Scotch tasting results - Big sucess

Huge success on the tasting this past weekend. Ill start with the digs.

Food -
Smoked bbq trout sliders -
I used the below stove top smoker. Never used before but it was a big hit. It comes with wood chip/grinds. Very easy.

I rubbed the trout with my traditional bbq rub. smoked for 1 hr and placed in the oven to dry the fish a bit. I like the fish a little bit dry because i was placing them in sliders and needed them to hold together a bit more. They were still moist.

Cilantro and Poblano pepper cream sauce (for sliders).
Sour Cream, mayo, garlic, cilantro, poblano, and siracha. Made the night before so it got to mold together very well.

Cheese tray as well with high quality cheeses.

I set the tasting up in order from mildest in smoke and peat to strongest in smoke and peat. The crew eagerly moved thru each bottle from mild to strong a 1/2 oz at a time. Then everyone went back thru and drank there favorites.

We used Glencairne crystal glasses. All attendee's got there own for the night.

Japan
Yamazaki 12 yr. - Biggest surpise of the evening. This stuff was a crowd favorite/surprise. Smooth and very light. As close to a bourbon as a scotch could get.

Perthshire
Dalwhinnie 15 yr. - Fuller in body than the Yamazaki. Very light and smooth. Close to a smokey bourbon with vanilla.

Speyside
Balvenie 12 yr. - Crowd favorite. Smoother than the maacallen (below). Good smoke with vanilla. I don't remember it being very peaty.
Maacallen 12 yr. - Crowd favorite. Smooth, hint of vanilla, low peat and smoke.
Aburlour Abunaclh (cask strength) - Very good. Similar to the Dalmore, but dryer and more peaty taste.
Cragganmore Special Reserve 10yr - This stuff was the odd ball of the group as it was triple the cost of the others. (150 Bones). Definitely not a crowd favorite. Full bodied, very dry and finished smokey with a little caramel or vanilla.
- I can see it being more for a seasoned pallet than most of ours. The strange part was that it was labeled a 10yr, but they started distilling in 1993 and didnt bottle till 2003. I call that a 20yr. But what the hell do I know.

Upper Highlands
Glemoragie Quinta Ruban - Good. This is a lighter version of the dalmore (below). didnt stand out.
Damore 12 yr. - One of my favorites. Very smooth, lots of caramel and vanilla, low smoke, but strong peatyness.

Islay
Japhroaig Quator Cask - "campfire in your mouth" was the overwhellming statement about this stuff. Personally I liked it a lot. very dry and smoky. No vanilla like the others. Color is also very light.
Lagavullin 16 yr. - Very smokey and full bodied. started full, but ended dry.

The flask on the end had "dessert" Apple Pie Moonshine. Also a good palette cleanser.



Above is the layout. The map on the right highlighted the scotland regions we would be tasting from that night. The wheel was to help people describe their palette better. No one used it.

This party was a ton of fun. I plan on trying it again with beer and another with bourbon.