When I learnt about this project, I loved it from the start. A group of friends decided to bottle their own – hence the name „Tasting Fellows„. As you might know, it is quite hard to get hold of nice casks by now. Their first bottlings were decent and really fairly priced, now let’s take a look at the new releases:
O
verall, one can say that the quality has risen and became more consistent. Moreover, there are some definitive highlights in the series which I recommend (and partly bought for myself). Our friend Lorenz Schreier, the man behind the project, can be proud of his new ‚babies‘ which sell really reasonably (check their website).
Let’s start with the Bourbon-cask bomb Glen Keith 21 y.o from 1992 (Barrel 120610, 49,5%) – a typical vanilla-laden, creme brulee whisky that also renders oily fruitiness, butter, marzipan and caramel, mouthfilling and big. Great whisky in every way: 90 points.
My 
second favourite is the 17 y.o. Miltonduff from 1995 (Cask 2802, 58,1%) – a fruity and elegant Speysider on plums, peardrops and flowers with impeccable balance. It drinks like an ‚Apfelstrudel‘ and remains classy all the way. A real steal at 65 Euro. 89 points.
Two more really good ones need to be mentioned: The 18 y.o. Braeval from 1994 (55,3%) is smooth as a velvet glove and a great mature allrounder (yellow plums, raspberries, apples, leather and herbs. 89 points. On par with this one I find the sherry cask version of a 17 y.o. Glentauchers from 1996 (57,2%) – being a bit rum-like from the sherry elements, it is complex and nutty (almonds) with dark and bright fruits, vanilla, resin, discrete wood and so much more, all well balanced (no water necessary). 89 points. All these are great drams well below 100.- Euro.
The other bottlings scored like this (find notes on the Tasting Fellows page):
– Glenburgie 21 y.o. (1992): 87 points
– Mortlach 17 y.o. (1996): 87 points
– both Fettercairn 15 y.o. (1997): 86 points
– Macduff 15 y.o. (1997): 82 points
To sum it up, there wasn’t a bad one in the bunch and many are really convincing. Great picks in difficult times: Kudos Lorenz.
My Tasting Fellows Bottlings