Getting fooled by Glenfiddich – a blind tasting of three whiskies

Glenfiddich blind tasting by Peter Moser

I love blind tastings. They are a great way to make a huge fool of yourself. Ahem. Okay, let’s try this again. I love blind tastings. They are very educational and let you focus on the whisky without any preconceptions. A prime example of this was last year at a blind tasting at the Campbeltown whisky festival where I rated an Inchmurrin highest and a Littlemill lowest. Would I have scored them the same if I had known beforehand what the were? I hope so – but can’t say for sure!

Peter Moser, who runs the German-speaking whisky site fosm.de has invited me to take part in his blind tasting sets for the last few rounds – which have always yielded very interesting, sometimes sobering results. For round seven in his series, he sent us three samples, labelled #1-3 and with very little clues other than it being a big distillery in the process of reinventing itself and all of the samples being from the same distillery. In the end, the distillery turned out to be Glenfiddich. No, I did not guess that correctly but I was close-ish At least that’s what I tell myself… That has to count, right?

Now, for the full dose of public humiliation and poking fun at myself on my own site I’ll reveal the three drams – complete with translations of my original tasting notes:

Continue reading “Getting fooled by Glenfiddich – a blind tasting of three whiskies”
Share this post

Tasting: Highland Park 21 yo

Highland Park 21 yo

Highland Park 21 yoDram data:
Distillery: Highland Park
Bottler: official bottling
Distilled: ?
Bottled: ?
Age: 21 yo
Limitation: –
Casks: mainly American oak sherry casks
Alcohol: 47,5%
uncoloured / unchillfiltered
Whiskybase link

How about a wee mini-series of Highland Park tasting notes, say, the 21yo all the way up to the 40? I was fortunate enough to visit the distillery this year (click here for an in-depth article) and squirrelled away the samples I got to taste on a later day – which is now. Let’s start with the youngest of the bunch, shall we?

Tasting notes:
Colour:
 light amber
The first aroma I get on the nose is that of a dunnage warehouse. A whiff of earthy notes and a hint of mushrooms, which is gone after a few seconds, to reveal a dense mix of rich vanilla, very light smoke (burning heather), smoke-dried apricots and dates stored in grandma’s spice cabinet next to a fresh orange. They said, this is made up of mainly ex-American oak sherry casks, which accounts for the creaminess and not overwhelming spices. A very nice, complex nose indeed. Let’s check out the palate!
Continue reading “Tasting: Highland Park 21 yo”

Share this post

24 drams till Christmas 2016 #9: Glen Keith 1992 21 years by Archives

Glen Keith 1992 21 years by Archives

Glen Keith 1992 21 years by ArchivesDram data:
Distillery: Glen Keith
Bottler: Archives
Distilled: 10.1992
Bottled: 03.2014
Age: 21 years
Limitation: 218 bottles
Casks: Bourbon Barrel 120599
Alcohol: 51,5%
unchillfiltered and uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Another “first” for the blog – I can hardly believe I’ve never officially tasted a Glen Keith before?

Tasting notes:
Colour:
 light gold
The nose opens on the sweet and fruity side, but with a lightness to it at the same time! Sweet oranges, a hint of wax, sweet fruits (grapes, apricots, mangos) and light vanilla dominate the initial impression. We’ve got an ex-bourbon fruit bomb here! As time passes, the aromas get more complex and richer, the fruits get darker, with an almost jammy/syrupy aspect to them. Let’s see what the palate has in store! Continue reading “24 drams till Christmas 2016 #9: Glen Keith 1992 21 years by Archives”

Share this post

Tasting: Tomatin 1991 21 years by C&S

Tomatin 1991 21 years by C&S

Tomatin 1991 21 years by C&SDram data:
Distillery: Tomatin
Bottler: C&S dram collection
Distilled: 05.06.1991
Bottled: 17.01.2013
Age: 21 years
Limitation: single cask
Casks: Sherry butt 12488
Alcohol: 55,7%
Unchillfiltered, uncoloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour:
light gold
The nose is rather light on the first sniff, but it’s a few years old, so let’s set the glass aside for a couple of minutes. 10 minutes later: Ah! That’s better! Mmmmmhhhh… old, aged whisky in its best years, balance between subtle cask influence and spirit character. Continue reading “Tasting: Tomatin 1991 21 years by C&S”

