Tag Archives: Malt Whisky

Whisky

Exploring Global Whisky: A Personal Advent Calendar Journey (Part 4)

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Moving on, with my thoughts on the next four whiskies in my advent calendar. Blogging about the very varied whiskies that I am finding in the calendar is an interesting experience. I am finding that it is making me think about what I am drinking. Instead of just drinking the day’s whisky, I reflect on it. I consider whether I like it or not and share my thoughts. Drinking mindfully, if you like.

Dec 13th

We journey back to Japan for today’s whisky. The Yoichi distillery has been producing whisky since 1934. It is situated in Hokkaido, in the far north of Japan. Their stills are heated by coal fires, which gives their whiskies some of their character.

My whisky today, was the Yoichi single malt with an ABV of 45%.
It has a lovely pale gold colour. I found the nose had a little bit of smoke, sultanas, and other fruit. The palate had apples, honey, and citrus, with a hint of spice.

This was whisky that I liked a lot.

Dec 14th

Today’s whiskey surprised me. I have mentioned, in an earlier blog, that I am not generally fond of cask strength whiskey. But I found that the Maker’s Mark Cask Strength Kentucky Bourbon at 55.1% ABV was surprisingly approachable, even before the addition of some water.

The colour of the whiskey is dark amber, almost brown. Its nose gives aromas of vanilla and maple syrup. On the palate I found, caramel, chocolate and spice, with a slightly herbal finish.

I found that the addition of a little water opened up the nose. It also enhanced the palate. But, I found it very drinkable at cask strength.

Dec 15th

For today we have an English whisky. Fielden is an English Rye Whisky at 48% ABV. According their website the name “Fielden” comes from the Old English and means “from the fields”, or “of the fields”. They apparently use rye wheat and barley in various combinations. Still, I am fairly sure that my whisky was at least 50% rye.

Colour wise the whisky is an attractive amber. It has quite a floral and sweet nose. Taste wise, like the earlier rye whisky, it had a hint of rye bread, as well as nutty sweet marzipan notes.

It wasn’t a whisky that I was particularly fond of. I have never drunk that much Rye whisky in the past. It is possible that they are not my thing, or that I have yet to discover the one for me.

Dec 16th

Our whisky today comes from down under. Melbourne to be precise. The Starward distillery has been making whisky since 2007. Recently they have been exporting to the UK. I noticed a bottle of today’s sample in my local Waitrose.

Starward Left Field single malt comes in at 50% ABV.
It is very dark in colour, almost brown. The predominant note on the nose is fruit. The whisky is matured in red wine casks. (There is a lot of wine produced in Victoria.) So I assume that is where the colour and the nose come from. The palate is fruity and quite sweet, I would describe it as a biscuit sweetness.

I tried the whisky as it came and also with a drop of water, but it didn’t appeal to me. I calls itself “Left Field” and their website talks about “moving beyond tradition”. Often things are done traditionally, because that works.

Click on the names of the whiskies. You can also click on the pictures of the bottles. Both actions will take you to the appropriate distillery website.

Whisky

Exploring Global Whisky: A Personal Advent Calendar Journey (Part 3)

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We are moving on to the next four whiskies.

Dec 9th

Today’s offering is another Irish single malt. This time it is the Connemara 12 year old with an ABV of 40%. It is apparently the only peated Irish malt. This surprised me, given the amount of peat to be found in Ireland.

It has a pale straw colour. The nose is essentially smoke and peat, but not overwhelming, like say Laphroiag. There is also just a hint of lemon. On the palate, there is smoke, obviously, but there is also a hint of sweetness and vanilla.
I liked this whiskey a lot. I am a big fan of Islay malts, and this could almost be an Islay malt

Dec 10th

Taiwan is not a country that I would have thought made whisky. Today’s whisky, though, comes from Taiwan.

Ka Va Lan Single Malt Sherry Cask , it comes in at 40% ABV.
It has a very dark amber colour.
The nose is predominantly sherry, although other things like berries and chocolate are noticeable.
On the palate, sherry comes through quite strongly, but, honey, and stone fruit are observable.
I am not usually that fond of sherry cask whisky, but I quite liked this one.

Dec 11th

Today’s whisky comes from Finland. I think of Finland as a place where vodka is produced rather than whisky. The Kyrö distillery has produced a single malt using rye rather than barley.
The Kyrö Rye single malt is matured in American Oak and comes in at 47% ABV. Its colour is dark golden. I found it nutty and sweet on the nose. It tasted of bread, rye bread presumably. There was also a hint of peppery spice.
I was not sure what to make of this whisky. Because rye whiskies are a new thing to me, I had difficulty assessing what I was drinking. I don’t want to dismiss it out of hand, but with an unfamiliar taste, I didn’t like it that much.

