Blind tastings

I was forgetting that these were blend or vatting. I would not be surprised that there were some Glenmorangie in the Blank sample. If I’m right than it would be with Caol Ila and a dash of Glendronach 12.

In the same way, the star could have some Glenlivet in it. In fact it makes a lot of sense and I am surprised I didn’t think of it before. Yes, a young Glenlivett, a young Bunnahabhain with a dash of Benriach peated.

As you see, I am also all over the place.

Sorry for all the copy of the same post, my computer was sending me an error message and not telling me the message itself was the error. I let you decide wich message was the error ;)

1) Button

Nose: Milky peat, almost like fermented coconut milk, latex, iodine, ginseng, newspaper ink & overripe pineapple. I get that burned corn husk note I get from Kilchoman sometimes, perhaps it's the youth?

With a bit of air it gets a touch mineral ,sunflower oil, then grassy with some citrus, diesel exhaust.

Palate: Oily, earthy, mineral, sweet oak, lemon pith, a bit of vinyl and a touch of burnt plastic (bakelite )but it's not unpleasant

It balances between sweet and sharp and mineral. A touch of cocoa powder and then digestive biscuits, there's definitely a bourbon cask influence it's like a touch of coconut oil and vanilla but it's kind of buried under the smoke/kippers.

Finish: it linger on earthy, cocoa nibs, malt, iodine, jujubes, mineral, lemony and sharp. The finish last quite a while

Notes: A good sharp young peated whisky, not much older than 12 yrs, abv doesn't seem higher than 43-46%

Before I knew it was a blend, I thought perhaps, Ledaig, Bowmore or maybe Caol ila.

As a blend, either the Ileach or Peat Monster, I am not sure it's all Islay whisky.

I like this quite a bit.

2) Star

Nose: Sharp, definitely a bit vegetal, sulfur, over-steeped green tea? Jasmine tea perhaps, umeboshi, paraffin/melted candle. With time the sulfury brackish elements dissipate. A bit of green grapes and powdered sugar, it seems to open up honey,grain, a grassy element.

Palate: Sweet, plums, rose hips, jujubes and then it gets dark, grain, chalky, oak tannins, fruit leather, cake frosting, a bit sharp on the back end, sandalwood maybe?

Finish: Quick & drying, grassy, a faint plum and apple note, grapefruit pith from the oak, along with some spice, perhaps a bit of french oak used. I can't shake a kind of sulfur like note.

Notes : Very strange its pretty light on the palate but sharp on the nose, slightly alkaline, a touch or refill sherry in the mix?

If it's Scotch then I would say Highland blend? Glen Garioch,Clynelish, Ben Nevis? it's almost like an Irish whisky in certain ways. Is this possibly Timorous Beastie?

3) Blank

Nose: Prunes, figs and a little grape candy, a tiny hint of sulfur, a bit sharp, cream biscuits, oat cookies, plum jam, with air spices, a bit of pickled plum or pickled ginger. Definitely sweetness. Underneath there's oak and a dark note, watermelon rind, buttery although I'm not sure that's what I mean. I get a bit of that peachy cognac feeling. creamy oats or barley a bit of tobacco leaves

Palate: Creamy, warming, a bit of licorice root, sharp then sweet, sour &earthy on entry. Then dried fruit leather, glycerin, a bit of radish, purple basil or shiso. I can't shake the feeling of cabbage but like fermented, there's a good amount of tannic grip and acidity.

Makes you salivate.

Finish: The finish lingers but it's mostly the sweeter sherry elements, a bit of incense, oaky grip, clean soap, a waxed cotton jacket & faint grape candy.

Notes: the alcohol makes its presence felt on the nose but isn't burning. Super oily in the glass, feels more like 46%+

Really strange, can't place this because of the palate, the sherry is there but not sure if this weirdness is from distillate or type of cask. I get notes of Glengoyne, Mortlach perhaps, I would be inclined to say it is a Japanese blended whisky at times but I am going to say more of a Speyside vattted thing, Scallywag? A Chivas thing?

Button:

Rock Oyster Small Batch Release by Douglas Laing, bottled 14 08 17, Batch 11 at 46.8% ABV.

