Some whisky tastings can be a bit predictable. If the brand ambassador for InverSneckity is giving a tasting, you can bet it’s InverSneckity you’ll be sampling, in all its forms and guises.
A Douglas Laing tasting is different. The last time Jan Beckers, the affable Belgian from DL, hosted a tasting for the club, we had a magnificent seven whiskies. Last night we had an entirely different seven, all carefully chosen to show the breadth and depth of the company’s bottlings.
Beer for the boys: Jan, Andy and Matt
A slight matter of the Dram! double booking our normal room meant we were evicted to make way for some dubious characters wearing dark glasses and peering at a TV screen which purported to be showing a football match in 3D.
The far end of the Dram! is a snug wee place and almost 30 souls stretched it to the limit. If we weren’t friends before the evening began, we were certainly much closer by the end.
Impressive line up
First up was a 12-year-old Linkwood. At 46% it had a rounded, sweet taste, with characteristic pear drops.
A Providence Braeval would have opened a few club members’ eyes. One key aspect of a DL night is the chance to try some of the more obscure whiskies, and Braeval certainly came into that category. Used as blending fodder by Pernod Ricard, this 11-year-old Speysider had sulphur on the nose, which puts some people off, but had a good solid mouthfeel.
An Old Malt Cask Glendronach was next, sitting at 50%. I liked this 16-year-old, which had fresh citrus on the nose. Everybody’s favourite, Highland Park, came next. Again at 50%, the 15-year-old version from a refill hoggy, had all the HP characteristics of sweet honey with an undertone of peat. One of the stars of the night for me.
The Double Barrel came next – an interesting experiment by Douglas Laing to marry two single malts. In this case it was a Braeval with a Caol Ila. A 9-year-old Caol Ila on its own was next and I much preferred this Providence version.
Last, and by no means least, came a 14-year-old Bowmore, not typically an Islay dram, with lashings of liquorice.
Many thanks to Jan for stepping in at very short notice after our scheduled Springbank tasting had to be postponed. We’ll get to that one next time
bill mackintosh
Well said William – a good evening was had by all & I thought the Braeval was a belter!