Scotch Tasting Bachelor Party

[perkk]

   So my buddy Michael is getting married tomorrow. I have the honor of being the Best Man. So, following with long standing, time honored traditions, I got to plan the Bachelor Party. But I had to promise to make it something which would not invoke the ire of either the would be bride nor groom. Long story short, that left a very short list of things we could do. Thankfully, drinking was still on the list; and evenings of embarrassing anecdotes is par for the norm as well.

As luck would have it, I have a co-worker who used to be a brew-meister and a professional taster. I talked him into teaching us about Scotches. It was Michael (the to be groom), our mutual friend Andrew, myself and my co-worker Eric.
Below is the order we sampled them. At first, we ordered two shots of each for the four of us to sample, but towards the end we ordered single shots so we could try more and not get overly drunk. We ordered food, but sometimes it distracted from the tasting.

Round 1
2 Votes Each 1   Glendronach - Original - 12 year●Smell of oak and sherry and lots of maltiness, well balanced but very dry and a clean fruity finish. Score 75

• Apple
  
• Generalized Fruit Ester
  
• Thin Nose & Thin Palette

 2The Macallan - 18 Year● ● ● ●Smell of dried fruits and ginger with taste of light smoke and nutty-sweet sherry and a smooth, warming finish. Score 94

• Fuller Body
  
• Very Long Finish

 3Lagavulin - 16 Year● ●Slight smell of smoke but more of a sherry nose. Taste starts sweet and moves to smoky with a long alcoholic finish. Score 86

• Phenolic (classic Band-Aid smell)
  
• Wet Burnt Wood
  
• Liquid Smoke

 4Highland Park - 18 YearSmell of smoky oak with a lightly salty taste and the development of nuts and honey sweetness and a smoky dryness. Score 92

• Phenolic
  
• Watered Honey
  
• Sharp
  
• Distant Smoke

 Round 2
3 votes each 5The Balvenie - Double Wood - 12 Year● ● ●Smell of sherry and orange peel with a mellow combination of nutty orange, sweet sherry, heather and cinnamon flavor and a warming finish. Score 87

• Balanced
  
• Bourbon Nose
  
• Smoother
  
• Light Taste of Dried Apricots

 6The Balvenie - Port Wood - 21 YearSmell of dried raisins with a very complex, toffee taste and a dry, cedar finish. Score 88

• Taste of Dry Wood (think tongue depressor)
  
• Smooth
  
• Flavor curve is like a speed bump. A slight delay, a hit, and then a bit of a trailing finish.

 7The Macallan - Cask Strength● ● ●Smell of sherry and oak with a rounded smooth sweet taste of honey and warm alcoholic burn finish. Score 87

• Dates
  
• Strong but Muted
  
• Thick

 8The Glenlivet - French Oak Finish - 15 Year●Faint smell of flowers and oak with a delicate balance of sweetness and complex dryness, even dryer oak-like finish with a warm alcoholic burn. Score N/A

• Delicate
  
• Apple Blossom
  
• Sandalwood

 9Ardbeg - 10 Year● ● ●Sour smell of iodine with a smoky peat flavor, finishes a little green - a real light-heavyweight. Score 85

• Iodine
  
• Burnt Tire Rubber
  
• Sea Wind Nose
  
• Hot Melted or Toasted Band-Aid

 10Laphroaig - 30 Year● ●Soft smell of citrus, oak and smoke with smoky taste toasted almonds and a bittersweet balance finish and burning peat. Score 90

• Surprisingly Well Balanced
  
• Smokey But Sweet
  
• Licking An Ash Tray

 ● = Votes

We tried watering some of them down a bit a time to see how it would bring out more flavors. We discussed regions and techniques. As you can see, we didn't always agree on favorites, but that's the fun of it. Drink and discuss as if there's nothing more important in the world.