Time for the monthly round-up of malty adventures and more! February was a quieter month with just two whisky tasting sessions, providing an opportunity to share impressions from WhiskyLive Singapore.

Photo: Rashmi Dhawani

As the Whisky Ladies had joined the gents for a round of independent blends, we decided to have a completely random evening of “Contributor’s Choice” at the close of January:

• Mars Iwai Traditional Blend 40% – An affordable blend from Japan sometimes found lurking in Mumbai’s Duty Free
• The Glenrothes Manse Reserve 43% – For some, a welcome opportunity to revisit. For others a wonderful introduction…
• Glenmorangie 19 year 43% – Newly released, snatched from London’s World of Whisky shop at Heathrow days before our evening
• Bunnahabhain Ceobanach 46.2% – A peaty departure from Bunnahabhain’s lighter non-peated Islay style

This was followed by our original club being overwhelmed by the inventive packaging while being undwhelmed by the whisky:

• Mackinlay’s Shackleton “The Journey” 47.3% – Discovery, reconstructed decidedly different dram
• Tobermory 15 years 46.3% – Copper, spice and velvety toffee
• Highland Park Thor 16 year 52.1% – A truly lovely yet pricey dram…

Our Bombay Malt & Cigar gents are becoming rather regular in their sessions – no mean feat consider most members can be more easily be found loitering in London, Dubai, Munich, Singapore and various US and other airports. What did we explore? A Compass Box Quartet!

• Whisky de Table 40% – “Send a bottle of whisky not wine to our table monsieur!”
• The Double Single 46% – Exceptional! Where the sum is greater than its parts
• Phenomenology 46% – The kind of whisky that inspires discussion and contemplation
• No Name 48.9% – Love it or not, you cannot ignore this peaty dram

Photo: Keshav Prakash

What a remarkable trio! As I could not make it to the session, the samples reached home to enable us to compare our guest writer Nikkhil Shirodkar’s notes with the group with my independent impressions of our Kavalan Solist Cask Night:

• Brandy Cask 55.6% – Needs a generous dollop of water, time to open up…
• Port Cask 58.6% – Intense concentrated dram with dark fruits, chocolate and coffee
• Sherry Cask 57.8% – Rich, complex, gorgeous sherry bomb

I also kicked off the first batch of a series sharing fleeting impressions from Whisky Live Singapore 2017:

• AnCnoc featuring 12 year 40%, 18 year 46%, 24 year 46% with Stuart Harvey
• Armorik from France with Breizh 42%, Classic 46%, Double Matured 46%
• Compass Box with Enlightenment and Oak Cross
• Paul John introducing the zodiac series with Kanya 50%
• Sansibar with Glentauchers 8 year 48.2%, Spicily Sweet 48%, Smokey Peated 48%

Photo: Nikoulina Berg

Beyond the tasting group meetings, there was an impromptu gin evening with a few friends

Curious to know more? Check out recent Whisky Lady’s monthly missives:

• Whisky Lady – January 2018
• Whisky Lady – December 2017
• Whisky Lady – November 2017
• Whisky Lady – October 2017

You can also find even more Whisky bits ‘n bobs on:

• FaceBook Whisky Lady in India – https://www.facebook.com/WhiskyLadyIN 
• Twitter @WhiskyLadyIN