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In the red corner we have the famous walking man in his 1980's guise, he's served from a very recognisable square bottle into my classic malt glass where he glows with the colour of 9ct yellow gold. The nose offers leafy vanilla with a hint of banana stem. Over time the leafiness expands and now includes a definite mustiness. The palate is surprisingly faint but does offer a slight suggestion of liquorice and peachiness. In contrast the finish is surprisingly long and consistant with a creamy peachiness.

In the yellow corner we find a 1980's 12y clipper by the name of Cutty Sark. It is served from a rather different, dumpy and angular vessel from today's variant and when moored in my classic malt glass it glows with the colour of light cork. The nose is somehow creamy(?), woody and also grassy, in fact this reminds me of something I tried recently, but what...? With time in the glass the woodiness and grassiness expand, then after 4-5 minutes they just gently fade away. The palate offers a very nice creamy mouth-feel with hints of vanilla, wood and a fruitiness akin to red apple and pear. Maybe even a touch of not so bitter star fruit? The finish is quite long.

I tasted both these drams blind after being given the samples by a whisky friend in Limburg (Thanks R.), so initially I was trying to place them and I initially wondered if the JW was indeed Scotch. Somehow it almost seemed like a rather subdued Canadian and it was a pleasant whisky even if a little subdued. The Cutty Sark was always going to be Scotch in my mind and along the lines of some of the more 'outdoors' or grassy variants. Once I was told what it was  I realised my "seems familiar" thought was referring back to my last MMA reviews and the trio of submitted Cutty Sark, although this one is just a wee bit different to the current 12y variant.

And the winner is? For its slightly bolder character along with more depth and complexity the clipper definitely triumphs over the walking man on this occasion by a couple of points. Now where's that old White Horse .......

Limburg is a kind of Whisky Utopia to nerds or Maniacs like me. It's the biggest and best when it comes to what was as opposed to what is. It specialises in old and rare bottlings alongside an impressive array of independent bottlers, but let's forget whisky for a moment. Yes, really, but maybe not for too long.

Limburg's history appears to date back to around the year 800 when the first castle buildings arose on the crags above a ford across the river. The town grew under the protection of the castle in the following years and decades. Limburg sits on the long-distance road between Cologne and Frankfurt (am Main) and the first wooden bridge was constructed across the Lahn at Limburg in 1150.

St. George's Cathedral (Sankt-Georgs-Dom) was built on the old Monastery church's site in 1235, this previous Monastery church was also originally called GeorgsDom. The Cathedral with its seven towers still overlooks the river and the old town today.

Nooks and Crannies (or what I referred to as Crooks and Nannies - sorry Limburg residents) are best described as hidden corners, recesses and remote or partly hidden areas and I feel this quite accurately describes the old town of Limburg.

Limburg weekend is always sunny, isn't it? Ahh yes, you see nice blue skies in some photos above but I was fortunate to arrive on a lovely sunny Thursday and also enjoyed a sunny Friday morning, leaving on a sunny Monday morning. As for the bits in between, well, the weather is probably best described pictorially by the famous landmark right outside the festival hall:

Click on any picture here for a larger version

Monat

Jan. 2011