Tasting Notes: Reference Series – The First Educational Whisky!

I, II, III, GO!

Established just this year, new whisky bottler ‘Reference Series’ has launched the very first range of educational blended malt Scotch whiskies.

A ground-breaking idea, truly unique in the marketplace, these blended malt Scotch whiskies not only enable drinkers to learn the ins and outs of whisky production techniques, but also taste superb in their own right, making the learning process thoroughly enjoyable.

The initial 3 releases of the Reference Series comprises blended whiskies which progress from I to III with increasing levels of old, rare and more characterful spirit in the mix.

This will show whisky lovers the progression of flavour profile that comes with the ageing process – a hotly disputed topic which can be clearly understood and appreciated in a controlled manner.

Reference Series will launch with whiskies made with the following ingredients:-

• A – A youthful vibrant blended malt
• B – An older, more complex, spicy blended malt
• C – An old single malt
• D – A very, very old single malt

The proportions of these are as follows:

Reference Series I – A (83%), B (9%), C (4%), D (4%)
Reference Series II – A (67%), B (13%), C (10%), D (10%)
Reference Series III – A (36%), B (10%), C (19%), D (35%)

The range will expand further to showcase particular ingredients or production techniques on top of this initial trio, which will be indicated in the name.

‘Reference Series’ is named for the fact one can taste the later editions then “refer” back to the original I, II & III for comparison.

Over time, the series will continue to expand to offer more and more combinations of ingredients and techniques, eventually growing to become the ultimate learning resource to truly understand the production and creation of whisky.

The entire range will be available in 3cl bottles from Drinks by the Dram (available for purchase at Master of Malt), so each whisky can be sampled without purchase of a full-sized bottle.

Reference Series is available exclusively from Master Of Malt.

Education has never been so much fun!

Tasting Notes – Reference Series I

Proportions of malts: A (83%), B (9%), C (4%), D (4%)

Tasting Notes – Reference Series II

Proportions of malts: A (67%), B (13%), C (10%), D (10%)

Tasting Notes – Reference Series III

Proportions of malts: A (35.9%), B (9.7%), C (16.5%), D (35%)

Many thanks to @MaverickDrinks for the samples.