29/10/2020 Cadenhead's virtual tasting

A couple of weeks ago, a string of J & A Mitchell tastings was announced: Hazelburn, Kilkerran, Longrow, Cadenhead and Springbank. Sample packs were purchased and subsequently received. 2cl of six different drams, for this one. The tiny bottles are made of plastic (grrr), and they have immutable, built-in pipettes that makes it very easy to add drop by drop, but very difficult to pour a measure. I spend about fifteen minutes pouring the six drams. Grrr.

Cameron McGeachy, Jenna McIntosh and Lewis Anderson host this session on Youtube and Facebook -- which means it is ex cathedra, with an occasional pause to read selected comments.

Dram #1

Glenrothes-Glenlivet 23yo b.2020 (46%, Cadenhead, Original Collection, 60% Bourbon + 40% Sherry Casks): this is part of the recent outturn for the revamped Original Collection, a collection that had been dormant for twelve years. Its coming back to replace the Small Batch range was met with mixed reactions. Nose: rhubarb tart, custard and peach jelly, heading towards cherry bake, rich with custard growing thicker, almost curd-like. Mouth: it is the ideal continuation of the nose, with peachy jelly, sweet marmalade, and a slight bitterness that reminds me of flower petals. Finish: again, it has jams and yellow fruits, as well as a gentle mineral side. Very moreish. "Perfect starter," says LA, and he is right. 7/10

Dram #2

A Speyside Distillery 18yo 2001/2020 (52.3%, Cadenhead for Virtual Open Day 2020, Bourbon and Sherry Casks, 552b): CMcG is at pains not to disclose the distillery (which, I suspect, probably rhymes with the fat lass), but manages. Nose: pastry, though the crust is baked a little too much, almost parched. The pastry filling has a few thyme leaves, surfing on an undercurrent of warm apricot compote. Mouth: it turns more metallic on the tongue, with thyme and sage, nigella seeds on warm apricot compote, and, later on, melted and warmed-up strawberry ice cream. Finish: strange finale with some tannins and ginger shavings on top of melted strawberry ice cream in which a cork has macerated a little too long. That last note turns into tame spices and woodworm, even rotting wood, in the long run. Decent drop, but despite CMcG's tried-and-tested, "I was surprised to see it is still available -- I might buy another bottle after the tasting, actually," I will not.7/10

Dram #3

Littlemill 29yo d.1991 (48.1%, Cask Sample, Bourbon Barrel): JMcI says a few words about Littlemill, Bishlouk gets a shout out for not being able to identify any Litllemill I pour him, then we dive in. Nose: custard-y, it soon churns out soft fruity tones of crushed maracuja and squashed dragon fruit, as well as papaya-scented cotton candy. That is well original! Mouth: subdued, for a second, the tropical fruits soon come back strong, if not loud -- maracuja, dragon fruit and white peach. Finish: soft, bitter, for a second, until the tropical fruits (passion fruit, dragon fruit) rush back to distribute gentle slaps. Again, it has a mild bitterness that feels woodier, here. Not much of the frequent grass, in this one: it is all fruit and wood. 9/10

Dram #4

Glendronach 30yo d.1990 (47.2%, Cask Sample, Bourbon Cask re-racked into First Fill Sherry Cask in 2013): nose: precious wood, wood lacquer, mahogany oil, encaustic and all sorts of waxes, thick, dark honey and caramelised quince paste. The second nosing brings toasted notes into the mix as well. Mouth: the same thick, dark honey -- oh! it is thick alright -- and waxy wood polish, teak oil. Later on, liquorice root and spent coffee grounds turn up too. Finish: dark chocolate, wood lacquer, a pinch of dry earth and coffee grounds. It is not an earthy dram, though; those are mere nuances that augment the elegant polished-wood notes. Love it. 8/10

Dram #5

Paul John 7yo (54.1%, Cask Sample): advertised as a 6yo on the leaflet, because CMcG cannot count, he admits himself. Nose: this time, more than wood polish, it is wet earth, bog water and mudflats. Distant barbecue, a fire in a bothy, all subtle. Peat grows bolder with time, never becoming invading. Mouth: more smoke on the palate, and much more power than the previous drams too. Peat smoke, bog myrtles, smoked blackcurrants. Finish: the smoke is now very obvious, fighting to get the better of the blackcurrants and myrtles. Another very good drop from PJ. 7/10

