Just last week the River City Whisky Society met for a Lowland Scotch tasting. I have always found Lowland expressions to be a bit…..boring. Very gentle and well grounded. So I was looking forward to this one.
As always we had five expressions to sample. The tasters, all 25 of them, then rated and ranked them. The least favorite received five points and the most favored received one point. So if all the tasters agreed on their least favorite, that one would get 125 points. The most favored, if all agreed, would receive 25 points.
The following is the ranking and some notes from the tasters.
5th Place: STRATHCOLM, 12 Years Old, Single Grain Scotch, 40%alc, $30
Vanilla and oak on the tongue, No big flavors, Very light, Quick finish, Nothing special.
4th Place: GLENKINCHIE, 12 Years Old, Single Malt Scotch, 43% ALC, $62
Great malty smell, Smoky nose, Warm & soft peat, Sharp spice at the beginning, Warm finish.
3rd Place: AUCHENTOSHAN, Triple Wood, Single Malt Scotch, 43% ALC, $55
Great floral nose, Mild sweet taste, Bourbon on the front, Very complex, Really rich.
2nd Place: AUCHENTOSHAN, 12 Years Old, Single Malt Scotch, 40% ALC, $40
Vanilla start, Tastes of honey, Very creamy, Clean medium finish.
1st Place: AUCHENTOSHAN, 18 years Old, Single Malt Scotch, 43% ALC, $115
Strong citrus up front, Hints of caramel, Tangerine & apples on the tongue, Outstanding!
The second, third and fourth place expressions were only separated by a total of seven points….70, 71 & 77, respectively. The Auchentoshan 18 year old beat the pants off them, receiving 35 points.
But truly each of these is good on their own. And any one of them would be a good purchase.
Thanks to those who participated and also to those who have followed along with these articles.
Doug