It’s back! and in its proper place. With terrific timing Top Ten Tuesday transports tipplers to top toddies. Having run out of ‘T’s we’ll revert to English.
This weeks’s Tastemeister is Ian Sutherland. Incidentally, if you are supplying tasting notes and want a pic used, please email one to the club. There have been complaints from some narcissistic members that the chosen image didn’t show their good side. I’m an amateur photographer – sometimes it’s IMPOSSIBLE to find your good side!
Iain’s Top Ten
Nice to see Asyla make the Indy’s list, less sure about the Clynelish. Anyway, after literally minutes of thought, here is my top ten.
In no particular order…
1) St. Magdelene 1979 (Rare Malts) – my favourite lowlander and a strong contender for my desert island whisky. Richer than you might expect with a touch of hazelnut on the palate and a lingering lemon creme finish. The fact I used to walk past the silent distillery on the way to school only adds to its appeal.
2) Bunnahabhain 12yo – a much underrated Islay and the first whisky to make me sit up and take notice. Still one of my go-to drams.
3) Old Pulteney 17yo – chocolate and oranges with beeswax and turpentine finish. Creamy vanilla and then a whack of salt, which cuts through and prevents the whole thing being cloying. Much nicer than it sounds from my description. There’s nearly always a bottle of this somewhere in my flat.
4) Ardbeg Uigeadail - The first of only two peaty beasties to make my list – the richness of the older sherry-casked stuff mixed with the up-front punch of the younger bourbon-casked spirit makes this one a winner.
5) Dallas Dhu 1975/2005 (Duncan Taylor) – A bit of a cheat as you’ll be hard pressed to get hold of a bottle. Fantastically intergrated flavour and a bit of a struggle to pick out individual notes, overtones of tinned fruit cocktail and a cinammon, nutmeggy finish. Difficult to write tasting notes for, but a truly magnificant dram.
6) Springbank 1969 (Adelphi) – Cheating again with this one. Refill sherry butts gave this one a rounder nose than you’d usually expect from Campbelltown’s finest. Lovely and herbal with a hint of mocha and a salty, spicy finish. Sadly missed.
7) Aberlour A’Bunadh - Who doesn’t love this stuff? It’s fantastic and you can often pick it up for far less than you’d think. Rockin’ good.
8) Chivas Regal 18yo – Give this to anyone who says blends aren’t any good. It’s a coconut-fest of smooth, spicy, creamy goodness. This stuff is so easy to drink – I challenge you not to have a second glass.
9) Bruichladdich 17yo (1st ed.) – Another dearly departed dram and a reminder of just how good Bruichladdich can be when they stop messing about with wine finishes and stick to the simple purity of a bourbon cask. Don’t tell Andy but I don’t think anything they’ve made since can match up to this.
10) Laphroaig Quarter Cask – Although less of a smack in the face than the 10yo, this retains the iodine peatiness that makes Laphroaig so distinctive. The extra wood interaction from the quarter cask adds a depth and richness that complements the peat perfectly. One to look forward to after a hard day.
Cheers,
Iain.
So, having lost a day this week and missed Top Ten Tuesday, we bring you Whisky Wednesday instead, and today’s Tastemeister is Hotel du Vin Ecossier Ian Petrie. Ian actually has three top tens; this is the first, along with an explanation of the thought processes.
A contemplative Mr Petrie
Here are my Top Ten Scotches, which is a different list from my Best I have Ever Tasted Scotches and different again from my All Time, Desert Island Top Ten Whiskies! So because I am a geek with too much time on my hands I have sent all three. Sorry! 
No apologies needed Ian.
Top Ten Scotches
1. Bruichladdich PC6
2. Glenmorangie Original
3. Lagavulin 16yr Old
4. Ardbeg Uigedail
5. Laphroaig Quarter Cask
6. Old Pulteney 17yr Old
7. Aberlour 10yr Old
8. Glenfarclas 15yr Old
9. Ledaig 10yr Old (new bottling)
10. Monkey Shoulder
Nice list and all very accessible. We should mibbe try for a Top Ten Supermarket Drams.
It’s Top Ten Tuesday and our Tastemeister today is Shawn Richmond, once a committed peatophile (please read that carefully!), now a club member with impeccable taste.
