For our first anniversary meeting, we chose to celebrate whiskies from the home of whisky - Scotland.

A new rule change of allowing the host to invite a guest was introduced - and we were joined by Alan's guest Mike Charman, who is Alan's son Stephen's Father-in-Law (I see you're already confused..).  

We actually ended up tasting SIX whiskies on the evening - three 'official' whiskies, two guest whiskies and a whisky liqueur that Bomber Harris brought in when he joined the meeting at the end direct from landing at Gatwick from Edinburgh.

The first whisky was a very light and 'floral' Speyside 12 year old Glen Spey - Connoisseurs Choice.  A 2004-vintage bottled for Gordon & MacPhail's Connoisseurs Choice range. Glen Spey's pleasant, grassy single malt is rather rare as most of it goes into J & B.  Although it was a very pleasant whisky - a 'quaffing whisky' according to Anne - it won the dubious award of receiving WACWAC's lowest average rating of 11.

The second whisky was a delicious Highland whisky - Glencadam 14 yo which had enjoyed over 12 years maturing in ex-bourbon casks and finished off in Oloroso Sherry casks for 2 years, giving it a beautiful honey-sweetness on the nose and palate.

Our third 'official' whisky was a mouth-watering Miltonduff 21 yo 'Old Malt Cask' that was one of 269 bottles filled in February 2017 from a purchased single ex-bourbon cask where it had been gently maturing in since April 1995. The wait was definately worth it as the nose gave off creme caramels and shortbread whilst the palate enjoyed warming tastes of sweet toffee, custard and pears. 

So popular it was that it recorded our second highest rating of 16.25 out of a maximum of 20.

Peter then introduced a bonus tipple - a triple-distilled Lowland Auchentoshan 12 yo with its nutty, almond nose and sweet palate. 

Not to be undone and as if being the 'host with the most' wasn't enough, Alan opened up very nice Speyside whisky - a Drumguish, from the relatively recently rebuilt (you try saying that after 6 whiskies!) Speyside Distillery.  The bottle had been a 60th (?) birthday present and he generously decided to share it with his fellow WACWACers. It's nose of walnuts, honey and 'cigar boxes' (eh?) and it's palate of soft fudge with a touch of rum made it extremely tasty!

Alan & Irene raised the hosting bar even further when a warm freshly-baked Raspberry Whisky Bread Pudding was placed onto the centre of the table - it tasted delicious and complimented the range of 'aqui vitaes' that had been devoured...

And finally... the final whisky was brought in late by Bomber Harris - it was a Dunkeld Atholl Brose liqueur - a luxurious golden blend of single malt whisky, honey and selected herbs - which as pre-planned, Irene & Alan mixed into 8 Highland Mojitos, providing a fresh, minty finale to the evening. 

The evening was a wonderful 1st anniversary celebration of the WACWAC!