30th October 2013 saw the 2nd Tweet Tasting event for Milroy’s of Soho, London’s largest Independent wine merchant and specialist whisky retailers. Facilitated, organised, promoted and hosted by Steve Rush at The Whisky Wire, we were sent 6 generous samples of whisky from Milroy’s of Soho to engage in a live blind tasting which ran on Twitter under #MilroysTT2. After each whisky was tasted and mused over, Steve announced what we had been sampling.

Whisky 1

Nose – is very light & delicate, little estery & fruity [spey?]. Apples & pears and custard, grassy green malt [no smoke here yet either?]. Perhaps a wee hint of new wood shavings. Young spey in 2nd / 3rd refill bourbons but a hint of grain whisky too – I’d say blend

Palate – again light and a little oily slightly drying white pepper on finish – no strong flavours.

Overall – Pleasant but a little bland – young spey/blend, minimal cask influence.

A unique expression of selected malts. An elegant, malty blend selected from distinguished Highland & Speyside distilleries.

Highly drinkable for that price!

Whisky 2

Nose – more rounded and fruitier [peach/orange?], higher ABV? I get a little acetone (nail polish remover) burn on the nose, but under it a little wood

Palate – spicier, more wood, something dry/rubbery on the finish – I suspect blend again but more/older malt?

Overall – getting better, more complex, strange finish and doesn’t go well with water!

Distilled in 1995 – Bottled 2013 – Region: Speyside – Cask: Hogshead – Number of Bottles: 348

Whisky 3

Nose – floral [lavender?] and strong sour lemon, citrus, woody scent? Bounty bar, definite coconut and chocolate

Palate – Wow this is a beauty from start to finish, fruit cocktail [banana mango peach apricot coconut] cream & custard, is this Pina Colada???

Overall – favourite so far, most well rounded and finished, lots of nice fruit flavours

Wow – well done Zuidam &  @Milroys this is a superb whisky!

Whisky 4

Nose – Sherry cask, suede leather, raisin, plum, nutmeg, delicious – suspect Oloroso sherry butt finish

Palate – Sweet raisins, Xmas cake, slight sour/bitter coffee/choco taste at end. Like Highland malt in Oloroso? smoother with water and more deep sherry fruits burst out . Reminds me of Tullibardine?

Distilled in 1999 – Bottled 2013 – Region: Netherlands – Cask: Sherry Cask – Number of Bottles: 371

This one is perfect for Christmas – almost as good as Whisky 3

Whisky 5

Nose – definite sweet peat, peanut brittle, heather honey maybe toffee/caramel. Not aggressive peat smoke like most Islay, is a much sweeter scent than that?

Palate – peanut butter on toast, white grape fruitiness, dry peppery finish.

Overall – Lovely pleasantly peaty dram, good well balanced flavours, I could drink a lot more of this!

For under £30 – Wow this is a great easy drinking dram for that price.

Distilled in 2008 – Bottled 2013 – Region: Islay – Cask: Hogshead – Number of Bottles: 497

I suspect this maybe from Bowmore distillery from the flavours…

But by now you can see how incorrect my guesses have been!

Whisky 6

Nose – new paint, esters/banana, pineapple, sweet sherbet!

Palate – sweet pineapple cubes, faint oak wood, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon, drying finish, cask strength? With water, much more warming oak wood comes out, beautiful. Guess Tomatin?, bourbon cask, cask strength, 25+ Years old…

Overall – superb dram [hard not to be at CS], zingy, spicy, fruity and pleasantly woody, very characterful indeed.

An extremely rare limited edition of just 146 bottles, hence price tag!

In conclusion

A great evenings entertainment and online blind live whisky tasting was had by all. Some variation in order of preference but almost all picked out Whisky 3 as being something pretty outstanding and special. I suspect with more time and water Number 6 may creep upto joint top spot, here was my order of preference for the lineup:

3 was outstanding, then 4/6 joint 2nd, 5, 2 and finally 1.

Thanks to fellow tweet tasters for their commentary and contributions:

@TheWhiskyWire @Milroys @@IsGrahamYooll @WhiskyDiscovKat @LRWhisky @WhiskyRepublic @BeersIveKnown @Simon_M_Field @rodbodtoo @robinmckelvie @dvdbloke @ben_cops @steveprentice @MikeJac67464873 @BarryMBradford @j_a_griffiths @SmokieChops @stuartyI82 @JayDieNL @TheRealThijs @Thomas_Speller @whiskywardrobe @PWulf

And finally once again huge thanks to Steve Rush  at The Whisky Wire & Milroy’s of Soho