The Whisky Red Advent Calendar!
Christmas was certainly in the air (and in the nose!) for last Monday nights Tweet Tastings making us all realise that Chrimbo was only a roasted chestnut throw away!
We were treated to the delight of sampling five drams from Master of Malt’s Whisky Red Advent Calendar (£149.95). It was a great (and early) introduction to the festive season!
Master of Malt’s Advent Calendars are now as traditional as listening to Christmas classic Pop Songs or over-cooking the sprouts so it’s great to have a chance to try out some whiskies which hail from all over the globe – a Whisky Red World Advent Calendar in fact!
The drams sampled were:-
- Starward New World Whisky
- Brenne Cuvée Spéciale
- Whisky Advent That-Boutique-Y-Whisky Irish Single Malt
- Kavalan Single Malt
- Glenfarclas 105
If you want to catch up on what all the tweet tasters had to say you can view the tweets by searching for the hash tag #WhiskyAdvent on Twitter.
So, what did I think?
Here are my tasting notes … and the one which was my favourite on the night!
Tasting Notes – Starward New World Whisky (43%)
An Australian Malt Whisky Produced using 100% Australian malted barley and aged in Australian Apera (fortified wine) casks.
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Nose: Apples, oranges and yummy caramel with a hint of rum soaked plump raisins. Add a little bit of woodiness and some nice creamy fudginess which comes thru after a while! Palate: Rich christmas cake with alcohol infused fruits! Some apples, oranges & tropical fruit with a hefty bit of spice thrown in. Finish: Quite a dry, spicy finish but fair-dinkum all the same. Overall: A solid, tasty dram that I enjoyed very much and would love to re-visit! |
Tasting Notes – Brenne Cuvée Spéciale (40%)
A French Single Malt Whisky Produced using malted barley grown in Cognac. Initially matured in Limousin oak casks before being finished in Cognac casks.
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Nose: Amazing tropical fruits – reminds me of those tuiti-fruiti chewy sweets! Plus there’s apples and pears with sugary vanilla. The banofee pie is also strong in this one with a side-serving of Rum and raisin ice cream. Palate: A watered down version of the nose – banana and strawberry milkshake with a little too much sugar. Finish: Short finish with some pepper but the milkshake lingers … Overall: Not really my style of dram but some of the tweeters loved it! So, as should be the case, each to their own … |
Tasting Notes – That-Boutique-Y-Whisky Irish Single Malt (46.8%)
An Irish Single Malt Whiskey – Whiskey #1 – Aged 13 Years – Batch #3.
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Nose: Restrained sherry with some crisp green apples, fruits, caramel coupled with some fresh new wood. There’s oat and cereal with a little meadow hay. Left in the glass, after a while, there’s sticky toffee! Palate: Yo! That’s nice! Vanilla sweet and fruity with a smooth, punchy, peppery bite! Finish: Tropical fruit coupled with a woody dryness and don’t forget that spice! Overall: I’m not surprised I enjoyed this – another fine, well selected and tasty dram from the Boutiquey Whisky stable! |
Tasting Notes – Kavalan Single Malt (40%)
Kavalan Single Malt is a Taiwanese non-age-stated Whisky. Matured in ex-bourbon barrels it is rumoured to be around 3-4 years old.
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Nose: Crisp apples with some ripe tangerines and pineapple. Vanilla fudge and I keep getting whiffs of Cointreau! – there’s so much oranginess! Palate: Syrupy tropical fruits with some caramel – lovely! Finish: Honeyed layers of fruit with just a dash of spiceiness that make this a very nice dram indeed! Overall: First time sampling the Kavalan brand and I wasn’t dissapointed – amazing flavours and balance for such a young whisky. |
Tasting Notes – Glenfarclas 105 (60%)
A Single Malt Scotch Whisky. The Glenfarclas 105 bottling was the first time a distillery had released a barrel proof single malt whisky. The brand was eventually re-named to 105, referring to its alcohol content in British Proof, which equates now to 60% ABV.
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Nose: Creamy sherry with just a hint of port. Chocolate with stewed fruits. Palate: Rich christmas cake with luscious chocolate! Thick, creamy fudge with fruit! Adding a few drops of water releases a lot more caramel and chocolate and sets the taste buds tingling! Heady stuff though at an un-diluted 60%! Finish: Basically the same as the initial palate. This dram just keeps on giving! Overall: It’s 60% but it’s VERY smooth! I’m Mr. “No Water” usually but this dram certainly shows more of it’s facets with some H2O and I recommend adding some. (Never thought I’d hear myself say that!) |
My Favourite On The Night
Out of the 5, I think it’s got to be the Glenfarclas 105, closely followed by That-Boutique-Y-Whisky. The Glenfarclas 105 is what Christmas is all about – but liquified!
There’s still time to grab an Advent Calendar and they cover a variety of whiskies and other spirits including Gin, Tequila and Rum. Why not celebrate the run up to Santa’s upcoming visit with something tasty and different each day? But keep them away from those Elves!
Many thanks to Steve at The Whisky Wire (@TheWhiskyWire) for a great dram evening and the team at Drinks By The Dram (@DrinksByTheDram) for sending the samples and without whom!
My fellow Tweeters were:-
@TheWhiskyphiles @ocdwhisky @JasonVaswani @FiShoop @TomsWhisky @dvdbloke @Jotterface @iheartwhisky @CherryConstable @Whisky_And1 @whiskywings @steveprentice @WhiskyUnplugged @SpiritAndWood @drinkersite @RumDiariesBlog @julie_gwc @NikkiHayes1969 @wetwewhistle @MaltMusings @RealDramRob @SimonFieldCFM @AmateurDrammer