Dram #6

Caol Ila 29yo d.1991 (48.9%, Cask Sample, Bourbon Hogshead): nose: meow. The smoke in this one is in the background, a mixture of dry seashells, whelks, drying fishing nets, oil lamps and oilskins covered in sea spray. Lastly, a recently-varnished small boat and an ashtray, with hardly any ash in it also appear. Mouth: sweet and salty, it grows a smoky-cotton-candy side that is as delicious as it is odd. Quite a few spices too. The second sip brings unexpected strawberry bubble gum to the fore. Finish: wow! Salty! Lots and lots of salt, before peat and sea-fishing gear take over. The peat grows smokier and smokier, turning sooty as a Victorian chimney. A hint of dark chocolate completes the picture. Wow. I love this. 8/10

Cracking selection, but I found the format not engaging at all. About halfway through, I tuned out and tasted at my own pace, without paying too much attention to the hosts. The discussion between the three of them, I found to be generic and fairly basic, without even the pleasure of spending time with nice people (which they are), since it was virtual.

I am now thinking of not attending the Springbank tasting tomorrow and just tasting the samples on my own.

24/05/2019 Campbeltown Festival 2019 (Day 2 -- Part 3) The Big Cadenhead Tasting

Like last year, this one is hosted by Jenna McIntosh and Cameron McGeachy for their respective ranges, both chaperoned by Mark Watt.

N from Brighton [who arrives late]: "Too excited to get a cup of tea..."
tOMoH: "You Englishman, you!"

The hosts explain that the exclusive bottlings today are on sale in the Cadenhead tent and are accessible only to those who are present here, which will be verified by way of a wristband.

CMcG: "Your wristbands are high value..."
MW: "I think some of them are already at auction..."

CMcG: "There are no stupid questions!"
MW: "Is Cameron small, or is he just far away?"

We try all blind.

To business!

Dram #1 (CMcG): nose: jammy and fruity, with apricot, peach and rose-petal, honey and dusty books. Good start! Mouth: it turns drier and more leafy than expected (dry leaves), with wood honey and smoked porridge. Finish: long, honeyed, it has dead leaves, gunmetal and ivy. It is a good starter with a nice nose, though it fails to win me over. CMcG reveals a mixture of Invergordon, Glenfarclas and Glenlivet. Blend 45yo (43.1%, Cask Sample) 7/10

MW: "Some 45yo whiskies, you're pretty much licking a tree. If you're going to lick a tree, make sure you go higher than a dog can pee!"

Dram #2 (JMcI): nose: more wood, tree bark, mulch and tea biscuit. JS finds Port in the nose as well. Mouth: bitter, wine-y, it has tannins and a distinct bite -- too much of a bite, actually; I find it unbalanced. Finish: wine-y, this one tastes like dark-grape wine, cherry fruit and unripe blackcurrant. Meh. Girvan 9yo (61.4%, Cask Sample, Pinot Noir Cask) 5/10

I may not like it much, but I appreciate it was daring to serve a red-wine-matured, twelve-year-old grain whisky!

Someone confused Moon Import with moon export!

Dram #3 (JMcI): nose: unripe fruit, including waxy apricot, sprinkled with peach liqueur and even walnut liqueur. Mouth: soft, velvety, fruity, peachy, it presents notes of apricot too, ripe, this time. Finish: a mushroom cave, dunnage warehouse, timidly-tropical fruit. I first guess an Inchmurrin, after AMcR, who is in the room, ventures a Littlemill. In hindsight, it is obviously a Littlemill. The one that came out yesterday. Excellent, and well done JMcI for offering something that 85% in this room will not be able to buy a bottle of. Littlemill 27yo 1992/2019 (49.8%, Cadenhead, Bourbon Hogshead, 270b) 8/10

Dram #4 (MW -- I think): nose: petrolic, with sweet Demerara sugar and vapours of a plastic-manufacturing factory, plastic buckets. Mouth: super cereal-y and plastic-y. This is big and biting (no surprise when you see the ABV). Finish: lots of plastic here too, rubber, dark sugar, oil and all sorts of petrolic notes. It is a rum, which, in hindsight, is also quite obvious; not far from some of the Caroni, Fiji and Venezuela rums that have been released in recent years. This is Dictador. Nice, but not my thing, today. Colombia 26yo (69.4%, Cask Sample, 20y in Bourbon Cask + 6y in Port Cask) 7/10

anonymous: "Is it for sale?"
MW: "It will be for sale... in the future!"

