Octomore 10 yo 2009/2020 ?4th Edition? (54.3%, OB, 12,000 bottles) – Octomore 5 yo 2014/2020 ?Edition 11.1? (59.4%, OB) – Octomore 5 yo 2014/2020 ?Edition 11.3? (61.7%, OB) – Octomore 8 yo 2010-2011/2020 (58.3%, Maltbarn)
Highland Park 18 yo ?Viking Pride? (43%, OB, +/-2019) – Highland Park 30 yo (43.1%, Hunter Laing, The Kinship, 2020) – Secret Orkney 12 yo 2005/2018 (57%, Cooper?s Choice for Hot Malt Taiwan, cask #26, 360 bottles) – Secret Orkney 1999/2020 (51.9%, Dut…
Duquesne 5 yo ?Rhum Vieux? (40%, OB, Martinique, 5cl, +/-1990) – Foursquare 12 yo ?Sagacity? (48%, OB, Barbados, 2019) – Caroni 22 yo 1998/2020 (57.5%, Compagnie des Indes, Trinidad, 287 bottles) – Hampden ?Great House Distillery Edition 2020? (59%, OB…
House Malt 15 yo 2004/2020 (40%, The Whisky Cellar, refill sherry butt) – A Fine Christmas Malt 19 yo (44.5%, The Whisky Exchange, blended malt, sherry, 1918 bottles, 2020) – Burnside 25 yo 1994/2020 Blended Malt (47.6%, Archives ?The Fishes of Samoa?,…
In my local bourbon group, Houston Bourbon Society, I have run 5 group blind tastings. Each time it has included between 18 to 21 whiskies with 15 tasters. Why 15? Because a 750ml bottle breaks down neatly into 15 samples of 50ml each. Each taster paid the actual cost for the samples. Most of the … Continue reading “5 Blind Whiskey Tastings Results”
In my local bourbon group, Houston Bourbon Society, I have run 5 group blind tastings. Each time it has included between 18 to 21 whiskies with 15 tasters. Why 15? Because a 750ml bottle breaks down neatly into 15 samples of 50ml each. Each taster paid the actual cost for the samples. Most of the bottles were obtained at a store for normal SRP. I sometimes included a dusty bottle from my bunker. Each tasting had a loose theme as described below. Beyond the theme, the tastings were completely blind, meaning the tasters had no clue which bottles were included the lot. The tasters picked up the samples and turned in notes on a few each week until it was completed.
The graphs below show the averages, the median, and the ranges. Thanks to Sergo Garcia for putting these together. Of note, after the second blind, I changed my scoring scale. I had used a 0 to 100 point scale, but realistically folks scored in the 60 -100 range. I decided, after consulting with a NASA scientist, that a 0 to 5 scale with 2.5 representing an average whiskey was a better system.
Blind 1 was themed Only Bourbon.
Blind 2 was themed as Any American Whiskey.
Blind 3 was themed as ‘If it’s not Straight, You must Abate’
Blind 4 was themed as ‘The best of Gulf Coast Barrel picks’ with only local area barrel picks included.
Blind 5 was themed as ‘This Isn’t Fair’ as I included some finished whiskies as well as some finished whiskies I made myself. Yes, you can do this at home without overpaying some NDP for young whiskey with additives. See my blog post on this – https://tater-talk.com/2019/03/19/make-your-own-finished-bourbon-at-home-in-the-bottle/. Note that all American finished whiskies are class type 641, whiskey specialties, and as such are allowed to add up to 2.5% by volume HCFBM, Harmless Coloring/Flavoring/Blending Material, with no disclosure required. So making these at home with bitters or other elements is no different than what can be done commercially.
If you have not tasted completely blind, I will ensure you it can be a very humbling experience. My experience has shown that price does not equate to quality. In none of these blinds did the most expensive whiskey finish on top. Drink what you like and be careful of what you pay for.
