Tasting #1: Whisky from the "Wieser-Destillerie" in Lower Austria

Age: 5yo

ABV: 41%

Distillery: Wieser (Wachau, NÖ)

Colour: light gold

Nose: very light, chocolate, marzipan, very slightly hints of wood, citric notes of lemon, with time it developed some keen notes from freshly destilled alcohol

Palate: light notes of fresh wood, sweet, hints of pepper(?)

Finish: warming and oily but short

My points: 72/100 (22/15/20/15)

What's in my cabinet?

Today I'll give you a short peek into my Whisky cabinet as the three planned tastings (Benromach, Glenfarclas & Potstil autumn tasting) although I got tickets (they were sold out) weren't attended by me. You might ask yourself why -well I got the flu two days prior. Very unfortunately but there was nothing I could do. So I'll let you peek into my whisky cabinet. I'm sure many of you have a bigger collection but I like to buy and drink Whisky. I don't buy two bottles - one to drink and one to keep - I just buy one bottle and drink it. If I like it very much I might buy another one (if possible) or two or three but eventually I'll empty every bottle of Whisky I own. So here's my list of Whiskies I own or have owned. Empty bottles are marked with a "+" beforehand. And of course this list is by all means not complete. I'm sure I forgot lot's of Whiskies I owned and of course I'll buy new ones.

·        4.200, 14yo, SMWS, 58,1%

·        66.62, 16yo, SMWS, 56,6%

·        Ben Nevis, Sherrybutt, 18yo, Single Cask Collection, 53,1%

·        BenRiach Heart of Speyside, 20yo, OA, 43%

·        BenRiach Sherry Wood, 12yo, OA, 46%

·        Black Adder Raw Cask 1991 (Glen Spey), 22yo, Black Adder, 51,5%

·        Black Bottle (green bottle), n.a.s., OA, 40%

·        Bruichladdich Octomore 06.1, 5yo, OA, 57%

·        Clydsesdale (Auchentoshan), 21yo, Black Adder, 56,2%

·        Dalmore, Bourbon Hogshead/Sherry Cask Finish, 17yo, Single Cask Collection, 53,5%

·        Dimple (Miniatur), 12yo, OA, 43%

·        Dimple Pinch (Miniatur), 15yo, OA, 43%

·        Glendfiddich, 12yo, OA, 40%

·        Glenfiddich Age of Discovery, Red Wine, 19yo, OA, 40%

·        Glenfiddich Age of Discovery, Madeira Cask, 19yo, OA, 40%

·        Glenlivet French Oak Reserve, 15yo, OA, 40%

·        Glenmorangie Sherry Cask Finish LaSanta, 12yo, OA, 43%

·        Glenmorangie The Quinta Ruban, Port Cask, 12yo, OA, 46%

·        Highland Park, 12yo, OA, 40%

·        Kavalan (Miniatur), Port Cask Finish, n.a.s., OA, 40%

·        Kilchoman Port Cask 2014, 3yo, OA, 55%

·        Kilchoman Potstill Edition 2014, PX Finish, 5yo, Potstill, 59,3%

·        + Macallan Fine Oak, 10yo, OA, 40%

·        Nestville, Single Barrel 2009, 5yo, OA, 40%

·        Nestville, Blended Northern Spis Whisky, n.a.s., OA, 40%

·        Nestville, Single Barrel 2008, 6yo, OA, 40%

·        Rogner Rum Fassgelagert, n.a.s., OA, 42%

·        Rogner Rye Whisky No.13, n.a.s., OA, 42,5%

·        Rogner Special Edition No.1 (5 years Whisky Consultants), n.a.s., OA, 62%

·        + Rogner Whisky 3/3, n.a.s., OA, 43%

·        Rogner Whisky No.2, n.a.s., OA, 58%

·        + Tomatin, Bourbon Barrel, 9yo, Single Cask Collection, 55,7%

·        Valt, Single Malt Scotish Vodka, n.a.s., OA, 40%

·        Wieser Whisky, 5yo, OA, 41%

If you have any suggestions which Whisky I could buy or should try just send me a note or comment down here. If you like you can send me also a sample to taste ;) I promise I'll try it and write about it!

That's it for now. I think I'll grab a Glencairn Glass and have a dram or two.

Slàinte,
Lukas

Whisky Advent Calendar from "vomFaß"

Yesterday just before the Laphroaig tasting at "The Highlander" with the Whisky Consultants (maybe stuff for another post) I went to "vomFaß" to get my "Whisky Advent Calendar 2015". I've heard about this last year in mid November but unfortunately all were gone by that time. This year I set a reminder on my phone and called ahead to reserve one.

I know that this is nothing new to many people and I know that there are many different calendars with Whisky out in the wild but I decided to go with this particular Advent Calendar mainly to support a local business (I know that this is an international business but it is operated as a franchise locally). It may not be the most beautiful one in the world (although it is very nicely made and I like the simple design) and there may be better one's but I can remember talking to "The Whisky Dramalista" (@whiskyrepublic on Twitter) in London and he said - as I mentioned earlier on the blog - that Whisky tasting is as much about taste as about history and (personal) stories.

So another reason to try their calendar is a personal story I have with them. I had my very first Whisky tasting there. It was a present from my best friend and buddy Peter. Well sort of a "tasting" because we went there after work and had just half an hour for the tasting. And we had six Whiskies. Should I mention that the rest of our way home was quite funny? But with this tasting my transition from a "Blended Whisky (sometimes even with coke) drinker" to a "Whisky Connoisseur" started.

