On Friday, 26 May 2023, Danish boutique distillery Fary Lochan held another online tasting. As has become their common practice, the Farre-based whisky makers took a stroll through the on-site warehouses before. From there, they picked a total of five very special cask samples that give a great overview of the distillery’s fun, skilled, and varied doings. Since I was attending a heavy metal concert when the virtual event originally took place, I did not attend it live. However, I checked out the recording on Facebook afterwards, and savored the whiskies one by one on the following evenings. Here’s now my notes for them!

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The first dram was a 10 Years Old with a Cognac Finish – a maturation type I never had from Fary Lochan before. The drop had a thick and sturdy nose with pancake, barley sugar, caramel pudding, and meaty stone fruits. Somewhat contrasting, I also sniffed a back-and-forth interplay between citrus spritz on the one hand and study dust on the other. On the tongue, the heavy-on-crops spirit offered brittle, cream, vanilla, pastry, zest, white vermouth, and alc-drenched raisin. All these sensations culminated in a sweet and fruity finish of considerable length and weight.

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Then came a 6-year-old Danish Single Malt Whisky finished in an almost 100-year-old Amontillado cask that was first filled with half-sweet sherry way back in 1925. A while ago, the Fary Lochan team bought two such time-honored vessels via their cooper in Spain. The sample drawn from the long-serving sherry wood started off creamy and buttermilk-y, but then became increasingly nutty. After drawing a little air, the whisky almost smelled like a hazelnut-flavored yogurt. When sipped, the dram first and foremost produced lotsa walnut, almond, and hazelnut. This time, the sensations were joined by orange oil, brandied peach, and toffee bite. Also some underlying roast aromas. Once it had gone down the throat, the whisky left a long and satisfying echo that brimmed with puff pastry, dried fruit, and sweet n’ salted trail mix.

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Before it was sampled, dram number three had cuddled with no less than three different wood types. The Triple Maturation (bourbon, moscatel, PX) gave the 8 Years Old a multi-faceted character. The nose had big notes of orange, cocoa, cinnamon, and vanilla. Especially in the beginning, the smells felt somewhat dry and dusty. Yet, they had a certain creaminess about them, too. Now on to the sipping. Here, I got lotsa fine-grated and not-too-sweet cocoa at first. Then entered banana chips, burnt raisins, mixed zests, and curled peach skin – all drowned in limoncello. A few drops of grapefruit juice added a certain bitterness, while a mouthful of carrot cake gave more chewiness. As with the first two drams, the aftertaste continued to last for a good while. It offered brownie, fudge, banana, and citrus spritz. Plus pineapple and grape.

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The next smell was well-known to me: Fary Lochan’s unique nettle smoke! The bouquet of the Vintage 2013 Smoke was green and veggie on the one hand, sweet and creamy on the other. I registered milk chocolate, vanilla pudding, lemon jelly, pancake, and apple puree – with burnt twigs and leafs and hay clouding everything in that one-of-a-kind FL smoke! The smooth-but-punchy mix of flavors was all about cremè brûlée, raisin bread, lime squeeze, toffee bite, herb candy, and choc sauce. Once more, all offered notes were enshrouded in green nettle puff. The finish – who would have guessed? – was made to remain. It provided a “best of” of the notes sensed before, with special emphasis on cocoa, vanilla, grape, lime, and peach. Around all them, there was a veil of thin, light, greenish smoke.

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The fifth and last glass contained a 7-year-old Fary Lochan that was first matured in an ex-bourbon barrel from Islay and then finished in a Port cask. When I picked up the glass, the sweetest fragrances filled my nostrils, reminding me of sugared raspberries and jellied blackberries. From way down below, a slight hint of ashy peat reek could be sensed – as if someone had buried a cigarette butt deep in a marmalade jar. When I took a sip and let the high-percentage whisky coat my tongue, I tasted lotsa sweetness (chocolate cake with whipped cream), an abundance of fruits (more berries as well as cherries, strawberries, and even mangoes) and a bit of darkness (ground coffee beans and over-baked raisins). The incredible finish felt like the whisky-sippin’ equivalent to strolling through a confectionery – whose owner happened to be a smoker.

by Tobi

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The drams

Vintage 2012 Cognac (Single malt / Denmark / 10yo / Cognac finish / Non-smoked / 59.9%)
Vintage 2016 Amontillado (Single malt / Denmark / 6yo / Sherry finish / Non-smoked/ 59.3%)
Vintage 2015 Triple Cask (Single malt / Den. / 7yo / Bourbon, PX, Moscatel casks / Non-sm./ 60.6%)
Vintage 2013 Smoke (Single malt / Denmark / 9yo / Bourbon cask / Nettle-smoked / 60.8%)
Vintage 2015 Port (Single malt / Denmark / 7yo / ex-Islay cask & Port finish / Peated via cask / 60.7%)

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Fary Lochan @ Web: https://farylochan.dk/
Fary Lochan @ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farylochan
The tasting video @ Facebook: https://fb.watch/kY2-9wmFjc/

*** The tasting was streamed publicly. I got the
samples for free from Fary Lochan. ***