Share this post

24 drams till Christmas tasting #15: Caol Ila 1993 21 yo by A.D. Rattray

Caol Ila 1993 21 yo by A.D. Rattray

Caol Ila 1993 21 yo by A.D. RattrayDram data:
Distillery: Caol Ila
Bottler: Dewar Rattray
Distilled: 19.07.1993
Bottled: 11.08.2014
Age: 21 years
Limitation: 311 bottles
Cask: Refill Butt 11144 (Part)
Alcohol: 56,8%
unchillfiltered; natural colour
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: white wine
The nose has an astonishing amount of peat smoke left for a 21-year-old dram! Peat smoked salted herring with tang, cigar ash, burning hard wood and latex gloves on much more mellow sweet notes of cake icing with a dash of lemon, honey and malt extract with vanilla pudding. Hm… the label says “sherry butt” – probably american wood and 3rd fill, so there’s no trace of sherry left.
Continue reading “24 drams till Christmas tasting #15: Caol Ila 1993 21 yo by A.D. Rattray”

Share this post

Tasting: Glenburgie 21y 1993 by Cadenhead’s (Club bottle 2014)

Glenburgie 1993 21y Cadenhead Club 2014

Glenburgie 1993 21y Cadenhead Club 2014Dram data:
Distillery: Glenburgie
Bottler: Cadenhead’s
Distilled: 1993
Bottled: 2014
Age: 21
Limitation: 92 bottles
Casks: Ex-Sherry
Alcohol: 51,1%
Unchillfiltered, natural colour
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour:
deep red copper
The nose opens on a dark note with kirsch, dry sherry (maybe Fino? I’m not the biggest expert on Sherry, sorry…), plum schnapps, european oak spices (old wardrobe with moth balls?), some dried toffee and caramel (not the sweetness, just the aroma), cocoa powder, instant coffee and a hint of eucalyptus.

Continue reading “Tasting: Glenburgie 21y 1993 by Cadenhead’s (Club bottle 2014)”

Share this post

Tasting: Glen Garioch 1990 21y cask 252 by “Archives”

glen_garioch_1990_ARCDram data:

Distillery: Glen Garioch
Bottler: Archives
Distilled: 28.12.1990
Bottled: 05.01.2012
Age: 21
Limitation: 267
Price at the time of purchasing: – (sample)
Casks: Hogshead
Alcohol: 54%
Uncoloured & Unchillfiltered
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: bright gold. On the nose I get an immediate impression of a fresh summer fruit basket. Red apples, pears, gooseberries, strawberries, plums. Continue reading “Tasting: Glen Garioch 1990 21y cask 252 by “Archives””

Share this post

Tasting: Glengoyne 21y

Glengoyne_21Dram data:

Distillery: Glengoyne
Bottler: Official bottling
Distilled: –
Bottled: 03.12.2012 (lot-nr)
Age: 21 years
Limitation: unknown
Price at the time of purchasing: 93€
Cask: 100% Ex-Oloroso according to the Whiskybase
Alcohol: 46%
Chill filtered? (doesn’t say) & natural color
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
The rich, dark, uncoloured appearance of the dram screams of the casks, the distillery’s known for: Sherry, sherry and sherry. Continue reading “Tasting: Glengoyne 21y”

Share this post

Tasting: Benriach 17 Septendecim vs. 21 Authenticus

benriach_17_21Dram data:

Distillery: BenRiach
Bottler: Official bottling
Distilled: n/a
Bottled: 17: 28/03/2013 21: 27.06.2011
Age: 17/21 years
Limitation: unknown
Price at the time of purchasing: – (Miniatures)
Cask: –
Alcohol: 46% each
Unchillfiltered & natural color
Whiskybase link 17
Whiskybase link 21

A head to head tasting with my brother of the two peated Speysiders from the same distillery. 4 years of age difference and bottled 2 years apart – sounds fun! Continue reading “Tasting: Benriach 17 Septendecim vs. 21 Authenticus”

Share this post

Cookie Consent with Real Cookie Banner