Chairman Bill here with my distillery tour notes. A few short weeks ago I was in Scotland expanding my knowledge and enjoyment of single malt scotch. There are many very knowledgeable people when it comes to the topic of whisky. I consider myself to be an enthusiastic beginner who is committed to learning as much as I can about this wonderful
elixir.
This is the Glengoyne Distillery located a short distance from Glasgow. It was the first of 21 distilleries that I visited. You would think that because of its location that Glengoyne would be considered a Lowland whisky. It is a Highland whisky. The distillery is in the southern part of the Highlands.
I arranged for transport and signed up for the tasting tour. This entitled me to four generous samples s of the Glengoyne whiskies. No peat is used in the making of Glengoyne whiskies.
10 year old Glengoyne: light colour, pleasant sweet flavour
17 year old Glengoyne: slightly darker colour, vanilla smell, very sweet flavour
21 year old Glengoyne: amber colour, very very tasty. it purred down my throat
15 year old cask strength: very tasty, sweet flavour with a bite at the back of the throat. The bite was attributed to the higher alcohol content of the cask strength.
These are all very fine whiskies. I would be happy to have them in my drinks cabinet.
Now that there is something to my blog, I will be inviting folks to join me at The Canadian College of Whisky Knowledge. My plan is to chronicle my journey to the distilleries that I visited along with tasting notes on the whiskies I was privileged to enjoy along the way.
21 distilleries with multiple tastings at each! I would have to check into the local AA - that's a lot of drink.
ReplyDeleteDid I tell you that I've indulged in scotch now and again? My favourites are Oban and Glenrothes - have you tried them? One day I will tell you about a scotch nosing night I attended.
Hello Mary,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the College. It is important to keep in mind that as an experienced whisky afficienado I have learned how to pace myself and train for these events. Besides, a tasting from a distillery is not a full dram. So rest assured, my liver was not being assaulted. The most difficult part of the trip was getting back on the airplane to Canada.
You did not tell me that you enjoyed the "water of life" from time to time. I have had the pleasure of trying Oban and Glenrothes. They are both very fine whiskies. I look forward to hearing about your scotch nosing night.
My wife did what you did recently. She's a professional booze snob. She gets paid to talk about booze. I will force her to review your notes... Personally I like and know good whisky, but the analysis and deconstruction of booze to me is crap or more diplomatically, not for me. Complexity is complexity. What do birds care of ornithologists?
ReplyDeleteHello Jason,
DeleteI apologize for taking so long to get back to you. I'm glad to hear that you like and know good whisky. Isn't it a great thing?
United by the love of whisky
Chairman Bill