First Scotch Tasting!

The Order of the Cask, Leaf, and Thought (a.k.a my Meetup Scotch Group) has their first official tasting last night.  Organized by founder, C.N., and J. at Bad Decisions, we were able to get a guided tasting of a flight of Balvenie.

The line-up was as follows:

The Balvenie, DoubleWood, 12 years
The Balvenie, Caribbean Cask, 14 years
The Balvenie, Single Barrel, 15 years
The Balvenie, Madeira Cask, 17 years
The Balvenie, Peated Cask, 17 years

I am still learning about the subtlety of Scotch and this was definitely a  fantastic event for furthering that education.  J., at Bad Decisions,  led us through each glass and gave a lot of detail about the tasting notes.  (i.e. the nose, the taste, and the finish)  He explained about the Balvenie process and how they create their special limited edition Scotches.

J. explicitly told us not to "fall in love" with the Caribbean Cask as it was very limited.  So, of course, this was dad's favorite of the five.  Dad said it reminded him of the cough syrup he used to get from our old town doctor, Dr. W.  It had a hint of cherry to it and I could definitely taste the Rum influence.  Stepdaddy M.'s favorite was, of course, the Peated Cask. 

Of the five tastings, my favorite was the Madeira Cask.  According to J., and the Balvenie website, this one has a "deep, luxurious aromas translate into an equally rewarding flavour. Initial sweet vanilla oak notes gradually develop into rich spices and dried fruits (apricots, figs, dates)."  I think it was the "sweet vanilla oak notes" that make this my favorite.  Of course, this was pushed to the side when the founding members were presented with a PortWood (21 years).