Once again Todd and I were flattered with the invitation and graciousness of all involved to allow us to present the whiskies for this year's NE Florida Highland Games Whisky Tasting. Attendance was up from last year with about 100 seats filled. The auction to benefit K9s for Warriors was also a success. Thank you to all who bid and won from IMWC!
The order of the tasting was:
Cutty Sark, Famous Grouse, Black Grouse, Ben Rioch 12 yr, Glen Dronach 15 yr and Yoichi - Nikka 15 yr. My previous notes cover the Cutty Sark, Grouses, Ben Rioch and Glen Dronach. Todd and I had not tasted the Nikka 15 yr until that night. 
*Nikka 15 yr   45% ABV
     -smelled sweet wood/vanilla
     -tasted slightly smoke/pepper
     -trailed oak sour
     -with water lightened the vanilla and no smoke
     -tasted chalky pepper
     -turned quickly to sour tannins and oak
     Water is not good for this whisky!

Later the bartender at the Hilltop Restaurant gave us a taste of a rye whisky. 
*Colonel E. H. Taylor Straight Rye   50%ABV
     -smelled slightly sweet rye/oatmeal
     -trailed a little dough
     -tasted rye with chalky pepper
     -with water smelled rubbery sweet confection
     -tasted peppery with candy hearts, rye bread (Todd described as licorice)
     -quickly went back to pepper oak
     -smelled buttery rye bread
     -more water - mellowed rye and increased oakiness
     -trailed tannins and oak
     I like rye bread. Rye whisky is somewhat of a mystery to me since I have only had a few. There are interesting sweet notes mixed with the bitterness of the grain. I would like to see how much marketing hype is pitted against the actual flavor of the rye whiskies that are supposed to be the "the next thing."

Ken and Tonya had us over on a Saturday night to help bottle some beer, aged in a Palm Ridge Reserve barrel, and eat some wonderful food. The Scottish Ale tasted awesome. This was also a study session for the Highland Games.

*Cutty Sark  40% ABV
     -smelled grassy/waxy sweet
     -slight rubber smell
     -tasted slightly wood and pepper without a burn
     -with water a little bitter with a sweet citrus/lemon tang
     -trailed quickly
     Very, very surprised with so much flavor in a blend! The citrusy ending with water was the most surprising part. 

*Deanston Single Malt   46.3% ABV
     -smelled sweet grassy with oak
     -tasted a bit peppery with sweet oak
     -with water smelled oak and light citrus
     -tasted peppery/chalky, citrus at first
     -trailed oak and tannins

*Springbank  10 yr   46% ABV
     -smelled sweet sugar cookie slightly
     -tasted peppery with almost shortbread
     -with water smelled licorice with oak
     -tasted oak then pepper
     -trailed light wood
     Shortbread and licorice were a surprise but coming from two blends I guess my tastebuds/sinuses were ready for a deeper flavor you can only get from a single malt. 

     Todd stopped by on his way home with spirit to keep the Club Barrel watertight. A dry barrel is a porous barrel, right? I like when Todd stops by  with whisky. We poured these into the Club Barrel after tasting. 
     Here is what we tasted:

*Campbeltown Loch     40% ABV        (Springbank blend)
     -smelled sweet dessert and wood
     -tasted light oak, dry
     -not as sweet as it smelled
     -more alcohol burn than expected
     -with water dulled almost all the smell
     -tasted sour oak
     -more alcohol burn!
     Water ruined this whisky. Being a light blend, all of the flavor was apparent in the first taste. 

*Inverarity Ancestral   14 yr.   40% ABV
      "Aged Entirely in Sherry Casks"
     -smelled olorosso/cinnamon bun sweet
     -smelled slightlylike raisins (first time I've ever gotten this!)
     -tasted very peppery with some oak
     -with water smelled cookie dough
     -tasted sour wood
     -after a few minutes it got sweeter
     -taste went up to the roof of my mouth and cool/dry
     -trailed wood
     I actually tasted raisin in this. Sadly no butterscotch, caramel or licorice.

*Wolfe's Glen Single Grain  10 yr   40% ABV
     -smelled sweet candy with rubbing alcohol at back
     -almost a powdery sugar smell
     -tasted corn
     -with water smelled turpentine
     -tasted lighter and oak
     I like corn whiskies. This had enough corn in it to impart the flavor. Like most blends, water ruined this. 

*Murdoch's  15 yr   40% ABV    Blended Scotch
     -smelled lightly sweet caramel
     -tasted chalky/peppery with caramel
     -trailed wood
     -with water knocked down the pepper
     -sweetness in the beginning 
     -trailed oak
     Pretty unremarkable blend. 

*Suntory Pure Malt Whisky  12 yr   43% ABV
     -Smelled light wood sweet
     -tasted peppery wood with a dryness
     -with water dulled the pepper
     -trailed oak with the same dryness
     Surprising since we tried this before. This is an earlier expression. Water had little affect on the whisky.