Scots could well be drowning their sorrows with whisky from
Oamaru this week, after suffering two humbling test match
defeats against New Zealand opponents in Edinburgh on Sunday.
Although the Scotland rugby team was expected to lose the
rugby test against the All Blacks, a more damaging blow to
the nation's pride was delivered a few hours earlier at the
inaugural Whisky Test match, which took place in sight of
Murrayfield Stadium and pitched some of the country's
recognisable brands against whisky from the New Zealand
Whisky Collection.
Three of the collection's whiskies, which were distilled at
the now defunct Willowbank Distillery in Dunedin and matured
in Oamaru, were sampled in a series of blind tastings by a
Scottish panel of judges.
New Zealand Whisky Co Oamaru maturation store manager Debbie
Preston said the result, which saw the collection's Dunedin
DoubleWood draw with Johnnie Walker Black Label, and its
South Island Single Malt and New Zealand's 1990 Cask Strength
whiskies beat a Glenfiddich single malt and Ardbeg Uigeadail,
respectively, was a "stunning upset".
"I can hardly believe it. To defeat the Scots, in Scotland,
with a Scottish judging panel doesn't get any better."
The Whisky Test match series, which will also feature similar
competition against English and Welsh whiskies, was organised
to coincide with the start of exports of whisky from Oamaru
to Scotland, and organiser Chris Hoban, from
EdinburghWhiskyBlog, said the result had been a "real David
versus Goliath story".
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