Kilchoman Inaugural

Having read a few british and american blogs, I got more and more interested in the Inaugural bottling of Kilchoman.

Now, I've only tried the new-make, and as such haven't had much to go by.
Sure, it's peaty.
Yes, there is some citrus behind the smoke.
Indeed, there is a dark tone of fruit there as well.

But, you can find similar notes in a lot of new make, and the end-results aren't even on the same page of flavours after 10 - 12 years.

So, what's this going to be like?
The fact that the whole world sold out of Kilchoman immediately didn't make matters easier.
However, living in Sweden means we got the release today. 900 bottles of it made it to our shores.

So, at lunch today, I picked up a couple of bottles for tasting and saving.
As always, watch this space.

(OK, I know I've been promising some tasting notes without delivering, but have been up to my chin busy with other more worldly stuff, such as, well, life.)

More whisky my way!

Ah, now this is looking better and better!
After my absolutely brilliant visit to Midleton, a few different Jamesons and a Redbreast landed at the office the other day.

I must say, though the heavily sherried 18yo is impressive with all it's nutty, chocolatey flavours, I find myself lingering back to the 12yo to get my kicks.
A perfectly balanced dram of bourbon and sherry influence with both the toffee and vanilla from the bourbon mixing gently with the raisiny, fruity notes of the sherry. I've already been on about the eye-opening Jameson experience earlier, but I am liking these more and more.

I am also liking the fact that, yes, I did finally win a bottle of Glen Esk 1971 at Whisky Auction.com. And, not only did I win it,  I also payed less than the same bottle that was auctioned in the previous months! I liiiike...

To make matters slightly better yet, I loved the sound of the doorbell in the office when my single cask 1971 Glendronach was delivered from The Whisky Exchange. As whiskies go, this seems to be one of the top bottlings yet.
You'll have to wait for the tatsting notes for that one, as it'll be opened for my fortieth birthday-tasting I'm planning (now, that's taking the whole cliff-hanger-concept one step further, I know!) but, as Carlsberg so brilliantly put it; Worth waiting for.

Over and out.

jealous - moi?

One of the greatest whisky-collections yet is now on sale after the poor collector turned his toes up before getting a chance to sample them. Willard Folsom lived in California, discovered the virtues of malt whisky at 48, collected for 18 years, and now they're all up for auctioning at Bonhams.

Now, Mr. Folsom - despite being californian - had an impeccable taste in malt whiskies. Have a look at the collection here: http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/p...FreeText=folsom and dream on about a few different bottlings of Springbank Local Barley, or why not a few bottles of ultra-rare Kinclaith?
The Ardbeg collection is beyond belief, and I warn you. Clicking on the link will lead you to extreme forms of what we swedes would call "ha-begär".

Google that, friends.
Meanwhile, I'm eyeing a few Glenfarclases...

Sherry Casks Galore

Considering Cork is the city where Viagra is produced, it might not come as a big surprise that Jameson Whiskey is the other major export from this area. After a full day yesterday with Kevin O'Gorman at the distillery, I had a good chance to try some exceptionally good whiskies.

As with all big brands (ie Glenfiddich, GlenGrant), they are rarely what ticks the boxes for the extreme malt-talibans. Same with the regular Jameson I guess.
But, it takes no more than to go to the 12yo expression to realise that something intersting is going on. Then hit the Gold Reserve which is roughly 10yo but with added casks of virgin oak, and another dimension opens up.
If those two wouldn't convince you to give Jameson a chance, why not try the 18 yo or the exceptional JRVR. Truly fantastic whiskies there.

But nothing could beat the feeling of entering warehouse 26, and opening a sherry butt with Kevin and sampling the 1993-vintage malt on location. Magic, my friends. Pure magic.

And, interestingly, for a plant with the capacity and size of Midleton, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they do more or less everything on site.
No shipping off new-make to some anonymous warehouse, not to be seen again by the distillery's own force until it returns bottled 10 or so years later.
Rather a case of storing whiskey on site, with a small panel nosing and tasting to get all the right casks in place for special bottlings or older issues.

Now, that's the type of distillery I love (specially as the malt-taliban I would consider myself to be...)

Cork, Ireland

A subject as good as any, as today I find myself in the very same city. Here on a mission to visit Midleton and write a piece for Allt om Whisky; the swedish magazine which is great on all things whisky, provided you know swedish.

Tour, discussion and tasting with the guys there, and guess where you'll be able to read it first.

I am just getting better and better at the whole cliffhanger thing, aren't I.

A night at Akkurat.

One of the best aspects of meeting with friend and colleague Anders F is the fact that it gives us a legit reason to spend a few hours at Akkurat, Stockholm bar extraordinaire. As Anders is home for a few days before hitting the road again, we wasted no time in finding an excuse for a meeting at the auxilliary office.

