Show us your whisky!
Discussion
Mr Trophy said:
With only 50 bottles you'd have to assume you'd get a lot of that money back if you put it in auction. Guess there may be a few people who do so. Imagine it would be fantastic, but would be a bit worried you'd lose some of the finer flavours having them all together.One of my bottles of "The Joker" is now in a auction. Too many other good bottles I can buy for the price they are going for these days rather than just enjoying one bottle. Also will be going back to the Tromsø whisky festival this January, followed by Japan straight after. Should be fun!
I don't know much about whisky, but my wife is involved in the industry and I accompanied her down to London last week, where she attended the launch of a Mortlach 75 year old which will retail at £20,000!!
She was given a beautiful gift box with booklet, glass and a small vial of the 75yo whisky (which I have been banned from drinking!)
She was given a beautiful gift box with booklet, glass and a small vial of the 75yo whisky (which I have been banned from drinking!)
Over the past couple of weeks I have been enjoying far too much whisky.
Glenmorangie Tusail
Glenmorangie Dornoch
Johnnie Walker XR
Highland Park Einar
Glanmacadam 14yo
English Whisky Company Chapter 13
Langatun Old Bear (Swiss)
All of them very nice with the exception of the HP which I find too 'spirity'.
I have also received my foL 21 yo bottlings which I am looking forward to trying.
Glenmorangie Tusail
Glenmorangie Dornoch
Johnnie Walker XR
Highland Park Einar
Glanmacadam 14yo
English Whisky Company Chapter 13
Langatun Old Bear (Swiss)
All of them very nice with the exception of the HP which I find too 'spirity'.
I have also received my foL 21 yo bottlings which I am looking forward to trying.
Blown2CV said:
tried a multitude of oddballs at the liverpool whisky festival over the weekend. One of which was lakes distillery, the new place... let's just say i don't think it's really ready for market yet! Give it a few years more and it will be good i'm sure.
Have they gone for barrels that are "too big" for the spirit to be released at a young age? Seems a lot of the small new distilleries release very young whisky but from small casks so it is "older" in taste and not so rough.Cheeky cross post... but I've organised another Whisky tasting night, as per last year.
Thread / sign-up here - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Thread / sign-up here - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Decided I fancied trying something new last night, so toured the supermarkets. Ended up with a bottle of Glenlivet 16 year old Nadurra - think I may have tried Glenlivet once before, but it's not really a brand I'm familiar with.
It was.... not very nice actually! First taste really did burn, and although it got slightly better I wasn't that impressed after a couple of glasses. Disappointing.
Will have to experiment with a touch of water, and see if that mellows it slightly.
It was.... not very nice actually! First taste really did burn, and although it got slightly better I wasn't that impressed after a couple of glasses. Disappointing.
Will have to experiment with a touch of water, and see if that mellows it slightly.
davek_964 said:
Decided I fancied trying something new last night, so toured the supermarkets. Ended up with a bottle of Glenlivet 16 year old Nadurra - think I may have tried Glenlivet once before, but it's not really a brand I'm familiar with.
It was.... not very nice actually! First taste really did burn, and although it got slightly better I wasn't that impressed after a couple of glasses. Disappointing.
Will have to experiment with a touch of water, and see if that mellows it slightly.
Perhaps it's obvious and you know it already, but they are cask strength so there will be a difference in the alcohol burn if you are used to the more normal 40-46% bottles. Water should help in this regard. It was.... not very nice actually! First taste really did burn, and although it got slightly better I wasn't that impressed after a couple of glasses. Disappointing.
Will have to experiment with a touch of water, and see if that mellows it slightly.
NRS said:
Perhaps it's obvious and you know it already, but they are cask strength so there will be a difference in the alcohol burn if you are used to the more normal 40-46% bottles. Water should help in this regard.
Let's say it's obvious but I didn't know it. 
Thanks, useful to know. I'll report back when I've tried it with a little water.
davek_964 said:
NRS said:
Perhaps it's obvious and you know it already, but they are cask strength so there will be a difference in the alcohol burn if you are used to the more normal 40-46% bottles. Water should help in this regard.
