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Long before I even knew my wife she often spent her summer holidays travelling to Scotland and Ireland. Student travel was easy, safe and relatively cheap some thirty years ago when she would buy a European rail pass and just head north from Munich for a month or so.

She's never been a great whisky fan but I guess travelling around you're never far from a distillery, bottle or dram and on one of those trips, it seems this postcard caught her eye. Yes, the picture above is not of actual bottles, but a postcard from Scotland in the shape of five bottles of whisky. The bottles were all current products of Invergordon at that time which we estimate to be during the late 1970's or early 1980's.

Some of these whiskies are still available and any good whisky shop should offer Old Fettercairn or Tamnavulin. Sheep Dip is also available if you look hard enough and sometimes you may find an Invergordon grain whisky even if they don't bottle a standard 10y OB any more. If you do manage to find these you'll certainly find them with different labels or presentations to these from thirty years ago.

To cut a long story short it's taken me a good year of searching but just today I have managed to bring this postcard to life as the last actual bottle is now here with me. Making this postcard reality has been great fun and I'm delighted to re-awaken my dear wife's memories of those youthful trips some 30 years ago.

Slàinte Sabine

Following "Postcard from Scotland" (above) I've decided to embark on a summer journey of further whisky discovery. We'll visit no less than ten different countries with our current schedule set to include (in alphabetical order) Canada, France, Germany, Holland, India, Ireland, Japan, Taiwan, Tasmania and The USA.

Of course no journey would be complete without a travelling partner (or two) so let me introduce you to Phileas Frogg and his tiny friend. We'll be setting out almost immediately and air currents permitting, our first scheduled stop should be The Emerald Isle where we hope to find a cornucopia of goodies to bring to you.

Let the journey commence ......

from

Ireland

Photo copyright Whisky-Emporium Photography

We've landed in The Emrald Isle and today as the first of four postcards from Ireland we experience the products of the oldest licensed distillery in the world, or so they claim and I don't see anyone arguing with this. Old Bushmills Distillery emboss a proud 1608 on their bottles and this reflects the first license to distil granted by King James I back in that year.

Even though I've tried many different Irish whiskeys, for some strange reason I haven't tried any Bushmills until now so let's put that right immediately:

All these thre OB offerings are bottled at 40%abv which I only really noticed as perhaps being a little watery on the palate of the 16y, but having said this the 16y was by far my favourite and this actually won the award for "Best Sherried Whisky" in our 2012 Malt Maniacs Awards for the Daily Dram category.

Bushmills 10y has a quite spirity quality to the nose whilst offering what I describe as fruitiness and also some grappa-like qualities. The palate loses that spitiriness but retains the very pleasant fruity and floral nuances.

Bushmills 16y is definitely the pick of the bunch here for me with a totally stunning 87 points and well deserved too.  The nose has some initial woodiness but is also oozing with dark fruits, furniture polish and almonds. The fruitiness expands to include figs on the palate and has a wonderful creamy mouth-feel even if just a tad watery. Overall this is an excellent whiskey and really fantastic value for money too.

Bushmills 21y has some quite astounding dairy qualities, milky chocolate drink on the nose alongside some light sherry or wine influence which reminds me of those small "Cherry B" and "Pony" drinks from my late teens. The palate is extremely more-ish with some marvellous exotic fruitiness and all wrapped in a certain "je ne sais quoi".

Please click on the bottle pictures above to visit my full whisky review for that particular whiskey

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Ireland

(Part 2)

Our stay in The Emrald Isle is extended as today we focus on some of the products of The Midleton Distillery. This distillery is probably most well known for their Redbreast range and also their annual Midleton "very rare" annual releases, but their portfolio includes much more.

