The Tasting #1
| The Whisky | Old Ballantruan The “Peated Malt” Speyside Glenlivet. | |
| Supplied | The Chair | |
| Region | Speyside | |
| Age & Distillation | N.A.S. | |
| Special Notes | Heavily peated malted barley in hand-picked oak casks. Unchillfiltered and naturally coloured. | |
| Strength | 50% abv. | |
| Price | R900-00 from Tommy Hair’s cupboard! | |
The opening toast to Uisge Beatha, the “Water of Life”. DETAILS
THE COLOUR ……..Medium Gold.
THE NOSE ………….Hint of smoke, Marmalade Fruit-cake, Honey, Malty caramel, and porridge.
THE TASTE ………..Toffee with Floral notes. Vanilla. White pepper at the back of the mouth.
A sweetness hangs around.
THE FINISH ……… The finish remains sweet but dry with a hint of peat.
WITH WATER………Very smooth and the fruitiness goes. Mild pepper and remains dry. THE SCORE ……………The Gents: 85 with guest 83.5 The range was 77-88.
The Tasting #2
| The Whisky | Kavalan Solist Moscatel |
| Supplied | II by special request as self-proclaimed penance for missing so many meetings! |
| Region | Taiwan |
| Age & Distillation | N.A.S. |
| Special Notes | Moscatel casks (specialised sherry) |
| Strength | 56-3% abv. |
| Price | R7,499-99. Whisky Brother & co. Hyde Park. Special Collector’s stock. |
The toast to “The Clark and the Jackson” and to absent Gentlemen.
DETAILS
On opening “A High Altitude Pop!”
THE COLOUR …………Deep Amber in the extreme with a very dark reddish tinge!
THE NOSE ……………..Prunes, Cherries, very complex, rich and sweet.
THE TASTE ……………Raisins, vinaigrette Plum, Rowntree fruit pastilles, floral notes, toasted bran and finally Dark Chocolate! As in the nose above, very complex!
THE FINISH ………….Sweet Milk Stout.
With some water………And once again I cannot recall any of the Gentlemen spoiling this delightful dram with water!
THE SCORE ………. The Gents: 85.4 with guest 82.1 Range 80 – 92.
And as per the previous Regular Meeting “Another unusual evening where the Second Bottle was as good as or better than the First!” And with my own personal word of appreciation to Ivor for this very special “Spoil”! And for changing my mind about Taiwanese Whisky!
The Evening: the meeting closed at 21hr59 with the Closing Gambit with thanks to our Host, Peter. And I hear via the grapevine that the gathering went way on into the wee small hours!
| Scoring | |
| Nothing short of diabolical | 0 – 50 |
| Nasty, well worth avoiding | 51 – 64 |
| Very unimpressive indeed | 65 – 69 |
| Usually drinkable, but don’t expect the earth to move | 70 – 74 |
| Average, usually pleasant, sometimes flawed | 75 – 79 |
| Good, worth trying | 80 – 84 |
| Very good to excellent | 85 – 89 |
| Brilliant | 90 – 94 |
| Superstar, gives a reason to live | 95 – 97 |
| Nirvana | 98 – 100 |