Monday 9 September 2013

The Whisky Exchange Goes Retro




At Maltstock we had a great masterclass by Billy Abbot from the Whisky Exchange. He brought us some beautiful bottlings in a blind tasting, making us guess of the year and distillery. He called the masterclass "The Whisky Exchange Goes Retro". Here are my quick tasting notes on the beauty's he brought, and it told me again, that guessing is not my strongest thing ;-)


Clynelish - 1996 - 18 YO - 56,1% ABV

Nose
Sweet, soft, fruity, spice, orange, marmalade

Palate
Sweet, honey, abricots, and a bit of nuts in there and some wood

Finish
Sweet, medium length finish with some wood flavours at the end

Score
7,5 out of 10. Very nice dram, enjoyed it, but was to fast in the masterclass to really get to the bottom of this one...



Springbank - 1995 - 17YO - 56,5 % ABV

Nose
First a bit sour grapes on the nose, and then when warmed up a bit it changed to honey, soft fruits, apple, fudge and chocolate.

Palate
A light smoky tone in the background, red fruits, warm, and a bit salty dark chocolate

Finish
A warm, sweet one with a long finish. 

Score
7,5 out of 10, think there is more in to that one also, time to find me a bottle :-)


Dailuaine - 29 YO - 53,6% ABV

Nose
Sweet, soft, fruity...

Palate
Fudge, caramel, creamy, chocolate, pepper, dense fruitcake, soft fruit with a bit of wood.

Finish
A sweet and honeyed finish, medium length finish.

Score
Soft on the nose, and complex on the palate, this is a very nice one. Gave it a 7,5 out of 10. So at this point in the tasting I was thinking to my self, what more does Billy have in store for us, this is beautiful stuff! Can he top this? Yes he did, he surprised us with some more beauty's....


Coal Ila - 18YO - 56,1% ABV

Nose
Smoky, sweet, maritime notes, abricots, seaweed, warm, a dense nose...

Palate
Peaty, warm, heather, peaches, abricots, soft, minty, sweet, chocolate, red fruits, vanilla

Finish
Warm and sweet, long and creamy finish. With just a hint of wood in the back. 

Score
Gave this one a good 8 out of 10. Just like a piece of candy this one, rich palate... Has a strong sweet tone in it, can be a little bit overpowering, but is good balanced with the smoky and minty fresh tones in it to keep it just in balance.


Ledaig - 7YO - 59,6% ABV

Nose
Sweet and a bit maritime, some smoke, heather, heavy floral notes, dark berry's on syrup, bit orange and bit of mint. My nose was going from one side to the other, trying to make up what it was that I smelled in there, so much to find here. Heavy, dense tones, but also fresh and sweet...

Palate
Peat, smoke and honey, always a nice combination :-) Seaweed, soft sweet fruits, chocolate, caramel and fudge. Heather, dark fruits also make an appearance...

Finish
A long finish filled with sweetness, dark fruits, honey, heather and chocolate. 

Score
A very good 8 out of 10 for this one for sure! After the masterclass had me a little bit more out of this bottle, was very nice! Every body was amazed about the age with this one. Found some other bottles also at Maltstock from Ledaig, around the same age, but was nothing compared to this one...

Thanks Billy again, for these beauty's! It was fun and very good! Slainte!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. Next time I'll go through the whiskies a little slower... :)

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    1. Hihi! Does not matter, we knew that there was only a hour, and I just love to take time for this kind of drams ;-) Was great!

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