I first learned about Whisky Experience at an event called British F(l)air, where this young mailorder offered a broad range of high-class whiskies for a staggering 2 Euro per dram. Needless to say, they won me over as a new customer in an instant. The conversation I had with the company’s owner Norbert was really nice, the selection of spirits was great and the prices were super-fair. That evening, I went home with a bottle of Wolfburn’s First Release and a flyer listing various whisky events. Only a short while later, me and my friends attended a Whisky Experience tasting focusing on “Islay and the Islands”. Since we had a lot of fun there, it was only a matter time till we booked another whisky meeting with Norbert.

This time, the topic was “Single Cask Bottlings and Independent Bottlers”. Including our host, we were six people going through five whiskies from Scotland and one from France. We started with a bang. The 7 years old Aultmore by A.D. Rattray, which Norbert picked as our kick-off dram, flew its sherry colors with pride. And surprised us with a muscular 56 per cent. Next up was a single cask release by Armorik, which was matured in a red wine cask and clocked in at 53 per cent. Despite its young age and hefty character, it also had an elegant side. The French exot of our little whisky round was then followed by a classic: The Glenfarclas Vintage 2007 – Christmas Edition. As is typical for a ‘Farclas, it was round, fruity and really damn good!

From the Speyside we then moved to the Lowlands, represented by an 11 years old Auchentoshan from a series called Old Malt Cask. While the bottle we tasted was still released under the Douglas Laing label, the range now belongs to Hunter Laing. When the Laing brothers split their family business in 2013, Old Malt Cask was one of the brands that Stuart Laing continued with his new company. The Blamenach 18yo that was next in line was the oldest Scotch of the tasting. At 43 per cent it was rather mellow compared to the other bottlings. But in terms of quality, it was spectacular! The last whisky Norbert had poured us was not only the strongest, but also the only one whose distillery remained a mystery. Maybe this muscular Islay malt from Ian Macleod’s “As We Get It” line was originally distilled by Caol Ila. But that was just our educated guess that brought a great evening with wonderful company and cracking whiskies to a fun end.

by Tobi

Whisky Experience: http://www.whisky-experience.de/