Category Archives: Beyond Scotland

Not your ordinary blend!

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We were toying around with ideas for whisky themes for our wee Nurnberg International Whisky Explorers group, and proposed exploring inventive and interesting blends. The goal was to avoid all mass-produced well-known names. Instead, we challenged ourselves to research and bring something a bit different for each other to discover!

So what made its way into our theme of “Not Your Ordinary Blend“?

Technically the last isn’t a blend, however, we were delighted to have it close our evening – in honour of our birthday lass!

We then had a “bonus” round with Two of Pentacles blended whisky alongside a pairing – with nuts and chocolate with special wafers joining our usual close with cheese and bread to help soak up the alcohol before going our different ways. This addition was a complete hit! And certainly something to consider for future sessions.

Interested in joining our Nurnberg Whisky Explorer events? Just find us on Meetup! https://www.meetup.com/nurnberg-whisky-explorers/events/

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Waterford Irish Whisky – Arcadian Farm Origin Peat Ballybannon 1.1 50%

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When Waterford Irish Whiskies introduced their peated expressions, there was surprise. This was not what was expected or even talked about. And in keeping with the Waterford philosophy of ensuring the whisky was fully Irish, this meant tracking down Irish peat.

Waterford Arcadian Farm Origin Peated Ballybannon 1.1 (17 Sep 2018 – Aug 2022) Terroir P062E01-01 50%. 11,088 bottles. Retailing worldwide for Eur 92.

  • Nose – Woah peat! Then it started to settle down. Burnt rubber. A curl of acrid smoke. Iodine then campfire. Wet mop or a wet wool sweater with a distinctly humid smell. Shifted into yoghurty baby puke.
  • Palate – High heat then sweet cured meats. It was more bitter on the palate than the nose indicated. Also some salty damp elements too. Dare I say it has a kind of maritime quality?
  • Finish – Peat and spice with cinnamon
  • Water – Doesn’t do much. Subdues the palate but despite softening a bit, doesn’t shift the character significantly
  • Revisit – Is this the same whisky? Clearly, it needs much more time in the glass. The peat remains very much there however a sweet honey joins the seaweed with the fire dampened, and the palate becomes smooth – much more approachable with a bit of apple sauce easing into a nice cinnamon finish.

Fascinating. The peat was certainly unlike a Scottish peat, having a maritime swagger. At 47 ppm, it isn’t overwhelming. And definitely needs time to open up.

If you are curious to know more – check out the video telling the tale of how the folks at Waterford approached acquiring and using peat in their whiskies.

As for our specific dram, If you have never heard of Ballybannon farm? Well then read on…

Ballybannon in Co. Carlow could be the perfect terroir for growing barley for peating. Sitting on raised ground along the banks of the River Barrow, its heavy, lime-rich soils — archetypal Elton series — are directly adjacent to sphagnum-dense inland bog. Small wonder then that the Pender family’s barley and peat from Niall Carroll’s Ballyteige cuttings in Co. Kildare have proven such a natural combination. Such is Ballybannon barley’s natural affinity for peat, that we have been able to kiln-dry it to a high 47ppm and still find that the character of Ballybannon’s terroir itself remains the dominant flavour in the spirit. Along with its sister bottling, Fenniscourt, Peated Ballybannon represents the first marriage of Irish barley and Irish peat in generations.

Curious about the maturation period? 1346 days or 3 years, 8 months, 7 days. Want to know about the barley? Laureate. Yeast? Mauri distiller’s yeast. Production water? Volcanic aquifer. Fermentation period? 167 hours. Description of the soil? Fine, loamy drift, Elton association soils. Barrel composition?

  • 38% American First Fill (presumably ex-bourbon)
  • 21% American virgin oak
  • 30% French premium casks
  • 11% Vin doux natural

And the Head Distiller’s observations?

  • APPEARANCE: Light gold with everlasting oils.
  • NOSE: Soft peat, almonds, crisp, lavender honey, reminds me of a seaside escape, driftwood fire smoke, green apples, padrón peppers, salt crust, a morning walk on a fresh day.
  • TASTE:  Peat kick, very chewable, BBQ fish by the sea, buttery, warm apple and almond tart with honeycomb ice cream, wool, frangipane, samphire.
  • FINISH: What finish?!

