Battle of the (Budget) Blended Scotch Whiskies - Group B

[dan_the_tax_man]

So...it's been a while...between my concussion back in June, our vacation in July, and some other stuff that I don't really feel ready to talk about yet, I kind of missed a few self-imposed deadlines.  In fact, as I write this, we've already held Round Three (Group C - July 27, 2013), and Round Four (Group D) of the Battle is coming up next Friday (August 30, 2013).  Therefore, without further ado, I shall endeavour to recount the events surrounding the Group B taste-off, which took place on June 23, 2013.

As with Group A, we had a last minute change to the order of battle: in their excitement over the event, two of the partipants didn't wait for instructions and went out and bought the first whisky they could find that fell within the price point...instead of Grand Macnish, we ended up with Forty Creek Copper Pot Reserve...which is, in its own right, a very, very fine example of Canadian whisky, but it isn't an inexpensive blended Scotch.  However, since the individuals in question were really eager, we let the error slide and decided to see if our noses would be able to discern the difference between a blended Scotch and a Canadian rye...



Following the procedure we established in the first evening, one of our non-drinking participants took all the bottles and glasses into another room, decided which match we were going to do first, and then poured the whiskies.  The whiskies were differentiated by the use of yellow paper as coasters, so we had 'Yellow' and 'Not Yellow' for each match up, which made the fight card look like this:

• Match A - Yellow #1 vs. Not Yellow #1
• Match B - Yellow #2 vs. Not Yellow #2
• Match C - Winner Match A vs. Winner Match B (again, with the Yellow and Not Yellow designations, but we didn't know which was which, if that makes any sense)

Once the first match had been decided (Yellow or Not Yellow), the glasses were rinsed, taken away, and the process repeated for the next match.  At any given time we didn't actually know which of the four whiskies we were tasting, as the final winner wasn't revealed until the end of the evening...and now for the results!

• Match A - Islay Mist 8 year-old vs. Dewar's White Label - the subtle sweetness and smokey nose of the Islay Mist dominated the match, easily pummelling the harsh chemical-laden nose of the Dewar's into the mat.  A unanimous, 6 - 0 (5 - 0) decision, with some people finding themselves unable to even finish drinking their glass of Dewar's.

• Match B - Grand Macnish (Forty Creek Copper Pot Reserve) vs. Whyte & Mackay Special Reservce - Grand Macnish* by a knock-out: a unanimous, 6 - 0 (5 - 0), decision, and that was based on the nose alone (tasting them just confirmed our decision).  The sweet rye scent of the Copper Pot Reserve was unmistakable, even tasted blind, and even if the Special Reserve had been a better whisky, it still would have lost based solely on the nose.

• Match C - Islay Mist 8 year-old vs. Grand Macnish* - a narrow, 3 - 2 (3 -1), victory for the Islay Mist 8 year-old, making it the Group B Champion!  This was a very difficult decision, as everyone agreed that both the Islay Mist and the Copper Pot Reserve (Grand Macnish's ringer) were very good, but very different, styles of whisky, and since we were looking for the best of the budget blends, we had to choose the Islay Mist.

And what did we learn this time around?  Well, again, none of us went blind, and the Dewar's wasn't quite as bad as the Ballantine's from Group A.  And again, the Whyte & Mackay wasn't all that bad, comparatively (which is good, since I now have a nearly full bottle of Whyte & Mackay sitting alongside the remnants of the Catto's...it had better be good for cooking, baking, and mixing...).  We also learned that an inexpensive Canadian whisky can be far, far better than most inexpensive, yet similarly priced, blended Scotches...it seems like we may have to have a Canadian whisky tasting event once this Battle of the Blends has wrapped up...

PS - since I am 'going backward to go forward', I guess I should also make a promise to cover off some things that I said I would write about some time ago.  Which means over the following weeks / months, I need to post entries, in no particular order, on the following:

• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - The Book vs. The Movie;
• Screamers: The Hunting (Movie Review);
• Snow White and Huntsman (Movie Review);
• The Balvenie "Doublewood" 12 Year Old & War on Terror: The Boardgame;
• Laphroaig "Quarter-Cask" (Whisky Review);
• the Robert Burns Single Malt (and the Burns Dinner we had in January 2013);
• the Talisker mini-vertical we had in December 2012 (with a discussion of Battle Royale, as well);
• the 2nd Annual Saint Clynelish's Day Celebration (March 2013);
• Round One (Group A) of 'The Battle of the (Budget) Blended Scotch Whiskies';
• Round Two (Group B) of 'The Battle of the (Budget) Blended Scotch Whiskies';
• Round Three (Group C) of 'The Battle of the (Budget) Blended Scotch Whiskies';
• Round Four (Group D) of 'The Battle of the (Budget) Blended Scotch Whiskies'; and
• Innis & Gunn "Rum Cask" & Vanilla Rum Pulled Pork