Let the Tasting Commence

We couldn't resist the call of the mini-bottles too long, so tonight we cracked them open to see what whisky we could taste.  It seems that blogger is set to Irish spelling as it keeps wanting to put an 'e' in whisky.

We started with the Auchentoshan, which is a blended whisky from the Lowlands region, ie the region where most people live in Scotland.  These are meant to be lighter, fruity dry whiskies, which is why the guy at the shop suggested it.  We found it easy to drink, though it had a strange soapy feel on the tongue, but then they all had that.  There was certainly a pleasant burn as you drank it, and there was a real earthy, smokey smell to it.  Probably our third favourite of the night.

Next up was the 10 year Macallan, this is from Speyside.  Actually three of the whiskies we tried tonight were from that region.  It's a tiny region geographically, but seems massive in the number of distilleries.  This region lies between Inverness and Aberdeen, in the Grampian mountains.  This must be where the name comes from (for the Grampians near Melbourne, I never appreciated that).  This region is meant to be the lightest in Scotland, though this one was a real Sherry number.  It was certainly smoother than the Auchentoshan, with a pleasant floral, fruity smell, which was repeated in the taste.  Though still there was that strange soapy feel on the tongue.  This one was slightly sweeter than the first, and we enjoyed this one more.

The discarded Ardbeg

Next up was one we couldn't finish.  This was, I'm guessing, the full-on Scotch whisky flavour, full of medicinal flavours, really smokey/peaty.  This one is not going to get a repeat.    It was the Ardbeg from the Islay region.  This region is a little island of the north-western coast of Scotland, and is meant to be a real peaty one.  We chose this one just so we could get the contrast between the rest of the lighter, more pleasant whiskies we had chosen.  And it sure was a contrast, if I wanted medicinal I'd buy cough syrup.  I'm so glad we didn't finish off with this one, that would have been a real unpleasant end to the night.

We had high hopes for the fourth whisky, a 12 year from Balvenie, which is another Speyside region.  This one was really easy to drink, definite honey flavours.  There was no smokey aroma, but again that strange soapy feeling on the tongue was there.  One of the favourites though for sure.

We finished with the oldest whisky, a 16 year old from Tomintoul, which is another Speyside one.  This is actually from the highest village in Scotland, and often gets cut off in winter due to the snow.  This had a lovely floral, sweet smell.  Though it wasn't as smooth as what we were hoping for, there was a rather unpleasant afterbite.  But as a bonus there was no real soapy feel. 

I think in the end we have definitely narrowed it down to the Speyside region, as we certainly preferred those over the others.  I'm starting to appreciate how people can go crazy for whiskies, they are rather like wine, in that the variation between the different types is stark.  I think we are still in the alco-pops phase, in that the sweet, sherry flavoured ones were our favourites.  Whereas I'm sure true connoisseurs only drink the disgusting medicine ones.  Though when I was young I thought beer was disgusting, so perhaps I should revisit this in 10 years time or so.  I have to say though, I think whisky is going to be more Dave's drink than mine.  I might get into cognac.  We'll have to pay another visit to this whisky shop, and hopefully they have cognac tasters as well :)