Blind Tasting No. 2 Recap
This weekend, we had a great turn out for our second virtual blind tasting.
I chose three distinctive whiskies that you might not think to grab at your grocery store: Dalwinnie 15 year old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Angel’s Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey. Everyone who participated received 2 oz of each whiskey in bottles were labeled D, E and F. I was the only one who knew which whiskey was which!
If you haven’t tried the whiskies, here’s a quick summary of each.
Dalwinnie 15 year is a single malt Scotch whisky from the Highland region of Scotland. The whisky is double-distilled from fermented malted barley, then aged for at least 15 year in ex-bourbon barrels. With notes of honey, citrus, cream, fennel and a hint of smoke, this whisky is a good representation of a delicate Highland single malt.
Angel’s Envy is a straight bourbon produced in Kentucky. The mash bill is 72% corn, 18% rye and 10% malted barley, giving it notes of sweet candy, pepper and rich toffee. It is aged for 4-6 years in new charred American oak barrels and finished for less than 6 months in port casks, which allow notes of vanilla, fruit, maple syrup, toast and bitter chocolate to develop.
Teeling Whiskey is a small-batch Irish whiskey triple-distilled from fermented grains and malted barley. The 3:1 mixture of grains and malt brings out sweetness and caramel notes. The whiskey is aged in ex-bourbon barrels for at least 3 years and finished in ex-rum casks for less than 12 months where it builds notes of vanilla, oak and dried fruit.
After I gave a description of the whiskies, everyone nosed, tasted and scored the bottles one by one. Just like the first tasting, each person preferred different whiskies and was able to pinpoint a variety of tasting notes. Some picked out the smoke in Dalwinnie, while others got notes of honey and cotton candy. Maple syrup came up frequently when describing the notes of Angel’s Envy. Most were able to pick up hints of baking spice and creaminess in Teeling.
This tasting, a whopping 2/3 of the group guessed all three whiskies correctly! As we move through the next few tastings, they will start to become more challenging.