Link to view/download graphs – https://photos.app.goo.gl/eBSxUWKo1CacEX4MA
In my local bourbon group, Houston Bourbon Society, I have run 5 group blind tastings. Each time it has included between 18 to 21 whiskies with 15 tasters. Why 15? Because a 750ml bottle breaks down neatly into 15 samples of 50ml each. Each taster paid the actual cost for the samples. Most of the … Continue reading “5 Blind Whiskey Tastings Results”
In my local bourbon group, Houston Bourbon Society, I have run 5 group blind tastings. Each time it has included between 18 to 21 whiskies with 15 tasters. Why 15? Because a 750ml bottle breaks down neatly into 15 samples of 50ml each. Each taster paid the actual cost for the samples. Most of the bottles were obtained at a store for normal SRP. I sometimes included a dusty bottle from my bunker. Each tasting had a loose theme as described below. Beyond the theme, the tastings were completely blind, meaning the tasters had no clue which bottles were included the lot. The tasters picked up the samples and turned in notes on a few each week until it was completed.
The graphs below show the averages, the median, and the ranges. Thanks to Sergo Garcia for putting these together. Of note, after the second blind, I changed my scoring scale. I had used a 0 to 100 point scale, but realistically folks scored in the 60 -100 range. I decided, after consulting with a NASA scientist, that a 0 to 5 scale with 2.5 representing an average whiskey was a better system.
Blind 1 was themed Only Bourbon.
Blind 2 was themed as Any American Whiskey.
Blind 3 was themed as ‘If it’s not Straight, You must Abate’
Blind 4 was themed as ‘The best of Gulf Coast Barrel picks’ with only local area barrel picks included.
Blind 5 was themed as ‘This Isn’t Fair’ as I included some finished whiskies as well as some finished whiskies I made myself. Yes, you can do this at home without overpaying some NDP for young whiskey with additives. See my blog post on this – https://tater-talk.com/2019/03/19/make-your-own-finished-bourbon-at-home-in-the-bottle/. Note that all American finished whiskies are class type 641, whiskey specialties, and as such are allowed to add up to 2.5% by volume HCFBM, Harmless Coloring/Flavoring/Blending Material, with no disclosure required. So making these at home with bitters or other elements is no different than what can be done commercially.
If you have not tasted completely blind, I will ensure you it can be a very humbling experience. My experience has shown that price does not equate to quality. In none of these blinds did the most expensive whiskey finish on top. Drink what you like and be careful of what you pay for.
Link to view/download graphs – https://photos.app.goo.gl/eBSxUWKo1CacEX4MA
Allt-A-Bhainne 10 yo 2008/2019 (46.5%, House of McCallum, cask #172, 432 bottles) – Allt-A-Bhainne 27 yo 1992/2020 (49.2%, The Whisky Cask Company, bourbon, cask #1800472, 272 bottles)
Black Friday 22 yo ?2020 Edition? (50.5%, The Whisky Exchange, Highland single malt, 1400 bottles) – Secret Speyside 26 yo 1993/2020 (47.7%, Dutch Whisky Connection) – Blended Whisky (45.5%, East London Liquor Co. Sonoma Distilling Co., 2019) – Blanda…
Clynelish 1997/2017 (55%, Kingsbury for Or Sileis Taiwan, hogshead, cask #7104, 160 bottles) – Clynelish 1997/2017 (56.3%, Kingsbury for Or Sileis Taiwan, hogshead, cask #7103, 229 bottles) – Distilled in Sutherland 24 yo 1996/2020 (47.2%, Thompson Bro…
A Highland Distillery 10 yo 2010/2020 (58.4%, Watt Whisky, 280 bottles) – Clynelish 10 yo 2010/2020 (55.3%, The Single Malts of Scotland for LMDW, bourbon barrel, cask #700045, 238 bottles) – Clynelish 8 yo 2011/2020 (58%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, 2…
