Ladies Only Whisky Tasting – Thursday 10^th February 2011

Presented by Willie Tait of Whyte & Mackay

Last December’s heavy snow meant that the long awaited follow-on to our first Ladies Tasting had to be postponed as Willie Tait was hardly able to get out of his own driveway, let alone dig a tunnel through the snow all the way down to Wiltshire. However, as all the ladies present agreed, the wait was well worthwhile as we had a memorable evening with Willie as he brought the characters of Jura, Dalmore and Fettercairn vividly to life with his evocative descriptions of the environments they are created in and their very different characters. Willie has a wonderful way of conveying how a whisky is very much the product of its birthplace and upbringing (just like ourselves) and brings to life the whisky making process.

In the line up for the night we had Jura 10 yr old, Jura 21 yr old, Dalmore 12 yr old,,Dalmore 15 yr old, Jura Superstition and the Fettercairn Fior. As ever, much debate between the ladies over aromas and flavours was evident during the tasting and, yet again, the evening demonstrated that there is no such thing as a ‘ladies’ style of whisky. Whilst some fell for the light and delicate charms of the Jura 10 year old others were beguiled by the big Highland swagger of the Dalmore, while others found the rich and peated Fettercairn Fior to be their star of the night. My personal favourites were the fabulous Jura 21 year old and the Fettercairn Fior – both of which bring a big smile to my face.

It’s always a real pleasure to see Willie and we’d like to say a very big thank you to him for an entertaining and diverse evening of whisky tasting.

(By the way, if you want to find out more about the wonderful island of Jura and its great whiskies then why not visit the Jura website, where a warm welcome will await you - and you can even become an honorary Diurach.)