26/04/2025 The Whisky Fair (Day 1 -- Part 1)

Pastries from Bäckerei Huth

The day starts with a little scare: as the front door to the building closes behind me, we realise the key is still in the flat's front door... and one needs the key to open the building door. Quick call to the landlord... to find out his number does not work. Ahem. Fortunately, the first-floor flat is inhabited, and the resident is home. A quick explanation, and she kindly buzzes me in. Phew.

We stop for a hot beverage at Generale Caffè e Specialità and watch the pope's funeral on the telly. It is a grandiose and solemn affair that moves tOMoH's soul more than he imagined.

JS: "Think what you will of the Catholics, they know how to put on a show!"

Off to the venue and into the queue... where I realise I left my notebook and lanyard at home. It takes a lot of work to be this absent-minded! Grr. Fortunately, the accommodation is but a short walk away. Not even ten minutes later, I am in the queue again.

Last year, we spent a long time in the wrong queue. One would think that we would have learnt from that experience, but no: wrong queue again. We are in the one for people who do not have a ticket yet. Fortunately, this year, it does not take us too long to realise and correct. Shortly thereafter, we are in.

In the sweatbox on the ground floor, we immediately spot the Catawiki team, whom we now know better, after spending time with them in Bologna. It is the morning, so a breakfast dram is in order.

Littlemill 21yo 1992/2013 (50.2%, The Whiskyman Age Matters)

Nose: orchard fruits and pomace brandy.
Mouth: here too, it is pomace brandy -- marc de Gewürztraminer, to be precise, -- upon which one would have sprinkled ashes.
Finish: lots of fresh fruits and a faintly-drying note, either quarry dust or ashes.
Comment: perfect start to what is shaping up to be a kwazy weekender. 8/10

In the same corner in which we met them last year are pat gva, elskling and Savoureur. Hugs, laughs, drams. It feels homely already. elskling pours this:

The Glenlivet 25yo b.1977 (70º Proof, Gordon & MacPhail to commemorate The Queen's Silver Jubilee)

Nose: old mushrooms, potting soil, and decaying orchard fruits in a wooden crate.
Mouth: mineral, it has infused milk and old leather.
Finish: long, earthy, metallic, it revives the leather from the mouth.
Comment: wonder what George & J.G. Smith thought of G&M's usage of the definite article on this bottling. Anyway, glad to finally tick off this box. A good 'livet, though it is easy to understand why it commands a fraction of the price the Talisker in the same series does. 8/10 (Thanks for the dram, elskling)

JS pours her Glenlivet 26yo 1968/1995 (52.1%, Signatory Vintage selected by, bottled for and imported by Whyte & Whyte for The Spirits Library, Barrel, 95/137) for comparison. It is universally liked. One does not try a Whyte & Whyte bottling every day.

pat gva is next:

Dalwhinnie 22yo 1957/1979 (80º Proof, Cadenhead imported by Soc. Auxil)

Nose: old bottle effect to the max, as well as ashes and mould-covered orchard fruits.
Mouth: quarry dust, musty warehouses and peach skins.
Finish: it has quite a kick, with gravel and orchard fruits rubbing shoulders with a lick of metal and soot sprinkled on peach slices
Comment: are we peaking too soon? 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, pat gva)

Let us have another 1957/1979 dumpy bottle by Cadenhead. My own Glenlossie-Glenlivet 21yo 1957/1979 (80° Proof, Cadenhead imported by Mario Rossi, Sherry Cask). I brought this at elskling's request. Little did we know someone else brought it to a dinner he attended last night. Ah, well. (pat gva brought a Black Bowmore 29yo 1964/1993 (50%, OB, Oloroso Sherry Casks, 2000b) to the same dinner, for perspective.)

pat gva taking a photograph of elskling's photograph of JS's photograph of my bottle.
Can anyone spell 'meta'?

elskling steps in with yet another dumpy

Ord 24yo 1962/1987 (46%, Cadenhead)

Nose: old, dusty marmalade and the tin lids that go with it.
Mouth: peppery and metallic. It is so obvious that it almost eclipses the undeniable fruit underneath (greengage).
Finish: long, a tad peppery and choc-full of marmalade, augmented with the tin lid of jars of jam.
Comment: classic dumpy liquid. Gorgeous. 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, elskling)

Five people drinking three dumpy bottlings by Cadenhead

Savoureur has been pushing to pour me his Dallas Dhu 23yo 1979/2002 (46% Murray McDavid Mission Series One, First Fill American Oak, 600b), but he loses patience with my pace and ends up leaving -- ha! ha! The same goes for his Blended Malt 27yo 1994/2021 (47.5%, Le Gus't Selection for Nanyang Whisky, Bourbon Hogshead, C#3525, 240b). He kindly leaves me the sample of the latter, so we will try it, at some point.

MD joins us.

Irish Single Malt 26yo 1988/2014 Special Release Number Two (50.4%, Ramseyer Whisky Connection, 175b)

Nose: this bursts with tropical fruits.
Mouth: big mango-y mouth.
Finish: a kick of white pepper, but it is mostly ridiculously fruity.
Comment: even blind, one cannot mistake the provenance of this. Delicious Irish beauty. 9/10 (Thanks for the dram, MD)

Bowmore Deluxe (43 G.L., OB Duty Free for Exportation only)

Nose: cat piss, funk, and butyric-coated tropical fruits. A waste of fruits? Well, it works.
Mouth: acidic, this is citrus-y-and-a-half.
Finish: the butyric recedes and it is all tropical fruits from then on, bursting on one's face. Mostly citrus again.
Comment: they fluctuate, but they are never wrong. A strong 8/10 (Thanks for the sip, MD)

3.115 7yo 1998/2005 Undeniably masculine (55.7%, SMWS Society Cask)

Nose: cured meat and prunes.
Mouth: rancio-y and acidic. It is indeed sticky. "You have to clean your palate afterwards. With rubbish," says MD.

Finish: long, vinegar-y (in a good way) and full of rancio. We also have cured, braised meat and musty warehouses.
Comment: it is very sherried, of course, but Bowmore can take it. This is only 7 years old? Wow! 8/10 (Thanks for the sip, MD)

Glenlossie 16yo d.1972 (57.7%, Sestante)

Nose: more rancio, vinegar and prunes. It is almost Mortlachian, so thick and sauce-like it is. We wonder if it adds hard-boiled eggs to the equation.
Mouth: full-on earthy rancio. Time on the tongue gives it a twist of the pepper mill.
Finish: blackberries, jelly drops, it is chewy and extremely well balanced.
Comment: MD seems to intend to hose us with good whisky. Is anyone complaining? Ich don't think so! 8/10 (Thanks for the sip, MD)

MD: "There's more fruitiness on the nose than on the palate."
JS: "Really?"
MD: "That's why I'm older."

The "best t-shirt of the festival prize" goes to...

Continue reading here.