Driving around Largs today so decided on a little drive to @ArdgowanWhisky What a beautiful building. Will be back soon for a full tour 🥃

#BlindDrams #BTC65 #GrapeExpectations And that brings the tasting to a close, thank you for your participation and hope that you found something to enjoy from this evening’s adventures, even if that was not the whisky

A big thank you to @maltmusings.bsky.social for another Blind Drams and to @newdramrising.bsky.social for an exceptional selection. May be my highest score yet! Cheers🥃 #BlindDrams

#BlindDrams #BTC65 #GrapeExpectations Finally, Dram 5, which bore no age statement and was a batch of casks finished? in the very dark rich and fruity Pedro Ximenez, despite it being the lightest in colour of all the whiskies this evening. Ardbeg Eureka! 52.2% This was the stand alone dram.

#BlindDrams #BTC65 #GrapeExpectations Dram 4 completed the second pair, as it was very similarly an Oloroso Cask of the same number of years but from the land of Lindores Abbey at 50.5%.

#BlindDrams #BTC65 #GrapeExpectations Dram 3 on the other hand was a Holyrood Distillery Oloroso Cask aged for a mere 4 rotations of the sun at 62.2%.

Ooh...I guessed Oloroso. Love Glen Moray Oloroso 👌

#BlindDrams #BTC65 #GrapeExpectations Dram 2 was also a Glen Moray this time an undisclosed Sherry Cask 54.6% and only aged for 20 of the same type of years - some have said the generic sherry term may mean it is an Oloroso, but I cannot confirm this.

#BlindDrams #BTC65 #GrapeExpectations Dram 1 was a Glen Moray Sauternes Cask Finish 56.6% aged for 22 of your earth years

Dram 5 Score: 5/5 Superb! #BlindDrams

Dram 5. Palate: Syrupy, mouth-coating. Hugely mineral, maple syrup, hickory smoke, sweet bbq pork, apricot and pineapple glaze, lemon, lightly leathery, sweet tobacco #BlindDrams

Dram 5. Nose: Crispy bacon, sweet-glazed gammon, saline, wet pebbles, smoked deli meats, sweet oak, pizza with ham and pineapple, petrichor, bliss! #BlindDrams

Dram 4 Score: 1/5 Started off very well but a little unpleasant in the end #BlindDrams

Dram 4. Palate: A tad thin but way more flavourful than the nose. Quite meaty to start, bursting with chewy berry sweets and jammy notes. Turns a little acrid after a while with an unpleasant bitterness, weird chemical taste, and artificial sweetness and astringency #BlindDrams

Dram 4. Nose: Not a huge amount going on here. Dried fruit, jammy, strawberry sweets. Struggling to get much else. #BlindDrams

Dram 3 Score: 3/5 #BlindDrams

Dram 3. Palate: Another huge abv. Initially vanilla and dark caramel. Burning hay, herbal, and the big floral notes remain. Cinnamon, mace, toasted rye bread, malty #BlindDrams

Dram 3. Nose: Super sweet, floral, and tropical fruit. Blossom honey, sweet lemon, slightly herbal, spearmint, my own canelé, to which I add rum #BlindDrams

Dram 2 feels like an Oloroso cask. #BlindDrams

Dram 2 Weird, but right up my alley. Score: 4/5 #BlindDrams

Dram 2. Palate: Another high abv, syrupy and chewy. Loads of umami, very meaty and dense. Farmyard vibe remains, decaying leaves, old and wet wood, mushrooms, sweet-glazed meats, rich and dark citrus #BlindDrams

Dram 2. Nose: A little farmyard funk here but also quite sweet, fermenting fruit. Distinct hit of butane gas, tropical fruit, foam bananas, sweet and sour fizzy sweets, overripe oranges, pencil shavings #BlindDrams

Dram 1 Headed for a 4 but the astringency let it down a little Score: 3/5 #BlindDrams

Dram 1. Palate: Thick and chewy, very high abv. Orange oil, stewed fruit, salted caramel, roasted pineapple, coconut, spicy ginger, chilli chocolate, dry oak #BlindDrams

Dram 1. Nose: Rich and sweet. Parma violets, wine gums, sweet oak spice. Caramel, dark citrus, dusty dunnage, nutmeg #BlindDrams

A very enjoyable rye. Deid 🥃

Dram time 🥃 This Aultmore 12 is superb!

