All right, whisky fans. I have a challenge for you. Due to a variety of circumstances, I’m helping with a whisky tasting tomorrow and we need to decide the order in which to taste. The whiskys are pre-selected. Some of them, I’m familiar with. Some I’m not.
How would you order them, and why?
- Dalmore 12
- Aberlour A’bunadh
- Glenmorangie D’Or (Nectar D’Or)
- Black Grouse
- Tyrconnell
- Lagavulin 12
Edited to add: the tasting is for SF writers, with a goal of discussing whisky in relation to fiction. Some people will be experienced whisky drinkers, some will not.
Go oldest first. Age creates subtler notes, and the ablity to taste them will be wiped out by successive tastings. In that case, Tyrconnell should probably go first, at 15 years old. Dalmore should go before Lagavulin (the former is aged in sweeter casks than the latter), and Black Grouse should go at the end because it’s a blend.
That said, I’m more of a Redbreast person.
I’d consider having an open dish of coffee beans available, just so vistors could refresh their olfactory senses in between tastings. The scent of the beans acts as a reset button.
Thank you.
I offered to do the place mat for the order, without realizing that I wouldn’t get to taste them first.
Lagavulin will be the strongest and peatiest I expect, and might blunt the palate for others. I’d actually open each and give a wary sniff, and then choose that way. That’s what I did when I hosted a tasting (but with only four varieties).
Unfortunately, I have to layout the tasting placemat sheet tonight, and won’t get to taste them ahead of time. Tricky.
Dalmore 12 is sherry-cask and white-oak aged, and is a milder taste. It can safely go toward the beginning of the flight (but see note on the Grouse)
Aberlour A’Bunadh is cask-strength, but sherry-cask aged. You’ll want to have some spring water (non-carbonated) on hand to cut it. Tasting notes show it to be, like many sherry-cask-aged single-malts, a bit sweeter rather than smokier.
Glenmorangie D’Or (Nectar D’Or): a fruity taste, very mild.
Black Grouse is a blend — probably a good starting point.
Tyrconnell is Irish single-malt(!) — a good illustration of the difference between Scotch and Irish whiskys. I’d put it between the Dalmore and the Glenmorangie for comparison, based on the tasting notes for each.
Lagavulin 12: Keeping in mind that Lagavulin 16 is one of my all-time favorites (though it is very peaty and even somewhat oily-tasting, and not for everyone), this is another one you’ll want to cut with spring water as it’s cask-strength. That said, it’s going to be very powerful and should go at the back end. All the notes I’ve seen say to cut it 2 parts water to 1 part whisky, but tasters may want to start stronger (less water) and dilute to taste, which is how I handle cask-strength whiskys.
So… how would I sequence this flight?
1. Black Grouse
2. Dalmore 12
3. Tyrconnell
4. Glenmorangie D’Or
5. Abelour A’Bunadh (putting the two cask-strength drams together, milder to stronger)
6. Lagavulin 12
Others to consider if late additions are possible (these are personal favorites):
2a. Macallan Fine Oak Aged — less fruity that the ones that precede it, but a clean, mild taste. The 10 is very good, and an excellent introduction to single malts for a new drinker. As you get to the more aged varieties, it improves progressively. The 21 is amazing. The 30 is astonishing but nearly unobtanium.
4a. Erdradour – an surprisingly good 10-year-old Highland, stronger than the Macallan but nowhere near as powerful as Lagavulin.
The spring water is handy both to cut the cask-strength drams, and as a palate cleanser between different whiskys. Should be room temperature. Ice shouldn’t be anywhere nearby. At all. If someone really wants to chill their dram, use granite whisky stones. It would be illustrative to try the taste differences between room-temp and chilled tastes of the same whisky.
Hi Mary!
Here’s my recommendation:
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Tyrconnell – Irish whiskies are generally lighter and sweeter than Scotch whisky. Dalmore 12 – have never personally had the Dalmore but whisky friends tell me it’s light, but a little flat and it’s not as complex as..
Glenmorangie Nectar D’or – a very light, sweet Scotch but with a lot of complexity. My fave Glenmorangie for sure. Black Grouse – Can’t vouch personally for it, but it a peated whisky and generally you should move from non-peat to peat in a tasting. Abunadh – one of my faves. Not especially peaty, but very strong and tasty. Lagavulin 12 – Lagavulins are big on peat, and the 12 yo is a cask strength, if I’m not mistaken. Definitely the one to finish with.
Hope that helps, and can I say I’m extremely envious of your lineup? 😛
good luck!
Andy
Dammit, but you’re right about the Grouse — even though it’s a blend, it’s an Islay blend and peated. 🙂 Okay, amend my post below accordingly:
1. Dalmore 12
2. Tyrconnell
3. Glenmorangie D’Or (still want to bracket the Irish for contrast)
4. Black Grouse
5. A’Bunadh
6. Lagavulin 12
And if I could add to it, I’d put the Macallan Fine Oak in at 1a and the Erdradour at 3a.
it’s a fantastic lineup in any order 🙂
All this whisky talk is making me thirsty. Good thing my tasting club meets tonight!
Agreed completely, and wishing my merry local band of whisky-tasting miscreants was having a gathering soon. Shall just have to content myself with something from the cabinet tonight.
I can take no credit for the selection. The person scheduled to do this picked them out and then can’t make it for personal reasons. That’s part of why I’m sitting here staring at them and trying to sort out an order that makes sense.
I’ve been thinking about putting the Black Grouse next to the Lagavulin since it’s a blend from Islay peat.
The order I was considering was:
Tyrconnell
Dalmore 12
Glenmorangie
Nectar D’or
Abunadh
Black Grouse
Lagavulin 12
Here are my suggestions and embarrassingly unexpert parathentical highlights: Maybe start with the Dalmore 12 (I remember it being on the weak side), then the Glenmorangie (sweet/fruity) then maybe the Abelour A’bunadh second to last (sherry-sweet, but with a huge ABV kick, and my fave of the bunch), and definitely the Lagavulin towards the end. I’m not familiar with the Black Grouse, and I only know the Tyrconnell by reputation. Would it be interesting to serve the Tryconnell after a couple of Scotches, since it’s kind of the odd one out?
I’d definitely defer to Andy Romine and Anthony Lanni if they post, though.
Hey, I just cross-posted and my recommendations are close to Andy’s! I feel like I actually might know a tiny bit about scotch after all! (And I owe some of this knowledge to Andy, so maybe not surprising…)
I hope you’re not doing them in that order?
No. That was the way I received the list.
When I was first being introduced to single malts, my friend gave me a 15 year Macallan first, and a 10 year Laphroaig after. While I eventually came to appreciate Islay malts, that was the wrong order to start in. On the other hand, starting with an Islay is not recommended, either.
I defer to the obviously more educated posts below, but that was my experience. Regardless, I’ve learned about a great whisky or two to pick up before Washington state goes private industry in a couple of weeks.