First few things May 29009

I had some Fettercairn 1824 and thought it very drinkble. I visited the distillery on Wed. after doing some hiking. Fin and I hiked up and saw some Pictish hill forts. We then went over to Fettercairn. The village still has its city gate which was very interesting. The whisky tasted of butterscotch and vanilla notes. The 10 yr old Jura was a wee bit harsh. Harsher than I suspected or knew.

At Loch Fyne Whiskies, I tried a few. I tasted the Living Cask. It was a bit harsh and woody. The living cask is a wooden cask of whisky that when it gets down to a certain level more whisky is added. The profile changes as new whisky is added. Next I tried was Teaninich 10 yr. This had some vanilla and berry notes. MacPhunn was tasted next. She had some sulphery notes in the aftertaste which was not pleasant. Three that I tasted and really liked were Ledaig 18 yr was the bottling of the year. Floral and sweet nose. The taste was spicy and nutty with a dry and delicate finish. Springbank 11 yr finished in a Madiera cask. Sweet delicate notes on the nose. Taste was dried fruit rich and berry like.The finish was long and sweet. The last one was the Mortlach 16 yr Flora & Fauna edition. This has a rich sweet nose like Christmas cake. The taste is just as rich and lingers a long while in the finish. The finish being rich sweet and dried fruit like.

Once on Islay, we had a welcoming dram of Arran 14 yr old. This was an easy drinking dram sweet, delicate, with vanilla and flower notes in the nose. The finish was sweet with a long finish.
It was offered by our German friends Gregor, Michael, Dagmar, Rainer, Sabine, Frank, and Kersten. They were staying at Torra cottage.