Today's reviews see me trying Tullamore Dew Heritage, Yellow Spot, Powers John's Lane and Redbreast 12y CS:

Tullamore Dew Heritage is a special edition of 20 casks of blended whiskey which were laid down in August 2000 to commemmorate the opening of the Heritage Centre in Tullamore, Co. Offaly. This whiskey has a very fresh nose comprising a sweet maltiness and always remains light and faint with some lovely floral attributes appearing after a few minutes. The palate also has a fruity sweetness alongside some lightly spirity grappa-like notes which lead into and even dominate the long finish. This is a very different style of Irish whiskey from what I'm used to, but not at all unpleasant.

Yellow Spot Oooh lots of creamy earthiness initially dominates the nose, then comes a delightful peachy fruitiness which expands further before being followed by a second wave of that earthiness. In fact the peachy fruitiness and earthiness just seem to alternate and take it in turns to tease the olfactory senses. The palate pretty well continues from the nose with that earthy, peachy fruitiness but this time accompanied by a suggestion of banana stem and oakiness. I love that alternating earthiness and fruitiness, a really most enjoyable whisky indeed.

Powers John's Lane This is a 12y single pot still version of Powers whiskey which celebrates the origins of the now defunct Powers distillery. The nose is quite gentle and subdued but still offers some water melon and peachy fruitiness. The palate also offers that peachy fruitiness with a very creamy mouth-feel. The finish is surprisingly long as it just continues in the same fruity vein as the nose and palate. If ever there was a totally laid back or relaxed whiskey then this is the one. It's subdued and gentle, maybe even a little shy but absolutely delightful.

Redbreast 12y Cask Strength Batch 1/11 Initially offers some light and very aromatic  liquorice root on the nose which quickly intensifies and expands to include vanilla and (car) polish. The palate is big, very big with fruity polish and a creamy mouth-feel. Wonderful. The finish is very long and suggests open fire embers right at the end. I think I'm in love with a whiskey, this just has that je ne sais quoi which tickles my proverbial fancy.

Our little soirée into Pernod Ricard's Midleton distillery has been a true delight today. Four quite different whiskeys and all recommendable from the sweet maltiness of the Tullamore Dew Heritage, through the fruity earthiness of Yellow Spot, the very gentle John's Lane and the quite stunning Redbreast CS. Do I have to select a 'winner' today? If I'm pushed it's a very close call between John's Lane and the Redbreast CS, but the Redbreast just has that little something extra which tickled my fancy.

My thanks to 'PJ' for the Tullamore Dew Heritage sample and bottle picture.

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Ireland

(Part 3)

Our third postcard from Ireland features Cooley (Riverstown) distillery which was, until January 2012 a totally independent one owned by Jack Teeling, but more of him later in Postcard number 4. Beam Inc. now own this distillery and at least for the moment I'm pleased to see not much has changed.

Today I have the pleasure of revisiting the Connemara small batch No.1; a sherry cask peated whiskey which I tried shortly after it was originally released. In addition there are two Greenore grain whiskeys aged 6y & 19y.

I've tried many different Greenore ages so far, including the 8y (special for Canada), 10y, 15y & 18y so I'm delighted to add to these with two new extremes; 6y & 19y which I think is now the oldest Irish single grain whiskey to be bottled.

Greenore 6y single Irish grain whiskey initially offers slightly spirity butterscotch on the nose which soon expands to include hints of apricot. With time in the glass this develops a lightly perfumed (or perhaps floral?) character with more fruitiness too. The palate has a slightly watery mouth-feel (is it 40% abv?) and also offers that slightly spirity butterscotch alongside a faintly perfumed leafiness.

Greenore 19y single Irish grain whiskey has lots of fresh woodiness on the nose which turns more fruity as time passes. Yes, after some minutes this really does have a fruity woodiness, with the fruitiness being quite exotic. I'm thinking apricot, mango, papaya and Galia or Cantaloupe melon. The palate continues nicely from the nose with plenty of initial tingle and lightly peppery melon and papaya. Mmmm, melon served with just a little black pepper? This is big and bold, certainly not shy with lots of presence.

