I’ve threatened a few times over the past couple of years to host an online whisky tasting, but haven’t organised one yet. So the honour of hosting SA’s first online whisky tasting (held on Twitter using the #WBOT hashtag) goes to WhiskyBrother, who hosted South Africa’s inaugural tasting on the evening of 16th April 2014.
Marc Pendlebury, owner of WhiskyBrother and the one of the most avid whisky lovers in the country, took the initiative and put together a great line-up of whiskies for the evening’s tasting.
For those not familiar with the concept of an online tasting, the premise is simple. The host kicks off the tasting with an overview of the night’s drams, and then the first whisky is introduced with some facts and figures and then it’s a free-for-all, with members of the tasting panel providing their impressions and insights into the whisky being tasted. Usually one progresses from nose, to palate, to finish, to conclusion, per whisky. A fast paced, fun-filled evening ensues with hundreds of tweets flying back and forth with new whisky friendships being forged and lots more observing the proceedings on their timelines.
The great thing about these tastings is that each is vastly different to the other. Obviously because the whiskies being tasted vary, but more so because the participants come from all walks of life and range in whisky knowledge from the complete novice to the seasoned connoisseur/geek.
#WBOT Tasters
| 1. WhiskyBrother (@WhiskyBroShop) | 2. Gareth (@WhiskyGeekSA) |
| 3. Edward (@TheSmokyDram) | 4. Jacques (@jndub) |
| 5. John and Jeanette (@whiskyoftheweek) | 6. Kojo (@kojobaffoe) |
| 7. Amanda (@AmandaSevasti) | 8. Offy (@Fenyi) |
| 9. Nic (@ncallegari) | 10. Bruce (@thedramdog) |
And then of course, me (@fr1day).
Online Whisky Tasting Line-Up
WhiskyBrother hand packed the samples for the evening’s tasting and even threw in an extra “mystery” dram for us to sample and savour in our own time. He’s a thoughtful lad don’t you think? Before I dive into the whiskies tasted, let me just tell you that these whiskies are all available at the WhiskyBrother shop in Hyde Park Shopping Centre in Johannesburg. And coincidentally (or maybe not?), all three are from south-west Scotland, albeit from different regions.
I’ll provide a brief intro for each whisky, and then share some of the tweets from the tasting panel to give you an idea of their impressions on the evening. Enjoy!
Kilkerran Work-In-Progress 4
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Kilkerran is produced at the Glengyle distillery in Campbeltown. Their Work-in-Progress series allows you to follow their Single Malt as it matures from 5 years old towards it full release age of 12 year old.This – the 4th release – was launched in 2012 and only 9,000 bottles were produced. |
So Kilkerran WIP4, 46% ABV. Matured in Oak. Quite a light amber colour. The aroma has changed on me about three times already. #wbot
— Nicolas Callegari (@ncallegari) April 16, 2014
Kilkerran WIP4 Nose: Toffee, honey, citrus and fleshy white fruits. Reminds me of a kitchen on a sunny winter's morning #WBOT
— Mark H / WTF Blog (@fr1day) April 16, 2014
#WBOT #1 palette is smooth, caramel, fresh fruit and more spice – ginger comes through. Full bodied
— whiskyoftheweek (@whiskyoftheweek) April 16, 2014
@WhiskyBroShop #WBOT a few drops of water really brings out the rest of the flavours, toffee, custard, sweetness.
— Jacques Du Bruyn (@jndub) April 16, 2014
Kilkerran WIP4 Palate: Take a custard bun, dunk in orange syrup, roll in nutmeg and cinnamon. Yeah, it's kinda like that #WBOT
— Mark H / WTF Blog (@fr1day) April 16, 2014
Tried the #Kilkerran with a drop of water. I think different flavour develops thereafter. Found the sweet finish improves quite a lot. #WBOT
— Ofentse Ruele (@Fenyi) April 16, 2014
Arran Port Cask
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The Arran Distillery in Lochranza on the Isle of Arran is a relatively young distillery, having only fired up its stills in 1995 for the first time. Arran has three different expressions in their cask finish range. The Port Finish has been matured in ex-bourbon casks for around 8 years and then spends between 8-12 months in Port casks to “finish” it. Bottled at 50% abv, you may want to add a drop or 2 of water to this whisky. |
The #arran is much darker. Almost orange like the inside of a Caramello bear. Smells like one too. #wbot
— Nicolas Callegari (@ncallegari) April 16, 2014
#WBOT #2 nosing we get sweetness! Grape, grape must, sultanas and honey. Dries fruit. Thinking of syrup donuts! Dark amber color for us.
