27/04/2024 The Whisky Fair (Day 1 -- Part 1)

Breakfast of champions

JS and I are in Djermany for The Whisky Fair, commonly referred to as Limburg, for Limburg an der Lahn, the town it takes place in.

The least one can say is that it is popular: queues are long. We join the first we see. It moves very slowly. Another queue forms, and it is unclear if there is any difference. After maybe twenty minutes' waiting, we change queues, and end up inside in five. Obviously, the queues were not equal. What the difference was, we will never know for sure -- only rumours in various languages. At least, it is not raining.

Once inside, we make it to a random room. pat gva joins us in a matter of seconds.

And it begins...

Rosebank 14yo 1966/1990 (46%, Cadenhead)

Nose: metallic, grassy, full of OBE. It has some fruits too, crisp green apple and lime (JS, who finds this orchard-y).
Mouth: warming, sprinkly and fruity, with a lick of metal.
Finish: long, juicy, it comes with a touch of tin, and a jammy note, eventually.
Comment: peaked too soon? 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, pat gva)

elskling joins us.

Bruichladdich 15yo (43%, OB imported by Moon Import, Sherry Wood, 2400b, b.1980s)

Nose: dusty, almost sooty, then warm, hairy. “It feels like a blanket,” says JS.
Mouth: meaty, oily, and hairy again.
Finish: creamy, choc-full of chocolate pudding.

Comment: well... 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, elskling)

Pere and MaltMartin join us.

The Blair Athol 12yo (46 Gradi, OB exclusive for VI ME, b.1980s)

Nose: cured meat, dry sausage, dust, and loads of salt. JS has salted liquorice too.
Mouth: mellow, juicier than expected, it has charred jams and marmalades.
Finish: soot-y and meaty, dusty, with lingering salt.
Comment: two versions exist with different addresses. This is the one with "Via Cerruti 7 Biella (Vercelli)" as the address. Crazy to see something at 46% ABV from that era, when 40 was the norm. 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, Pere)

125.6 11yo 1995/2006 Toffee, toffee, toffee (57.4%, SMWS imported by Kraan and Richards)

Nose: an odd metallic-floral scent, very fragrant and very focussed.
Mouth: hot, full of hyacinths, then strong pepper.
Finish: honey explosion on a steel blade.
Comment: even if it is not one of the designer casks, this is good. 8/10

Savoureur joins us.

Bruichladdich 15yo d.1965 (43%, OB imported by Moon Import)

Nose: initially meaty, more so than the Sherry version we had earlier. It then gives a touch of hand wash.
Mouth: lukewarm, a notch mineral, with a faint lick of smoke. It is ever changing, however, and the next sip has the creaminess of pulped apricots.
Finish: long, fruity, jammy, apricots and peaches all round. Lovely.
Comment: I preferred the Sherry one, which is unusual for me. 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, Savoureur)

Bowmore 37yo 1968/2006 (41%, Duncan Taylor Rare Auld, Oak Cask, C#3826, 150b, b#131)

Nose: decaying tropical fruits, and a thin veil of smoke. I recognise this blind, so unmistakable it is. Not the cask number, sadly.
Mouth: juicy, soot-y, 1960s-Bowmore-y. Breathing makes it lose a lot of the fruit in favour of ashes.
Finish: apricots, peaches, mangoes, smoke. It is still juicy, but ashier than it is fruity, the more it stays in the glass. In fact, it is the ashiest of those bottlings that I have tried.
Comment: apparently, we have tried this before. We wanted to find out, then, if that bottle was tired. We now have, and it likely was: it makes a much stronger impression today. 10/10

We bump into  PG on the way upstairs.

Irish Single Malt Scotch Whisky 26yo 1988/2014 (48.3%, The Whisky Agency & Acla Da Fans Acla Selection specially selected for Whisky-Schiff Zürich 2014, 183b)

Nose: how could this compete with the Bowmore, eh? Nevertheless: creamy, buttery and fruity, ripe with mangoes.
Mouth: Boom. An explosion of tropical fruits, chiefly mangoes, but also persimmons of the sharon type, and peaches.
Finish: long, fruity, buttery. This is insanely good — or insahnely, as the locals (should) say.
Comment: the (in)famous mislabelled one that I thought we had in 2020. We had not, after all. It is as good as advertised. 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, PG)

Time to visit EG's stand.

Glens Extra 8yo (70° Proof, Robert Watson imported by DROPS, b.1970s)

Nose: pickled onions, dusty, briny, and acidic. Dusty fruits appear later, then lichen on apples.
Mouth: mellow, silky, it has a loverly texture, with peach nectar to complement.
Finish: ashy, soot-y and fruity, here are charred peaches and apricots, and just a droplet of brine, thankfully.
Comment: Glens Extra, West Highland Malt, and Springbank all on the same label. This is not an easy one to get acquainted with. 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, EG)

Isle of Jura 30yo 1990/2021 (43.6%, The Whisky Fair, Barrel, C#1838, 160b)

Nose: orchard fruits (apples, poached peaches, and pears so well done they are turning mushy), squashed kaki, and a mint cream.
Mouth: meow! Fresh and fruity, jellied apples and mushy pears for an overall velvety texture, and a touch of flint to please.
Finish: long, fresh and juicy, like a peach salad with crushed mint leaves sprinkled on top. We find pomelo peels at the death too.
Comment: the label is an obvious homage to Moon Import's The Birds. It superimposes several types of birds, and ends up more chaotic than classic, unfortunately. As for the juice, it is extraordinary. "Almost an Irish," says JS, who knows a thing or two about fruity drams. 9/10

Laphroaig 10yo (43%, OB, 1l bottle, 84083, b.1980s)

Nose: ashes sprinkled on a custard cake, and obvious orchard fruits, as well as dusty clafoutis.
Mouth: lovely ashy fruits, burnt wood, extinguished with apricot juice, and jelly capsules.
Finish: more medicinal than expected, fleetingly fruity, then strongly ashy, in a burnt-fruit-tree way.
Comment: good, though not one of my favourite. 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, EG)

Speaking of Laphroaig...
It reads:
"No, I cannot describe the differences between more than 100 Laphroaig bottlings.
Find out those differences for yourself. Wish you lots of fun whilst doing so.
There is no arguing about taste. Each to their own."

Let us find a spot to sit down.

The bagpipe is too loud an instrument
for an indoor event, so this drummer
also plays the harmonica.

Read on here.