toastykitten (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
toastykitten) wrote2006-07-10 10:12 pm
toastykitten) wrote2006-07-10 10:12 pm
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Scotch tasting notes
What is a Scotch tasting party like? Take five or six nerds, make them bring one gourmet food item and two or three bottles of Scotch. They must coordinate beforehand to make sure that they're not all bringing stuff from the same region. Everyone gets a pen and a piece of paper to take notes on (except for the nerds who are too cool for that shit), and everyone drinks a little bit of each Scotch. As they taste, a drop of water or two may be added in order to bring out the flavor of the Scotch. Nerds who drink must also eat a lot, because those little sips of Scotch add up fast. Drink lots of water to clean the palate and to not be so drunk you black out.
Without further adieu, the following are a list of Scotches that were present at our little gathering and the notes that Mark took. Where I can, I'm going to list where you can buy them. Costco's usually a good bet, as is Beverages and More!
Balvenie 12 Year Double Wood - add one drop of water, sea salt, spices.
Highland Park 18 Year - peaty finish, very smooth, vanilla smell.
Lagavulin 16 Year - peaty smell, smooth, long finish, almost oily texture.
Clear Creek Distillery 3 Year Single Malt Whiskey - this one isn't technically a Scotch, but one of our friends flew in from Portland and decided to bring us some of the local stuff. Mark notes that there's a little bit of peat, remarkably smooth, but not a whole lot going on. I added that it smells like urine.
Talisker 10 Year - peaty smell, not a whole lot of taste, pretty smooth.
Talisker 13 Year - I couldn't find anything in English on this one. Mark only wrote "smooth".
Talisker 18 Year very nice vanilla smell, not too much taste, though.
Ardberg 10 Year - strong peat smell, very harsh finish.
Bowmore 17 - fruity smell. (You can sort of tell by this point that he's getting pretty trashed.)
Chivas Regal 18 - smooth, no aftertaste, not a whole lot of character.
Aberlour - I can't tell what year the Aberlour is. Notes include very nice smell, not very scotchy, smooth, even at cask strength, a little sweet.
"Peaty" refers to the smell/taste of moss that was burnt while the Scotch was being made. (You may want to check references for confirmation.)
Without further adieu, the following are a list of Scotches that were present at our little gathering and the notes that Mark took. Where I can, I'm going to list where you can buy them. Costco's usually a good bet, as is Beverages and More!
Balvenie 12 Year Double Wood - add one drop of water, sea salt, spices.
Highland Park 18 Year - peaty finish, very smooth, vanilla smell.
Lagavulin 16 Year - peaty smell, smooth, long finish, almost oily texture.
Clear Creek Distillery 3 Year Single Malt Whiskey - this one isn't technically a Scotch, but one of our friends flew in from Portland and decided to bring us some of the local stuff. Mark notes that there's a little bit of peat, remarkably smooth, but not a whole lot going on. I added that it smells like urine.
Talisker 10 Year - peaty smell, not a whole lot of taste, pretty smooth.
Talisker 13 Year - I couldn't find anything in English on this one. Mark only wrote "smooth".
Talisker 18 Year very nice vanilla smell, not too much taste, though.
Ardberg 10 Year - strong peat smell, very harsh finish.
Bowmore 17 - fruity smell. (You can sort of tell by this point that he's getting pretty trashed.)
Chivas Regal 18 - smooth, no aftertaste, not a whole lot of character.
Aberlour - I can't tell what year the Aberlour is. Notes include very nice smell, not very scotchy, smooth, even at cask strength, a little sweet.
"Peaty" refers to the smell/taste of moss that was burnt while the Scotch was being made. (You may want to check references for confirmation.)