For our latest tasting we decided to do something different and we re-tasted the top rated whiskies from our 2010 tastings.
RCWS had a meeting on Saturday, 10/09/2010 and we re-tasted the top whiskies from all of the tastings we had in 2010. Since there were 9 whiskies to taste and we had 10 members, I threw in a surprise whiskey, Armorik, a single malt from France. This was a blind tasting. Since we had already tasted each, we didn’t want anyone knowing what the whisky was so it wouldn’t influence their opinion. Plus, all the members had to guess what they were tasting. The highest guess was 6 out of 10 by member #8. We tried the following, in order, and here are some of the comments. ( comments were a little scarce at the end, as the whisky was kicking in) The parenthesis is the average price:
Glenmorangie – Quinta Ruban: Sweet, smooth, floral and flowery ($50)
Chieftain – Benrinnes: Not as good as the first (Glenmorangie), sweet finish, smooth, less floral ($65)
Tomatin – 12 Year old: Very sherry taste, a little spicy but smooth and good. ($30)
Amrut – Fusion: peaty, a little burn and smoke ($60)
Glenfarclas – 17 Year old: Good stuff, some smoke, flowery nose, very good ($75)
Arran Malt – Lepanto PX Brandy Cask Strength: flavorful, a good burn, some peat, sweet ($85)
Armorik – French Single Malt: fruity, good start, good to very good, spicy ($55)
GlenDronich 15 year old: good one!, A+, good burn, better with a couple drops of water, very good ($85)
Sheep Dip – Old Hebridean: peaty but good, great with drops of water, sweet and peaty ($85)
Glen Garioch – 8 Year old: good nose, good to very good, not bad, B rating ($25)
I realize these are not the types of tasting notes that we normally give, but they were rated in past tastings and we wanted to see how they rated against one another. Plus, this meeting was more of a get together for camaraderie; to smoke cigars and drink scotch. Also, as an added bonus, it was beautiful fall night and we enjoyed it all on the patio of my house while watching the Mizzou game on television.
Each member ranked the whiskies, from their first choice (1 point) to their last (10 points). Below are the results. You’ll see that the first three are only separated by 3 points. Each is a fantastic scotch and was consistently rated high amongst all members. Surprisingly, the Chieftain – Benrinnes didn’t fare as well as we thought it would. We were all blown away with it the first night we tried it. And, that same night the Amrut – Fusion finished second. Tonight, each tied with 59 points at sixth and seventh place. The night we tried GlenDronich 15 Year old it finished first and the Sheep Dip Old Hebridean finished second. Tonight, the GlenDronich was second (no surprise), but the Sheep Dip finished ninth.
BRAND POINTS
1 Glenfarclas – 17 year old 41
2 Glendronich – 15 Year old 43
3 Glenmorangie – Quinta Ruban 44
4 Arran – Lepanto PX Brandy 51
5 Armorik – French Single Malt 57
6 Chieftain – Benrinnes 59
7 Amrut – Fusion 59
8 Glen Garioch – 8 year old 63
9 Sheep Dip – Old Hebridean 64
10 Tomatin – 12 year old 72
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