Dram #5 (CMcG): nose: cow dung, muck, dry sands, crusty earth and dried apricots. Mouth: soft and gentle, it showcases fruit and hemp, in stark contrast with the nose. Finish: lots of delicate fruit, hints of smoke, linen and clean laundry, hot cotton. Cooley 11yo 1992/2019 Open Day "Big Tasting" 2019 (53.4%, Cadenhead Malts Festival, Barrel) 8/10

MW [about the counter-intuitive age statement]: "It turns out that, unbeknownst to me, it's illegal to mature Irish whiskey outside of Ireland. It's a fairly new rule... from 1985."

Dram #6 (MW -- I think): nose: mud, earth and clay. It is simply earthy. Mouth: earthy, muddy, with clay and bogs. Finish: you guessed it! Mud, clay, earth, crusty earth. This one does what it does really well, but it is as one-dimensional as a stroke on a chalkboard. Good for countryside boys like myself; to say it is memorable would be a huge overstatement. Bunnahabhain 5yo (unknown ABV, Cask Sample, 3 x Bourbon Hogsheads) 6/10

The tasting finishes. The tent is still relatively busy with people queueing for bottles, but it feels over. Many are flying out in the next hour, even more are scrambling to Islay for the next festival. The French/Swiss(no-sky) pour us a few things to finish off -- two of which I will end up trying tomorrow, after "forgetting" overnight. The one thing I do remember is this.

Springbank 12yo (46%, OB Ceramic Jug, b. ca. late 1980s): a very well-known jug that I cannot remember having actually tried prior. But of course, I do not remember much, at this point. Nose: pickled onions and orchard fruit. This seems to be a typical profile for those ceramic decanters -- Bowmore Bicentenary was also pickled-onion-led fruit. Mouth: I find it soft, fruity and fresh, which is a trademark of Springbank's distillate from that era, I suppose. Finish: soft, fruity and fresh. Ahem. I am drunk, aren't I? I am embarrassed: this is clearly good. In my current state, I cannot do it justice, unfortunately. 8/10

Working on international relationships since...

Time to bid good bye/farewell, retire for a refreshing shower and a short lie-down. I start wondering why humans drink (merriment? Catharsis? As a social conduit? To enable a spiritual connection?) Yeah, I also only think of those things when under the influence. It was high time I stopped! :o)

Quick stop at the shop, as Paul McCartneux wants to browse

In comes the evening and supper at the Harbourview Grille. And it is...

Soup of the day

Grilled-halloumi salad

Seafood pasta for adc

HAGGIS F-IN' NACHOS B!TCH3S!

On the harbour front, the scene is so strange I wonder if I am hallucinating. Huge lorries deliver huge metal tubes. It turns out Campbeltown is no longer the whisky capital of the world, but it has become a capital manufacturing hub for wind-turbine parts -- and timber, as we saw two years ago.

12/12/2018 Warehouse on the Road tasting at Cadenhead's

Jenna McIntosh is on the road, bringing Cadenhead's warehouse tastings from Campbeltown to the world -- well, to the Cadenhead shops, which are all in Europe. Thirteen of us are gathered to sample warehouse juice and exchange general banter. Jenna pours everything blind, which makes for amusing guesses, none correct.

Dram #1
Nose: white wine at first, then white-chocolate-coated sultanas and diluted peach nectar. The next whiff brings in new carpet -- woah! Pressed green grapes and lozenges follow (the wedding kind of lozenges). Mouth: mild and juicy, with a mixture of grape and peach juices, as well as gentle wood spices and pepper. Finish: milk chocolate and a pinch of soft spices. This is good, not exceptional, we all agree. I guess Linkwood 15-18yo and am, of course, wrong. Strathmill 25yo d.1993 (52.9%, Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting, Bourbon Hogshead) 7/10

Explaining how one cask in the warehouse still ages between two tastings...
JMcI: "This whisky has aged a year, since..."
PP: "Since twelve months ago."

Dram #2
Nose: a weird mix of overripe orchard fruit, mud and dunnage warehouse. The second nosing brings forth chocolate pudding, rubber, then furniture polish. It even has an animalistiches touch. Much funnier to write than 'animal.' Complex, but odd. Mouth: similar pudding notes, with a gingery chilli undercurrent. Finish: it seems very short, though it is pleasant. The chilli disappears quickly, leaving under-ripe hazelnut as a lasting note (not soooo short, then). Hazelnut-and-chocolate paste, with a drop of orchard-fruit juice. Several guesses, none right. Tomintoul-Glenlivet 12yo d.2006 (57.9%, Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting, Bourbon Barrel) 7/10

