Learn the language of malt whisky.

Imagine your sitting in front of six different malt whiskies. You're using a written tutorial to work through them. Learning how to unpack and label the smells; learning the language to describe any malt whisky with. The tutorial you can download. The whiskies you'll probably have to buy in a bar.

If you're from a bar and want to use my tutorial for staff or customers, please do. That's the idea. Download it once (£5.00) and every time a customer uses it they have to buy six whiskies.

The tasting sheet that comes with it is below. When I’m doing this live most people get all of the smells. The tricks and techniques for doing that are, of course, in the download.

Tasting Sheet

1. GLENLIVET 12 Y.O. Speyside 40%
   Nose – Straw and vanilla with a cooked pear fruitiness.
   Palate – Clean vanilla sweetness giving way to a soft straw/maltiness,
   just a touch of smoke and pears coming out in the finish.
2. CRAGGANMORE 12 Y.O. Speyside 40%
   Nose – Smoke, vanilla, pears with a biscuity/hay maltiness.
   Palate – Rich and malty but the smoke cuts right through the initial sweetness giving a
   very dry finish with pin sharp flavours.
3. DALWHINNIE 15 Y.O. Speyside 45%
   Nose – Smoke, vanilla, straw and a lovely heather honey fruitiness.
   Palate – A big oily whisky that clings to the mouth and gives a very rich fruity edge to the maltiness. The oiliness gives it much more flavour and stops the smokiness drying out the finish like in Cragganmore.
4. MACALLAN 10/12 Y.O. Speyside 40%
   Nose – Sherry, toffee, chocolate, fudge with a hint of rubber and a chocolate Hobnob kind of maltiness. The sherry barrels give a completely different character to the first three whiskies.
   Palate – Surprisingly soft and dangerously smooth. Sherry dominating with lots of toffee and chocolate and raisins.
5. TALISKER 10 Y.O. Skye 45.8%
   Nose – Iodine, peat smoke and a hint of raspberry spiritiness reminiscent of Grappa and just a touch of cereal. Palate – Hot! Oily and fiery, warms all the way down with a big blast of freshly ground black pepper in the finish.
6. LAGAVULIN 16 Y.O. Islay 43%
   Nose – Intensely smokey (charred wood), kippers, smokey bacon crisps, iodine, tar and the freshness of the sea on a winter day. All this and a touch of oaky vanilla from the wood. Palate – Immense, smoke, iodine and salt but very, very smooth at this age.

From W M Farquhar to Elaine Baker United Distillers.

My friends and I attended the whisky tasting at Safeway in the Gyle Centre, Edinburgh last night. I am writing to say how much we enjoyed and appreciated the event, and to commend Gordon Muir for the way he conducted the evening.

The organisation was first class and the presentation of the classic malts was impressive. We felt very welcome and well cared for.

Gordon's friendly, outgoing style and his humorous stories of the malt were a perfect match for his depth of experience and knowledge. We all agreed that he really made the evening a big success.

Thank you for making available this most effective and enjoyable opportunity to learn about United Distillers and Classic Malts. It was a wonderful experience and we are now looking forward to extending it through friends of the Classic Malts.