The following list is of the malts which were tasted over two nights blind and are listed in order of preference by our tasting group.
Bowmore Cadenhead 10yo 61.8% Score 8.73 Came First.
Peat and iodine nose with carrots, juicy fruit, toast, chairs, brasso, dusty metals, floral notes, strong with fish and chips.
A rocket of a palate with a whiff of smoke and sweet notes.
Ashy finish, good burn and long length.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte PC8 60.5% Score 8.13 Came Second.
Smokey bonfire nose with oily rubber, bacon and cheese, horses and leather, sweet but minerally chalk too, manuka honey.
Palate like the nose. Huge.
A long sweet, smokey finish, succulent and huge.
Glendronach 18yo 46% Score 8.12 Came Third.
Complex butterscotch nose with milk on cornflakes, oak, toasted marshmallows, salty cigars, fruity caramel, sponge pudding, kahlua, olorosso sherry.
Bitter earthy palate, oak wood and charred dirt.
Chocolate finish, long, rich and lingering.
Benriach Curiositas 10 yo 46% Score 7.86 Came Fourth.
Sweet nose of apples, musty bananas, smokey ironing, earthy malt, lollies, shampoo and pollen.
Savoury palate with white pepper and a tang of the coast.
Smokey finish, ash and medium length.
Tamnavulin Stillman's Dram 28yo 45% Score 7.79 Came Fifth.
Sweet chocolate nose, woody vanilla bourbon, dried apple, grainy, hint of smoke, oats.
Fruity palate with liquorice, smooth rum, tasty, hint of herbs.
Liquorice finish, dries out yet stays surypy, some spice, salt, medium finish.
Lochside Murray McDavid 20yo 46% Score 7.73 Came Sixth.
Brown sugar on the nose, orange liquor, Xmas cake, surypy wood, hint of salt, liquorice, cinnamon and putty.
Sweet palate, bourbon, wood and toffee notes.
Bourbon finish, pepper spice, medium length.
Bladnoch 16 yo Bourbon Finish 55% Score 6.98 Came Seventh.
Cosmetix on the nose with heather, oily meths, cheese, detergent, bourbon, apples, stewed bananas, and a suggestion of coastal rubber.
The palate builds, dry grassy notes, vegetal and minerals.
Integrated finish, alcohol burn, dies away leaving the minerals.
DMM