Dram #3
Nose: instant chicory coffee, then chalk, which prompts me to guess Aultmore (wrong, of course), bland salty biscuits, pretzel style. Later, a note of bubble gum appears, and some unidentified herb. Mouth: milk chocolate, forsythia, kerria japonica, then red chilli. It feels rather powerful. Finish: very coffee-like, here, with crushed green pepper and ginger shavings. This was Jenna's pick for the fight vs. Cameron McGeachy, during the Campbeltown festival this year. Before she spills the beans, I rate it the same now as then. Aberfeldy 22yo d.1996 (52.2%, Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting, Bourbon Hogshead) 6/10

WK: "There was a time when I didn't have enough whisky... But I didn't know it, at the time!"

Dram #4
Nose: fruity bubble gum, very fruity, with strawberry and perhaps a little salt. Mouth: soft and bubble gum-y, strawberry again, with also spices and a whisper of smoke. Finish: hints of smoke and lots of strawberry, fresh and chemical, in a way (as in: strawberry sweets, rather than the fresh fruit). I venture a sherry-matured Bowmore. And fail. Bunnahabhain 18yo d.1999 (49.8%, Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting, Bourbon Hogshead) 8/10

TE: "There was an Authentic Bunnahabhain, recently..."
MSo: "They're all fake."

Dram #5
Nose: ginger, cinnamon, some fruit (tamarind?), apricot and hazel tree. Mouth: wood wax, furniture polish, diluted apricot juice and a pinch of sawdust. Finish: lots of apricot, here, dried apricot, to be precise, and a hint of coconut. We stop guessing. Dufftown-Glenlivet 11yo d.2007 (51.6%, Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting, Sherry Hogshead) 7/10

JMcI: "Mark [Watt, who does the cask selection] has his own office, so he can have all his samples around him."
tOMoH: "Seems perfectly safe."

JMcI reminisces a time she was stuck in Dufftown at night.
JMcI: "Dead. Ghost town. There's no 24/7 shop or anything."
WK: "It's not Campbeltown, after all!"

Dram #6
Nose: "smells froggy," says JS. Shoe polish, peat smoke. The peat grows bolder, overshadowing the sherry influence. Nonetheless, it remains very sherried, with lots of shoe polish. Mouth: soft, mild, though spices come up too, with cloves and black cardamom, as well as machine oil (JMcI). Finish: very long, peaty and smoky, with coal and burnt tractor tyres. Clearly a Sherry-matured Islay peater. Nope. It is not even peated, according to the host (I blame another Campbeltown label mix-up). Paul John 6yo d.2011 (56.7%, Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting, Refill Bourbon Hogshead) 8/10

DW: "Is this the cask from the festival? Has it been around?"
JMcI: "Probably."
TE: "You dirty cask, you!"

Because we have been nice, we get to try a seventh dram.

Dram #7
Nose: leather, very dry hay, dried mud, banana -- no! plantain and cured meat. Mouth: simple and deadly efficient, with plantain and peat smoke. Lots of that. Finish: big, leathery, smoky and efficient. This is a bit of a crowd-pleaser. Of course, that means I refuse to like it much. B-) An Islay 9yo d.2008 (59%, Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting, Sherry Butt) 7/10

JMcI: "I've taken Longrow from the cask. Really good for the cold."
WK: "Whereas Caol Ila is good for cuts and bruises."



Good little tasting. Not necessarily the whiskies I would normally go for, but it is nice to try different things.
Pourers would be good, though, since Jenna is not pouring from a valinch. The pours were hefty; that eroded the senses quite quickly. One centilitre of each would have been enough.
As a nightcap, I pour everyone Cooley 11yo 2001/2012 (55.9%, A.D. Rattray Cask Collection imported by Pacific Edge Imports, Barrel, C#3443, 210b), but do not try it myself as a result of the previous, hefty pours.

25/05/2018 Campbeltown Festival 2018 (Day 3 -- Part 2) The Big Cadenhead Tasting

From lunch, we have to walk fast to the warehouse where this tasting is happening. In fact, everyone is there already, although they are queueing outside. The queue is so long that I have more than enough time to run back to meet Hedley Wright (chairman of J&A Mitchell), have a brief but friendly chat with him, and still be on time to find a nice seat.