Connemara sherry finish small batch No.1 is a whiskey I have tried before and thoroughly enjoyed so let's see if it's still as good. The nose does indeed still exude soft and gentle Irish peatiness with hints of sherry. There's also something a little farmy in the background which isn't as prominent as the 'manure' which I detected last time. If anything I'm detecting something akin to cherries here today. The palate retains that excellent harmony which is not often found in sherry-finished peated whisk(e)y. It's very balanced and very good too.

As I mentioned; I thoroughly enjoyed the Connemara 'sherry' last time and today just re-inforces that opinion. It's an excellent whiskey with a very good balance between peat and sherry. It is certainly the star of the show today. Although I really liked the Greenore 8y I feel this 6y is still just a little young and maybe bottled at too low an abv as I was surprised at the palate's slight wateriness. In contrast the Greenore 19y was big, bold and certainly not shy with lots of tropical fruitiness. It also exhibited a fresh-woodiness which in my opinion keeps it just below the 18y I previously tried, but it's still a good whiskey.

My thanks to 'PJ' for these three samples and Greenore bottle pictures.

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Ireland

(Part 4)

Our fourth and final postcard from Ireland has something of an independent theme as we discover Jack Teeling's new "Teeling Whiskey" company and a Midleton bottled for the Irish Whiskey Society members. As I mentioned in our previous postcard; Cooley distillery was totally independent until January 2012 when Jack Teeling sold it to Beam Inc. Since then he has founded a new company under his own name which, he says, aims to highlight different styles of Irish Whiskey. His first bottling was finished in a rum cask and the second, only just released is a 21y 1991 Irish whiskey finished in Sauternes casks and is the first release from his new Vintage Reserve Collection. The IWS bottling is from Midleton distillery, cask No.1038, bonded 13th January 1995, bottled 17th October 2012, warehouse M09 Bay 13 and limited to 204 bottles.

Teeling Rum Cask has a slightly dry character on the nose with hints of single cask, quality (also dry-ish) rum. With time in the glass it becomes slightly sweeter, but never very much so. With further time hints of malty biscuit develop to round off the experience. The palate has a very nice creamy mouth-feel and is definitely sweeter than the nose suggested. For me this exudes typical Irish smoothness and gentleness alongside a suggestion of dry rum. The finish is long and really quite fruity.

Teeling 21y Vintage Reserve Collection, edition 1 begins with some light farmy notes to the nose but soon expands to include a wonderful fruitiness reminiscent of banana, peach, cantaloupe melon and even blueberry. This fruitiness intensifies with time and the palate just continues from here with a very smooth mouth-feel and offering all the fruitiness promised by the nose. In fact the blueberry notes are definitely most prominent and continue into the medium to long finish.

Irish Whiskey Society (Midleton) 1995-2012 Is that a burst of Brasso alongside the woodinesss of the nose? Yes, it could well be but it's certainly not unpleasant, in fact really pretty nice. I feel this needs some time and I'm not disappointed when, after 5-6 minutes I'm reminded of hot cherries in custard, very nice. The palate is much more bold and, dare I say; much more alive as it tantalises with lots of tingle. That suggestion of cherries is also more prominent here and accompanied by red and white currants as the fruitiness just tingles its way steadily into the finish.

What a great way to round off our little venture into the many different facets of Irish Whiskey where, upon reflection the star of this show is certainly the Teeling 21y with a truly magnificent 87 points. The Connemara sherry comes in next with 86 points followed jointly by the IWS bottling and the Teeling rum cask both on 85 points.

My thanks once again to 'PJ' for the various samples and bottle pictures, without which this series of postcards from Ireland wouldn't have been what it is, but now it's time to pump-up the balloon, pack our bags and see where the wind takes us next on our adventure. See you again soon ..........

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Holland

After a surprisingly quick journey thanks to last night's stormy winds we now find ourselves in Holland, or perhaps more accurately The Netherlands. Possibly not a country most assosiated with whisky distilleries but Fred van Zuidam founded his Zuidam distillery back in 1975 with a small one-still operation which has grown to a much larger 4-still operation today. He has an extensive portfolio of products including liqueurs, Geneva, rum and yes, whisky.