All in all – what an experience! It will be interesting to see how Waterford evolves. And a good reminder of why being part of a tasting group is so rewarding – one is introduced to whiskies that likely otherwise might not have tried. So thank you to our whisky host of the evening!

What did we try in our evening devoted to exploring Waterford Irish Whisky?

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Waterford Irish Whisky – Arcadian Farm Origin Heritage Hunter 1.1 50%

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Welcome to the world of Waterford Irish Whiskies… where things are clearly being done a bit differently.

After sampling the very salty Single Farm Origin “Hook Head” 1.1, we moved on to their Arcadian Farm concept – more precisely the Heritage Hunter expression:

Hunter, named after pioneering plant breeder Dr Herbert Hunter, was introduced in 1959 and  was for almost two decades noted for its distinctive flavour. We now reintroduce this game-changing barley to a new era of single malt connoisseurs. Vanished from the Irish landscape since the late 1970s, superceded by more economically rewarding crosses, all that remained of Hunter was a 50 gram bag in the seed bank of the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine.

Planted in greenhouse grow bags, this 50 grams grew to four kilograms, and the cycle went again and again over two years, until there was enough for  ten acres at our partner Minch Malt’s test site in Athy. Test successful, Hunter was sown on a commercial scale on the lime-rich Elton series terroir of Donoughmore, yielding 25.5 tonnes of malting barley — enough to fill 50 casks. It is from that first pioneering distillation that this whisky has been drawn.

Now on to the whisky…

Waterford Arcadian Farm Origin Heritage Hunter 1.1 (23 Feb 2019 – Aug 2022) Terroir HE01E01-01 50% 9048 bottles. Worldwide distribution, sold out at Eur 100

  • Nose – Well well well… what have we here? For some, it began as caramel sweetness. For others, it was like walking into a chemistry lab! There was an organic agricultural quality. Then it shifted to different woods – particularly dry wood shavings, there was even a savoury side, which then was replaced with sweet
  • Palate – Deceptive as it began with sweet then the spice kicks in! Young, quite active. Think of an old peach pit. Another found dried prune seeds liquor. There is a vegetable earthy quality too. Yet sweet too… with a hint of dried orange
  • Finish – Lasts with a bit of burn, more peach pit with some bitter clove oil? Then salt
  • Water – A few drops opens it up a bit
  • Revisit – It sounds curious, yet for me it was spicier

If the Single Farm Origin “Hook Head” reminded me of the Bruichladdich Micro-Provenance experiments, the Arcadian Farm “Heritage Hunter” reminded me of some of AD Laws forays into ancient grains and barleys. Except MUCH better!

I described it as chewing raw grains or barley. I received a few quizzical looks. For some, this seemed to be the preferred.

Now diving deep into the details, we start with the terroir:

A dry and windy summer’s day at Donoughmore. This track begins inside some of the old stone sheds at the edge of the fields. Time has rendered them open to the elements, but they still give a little shelter. Heading outside into the open, the wind rattles the loose sheeting on a nearby barn, we’re surrounded here by a semicircle of trees filled with busy birds in the afternoon sun. A gap in the trees leads us out into the fields, the wind buffeting the barley as it blows through heading south.

Want to know about the maturation period? 1161 days or 3 years, 2 months, 6 days. Want to know about the barley? Hunter (obviously!). Yeast? Mauri distiller’s yeast. Production water? Volcanic aquifer. Fermentation period? 169 hours. Description of the soil? Fine, loamy drift with limestones, Elton association. Barrel composition?

  • 45% American First Fill (presumably ex-bourbon)
  • 18% American virgin oak
  • 21% French premium casks
  • 16% Vin doux natural

How does all of this equate into the glass? Here are the Head Distiller’s observations

  • APPEARANCE: Pale gold with unctuous oils.
  • NOSE: Earthy, dry soil, lemon sherbet, red apple skin, dry bark, barnyard, petrichor, rolled barley, baked salt, chalk.
  • TASTE: Orange cake, dry savoury spice, cloves, porridge with prunes, wood char, citrus oils.
  • FINISH: Dry greenness with a gentle spice.

