Whisky Boys – Back to School (again), Week 7
It’s Tuesday 1st November 2011 and it is only me (once again) that is on the train from Croy to Glasgow Queen Street, for our weekly trip to the Glasgow Metropolitan College. It’s week 7 of John Lamond’s Advanced Whisky Trail and this weeks topic is “The Market“.
This lecture from John included, How is it controlled? Who controls it? Do politics and trends affect the market place? A very interesting and good humoured discussion took place and lasted the best part of an hour.
Also part of this evenings lecture was to have every student to bring in a sample of Whisky and have the rest of the students taste it blind and give a verbal presentation on their selected dram.
There were approximately 12 students and John Lamond had also brought in a sample for a tasting so we were forced to taste 13 drams (I hear you say an unlucky number and of course it was against your will, torture I believe).
The samples brought in were from all over the world and some of them were:-
Eddu Whisky – from the Heart of Brittany/France
Cambus 24 Year Old Single Grain, from Bladnoch Forum
Longmorn 19 Year Old Single Malt – Independent Bottling
Bain’s Cape Mountain – Single Grain Whisky, South African
Ballantine’s Finest – Blended Scotch Whisky
Aberlour A’bunadh – Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Cask Strength
Glen Scotia 17 Year Old – Gordon MacPhail Bottling
Ben Bracken 12 Year Old Highland Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, 40% Alc/vol 70cl, Distilled, Matured and Bottled in Scotland for Lidl
The Macallan 10 Year Old Single Malt
Glen Moray 10 Year Old Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky – 40% Alc/vol 75cl
Old Ballantruan, Peated – Speyside Single Malt, Distilled at Tomintoul
Kavalan Single Malt Whiskey – Taiwan
As you can see the students were put through the mill, some of us tried to leave but John had locked the doors and windows, and it did not finish there, John bent down under his desk and brought another 4 bottles for a further blind tasting for us, oh bother lets get it over with.
John once again caught most of us out with his selection, which included:-
Bunnahabhain 18 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 43% Alc/vol
Dalmore Gran Reserva Highland Single Malt
Dewar’s White Label – Blended Scotch Whisky
Auchentoshan Classic – Lowland Single Malt Whisky
Well that finishes week number 7, and I know what you are all thinking “ this looks like a great course to go on “ well it is not easy, it is hard work and you are sometimes locked in and forced to taste some grand aged Whiskies, what can I say, here’s hoping that John Lamond will do the Advanced, Advanced Whisky Course, if so sign me up now. In the meantime you can purchase some of these fine drams online by using the shop window below.
So week 8 is next week and a bit of ==STOP PRESS== there may be a week 9 at Dewar’s.
