Time to catch up! Due to heavy drinking on Friday night and a sleep in on Sunday, I didn’t get around to blogging about the last couple of Blind Tasting Competition Days.

Yesterday, day 12, was the first one I scored zero points. Normally by now that has happened several times already. The main reason I didn’t get any points was that I forgot to fill in my guess. Although, with what I was planning to guess, I wouldn’t have scored anything either.

Image from Whiskybase

BTC #10: Braeval 16, 2000-2017, 2nd Fill Bourbon cask, The Distillery Reserve Collection, 54.7%

On the nose it starts with a fruity bourbon cask with lemon and pineapple. Rather gentle with some chalk and coconut. The palate is stronger with a bit more oomph. Chalk, pineapple and coconut again. The finish is very clean with lots of fruit again. Juicy fruits with icing sugar and some vanilla.

It reminded me of the new range of Inchmurrins and the WhiskyNerds version of it. It wasn’t exactly the same but a tiny sample can taste different from the full bottle. Also, there have been several versions out recently. So I went for a 14 year old Inchmurrin at 53%. I got points for age and ABV.

It turned out to be a Braeval, which makes this (maybe) the most impressive Braeval yet. Generally that’s a very middle of the road distillery with not much to write home about.

87/100

Image from Whiskybase

BTC #11: Laphroaig 10yo, Cask Strength Batch 4, 58.3%

So, a warning beforehand. I just said samples sometimes differ from the full bottle. I hope that’s the case in this situation, since the sample was pretty shit. Generally these Laphroaig Cask Strength releases are great.

The nose is very light with a lot of alcohol. It’s thin with cheese crust, tree bark and brown bread. Apart from that I get the industrial, yeasty scent of a washback and quite some supfur. The palate continues in the same way with a tiny bit of heat. I’m guessing 46%. There’s some oak but I get a wash like beeriness with lots of yeast and carbondioxide. It stays thin. The finish is slightly more classical with a bit of warmth. But it’s mostly some oak, yeast and barley.

Only very, very late did I get some earthy peat but someone had to point me in the right direction. It wasn’t even properly smoky, but there was a strange earthiness that became more and more prominent.

I was thinking of guessing Scapa or Glen Garioch at first, and a very young one. Six years old or so, I was thinking. When the earthy peat started showing more and more, and even taking over after half an hour or so, I veered towards Islay. Eventually I went for the eight year old Lagavulin. Not a whisky I like either.

So, I got points for region and age, at least that’s something.

78/100

Image from Whiskybase

Glenturret 12yo, 2004-2017, Single Cask Edition, 1st Fill Sherry Cask, 55.5%

And yesterday’s dram. The one I didn’t place a guess for. It starts with dry sherry on the nose, with fruit and spices. Baking spices, with oak and sawdust. Candied fruit with hints of chocolate and licorice. The palate shows a lot of oak and sherry. Licorice with baking spices, with a lot of bitterness coming through. Dried fruits like plums and apricots. The finish is slightly more rich with dark chocolate and a coffee like bitterness.

Now this is something I thoroughly enjoyed! I didn’t have a clue to what it could be but based on the fact that we had a lot of Highlands whiskies, I veered towards the Speyside. I thought it would be some 18 years old around 52%. All were wrong.

88/100