Shawn at Springbank
OK starting with whisky I have sitting in the house I picked these whiskies mostly because I just love the taste and the fact that I always put off drinking them cause I like them so much.
In no order, well not really true.
In drinking order;
Talisker Distillers Edition 1998
Everything I want in a Talisker and nothing I expected from one.
Provenance Highland Park 11
If only all Highland Parks tasted like this one.
Glenfarclas 105
Cemented my love of sherried malts.
Aberlour a’bunadh Batch 12
This is the sherried temptress that converted me from a peatophile.
Lagavulin 12
I fell in love with the 16 as most people do. But the 12 just does it for me now.
Wee bit of water and as long as I’ve had my fill of sherried whisky, I could drink this all night and into the morning no doubt.
Next 5 are whiskies I’ve tried through the club with the exception of one.
Ok I have a bottle of this but I only have about 2 drams left because, lets just say I really enjoyed myself at the Auchentoshan open day.
Auchentoshan 1998 Limited Edition 163/200
I opened this on the train home with Scott and a few mates. Woof, why can they not all taste like this? To be able to produce whisky of this calibre on our doorstep and yet they turn out bottles and bottles of let’s just say it, mediocre whisky.
Wemyss Ginger Treacle
This was one of the highlights of the night, and what a night it was.
Amrut Fusion
First tried this at Whisky an’ a’ that, it’s Indian and helluva good. Got one in the Bon a few weeks ago and Scott could swear it was a Highland whisky.
My last two were sampled on the same night and provided by Jan, and “it’s what I joined Glasgow’s whisky club for”.
Caol Ila 26
Huge fan of Caol Ila. I have the 12, 18 and CS and love them all, but this was simply stunning.
Last but not least,
Clan Denny 45
I would never in my life have tried this whisky if it weren’t for the club.
I’m glad because i would have never had my eyes opened to grain whisky.
SOCRATES MEETS KEITH RICHARDS
The Big Soc
The Bold Keef
I asked you good folks for your top ten Scotches after an article in the Independent. Adam Scotland (who admits he had some time on his hands – well, he’s in Milton Keynes; whaddya expect?) is first in. Shawn’s still working on his, inbetween pulling all-nighters watching Star Trek and Blackadder. Keep ‘em coming.
- Aberlour A’bunadh – Sherry, Xmax pudding, hint of smoke, full of flavours, walnuts, chestnuts, an explosion in yir gubb. Cracking whisky and a cracking price. The price puts it a head of number 2
- Glenrothes 1985 – fruity, buttery and spicy. MMMMmmmmmmm. Come to daddy!!!
- Lagavulin XP Distillers Edition – rich in flavour. smoky, sweet, dry, salty BONKERS!!!
- Old Pultney 17 yo – light, fresh, vanilla, waxy, pears and apricots. Just how I like my 17 year olds. Finar Finar
- Laphroig 15 yo – Peaty, peppery, oaky, creamy, seaweed, with a hint of citrus. It dances in your mouth, not like its younger sibling the 10 yo, which stomps through your mouth like the Third Reich across Poland.
- Ardbeg 17 yo – medicinal, peaty, salty, smells of ashtrays, philosophical. It’s Socrates meets Keith Richards
- St. Magdelene 24 yo Dougie Laing OMC – Orange peel, lemon rind, full of tropical fruits, with hints of florals – a grown-ups Lilt. Get your 5 a day here!
- Auchroisk 20 yo – vanilla, creme brulee, fruit cake, pastry, figs, nuts, toffee, plum pudding. This wasn’t made in a distillery; this was made in a Parisian patisserie. Ooooooh La La
- Clynelish 1992 Distillers Edition – Sherry, sweet raisins, coffee creams, hint of cherries, pear drops and a hint of the sea. Memories of my childhood at my granny’s. Now she just smells of rotten flesh, probably. God rest her soul.
10. Kilchoman - Wood smoke, salt & pepper, vinegar, hot mustard, vanilla, buttery and creamy. When this was distilled there was a tremor in the force. This young apprentice, will mature into a Jedi Master. Powerful you will become, the dark side I sense in you. FEEL THE FORCE! As Master Yoda said “Age matter not… look at me”.