Meanwhile, BH and BC drink proper stuff

This is a big duel between Jenna McIntosh (JMcI), who is in charge of Cadenhead's own ranges (Authentic Collection, World Whiskies, as well as that range with the closed distilleries and the one with the various cask maturations), and Cameron McGeachy (CMcG), who looks after the international ranges (Small Batch and Single Cask). JMcI is introduced with A-ha - Take On Me, while CMcG walks in, sporting boxing gloves, to the tune of... something no-one recognises. Survivor - The Eye Of The Tiger would have been so adequate, here! Mark Watt (MW) referees the fight, responsible as he is for both those channels.

Risin' up
Back on the streets...

Each of the contestants has brought one bottling available in the shop, one soon-to-be-released bottling for their respective ranges, and one exclusive cask sample.
The tasting is in the remote warehouse where the 175th Anniversary tasting took place last year, and it is fooking hot, inside.

"You don't get this at Springbank," says JMcI, defiantly.

JMcI presents: Macduff 29yo 1989/2018 (55.1%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection, Refill Sherry Butt, 190b): nose: some vinegar, unripe hazelnut, grape stems and grape pips. Mouth: big, boisterous, even, with hazelnut vinegar, raspberry vinegar and some spices. This is anaesthetising. Finish: softer now, with hazelnut paste and raspberry. This is good, but not balanced. Too hot. I tried it in the shop, a couple of weeks ago, and was not more impressed then. 6/10

CMcG presents: North British 32yo 1985/2018 (55.2%, Cadenhead Small Batch, 1 x Sherry Butt, 582b): nose: solvents and paint stripper, as well as wood lacquer. MW says he "would drink this through a shoe." I hope it says more about his taste than it does about his habits. Mouth: glue and rubber mats. It seems hot, though I am now wondering whether that is the pepper from lunch. Finish: it almost redeems itself, here, with blackcurrant and fruity turnovers. All in all, I do not like it much more than when it came out. 6/10

CMcG presents: Glenturret 31yo 1986/2018 (44.5%, Cadenhead Single Cask, Sherry Hogshead, 210b): nose: fresh cork, soft and plump, alongside waxy apricot. Mouth: much softer than expected, it has squashed apricots again. Finish: more apricots with just a tiny spoonful of hazelnut paste. 7/10

MW: "That's a very good Glenturret. It didn't taste like a Glenturret."

JMcI breaks a glass.

CMcG: "Not the first time Jenna's glassed someone."
MW: "Scotland. The only country that uses 'glass' as a verb."

JMcI presents: The English Whisky d.2009 (61.9%, cask sample, C#18/50-1): a peaty expression. Nose: leather and cow stable, dry hay, flames. Mouth: smoke, of course, but it is subdued. Lots of boiled sweets are the centrepiece. Finish: cereals, burning hay and melted boiled sweets. 7/10

JMcI presents: Aberfeldy 22yo (52.2%, cask sample): nose: fresh and youthful, with honeysuckle buds and Virginia tobacco. Mouth: soft, sweet, it has raspberry jam. Finish: honey, caramelised puffed rice (Kellogg's Smacks), and even coffee beans. This works less well, for me. 6/10

MW (to the room): "I'm looking forward to you trying to flip a bottle of Aberfeldy!"

CMcG presents: Bowmore 17yo (54.2%, cask sample): nose dry earth and lovely fruit, in the back. Mouth: big, pungent and elegant, with some smoke and lots of fruit. Finish: long, wide, earthy and well fruity, with whispers of mango and maracuja. 8/10

The tasting finishes. Queues start to form to buy the exclusive whiskies. The Bowmore, in particular, proves popular. I kept a drop of everything for MSo to try, since he could not make it in. When he joins me, he is only interested in the Bowmore, the label-drinker -- what a shame!

A lot of people I meet after the tasting are disappointed with the event and the selection. They feel they were let down. Dicks. Yes, the 2017 edition was more special. Cadenhead was 175 and pulled all the stops to impress the world. It worked: that was a legendary tasting. The company is now 176, hardly a milestone. Someone's forty-first birthday is rarely as baroque as their fortieth. Fact of life. Get over it. It is good to come back to reality, actually. That makes the really special events even more special.
And screw those who complained that, "there was not even a Littlemill, this year." Spoiled brats.

Whilst the lot is queueing for bottles, I sit on the lawn and pour whisky to friends -- Balvenie-Glenlivet 12yo 1979/1992 (59.5%, Cadenhead Authentic Collection 150th Anniversary). That, of course, attracts attention. Someone approaches me and asks if I would pour it to him, were he to give me some money. I tell him to pass his glass and ask where he is from. He turns out to be florian09, who has been looking for me for two days. Once he is done with the Balvenie, we have...

