1.21 - Antiquary Blended Scotch Whisky & Strathclyde 27 year old Single Grain Whisky Rare Auld Duncan Taylor

In this episode of the Spirits Blind Tasting podcast I'm doing a blind tasting of Antiquary Blended Scotch Whisky & Strathclyde 27 year old Single Grain Whisky Rare Auld Duncan Taylor. If you'd like to support this podcast and get access to the behind the scenes video recordings from this episode, please join me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/spiritspeople

Feel free to follow along with a dram of any of these or any other spirit you enjoy as I try to uncover the aromas and flavors of these 2 spirits. My tasting notes from this episode can be found below:

Spirit A - Antiquary Blended Scotch Whisky (46% ABV)

Appearance

• Clarity: Clear
• Intensity: Dee
• Color: Gold
• Suggested texture: Medium

Nose

• Condition: Clean
• Intensity: Medium
• Aroma characteristics: Overripe sweet apples, grapes, vanilla, cinnamon, baked sugar crystals, fragrant, hints of toasted oak
• Other notes: Has an initial profile of a warm apple pie, and a vague hint of perfume at the back of that sweetness. The nose is quite dense and heavy. The sweet apple note turns a little bit sour after a while. Bourbon or brandy cask?
• ABV: ~46%

Palate

• Sweetness: Dry
• Texture: Silky, warming, medium viscosity
• Intensity: Medium
• Flavor characteristics: Overripe sweet apples, grapes, fragrant, oak, hints of black tea, cereal/malt.
• Other notes: Palate carry the aromas nicely, good balance of the different characteristics, the cereal note could mean a younger spirit (10 years) although the balance of the body could also suggest a bit longer maturation (15+ perhaps).
• Finish: Medium with some complexity (apples and cereal/malt)
• ABV: ~50%

Conclusion

• Quality level: Outstanding
• Blind guess: Single malt, first fill bourbon cask, 10 years old

Spirit B - Strathclyde 27 year old Single Grain Whisky Rare Auld Duncan Taylor (53.5%) (Fully matured in Sherry Cask)

Appearance

• Clarity: Clear
• Intensity: Light > medium
• Color: Amber
• Suggested texture: Medium > high

Nose

• Condition: Clean 
• Intensity: Medium
• Aroma characteristics: Dates, baked apples, vanilla, ground cinnamon, brown sugar, molasses, marcipan, undefined smoke element
• Other notes: A little bit more subdued on the characteristics than spirit A, but way more dense and dark on the overall profile. Wine or port cask?
• ABV: ~50%

Palate

• Sweetness: Dry
• Texture: Silky, mouth filling, medium > high viscosity
• Intensity: Pronounced
• Flavor characteristics: Dates, raisins, brown sugar, molasses, roasted nuts, dried orange peel
• Other notes: Does not taste like a whisky, but it still smells like a single malt profile. Has more of a brandy profile, so could have some heavy cask influence like full maturation in a brandy cask. Could also be rum as I kept getting hints of molasses throughout, but feels more like a brandy profile on the palate.
• Finish: Medium to long and very complex (dates, orange peel, roasted nuts)
• ABV: ~50%

Conclusion

• Quality level: Outstanding
• Blind guess: Single malt, full maturation in brandy cask, 10+ years.

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