Label Listed Distilleries: Islands of Islay (suspect Laphroaig), Jura, Arran, and Orkney (suspect Highland Park)

Nose: Peat smoke, ash, tart unripe Granny Smith apples, Honey, Salt, Savoury Herbs Rosemary more on the sour side, Barley sugar, briny pebbles, smoked kippers, w/H2O: cigarette smoke/ honey

Taste: Sweet sugar, sour/bitter over brewed Black tea, Iodine, peat brine, wood ash smoke, salted lemons, crisp apples and pears, pickled Capers w/H2O: more fruity with sharper alcohol bite, thyme, rosemary, smoke and peat

Finish: smoke, peat, lingering fruity squid inky sweet peat

Comments: Arran(fruity), Highland Park(honey), Laphroaig(ash/wood and kipper)) w/small amount of Lagavulin(based on smoke), the herbal elements could be Jura which I've never tried.

Review: connosr.com/rock-oyster-whisky-review-1200… my apologies to @talexander but, you have been omnivorous when it comes to whiskies tasted.

Star: Timorous Beastie by Douglas Laing, bottled 16 11 17, Batch 13, at 46.8% ABV

Label Listed Distilleries: Blair Athol, Glen Garioch, Dalmore, and Glengoyne

Nose: Floral pungent tropical flowers, cough syrup "camphor", powdered barley sugar, yeasty spearmint, hay drying in a barn w/H2O: sweeter, clove honey, eucalyptus, sharper alcohol nip

Taste: white sugar, honey, Then an attack of astringent spices and heat (cloves, black pepper, hot chilies), Over dose of strong ginger, fading to a unsweetened dark chocolate with chilli peppers, a lingering FUSTY, yeasty leaf autumnal mold, beer like. A very subtle "blue berry note which is masked by the more dominate flavours. w/H2O: more cough syrup flavour, cereal note appears, mint and eucalyptus

Finish: medium, smoke, Benylin, oak, woody, fading "berry" sweetness

Comment: Blair Athol (Yeasty), Glengoyne (chocolate, spearmint), Glen Garioch (cereal note with addition of H2O), Dalmore?? never tried before. I wonder where the camphor/cough syrup note comes from? Investigations point to Blair Athol.

Comment: Least favourite but, most consumed of the samples. There is an mystery flavour profile which I have not been able to identify and keeps pulling me back to it - berry like flavour. The flavours from development to finish is so rapid that the sense of having missed something is ever present. I suspect that some casks were over used due to a faded dull wood oak in the finish. Also, noticed a touch of sulphur on initial tasting.

Reviews: connosr.com/douglas-laing-timorous-beastie…

Blank

Collectivium XXVIII by Diageo, bottle code L7096DQ000, at 57.3%

Listed Distilleries: Auchroisk, Benrrines, Blair Athol, Caol Ila, Cardhu, Clynelish, Cragganmore, Dailuaine, Dalwhinnie, Dufftown, Glendullan, Glen Elgin, Glenkinchie, Glenlossie, Mannochmore, Glen Ord, Glen Spey, Inchgower, Knockando, Lagavulin, Linkwood, Royal Lochnagar, Mortlach, Oban, Roseisle, Strathmill, Talisker, and Teaninich

Nose: orange, marsh mellow, creamy milk chocolate, toffee, vanilla, powdered barley sugar, cinnamon, ripe fruit (peaches, apples, pear-Anjou), soft sweet smoke blending into aromas from a deli shop, touches of aniseed, fennel, Sandal wood, furniture polish, leather, a hint of mint ….

W/H2O: more fruity, duller aspect to flavours mentioned, sweeter sugar, and cedar

Taste: cinnamon, vanilla, oranges, ginger, pear, peppery spice, building heat bordering on chilies but not over the top and smoke, waxy, brine, sweetness of aspartame, toasty oak, tart red berries, chocolate, tobacco, sherry bits, red fruit, forest floor, and freshly sanded oak hardwood floor

W/H20: Dryer, more oranges (juice), damp smoke with bitterness, dried orange peel, waxy(Clynelish), smoke(Lagavulin), Fruity(Glenkenchie), Pepper(Talisker), Honey(Dalwhinnie)

Finish: short to medium, pepper, spices, ginger, sweet deli smoke with a touch of heat. However, post finish mouth feel is akin to: Having too many guess at a cocktail party and the stragglers hanging around after the party is over.

Comment: A tour of Diageo's distilleries. I would not know that this is a blend if someone gave it to me blind. It is that well blended. Great composition, but, way too much going on. I'm noticing how it unravels easily, after having tasted it a few time. The fault being not well married but, some flavours would probably vanish it were.

Reviewed: connosr.com/collectivum-xxviii-whisky-revi…

@cricklewood , @OdysseusUnbound , @Robert99 , @talexander , @paddockjudge, and @Nozinan

Thanks for taking one or in this case three "for the team". The thoughts and inputs were much appreciated. I hope the distillery tour and exploration of Scotland and it's regions was enjoyable.