Today I'll introduce you to a Milroy's (IB) version of Zuidam 100% Pure Pot Still Rye whisky, distilled in 2007, bottled Sept. 2011 at 46% abv. It's from cask 448 virgin American Oak and one of 298 bottles: My first thought as I begin nosing is to ask "Is this really a whisky?" Yes it is indeed but a very different one as the first notes to hit the nose are those of quite herbal aniseed. This is amazingly different with lots of floral and herbal nuances, yes almost aniseed, maybe candy floss? Then something almost fruity. No aniseed here on the palate but everything else herbal and floral transport nicely from the nose in a slightly dry way. That suggested fruitiness now develops into something akin to dates or maybe figs. I really am enjoying this, it's very different and also good. The finish is very long and again offers that fruity suggestion of dates and figs. So, this really is a very different style of whisky but one which I'd immediately consider as an alternative Christmas dram, especially with those herbal notes. In fcat make that an enjoyable winter warmer in front of a festive open log fire.

This may be a rather quick foray into The Netherlands which probably doesn't do justice to its whisky industry, but it's certainly a pretty good introduction for me and one which makes me want to return in more depth in the future. So, let's quickly pack our clogs and see if we can make the most of those headwinds as we venture further into the world of whisky.

Slàinte Mhath

from

France

We spent the weekend heading south and have now landed in France, Brittany to be exact where we hope to experience two distilleries. The first of which is Glann Ar Mor located in the heart of Trégor on the Presqu'ile Sauvage (Wild Penninsula) although you may know them more as Kornog.

Taouarc'h an Hanv 2012 is a lightly peated whisky in fact my initial impression from the nose is one of lightly peated car polish applied on a sunny day or beach bonfire embers. With time a slightly bitter fruitiness develops but this is always faint and subdued, remaining more in the background. The palate has a nice creamy mouth-feel and then, just like the wild penninsula it explodes initially with a leafiness, but then comes the aftershock or even an eruption of tingly pepperiness, lightly bitter fruitiness and peatiness. This certainly isn't as subdued as the nose. The finish is long but more of a gentle fading after the initial explosion of the palate.

Taouarc'h Pevared 12 BC initially offers a very pleasant lightly perfumed or floral bouquet to the nose which intensifies and with time develops a suggestion of cardboard, rye bread dough and herbal hints of Basil and Rosemary. This theme continues on the palate with a kind of musty, floral, cardboard-iness accompanied by the Basil & Rosemary but also including some lightly peppery raspberry. No, don't misunderstand me here with that cardboard-iness, it's not in any way bad, just diffferent and actually very pleasant. The finish is long and also exhibits a tingly fruitiness.

Sant Erwan 2012 begins with a light farminess and fruitiness on the nose but soon expands to include a  fresh salty earthiness which I can only describe as "Atlantic". Very Atlantic as more time passes. The palate is again more intense than the nose but also offering lots of Atlantic salty freshness alongside a distinct farminess. The finish is medium to long and lightly peppery.

Once again Glann Ar Mor has created three very different whiskies here from the lightly peaty Taouarc'h an Hanv which exploded onto the palate but otherwise remained quite subdued in nose and finish. Then the Taouarc'h Pevared 12 BC with lots happening around a musty, floral herbiness which was quite enticing. I'm not usually a fan of very farmy whiskies, but Sant Erwan 2012 was much more maritime than farmy and it worked extremely well on this occasion. So, it was a close decision but Sant Erwan just comes out on top today with Taouarc'h Pevared 12 BC just behind.

Santé Glann Ar Mor & Kornog

from

France

(Part 2)

We're still enjoying the hospitality of Brittany and France as today we visit the Warenghem distillery known for its Armorik whisky range. Amazingly this distillery was founded back in the late 19th century and production of "Elixir D'Armorique" a plant liqueur which I understand is still sold today.  The range was expanded to include fruit liqueurs in 1919. In 1987 they created their first blended whisky and then, in 1998 The Aromorik single malt whisky was introduced to the range.

