A blind tasting with hints, some helpful, some unhelpful, some downright misleading
When: 9th June 2026
Where: Thirsty
Host: Elliott Drinks Whisky
We opened this flight up to a few more tickets than usual as the interest in them has been increasing, which is great. It was another blind event, which really does provide a different opportunity to enjoy some whisky. And I appreciate that people are increasingly willing to put their trust in me and my selections (even with my Johnnie Walker pick last time!). The previous 2 flights were double blind, with me providing a shortlist per slot to Thirsty, who ultimately selected what we’d be drinking, meaning I was just as in the dark as everyone else. This time I dispensed with that extra layer of smoke and mirrors, curating the line-up directly myself.
With a focus on independent bottlers (not that they’ve been excluded from previous flights), I was hoping to pull in some bottles showing off their ability to provide whiskies that distilleries tend not to release themselves, or at an affordable price point. I was also aware that I’d be presenting key information about each bottle on the tasting mat, so having characteristics that might be discernible from a blind tasting would make for a more fun (entirely optional) guessing game. I listed, grouped by each category, the price, ABV, age, aging wood, and bottler description excerpt of each bottle. Under each heading the order was of course shuffled, and differently per heading. Only one word had to be redacted in the description excerpts: sherry. I’ll note the barrels and excerpts with the whisky reviews below.
Overall, the guessability of how to order each category was variable. With the ABVs all quite similar, on taste alone that was virtually impossible. And with prices too, although there was one bottle 50% more expensive than the other two, that’s still not really something you can easily discern blind. Age is perhaps a little easier for some whiskies, but at 6, 11, and 18, and all single malts, that again is no easy task. The barrels used to age each whisky are one of the easier things to match up to a glass, blind. And one might think the description excerpts would be too, however, those are often written by marketeers, and that’s all I’ll say on that 😛
The Whisky
(Click on the images to buy a bottle)
Royal Mile Whiskies – Glen Elgin 2015 11yo
Single Malt Scotch Whisky – 46%
We’ve started to use Royal Mile Whiskies as a second supplier for the tastings when I’m selecting and presenting the line-up. This is the first flight that I’ve chosen from them though, and this expression bottled by them fit into the theme of the tasting and scratched an itch I had for a spirit (rather than cask) driven dram.
The description snippet I used was: medium bodied fruity dram with a delightful combination of malty notes and charred orange notes. The general consensus was this was hard to reconcile with the whisky in the glass. From my notes (and from a position of knowing what was going on), the 4 refill cask maturation crafted a whisky of cereal and light fruit.
Glen Elgin is a Diageo Speyside workhorse, mostly going into their White Horse blend. It was one of the last distilleries built at the end of the 19th century, and a prediction made that it would be 50 years until another Speysider was built rang true, as it was about 60 years until Glen Keith and Tormore opened. The distillery wasn’t connected to the electric grid until the 50s, instead using paraffin burners and their water wheel for power. And, they’re one of the roughly 10% of distilleries using worm tub condensation of their spirit vapour.
Notes: 👃🏻Vanilla, cereal (yeasty), light farm funk, lots of acid fruit 👄 Spicy & juicy, creamy grain, little orange choc ⌛ Lime, white pepper
Elevenses – Strathenry 2018 6yo
Single Malt Scotch Whisky – 50%
I’m a big fan of Keeble Cask Co and both their Elevenses and Fragrant Drops ranges. While they both focus on providing people with fantastic whiskies, Elevenses opts for a more affordable price range than Fragrant Drops can sometimes reach. That doesn’t, however, mean that the whisky is anything like run of the mill, as it’s still being sourced with fun and flavour in mind.
The description on the bottle is the one I used on the tasting mat: tropical fruit salad. Again, this was a little difficult to place against the whisky; given some time, and knowing what I was looking for, I did dig some matching notes out.
Strathenry is not a distillery, but rather one of many possible spirit styles (and the first) produced at InchDairnie Distillery. Flowing since 2015, Strathenry is exclusively sold to and traded with independent bottlers and blenders; it’s Inchdairnie at its least experimental. Their plan is to wait till 2029 to release a single malt with the InchDairnie brand name, instead choosing to use others (RyeLaw, KinGlassie, PrinLaws) to represent their ongoing experiments with yeast and grain. For me, their an exciting distillery to be keeping an eye on.
Notes: 👃🏻Leathery dried fruit, dusty cereal (oatmeal), oatcake, touch of burnt white chocolate 👄Firey & young, ginger nut biscuit, macadamia, sour cola sweets, Refreshers, rhubarb ⌛ Icing sugar, pineapple, strawberry.
Decadent Drams – The Teuchter #3 18yo
Single Malt Scotch Whisky – 47.2%
In the glass, on the nose, and in the mouth, this whisky stood out as markedly different from the other two. With one of the barrelling options being 1st-fill PX and 2nd-fill sherry, it was pretty much one guaranteed win for everybody. So, why did I choose it? Well, contrast is always nice, and this bottle promised a lot for its price tag. If I had to summarise my experiences with Decadent Drams so far, it might be quite similar to that as well: a promise and a price tag 😅. They seem capable of recognising and getting their hands on some very interesting stuff, and often, they know it.
This whisky is a Tomatin, which the bottle alludes to with a 🍅🥫 on the label. Batch 1 of The Teuchter was also a Tomatin, treated to 17 years in a first-fill PX cask. This 3rd batch started from that same spirit before being given a little more time, and a finish in a second-fill sherry barrel (which had held a Macallan for 20 years that was released in 2025). So sherry all over, and earning my only description redaction: modern, spicy sherry profile, but keeps a firm grip on its earthy fruit core. Obscuring that single word did sow some confusion when it came to matching up glass and text.
Notes: 👃🏻Super sherry! Toasty aniseed, Jamaican ginger cake 👄Sherry, grapes, brown sugar, apple juice, apple baby food, little baking spice, choc swiss roll.
The Winners
Vote Winner: Bottle #3 – The Teuchter
Close Contenders: #2 – Strathenry & #1 – Glen Elgin
I think my main conclusion from the night was a confirmation that it’s hard to do too much with producer descriptions. If you’re knowingly using one as a crib sheet against the actual whisky, you can get somewhere, but as aids against some unlabelled whiskies it can be tough. Of course, it was fun nonetheless! The Teuchter won the popular vote – an altogether bolder beast in the glass, and not something you had to think too deeply about to enjoy.
The vote runner-up was the Strathenry, and actually, it was quite close. I took the vote before the reveal, so the prices, ages and bottle quirks couldn’t impact. I think the slightly more confident cereal and fruit in the Strathenry helped it take all remaining votes. Sensing that a zero vote for the Glen Elgin wasn’t telling the whole story, I took a round of votes for second favourite, and that’s where the Glen Elgin made itself known, taking that silvery crown.
This tweak on the format seemed to work well. A little and light quiz, some whisky similarities and big differences. When I next get a slot, a smokey counterpart will be coming.