And there you have it!

What did we try in our evening devoted to exploring Waterford Irish Whisky?

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Waterford Irish Whisky – Single Farm Origin Hook Head 1.1 50%

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Before we started, our whisky host shared that we could expect a salty whisky, a spicy whisky, and a smoky whisky. So we decided to begin our journey into Waterford Irish Whiskies with the one reputed to be the most maritime of the lot! The “Hook Head” is described as:

The lighthouse at Hook Head stands resolute against the full force of the Atlantic Ocean on Ireland’s southern coast, 10 miles from the distillery – so close that Oliver Cromwell vowed to take Waterford ‘by hook or by crook’ in the 17th century. In its shadow, Martin Foley grows barley on clay/loam soils derived from limestone, belonging to the Elton series. Exposed to the full range of salt-laden storms, sea mists & ocean breezes, it’s an extreme maritime terroir.

As you will see – we would indeed agree if salty is an expression of extreme maritime terroir, it is indeed apt!

Waterford Single Farm Origin Hook Head 1.1 (19 Jan 2017 – 14 Feb 2021) Terroir F035E01-01 50% 12,000 bottles for Germany. Retailing for Eur 80

  • Colour – Light straw
  • Nose – An almost agricultural whiff at first, malted barley, sweetening the more time it spends in the glass. Shifted between Ovaltine and Marmite. Then we were hit with salty sea spray and how! Joined by something at first dusty then distinctly mineral, wet granite. Followed by a hint of salty honey-coated nuts that then back to saline
  • Palate – Mineral, oily then sweet, a warming heat more than spice per se, though perhaps there was some white pepper in there. More vegetal than fruit. There was also a return of a milky Ovaltine. The 2nd sip was pure salt – like sucking on a salt rock!
  • Finish – Lasts yet is super salty and drying in the mouth
  • Water – With a few drops the sweetness comes more to the fore on the nose revealing a lightly floral element and pushing the saltiness back a bit. It also becomes softer on the palate, more mineral than salty alone. With a more generous splash, this becomes one fine dram, creamy, interesting, and much more up my alley!
  • Revisit – After sampling all three Waterfords, I returned to the glass to discover citrus koolaid and vanilla, with the saline fully under control!

Overall this was quite an interesting start to our explorations of Waterford. There was no doubt distinctive things were going on. This was no bog-standard social Irish dram. This was an experiment in a glass. And reminded me of the Bruichladdich micro-provenance experiments – just without peat!

This was my favourite… and the one I returned to for the balance of the evening whilst the gents pupped away at their rare cigars.

What more do we know? A whole heck of a lot in this case! It is more a question of where to begin??

Let’s start with Terroir – using the bottle label – we learn that everything comes from Tinnashrule farm in Wexford:

John Crowley farms at Tinnashrule – The Hollytree Crossroads – in the rain shadow of the Blackstairs Mountains, north of Enniscorthy. Here the rolling lowland barley fields lie in the lee of ash & larch woods, benefiting from well-drained loam & clay loam of the famously productive Clonroche series, on glacial drift derived from Ordovician shale & granite.

Want to know about the maturation period? 3 years, 8 months, 14 days. Want to know about the barley? Sebastian. Yeast? Mauri distiller’s yeast. Production water? Volcanic aquifer. Fermentation period? 152 hours. Description of the soil? Fine, loamy drift with siliceous stones and Clonroche series. Barrel composition?

  • 46% American First Fill (presumably ex-bourbon)
  • 22% American virgin oak
  • 15% French premium casks
  • 17% Vin doux naturel

We also have the Head Distiller’s observations on how these elements translate into aromas and flavours in the glass…

  • APPEARANCE: Light gold with oils.
  • NOSE: Sweet honeycomb, plums, rolled barley, mint, dark chocolate, orange zest, leather, rose water, aniseed, pear drops and has a warmth on the nose.
  • TASTE: Cloves, white pepper, dark creamy chocolate, fresh bread, grapefruit, dry but chewy, late spice explosion with a wasabi hit, orange syrup, root vegetables.
  • FINISH: Long, dry spiciness, which is also chewy.

