Last Friday eve was another great PDX Whisky event. If you are local to Portland, Oregon and are interested in learning about whiskies, I will heartily urge you to follow PDXWhisky on Facebook, where Ian sends out the event notices (while you’re there, don’t forget to ‘Like’ the 3DC page too!). Really, come join us! The ‘events’ are informal, casual, and comfortable for all levels of enthusiast and are some of the best ways to try out whiskies you may not have access to otherwise.

This past event was no different and provided for some great laughs over the course of the evening. I won’t bore you with the comedy bits, you’ll just have to attend next time to enjoy the funny! As for the tasting notes, we enjoyed 4 bottles over the night in the order they appear below:

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Auchentoshan Three Wood

• Nose: Brilliantly balanced caramel with subtle smoke and an unpretentious oakiness.
• Flavor: Peat on the front, into oak (of course) and a hint of iodine.
• Finish: Nice soft caramel, light peat and oddly harsh after clearing the palate with water.
• Viscosity: 4
• Boldness: 3
• Length of Story: 4
• Personal Taste: A
• Extraneous notes: Palate was off due to having recently finished baklava for desert.

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Highland Park 15 All American Oak

• Nose: Nicely balance smoke. Rich but bright, hint of vanilla and orange.
• Flavor: Oak first, light and watery/thin. Evocative of a Christmas chocolate orange.
• Finish: a tad hot then trailing oak into a hint of spice.
• Viscosity: 3
• Boldness: 4
• Length of Story: 3
• Personal Taste: B

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Douglas Laing Double Barrel (Highland Park and Bowmore, no additional details given on the bottle)

• Nose: BBQ consiting of cumin and vinegar, red spice, heated rubber.
• Flavor: simplistic smoke and brine. Very distinct and separate.
• Finish: iodine and then smoke, second taste brings out a bit of surprise chocolate.
• Viscosity: 2
• Boldness: 3
• Length of Story: 3
• Personal Taste: D (*C)
• Extraneous notes: *improved the second go around. Odd bottle, however, as the double barrel concept seems to cause the two to compete with each other rather than blend into a single different dram. Surprised at how it improved with another taste, but not enough to really be enjoyable beyond a technical tasting.

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Bowmore 20 year (A.D. Rattray bottling)

• Nose: heavy iodine followed by smoke
• Flavor: peat forward into brine and the suggestions of a wafting of spice
• Finish: stays briny into a balanced smoky oakyness, but relatively light on tannins.
• Viscosity: 4
• Boldness: 5
• Length of Story: 4
• Personal Taste: C+
• Extraneous notes: This seemed to be the top of the 4 for the night, though not for me. Not to my taste even though I can appreciate the complexities of the 20yr in comparison to the 30yr and even younger. A good dram to be sure, just not for me.

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Overall, I stick by the recommendation I came to the tasting with: The Auchentoshan Three Wood is a solid, relatively inexpensive dram which drinks far above its price point. You’d be best served to have a bottle in your house and at the ready for any whisky drinker. While not the top of the night, it was my personal favourite and was unanimously enjoyed by all at the table.