Drinks by the Dram 2016 Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar – Recap

Now Christmas is all but over I wanted to do a recap post of the calendar which provide the initial material for this post.

The Concept

To get the whisky enthusiast close to you into the Christmas spirit the Drinks by the Dram team have you covered. They sell advent calendars where each day you get a single wax sealed 30ml spirit sample rather than chocolate.

This year there was a number of different spirits involved including whisky, gin and rum. The complete list of available products is here. The one I picked was the Scotch whisky product where each sample is a whisky produced in Scotland. I considered the generic whisky one which includes bourbons from American and whiskey from Ireland. In the end I decided there was enough interesting stuff in the Scotch only one to pay the extra £10.

Malted.Blog Awards

Top 3 Whiskies

1. Islay Blended Malt #1 23 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)

2. Glenfarclas 2009 (bottled 2016) (cask 1805) – Drinks by the Dram

3. The Half-Century Blend

Top 5 Whiskies I Will Buy (hopefully)

1. Islay Blended Malt #1 23 Year Old (That Boutique-y Whisky Company)
2. Glenfarclas 2009 (bottled 2016) (cask 1805) – Drinks by the Dram
3. Tamdhu 10 Year Old
4. Islay 6 Year Old – Single Minded (Douglas Laing)
5. Glenfiddich 18 Year Old

Top 3 Happy Surprises

1. Islay 6 Year Old – Single Minded (Douglas Laing)
2. Tamdhu 10 Year Old
3. Dalmore 15 Year Old

Top 3 Sad Disappointments

1. Kilchoman 6 Year Old 2010 Original Cask Strength
2. Talisker Skye
3. Tomatin Legacy

Top 3 Worst Whiskies

1. Glenalmond Everyday Highland Malt
2. Tomatin Legacy
3. Haig Club Clubman

Final Thoughts

Would I do this again next year? Yes definitely but I think I will try another product in the range. It will definitely be whisky but perhaps either the more premium whisky product or for something rare and interesting the single cask product.