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Whisky

Exploring Global Whisky: A Personal Advent Calendar Journey (The conclusion)

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With Christmas Day my Advent Calendar came to an end. There are no more whiskies to try. (In my Advent Calendar). There are still thousands, millions maybe, of whiskies still out there. I can drink a different whisky every day, from today until I run out of breath. By then, I would just about have scratched to surface of all that this wonderful drink has to offer.

Dec 25th – Christmas Day

Our final whiskey is a Bourbon from the United States, from Kentucky to be precise. Made by Michter’s, they claim to trace their lineage back to America’s first whiskey company in 1753. I do suspect that whiskey had been produced unofficially long before then.

It is Michter’s US★1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon. It has an ABV of 45.7% and is dark amber in colour. Its nose has leather, dried fruit and just a hint of smoke. They char their barrels, and I think that is where the smoke comes from. On the palate I got sweetness, somewhere between maple syrup and caramel, with nutmeg and cinnamon. Followed by a hint of the oak char.

I enjoyed tasting this whiskey. Online the price it is offered at varies considerably. But I think it is reasonable value. It and the other Bourbon (Maker’s Mark) in the box have made me think. I should try a few others.

My Advent Calendar whisky journey has taken me from the far North of Sweden, south to New Zealand, then west to Kentucky and Tennessee, in the United States, and east to Japan and Taiwan. We have visited quite a few other countries on route.

I won’t say I liked every every whisky, but I did enjoy the experience of trying them. As the blurb on the box says, in the worst case scenario, it saves you from having twenty-five nearly full bottles of something that you don’t really get on with. Every whisky drinker has one or two of those.

There are a few that I wouldn’t drink again. There are many that I would happily accept as a gift. Some of them I would pay hard-earned cash for.

I didn’t get on with any of the Rye whiskies. I was surprised by how much I liked the Bourbons. I have never been a fan of sherry cask whiskies in the past. However, I was surprised by a couple of them. When it came to the whiskies that I liked best, I am a huge fan of Islay malts. Especially the slightly less peat prominent ones, like Caol Ila. So it is no surprise to me that the two whiskies I liked best, have similarities to Islay Malts. Those two are the Connemara 12 year old and the Yoichi single malt.

All of this is purely my personal opinion and taste. As I said right at the start, I am no whisky expert, just someone who enjoys a dram. And I did enjoy these twenty five, very different drams.

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.