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.