If you've never been to Akkurat, there are a few things one doesn't want to miss. They include the mussels, the myriad of beers and the 600 or so malt whiskies in the bar.

Yesterday I can assure you we missed nothing. A few different pints were had (where the Golden Seahawk was a winner), mussels and then of course a couple of whiskies.

First off was a Douglas Laing bottled Pittyvaich from 1993. With a distinct fruitiness, a peat tone that isn't that clear in the Flora & Fauna bottlings and a finish that bordered on exotic fruit, it made for an excellent expression of this semi-lost Dufftown distillery. Anders found the finish a bit woody for his liking, but I wouldn't agree with that too much.

An hour or so later, and I decided to prove my point to Anders on the greatness of japanese malts (if you wonder, read a few earlier posts). The Hibiki 17yo was ordered, by which time we'd been joined by Daniel T and his sister, so we had a good tasting of them.
An interesting mix of new wood and sherry gives the Hibiki (which is a blend, believe it or not) a complex, but intriguing nose and taste.
Like a few japanese malts, there is a hint of polish and wood which is very pleasant...

After the Akkurat sessions, we headed off to see Titiyo at Strand. Not bad at all.
All in all, a good night out and about.

Cliffhanger Bonanza

The other day, I got a package of samples of four Adelphi bottlings... including the 1974 Bunnahabhain.
Now, THAT's what I call a promising tasting waiting ahead of me.

So, make sure to return and watch this space intensely for the results from that tasting.
How's that for a cliffhanger?

Dan Brown? Amateur.

Wine casks... can we stop now?

At a very nice party the other night, my good friend, and fellow whisky collector (though he would never admit to it) Robbe brought along a few bottlings of good malt. Now, this is something he often does, and yet another reason to love him even more.
This particular evening, he brought along a Glengoyne Claret Cask among a few others, and while tasting it blind, one could pick out the wine-cask immediately.
Unfortunately, because it tends to produce a nose that is very, shall we say, un-whisky?

Now, this is an aeon-long debate on whether or not to dabble in re-casking, or ace-ing or whatever you want to call it. I can definitely see the fun and experimental side of it all, and the need to take whisky down from the high piedestals some bearded men (for they are always men, and often bearded) put it on.

But the truth is, when we get down to it; it very, very seldomly tastes good.

Just take a glass of whisky, then have a glass of wine straight afterwards.
See?
The flavours just don't mix. Sorry.

Of course there are a few exceptions to the rule. The Glenmorangie Nectar D'or made with ex-Sauternes Casks is very good, but still nowhere near as good as the bourbon-casked or sherry-casked expressions of the same malt.
Interesting? Yes. A great experience? Well, eh, maybe not.

Yes, I know these opinions have been voiced a million times before, and I know it is an inevitable road down which the whisky industry will all go (a bird whispered in my ear that even Glen Grant are moving towards finishing with different expressions).

But... I have yet to find a wine-casked expression that blows my mind. So be it.

Whiskyauction.com

Got home today just in time to see the courier drop off my package from Whiskyauction.com.
The way I like this website is that I can put my bids in early on for interesting bottles, then just sit back and see which ones I get, and which ones I lose.

Hopefully, I get a couple of really good value bottles, and this month was no exception. A 1976 Douglas Laing Glenugie for 120 euros and a Coopers Choice Glenlivet 1971 for 125 euros was a good catch I think.

Though, I must say, I am a bit disappointed I missed out on the 1971 Benrinnes and the Glenesk, distilled in august 1971 - my month of birth.

Ah well, I'll just have to get right back in there and see what's up there this month.

Mackmyra - single cask

After a very, and I do mean VERY nice dinner last night, I had the opportunity to try a bottling of Mackmyra - the swedish single malt which has caused a few raised eye-brows around the world. Ask a swede, and they will dismiss the whisky as undrinkable, but yet the whisky sells out immediately whenever it is released, and the line-up outside swedish boozer Systembolaget goes on forever on the mornings of such releases.

Travel to Scotland, and the whisky itself actually receives some very good reviews, but they can't sell a single bottle to anyone not called Svensson. Go figure.

Anyway, be that as it may, I tried a single-cask bottling of Mackmyra - bottled in november 2007, distilled april 2004. Very young then, but surprisingly vital and energetic. A bit like a teenager who is kicking and screaming all over the place, calling for attention. Without water, the punch was way too alcoholic (given it's 55% abv, that's not too surprising) for my pleasure. Add the water, and a whole world of fruity, flowery and pleasant perfumey notes appeared.
Still a vibrant, youthful malt, but with more nuance, this bodes very, very well for the future.

It's only three-year-old swedish single cask bottled single malt, but I like it.

What's up with the japanese?

