Whisky Advent Calendar Part 2 (Dec. 7th to 13th)

We're halfway through the advent and here is part two of my Whisky Advent Calendar summary.

The next 7 Whiskies of the Advent Calendar

December 7th - Austrian Single Malt Whisky Wieser Distillery

We start week two with a Whisky from Austria. Not many people know that there is such a thing as an Austrian Whisky. We in Austria have around 50 - compared to Scottish standards very small - distilleries. Some of them produce even that little that you will not get a hold on some Whisky. Around 35 produce enough Whisky that you may get some on the market. But mainly you will have to get it directly from the distillery. 2012 the "Austrian Whisky Association - AWA" was founded. They try to make Austrian Whisky known in Austria and Europe. There are currently 13 members in the AWA. Just check them out. Austrian Whisky can be interestingly different to Scottish and even Irish Whisky! Some are very good some aren't. But don't try and compare them to their "great" brothers. Austrian Whisky is a typical Austrian product just as Scottish Whisky is to Scotland. I've already tasted this Whisky before, so I decided to look back after I did the tasting. Well, it was very similar, but the score was a little bit lower than before. I decided to merge the two tastings and create a mean with the two scores.

My Tastingnotes

Age: 5yo

 

ABV: 43%

Distillery: Wieser, Austria

Colour: light golden

Nose: very light, apple, some toffee and chocolate, marzipan and hints of fresh wood, some lemon and a little bit rye(?), with time there's still the keen notes from freshly distilled alcohol.

Body: smooth

Palate: Fresh wood, sweet, some lemon(?) and hints of pepper

Finish: warming, not very long but oily

My score: 68

December 8th - Scotch Speyside Single Malt Whisky Inchgower Distillery

Back to the main land of Whisky. This distillery is located north to Keith not far away from Elgin. So we're talking Speyside! Despite the fact that the distillery is capable of producing roughly 2m litres alcohol per annum it is widely unknown. Only a small fraction from the Diago distillery is designated to become a Single Malt. Every other drop is for the blending industry, mainly Johnny Walker. There is something special about this Whisky. It is bottled as a so called "Cask Strength". Nothing new for me, but great to have it in a Advent Calendar. Instead of diluting the finished Whisky with water to 40 to 46% abv (drinking strength) this Whisky is bottled with the alcoholic content as it comes out of the cask therefore "Cask Strength". Caution is advised for the inexperienced Whisky drinker. These "Cask Strength" Whiskies can be quite strong and sometimes some drops of water may be a good idea. And with this particular Whisky it was a good idea!

My Tastingnotes

Age: 15yo

 

ABV: 57.7%

Distillery: Inchgower

Colour: deep amber

Nose: Fresh notes from apple and lemon, some nutty aromas with hints of iodine, a little bit fresh spirit and some dried fruits are there too.

+H₂O: With water the spirit develops even more dried fruits but also some sweetness from toffee and vanilla.

Body: full and intense

Palate: Boooooom, very intense at the beginning. Didn't expect this! After the initial surprise there is lots of toffee and spices combined with some lemon and oak wood.

+H₂O: With water this nice dram becomes much soother but nevertheless intense. Jupp there's defiantly toffee and pepper!

Finish: very long, as expected

My score: 87

December 9th - Irish Single Malt Whiskey "Jacks Choice" Sauternes Cask Finish

Again on the green Island. This Whiskey was chosen by Jack Teeling (yes the one from Teeling Whiskey) and after 11 years in an American oak cask it was finished for 3 more months in a Sauternes cask. It is unlikely that this Whiskey is from the Teeling Whiskey Distillery itself since they "just" opened their distillery. The first distillery in 125 years in Ireland! I'm looking forward to their own products as they try to "bring the craft of distilling back into the very heart of Dublin city centre." But I digress back to the Whiskey at hand!

My Tastingnotes

Age: 11yo

ABV: 41%

Distillery: no information, but Irish

Colour: light amber

Nose: At first there is some fresh and fruity apple, maybe some nuts. With time it develops some acidy notes but it stays very fresh and light. Can't disguise it's heritage typical Irish! I like it.

Body: round, mild and very delicate

Palate: Typical Irish Whiskey! Very fine toffee and apple notes combined with some very light spices, some oak wood and lemons.

Finish: not so long but okay and warming.

My score: 69

December 10th - Scotch Isle of Mull Single Malt Whisky Ledaig Distillery

This distillery on the Isle of Mull - the only distillery on Mull - was founded in 1798 and was known in the beginning as Ladaig. The distillery was closed a few times during the course of time and has undergone different owners. The main product the Tobermory Singe Malt is used for different blends including the famous "Black Bottle". But there is still some Single Malt known as "Ladaig". It is the peated version distilled in this nice distillery with an output of around 1m litres alcohol per annum.

My Tastingnotes

Age: 7yo

ABV: 43%

Distillery: Ledaig/Tobermory

Colour: light golden

Nose: There's lots of peat, phenol and even some iodine and smoked meat. But with time you can taste some very delicate and fine notes of honey too.

Body: lot's of edges

Palate: Smoked meat with a salty crust on it, little bit of iodine and some sweetness.

