ISLAY tastingThurs 7.2.13 £20/17* Edinburgh

[jmrl]

Bruichladdich Bere barley 2006 50% : the only time I've tried bere barley before the grain was masked by the powerful sherry cask used for maturation so presumably these flavours are more indicative of the strain, noticeably a different character, for better or worse...

Port Charlotte The Peat Project 40ppm 46% : suffering fatigue from the PC 5 - PC10 range I was pleased with the An Toras Mor expression, I take it this is the (able?) replacement..


Bunnahabhain 22yo 1989 - 10/12 48.1% Bourbon hogshead 252 bottles Cadenheads : a gentle but well aged version of the usually unpeated Islay.

Caol Ila 14yo 59.3% unpeated European oak Diageo Special Release 2012 : always interesting to try unpeated Caol Ila, but European casks give a different perspective.

+ another Islay malt to be confirmed : hmm Lagavulin 12yo cask strength 2012 release is the strongest contender so far.

[jmrl]

As this Thursday's Islay tasting includes the recently released Bruichladdich Bere barley I've decided to include a sixth dram, the Arran 2004-2012 46% Bere barley so we can compare and contrast the drams to see if we can isolate a common flavour. Consequently the ticket price will be 'improved' by £2.

The following tasting, on February 21st, will include the best of Cadenheads new bottling program, given the stock has reached Edinburgh in time.

The new releases will be:- Caperdonich 16yo, Glenlivet 24yo (claret cask), Clynelish 17yo (sherry cask), Glengarioch 21yo, Royal Brackla 20yo (sherry cask), Teaninich 19yo, Tomatin 18yo, Tullibardine 19yo (Chateau Lafite cask), two different Bowmore 12yo casks and a Bruichladdich 19yo.