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Vintage Eve Jan. 2011: WESE11Q6 You Say?

August 30, 2016 by evebushman

Picture this if you will: a 3 milliliter bottle sealed with wax, with a miniscule label that I have to use a magnifying glass on to read “Grain Whisky, Scotland”, and the only other identifying marking is a small group of letters and numbers. That’s all I get in playing my new favorite blind tasting game in which I must describe, and then identify, some kind of whisky.

The game, via ForScotchLovers.com, is meant to not only help you learn about whisky, but also discern the different subtle nuances in each and, finally, make an educated decision before buying. You get a few of these little bottles a few times a year, depending which club you sign up for, and you’re in the game!

scotch lovers inside sampler

Your Virtual Tasting

While I swirl, sniff and taste – just like a fine wine – I love what I think is vanilla and viscosity in “WESE11Q6”. I eagerly mark those two selections in the multiple-choice sections. But beyond that, all I can guess was that I’d never had this before…and I definitely wanted it again.

Fast forward to the choices at the end of the quiz: a Speyside (would have been more salty) a couple Highlands (My husband Eddie ruled those out) and Compass Box Hedonism. Hey, it tasted hedonistic to me, so I went with that…

AND I WAS RIGHT: Compass Box Hedonism Vatted Scotch Grain Whisky. “Rare and old, it’s something special for the collector or the new whisky enthusiast.”

Now as far as how I rated in noting the proper Color, Nose, Body, Palate/Taste and Finish…it sure looked like I agreed with ForScotchLovers.com Managing Editor, Ian Buxton, as I also thought the color was pale straw, he had the same vanilla notes on the nose, and creamy body, vanilla palate, and well…he said the finish was lingering and soothing and I might have said biting…

With total number of points being 105 I still only got 53.

But, I didn’t feel like a loser because I really dug the Scotch. The retail is about $95 and ForScotchLovers sells it for about $85.

The Tally Breakdown

Me: TASTING IQ: 17 PEOPLE’S CHOICE IQ: 5 BUSINESS IQ: 6 BRAND IQ: 20 BONUS BOOSTER IQ: 5 ZEN MASTER IQ: 53

These of Ian’s I didn’t get: Q1: Color (10 pts), Q2: Nose (10 pts), Q3: Body (10 pts), Q4: Palate\Taste (10 pts), Q5: Finish (10 pts). And these I got…a little bit: Q6: People’s Choice (15 pts), Q7: Business/Price IQ (15 pts), Q8: Brand IQ (20 pts), Q9: Bonus Booster (5 pts).

 Playing Again – Sort Of

By the way, the Scotch Lovers slipped in a new bottle, with a complete label identifying what I would taste: Tyrconnell 10 year Old Port Finish, Single Malt Whisky, Ireland. Eddie said he liked it…but for some strange reason, he can’t remember why.

(Good thing we were at home with the al-al-al-cohol.)

And, without playing the game again, Eddie tried – and liked – a taste of “WESE11C6” single malt whisky from Scotland. I had to just check a few boxes at random to get to the answer at the end – even though I knew that my whisky IQ would sink even further – to find out what it was he liked this time: Springbank 15 year old single malt from Scotland.

I thought it was pretty cool that you don’t have to actually “play” the game if you just wanted to enjoy, and learn from, a blind tasting. What better way to dispel price, location or status, and just find something cool to drink?

Filed Under: Eve Bushman Tagged With: body, color, finish, forscotchlovers.com, nose, palate, Port, scotland, single malt, Single malt Irish Whiskey, taste, tasting, whisky

Vintage Eve Circa 12/2011: My Scotch Explorers Club FIRST Sample

July 26, 2016 by evebushman

A few weeks ago I teased Beacon readers about the new Scotch tasting club membership that I purchased for my husband, Eddie, for his birthday from ForScotchLovers.com. Well, five wax-sealed sample bottles arrived, along with the proper nosing glass, and we were off!

scotch lovers inside sampler

Our first allocation, as there would be several more in the upcoming year, also included an instruction sheet on how to “play the Whisky game”. So, first we followed this link:

http://www.forscotchlovers.com/distillery_row/whisky_explorers_club/my_whiskey_Iq_game, then I typed in a code to get started, and chose one of the uniquely numbered and labeled bottles below:

WESE 11A9 – Single malt, Scotland (tasted for this report)

WESE 11C6 – Single malt, Scotland

WESE 11Q6 – Grain whisky, Scotland

WESE 11V4 – Blended whisky, Scotland (tasted for this report)

There was also an extra bottle tucked into the center of the box, identified as Master of Malt Tyrconnell 10 year old, port finish, Single malt whisky, Ireland. But we haven’t had that one yet.

