On a mild December evening in the capital of the highlands, members of IWAS gathered for formal meet and dram tasting under the theme of Scottish whisky regions.
Kicking off proceedings our beloved president took the floor welcoming long-standing members and introducing two new members to IWAS. There followed the standard initiation ceremony followed by IWAS business. With formalities out of the way and matters of IWAS passionately debated it was time to get stuck into what brought us all together in the first place, Whisky.
The theme for the December meet was regions of Scotland with the bonus dram being a blend. First up that little area of Scotland called Speyside, with only around fifty distilleries in the area I can understand how our fellow member struggled here and brought us a fine GlenDronach from spayside *highland* region instead.
The Regions & Whisky
The Almost Speyside = GlenDronach batch 8, (Sherry Cask) 61% abv
Highland = Tomatin 30 year old, (Ex-Burbun & traditional oak casks) 46% abv
Lowland = Ailsa Bay, (lightly peated) 48.9% abv
Cambeltown = Cadenhead’s independent bottling of Longrow, distilled at sprinkgbank distillery (port cask) 57.8% abv
Islay = Lochindaal 8y old private cask, (Bourbon Cask) 63.2% abv
Blend = Royal Salute blended 21 year old, 40% abv
Served with premium craft lager to cleanse the palate we started our journey in Speyside and worked our way down to the Lowlands and then across to Islay. With whisky, words help portray the flavours you experience better than photos so here are in depth review of each dram.
GlenDronach (Not Quite Spayside) = Rich
Tomatin (Highland) = Smooth
Ailsa Bay (Lowland) = Powerfull
Royal Salute (Blend) = Mellow
Longrow (Cambeltown) = Exceptional
Lochindaal (Islay) = Pleasant
With so many great drams it’s hard to pick a top three, but just like those optimistic fu*#rs that like to say “someone has to win” when you tell them the odds of the lottery one must reign champion. After a lengthy deliberation, a count and a re-check we had a clear winner with two runner ups.
Taking the top prize was the incredible independent bottling of Sprinkgbank distillery, this smooth but powerful dram was pure nectar and secured a sold win from most members.
In second was the Tomatin 30-year-old which was just exceptional, in third was the royal salute blend which was easy drinking however just lacked that bite being only 40%.
With the night drawing to a close our president Mr Scott Fraser made the shocking announcement that 2020 will be his final year, he will be giving way for a new president to take the reins of IWAS and deliver us into 2021 and beyond.
Thus, begins the presidential race leading up to the IWAS election meet in August 2020 where we will elect our new leader, attendance for IWAS members is compulsory for this meet.
Cheers to Inverness Bowling Club for hosting us and also our president for organizing a great night.
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