Let's say it's obvious but I didn't know it. Thanks, useful to know. I'll report back when I've tried it with a little water.
I find it depends on the whisky whether cask strength is too much or not without water. On a personal level some of the big peat bombs are no problem at 55% without water, but others do benefit from a little water to stop the alcohol overpowering the more delicate flavours. Some may say all whiskies do, but it's a personal preference as to how you drink it.
I became a fan a couple of years ago, and although I started off at about 50% water, these days I generally prefer neat. However I haven't had many cask strength so didn't realise the difference. Just checked the bottle - at 60.2%, it's probably not surprising I found it a tad sharp!
If you can, get a pipette and add the water drop by drop to find the correct dosage for the whisky.
Finished the Glencadam 14 yo this evening and I have just opened a Glen Grant Cellar Reserve. It was the first bottle released after Campari took over, so I have read, and it is really, really good. Very lush tasting, full bodied and floral. If you can find a bottle then you should try it.
Finished the Glencadam 14 yo this evening and I have just opened a Glen Grant Cellar Reserve. It was the first bottle released after Campari took over, so I have read, and it is really, really good. Very lush tasting, full bodied and floral. If you can find a bottle then you should try it.
I've had some seriously good bottles of Glen Grant in my time, as well as a dud.
One I have on the go at the moment is an Old Malt Cask bottling from 2005, which is a 1992 Margeaux Wine Cask finish, which is one I rediscovered after I moved and will admit to having forgotten about!! Maybe my tastes have changed slightly since I first bought it, but it is one of the best bottles I've bought..
The most memorable one was a Cadenhead's 26yr old I bought in the mid 90's, matured in a minster-size Oloroso cask, which meant it was intensely sherried and probably equivalent something 15-20yrs older. Possible the darkest whisky I've ever seen other than some deliberately black whiskies like Loch Dhu.
The less said about a Berry's Own bottling the better..
One I have on the go at the moment is an Old Malt Cask bottling from 2005, which is a 1992 Margeaux Wine Cask finish, which is one I rediscovered after I moved and will admit to having forgotten about!! Maybe my tastes have changed slightly since I first bought it, but it is one of the best bottles I've bought..
The most memorable one was a Cadenhead's 26yr old I bought in the mid 90's, matured in a minster-size Oloroso cask, which meant it was intensely sherried and probably equivalent something 15-20yrs older. Possible the darkest whisky I've ever seen other than some deliberately black whiskies like Loch Dhu.
The less said about a Berry's Own bottling the better..
To follow on from my earlier post when I was in Luxembourg, I thought I'd add spend some more time, add pictures, the odd link and a bit more on the road trip that took in a few distilleries, and several shops on the continent.
My collection at home already included several European whiskies such as Hammerhead, Mackmyra, Armorik and Slyrs among others, but I thought I would see if I could pick up a bottle of whisky from each country visited - some would prove easier than others..
So eight countries and nearly 2400 miles later, which included three distilleries, several good whisky shops, a farm shop, a couple of department stores and a supermarket in Calais, I came back through the tunnel with a haul of sixteen bottles from seven countries - six of those I'd been through, with one addition as I found the whisky in a shop in Zurich (the distillery was one of two that would have been closed on the Sunday I could have visited).
The first two distilleries I have mentioned, so that was Luxembourg and Germany ticked off pretty quickly - in both cases, we turned up on-spec and ended up being very surprised by the small scale of the operations, but for Diedenacker in particular, ended up blown away by the welcome we got as we were shown around by the couple who own it, spending so much time talking I forgot about photos
Some links for Diedenacker:
http://www.diedenacker.lu/
http://www.wort.lu/en/lifestyle/diedenacker-distil...
And Threeland:
http://www.avadisdistillery.de/threeland/
Onto Zurich, I had wanted to visit Whisky Castle in Elfingen as I'd bought their Oloroso cask whisky the previous year, but instead we had a detour to the Rhein Falls. Zurich is home to at least two very good whisky shops and a farm shop belonging to the Kaser family (who own Whisky Castle).
