Dear readers...
Sorry for the relative radio silence. I've been busy working on a new site for my boss and that has been eating up most of my attention over the past few weeks. Apart from that, I've been having lots of bad nose days AND we've been suffering from a heat wave. So, all in all there have not been many nights that were really suitable for serious dramming.
However, a post on the wall of Malt Maniacs & Friends on Facebook reminded me of the lastest arrival on my shelves; the recently introduced Kilbeggan NAS Malt Whiskey (40%, OB, Batch #0001, Btl. 06/2010, 70cl). I tried it last month, but that was right after I opened the bottle. Now that it has broken in, I found much more spices in the nose than first time. Again, it's grainy as well. It's sweet and extremely smooth on the palate. That is one advantage of the average Irish whiskey over the average Scotch whisky. There's a touch of smoke in the finish and after a delay some gentle tannins emerge. Slightly bitter at the very end of the finish.
It has opened up a bit since I opened the bottle, so I'll increase my initial score to 71 points. For a MALT whisk(e)y that's a few points below average, but I'd like to point out that I would pick this over some Scotch single malts like Glen Grant NAS, Auchentoshan 10yo or Dalwhinnie any day. I also expect that this could be a sort of 'gateway drug' for people who are used to drinking bottom shelf blends and bourbons...
Anyway, that's it for this micro-report... However, expect some big announcements soon. The first bottle for the Malt Maniacs Awards 2010 has just arrived at our logistics centre and we now have a working demo of an interactive version of our monitor; the first steps for our very own whisky database. Stay tuned for upcoming updates...
Sweet drams,