Sitting the other evening with a few friends listening to music, and a number of malts are served after dinner. The usual suspects which all are good, steady malts and we all enjoy.

Then there is one that gets everyones attention. One that rises above and surprises us all with a complex taste, depth and balance that is unrivalled among it's competitors.

It's 12 years old, it's a blended whisky and it's japanese.

Hibiki 12yo. Try it and discover why you always will want to taste something from the land of the rising sun from now on.

Funnily enough, we had a tasting a year back or so with only japanese malts, including some really exclusive ones, and the result from that was "ok". Good but far from fantastic. Throw one or two japanese malts in with a bunch of scots however, and they will steal the show. Every time.

This phenomenon was confirmed by Micke Nilsson, whisky-man-extraordinaire at Stockholm bar Akkurat. Anyone got any theories to how and why it is so? Let me know.

AnCnoc AnWinner

Just heard that AnCnoc won the gold medal for 9-12yo whiskies at the Stockholm Beer and Whisky Festival. Congratulations then - though it is a reasonably good malt, I'm surprised to see it beat other killer malts in that category like Glenfarclas or Talisker.
Looking at the new Glendronach bottlings as well, they ought to be able to put up a good fight as well.

Hakushu! - Bless you.

Prior to a full Auchentoshan-tasting with Nick "Kiwi" Ravenhall, we sat down and tried a couple of Japanese malts. One stuck out his sore thumb and I had to pick a bottle up at Systembolaget to see if I still thought it was as good afterwards: Hakushu 18.

Meant to be pronounced like a sneeze (only in Japan, friends, only in Japan), the Hakushu 18yo is a - to use Thomas Clydesdales words - proper sledgehammer. Complex with both sherry and bourbon casks hitting the palate; the sweet raisiny fruitiness of the sherry mixing with the vanilla streaks of bourbon. What a massive malt!

Funny that the biggest surprises these days come from the land of the rising sun.
But then again, they did give us the Ninja-films after all.

If you can lay your hands on a bottle, do not hesitate. Make sure to pick one up.

That's the doctors order.

the Whisky Exchange

Following a meeting that got moved around, I suddenly found myself in London with time to spend and money to burn. Well, at least half-true.
So, what to do?
Obviously, head over to The Whisky Exchange on the south side of the Thames.

Was it worth the journey?

You bet.

If you haven't visited the Whisky Exchange, you have yet to experience heaven on earth.
After an hour and a half in the shop, discussing malts, bottlings and distilleries, I left with a bottle of Glendronach 1971.
It will be part of the big "Keep that 40-years crisis at bay" tasting of '71:s I'm planning for the 40:th. So, you'll all just have to wait for the tasting notes a bit longer... but it looks great!

After that shopping session, my body and mind were literally drained, so I had to head down to the river and grab a pint of Shepherd Neame.
Life is, indeed, good.

London Calling

And, just as the Clash once crooned, London has indeed been calling me a LOT during the evening.  After a nice dinner at Wild Honey (now there's  a treat for all you Tiamat-fans out there), Eddie and I headed over to a couple of Soho bars, where we enjoyed a Balvenie (Founders Reserve; good, but nowhere near the double-wood or any of the other expressions), a Talisker (good. as always.) and an Aberlour (remarkably anonymous, given the sherry-bomb character it usually displays. I suspect an old bottle that's been open for too long.)

Sitting in my hotel room now, I can't get the blinds down, so a big part of London can watch me write this before it's bedtime at Tottenham Court Road.

But... do I care? Nope.
In your face, neighbours. The malts and London is too good for being disturbed.

Turning japanese... I really think so

AH, nothing compares to you. Or, not much at least. Just got back from Systembolaget and got myself a Hakushu (pronounced much like a sneeze, apparently), and it looks great. The little nip I got the other day of this 18yo was very promising indeed.

Watch this space.
Japanese whisky is the new black.

Sherry, more sherry and Glendronach

A fine day today, and it just became a bit better - the new bottle of Glendronach 18yo (with the virtually impossible subtitle 'allardice') was cracked open to get a sunday night tasting.

And sunday night is looking very good.
If you are a fan of the sherry-casked whisky, which more or less is a criminal offence NOT to be, then you are in for a major treat here.
The nose promises a lot with a wiff of wood, raisins, coffee and, yep, sherry. As it develops it gives you the slightest smoke and a lot more fruit and sweetness. What we in Sweden might at times refer to as skumbanan.
A sip of this proves that the big promises from the nose are to be kept in the mouth. Had Santa Claus existed and been a whisky-distiller, I'm pretty sure this is what his whisky would taste like. Big, warming and very rewarding. Smooth as, eh, smooth stuff, but indeed very, very much so. At 46%, there is a nice punch to the whisky without it becoming overwhelming. (the unpeated Caol Ila at 65% Janne "Death" Groth gave me at the whisky-festival springs to mind).