First up was Ramseyer's whisky shop ( http://whiskyconnection.ch/), which i like walking into someones front room, as it is pretty cosy with shelves on three walls, space for the a small counter and a table and chairs - spent some time talking to the owner, who is more than happy to let you taste anything that's open, and could have spent a lot of money there!! Despite almost being tempted by a 34yr old Bunnahabhain, I found a bottle of Telsington VI from Liechtenstein (which JM gave a 94.5 in the most recent Whisky Bible). I was also given a tip by the owner, for a very special bottle of Whisky Castle (apparently a private cask), only available via a brewpub on Lake Zurich.
Glen Fahrn whisky shop in Zurich's old town ( http://www.glenfahrn.com) compares very well in size to the likes of the Whisky Exchange here, with a range to match. I did stick to the Swiss stuff, and picked up two (well three) bottles of Santis Malt - one of Alpstein Edition X 7yr old Merlot Cask, and the others a 50cl and a 20cl of the Dreifaltigheit. Santis mature their whisky in old beer casks, and I was blown away by the Dreifaltigheit (so was JM, as he gave it a 96.5) as it is up there with some of the most intensely flavoured whisky I've tasted, and it's up there with Laphroig in being a Marmite dram. It's peated, but the smokiness reminded me of Balcones Brimstone - the smaller bottle was bought for immediate consumption, and was drained in the following week in Italy..
Last up in Zurich was the Kaser Farmshop in Viaduktstrasse ( http://www.kaesers-schloss.ch/). I was part way through a sample when Rudi Kaser appeared and said "I make that!!", and the conversation went from there.. He is massively enthusiatic about the whisky, and it turned out he had stock of the Castle One private cask (5yr matured in French Oak Quintessence). So after a few samples I became the owner of a bottle of that and their Kaser Edition (cask strength at 67% from a Bordeaux wine cask) - the Kaser edition is listed in '101 World Whiskies to Try Before you Die'.
Unfortunately, our travel plans meant driving from Zurich to Milan on a Sunday, which ruled out a visit to either Telser or Puni distilleries which also ruled out an Italian whisky. I thought bad timing was also going to rule out anything Austria, as the distillery en-route between Venice and Munich would be closed..so the next whisky stop was Slyrs Distillery after an overnight stop just over the border.
Slyrs distillery is probably up there as one of the more scenic distilleries, as it's set in the German Alps, and opened the new distillery not so long ago with their own design of stills. I had picked up their standard bottling a few years ago and despite the young age really liked it.
In total four whiskies were added to the haul - not the 12yr old unfortunately, but one of each of the finishes - a full size oloroso, and half bottles of port, px, and sauternes finishes. The distillery itself is well worth seeing if you are nearby, even though travelling south through Schliersee on a good weekend looks a bit of a mission.
In Munich, several steins were consumed and TBH I thought apart from a bottle of Armorik in Calais that was the haul pretty much done. However I ended up with the two oldest whiskies of the haul. Dropping into a department store (Galleria Kaufhof) uncovered a 12yr bottle of Reisetbauer Austria Malt whisky - this was bought blind for about 70 Euros, but does sound interesting as it's done in Chardonnay and dessert wine casks and has some good reviews. I also stumbled on the Whisk(e)y shop which has a really good range and another one for the collection, again bought pretty much blind - Goldly's 21yr old double-still sherry cask (Belgian). Galleria Kaufhof is more like a German John Lewis, but I've found their food halls carry a good range of wine and spirits.
Finally, one of the planned stops on the way to the tunnel which was Carrefour near the ferry port in Calais. I'd bought a bottle of Armorik there last summer, and was surprised by how good it was considering it was just over 20 Euros. While looking for it I noticed another french single malt 8yr old Wambrechies, which seemed worth the risk at around the same price as the Armorik - so along with some wine, beer and cheese, that was the haul complete with the 911 filled..
