We had a RCWS meeting/tasting Feb. 26 and tried five whiskies. Two were single malt scotch whiskies matured in wine casks, two were blended scotch whiskies and one was an Irish single malt whiskey. One of the blends, John Barr Black Label was put in a paper bag and labeled as a mystery bottle so the members would not make assumptions based on the price ($17.99).
After trying each, those in attendance (10 in all) ranked the whiskies with one point being given to their favorite and five being given to their least favorite. The points were then added up and the whiskies fell in the following order:
1) GlenDronach 14 yr old Sauternes Cask (14 points) – The Favorite
2) The Irishman Single Malt Irish Whiskey 10 yr old (20 points)
3) John Barr – Black (30 points)
4) The Arran Malt Bordeaux Cask 8 yr old (41 points)
5) Chivas Regal 12 yr old. (45 points)
The surprise of the night was that the John Barr ranked as high as it did. But I would caution you, John Barr makes four expressions: Red, Gold, Black and Blue labels. The red and gold, their cheapest by price, may actually offend your palate. Go for the black label or, if you can find it, the blue.
We also welcomed two new members: James P. (Coach) #14 and Doug W. #15. Since we could not decide who got which number they did rock/paper/scissors…Doug choked!
Within the next week or so we will post some tasking notes about each of the whiskies tasted.
Mark & Doug