Dec 12th

Another Nordic offering today. This time from Denmark.
Fary Lochan, which has an ABV of 48.9%, is a rather unique whisky. The malt is smoked, but not over peat, as is normal in Scotland, but over fresh nettles. This makes for a dram that is very different from the norm.

It is very pale in colour. The nettle smoke comes through on the nose, as does a herbal note. Herbs and grass are the prominent notes in the palate, accompanied, by hints of spice, and a slightly sweet finish.

Like yesterday’s rye malt, I’m not quite sure about this one. It is not really to my taste, but it is an interesting and different whisky. If it comes your way, do try it and see what you make of it.

Click on the names of the whiskies. You can also click on the pictures of the bottles. Both actions will take you to the appropriate distillery website.

Whisky

Exploring Global Whisky: A Personal Advent Calendar Journey (Part 2)

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Continuing on from my earlier post, let us see what the next few days have brought.

Dec 5th

We are off to Wales for our next whisky adventure. The Pendyryn distillery have been producing whisky since 2000, with their first sales being made in 2004. (Whisky must be matured for at least three years before it can be legally sold in the UK.)

Pedyryn Portwood finish at 46% was today’s offering. It is quite a dark coloured whisky, I would describe it as amber coloured.
On the nose I got dried fruit with a hint of sweetness. Taste wise, it had notes of burnt sugar and spice.

I am not a big fan of port and/or sherry cask whisky, but I found this pleasant to drink.

Penderyn

Dec 6th

We are back to Japan again for our next whisky.
Hibiki Harmony Blend at 43%. It is manufactured by Suntory, who have a long distilling history. This whisky is a blend.
It is pale golden in colour. The nose was basically apples on the palate I found apples and spice, cinnamon and cloves.
It was a pleasant enough whisky, though a little on the bland side for me.

Dec 7th

My next whisky experience took me to Denmark.

Stauning Høst Danish whisky 40.5% is unusual in that it combines a single malt with a rye malt.

It is amber in colour. On the nose I got straw and roast chestnuts. It had a slightly sweet fruity palate.

The inclusion of the rye malt makes it very different whisky. The 30 ml sample that came in the calendar wasn’t enough to let me decide on the whisky. I think I would need another glass. Maybe two, to fully make up my mind as to whether I liked it.

Dec 8th

We journey back Ireland for our next whiskey,
Redbreast Single Pot Still 12 year Cask Strength 57.2%. I am not a huge fan of cask strength whiskeys. I find that at cask strength the alcohol content overpowers everything else. This one was no exception. I trust the distiller to add the correct amount of the distillery water to bring out the characteristics of their product. I think that it is better than me trying to guess. Having had my little rant, on to the whiskey.

It is a very attractive honey gold colour. On the nose I found dried fruit and vanilla. When it came to the palate, all I initially tasted was alcohol. Adding some water improved it. I found a very pleasant mix of honey, tropical fruit and vanilla.

This is a whiskey that I liked. If I were buying it for myself, I would probably choose the 12 year old 40% expression. I would prefer it over the cask strength. It is also nearly £30 less expensive.

I think writing about four whiskies at a time is enough. I will fill you in an days nine, ten, eleven and twelve in the next post.

Food, Whisky

Exploring Global Whisky: A Personal Advent Calendar Journey

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My lovely wife bought me a whisky/whiskey advent calendar. Whisky/eys off the world. Yes, whisky is produced in other countries besides Scotland. Ireland, Japan, Canada and the USA all produce decent whiskey. Thailand also produces something that they call whiskey. My step-son and his partner brought me some back, the less said about it the better.

I should note before I start that I am in no way a whisky expert. I am just someone who enjoys a dram.

I shall try to get the correct spelling of whisky or whiskey. Scotch, is whisky, as is Canadian and New Zealand. Irish and United States is whiskey. I’m not sure if other countries use whisky or whiskey, please don’t shoot me if I get it wrong.

On to the advent calendar.

December 1st

Today’s whiskey was Irish. Saints & Sinners & Rebels & Rouges 40%. It is a 21 year old blend . There were definite hints of vanilla and honey on the nose. It is very smooth, as you would expect with a 21 year old, slightly too smooth for my tastes. I like a slight bite in my whiskey. On the palate, honey and sultanas were the notes that I found. It was a whiskey that I liked.

