Happy Hallowe’en! In Europe or North America, October is full on fall… the trees change colour, there is a cool nip in the air and winter is just around the corner. Perfect weather for whisky.

In India, specifically in Mumbai, it is our 2nd summer which can be even hotter, more humid that our 1st summer! Not so perfect weather for whisky… except when finding refuge in air condition comfort.

All three of our tasting groups met, clinked glasses and explored…

Bombay Malt & Cigar’s Canadian Club:

• Blend – Gooderham & Worts Four Grains 44.4% – A reconstructed blend of whiskey gone by…
• Blend – Gibson’s Finest Venerable 18 year 40% – A springtime day whisky with sweet lemon
• Single Malt – JP Wiser’s 18 year 40% – A wintery aged single grain that shouldn’t be underestimated…
• Single Malt – Lohin McKinnon Single Malt Lot 0001 43% – Inaugural batch, banana cake sweet!

Our Whisky Ladies Contributor’s Choice evening was a Sunday sundowner with:

• Ballentine’s 17 year Glentauchers 40%
• Balvenie 14 year Caribbean Cask 43%
• Talisker 18 year 45.8%
• Glentauchers 20 year (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)

Our third whisky tasting group went traditional with a Scottish Trio:

• Linkwood (1998/2012) Cask No 5014 Refill Sherry Hogshead 46% (Gordon & MacPhail) – Tragedy struck! Cork crumbled and storage clearly did not do it any favours
• Old Pulteney 17 year 46% – Excellent reminder of why this is a classic
• Royal Brackla 21 year 40% – Royal favour… for a proper dram

My month also began with a quandary – do I go to Whisky Live Singapore in November or not? Clearly I decided YES as I’m already in Singapore now!

Plus tasting notes from the previous month…

For our Whisky Ladies, we shifted gears to grains with:

• Haig Club 40% – Though quite affordable, definitely isn’t so dramatically different to change an industry
• Suntory Chita 43% – No exquisite 12 year, but a light clean simple grain
• Nikka Coffey Grain 45% – Much more interesting and shifts character from pina colada when first opened to gentle toffee
• Cambus Single Grain 24 year (1991/2015) Cask 55891 51.9% (Signatory Vintage) – An absolutely delightful discontinued dram that one should try if can find it!

Our original club explored 3 different bourbons with carefully curated cocktails. Wow!

• FEW Bourbon 46.5% morphed into a Manhattan
• Mitcher’s Small Batch 45.7% slipped into an exquisite Sazerac
• Cleveland Underground AP Bourbon Whiskey finished with Apple Wood, Batch 3, 45% opened into an original Old Fashioned

Whereas our Bombay Malt & Cigar gents went for a more classic 21 year evening:

• Aberfeldy 21 year 40% – Nutty, fruity easy drinking…
• Highland Park 21 year (1991) 40% – What a delight to enjoy a “proper” Highland Park
• The Glenrothes 21 year Minister’s Reserve 43% – Classic robust sherry delivering exactly what you would expect from an aged Glenrothes

Plus shared brief notes of a marvellous evening with an exceptional rare malt:

• Caol Ila 31 years (2 May 1979 / March 2011) 46% Bottle 150 (Mackillop’s Choice)

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

• Whisky Lady – September 2018
• Whisky Lady – August 2018
• Whisky Lady – July 2018

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