Blind Tasting No. 3 Recap
This weekend’s NEAT blind tasting was all about Scotch! Single malt scotch to be exact. Everyone who participated received three 3 oz bottles of different single malts and only I knew what was in each bottle. I didn’t even disclose what three whiskies that I chose this time! Well, until the reveal that is.
I briefly described the general flavor profiles of the 5 different Scotch regions (6 if you count the Islands as their own region) and how whisky making causes those differences. If you want to know about the different Scotch regions, you can read about them here. Then, based only on their senses, everyone decided which region they thought Scotches were produced in.
The whiskies were...
The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 year Speyside single malt scotch whisky is produced in Dufftown, Scotland from 100% malted barley (unpeated). The whisky is double distilled with copper pot stills and aged for 12 years in used bourbon barrels and sherry casks. The name DoubleWood is a nod to the two types of casks used for maturation. Those that know The Balvenie Distillery will agree when I say this is the quintessential Speyside single malt. It is filled with notes of apples, sultanas, honey, nuts, vanilla and cinnamon. The 12 year DoubleWood is the distillery’s classic whisky that you’ll come across most often.
Springbank 10 year Campbeltown single malt scotch whisky is produced on the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland using 100% lightly peated malted barley. It is distilled 2.5 times and aged for 10 years in bourbon barrels and sherry casks. The Campbeltown region was once home to over 30 distilleries, but now has just three currently operating. Springbank offers a range of single malts from Hazelburn that is their unpeated whisky to Longrow that is heavily peated and then Springbank, which falls in between those two. The 10 year offers notes of fruit, honey, caramel, creamy, marzipan and soft smoke.
Lagavulin 8 year Islay single malt scotch whisky is produced in the village of Lagavulin on Isle of Islay using 100% heavily peated malted barley. The whisky is double distilled and aged 8 years in bourbon barrels and sherry barrels. This bottling was released on Lagavulin Distillery’s 200th anniversary, but typically you’ll come across the 16 year old. Lagavulin is a classic peated single malt that you’d expect from Islay with lots of notes of smoke. However, the use of sherry casks during the maturation of their whiskies combats the smokiness with sweet, dried fruit and baking spice. The 8 year has notes of honey roasted nuts, burnt sugar, peat smoke, apple crumble and coriander.
All three whiskies are classic single malt Scotches and everyone’s palates were pretty on point. Some guessed the regions correctly and others were very close. Some were even surprised by how much they enjoyed the Springbank when they wouldn’t otherwise go for a peated Scotch. This tasting helped everyone understand the flavor profile differences from each region and gain appreciation for single malt Scotch.