Once I removed the seal on one bottle I read these instructions:

Welcome to the The Whisky Explorers “My Whisk(e)y IQ” Home Page. When you’re ready to test your Whisk(e)y IQ, please make sure you have a glass of the whisky you received, and enter the code found on the label on the black bag…

I learned that depending on how well I scored I would be categorized under one of the following: Tasting IQ, People’s Choice IQ, Business IQ, Brand IQ, Bonus Booster IQ, Zen Master IQ

Next I took a short survey so that they know more about me that asked: Gender, age and how often you drink Scotch/Malt Whisky, Bourbon, Irish Whisky, Rye, Rum, Vodka, Gin, Tequila, Wine, Beer, Brandy/Cognac.

Then came simple multiple-choice questions, just like we use to evaluate wine, regarding aroma, body and taste. All of the descriptors were spelled out to guide you, points were given for right answers and points subtracted for wrong ones. Then, finally, we were guessing the retail price and, exactly which Scotch we thought we were drinking!

I added a little bit of water to the tasting glass, as that is the way to bring forward aroma and taste, and happily sipped away. I stared at those descriptors until I thought I had them as right as I could, and then clicked off my choices.

(In case you’re wondering, Eddie had given up at this point and just enjoyed his scotch.)

I was a wee bit concerned as to how I’d do because though I enjoy single malt at least once a week, and have had at least three guided tastings, I am a scotch 101er.

At the end of the quiz, I was asked to give a single comment – that would guarantee me more points so I wrote:

“It’s my first time, I hate blind tastings and games, but the Scotch was soooooo good I was willing to ‘play’ with you guys!”

Come to find out, OMG, we did guess the correct scotch – Eddie claims that he did – it was:

 

Glenfarclas 21 Year Old Highland Single Malt

From Scotland’s Oldest, Continuously Privately Owned Distillery

MANAGING EDITOR IAN BUXTON’S

TASTING NOTES:

Colour: Full Gold
Nose: Sherry, Fruity, Mellow
Palate: Sherried, Toasted Wood, Cooked Fruit
Body: Big, Creamy
Finish: Warming, Full flavoured

SCORING BREAKDOWN FOR THIS WHISKEY

Q1: Color (10 pts)-

Q2: Nose (10 pts)

Q3: Body (10 pts)

Q4: Palate\Taste (10 pts)

Q5: Finish (10 pts)

Q6: People’s Choice (15 pts)

Q7: Business IQ (15 pts)

Q8: Brand IQ (20 pts)

Q9: Bonus Booster (5 pts)

 

TASTING IQ: 7
PEOPLE’S CHOICE IQ: 7
BUSINESS IQ: (we got the price right!) 12
BRAND IQ: (we got the scotch right!) 20
BONUS BOOSTER IQ: 5
ZEN MASTER IQ: 51
 

 

 

 

With the total number of points available being 105…Ed said that even though we got a couple of things right, we still got a D with only 51 points!

I tried the game a second time with the one blended whisky in my box – and I never drink blended whiskey unless in a cocktail – our score was even worse. It turned out to be Suntory’s Hibiki Japanese, 12 year old. I only did well on the business IQ, which is in regards to price, nose, palate and finish.

OMG guess I need to drink MORE.

Filed Under: Eve Bushman Tagged With: aroma, beer tasting, blend, bourbon, brandy, cognac, descriptors, forscotchlovers.com, gin, ireland, Port, rum, rye, scotch, scotland, single malt, taste, tequila, vodka, whiskey, Wine tasting

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