So to list the haul:
Austria:
Reisetbauer 12yr old (70cl)
Belgium:
Goldly's 21yr old sherry (70cl)
France:
Armorik Original Edition (70cl)
Wambrechies 8yr old (70cl)
Germany:
Slyrs Oloroso cask (70cl)
Slyrs PX cask (35cl)
Slyrs Port cask (35cl)
Slyrs Sauternes cask (35cl)
Threelands 6yr old (50cl)
Threelands 3yr old port cask (50cl)
Liechtenstein:
Telsington VI (50cl)
Luxembourg:
Diedenacker Rye Malt No 1 5yr old (50cl)
Switzerland:
Santis Alpstein Edition X 7yr old Merlot cask (50cl)
Santis Dreifaltigheit (50cl) + a 20cl emptied!!
Whisky Castle Kaser Edition (50cl)
Whisky Castle One Private Cask 5yr old French Oak Quintessence cask (50cl)
I managed to try all but five of these, so maybe the odd dud there but also some very good ones as well, and I'll to to remember to post up once I try the others. I seem to be becoming a bit of an evangelist for the Euro stuff, and the OH does remind me I'm Scottish, but it's genuinely interesting to see the differences in approach and styles of these distilleries. For some it is a natural addition from brandy, schnapps, gin, etc., and others a side step from beer, but the range is a good complement to more traditional Scottish styles as in may cases they try to put their own stamp on their product. The next whisky trip will almost certainly be up north next summer though..
My collection at home already included several European whiskies such as Hammerhead, Mackmyra, Armorik and Slyrs among others, but I thought I would see if I could pick up a bottle of whisky from each country visited - some would prove easier than others..
So eight countries and nearly 2400 miles later, which included three distilleries, several good whisky shops, a farm shop, a couple of department stores and a supermarket in Calais, I came back through the tunnel with a haul of sixteen bottles from seven countries - six of those I'd been through, with one addition as I found the whisky in a shop in Zurich (the distillery was one of two that would have been closed on the Sunday I could have visited).
The first two distilleries I have mentioned, so that was Luxembourg and Germany ticked off pretty quickly - in both cases, we turned up on-spec and ended up being very surprised by the small scale of the operations, but for Diedenacker in particular, ended up blown away by the welcome we got as we were shown around by the couple who own it, spending so much time talking I forgot about photos
Some links for Diedenacker:
http://www.diedenacker.lu/
http://www.wort.lu/en/lifestyle/diedenacker-distil...
And Threeland:
http://www.avadisdistillery.de/threeland/
Onto Zurich, I had wanted to visit Whisky Castle in Elfingen as I'd bought their Oloroso cask whisky the previous year, but instead we had a detour to the Rhein Falls. Zurich is home to at least two very good whisky shops and a farm shop belonging to the Kaser family (who own Whisky Castle).
First up was Ramseyer's whisky shop ( http://whiskyconnection.ch/), which i like walking into someones front room, as it is pretty cosy with shelves on three walls, space for the a small counter and a table and chairs - spent some time talking to the owner, who is more than happy to let you taste anything that's open, and could have spent a lot of money there!! Despite almost being tempted by a 34yr old Bunnahabhain, I found a bottle of Telsington VI from Liechtenstein (which JM gave a 94.5 in the most recent Whisky Bible). I was also given a tip by the owner, for a very special bottle of Whisky Castle (apparently a private cask), only available via a brewpub on Lake Zurich.
Glen Fahrn whisky shop in Zurich's old town ( http://www.glenfahrn.com) compares very well in size to the likes of the Whisky Exchange here, with a range to match. I did stick to the Swiss stuff, and picked up two (well three) bottles of Santis Malt - one of Alpstein Edition X 7yr old Merlot Cask, and the others a 50cl and a 20cl of the Dreifaltigheit. Santis mature their whisky in old beer casks, and I was blown away by the Dreifaltigheit (so was JM, as he gave it a 96.5) as it is up there with some of the most intensely flavoured whisky I've tasted, and it's up there with Laphroig in being a Marmite dram. It's peated, but the smokiness reminded me of Balcones Brimstone - the smaller bottle was bought for immediate consumption, and was drained in the following week in Italy..