Interestingly there are both descriptions for the exact “terroir” (as noted above) and the “Hook Head” expression. Confused? Shall we compare? The expression is described as:

  • Taste: spice bomb, cloves, white pepper, salted caramel, licorice, ginger biscuits, lemon zest, chili chocolate
  • Nose: earthy maltiness, fresh soil, citrus peel, bread crust, clove, white pepper, caramel, milk chocolate, salted popcorn, barnyard, oak green foliage
  • Finish: dry

Whilst not totally contradictory, there are certainly differences and nuances to each. As for us? Well, that was quite the intro! And now it is clearly time to move on to the 2nd and 3rd Waterford whiskies…

What did we try in our evening devoted to exploring Waterford Irish Whisky?

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Waterford Irish Whisky – Single Farm, Arcadian Heritage, Peat

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When you hear the word “Waterford” one typically thinks of crystal glasses, not whisky! This is readily understandable given one has a tradition that harkens back to 1783 and the other was founded only in 2016 – not even a decade old!

However, there we were in South Bombay, a fine evening at the end of March 2024, about to embark on a journey into one of the newest and most original players in the Irish whisky revival scene.

In this case, it is notable the choice of spelling “whisky” without an “e” and the claim that the distillery is “40 years in the making“, given the role Mark Reynier has played in founding a distillery devoted to terroir, biodynamic, and cuvées.

Even the boxes tell a story – signaling the type of whisky category to be explored. Would it be a Single Farm with clean firm lines? Or Arcadian Farm with a few lines joining to bring their different elements into a single experience? And where peat is in the mix, the box colour shifts to a smokey grey with black. There is a 3rd concept devoted to Cuvées which we did not experience.

Here is what the folks at Waterford have to say about their Single Farm Origin line “precision of place”:

Each Single Farm Origin is a compelling and intriguing whisky, but also an intellectual challenge to the whisky world’s status quo. Our radical, uncompromising philosophy allows inquisitive drinkers to join our exploration of the frontiers of authentic flavours, to search beyond conventions and to celebrate individuality.

One place, one farm, at a time.

And now what they share about their Arcadian Farm Origin line with a few options “the old ways – organic, biodynamic, peated & heritage”:

We ask what organic farming, or the ancient wisdom of biodynamics can offer to the intensity of barley’s flavour. Our curiosity leads us to discover then resurrect rare heritage grains, one variety at a time; and to experience the pungency of real Irish peat for the first time in generations in whisky. With these radical methods we ask the inquisitive, daring drinker to join us on our unorthodox journey towards the frontiers of authentic, uninhibited flavour.

What did we try?

The more I looked into the approach here, the more I recognized this is true whisky “geek” territory! Curious what the farm where the barley was grown sounds like? The exact location of where the barley was grown, who did what, and how? The organisms that live in the soil? Old wives’ tales converted into accumulated knowledge, combined with the cycles of the moons around the earth into science. The impact of how agro-business has “buggered the soil”, the importance of barley seeds from before 1967, and the role of air and composting? Enquiring minds will get answers to questions they didn’t even know to ask!

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Nurnberg’s St Paddy’s Night – Kilbeggan, Jameson, Glendalough, Bushmills, Connemara

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We went all out this time – Irish music, a hearty Irish stew, and absolutely 100% an assortment of Irish whiskies! It was a merry evening that really ‘upped’ the ante for future Nurnberg Whisky Explorer gatherings!

So what did we explore whiskey-wise?

  • Kilbeggan 43% – A friendly Irish pub kind of dram!
  • Jameson Triple Triple 40% – A pleasant accompaniment
  • Glendalough Single Grain Olorosso 42% – Interesting to try
  • Bushmills 10 year 40% – Ye old standard
  • Connemara peated single malt 40% – A bit “blah”

Let’s begin with a pub crawl dram…

Kilbeggan Single Post Still Irish Whiskey 43% ~Eur 32

  • Nose – Fresh, clean, simple yet inviting, floral, honey with a light citrus twist
  • Palate – Toasted cereal, nutty – mostly almonds, creamy, smooth and sugary
  • Finish – Light and pleasant

What can we say? It was a perfect appetizer dram. Easy to drink, very approachable, and uncomplicated.