— whiskyoftheweek (@whiskyoftheweek) April 16, 2014
Arran Port Cask palette is soft with honey and jam, some spice and an elegant oily texture #WBOT
— Bruce Clark (@thedramdog) April 16, 2014
Getting a sweetness on palette. Bit of a bite at tip of tongue, lingering spice. Find it a lot gentler than the previous #WBOT
— Kojo Baffoe (@kojobaffoe) April 16, 2014
.@Arranwhisky Port Finish Palate: Flavours concentrated in the middle of your tongue. Apples, brown sugar, milk chocolate and cinnamon #WBOT
— Mark H / WTF Blog (@fr1day) April 16, 2014
Octomore 6.1
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When they say “the world’s most heavily peated malt”, the folks at Bruichladdich aren’t kidding! 5 years old, 57% abv and a phenol count of 167ppm. This is a monster of a whisky, but their is an elegance and complexity that are beguiling, elevating it from merely a “peat bomb” to something altogether more accomplished. |
#WBOT #3. OMG. PEAT and as you get up off the ground – boom, more PEAT. Iodine, TCP, medicinal. Classic Islay 🙂
— whiskyoftheweek (@whiskyoftheweek) April 16, 2014
The smoke you pick up on the nose is MASSIVE. Like a foggy day in Beijing. #octomore #wbot
— Nicolas Callegari (@ncallegari) April 16, 2014
One whiff of the @Bruichladdich and I’m transported to a barbecue joint in Austin, Texas. Wow! #WBOT
— Amanda Sevasti (@AmandaSevasti) April 16, 2014
#Octomore 6.1 Nose: What amazing balance!! The peat is there, but isn't overpowering as one would expect. Lovely sweetness too #LoveIt #WBOT
— Mark H / WTF Blog (@fr1day) April 16, 2014
Like jumping into the pool, seems unwelcoming when you dip your toe, but once you jump in, wonderful. Warm. #Octomore #WBOT
— Kojo Baffoe (@kojobaffoe) April 16, 2014
#Octomore palate: Astonishing rich with the smoke ever-present but still balanced with sweet oak, barley and citrus. #WBOT
— WhiskyBrother Shop (@WhiskyBroShop) April 16, 2014
#WBOT @Bruichladdich Ocotomore 6.1 Palate: I'm just sitting here going mmmmhmmm-mhmhmmm-MMMM..I will attempt to articulate actual notes asap
— Whisky Geek (@WhiskyGeekSA) April 16, 2014
I feel like Harry Potter just did a smoke spell in my mouth. #Octomore #WBOT
— Amanda Sevasti (@AmandaSevasti) April 16, 2014
#WBOT the @Bruichladdich #Octomore 6.1 is like an explosion of fire crackers on the palate, so complex. Finishes of salted sweets. Amazing.
— Jacques Du Bruyn (@jndub) April 16, 2014
Enjoying this salty finish. Not as long as I hoped though. Chocolate recommendation: Lindt Dark with a touch of sea salt. #WBOT #Octomore
— Amanda Sevasti (@AmandaSevasti) April 16, 2014
@kojobaffoe @Bruichladdich the whole world could go to hell in a hand-basket, and you just wouldn't care…. #WBOT
— Mark H / WTF Blog (@fr1day) April 16, 2014
Again, thank you all so much! It has been a pleasure and honour having you be part of our, & #SouthAfrica's, first online tasting! 🙂 #WBOT
— WhiskyBrother Shop (@WhiskyBroShop) April 16, 2014
Conclusion
My favourite for the evening? Before we began I thought that the Octomore would win it by a country mile, and you know what? It did. Simply stunning in it’s balance between peat and sweet. Sure, you taste the peat and smokiness A LOT, but it never ends up being a one-dimensional dram.
Hats off to Marc for hosting a very enjoyable evening, tasting some great whiskies (all of which are available at the WhiskyBrother shop) along with some really cool folks. Just one question: when’s the next one!?! 🙂
Slàinte!
Great write-up Mark! Thank you for the kind words. We will definitely be conducting such an event again in future. Too much fun not to! 🙂
Nice write-up and good job to @WhiskyBrother for organising and innovating on the home front.
[…] And what great fun we had. There were 10 of us invited to share in this South African first Twitter tasting. The tasting consisted of 3 different whiskies. WhiskyBrother also added a mystery whisky. You can read Mark from Whisky Tasting Fellowships’ review on the evening here. […]