A nice warm finish that lingers nicely for a looong time rounds this up.
All in all a great whisky from the new owners of Glendronach (if I'm not mistaken, it's the same guys who own peat-monster Benriach).
Worth looking up, and a nice friend to keep you company during the autumn.
If we ever get an autumn here, that is.
But, climate change is another blog alltogether.

The Green, Green Grass of Home

The other day, the powers that be (or Philipson Söderberg as they are known to most swedes) phoned me, asking for tasting notes for a new line of irish grain whiskey - and, could I write them?

As Jeff Bridges so ultimately put it in the all-time classic "Big Lebowski": The Dude Abides.

Before I had time to say Halvfem (if you don't understand that expression, consult a fellow swede) two bottles of Greenore arrived at my door step. A 6yo and an 8yo.

Now, grain whiskey is the ingredient one usually uses to fill up a blended whiskey with - and then use the malt whiskey to add the taste and flavour. So, you can definitely see that I was slightly concerned that these two wouldn't taste at all.

I was pleasantly surprised to find them a mix of sweet vanillas, the typical irish black-curranty notes and a soft fruitiness. If you find bourbon too harsh on the palate, these two are probably for you to check out.

If you want to see the tasting notes "live", go no further than here.

Oh, if you have problems reading them because it's in swedish, that is because, well, they ARE in swedish.

the second coming

As with Jesus (and, by all means, The Stone Roses), the big challenge is getting back on your feet.

Two days later, and the Beer & Whisky Festival is still making itself heard.

ah well, it was definitely worth it. However, my initial plan to try the new Glendronach 18yo didn't really take off last night. But, as the ancient saying goes:

"He who waits for tasting notes for Glendronach need never wait too long".

Until then... where's the Alvedon?

Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival

Once in a full-moon (or, to be more precise: a year) Stockholm hosts a Beer & Whisky Festival.

This usually creates two things;

1) the opportunity to try a number of absolutely amazing whiskies and beers.

2) a monstrous hangover.

This post is written with a combination of 1 and 2 being experienced massively.

So... what went down at this years festival? Well some of the malts tasted were: (and note "some" being the key word here)

Glenfarclas 21yo

After bumping into Robert Ransom, he poured me this as his favourite expression of Glenfarclas. I wonder if they've changed the mix of casks for this one, since I was picking up a lot more bourbon-vanilla than usual. Not that you'll find me complaining - I like my bourbon casked whiskies.

Talisker 30yo

A quick visit to Janne Groth resulted in a nice old Talisker. Great whisky from one of my favourite distilleries (poured by one of Swedens best whisky-men)

Aberlour Raw Cask (Blackadder)

As much as I wish I had taken notes, I didn't so the exact age of this one is lost in the mists of an evening drenched in whisky. But, this is a cracker of a sherry-aged whisky. Fans of the A'bunadh should check it out. And fans of whisky in general I say. I'll have to drop Thomas @ Clydesdale an email and ask what, exactly, he poured me.

Glenlivet and Linkwood 1959 (Gordon MacPhail)

My favourite swedish whisky writer Hasse Nilsson suggested humbly (after mentioning that, had I only been of the opposite sex, he had a number of unprintable ideas of what he wanted to do with me) that we head over to Thomas at Symposion and try these two. Jesus. Two fifty year old malts with the feel of a 30 yo. Though coloured much the same as, say, Coca-Cola, the whiskies (specially the Linkwood) were vital and complex and amazingly, not over-casked. Notes of coffee, orange marmalade and darker notes appeared. Majestic malts, indeed.

Ardbeg 1976 Single Cask

Håkan Krantz over at Moet Hennessy popped this nice one out to round the evening off, and what a finale... well balanced, not overly peated, fruity and mature - this is one of the best Ardbegs I've tried. A pity that it will cost more than a new Volvo.

Åke from Allt om Whisky took me around to a few of his friends, and the kind folks at Rare Cask poured me a Berry Bros & Rudd bottled 1971 Invergordon Grain Whisky. Wonderfully aged in ex-bourbon, the vanilla notes had given way to more complex fruity and woody overtones. As grain-whiskies go, this is definitely top-notch...

So, nursing the inevitable hangover today, I must say it was a good visit all in all.

Good whiskies, good beers and some good friends (and, not to forget, the new friends met in the bars) sort of sums up why the beer and whisky festival is worth looking forward to next year.

That difficult first post

Or maybe not THAT difficult. Anyway, a little blog on all things malt whisky (and, occasionally, more than that).

The world is full of good whisky, and quite a few people blog about it. So why start another blog?

Well, why not?

Simple as that.

So - here goes. Hope you've got a good malt close by, so sit back, relax and have a nice read.