A step up from the standard Kilbeggan, this expression is from a single pot still. Nice stuff.

Jameson Triple Triple 40% ~Eur 32

  • Nose – Caramel, cooked fruits – a generic melange impossible to distinguish the different elements, very very sweet
  • Palate – Much more character than expected from the nose. Now distinct berries could be discerned, some citrus and cloves
  • Finish – Milk chocolate, dusting of cinnamon

A triple cask of ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry, and ex-Malaga, this is a wee step up from the normal Jameson fare. The combination created a dram which was sweet and sweet and sweet. Our verdict? A pleasant accompaniment when you don’t want to be distracted by your dram.

Glendalough Single Grain Double Barrel Bourbon and Olorosso 42% ~Eur 29

  • Nose – At first fumes – which isn’t so surprising for a young grain… then it settled down
  • Palate – Salty nuts, quite mineral, white pepper, spice yet also soft, it reminded me a bit of pancake batter, a hint of rose – like a light rooafza
  • Finish – Smooth with nutmeg

One only single grain of the evening, it was a welcome departure. Whilst others spent more time with the other Irish offerings, for me this was the one to return to…

Bushmills 10 year 40% ~Eur 28

  • Nose – Fresh hay, green apple
  • Palate – Juicy white wine grapes, malty, milky, like a fruity crisp with cream
  • Finish – Dry

Overall it held its own, reminding us why the Bushmills 10 year is a standard.

Connemara peated single malt 40% ~Eur 25

  • Nose – Green tea, iodine and seaweed
  • Palate – Grassy, grape juice, peat but not so heavy
  • Finish – Smoking at the end with cinnamon

Don’t laugh, but my notes were so scant, closing with just two words: Boring. Unidimensional. And now sigh…

Unfortunately, I did not take any photographs of our AMAZING dinner! For the carnivores there was a rich Irish stew. And for the vegetarians a delicious tangy spicy chili sin carne. Yum! Way too delicious and completely spoilt us!

Curious and interested in joining a Nurnberg Whisky Explorer event? Just find us on Meetup!

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Friendly February Dram Exchange

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It was a surprisingly warm and sunny weekend for February. It was also a perfect opportunity for a few friends to get together and exchange a few drams. Some were already open. Others had been waiting for just this kind of evening.

We had 13 whiskies on offer and the hardest decision was where to start and where to stop? What did we have displayed to explore?

We chose to begin with the youngest and most recently opened distillery from the Hebridean Island distillery Raasay… Their aim is to produce a lightly peated whisky with rich flavourts. This was my first sample of the “real” Raasay as my earlier brush was a “pre” offering in their intended style “While we wait.”

We thought this would be a light dram to whet our appetite for more… what we discovered was a bit different!

Raasay Single Malt 46.4%

  • Nose – Fresh, young and vibrant, malty and maritime, slight smoke, more herbal than floral or fruity, after time a whiff of smoked meats
  • Palate – Surprisingly peaty – much more pronounced than anticipated, and yet not a “heavy” peat, the herbal quality follows through, with some bitter tannins, nuts, and quite autumnal
  • Finish – Cinnamon fading into a faintly bitter finish
  • Water – Initially didn’t think would be needed, but worth trying. For me, it became sweeter with a mineral or granite element
  • Revisit – Much later, I revisited the empty glass, the aromas were ashy, a bit like the remaining long-forgotten antique kitchen fireplace, from generations before

The thing about whiskies, slowing down to discern different aromas are the memories a smell triggers. For me, the hint of smoked meats took me back to Montreal. The palate overall was smooth and pleasant.

What more do we know? Their aim?

Our flagship Isle of Raasay Single Malt Whisky, 46.4% ABV, natural colour, non-chill filtered.

Lightly peated with rich dark fruit flavours.

We set out to emulate some older styles of Hebridean single malt whiskies, with subtle, fragrant smokiness balanced with dark fruit flavours.

It was matured in six different casks – this is what they have to say:

Two Isle of Raasay spirits – peated and unpeated – are matured separately in first fill Rye whiskey, fresh Chinkapin oak and first fill Bordeaux red wine casks. These six recipe casks marry together to create the perfect dram with real elegance, complexity and depth of character.