@fiddich1980

Wow.... I will have to study my notes but Pretty sure I was completely out to lunch.

Thanks again for the exercise. Great fun!

@fiddich1980, thanks for sharing. A fun exercise!

Arrrrgh, Rock Oyster, as Maxwell says, " missed by that much".

@fiddich1980 thanks for taking us on this journey, it was a fun ride getting the samples out to everyone and then taking the time to parse out what was going on. I'll take some time tonight to read everyone's notes and comment.

Great choice of whiskys.

I should have noticed that Rock Oyster! And given the great things I've heard about Collectivum, I thought I would like it better....

@fiddich1980 I thank you, sir. It was a fun experience, if a bit rushed on my part. Lucky for me, I still have some of each left, so I can taste again and compare with my original notes.

Observations:

• My palate gets “shot” by smoke pretty easily. I sampled the Compass Box No Name first, and even after a piece of dark chocolate, some water, and a half hour rest, I got little to no smoke from the Rock Oyster. I still enjoyed it, but my notes don’t indicate the smokiness that everyone else seemed to get.
• I’ve been saved some money...I’ve been thinking about getting a bottle of Timorous Beastie, but after this tasting, it’s highly unlikely. I rated it 82 points, and that may have been generous. But maybe not. I’ll follow up when I taste the rest.
• The Collectivum was my favourite as it was the most unique and interesting of the bunch, to me.
• My guesses were pretty far off. Fun nonetheless.

Quite a lesson. And I realise that sometimes I am mixing my memories of different drams. Arran and Jura make way more sens than my crazy invention for Button. Blank was a trap but I managed to name some Scotch that are not in it. I stand very humble.

I have to offer my congratulations to @cricklewood for finding that the Star sample was Timorous Beastie. Chapeau!

@OdysseusUnbound Your welcome. I figured that your palate would be off after the No Name. If you have left overs take your time with them. They are a flight in a glass. Try to untangle the flavours and placing them in context, was a fun exercise.

Then there is the form, which for me is the way the flavours and the degrees of intensity develop. @Robert99 is spot on in that aspect. Your comments on Collectivium "very little air", time is accurate. It's a whisky which will not hold up with air time.

Those words like "band aids", and "wood ash" always indicate Laphroaig.

One interesting aspect of my tasting was having the bottle in sight when tasting in my presence. I found it distracting trying to objectively assess the whisky. Sort of like, visual taste memory references because I had access to the bottle label notes. I had to pour a sample and hid the bottle.

@cricklewood "Timorous Beastie" really, all I was looking for was a guess on one of the componants.

@fiddich1980 Thanks for the experiment. I was not in my best day as I have a bit of a runny nose but I doubt I would have been better on another day. I am just sad at not being able to give better notes. I have not write any review for a long time and I lack the practice. After reading the reviews from my fellow reviewers, I was telling to myself « Of course, that was sandalwood and licorice and anis seed! ». So I learn that writing reviews helps me appreciate whisky. If only for that, it was a terrific exercice.

@cricklewood, Bon job! Great guess on the star!

It's late but I wanted to throw around a few notes while I still have all of this fresh in my mind and I re-read everyone's notes in detail.

First I think the blending was fairly well done on most of these, I think if told they were just single malts then I would have been inclined to believe it except for the blank which had a lot going on.

I was really drawn to the star, it's my least favorite but it's the one I liked dissecting the most. I think they did a good job despite it's kind of bothersome note that is prevalent. I think as time goes, there is less of a true regionalism to whisky, yet this shows the kind of heavy distillate, waxy style that some highland malts have, warts and all. my guess was aided by the fact that it had to be an available product at the LCBO, pure luck, merci

It's funny because I really enjoyed Collectivum when I tried it twice at the tasting station at the SAQ, I felt is was a bit hot but otherwise superb at the time, I felt like more of the Talisker and Clynelish elements were present or perhaps I was telling myself that.

My first dram from this blank sample I thought it was really nice but I kept my glass covered in between nosing, so I think it kept it from flying apart a little. My subsequent tries I didn't enjoy it quite as much, still a fine blend but a bit busy, I think whomever had the task of wrestling so many components had a hard task and did a good job.

Button was fun too, the non Islay elements seem to bring complexity to what would be a fairly simple full on young peated whisky. I am going to be curious to try the last bit of the sample with my eyes open this time