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