The Balkan Tiger and the Ardbeg's whispers

Welcome to a new session of my random blind tastings! This one is WTF Tasting 003.

If you recall previous sessions, one of my biggest “problems” with whisky tasting was to make my mind to choose a set of drams to taste. I love peated whiskies and mid age sherried drams but once you start tasting one after the other it becomes a bit plain ( with great surprises from time to time )… so why not just add some spices into the mix?

WTF Whisky Tastings is just a new fun way of lowering my samples’ box level with a flight of four and five random drams taking blindly from the box.

So here are this week flight…

Balkan 176 Vodka

What the fuck! Bottled at 88% ABV this vodka is the most medicinal dram I have had. Do you want to supercharge your bloody mary? Use this!.

“This could save your life one day. There is no better disinfectant out there”

48

70cl / 88% - Balkan is the strongest vodka on the UK market at a whopping 88% ABV. As such it should never be drunk neat, but makes a great'super-charger' for vodka cocktails.

This dram has a white-like color.

Nose (50): weak. alcohol.

Palate (55): powerful, oily. alcohol, cream, citrus.

Finish (40): no finish. alcohol.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Balkan 176 Vodka with 48 points over 100.

Buy this bottle at

Save money when you buy Vodka online. Check for the best prices from best online shops below:

• Buy on Master of Malt for £43.87
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Compass Box Double Single 10^th anniversary

Compass Box whiskies are always delicious and this proposal is a Double Single, a blend of a single malt whisky and a single grain whisky.

“Tasty Compass Box whisky with a soft sherry character. A bit light nose but perfectly blended”

88

Blended Scotch Whisky Bottled by: Compass Box 70cl /53.3% Double Single 10th anniversary a unique blended whisky, constructed of one single malt and one single grain whisky, 76% Glen Elgin 18yo, with the remainder being 21 year old Port Dundas. with a yield of only 876 bottles.

This dram has a fino-like color.

Nose (86): average. honey, citrus, vanilla, spices, wood, plums.

Palate (89): powerful, oily. honey, citrus, spices, vanilla, wood, tobacco.

Finish (90): average. honey, tobacco, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Compass Box Double Single 10th Anniversary with 88 points over 100.

Bunnahabhain 18 years old

I tasted this one at The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show and well, it is those kind of sherried drams that you don’t know what to make about. It is not bad at all, it is not awesome… just a decent sherried whisky that you won’t link to Islay at all.

“Nice sherry character on this Bunnahabhain. I tasted it at The Whisky Exchange Show and I really wanted to revisit it. Still same opinion”

89

A smooth, slightly sherried dram with all the understated elegance one would expect from the gentlest malt on Islay. The epitome of Bunnahabhain's soft Islay style.

This dram has a cooper-like color.

Nose (87): more than average. honey, nuts, citrus, wood, spices, fruits, melon. Maybe a Port cask here?

Palate (90): powerful, oily. honey, nuts, citrus, wood, cocoa, sherry, leather.

Finish (89): longer than average. leather, honey, wood.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Bunnahabhain 18 year with 89 points over 100.

Buy this bottle at

Save money when you buy Single Malt Whisky online. Check for the best prices from best online shops below:

• Buy on Drink Supermarket for £69.99

If your budget allows it, get a bottle of Bunnahabhain 25 years old, a completely different whisky and delicious if you ask me.

Ardbeg Blasda

That’s the reason I love this kind of tastings! Delightful peated whisky with a light taste and finish… it could be better. But the fun thing is that this whisky is the very low peated ( for Ardbeg ) proposal of this mythical Islay distillery.

“A great nose on this Ardbeg but palate and finish are so light... a real pity. It is less earthy that the 10 years old and less exciting”

88

We all know Ardbeg packs a peaty punch, but if you remove some of that peat, can Ardbeg still retain its perfect balance?

The mind bog-gling answer is "yes"! By taming our usual mighty peating levels we have created Blasda, peated to an average of just 8 parts per million phenol (8ppm) compared to the more usual 24ppm. Blasda is still perfectly balanced, but light, sweet and delicious.

But in my opinion, a departure from the great style of Ardbeg 10 years old. I didn't like it.

This dram has a white wine-like color.

Nose (90): more than average. peat, honey, citrus, earth, vanilla. Caol Ila? Ardbeg?

Palate (87): light, smooth. peat, citrus, honey, vanilla, earth, sea.

Finish (88): average. peat, citrus, honey.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Ardbeg Blasda with 88 points over 100.

Wemyss Winter Spice 1982 from Teaninich

“Quite impressive Teaninich single malt... but I would call it Spring Blossom instead of Winter Spice”

88

This dram has a gold-like color.

Nose (86): more than average. honey, citrus, floral, fresh. Quite floral and fresh, like a green flowers field in Spring.

Palate (89): powerful, oily. honey, citrus, vanilla, floral, fruits, pears, grapes, wood.

Finish (89): longer than average. honey, wood, spices.

So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Wemyss Winter Spice 1982 (Teaninich) with 88 points over 100.

Miguel says…

Another great taste with lots of fun and bizarreness on it.

Slainte!

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