I feel honoured and privileged to have been invited to the Blind Tasting Consortium organized by Brian’s Malt Musings. This is basically a group of friends who swap samples and try to discover what they are while sharing their thoughts on Twitter. So I’m a bit of an outsider, but I feel like I fit right in! I’ve sent in my dues (£35 for the samples) and received 5 x 50ml unlabeled bottles (along with some miniature chocolates!), except for individual little dots to specify the order. I then patiently awaited the appointed date and time, fired up the TweetDeck (all in the middle of that platform probably going down the drain), and, along with this group of folks, began tasting and sharing the notes. This is their 27th instalment, and hence the #BTC27 hashtag you can find along the #BlindDrams tags on Twitter. So these are my notes, along with the reveal at the end of this write-up. So let’s get right to it, but first, we need music! Now playing: bvdub & James Bernard – Departing In Descent.

I’m only doing half-pours here (probably about 25-30ml, and trying all these neat before I drop some water. And then, not in all cases. Dram #1 is sweet and tangy, with plenty of ex-bourbon vanilla influence with just a tad of liquorice hiding somewhere in the corner. It mellowed out with a drop of water and became even sweeter, honeyed now, with a nice ex-bourbon oakey finish. I’m not over the moon for this one and rate it a 3 [on a scale of 0-5]. Dram #2 comes out swingin’, definitely from the Islay territory for sure! It’s dark and fiery ashy soot, and I love every single drop. The flavour of a burned cigar still lingers on my lips [and I don’t smoke!], with just a hint of iodine somewhere in the background. I played with adding water, but I think this one is better off being as is. This one gets a score of 4 from me, and I’m fighting not to finish the rest of this sample.

Dram #3 is different from the second, and we’re back in the candy shop territory now. There are those boiled sweets, some spearmint gum, and maybe perfumed soap? I think it has a winey finish – it fills up the roof of my mouth in a strange way, then leaves me slightly empty. I’m not a fan of that. But then, with water, it begins to open up. Chocolate orange, wax candles, Christmas cake and sour milk. I’m not a fan of this one, folks. It’s like a French single malt finished in some strange cask or something. The consortium suggests a score of zero means that “I would smile graciously if given a bottle of this, then promptly deliver it to the local Primary School charity raffle.” And a score of one means “I’d drink it if given to me as a gift but wouldn’t waste my own money on a bottle.” I think I wouldn’t drink this one. I’ll have to pass and so politely give this one a score of zero.

Dram #4 is back in my camp! Some light notes of ex-sherry oak cask here. Red cherries. Apples. Pomelo. Some dried-up seaweed dipped in apple vinegar on the nose. On the palate, it has plenty of that ocean saltiness and dried-up seaweed once again. Heather peat and starting to come through. Now chocolate with sprinkled salt again. Now sweetness of ex-sherried cask. Not adding water to this one again, for sure! I give this one a solid 4 (which means “I’d be over the moon if given a bottle of this, and would probably drink it fairly quickly“) and wonder how it would compare against the second dram. Dram #5 is sherry-dark, and it goes well with chocolate! We’ve got some sweet Maraschino cherries, drenched rum cake, and an old [delicious] cask. With water, the nose opened up a lot with dried but ripened fruit. We’ve got some leather now, and still, those cherries dipped in chocolate. Yes, I will give this one a score of 4 as well!

And now, for the reveal!

Dram #1 is Glen Scotia [Cask 21/655-9] 8-year-old from 2014 finished in a first-fill Pedro Ximénez cask, bottled by the distillery exclusively for Master of Malt at 54.9% ABV and sold for £70. I wouldn’t have guessed! I thought it was a lowland whisky or maybe even Welsh, so I’m pretty surprised!

Dram #2 is Bunnahabhain 23-year-old from 1997, bottled by House of MacDuff for the Golden Cask series exclusively for The Whisky Barrel from a bourbon cask [#CM265] at 52.3% ABV, and sold for £135. I knew it was from Islay, but I’ve leaned more towards Caol Ila. I’m happy with the Bunna! Solid dram! I want this one!

Dram #3 is Caol Ila 2010 vintage, bottled by Berry Bros. and Rudd in 2021 (so it’s 11 years old) at 56.1% ABV exclusively for Virgin Wines and sold for £75. I wouldn’t have guessed this to be a Caol Ila from a 1st fill bourbon single cask [#311715]. Something strange about this one.

Dram #4 is Caol Ila once again, but this time it’s a 15-year-old single malt bottled by James Eadie exclusively for Royal Mile Whisky. It’s finished in an Amontillado sherry hogshead (#361163) at 55.4% ABV and sold for £99.95. I think that it’s worth every penny!

Dram #5 is Mannochmore 13-year-old 1st fill Oloroso hogshead finish (for 6 months), bottled by James Eadie again, but this time for Milroy’s [cask #362236] at 52.7% ABV and sold for £76. Another lovely dram, and very much for Christmas!

Alright, alright! I am delighted with the outcome, my semi-guesses, notes and, more importantly, the whiskies, which I got a chance to taste all here tonight! From my perspective and opinion, I was spot on for what I’d like here. At least Drams 2 (the Bunnahabhain) and Dram 4 (the Caol Ila) are something I would reach for on the shelf without even tasting. And finally, there was a theme: retailer-exclusive bottlings! I have enjoyed the tasting very much and hope to be back with this crowd! And okay, if I had to pick the winner of the night, it would be Bunnahabhain 23-year-old Golden Cask!