They tend to have less mainstream and unknown Whiskies. I can remember that I tasted back then (must have been around 2009 or so) a Whisky from "BenNevis" a completely unknown distillery to me at this time. I can't even recall why I liked the Whisky but I do know why I picked it and that I liked it. The reason for picking this particular Whisky back than was that I thought the journey in the book "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" started at the mountain Ben Nevis. Which is of course wrong because it started in Island at the "Sneffels Yocul" as everybody who read the book (I did...) should recall. But at that time I was sure it was the Ben Nevis and looking back I'm happy that I made this mistake.

Interestingly the BenNevis is the only Whisky I recall from that tasting. I didn't make any notes back then... But in 2014 at a tasting from the Whisky Consultants there was a "BenNevis" on the tasting line and I was thrilled to see that Whisky bottled by the Single Cask Collection (an independent bottler from Austria!). It was a 18yo Whisky matured in a sherry butt and I liked it very much. In fact I bought a bottle right away and it is still in my Whisky cabinet.

If your are waiting for a list of the Whiskies you will be disappointed. I won't post the complete list here even that I have it (I won't look at it either because I want to be surprised too). Instead I will twitter every day in the morning (GMT) before going to work the "Whisky of the Day" and in the evening after work a short statement about it. And every Sunday I'll update my blog with some more in depth tasting notes from the Whiskies from the last week. Of course with some pictures and everything.

Slàinte,
Lukas

Falstaff Cocktail- & Spiritsgala 2015

Hello there, today I'm writing about the "Falstaff Cocktail- & Spiritsgala 2015" in Vienna. Beforehand I'd like to apologise because there are no pictures from the venue in this post. This is because of two reasons I'm about to tell you.

First I was not able to leave work early enough (Yes I have a day job, this blog is merely a project in my free time) to be at a decent time at the location of the gala. Which was in the world famous Vienna Hofburg Palace. To be exact the venue was located inside the "Redoutensäle". I'm not sure if these can be visited during a normal tour but if so, take it! The architecture is stunning! But I digress. So guess what, I had to hurry a little bit and forgot to take a spare battery out of my camera bag for my X100T (I figured it would be swamped there - how right I was -, so I decided to take just my camera and my tasting notes book with me) and the battery inside my precious X100T died instantly upon my arrival. My bad, my bad I know.

The second reason was that I was there as a "normal" guest, not as a "press person". Therefore my access to the stage or behind the bars was limited and in front of the bars was literally no space at all. And it was dark as sh**. No problem with my X100T but as you might remember I had no spare battery with me. And my iPhone isn't very low light capable, although you can get great shots out of it. As long as there is enough light of course. I decided to focus on the other task at hand -that is: tasting whiskies and stuff. Well I had one Rum and a few (more or less) interesting whiskies nothing else. After all I'm "That Whisky Guy"...

So I started in the bigger of the "Redutensäle" just to find out there's no Whisky to be found, except from Hermann Rogner. I like his whiskies despite they are made (fully or partly) of rye. I don't really like the taste of rye, but Hermann's doing a great job of adding lot's of other interesting flavours to his whiskies and balancing the rye taste! I had the "Rye - Whisky No.13" which is made from 100% rye and seasoned in ex-brandy casks. Sweet notes from nougat combined with just a hair of smoke can be found as well as some rye (what a surprise)!

After that I started wandering around and found some Whiskies in the smallest of the three rooms, but it was just as crowded as the other two rooms. I had to be patient to get my share of Whisky and heard in that time some funny statements. The best was "This (Kilbeggan 8yo Single Grain) Single Grain Whisky is made of two or sometimes even more different kinds of grain." I guess he just mixed up the two Kilbeggan's they had for tasting, the "8yo Single Grain" which is made from a single - thus ONE - grain and the "21yo Limited Edition" which is a blend of grain and malt Whiskies. I choose the latter one. Quite interesting for a blend, even the finish is longer than you would expect. I found that Whisky quite sweet but combined with the sourness of a golden delicious apple and some spices.

After I had the "Hibiki" (quite flat in the nose but a nice prickling sweet on the palate) and the "Balvenie 15yo" (toffee and some spices on the palate and a muffled sweet in the nose) I spotted the "Johnny Walter Platinum Label". Priced a little bit below the "Highland Park 18yo" I decided to compare the two. I know that this isn't a fair battle but I did it anyway. While the Platinum presents lots of sweet from honey the Highland Park is much more restrained at the nose. As soon as you start drinking them there is much difference! While the Platinum just keeps being sweet the Highland Park is quite round and mild with some interesting spices and apple notes. The Finish on the Platinum is, well let's say, wait, what finish?? But what to expect from a blend? Interestingly both Whiskies are labelled as 18yo, but they are like day and night. I'd prefer the Highland Park, but I'm biased as I like the most northern distillery of Scotland very much. Although I don't like their pricing scheme especially concerning the "Warrior Series"...

After as "26yo Glenfiddich" (apples and toffee, very mild and round) and an "Auchentoshan Three Wood" (ex-Bourbon, Oloroso and PX casks; toffee and iodine at the nose; salt, iodine and just a hint of toffee at the palate) I decided to call it a day. Mainly because I thought it was way to full and the music was quite loud. It was quite difficult to get information from the personal. On one side there were many (too many) people trying to get something to drink and on the other side the music was way too loud. Okay, you might say that this venue is more a social event than a tasting event and you may be right but the music was really loud. But after all it was a nice evening and I could taste some interesting Whiskies!

Slàinte,

Lukas