Last Friday, a week ago already, I spent the evening with my in-laws. Father, and two brothers. Just before our vacation he ordered some new bottles of whisky and he wanted us all together to open them. I never expected him to keep that promise since that would mean keeping 4 new bottles closed for 6 weeks. Tough one!

Apart from the four tasted below, the evening resulted in tasting a lot more from his whisky cabinet, from Ardbeg Uigeadails to a Port Ellen and Sazerac 18. Not a single bad whisky was had that night!

Glen Garioch 1991-2011 (20yo) 54.4% Ex bourbon hh – The Whisky Agency
Heaps of liquorice at first with a hint of smoke. Floral with a defined honey undertone. The palate was more or less the same but with a little citrus added and a bit more smooth.

The Glen Garioch reminded my father in law of a Bladnoch by G&M he had sitting around, so we had to taste that one in between. It did taste alike, but the Bladnoch was much more fruity.

Ardmore 1992-2011 (19yo) 49.9% – Liquid Sun
Salty with wood, vanilla a little bit of charcoal Some minor spice note. On the palate it didn’t develop much and a bit of water did’nt help either. Not bad, just a tad dull, maybe.

Tomatin 1976-2011 (34yo) 51.9% – Liquid Sun
A lot less sweet than I expected. Lots of sherry though, with quite a lot of wood. It reminded me of those really big chocolate bars with dry raisins from Aldi supermarkets. The raisins weren’t too sweet in those. Some hazelnuts. After a while I got a strong hint of red cinnamon. Most certainly the most kick-ass dram of the four tasting.

Caol Ila 1984-2010 (26yo) 59% – Liquid Library 
Lots of smoke and wood. Some leafy garden herbs and a little pickled ginger. Fiery black pepper, quite fierce on the palate and again some wood. Never too overpowering in any aspect, and certainly a lot better than older Caol Ilas I’ve had over the last couple of years.

The big winner was the Tomatin. The Caol Ila was a surprise too but just missed the top spot. The first two weren’t bad, although they both could have done with a bit more development on the palate.