Sam's Delicious Drams

The full line-up (plus optional beer)

Club member Sam stepped up in August to bring us half a dozen whiskies of his choosing for everyone to enjoy.

Lochlea Sowing

And we got into it was an inaugural release from Lochlea, a new farm distillery from south Ayrshire. If you're in that part of the world it's never long before someone claims a connection to the poet Robert Burns, but in this case the link is very strong: Burns spent seven years working on the farm in the 1770s and 1780s (although he couldn't have written his famous farming poem To A Mouse there, as he penned it in 1785 a year after leaving Lochlea).

Back to the whisky though, and this was the Sowing Edition, presumably three years old as befits most initial releases. Cereals were to the fore here, maybe a little bit sweeter on the palate than the nose.

It was matured in first fill bourbon and bottled at 48%, and was if anything a bit generic, as lots of new distilleries have produced broadly similar young whiskies that we've had at the club in recent years.

SMWS Glengoyne

This one ended a bit suddenly. Light but not unpleasant, there was a shout that this was a good 'breakfast whisky'. Nice enough, but the £65 price tag seemed a little steep all things considered.

Something more rumbustious up next with a cask strength offering from Scotch Malt Whisky Society. This was a 9-year-old Glengoyne, single cask first fill bourbon, coded number 123.22 in the society's system, and called Sweet Enticements - Citrus Zing. An old one from the SMWS vault, this was distilled back in 2000.

Ardmore 17yo

Lots of sweeties here. Lemon sherbet too. It took a bit of water very well too, as you might imagine at the strength of 61.7%. Two thumbs up all round. Maybe a bit spirit forward until the water, though. It was £42.

An indie bottling next from closer to home for us, Cottonopolis. A 17-year-old Ardmore, this was a single cask whisky aged in ex-bourbon.

Smoky bacon on the nose, that familiar tasting note of Frazzles, but then something orangey and medicinal too. We loved it, very pleasant indeed. That citrus note turned into a bit of soft, burnt orange after some water. It's available for £95 at Astons in Manchester, and it was 51.5%.

Glen Scotia 10yo

A half-time break at the Seven Oaks and a chance to refill our glasses, and it was back upstairs for the next three.

Sam warned things would get a bit darker in colour and more cask forward from here on in. For whisky four, we had the 10yo Glen Scotia, bottled for the Campbeltown Festival on 2021, with a Bourdeaux red wine finish.

"Oh that's nice, mmm" was one initial joyous reaction. Delicious, some hints of cherry in there or even cough syrup (!). Some thought this was good with water but others reckoned it didn't really need it. It was 56.1% and was £50 at the time, but it'll be much more sought after these days.

Uncharted

A retread for whisky five, and another outing for the 10-year-old 'Frankenstein' blend, aged in a refill PX firkin, from our friends at Uncharted Whisky, who visited us back in March. Some in the group hadn't been there and so were having it for the first time.

"Complex" was one common reaction. Very good, like caramel popcorn. "Weird, and in a good way" suggested someone. A bit peanutty, like sesame snaps. Casky, very sherried, and brilliant. It was 45.7%.

Last we got to a "secret Lowland" but which we guessed might be Auchtentoshan. Bottled by Rare Finds at a remarkable 65.6% despite being 11 years old, we were rather surprised it managed to be that strong after such a time.

Secret Lowland 11yo

And it really was strong when you tried it. Really punchy, it needed a bit of water for some: quite a lot in certain cases, someone went back for a third splash to help it go down more comfortably.

Maybe a bit much even after that, but others said it took that water really well and opened up into something great. Yet some insisted it was better at 'full fire'. Raisins and dates were among the tasting notes we picked up. £85 for a square old punch in the face.

So that brought us to the dram of the night voting. The good news was that all the whiskies got at least one vote, a sure sign of strength in depth across the board.

But the winner with nine votes was dram four, the Glen Scotia. Second was the Cottonopolis Ardmore with that smack in the face at the end coming third.

Thanks to Sam for curating such a great selection, as well as all club members and guests for attending, and to the staff at the Seven Oaks for hosting us.