Just delivered. Can't wait for @GlasWhiskyFest in November 🥃

One of my favourites tonight. Cheers, all 🥃

All my selected drams were distillery bottlings (but not the ubiquitous ones), with the last two being 100% Islay barley, just to keep everything as Islay-centric as possible. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. #BlindDrams #BTC64

What a great tasting, and some really big scores going around. Thank you @whiskypatrick.bsky.social for an excellent selection and, as always, thank you @maltmusings.bsky.social 🥃 #BlindDrams

Dram 5 is Octomore 16.3, 61.6% ABV, 189.5 ppm Single-estate Concerto barley grown on Octomore Farm (Islay, obvs.), matured for 5 years in a combination of bourbon, Sauternes, and Pedro Ximénez casks Bought from Master of Malt for £195.25 (still available) #BlindDrams #BTC64

Dram 4 is Port Charlotte Islay Barley, 61.6% ABV, 40ppm Islay concerto and propino barley from 8 Islay farms, mostly first-fill bourbon with second-fill virgin oak and second-fill Bordeaux wine £60 (rrp £80) from Bruichladdich direct, available from Master of Malt for £76.95 #BlindDrams #BTC64

Dram 3 is Ardbeg 10 cask strength, 61.7% ABV, 50ppm 100% bourbon-barrel matured, NCF Bought for £75 direct from Ardbeg, but now sold out :-( Ardbeg 10 is my go-to pub dram , so I couldn't miss trying this at cask strength #BlindDrams #BTC64

Dram 2 is Laphroaig cask strength batch 17 58.3% ABV, 40ppm, added E.150a (blatantly, obvs!) Bought for £46.95 from Master of Malt, sold out but still available from Amazon or Laphroaig direct I've had earlier batches of this, but had not tried Batch 17 before #BlindDrams #BTC64

Dram 1 is Lagavulin 8yo, 48% ABV, 35ppm, NCF Bought for £47.50 from Master of Malt, widely available I love Lagavulin Distiller's Edition, and thought the younger sibling might be a good start to Ileach #BlindDrams #BTC64

Dram 5 Score: 4/5 #BlindDrams

Dram 5: Palate: Quite viscous with sweet peat, germolene, medicinal, pickle brine. Loads of minerality, saline, soft & sweet papaya, creamy caramel, burning pine needles, glazed gammon #BlindDrams

Dram 5. Nose: Floral peat, dry wood, menthol. Creamy vanilla custard, creme soda, After Eight chocolate thins, saline. #BlindDrams

Dram 4 I rather enjoyed the unique flavours in this one Score: 4/5 #BlindDrams

Dram 4. Palate: A tad thin in the mouth. The light vegetal note continues with something sour, fermented, acetic acid. A rich, overripe fruitiness but also very earthy. Savoury herbs, nearly rancid nuts, old orange juice. Grape stems, burnt hay. #BlindDrams

Dram 4. Nose: Initially, quite vegetal. Zingy, effervescent, kombucha, cucumber. Becomes sweeter with fresh, ripe, fragrant fruit, litchi, mango. Some sea breeze and light peat, too. #BlindDrams

Dram 3 Score: 3/5 #BlindDrams

Dram 3. Palate: Thick, syrupy mouthfeel. Big, fiery, woody peat note to start and another big abv. Very sweet, maple syrup, dark caramel, charred meats, bitter lemon, saline. Finish is drying with pepper and ash #BlindDrams

Dram 3. Nose: No peat to speak of. Perhaps some light cask char. Sweet & sour orchard fruit. Vanilla, sweet lemon, icing sugar, and a light herbal/menthol note #BlindDrams

Dram 2 Score: 3/5 #BlindDrams

Dram 2. Palate: Quite viscous. Initial hit of earthy peat and clearly a high abv. Loads of tropical fruit, guava, papaya. A fair amount of rubber and creosote. New leather, damp soil, petrichor. #BlindDrams

Dram 2. Nose: Light peat, smoked fruit, sweet orange, tropical fruit, intense vanilla, oak spice, and a little floral note #BlindDrams

Dram 1 Score: 1/5 #BlindDrams

Dram 1. Palate: Very watery. The bitterness is really pushing through now, alongside a mouthful of cigarette ash. Very spirity with a harsh, chemical taste. Very light, if chemical, fruitiness with nothing on the finish but ash and artificial sweetness #BlindDrams