The second day of the Blind Tasting Competition brought us another mystery dram. In more ways than just us not knowing what’s in the wee bottles. Yesterday I did score some points which is something I couldn’t say for most of the past BTCs, and I hope to continue getting at least some points in the coming days. As long as I don’t finish last, right?

Sniff:

Image from Whiskybase

The nose starts slightly funky, with a creamy oak and barley scent. The funkiness is mostly a sort of moldiness, maybe mushrooms. There’s some vanilla that indicates the use of more active wood instead of the refill bourbon cask from yesterday. The style is rather heavy with a very gentle smokiness.

Sip:
The palate is slightly tingling and a bit drier than I expected. Heavy with some vanilla custard, black pepper and barley.

Swallow:
The finish is gentle and slightly dry again. The funkiness receded on the palate but is back now, the same moldiness. A hint of black pepper, but all in all not a very long finish.

I’m describing this whisky from a rather neutral perspective, and it is a fairly generic bourbon cask matured whisky. Except for that moldiness, the bit of funk throughout the dram. That last bit makes it a lot more interesting than ‘ye old generic single malt’ and lifts it right to another level.

Because of that funkiness and the slightly creamy vanilla, I opted for Ben Nevis, since I’ve had some drams over the last couple of years that were like that. If the creamy vanilla would have been a bit more rough, I’d have said Springbank. However, it turned out to be a Wolfburn! A whisky at just three years old, nonetheless.

I got points for the region, since Ben Nevis and Wolfburn are in the Highlands, and I went for 46%, so that’s another 20 points right there. Forty in total for yesterday’s dram, which is pretty decent, if I may think so…

88/100

Wolfburn 128, 3yo, Half Size 1st Fill Bourbon Barrels, 46%. Available from the Whiskybase Shop for 66.50