Back in the day when we blithely took travel for granted, I popped over to Berlin for a weekend. A highlight was an evening at The Union Jack Pub with a Sharing Angel – Germany’s whisky women network.
I was completely distracted by the thick menu of options – until I discovered the real menu was displayed in a captivating way all around the room and in the head of the very knowledgable staff. High up in one corner, I couldn’t help but spy a collection of North Star. Then a set of Spirit Shop bottles… peak around the corner and even more independent goodies. It was like being a kid in a candy store!
With a very green Berliner Kindl Weisse beer… cold, slightly tart and extremely refreshing, at a low alcohol level with a hint of woodruff, it was a perfect way to kick off our evening.
After many many different suggestions, we settled on our 1st dram:
- For me – Spirit Shop Selection Speyside Sherry Butt (2016) 44%, 260 bottles
- My companion – North Star’s Royal Brackla 11 year 55.2%, Series 004
We had high expectations of the Speyside – My companion thought it may be an old Edrigdon which dipped a bit below 40% and was topped up by Glenfarclas, marrying together to mature even longer. She had tried it (or something similar) before and found it quite fabulous!
However this bottle? The nose was initially shy, though we still had hopes… however even after giving it time to open up, it simply didn’t deliver. Unfortunately, it was also thin and flat on palate. We began to speculate that perhaps it had sat too long in the bottle – becoming completely oxidated? We set it aside and returned to a sour nose, a bit of spice on palate and not much more. Tragedy, I confess I didn’t even finish it…
It was wonderful meeting a fellow whisky explorer, connecting and discussing malty matters over a dram or two.
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