Muskys Live Tasting - Fri 12 Oct 6.00pm GMT

[K-Mile]

Just in time before Musky wakes up again

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Lagavulin 1990 Distillers Edition, 16 Years Old
Nose : Fresh, warm peatiness. Malty. Very, very inviting.
Palate : Gentle tingling at the tip of my tongue. Peat that unfolds into flowery aroma's.
Finish : Sherried peat, but a bit dull (could be because it's my last dram of the night, though). Second sip is better, sweet heather.
Comment : Beautiful bronze, amber color. Great overall dram.

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[K-Mile]

I had a great night

Thanks Peter for the initial idea, Darren for showing your enthusiasm from post no. 1, Matt for joining in so early and providing a standard format for tasting notes, Christian for the encouragement and Keith for your great way of posting your notes.

I want to wish all the guys and gals of the second round a great night, would love to see your notes tomorrow, but I am off to bed now. We'll see how this works out tomorrow morning

[Muskrat Portage]

Okay, as K-Mile commented, I was sleeping - up early this morning, drove 50 km to work and back, dodging the darn deer on the highway (three ran in front of me going up, 5 on the side of the road coming home) and slid home to get the computer fired up just at 1800 GMT. After the first round, I needed a nap.
Now it's time for the next tasting, again a welcoming sample of Balvenie 12 yo to get us warmed up before we start into the Islands/ Islay tasting.

For your information, here's Matt's notes and links he posted for our use just prior to the first Live tasting:

The Whiskies
1. Balvenie 12 Doublewood - Just to get us in the mood
2. Highland Park 12
3. Bowmore (Dusk, Dawn or Darkest)
4. Ardbeg 10
5. Laphroiag QC
6. Lagavulin 16

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6988

[hpulley]

Guess I missed it again... a bit early for us here Musky P. Dramming some 12yo Bruichladdich though!

Harry

[Muskrat Portage]

Guess I missed it again... a bit early for us here Musky P. Dramming some 12yo Bruichladdich though!
Harry

Harry:
Yeah, it was early, too early, I was able to arrange to work earlier today so I could be here for the 1200 hr CST /1800 hr GMT tasting.

I figured that this time would be better for the North American group and that we might pick up a few West coasters and some of the late night Europeans if we were lucky. And, how are you enjoying the "laddie? I'm into a light Balvenie at present and quite enjoying myself.
Musky

[hpulley]

I quite like this one, now wish I'd brought two bottles back with me. It is a light islay but still flavorful, coastal, malty, tarty fruit, very smooth. I don't have any Balvenie in the house, not sure I even have a speysider open, if at all. No Highland park either but later I can join you in Bowmore 12yo, Ardbeg 10yo, Laphroaig 10yo, and Lagavulin 16yo if I'm still up...

Harry

[Muskrat Portage]

Bowmore 12 is next up once I finish my Balvenie and my supper!
Muskrat

[Di Blasi]

I just got in now, later than expected. I'll see if I can catch up, but I don't think I have any of the lineup being tasted.

[Muskrat Portage]

I just got in now, later than expected. I'll see if I can catch up, but I don't think I have any of the lineup being tasted.

Welcome aboard! Yep like you said, 0100 hours you'd be here! So, have you got anything close to the lineup? I'm willing to sample something outside the list if I've got it.
Muskrat

[hpulley]

OK, pouring Bowmore 12yo. A nice medium peated Islay, finally good again after years of Bowmores which weren't my favorites. Still have to try the new ones when they come out (missed a tasting here where they had them).

Harry

[Muskrat Portage]

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Bowmore 12 yo 43 % abv
Nose : Sweetness a bit of almonds there and ... this is a tough one, it's so subtle I'm having trouble separating the components I can sense!Okay, floral notes from the heather and maybe a whiff of Islay sea
Palate : Smoke opens up when you inhale, and other flavours burst out, dark chocolate, a definite taste of marzipan sweetness and a floral spiciness
Finish : At first, a slight astringency and bitterness, like biting dandilions-but not as strong. On the second dram, the hot spicy finish was there and lasted for a good long while, dancing on the tongue for quite some time
Comment : I was finding this boring until I inhaled slighty on the second sip, then everything cut loose and it's wonderful.

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Muskrat

[Di Blasi]

I just got in now, later than expected. I'll see if I can catch up, but I don't think I have any of the lineup being tasted.

Welcome aboard! Yep like you said, 0100 hours you'd be here! So, have you got anything close to the lineup? I'm willing to sample something outside the list if I've got it.
Muskrat

It's actually 2.30 over here now. Isn't London an hour behind Norway, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam etc??? Matt's time zone seemed we're 2 hours ahead of London. Have they "fallen back" already, moved their clocks back for fall? Anyway, I've poured an Islay so I'm in the right neighborhood of the theme, but it's Bruichladdich, a 12y vintage 1992 for the German market in ceramic. Very good, definitely hitting the spot!

