Sipping a few of scotch whisky gems from Glenfarclas, Glenrothes, BenRiach, Kilchoman, and more that all cost less than $70.
Before we get started with the tasting notes, I'm celebrating...
It’s been one year since I started this website, my "blogversary" as it were. There’s been a whole lot of baking and whisky tasting going on!
I started this project just to have a place to keep my notes on scotch tastings and do a little British & Scottish baking, but it’s really turned into a labor of love for me.
[ tossing up a handful of confetti while blowing on a party horn. Ok, now sweeping up the confetti…goodness, that stuff gets everywhere! Remind me not to do that again ]
In honor of this momentous occasion (well, it’s momentous for me, at least), I have an announcement to make…ahem…I’m excited to announce that I’ve joined the writing staff at Outlander Cast!
My plan is to write about recipes and tasting reviews based on the food and drinks from the world of Outlander (both the STARZ show and Diana Gabaldon's book series), much in the same style that I do here.
Right, back to this website.
Ken Gordon of Gordon’s DTX decided to have a more free-form selection of whisky for a recent Whisky Wednesday. The selections were all under $70, and what an interesting mix they were.
To the tasting notes, then!
Peated & Unpeated Scotch Whisky Gems for under $70
At Gordon’s DTX, January 24, 2018
Glenrothes Vintage Reserve
Tasting Notes
- Nose: menthol, pine, honey, vanilla, peaches
- Taste: medium body, cream, brown sugar, soft entry
- Finish: the taste fades to a pine forest flavor, with sweet egg custard
- Comments: drinking pastry cream, so sweet!
Ben Riach 10 yr
Tasting Notes
- Nose: caramel candy, vanilla cream, light citrus
- Taste: light body, cinnamon spice, pepper bite starts to rise, pine, candied orange peel
- Finish: sweet toffee lingers with a light pepper backup
- Comments: a lighter body than I expected
Glenfarclas 10yr
Tasting Notes
- Nose: peppermint stick candy, green grass, lemons
- Taste: soft entrance, sweet cotton candy, pine element, light body, sherry
- Finish: fades to soft warm spices, lightly sweet
- Comments: easy to drink, the pine covers some of the other flavors, the sherry gives a lovely sweet ending
Johnnie Walker Select Casks Rye Finish
Tasting Notes
- Nose: rye immediately, lemon, hazelnuts underneath
- Taste: rye and caraway, light body
- Finish: fades to almonds, bananas
- Comments: no burn, hard to pin down, interesting
Gordon & McPhail Bunnahabhain 9yr Cask Strength
Tasting Notes
- Nose: lovely beach smoke, gentle aroma of ash, iodine
- Taste: thick body, spicy sulfur
- Finish: the ash lingers then fades to a warmth on the tongue
- Comments: all I get is the same ocean influence, good but one note to me
Kilchoman Machir Bay
Tasting Notes
- Nose: much lighter smoke, wood underneath, not sweet but savory
- Taste: beach smoke in a pine setting, vanilla and wood, soft, not spicy
- Finish: the wood smoke is soft and lingers on the tongue, almost herby…it reminds me of standing in a cedar closet
Ledaig 26yr 1993
Tasting Notes
- Nose: pine, green grass, lightly lemony
- Taste: lemon, rises to grass, light body, ocean air, vanilla
- Finish: fades to herbs
- Comments: like standing ½ mile from the beach and a breeze wafts by, not sweet, enticing
Final thoughts
I have many people to be grateful for. I give thanks to my wonderful family: my dear husband, my smart and beautiful daughters, and my kind soon-to-be son-in-law. Without your love and support (and a little nagging), I wouldn’t have even started this project, let alone kept it going.
I give thanks to my “crew” at Gordon’s DTX: Ken, Holly, Norm, Gretchen, Billy, Auggie, Keith, Ben, Tom, Vicki, Anne, Darren, George, Chi, Alex, Caroline, Rebecca, and the many more I’ve chatted up over the past year. Without you I wouldn’t know what I was tasting, let alone have the appreciation for a good dram you’ve taught me and the friendship you’ve given me.
And finally, I give thanks to you, Dear Reader, for following me and giving me the platform to share my thoughts and stories. I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride as much as I have. Here’s to another year ‘round the sun!
I hope you like this review! If you've tried any of the expressions and have your own tasting notes, please leave a comment. Thanks!
Slainté! L’chaim! Cheers!
- Tammy
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