Ardlussa 12yo (40%, Eaglesome Campbeltown Commemoration, b. ca. 1985): nose: honey, hay and soot. Mouth: soft, honey-like, though much more assertive than the ABV suggests (bear in mind we have had cask-strength whiskies for several hours too). Finish: big, slightly drying, with lots of juicy apple and crumbly pear. 8/10

The afternoon unfolds, lazy and comfortable, on the sunny lawn. Life does not suck, right now.
Many (the Swissky Mafia, jazzpianofingers, the French contingent) soon make their way to Islay, though.

I am not attending the closing dinner, tonight, and there will be no after-party either (until tomorrow). The festival draws to a close, as far as I am concerned. Once again, I did not have one drink from the bar, sadly. The one time I considered it, everything was crossed out as unavailable.

25/05/2018 Campbeltown Festival 2018 (Day 3 -- Part 1) Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting

Up bright and early *ahem*, we have just enough time to go to the warehouse tasting at 10:00. In fact, we have to run the last few metres. JS and I walk past several friends who are on the 10:15 tasting. This one is done by Jenna McIntosh (JMcI) and Donald Brown (DB).
Last year's edition was one of the highlights, in terms of giggle-for-buck ratio, with classics, such as "I came with the school bus" and "would you say this is the best thing to come out of New Zealand." Expectations are therefore high.

JMcI explains last year was her first warehouse tasting, that she was shy and innocent, but is now more relaxed. She spots the London crew, rowdy that we are.

JMcI: "We all know Cameron. We could take the piss out of him all day, but that'd be a shame. We'll leave that for the 13:15."

JMcI: "What's your job title?"
DB: "...I'm complex."

Aultmore 21yo (53.2%, cask sample, C#17 136): nose: fresh, light, with a touch of sulphur. Mouth: crisp apples, sweet lemon drizzle, grape juice, vendanges-tardives style. Finish: sweet, it has a softly drying touch, lichen on stave or verdigris. Nice. 7/10

Strathclyde 29yo d.1989 (52.7%, cask sample, C#54009): nose: lemon cake, lemon zest, shortcrust pastry. Mouth: very, very sweet, it has stollen and sugar-y kramiek (a type of raisin bread). Finish: ginger bread and muscovado sugar, with a gentle drying aftertaste. I love this. 8/10

I learn later on that the 10:15 tasting has a Caledonian 31yo to replace the Strathclyde. Being a ghost hunter, I am jealous, because Caledonian is closed, and Strathclyde is not.

Highland Park 25yo (59.8%, cask sample, Barrel): nose: leather and custard gone off, then dried heather and honey. Mouth: hot, it has heather, honey and white pepper. Finish: long, with milk chocolate and pink peppercorns. This is big and intimidating. It leaves the lips numb for ever and after. 7/10

JMcI: "I say arr-chives, so I can spell it properly."

JMcI: "I'm useless with dates."

Laughters all around.

No clue if this is a picture of the right cask

Paul John 6yo (56.7%, cask sample): matured for five years in Goa, and one year in Campbeltown. Nose: light smoke, cereals, corn on the cob, straw and juicy fruit. Mouth: soft and fruity, it has hay on top. Finish: big, farm-y, with hay and dry fields. 7/10

DH: "You said this is peaty. Where do Indians get their peat from?"
DB: Peat comes from the ground!"

JMcI: "It blew my mind away. It doesn't take much."

Springbank 14yo d.2002 (57%, cask sample, Rum Barrel Finish, C#1704 I think): nose: another farm-y number, with tractor saddles. Mouth: sharp, crisp, apple-y. Finish: more apples, apple tart. Simple and efficient. 7/10

JMcI: "I take my wee sister everywhere."
DB: "That's because she can't get a date."

JMcI: "Donald's about to do some sucking, if you want to video."

Caroni 19yo (66.5%, cask sample): nose: very sweet and soft, with lots of fluffy grapes. Mouth: soft and velvety. Finish: sweet, with molasses, peaches and caramelised apricot. Dram of the day. A rum, if you please! 8/10

JMcI: "As soon as you go out and hit the sun, you'll be lying down on your back."
DB: "You hope they are!"

Lots of hilarious banter, usually un-PC, that would probably have HR's phone red-hot with complaints in less-relaxed parts of the world.

CD and PG whisk JS and me to the Harbourview Grille for a quick haggis nachos (bitch3s!) A great idea it is too! With another big tasting to come, we need to soak the alcohol a little.