[Di Blasi]

Okay, GMT = London, the UK, England, Scotland, etc etc etc?? Right?? Well then if so, Bergen, Amsterdam, Paris, and Berlin, are all an hour ahead. California is 8 hours behind London, and New York is 5 hours behind London. Just making sure, but do correct me if I'm wrong please.

[Muskrat Portage]

There's some strange thing called "British Summer Time" I seem to recall. Mind you, I can't comment as we're on DST in the CST zone (Daylight Saving Time)(Central Standard Time).
My page shows 6:35 while my computer shows 7:35 so our DST isn't taken into account on the wensite. I was amiss as I assumed (I know never assume) that you were on the same timezone as London.

So I think you're bang on with your time and I'm still muddling along. In any case we're both here and enjoying drams, sounds very interesting,...what 'cha got for tasting notes for your 1992 Bruichladdich 12y en Steinkrug for the German market? Remember it's "Live" so the global audience is waiting...

Muskrat

[Di Blasi]

Sure, tasting notes, too tired for that, just enjoying it. And another excuse is that I've been at work all night, and no dinner break either.
I can't smell much from it, but it's nice and a bit sweeter in the taste. A bit malty, nice. I'll have to give it another try soon and let you all know. I'm fading, right into bed in a .......

[Muskrat Portage]

Well, it looks like there's only me and the bartender left and he doesn't look too eager to stick around. Thanks to everyone for your input and helpful comments. It's been a lot of fun and was getting pretty active there in the afternoon bouncing between PMs and the Threads.

I learned lots about how others perceive the same whisky and even discovered a few flavours that I'd missed before. All in all and excellant time and I'm looking forward to another one in the near future. Mr Fjeld is interested in one next Friday, as he's off.

Post your candidates for tasting in "The Bar" Live Tasting thread and lets' see what shakes out.

Again thanks to everyone involved, especially Matt, Christian, K-Mile, MrIntrepid, Malt-Teaser who snuck into the bar while I was napping on the sofa, GregB who just popped up on the screen, my wife for tolerating this whisky tomfoolery and everyone else who dropped in for a dram and to share a few chats about whisky.

Peter

[Greg B.]

Peter, thanks for the PM and the invitation, sorry if I've missed you. The cats are in and sleeping, the Red Sox are spanking the Indians, and all is well with the world on a Friday night.

I do not have the most refined palate unfortunately, but am willing to give things a try with a Bowmore 17 (also picked up on clearance this week at 30% off).

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Bowmore 17
Nose : Mackintosh toffee at first. Then sticky buns. Sweet, not much smoke.
Palate : Diluted with a little water: Smoooooth. Refined. No sharp edges. No FWP thankfully. Buttery.
Finish : Remarkably unremarkable. Maybe a bit of talc. Not much there. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Comment : The time in the cask really tends to mute much of the Islay characteristics. Maybe the Lappy 15 I had beforehand tends to mask the flavors of this. A very, very well made whisky, but subdued for an Islay malt.

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First time for this, it was fun!

[Deactivated Member]

Morning all, I'm just looking in before heading off to The Arc to start my preparations for what will most likely be a very crazy day.
England v Estonia get the ball rolling (pun intended) at 16:00 and then the main event will be a certain game of rugby against our No. 1 Gallic foes at 21:00.


Bring it on!
See you later,
MT

[MrIntrepid]

Morning MT
I have just read the thread and really enjoyed your notes, I joined in earlier in the evening before you arrived. A great idea and praise for all those that joined in. My rugby shirt is already on my back, I am off to watch lowly Northampton Saints today then onto to the big one tonight for some serious couch support - I expect the Estonia match to be a formality inbetween. COME ON ENGLAND

[K-Mile]

Just got up, had a (very) good night sleep. Good to see there was a second run tonight.

I'm off going to have a look at a house. Might find one before the end of the year after all, although I'd have to cut down on my whisky expenses to make this one happen

[les taylor]

Hey guys reading through the thread it sounded great fun and all the comments were great. Over 80 posts in just a few hours I bet that was exciting. I will join in with another one. Sorry I was out and missed all the action. Well played Musky.

[The Fachan]

Fantastic job folks, just read through the thread and looks like a lot of fun.
Roll on the next one so more of us can play.

[Muskrat Portage]

...as one bleary eye opens... oh, it's morning in the land of the Wooden Lake...
Stopped in myself after brekky to see if anyone else had shown up for a tasting and see GregB left some pretty good notes. You should go and read his first post, viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6526&p=106608#p106608
this fellow is a definite asset to the forums - as all Canadians are, of course!
There's a dozen bottles lying around in the computer room, all tasted although I didn't make notes for every one of them. Guess I'll clean up, do some laundry and take the dog for a walk.
It was a great evening thanks again to everyone who stopped by either to post or just to visit. I'm looking forward to the next one.
Musky