European | Whisky Lady

In the wake of the Brexit vote, the Whisky Ladies of Mumbai decided to go on a European whisky tour featuring:

Finland – Teerenpeli 10 year 43%
Denmark – Braunstein’s Danica NAS 42% (unpeated)
France – Kornog Taourac’h Trived 10 BC 46%
Germany – Slyrs 51 NAS 51%

The Teerenpeli Finnish whisky was a recent acquisition from my trip to London – recommended by the folks over at the Whisky Exchange and a rather fine addition to our evening.

The Brauntstein Danica‘s was snagged as the only Danish whisky available at Copenhagen airport!

The Kornog from France has been eagerly awaited! Special request ordered by one of our whisky lady’s prompted by my curiosity after sampling a cask strength version.

A complete bonus on announcing June’s theme was the addition of a 4th European whisky from Bavaria, Germany. I mean, who else in Mumbai other than a “Whisky Lady” just so happens to have a bottle of Slyrs 51 sitting in their whisky cabinet??

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What happens if someone had a good idea then somewhere along the way, it fell apart, the experiment neglected and nearly lost forever?

Read on…

Hammer Head 23 years 40.7%, Czech, Pradlo distillery

Colour – Pale
Nose – Bright fresh citrus, dry fruits, hint of bourbon
Palate – Mild chewy yet dry oak, a tinge of sour, lack of depth… re-tasted after 20 mins and had a flash of masala paan
Finish – What finish?? Really nothing much at all…

Blind tasting reactions:

Guessed may be around 40% as had no ‘punch’ on the tongue, age of around 10-12 years, likely not a blend
Declared an evening no-nonsense malt, easy on the palette

You can be forgiven for not being instantly familiar with this single malt from the Czech republic. Back in 1989, Pradlo distillery decided it was high time to make a proud Czech single malt. With only Czech barley, water from the Bohemia region, aged in 100% Czech oak. The one concession made was to use a ‘hammer’ mill masher from Scotland, a thus a single batch was produced.

Then the Berlin wall fell and everything changed. Any further production stopped and the distillery was more or less forgotten. Til 23 years later it was ‘rediscovered’ and someone again got a bright idea and decided to make some money selling this mystery malt.

The result? A curiosity piece, a great story and a remarkable slice of history all neatly wrapped up in bottle more than a memorable malt. However, it did manage to pick up an award along the way…

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