Armorik New Spirit No real distillery comparison or head to head is complete without a look at the origin of the product, yes its new spirit. The Armorik (or should that be Warenghem?) new spirit is exceptionally fruit, very richly so with massive amounts of plum and bramble (blackberry) on both nose and palate. It's a very heavy spirit as well as rich and I love it. My apologies to David at Warenghem, as when I try any new (to me) non-Scottish whisky or new spirit I do often tend to make a comparison with Scottish ones and this is no exception. I only ever tasted one other new spirit as rich as this with such obvious and dominant plum-iness and that's Dalmore new spirit, one I also like very much. Congratulations and this bodes well for the other 5 Armoriks to come........

Armorik Classic Lots of vanilla on the nose here, then after a short time there's a faintly woody white wine-iness with a further fruitiness deep in the background. It's not quite the plum-iness from the new make, but not far away. The palate initially has a slightly watery mouth-feel and offers lots of vanilla alongside distinct plum-iness. Plums in custard anyone? This is really very smooth and enjoyable.

Armorik Millésime 2002 I'm assured this is a 10 year old whisky and the nose is filled with suggestions of leather, vanilla (that custard again) and even a hint of red wine. With more time in the glass it turns even more floral and fragrant. As even more time passes it develops a slight tinniness which is not bad, just interesting. The palate is smooth, creamy and fruity with a suggestion of cherries alongside the plums and bramble. This is good as the fruitiness of the new make is really evident here, especially in the finish.

Armorik double matured The nose here begins in a quite grassy and lightly farmy way with a very low-key fruitiness developing slowly in the background. After some minutes it offers a suggestion of milk chocolate and also develops a lightly perfumed or floral character alongside the chocolate. The palate is not quite so complex as the nose with a distinct lightly perfumed or floral trait alongside that milk chocolate. An ever-changing nose gives way to a simply good palate and is indeed a good whisky.

Armorik Sauternes Cask 8015 (CS) Fruity rubberiness or rubbery fruitiness? But all initially quite subdued and developing slowly to eventually include some hints of wood and leather which expand further with more time in the glass. This time the fruitiness is much lighter and more akin to apple, grape and honeydew melon. The palate offers more fruity leatheriness and a distinctly creamy mouth-feel as a burst of butterscotch leads into the very long finish. Once again the palate exceeds the nose here but overall it's another most enjoyable experience.

Armorik Millésime 2002 Cask 3300 This is an advance sample of the Millésime which will be bottled during this summer as Millésime 2013. The nose is really a quite difficult one, or have I just reached my limit of samples for today? Anyway, I feel it needs time, lots of time. Hmmm, I like it but still can't describe it other than to say it's solid, rich and good, very good. The palate is also pretty rich and solid with a rich wine-iness which is slightly sweet before suggesting a dry feel. I really like this whisky, lots, but be sure to add just a few drops of water for best results.

So our journey into France and Brittany is complete and once again we pack ourselves into the balloon and hope for a good wind as our next planned stop is somewhere in Asia.

Many thanks to both Kornog & Armorik for showing us just what French whisky can offer; Vive la France and Rule Bretagne. Santé.

from

India

After a longer than anticipated flight we finally arrive in India which you may think is not renowned for whisky, or at least quality whisky. Well, think again as Amrut have been bottling some jolly good whiskies for some years now and these latest two are no exceptions as you'll soon see.

Ashok Chokalingam is for many the face behind Amrut whiskies and I've never met a more enthusiastic or passionate person when it comes to whisky. His good humour is truly infectious as he pours drams from two recent bottlings, in fact one is so new it's an advance sample of what will be Amrut Herald 2013. The second is from the remnants that India's greedy angels deigned to leave for bottling, a mere 144 bottles for we mortals and just a fraction of what they obviously enjoyed.

