Our wine group has members that go both ways - wine and whisky aficionados. We all pick up oddball malts when we get the chance, and to share the experience, we do a single malt whisky tasting about 3 times a year, as a change from wine tasting, and these are the notes from our autumn event.
There were 3 groups of malts - a trio each of Lowland, Speyside, and Campbeltown malts. Notes are taken both straight (1), and with the addition of a very small aliquot of water (2).
Lowland:
Rosebank Signatory - 1). very light in colour, with a hot medicinal nose with no detectable peat. 2). the nose improved and became more floral with water. There was no significant change on palate. Some really liked this malt - I was pretty neutral about it.
Auchentoshan 21 year old - 1). 55.4% alcohol! Medium colour, sherry nose, hot in the mouth but smooth and complex. 2). Sweet caramel in the mouth, smooth and rich and very much like a good Brandy. My favourite of the night.
Auchentoshan Three Wood triple distilled - 1). even darker, with a rathe odd nose more like Bourbon than you'd expect given that they mature it in Pedro Ximenez Sherry casks. 2). water tames the heat on palate considerably, does nothing for the nose.
Speyside:
Glen Keith 1983 10 Year Old - 1). clean spicy nose, balanced and finished well with a salty note. 2). water sweetens the malt in the mouth but harms the nose
- best not to dilute this one.
Singleton of Auchroisk 10 Year Old - 1). fresh wood nose, pithy, and neither Bourbon nor Sherry in style. Starts off slightly sour in the mouth, then improves. 2). water changes the nose to vanilla and fresh hay, mellows it on palate and brings out a subtle anise note at the end - better with water.
Longmorn 15 Year Old - 1). Nose not very expressive - some barley sugar perhaps? Bit hot in the mouth. 2). Not much change in the nose with water, but it tones down the heat. This one was a bit one dimensional, so we tried more water yet, which did bring out the fruit, but killed the nose.
Campbeltown:
Springbank 10 - 1). nice pervasive nose, and good in the mouth without water.
2). water makes it sweeter in the mouth, doesn't harm the nose.Glen Scotia 1990 (from the MacPhail Collection) 11 Year Old - 1). a nose like a cross between low tide at the marina and a tire on fire was more than a bit off-putting. Peat and seaweed in the mouth. 2). water mellowed this monster a bit, but it was still hard to get past that nose. One person wanted more, the others wanted to get rid of what they had!
Campbeltown Loch 25 Year Old - this is a blend from Springbank - 1). sweet candlewax citronella nose with some vanilla, bit hot, sweet in the mouth. 2). water mellows the heat nicely, but this one isn't up to the single malts. Nice dram if you don't have a single malt handy, mind you!