Sampling Notes From The Whisky Weekender Blind Tweet Tasting!

The Four Blind Samples

On Thursday night last I had the pleasure of taking part in my very first Blind Tweet Tasting.

The general idea being to sample Four ‘liquids’ and describe the nose, taste etc. and then try and guess where it came from and possibly the brand.

Putting aside one sneaky entry to the ‘gang of four’ I was terrible at guessing. I had no clue at all really. Obviously more ‘study’ is required!

The event was all part of celebrations for the upcoming (and first ever) London Whisky Weekender.

Hosted by The Whisky Lounge at the cutting edge East London venue Oval Space the mission is to bring the craft, innovation and heritage of whisky to the people.

The three day festival which kicks off on May 16th will boast some of the best known names in whisky industry, along with a whole host of small, craft distillers.

Over the weekend there will be a whole host of whisky based events, including exclusive tastings of rare pre World War II whiskies on the rooftop overlooking one of the last remaining Blitz sites in London.

There will also be an East End whisky cocktail bar curated by Molecular cocktail specialist Lounge Bohemia on Oval.

London Whisky Weekender

Friday May 16th to Sunday May 18th

Oval Space, 29-32 The Oval, London, E2

Tickets £35.00

Book Now & Receive a £5 ticket discount using Code: TICKET

If you want to catch up on what all the tasters had to say, you can view the tweets by searching for the hash tag #WhiskyWeekender on Twitter.

So, what did I think?

Here are my tasting notes … and the one which was my favourite on the night!

Tasting Notes – Sample 1

Nose: Fruity, light with pineapple coming through. Palate: Very light with sweet slight tanin. Finish: Lively and spicy with a dry finish. Overall: Great dram from Berrys and certainly worth a second look – just wish the sampling bottles held a little more!

Turned out to be:-

Berrys 1992 Longmorn (46% ABV) Speyside Single Malt 70cl, 46% £67.45

Tasting Notes – Sample 2

Nose: Xmas cake, liquorice and apples. I even got a hint of rhubarb! Palate: Light fruit and sultanas. Finish: Sweetness basically disappears leaving liquorice, treacle and slightly spicy. Quite dry at the end. Overall: WoW! An amazing dram – that turned out to be not a dram at all! In fact it was a Tiffon Chateau de Triac Cognac which just goes to show there are other fantastic spirits out there as well!

Turned out to be:-

Tiffon Chateau de Triac (40% ABV) Cognac 70cl, 40% £100.00

Tasting Notes – Sample 3

Nose: Very peaty! Reminds me of smokey bacon crisps and not in a bad way! Palate: Sweet with plenty of smoke n’ peat. Finish: Light, smooth and sweet with a bit of pepper at the end. Overall: This is a peat dram to be sure. Peat sometimes puts tasters off but the great thing I love about peat drams is the way they grow on you – persevere!

Turned out to be:-

anCnoc Whisky Rutter (46% ABV) 70cl, 46% £51.45

Tasting Notes – Sample 4

Nose: Muted peat, plenty of wood smoke with added fruit and floral highlights. Palate: Now that’s a surprise! Intensly sweet, hot spicy and peaty – all at once! Finish: Very smooth, lots of sweetness and peat blending together nicely with a long spice hit. Overall: Incredible dram – the combination of sweet and peat is not to be missed!

Turned out to be:-

SMWSUK 53.197 ‘A stoker in drag’ (57.4% ABV) Islay Single Malt (Caol Ila) 70cl, 57.4% £63.70

My Favourite On The Night

I loved Bottle No 3: The anCnoc Whisky Rutter Highland Single Malt –
that peat is simply to die for!