With this knowledge, we could see where the tannins came from, however elegant? Complex? And dark fruits? Not in what we found, however, it was an interesting start!

Next up? A revisit of a former friend – Aureum – which is unfortunately no more. What did we think?

Ziegler’s Aureum 7-year Single Malt (2008 – 2015) Chateau Lafite Rothschild 47%

  • Colour – Gold
  • Nose – Welcome! These are the kinds of aromas that explain why we were so captivated by Aureum. Sweet chestnuts, green and fresh, fruity… then deepens into chocolate, sweet vanilla custard then green apple, then a dessert feast of apple pie with vanilla ice cream!
  • Palate – First sip was a bit odd, then once calibrated to the unique style of Aureum with its use of chestnut wood, we found it to be smooth, sweet… getting sweeter with each sip!
  • Finish – Lingers with more sweet wood

Overall it was a clear reminder that this was once a distinctive distillery producing unique drams – aiming for craft and quality. I can only repeat that it is such a pity that Ziegler abandoned their decade-long foray into such single malts to go down the Freud route.

We then moved on to Ireland, to discover Ireland’s West Cork was nothing like the sociable dram we anticipated….

West Cork Calvados Cask Finish 43%

  • Colour – Light straw
  • Nose – No mistaking there is Calvados involved here! It reminded me of the kind of juice we used to make from our garden apples – pulp and seeds and all would go in. Then it shifted to something that could best be described as fresh-pressed coffee
  • Palate – We found it a bit “pushy” at first. Young, a bit brash, and curiously unfinished, dry and bitter with a hint of nuts of some kind
  • Finish – Limited, what there was we found bitter, like chewing an espresso bean
  • Water – We hoped it might bring out some other element – instead just kicked up the spice

Overall this didn’t attract new fans. Now I’ve had a few mighty fine whiskies with Calvados finish. Mackmyra Äppelblom 46.1% and Rampur’s Jugalbandi come to mind…  The folks over at West Cork don’t try to over-sell this as a complex dram, instead, point imbibers in the direction of cocktails – a ginger mule to be more precise.

I then steered us towards a pair of Chorlton‘s – a contrast and comparison of two Glentauchers. Both sherry casks, both lovely just in different ways – both deserving their own posts – just check out Glentauchers 8 year and Glentauchers 14 year! We then cracked open some exceptional chocolates – what a fabulous pairing!

That is where our journeys diverged. For me, I thought to continue the chocolate pairing and thought to revisit the Super Sonic Sherry Blend and the Amrut Port Pipe Peated. Whereas others explored the Amrut, Indri, Kamet, and Staoisha. Overall it was simply a lovely evening and a nice way to keep at bay the dull dreary February blues!

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Denmark’s Fary Lochan Tasting Treat!

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Sometimes you discover something unexpected. Something distinct. Something that may even defy description yet still finds its place in your mind as something worthy of remembering. This was exactly my experience with my first taste of Fary Lochan in London – thanks to That Boutique-y Whisky Co! This was followed up by an equally remarkable bottle opened as part of an evening exploring European drams.

So when a fellow enthusiast offered to share some samples, I was delighted! And what an experience!

It was a typical February evening in Nurnberg – cold, rainy, and frankly miserable. Exactly the kind of weather that encourages cocooning at home, not venturing out. However, my tasting companion braved the weather to join me from Bamberg in exploring this quintet:

  • Fary Lochan 5 year (2012/2017) Rum No. 1, 64.7%
  • Fary Lochan 6 year (2016/2022) Moscatel Finish, Batch 5, 62.1%
  • Fary Lochan 7 year (2014/2021) Olorosso 60.3% (Single Cask by Liquid Madness)
  • The Nordic “Vindoga” Sherry Casks #2 (Fary Lochan, Mosgaard, Smogen, High Coast, Myken, Teerenpeli) 59.7% (Berry Bro’s & Rudd)
  • Fary Lochan 7 year (2015/2023) Peat & Port No. 1, 60.9%

What makes this whisky unique is how its smoke comes from nettles – inspired by nettle-smoked cheese from Funen.

