Tasting notes:
Colour: reddish gold
The nose is a summery fruitbomb, opening with vanilla-infused red fruits on Demerara sugar. Which red fruits? strawberries and raspberries, successfuly bringing the warm feeling of summer back on this cold and dreich December day. The fruit garden in the glass must be in close proximity to a vineyard – there are notes of grape skin and sweet grapes as well as a hint of oak and just a trace of spices paired with a note of thick, old balsamico di Modena.
Continue reading “24 drams till Christmas tasting #14: Tomatin 14 yo”

In early 2015 whisky blogger and malt maniac Oliver Klimek set out to do a wide-scale comparison between NAS and age statement expressions, all done blind and with 35 tasters per pair of whisky. The results are very interesting with a near-draw between the entry-level malts and their NAS counterparts. Head over to his site dramming.com for all details on the challenge and the results!

Here are my original tasting notes on the first pair of whiskies: The Glen Moray 12yo vs. their NAS Port Cask Finish edition. All notes are original as written during the blind tasting phase.

A1A: Glen Moray Port Cask Finish
Distillery: Glen Moray
Bottler: Official Bottling
Distilled: –
Bottled: ca. 2014 – 2015
Age: NAS
Limitation: –
Casks: Port Cask Finish
Alcohol: 40%
chill filtered; probably coloured
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: pale straw
The nose opens very light and shy. Predominately vanilla (pudding) and honey. Some light fruit notes as well – fresh grapes, red apples, banana chips, freshly squeezed oranges. The alcohol is noticeable (a eucalyptus note) but I wouldn’t put it at more than 40% ABV due to the very light nose, it would benefit from more oomph. The fruity notes fade over time and reveal a more malty side. Continue reading “NAS vs. Age Statement Blind Tasting Challenge: Glen Moray 12yo vs. Port Cask Finish”