Last up in Zurich was the Kaser Farmshop in Viaduktstrasse ( http://www.kaesers-schloss.ch/). I was part way through a sample when Rudi Kaser appeared and said "I make that!!", and the conversation went from there.. He is massively enthusiatic about the whisky, and it turned out he had stock of the Castle One private cask (5yr matured in French Oak Quintessence). So after a few samples I became the owner of a bottle of that and their Kaser Edition (cask strength at 67% from a Bordeaux wine cask) - the Kaser edition is listed in '101 World Whiskies to Try Before you Die'.
Unfortunately, our travel plans meant driving from Zurich to Milan on a Sunday, which ruled out a visit to either Telser or Puni distilleries which also ruled out an Italian whisky. I thought bad timing was also going to rule out anything Austria, as the distillery en-route between Venice and Munich would be closed..so the next whisky stop was Slyrs Distillery after an overnight stop just over the border.
Slyrs distillery is probably up there as one of the more scenic distilleries, as it's set in the German Alps, and opened the new distillery not so long ago with their own design of stills. I had picked up their standard bottling a few years ago and despite the young age really liked it.
In total four whiskies were added to the haul - not the 12yr old unfortunately, but one of each of the finishes - a full size oloroso, and half bottles of port, px, and sauternes finishes. The distillery itself is well worth seeing if you are nearby, even though travelling south through Schliersee on a good weekend looks a bit of a mission.
In Munich, several steins were consumed and TBH I thought apart from a bottle of Armorik in Calais that was the haul pretty much done. However I ended up with the two oldest whiskies of the haul. Dropping into a department store (Galleria Kaufhof) uncovered a 12yr bottle of Reisetbauer Austria Malt whisky - this was bought blind for about 70 Euros, but does sound interesting as it's done in Chardonnay and dessert wine casks and has some good reviews. I also stumbled on the Whisk(e)y shop which has a really good range and another one for the collection, again bought pretty much blind - Goldly's 21yr old double-still sherry cask (Belgian). Galleria Kaufhof is more like a German John Lewis, but I've found their food halls carry a good range of wine and spirits.
Finally, one of the planned stops on the way to the tunnel which was Carrefour near the ferry port in Calais. I'd bought a bottle of Armorik there last summer, and was surprised by how good it was considering it was just over 20 Euros. While looking for it I noticed another french single malt 8yr old Wambrechies, which seemed worth the risk at around the same price as the Armorik - so along with some wine, beer and cheese, that was the haul complete with the 911 filled..
So to list the haul:
Austria:
Reisetbauer 12yr old (70cl)
Belgium:
Goldly's 21yr old sherry (70cl)
France:
Armorik Original Edition (70cl)
Wambrechies 8yr old (70cl)
Germany:
Slyrs Oloroso cask (70cl)
Slyrs PX cask (35cl)
Slyrs Port cask (35cl)
Slyrs Sauternes cask (35cl)
Threelands 6yr old (50cl)
Threelands 3yr old port cask (50cl)
Liechtenstein:
Telsington VI (50cl)
Luxembourg:
Diedenacker Rye Malt No 1 5yr old (50cl)
Switzerland:
Santis Alpstein Edition X 7yr old Merlot cask (50cl)
Santis Dreifaltigheit (50cl) + a 20cl emptied!!
Whisky Castle Kaser Edition (50cl)
Whisky Castle One Private Cask 5yr old French Oak Quintessence cask (50cl)
I managed to try all but five of these, so maybe the odd dud there but also some very good ones as well, and I'll to to remember to post up once I try the others. I seem to be becoming a bit of an evangelist for the Euro stuff, and the OH does remind me I'm Scottish, but it's genuinely interesting to see the differences in approach and styles of these distilleries. For some it is a natural addition from brandy, schnapps, gin, etc., and others a side step from beer, but the range is a good complement to more traditional Scottish styles as in may cases they try to put their own stamp on their product. The next whisky trip will almost certainly be up north next summer though..
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