Amrut Herald 2013 as with the original 2012 version this 2013 edition was matured for 4 years in India followed by a further 4 years on the German North Sea archipelago of Helgoland. I was lucky enough to be given a sample before the official bottling was introduced. The nose is quite sweet and fruity with oodles of character. Suggestions of rich oakiness develop with time in the glass but that fruitiness always remains. In fact it now hints of light citrus, specifically pineapple with an accompanying suggestion of passion fruit. The palate is also very fruity but at what seems to be a high abv it's asking for a drop of water ...... With a small splash of water the nose has developed much more of that pineapple-iness which also extends onto the palate as the woodiness has completely gone now. The finish is very long without the water and only slightly shorter with it. My overall impression is of a fruity and very 'clean' whisky with oodles of citrussy pineapple reminding me of my childhood olde worlde sweet shoppe in the days before packaging when everything was displayed in open jars and bought by weight.

At 8 years old Amrut Greedy Angels is the oldest whisky yet to come out of India and, thanks to the climate the Angels were indeed quite relentless in their appreciation of this cask, leaving only 144 bottles at 50% abv for us mortals. The nose is initially filled with hints of woody bread dough. The woodiness fades over time as hints of damson develop. Yes, bread dough and damson, nice. The palate is filled with fruitiness and no bread dough as it explodes with suggestions of cherries, damsons and plums. My overall impression is once again of a delightfully fruity whisky, this time with the richer flavours of cherry, damson and plum. Very nice.

These really are two delightful whiskies, both very fruity, but at the same time very different. WHich do I prefer? It's a hard call but I think Greedy Angels comes out 1 point ahead with 88 over the Herald's 87.

Slàinte Ashok and I look forward to the next time we meet.

My thanks to fellow Malt Maniac and good friend Krishna Nukala for the three pictures depicting the Godess Durga, the Himalayan Valley of Flowers and a calm river deep in the jungles in the western Ghats.

from

Japan

Welcome to Japan the land of the rising sun warmly greets us as July draws to a close and the summer holiday season is well under way back hone in Europe. Today we have the delight of sampling six quite different Japanese whiskies from Yamazaki, Hakushu, Yoichi & Chichibu, so without further ado let's see exactly what they offer.

Yamazaki Bourbon Barrel bottled 2011 The nose immediately offers a lightly scorched fruitiness. Scorched as in gently toasted bread over an open log fire and the fruitiness of heated raspberries and apricots with hints of vanilla suggesting "served on ice cream". The palate is soft, gentle, smooth and really quite warming with a fruitiness now suggesting apricot and peach with some butterscotch in the background. Comfort food. The finish is equally long and warming with suggestions of vanilla.

Yamazaki Puncheon bottled 2011 Furniture polish with hints of cardboard may not sound too good, but this is what the nose intiially offers and no, it's much better than it sounds. This is followed by a slightly bitter vanilla-iness and eventuially crème caramel which expands further with more time in the glass. The palate offers a smooth, almost leafy-like fruitiness which just gently expands across the palate with a warming tingle. The finish is long, almost very long with more of that warming tingle.

Hakushu Sherry Cask bottled 2012 Now this is rich, starting with a colour not far removed from ebony to the suggestions of antique oak and leather immediately predominant on the nose. There's even a slight suggestion of wood smoke in the background whilst retaining a surprising freshness and clarity. With time in the glass an almost, but not quite, perfumed character develops. Wonderful indeed so far. The palate positively explodes with big, rich, bold, even extravagant rich dark fruitiness accompanied by toasted coconut macaroons dipped in milk chocolate. The finish? Let's say all of the nose and palate in a delightfully never-ending way.

Hakushu Heavily Peated bottled 2012 In contrast to the rich ebony of the sherry cask this Heavily Peated bottling is very pale in colour but offers some lovely, very mildly floral and perfumed aromas. I'm reminded of a wild Alpine meadow in early summer but there's also some obvious wood influence without being overly oaky. Maybe this is a little more earthy peatiness, but so far it's more a gentle giant than a peat monster. The palate has a very creamy mouth-feel and is much bigger than the nose as it intensifies across the palate with a very nice floral fruitiness. The finish is once again very long, very aromatic and very good indeed.