Finish: not very long but nice

My score: 63

December 11th - Scotch Speyside Single Malt Whisky Glen Moray Distillery

Located near Elgin this is a typical Speyside distillery. They are capable of producing around 3.3m litres alcohol per annum thanks to some newly installed stills. Before 2004 the distillery belonged to Glenmorangie and here at Glen Moray Macdonald and Muir stared experimenting with wood finishes which made Glenmorangie so famous. Glen Moray was then sold to Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy and later to their actual owner La Martiniquaise. Parts of the production are used for the companies blends but they also have some interesting Single Malts.

My Tastingnotes

 

Age: 12yo

ABV: 46%

Distillery: Glen Moray

Colour: golden

Nose: Very fruity and sweet (toffee and honey), but also some acidy notes from a freshly cut lemon.

Body: round and smooth

Palate: Very, very sweet! It's like chewing on some fudge but also a little bit prickling! And last but not least some oak wood is present too.

Finish: quite long and warming

My score: 70

December 12th - Scotch T-spooned Malt Whisky Ed.No.1 Balvenie & Glenfiddich 17yo

So this Whisky gave me some headache. Even before I tried it. "T-spooned Malt Whisky"? After some research my darkest fears had become true. "It [the Single Malt Whisky from Balvenie?] has been refined[??] with a tablespoon Single Malt Scotch Whisky [from a Glenfiddich Single Malt?]" (or vice versa)! I mean, really?? First of this is a blend not a Single Malt (as I explained before; a Single Malt must be from one distillery). So this is not a Single Malt anymore. Second: one (or even two or ten) tablespoon(s) into another cask (with 200 litres or more)? What for? Come on this is a joke, right? 20 to 200ml into a cask of 200 litres? What should this 0.1% (or even less) extra Whisky do? Refine it? I doubt it. This sounds just like the idea of homeopathy to me and please don't get me started on this. This is a Whisky blog and not some esoteric blog. I understand that some distilleries don't want their name on anything except their own product. That's absolutely fine and I fully agree with them. Look how the SMWS does this. They use a number code so that their members do know the distillery it was made in (after all the distillery and the climate influences the taste of the spirit) but without writing the name on it. So back to the Whisky, let's see how this Whisky tastes.

My Tastingnotes

Age: 17yo

ABV: 41%

Distillery: Balvenie and/or Glenfiddich

Colour: light amber

Nose: This Whisky reminds me of the 12yo Glenfiddich, flowery fruity notes combined with some apples and toffee. Later on there are some very faint oak wood notes.

Body: very smooth and round

Palate: Yep, if I had to guess that's definitely a Whisky from the Glenfiddich Distillery. Apple, some toffee, maybe even some peppery notes. All combined with a very fine and delicate citric note.

Finish: quite long and warming

My score: 70

December 13th - Scotch Speyside Single Malt Whisky Tamdhu Disillery

Back to a real Single Malt from the Tamdhu distillery. This Speyside distillery is located in the very heart of the Speyside. The name is gaelic and translates to "little dark hill". The distillery - capable of producing around 4m litres alcohol per annum - was used for long years by the Highland Distillers making the stuff for blended Whisky - mainly for the "The Famous Grouse". After closing and selling the distillery to Ian MacLeod Distillers in 2011 they started to produce again around 2012/13. There are three Whiskies from the distillery itself - the "Tamdhu, the 10yo and the 18yo" (mainly from the warehouses and not from the actual production as this "New Make" is still too young to be called Whisky!). There are some other bottlings from independent bottlers available, dating back to the time the distillery belonged to the Highland Distillers. Something quite special around Scottish distilleries: they (still) have their own malting floors and are capable of producing enough malted barley to deliver it even to other distilleries in the area.

My Tastingnotes

 

Age: 15yo

ABV: 43%

Distillery: Tamdhu

Colour: light amber

Nose: Sweetness from honey, some oak wood and plums, as well as some dried fruits. Very delicate and full.

Body: full and very mild

Palate: Also very sweet but more toffee than honey. There's still some oak wood (freshly cut!) but also some apple and vanilla notes. As a topping there are some faint hints of spices combined with some freshness.

Finish: quite long and warming

My score: 72

This week's Whiskies were quite controversial. At least one or two. On day 8 the first cask strength Whisky. Well, I had hoped for more not just the usually 40 - 46% abv Whiskies but they were quite fine. Nothing exceptional but quite good. I should talk to Jutta and Thomas from the SMWS-AT. Maybe we can come up with an advent calendar made of SMWS Whiskies. The "T-spooned" Whisky was not a big surprise as the small amount of "extra" Whisky couldn't do much, just as I suspected. Without any information I couldn't have told the distillery but they mentioned Balvenie and Glenfiddich. So I went with Glenfiddich as the "main" Whisky in this blend. The Sauternes cask finish Whiskey was fine but like the 2015 Kilchoman PX finish Whisky I've encountered at The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show in London I couldn't make out a distinctive influence from the finishing cask. It wasn't bad (as the Kilchoman wasn't) but I would have liked it maybe even more if I had nosed/tasted the finishing cask. So that's it for this week. The third Part of my summary will go online on December 20th!

Slàinte,
Lukas