bit disappointing, but great otherwise. A perfect example of what a loss the distillery's closure has been.
The Craigellachie was less subtle, more woody, definitely sherry influence (although you wouldn't say so by the colour), fruity, full, some smoke. Longer finish.
The Glen Garioch was still more complex and more assertive. A bit perfumey, caramel, oily, some seaside characteristics, smoky. Probably the best whisky of the evening.
The Glentauchers was very sweet, nutty, aniseedy, extremely mild and rounded. A nice surprise as nobody would have probably expected much of a Glentauchers.
The Adelphi samples were too small for the size fo the group to be seriously tasted and discussed. Still, they were praised, especially the Caol Ila by the Islay fans missing their favourite notes of railway sleepers ;-)
The ultimate test for their attractiveness came after the proper tasting and discussion, when everybody was free to pour themselves whatever they fancied. We reckoned the one that would be emptied first would be the winner. And the winner inevitably was the Glen Garioch 15yo, closely followed by the Glentacuhers, Rosebank, Craigellachie and Glenrothes.
I thought I'd share these impressions with you as the expressions are extremely limited (e.g. 272 bottles of the Glentauchers) and some of you might be wondering whether to risk spending a couple of quid on an unknown whisky... Apart from the Glenrothes, they were all worth every penny we paid.
Oh, and they were all un-chillfiltered, no colouring, single cask bottlings.
Cheers, Rajmund