Ichiro's Malt, Chichibu "The First" distilled 2008, bottled 2011, bottle No.3159 / 7400 As the name suggests this is the first release from Ichiro Akuto's Chichibu distillery. It's just three years old but already garnering much acclaim, so let's see for ourselves: The nose immediately offers a fruity, slightly leathery marshmallow character with the leatheriness gently expanding over time.  The palate packs a tingly but creamy punch which just screams "jam roly-poly with custard" at me in a really nicely perfumed way. A long and tingly finish completes this very good experience.

Yoichi 1989 - 2012 cask 202393 for LMDW, one of 148 bottles Oh wow, excuse me for a minute whilst I experience another of my youthful flashbacks ...... no, it's not rude although it does involve a sauna .... Harrogate some 32-35 years ago when I and a group of friends visited the old Roman Baths on Sunday mornings. They had been converted to a sauna and steam rooms and gave a welcome weekend respite. So, why the flashback? Well, my first thought on nosing this Yoichi was "sauna" as it offers a warmth alongside lightly scorched woodiness and a slightly antiseptic 'something', again reminding me of oils like euchalyptus which are also typically used in a sauna. This is good, very good. The palate is gently warming with what seems like a light earthiness or even peatiness when it then suddenly intensifies with a veritable explosion to offer big fruity earthiness / peatiness. The finish is again very long, fruity and earthy.

By way of summary and my overall impressions; The Yamazaki Puncheon had a nose which initially suggested mediocrity but soon intensified and the palate was even better so, overall a very good whisky and certainly well recommendable. Ichiro's Chichibu "The First" was a long awaited release in the whisky world and what a cracker it is too. It's extremely difficult to believe this whisky is only three years old with it's generally light character but also displaying intense fruity vanilla characteristics. I'm most certainly looking forward to "The Second". In the Hakushu Heavily Peated I found more intensely light floral and perfumed notes than heavy peat, although it did offer an earthiness too. This isn't bad, in fact it's a very good whisky especially as I love that kind of character in a whisky. I loved the gently scorched or lightly toasted fruitiness of the Yamazaki Bourbon Barrel, it's another lighter whisky with some excellent fruitiness. The Yoichi 1989 for LMDW is stunning and bordering on my personal scale of greatness (90+ pts), but just not quite. The nose hardly betrayed the marvellous earthy peatiness that the palate would offer. It's a whisky of great depth and I loved the flashback to those halcyon days in Harrogate which was a true bonus. So, this brings me to the true start of the show; Hakushu Sherry Cask. What a star it is too. Big, bold, massively extravagant and yet with an underlying lightly perfumed character alongside the rich leatheriness and fruitiness on the nose. The toasted coconut macaroon effect was a delight which immediately transported me to Alsace, speaking of which happy birthday WF!!! Meanwhile, did I just use that word "Great" it certainly is.

from

Taiwan

It's no secret that overe the last couple of years I've been quite well impressed with the bottlings of Kavalan and King Car coming out of Taiwan. Here's my distillery page for Kavalan with my tasting notes so far, but today I'll be trying another single cask edition of Kavalan's Solist:

Kavalan Solist OB for Taiwan whisky club, bourbon cask No.R061113061 56.3% bottle No.169 / 170 The nose gives an immediate explosion of very aromatic sauna (lightly scorched wood) with lots of accompanying oils on stones. In fact it's very gentle and very aromatic with that light woodiness and settles down beautifully with more time in the glass. The palate is delightfully fruity with a light fruit cocktail and vanilla which soon turns quite tingly (black pepperiness?) as a suggestion of red berries develops. The finish continues with a very long and tingly fruitiness. My overall impression here is one of a quite gently civilised nose which gives way to a positively fruity explosion on the palate. It'S good, very good, 87 points worth of very good and yet another brilliant offering from Kavalan.

from

Tasmania

After a few weeks of travelling our party has reached the furthest point from home on our dram-venture as the balloon touches down safely in Hobart, Tasmania. On our agenda for today are two distilleries; Casey Overeem's Old Hobart distillery and Bill Lark's Lark distillery.

