Yesterday I was initially planning to co-host a whisky tasting for my previous job at Interactive Studios. But halfway through the week with many deadlines and two days of working 12 hours I didn’t really feel like going at all and I cancelled that. I decided to stay at home and invite my brothers and dad in law and have some drams. Apart from Martijn, nobody was able to make it so we just had drams with the two of us (Auchentoshan, Glenugie, Karuizawa, Brora, Benrinnes, Carsebridge and others). Because of that I never got around to filling in my guess for the competition, but I did have the sample just before we started.

Nose:
Young and peppery at first. The youngish hint fades after the first hit. A slight hint of smoke but that might be wood influence as well. After a few minutes I get a slight fruity hint too.

Taste:
Again, sharp and peppery with a lot of white, fresh oak on the palate. Eventually I get rather thick vanilla custard.

Finish:
The finish is okay, but not great. It does lose the sharpness quickly, which I rather like. Wood, a little vanilla and a mix of spices and fruits.

I would have loved to taste more flavours like I found in the finish throughout the entire dram. It didn’t really appeal to me because I found it too sharp in general and the flavour I did get were not too deep and complex.

Dailuaine 27, Asta Morris, 1983-2011, 50%, cask #AM004

WTF?! First, 27 years old? Second, only 50%? Third, Dailuaine? Aparently, I wasn’t the only one with difficulty with this dram, since there are barely any points apart from one person who had a 60 out of a 100 score. A couple of guys had the region right and that was it.