Our journey began with the Rum cask…

Fary Lochan 5 year (2012/2017) Rum No. 1, 64.7% ~Eur 199. 639 bottles

  • Colour – Very pale straw
  • Nose – Light spice, freshly sawed pine wood, honey, sea grass, herbal, as it opened, there was a hint of fruits – pear and apple – which grew the more time spent in the glass
  • Palate – Warming, pine sol, some black peppercorns, distinctive and yet also a bit subdued – which is not necessarily a bad thing!
  • Finish – Carries through then disappears
  • Water – Makes it much more bitter and the distinctive element is a bit lost… the aromas still have herbal elements, chased by vanilla

It was a good start – a well-chosen beginning as it was more subtle and restrained than our next offerings.

What more do we know? It matured for approximately four years in ex-bourbon casks before being finished for another year in rum casks.

We carried on with a revisit of the dram which prompted this evening!

Fary Lochan 6 year (2016/2022) Moscatel Finish, Batch 5, 62.1% ~Eur 125

  • Colour – Bright gold with darker hints of amber
  • Nose – Sour cherry, apple sauce, nuts and a unique herbal element
  • Palate – Wonderfully full, delicious and so well rounded, sweet herbal, balanced, yet with a distinctive element
  • Finish – Yum! A delicious spice that lingers… stays and stays and stays…

Overall we could best describe this expression as like being enveloped by a warm comforting blanket. The revisit of this dram cemented our positive opinion! With that elusive yet very distinctive “Fary Lochan” element!

Next, we turned to the sherry Olorosso single-cask bottled Liquid Madness…

Fary Lochan 7 year (2014/2021) Olorosso 60.3% (Single Cask by Liquid Madness) ~Eur 90

  • Colour – Deep amber
  • Nose – Clear unmistakable sherry stamp, also some red wine tannins, rich mocha, freshly shaved wood combined with smoked herbs, licorice, sour fruits
  • Palate – A darker, heavier flavour than the Moscatel finish, has depth and substance, a wonderful mouthfeel, burnt toast with marmite, dry and curious, some fruits that were a bit hard to exactly pinpoint, yet worked!
  • Finish – Smoke
  • Revisit – After some time we returned to our near-empty glasses – Delicious chilli chocolate

We remarked that this is the kind of “reward” whisky after a hard day. The Olorosso certainly had more in common with the Moscatel than the Rum finish, however, amped up in the best possible way. And if you didn’t catch it from the description, we really liked it!

Our next choice was a completely different direction with a blend!

The Nordic “Vindoga” Sherry Casks #2 59.7% Blend of Fary Lochan, Mosgaard, Smogen, High Coast, Myken, Teerenpeli (bottled by Berry Bro’s & Rudd)

  • Colour – Dark coffee with a ruby-red glow
  • Nose – Oh my! A lot of competing elements! Fruits & berries, nuts & peat. Very active – jumping all over. From Mocha to molasses, dried berries, sour
  • Palate – Power packed – again lots going on. Different voices vying for attention. Sherry, more of that mocha, spice, intense
  • Finish – Linges with chocolate raisins and nuts

Where to begin with this one? There are so many different dimensions – more a cacophony than harmony. And yet unmistakably interesting. Just a few drops go a long way!

We closed with the peated expression… knowing that typically what works best for tasting orders is sweet before peat!

Fary Lochan 7 year (2015/2023) Peat & Port No. 1, 60.9%

  • Colour – Bright rose gold
  • Nose – Sour apples with a dusting of cinnamon, ripe cherries, a herbal quality to the smoke – like sweet grass?
  • Palate – Deceptively soft at first then a bonfire! Full flavoured, fruit and peat, jam and chocolate, salted nuts. By the 3rd sip, it started to settle down with the port and peat interplay dancing around the palate
  • Finish – Keeps going…

Hiding behind all the most pronounced features was that distinctive Fary Lochan element. Perhaps it was because this was such a departure, however, it didn’t quite “click” with us the way the others did. Still very interesting to try and perhaps needed more time and quantity in the glass to really open up. That is the danger of sharing samples sometimes! Never enough to get the full feel.

