I am at a loss on this particular event. My phone from that period did not swim well with me and said phone must have contained photos of this event. The owner of the phone, me, did not save the photos to Google Drive or any device. With that said, there are two spirits that I noted.
     Also I do not remember where the meeting took place. I would, of course, like to thank our hosts. Thank you meeting hosts!
​     Please comment on this one and add some pics.   
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 *Vikingernes Mjod 19% ABV Nordic Honey Wine with Hops
-smelled sweet wine
-tasted sweet wine with hoppiness
No surprises here. 

*Robert Grahams Allt a Bhainne 15yr 43% ABV
-smelled cinnamon bun
-tasted oaky with touch of bread
-with water smelled floral, sweet citrus
-tasted bitter oak
Not much better with water. 

     Our own POTWC (President of the Whisky Club) , Todd, was once again gracious enough to open his home and host a meeting even though we made jokes and called him old for his birthday. 

​*Balblair ’93 53% ABV (Angle’s Share filming location)
-smelled bananas, strong vanilla
-tasted slight floral w/pepper
-with water smelled fruit salad
-tasted fruity wood
-trailed oaky pepper slowly

​*Glenrothes 40% ABV Select Reserve NAS
-smelled sliced apples
-tasted apple, pastry, very light oak
-with water strong apples
-tasted slight oak and trailed quickly!

*Grangestone Double Cask Matured – Finished in Sherry NAS
-smelled doughy, raisins
-tasted raisin with vanilla and touch of oak
-with water smelled floral raisin
-tasted very light oak w/raisin
-trailed light oak

​*Palm Ridge Reserve 9th Anniversary
-smelled strong oak w/citrus sweet
-tasted strong oak!, no citrus
-citrus aftertaste
-with water smelled Scotch tape/oak
-tasted like a piece of oak
-tannin aftertaste with touch of citrus
 
*Springbank 16yr 54.2% ABV – Special Bottling given to me by Willie Cotting
-smelled oak wood, tar, peat lightly
-tasted tinge of rubber w/smoke, tar, peat
-with water smelled lighter
-tasted peaty, peppery
-trailed spicy
Tasted the peat with no smoke.

*Gordon & MacPhael Longmorn 30yr 40% ABV
-smelled cinnamon, grassy
-tasted peppery oak
-with water smelled soap w/ slight oak
-tastes slight oak

​*Old Malt Cask – Port Ellen 26yr 50% ABV
-smelled floral with baked bread
-tasted smoky peat w/oak
-trailed quickly!
-with water smelled cinnamon bun
-tasted lighter peat w/lots of pepper
-trailed oak

​*Caol Ila 25yr 58% ABV
-smelled slight peat w/shortbread and fruit
-taste slight peat, pepper
-trailed fruit to oak
-with water smells sherry, fruity dessert
-tasted pepper
-trailed oak quickly!
-water ruined this!
 
*Murray McDavid – Linkwood (distilled 1979) 17yr 46% ABV
-smelled caramel, sherry oak
-tasted oak, sherry/bourbon, slight peat
-trailed oak
-with water smelled toffee, grape juice
​-tasted peated oak to shortbread to burnt oak
Water doesn’t necessarily ruin this. Less water is better. 

​*Clontarf Single Malt 40% ABV (“Mellowed Through Atlantic Irish Oak Charcoal”)
- smelled caramel, vanilla, grassy and cinnamon quickly into sugar cookie
-tasted slight pepper with cinnamon toast
-with water smelled very sweet cinnamon floral
-tasted grassy w/touch of oak

     I want to apologize for my lack of postings in the last two years! You see, I've changed careers. That change required a couple years of intense schooling. Actually it was forty hours a week. All the while I drank, tasted and enjoyed in stolen hours from study, but on a budget. 
     The task for me now is to wade through the notes and post them. There are even whiskies from Ireland that I rolled past my lips while there. Stay tuned! Impressions to follow. 

     A huge thank you to Tanya and Ken for hosting the whisky miscreants of Jacksonville and providing two forms of pork (the other white meat)!! Aly and I were exhausted from our day in Orlando and were able to stay awake and enjoy some tasty beverages with our friends. 
     Ken, always hard at work brewing something, let us taste an apple cider aged in Palm Ridge Reserve barrels. It was an very nice cider. Keep in mind that I do not like ciders. This one tasted apple (cut and left out for a few hours) with citrus and oak. The flavor of the Palm Ridge came through in the nose and aftertaste. The cider itself was not overly sweet with a good flavor of apple. Since we were tasting it before bottling, it was not carbonated. I made the parallel to mojitos. Both taste so good that you can easily gulp them down. The danger is real with those kind of beverages. Good stuff!

*Bunnahababhain Ceobanach 46.3% ABV
     -smells band-aid, grassy
     -tasted medicinal, slight oak
     -with water smelled grassy like dandelion
     -tasted toasted bread, peppery oak
     -trailed bitter oak
​     This whisky retained its characteristic oily, rich flavor with a lighter element. 