Old Hobart distillery is a small, family owned craft distillery run by Casey Overeem and located, as the name suggests in Hobart, Tasmania. They use traditional copper pot stills and mature their spirit primarily in 100 litre casks. Today's first dram is named after the owner "Overeem":

Overeem NAS Sherry Cask No.OHD-005 bottle No.83/158 43%abv The nose intially expounds with aromatic fruitiness before expanding to include leafy hay or straw with hints of vanilla. It's now really quite farmy in character but in a very nice way. Yes, hay, straw, perhaps even farmyard barn and lots of fruitiness. The palate really concentrates the fruitiness with lots of peachiness and warming redcurrant alongside vanilla. The finish is long, gentle and pleasantly mild. My overall impression here is of a very fruity, gentle and mild whisky. A summer delight.

Also in Hobart is the Lark distillery which is another family run business with Bill, Lyn and Kristy Lark primarily running the operation. Kristy (Bill's daughter) is the head distiller and when she joined the team she was one of the world's youngest female distillers.

Lark Port Cask, bottled 2011, 43% abv The nose offers some very aromatic grassiness, almost to the point of an Alpine spring meadow, but not quite although it does continue to expand delightfully in this direction. Eventually a hint of smokiness suggests very floral or even slightly perfumed bonfire embers. Very nice. The palate also suggests perfumed grassiness but has an extra facet of creamy fruitiness with a touch of vanilla.

Lark Cask Strength bottled 2011 58% abv The nose explodes with lightly perfumed fragrances, delightfully light but very aromatic. Then a suggestion of mandarin in the background followed by the development of faint woodiness. The palate is sweet, perfumed, massively intense and also including brandy snap or even butterscotch. Marvellous.

These two Lark bottlings are really very different but both excellent whiskies. The port cask is truly delightful with depths of floral aromas and grassiness which tantalise the nose and palate, whereas the CS is also light but much more intense with lots of sweet exotic fruitiness. In fact it's mental, bloody marvellously mental. Having said this I think the the Port cask offers just a little more, maybe only one point more with an extremely worthy 87pts against 86 for the CS.

Slàinte Mhath and many thanks Tasmania and Hobart.

from

Kentucky

Today we're delighted to send you a "Postcard from USA" I have tried various bourbon offerings before and sadly I don't have the time to extend this much further as we touch down only briefly here before moving on again as time presses. Today's offerings are something a little different with A.H. Hirsch 16y Reserve (Sour Mash) from the now defunct Michter's distillery in Pennsylvania, but bottled in Kentucky  and Rittenhouse Rye 100 proof from Kentucky:

A.H. Hirsch 16y Reserve A nose initially offering furniture polish notes soon expands to include a lightly perfumed butterscotch and some sweetness which certainly reminds me of marshmallow. Yes, it now remains quite sweet. The palate really continues from the nose with some lightly perfumed flavours, plenty of woodiness and, wait for it .... coffee in a quite chicory way. This really does remind me of that chicory-coffee mixture called "Camp coffee" from my childhood. The sweetness continues through the palate and into the extremely long finish which is also mildly syrupy.

Rittenhouse Rye 100 proof The nose on the Rittenhouse is lightly floral as opposed to the perfumed-ness of the Hirsch and although it also has some woodiness, it's also much lighter here. With just a little time the perfumed elements expand further and eventually offer an almost perfumed soapiness, but in a nice way which begins to remind me of the hand-made soap stands at local fayres. The palate just confirms this perfumed soapiness even more intensely and if that's not enough, the finish takes it further and much, much longer.

Here are two quite different offerings; The Hirsch has a delightful nose which has some of my favourite elements but the palate and especially the finish let it down quite badly with that syrupy sweetness, but that's just my personal taste. The Rittenhouse is more floral than perfumed and although a little one-dimensional it is something I like and worth a good 3 points over the Hirsch.

Month

Jan. 2011

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