Can I just say – wow! It was absolutely remarkable to further explore this very distinctive Danish distillery offerings. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what makes it so remarkable – however, there is just something completely unique. For us, both the Olorosso and Moscatel finish stood out as clear winners!

HUGE thank you to Barley Mania for kindly sharing some precious drops of your Fary Lochan collection! I can indeed see why it has captivated you! And now us too!

What about other whiskies sampled from Denmark

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Surprise me: Ireland’s Green Spot vs Tullamore D.E.W.

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Bring a few whisky folks together with no rules on what bottle to bring beyond “Surprise me!“…. let’s just say there are bound to be some “hits” along with a “miss” or two! We tasted blind and, curiously, ended up with a pair from Ireland!

First up was a fabulous opportunity to revisit Green Spot!

Green Spot 40%

  • Nose – Fruity! Mostly banana, sunshine on apples and pears, friendly and warm.. as it opened it shifted from ripe bananas to green banana peel, then was replaced by a crisp granny smith, waxy then finally floral – lovely!
  • Palate – Apple custard, mangosteens, very smooth, sweet, quite light yet still had substance – think vanilla cake with pudding chased by light spice, some toast, and oak
  • Finish – Light yet long, a hint of nuts
  • Return – After trying the others, we came back – a delightful perfume danced around the near-empty glass!

We really liked this one! Teasingly before the reveal, small insights were shared, Such as though without an age statement, it is generally known to be 7-10 years. Then it was matured in a mix of new and refilled bourbon casks and then finished in Sherry casks.

My initial guess was Green Spot but was confused as it sounded like this was a new player… With the reveal, we could clarify this is far from the case as the Mitchel family has been in the bonding business since the 1800s. As for the “Spots“, the story goes:

The Mitchells matured their whiskey in casks under the streets of Dublin in their network of underground cellars. When their fortified wine casks were filled exclusively with Jameson spirit from the old Bow St. Distillery, they were marked with a daub or ‘spot’ of paint which identified how long the barrels would be matured for. Blue for 7 years, Green for 10 years, Yellow for 12 years and Red for 15 years—hence the name Spot Whiskey.

For my part, it was truly a delight to revisit the Green Spot. An unexpected treat!

We moved on to the next mystery dram – another Irish whisky – this time from Tullamore D.E.W.

Tullamore D.E.W. 40% 

  • Nose – Harsh, sour apple juice or apple sauce… we waited to see if a bit of time in the glass would help reveal more – nope! At best, maybe some honey and cinnamon joined the sour mash, with a hint of salt
  • Palate – Burning when it hits, yet at the same time thin and weak, perhaps some plum?
  • Finish – Bitter nuts
  • Water – Added just in case it made a difference…. nope!

Yikes! What a contrast from the Green Spot! It was not complex… not terribly appealing. Truth be told, we didn’t know what to make of it. With our water experiment, I learned a new German word “schlimmbesserung” roughly explained as an attempt to improve which actually makes it worse!

With the reveal, we learned it was the Tullamore D.E.W. core expression – which is a blend of grain, malt, and pot still whisky. Produced by Grant & Sons, it is reputed to be the 2nd largest-selling Irish whisky in the world – behind Jameson. One has to wonder if the popularity has more to do with affordability (only Eur 14) than other factors…

Like many Irish whiskies, it was once a distillery but then, for many years it was a brand – with the liquid coming from Middleton. However, in 2014, The Grant & Sons folks built a new distillery near the old Tullamore distillery. So presumably some of the whiskey we tried came from the Tullamore distillery.

Can’t say they won any new fans with us. We were reminded that sometimes you win, and sometimes not!

So what did we try in our “Surprise Me” evening?

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Surprise me!

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Let’s be honest folks, we are influenced by brand, by past experience… our brains like putting things into easy-to-interpret boxes. Take the packaging and pre-conceived notions away, and one has to work all that much harder to understand – in this case – what lies in our whisky glass.

This was the genesis of our first session Nurnberg’s International Whisky of 2024 with a fun approach – called “Surprise me!” so named as participants brought a covered bottle, revealing the details only after trying. We had no guidelines, no theme, no notion of what would show up!

So what did we try?

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Without any planning, it was interesting to see how there was nary a Scottish Speyside or Islay in the mix!

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