Manchester Whisky Club Holds A Highland Blind Tasting

The end of last month saw me miss out on my first ever Manchester Whisky Club meeting, but not one to miss out too much, the drams from the ninth meeting, held at The Castle in Manchester, were decanted for a taste in my own time – and here we are. Like previous meetings, a region of Scotland was the order of the day, with Highland being the chosen.

Club founder Andy brought with him 5 expressions, but set a challenge to the rest of the members and revealed the brand names at the end, so effectively a night of blind tastings. So without further ado, let’s see how they all fared –

The Dalmore 11yr 1999 (cask 6879) – Provenance (Douglas Laing) – 46%
Lots of green apple notes with faint aromas of orange and malt on the nose. The malt dominates and develops on the palate, but the green fruit, predominantly apples, cuts through close to the end and produces a mouth-watering finish.
Clynelish 15yr 1997 (cask 6470) (Berry Bros. & Rudd) – 46%
Apricot and honey notes blend well on the nose, An oily texture on the palate, with a hint of sea salt and olive brine. Vanilla pops up at the end with a slight kick of smoke to finish.
Glencadam 21yr – 46%
Tropical fruits on the nose, with a hint of sweet butter. Lots of oak with flavours of cinnamon, vanilla and pineapple coming through. Rather short and dry.
Deanston 19yr – Single Cask (Master of Malt) - 53.4%
Mint chocolate notes on the nose, with some citrus and ginger coming through. Subtle peat smoke on the palate develops, with toffee, vanilla and oak flavours rounding off the dram. A long finish.
Glen Garioch 20yr – Single Cask (Master of Malt) – 58.8%
Dry herbs mixed with toffee aromas on the nose, Pepper dominates the palate, with hints of grass coming through. Short, but powerful.

A very diverse collection, with the highlight for me being the Deanston 19yr or The Dalmore 11yr. The Glen Garioch 20yr will fool you, blind tasting, you would never have quoted the strength. A major surprise to find it nearly tops 60%, yet I would have it down as a regular sipping whisky. Always learning.

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Posted: Monday 14th October 2013
ID: 10704 - 1055