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.