This August brought more monsoon rain and yes – some malts too! All three Mumbai whisky tasting groups met up and a bonus minis session.
For our Bombay Malt & Cigar gents, we took a rather significant detour from our usual whisky fare to explore rums from Columbian & The Seychelles:
- La Hechicera 40% – A terrific start
- Beluarte 8 year 35% (Dictator) – Light, cayenne and citrus
- Takamaka 8 year 40% – Juicy, fruity, Christmasy desert
- Ron Gobernador 12 year 35% – Fabulously complex, went great with a cigar
- Dictator Esencia 25 year 40% – A true show stopper!
For our original group, I had a special session planned for well over a year… to explore different dimensions of Bruichladdich’s Port Charlotte with their Micro-Provenance 5 series:
- Port Charlotte MP5 Cask #1999 2005 Fresh Bourbon 56.9% – Toasted coconut, tropical fruits, dash of coffee… so delicious!
- Port Charlotte MP5 Cask #0013 2005 Bourbon / Bordeaux 59.9% – A curious yet interesting combination of wine, tobacco leaf and peppery finish
- Port Charlotte MP5 Cask #0005 2005 Virgin Oak 63.5% – Chocolate, cream pie… with water – juicy fruity and yum!
Before we dove into the MP5, we calibrated our palate with:
- Port Charlotte 2007 CC:01 8 years 57.8% – Needs time… and will reward with apricot, dark chocolate, cinnamon with a chilli finish
For the Whisky Ladies, it was our 3rd anniversary with a sociable evening of Irish drams, courtesy of our friends over at Pernod Ricard who kindly shared:
- Jameson Caskmate Stout Edition 40%
- Green Spot 40%
- Yellow Spot 12 year 46% and
- Redbreast 12 year 40%
Plus we had a terrific minis session – Campbeltown style – comparing whiskies from Glen Scotia and Springbank… laugh if you will but we found…
- Glen Scotia 15 year 46% – Baked goods
- Springbank 15 year 46% – Even tastier baked goods
- Glen Scotia Victoriana 51.5% – Richer more robust baked goods
- Springbank 37 year (May 1970 / Jan 2005) Cask 1343 43% (Chieftain’s) – Superb! And guess what? The yummiest of baked goods…
There were a few other explorations…
I also posted notes from July’s remarkable new independent bottler – North Star with a terrific trio of:
- North Star’s Cask Series 001 – Glenrothes 20 year (Oct 1996/Oct 2016) 54.6% – An explosion of flavour! From salted caramel to tart apples and tobacco…
- North Star’s Cask Series 001 – Ardmore Peat 8 year (June 2008/Oct 2016) 57.1% – Peat, roaring spice, bbq honey bacon, dark juicy stewed fruits
- North Star’s Cask Series 002 – Islay 8 year (June 2008/May 2017) 58.3% – Ham, grilled pineapple, dark chocolate and cherries
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