The Results – Whisky Boys 1st Tasting Panel
It was a cold and wet Monday evening when we all gathered in the warm Tasting Cabin.
In the cabin tonight with Nicola and I are Dougie, Alex and Scott all looking forward to tasting some Islay Single Malts.
On the table together with the bottles for tasting was chocolate and oatcakes, looks like this could well be a smashing night.
We decided that we would give each dram a score out of 10 and take an average to determine the winners and the losers.
The order of drams were just going to be in supermarket alphabetical order.
As all these drams were under £20.00 we had some surprises, some good some not so good.
Lets see the tasting notes from the table.
First bottle opened:-
Aldi – Glen Marnoch.
Nose...Seaweed, dry and salty, rock pools, mineral, smoky, peaty, damp pebbles.
Taste…A gentle smoke blanket, burnt twigs, lingering smoke, fine aftertaste, be gentle if adding water.
Second bottle opened:-
Asda – Single Islay Malt.
Nose…Putty, vegetative, earthy, mushroom, oily, pongy, compost heap, chemically, methane, damp and fousty.
Taste…Waxy. turned earth, low in smoke and peat, chemical element is very prominent.
Third bottle opened:-
Lidl- Ben Bracken.
Nose…Young, grassy, straw, runny toffee, a scarecrows forearm, sweet dumpling, coffee beans.
Taste…Sweet, soft and ripe fruit in a wicker basket, cardboard, spicy ginger, singed Dundee cake.
Fourth Bottle Opened:-
Glenfairn from Tesco.
Nose…Salty, dark chocolate, caramel, cinnamon, clean, sea spray, medicinal, insulin, BBQ in a hospital car park.
Taste...Thorntons special toffee, liquorice, fresh beach shellfish juice, a clean and salty sweet dram, a delight.
Well, after all that in came Whisky Boy wife Jacqueline with a grand selection of cheese and crackers, which included Stilton, Brie, Extra Mature Cheddar, Red Leicester and a very fine blue from Preston.
It was at this point we all discussed all the drams and taking second sips with the cheese.
After some discussions/arguments we decided it was time to give all our individual scores and find out or champion and the one that got the wooden spoon.
Aldi – Glen Marnoch scored 6. 5. 6. 7. 7. giving an average of 6.2 out of 10
Asda Islay Single Malt scored 3.4.4.2.2. giving an average of 3 out of 10
Lidl Ben Bracken scored 8.7.7.6.7. giving an average of 7 out of 10
Glenfairn from Tesco scored 8.5. 7. 6.5. 8. 8. giving an average of 7.6 out of 10
What a varying range of scores, our champion is the Glenfairn Islay Single Malt from Tesco. Dougie so enjoyed this dram he went out the very next day and bought himself a bottle.
Good showings from Aldi and Lidl both worth buying, fine drams for a little over £17.00
Now we have to talk about the Asda Islay Malt. None of us could give a reason why it scored so low and had some not so nice aromas and taste. Maybe reacting with the cork, very poor selection of casks, did someone approve this for bottling without tasting? The jury is out. Hopefully this is a one off bottle because we suggest you give this dram a miss.
