Photo courtesy of http://www.maltimposter.com/
A while ago, our friends at Master of Malt sent some samples for our reviewing. From among the pack, I chose a bottle from a distillery that I had never tried. North British is one of seven grain distilleries in Scotland. The distillery is jointly owned by Diageo and the Edrington Group. From the Master of Malt, the North British 20 is described as:
Intensely sweet, and still bourbon-like. There’s just a soupcon of something else that confirms that this actually isn’t bourbon, and is in fact a grain whisky! It’s hard to describe what that something else is though. You’ve got all the classic US whiskey flavours in there, with a big corn oil note, and plenty of butter. Actually, there’s something akin to buttered carrots done with just a pinch of ground cumin – that same kind of oily semi-sweetness and spice.
Huge and intensely spiced. Something vaguely malty on the finish too (which is odd!). Maybe even a hint of hops. Very sweet, all the way through though..
On this particular night, G-LO dropped by, so I split the sample and he offered his opinions as well.
|
LimpD |
G-LO |
||
| Appearance: | Straw | Pale Gold | |
| Aroma: | Grassy. Toffee. A bit medicinal with water. A hint of peppermint | Herbal. Peppermint. Eucalyptus. Pineapple. Apricots. | |
| Taste: | Strong with a slight burn followed by a sweet, syrupy honey flavor. Really smooth. With water it is slightly more earthy, more minty | Very smooth given the high ABV. Oily mouth feel. Not overly intense. Slight warming on your tongue and slightly herbal throughout. Soft pleasant aftertaste. | |
| ABV: 55.8% |
Thanks again to Master of Malt for sending the sample.
For more information about Master of Malt, click on the links below:
Website: www.masterofmalt.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/#!/masterofmalt
Facebook: www.facebook.com/masterofmalt
Categories: Booze Review, North British
AMKrouse
The Alemonger
G-LO
limpd
The Wookie
The ROK
Sarah -BeautifulTangibleThings
The Astounding Prism
It's just the booze dancing... 
What a rough gig! How nice to find something you hadn’t yet tried.
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I don’t know how he does it but G-Lo seems to get a weekly package of something new and interesting. And, more importantly, he shares.
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Sadly, the packages are few and far between. Speaking of which, I’m still waiting for the Shackleton sample. I suspect that it may have been “lost in the mail”.
And of course, sharing is what this is all about. What good is having a great whisky around if you’re going to keep it all to yourself? I’m greedy, but I’m not THAT greedy!
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Great review – love the side by side comparison. Are you sure you guys don’t write for Whisky Magazine? 😉
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Thanks, WW. I’m not a fan of matching up with G-Lo. He gets all these herbal and floral notes and I just keep coming back with me likey whisky.
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Oh please… it takes me forever to come up with my tasting notes. You on the other hand have a crazy good recall for this stuff. Watching you and Yo Yo Yossi spar over whisky notes was quite amusing and also somewhat frightening.
As far as the North British 20 goes, I really enjoyed it. Although I doubt that I would ever spring for a full bottle, it was interesting to taste what goes into blended whisky on its own. Makes me curious to try pulling a blend together from what we have on hand. Glen or MacBoozedancing perhaps?
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