REVIEW : DRINK - The Dram Team

The world of whisky is a vast one and sometimes very intimidating for novices and still mind blowingly complex for connoisseurs. There is so much to learn about whisky from single malts, to grain whisky, from cask strength to blends, matured in sherry casks to rum casks, age statements and distillery editions never mind those rare and hard to find whiskies from silent distilleries.

Add into the mix that the four main regions of Scottish whisky all have particular flavour and aromas characteristics :

Lowlands - mellow malts with ginger, toffee and cinnamon notes.

Speyside - apple, pear, honey and spice predominantly matured in sherry casks.

Highlands and Islands - highlands are floral and islands are salty.

Islay - peaty, smokey and dry.

WHISKY REVIEW - HOME TASTING KITS FROM THE DRAM TEAM

There is alot to learn but do not fear, The Dram Team are here. The Dram Team is an online whisky subscription tasting club that you can join as a member and receive monthly tasting kits of exclusive worldwide whiskies, many of which you wouldn’t have the chance to drink.

They send this rather nifty box of six whiskies via post to your door. Inside you’ll find five 25ml miniatures of high-quality whisky, a special “Sixth Dram”: A 10ml sample of a super-premium bottle and a set of deluxe tasting note cards.

You can join monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly- it all depends on how much whisky you want to drink! They also have live whisky tastings on their Youtube Channel thedramteam.co.uk/youtube (this is the link to the latest whisky tasting, which is now a recording but related to the tasting box I was sent out)

The Dram Team kindly sent me a Whisky Tasting home kit to try. I have to admit it sat a few weeks before I got around to tasting it, but this is the beauty of whisky tasting at home - you can do it at your leisure, when you have an hour or so peace and quiet to sit back, relax and enjoy a few drams.

These drams are from whiskies in the Douglas Laing range and included:

• Double Barrel, Speyside and Lowland blended malt.

• Provenance Blair Athol, 12 yo Sherry Matured single malt.

• Clan Denny Jura 2008 Vintage, 11yo single malt.

• Single Minded Caol Ila 10yo single malt.

• Remarkable Regional Malts Rock Island blended malt.

• Xtra Old Particular, Girvan, 30yo single grain.

Double Barrel, Speyside and Lowland blended malt.

A blended malt made from two casks, one from each area, Speyside and Lowland; so combining all those notes of ginger, toffee, cinnamon, apple, pear and honey.

Very palatable, quite fragrant and I picked up loads of vanilla and honey. Fairly sweet but soft and subtle.

Provenance Blair Athol, 12 yo Sherry Matured single malt.

Matured in a refill sherry butt and very pale in colour which can be unusual considering sherry can be quite rich red in colour. I really picked up on the sherry in this whisky, lots of fruit and spice and all things nice. A good whisky.

Clan Denny Jura 2008 Vintage, 11yo single malt.

This is one of the palest whiskies I’ve come across. It smells like honey and brown sugar but very very dry. Almost too dry for me. I opened it up with a drop of water, and it became a little more enjoyable for me.

Single Minded Caol Ila 10yo single malt.

Ahh, I am a Caol Ila gal! My favourite of the peaty whiskies. It’s smokey alright but nothing like Octamore or Ardbeg. You’ll get a big hit of smokiness on the nose, the palate and the finish. There’s no escaping it!

Remarkable Regional Malts Rock Island blended malt.

This is the best of the islands - Jura, Arran, Orkney and Islay. A blended whisky so you’ll pick up on the saltiness, the floral and the peat. Quite peppery to start but then the salty brininess kicks in.

Xtra Old Particular, Girvan, 30yo single grain.

Only 230 bottles of this whisky was made and goes for £180 per bottle! Another delight to taste. It’s just a wee dram, 10ml but you’ll defo enjoy this one. It’s very tropical with big tastes of banana, pineapple and loads of honey. This was easily my favourite of the six.

The Dram team have really created something special here. They curate whisky exceptionally well and put together fantastic tasting kits that take you on a journey across Scotland, coast to coast, island to island.

Their latest release is Worldwide Whiskies and takes you around the globe from Sweden to India, Japan, America and Ireland. Join the club from £29.99pm.

Many thanks to The Dram Team for this fabulous whisky at home tasting kit!

The Dram Team www.thedramteam.co.uk