*Tamnavulin-Glenlivet 46% ABV
     -smelled slightly moldy fungus wood with                     cinnamon
     -sweet oak and slightly floral as well
     -with water smelled cinnamon bun
     -tasted oak. leathery
     -trailed very quickly with a hint of floral
     This was a bottle from Byron that Todd brought out. Since it was bottled in the early eighties, it's a sure bet that paxarette was in the barrels for the aging. That explains the sweet aromas. Also at the time a number of distillers added Glenlivet to the name of the expression thinking it would help with sales. This was actually a Cadenhead whisky (Springbank).

*Glenlivet Nadurra 16 yr    56.2% ABV
         - smelled sweet cinnamon dessert
        -tasted strong pepper vanilla oak
       -with water smelled sweet floral
-tasted slight oak
-trailed quickly oak
I guess I expected more from a 16 year old whisky. There was not much here to make me choose it over a Glenlivet 12 yr.

     Well it would be tough to hide the fact that I have not posted anything in a few weeks - about 18 of 'em. Yeah that's  four months. It has been a busy summer. Apparently not for any of my tasting notes though. 
     Cindy and Doug were gracious enough to host our tribe of whisky carousers for an evening of fun and food. Thank you again! Sorry it is four months late. 
     There were excellent vittles  prepared and a few stories shared. The evening's conversations ranged from substitute teaching to travels (possibly travails) in Ireland and Scotland to Springbank Whisky School and Highland Games. The tasting for the night was Sherried Whiskies. Here is what I tasted:

Edradour Natural Cask Strength
     The tasting notes for this expression can be found in our 2016 Christmas gathering at Cindy and  Doug's.

     

*Glenfiddich Small Batch Reserve 18 yr  43% ABV

     -Smelled like grape cool-aid
     -tasted like fruit - went to pepper quickly!
     -with water smelled light fruit and vanilla
     -tasted light wood
     -went quickly to oak with very little bitter

*Springbank 21 yr  46% ABV
     -smelled sherry with grape
     -tasted sweet fruit and oak with pepper
     -with water smelled fruity, floral with cinnamon
     -tasted light wood with sweet that went quickly to light  oak
​     Paxarette! I think. 

      Well....two months later and I'm getting this posted. Can I fire myself from this? No. Everyone else would be doing the firing. I'll keep doing it. So here's what I tasted:

*Glenfiddich 12 yr 40% ABV
-See tasting notes from 8/9/2014 for notes.

*Balvenie 12yr Doublewood 43% ABV
     -smelled sweet pastry with caramel and cinnamon bun, grape juice/plum wine
     -tasted peppery candy 
     -with water smelled cake icing, sweet fruit like plums
     -tasted raisin bread, dough that went to peppery oak
     -trailed slight oak but not bitter
     Excellent with or without water! I know I have posted notes about this before but was not able to find them. So I was forced to roll up my sleeves, pour a dram and taste it again. Oh the sacrifices for the club......












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*Monkey Shoulder Blended Malt  43% ABV  
(Glenfiddich, Balvenie Doublewood 12, Kininvie)
     -See previous tasting notes


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*Glenfiddich 15yr Solera Reserve 40% ABV
     -smelled raisin bread and dessert, sherry
     -tasted vanilla, caramel with oak
     -with water smelled sweet caramel, floral
     -tasted oak with very light vanilla
     -goes to bitter oak quickly
     Water should be used sparingly with this one!


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*Glenfiddich 21yr Reserva Rum Cask Finish 40% ABV
     -smelled very fruity
     -tasted caramel, raisin bread then quickly to oak
     -bitter rum oak cask
     -with water smelled sweet cinnamon and floral
     -tasted oak with no bitterness, slight rum
     -trailed quickly with no bitterness
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Aly and I saw this at Total Wine and just had to have it. How can you go wrong with Glenmorangie? (unless you're talking about Milsean)

Glenmorangie Bacalta 46% ABV
     -smelled cinnamon, raisin bread with wine and vanilla
     -tasted very wine! with strong oak
     -hint of grapejuice
     -with water smelled sweet fruit juice, plum wine
     -tasted oak with wine bitterness
     Water ruins the taste but opens this way up!

     Rebecca and Drew were once again gracious enough to open their home and host the Burns Night with all the lewdness and jokes that go along. We did taste some whisky. We did read some poetry. We did all that three months ago. What have I been doing? Sorry for the delay. 

*Robbie Burns  40% ABV   Bottled on the 70s
     -smelled grassy sweet, slight wood
     -tasted very light oak
     -with water smelled slight oak, floral
     -tasted oak-trailed quickly!

*Lock Dhu 40% ABV
     -smelled cinnamon cookie
     -tasted slight oak peppery with dough in the middle
     -with water smelled very floral with a tinge of sour
     -tasted oak and trailed quickly
     -water ruined this completely!

*Lagavulin Double Matured Ditiller's Edition 43% ABV   #4/504
     -smelled tar, seaweed and briny leather
     -tasted peaty, salty
     -with water smelled a little grassy with peat
     -tasted peaty with some oak then trailed peat
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