Whiskey bottle

December 2nd

Today’s whisky is Indian. Indri Drú Cask Strength – 57.2%. No barrel age is given. Their website mentions that the high temperatures in Northern India speed up the maturation process.
I found tobacco and burnt fruit on the nose. Like almost all cask strength whiskies, I found it initially too fiery for me say anything about it. Diluting it about 1 part water to 3 parts whisky calmed it down.
I found hints of spice but not that much else. It was an interesting whisky to try, but not one that I would think of buying.

December 3rd

For today’s whisky, we move further east, to Japan. A country that has a longer whisky making tradition than India.
Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve is 43% and is made by Suntory who have been distilling whisky since 1923.
The nose was floral, incense was a word that came to mind. On the palate, there were hints of dried fruit and vanilla and cinnamon.
The whisky is pleasant enough. It shares a few characteristics with Highland malts.

December 4th

We are still in Japan for today’s whisky.
It is Hakushu Distiller’s Reserve 43%
Its nose it is slightly smoky with a hint of dried fruit. On the palate I found smoke, fruit and a hint of peppery spice. Again a pleasant enough whisky, but without any thing that would encourage me to buy it.

Further revelations will follow

Travel

LOCKDOWN HOLIDAY 4

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A Strange Trip to Mull and a Distillery Tour

We didn’t expect this holiday to be normal, but today it became just a little weirder.

At least we didn’t have to get up at five-thirty this morning. We had the morning free. I think that the morning was supposed to be a trip to the Oban Distillery. Due to the current restrictions our tour had to be split into two groups, one group had the morning slot, ours had the afternoon.

We didn’t do that much with our new found freedom. We went to Tesco’s, to top up on our snacks. Tesco’s in Oban may have the widest catchment area of any supermarket in the UK. People apparently come from as far away as Barra to do their shopping. (Probably a monthly shop rather than weekly.)

Having picked up our, hotel supplied, packed lunches we set off for the ferry terminal to catch the MV Isle of Mull, to Mull. Craiginure, to be precise.

MV Isle of Mull (Photo from Wikipedia)

I’m not sure what the original itinerary was, but what happened was we caught the ferry across to Mull, disembarked, then re-boarded, and went straight back to Oban. The Sound of Mull is a very scenic cruise, and the weather was excellent, if a little chilly, but it would have been nice to spend a bit of time actually on the Island. I am making the assumption that getting us back for the Distillery was the object of the exercise

  • NLV Pharos
  • Sister Ship MV Isle of Lewis
  • McBrayne’s Funnel

We arrived back in Oban in plenty of time for our distillery visit. Again it wasn’t as I had anticipated. I thought we would be given a tour round the actual distillery, followed by a dram in the sample room. What we got was a very entertaining talk on how the whisky is made. Our guide explained how the taste of the whisky is influenced by how the malt is produced, the smokiness, from the peat, the esters that give the whisky its subtly, from the brewing, and to a lesser extent, distilling process. Above all the character of the whisky comes from the cask that it is matured in. Normally the casks are second hand American Bourbon casks, but they also use old sherry casks.

We were given a ‘tasting’ stave of four of the distillery’s products. The standard 14 year old, a Distillers Edition, the Little Bay and a Distillery only bottling. The only problem was that because of current restrictions on selling alcohol in Scotland, we were only allowed to nose (smell) them. Now you can tell a lot about a whisky’s character by its nose. The people who produced blended whiskies, such as Bells or The Famous Grouse, do it almost all by the nose. However it is not quite the same as being able to taste them. They did however give us samples to take away and taste at our leisure. It was unfortunate that the sample bottles looked like the type of thing you would use to take a urine sample to the doctors. We were assured that the product inside did taste much better.

I decided, based on the nose, to buy a bottle of the fourteen year old. When we tried our samples back at the hotel, I decided that I had made a good choice. Actually, the Distillery only bottling was sublime, but it was £100 a bottle.

I may have a comparative tasting session with the Caol Ila. I could also include the Ardbeg that my sister bought me for my birthday and Diane’s current favourite, Laphroaig. The Ginger Wine will not be going anywhere near any of them.

Tonight we didn’t have a dinner booked at the hotel. Rail Discoveries, rightly, assume that most people like a change from the hotel food and want to find a restaurant and eat out for one night of the tour. Scottish Covid-19 restrictions, unfortunatly, mean that all restaurants have to close at six p.m. which is a pity because Oban has a few decent restaurants. Takeaways are still allowed to open, so we found a chip shop. Diane was boring and had cod and chips, which you can get in any chip shop anywhere. I had white pudding supper. I haven’t had one for about forty years.

Also while we were waiting for our chips we saw a most magnificent sunset.

The chips were nearly as good.