Ah, well … there’s no need to beat about the bush: As in the previous years, I once again had A LOT of drams at Bottle Market in Bremen this year. And – as always – I am eager to mention as many of them as possible in my fair recap. So here we go without further ado. Right after our arrival, my dramming buddies and I hopped over to the Borco booth, where our friend Gearoid “The Whisky Jack” O’Callaghan treated us to our first drop of the day, namely Teeling’s opulent Pinot Noir Cask. Rich with creamy chocolate and purreed red fruits, this flavorsome 46-per center marked a perfect starter. With our taste buds greased and our appetites raised, we stayed on the Emerald Isle. At the Irish Whiskeys stall, we made the acquaintance of Cathal O’Connor from Skellig Six18 Distillery in the South-West of Ireland. As the unit’s own spirit is still maturing, the two expressions we tried from it were sourced elsewhere, but matured on site. The PX-finished Small Batch Irish Whiskey felt easy-going with lots of vanilla, nuts, and caramel; the triple cask-matured Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey presented itself multi-layered and tongue-pleasing with yellow fruits, light wood, and thin smoke. Up until recently, the Skellig Six18 Distillery was unhead-of to me. Now, I am happy to know them and follow their development further.

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Hopping over to the South of Germany, I then had a dram from Blaue Maus. But not just any dram. The one I picked was their rare 35 Years Old, which constituted by far the oldest whisky I ever had from my home country. Since all sips at the stand were handed out for very friendly prices, two CL of this vintage from 1988 only cost me 6 Euros. During the degustation, the 3.5-decade-old spirit demanded quite a bit of time in the glass. Ultimately, it presented itself elegant and thought-provoking. The main notes were floral, woody, nutty, and herbal – with modest amounts of fruits and spices thrown into the mix as well. Drinking this far-from-ordinary German whisky was a noticable experience, no doubt. Once my rendevouz with Blaue Maus was over, I continued with two recent releases from Iceland’s finest, Eimverk Distillery. First I had their brand-new rye whisky called Eth. And second I had the latest Floki Distiller’s Choice in cask strength, which was 7 years old, 60 per cent ABV strong, and double-matured in virgin oak and a stout cask. Both Eth and Floki reminded me once more that the Icelanders certainly know their whisky-making!

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The country, from which I targeted the most distilleries this year, was Denmark. In total, there were no less than four Danish booths at Bottle Market 2023, each one located right next to the other: Thy, Stauning, Mosgaard, and Sall. One by one, I visited them all. Since I could not have a dram at every stand in the hall, I only stopped briefly at the Stauning booth for a quick hello. And I did not spent as much time as usual at Thy either. The reason for this: While I visited the fair on Satuday, I had a cask share owner’s tasting with Thy coming up on Sunday. So I knew I would get more than enough of their outstanding whisky on that weekend anyway. So the first Denmark-based production site, by whom I drank a new expression in Bremen, was Mosgaard. As always, they had a big assortment of highly intriguing bottles available, including the latest installment in the fan-favorite “Black Peat” range. I chose another limited release, however: Cask Experiment Series No 3 with an initial maturation in ex-Bourbon casks and a double-finish in old Rioja and Madeira casks. The complex, sophisticated, and ever-evolving liquid showed Mosgaard at its best, and totally had me craving for more!

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Just one step to the right of Mosgaard resided a BottleMarket newbie that I was super-stoked to try out: Sall Whisky! Originally, I learned about this small Danish craft unit’s existence two-or-so years back, when my friend Thomas of Fary Lochan Distillery recommended them to me. Up until this day, however, I had never tasted a single drop of their spirit. Eager to change that, I delved into the gold-shining sea o’ Sall headfirst – trying pretty much everything they had available: the regular bottlings, the cask samples, and the new make. Both the hospitality of the team around co-founder Snævar Njáll Albertsson and the beautiful drams they served completely rocked me outta my socks. In the end, I bought two bottles: the super-fruity Inaugural Release brimming with crunchy green apples and the fumy Islay Cask Finish with a delicate medical smoke note. Thankfully, I got a sample of each whisky on top of my purchase. So you can expect an in-depth review of each release to appear here on BarleyMania soon.

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Though I had not planned this beforehand, my visit to Bottle Market 2023 turned out to be a real trip around the whisky world. Four more countries, whose distilleries I checked out, were the United States, Japan, France, and Switzerland. Out of the USA, I had a fantastic Heaven’s Door bourbon drawn from a single barrel. I got this stunner at the Schlumberger stand. Out of Japan, I had the easy-sippin’ Onikishi blend – presented to me by the cool cats of Liquorland. Out of France, I had a savory single cask by Armorik. This one was bottled exclusively for Vibrant Stills, and consequently I drank it there. And out of Switzerland, I had a powerful cask strength expression from Seven Seals, which I bought at the stall they shared with their countrymates from Langatun. Sorry, by the way. As I ordered the Seven Seals towards the end of the day, I apparently forgot to snap a picture …

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Wait! What about Scotland? No need to worry: Of course, I did not forget to pay my dues to the birth place of uisge beatha either! Yet, I must confess that I drank less Scotch than usual at this year’s fair. In total, I only had three drams from Scottish distilleries: Via Rising Brands (formerly known as Bremer Spirituosen Contor Exklusivmarken) I had a honey-sweet Bunnahabhain 15 Years Old from Douglas Laing’s evergreen Old Particular Series that left me drooling. Via Prineus I had an indie bottled Royal Brackla 10 Years Old by Finn Thomson that got a huge peat kick from the ex-Islay hogshead in which it was kept. And via Kammer-Kirsch I last but not least had a real unicorn, namely the oldest Arran ever bottled to date. Aged for no less than 26 years in a single sherry butt, this out-of-the-world dram bursted with red, orange, and yellow fruits as well as nougat, toffee, almonds, and more. It constituted, without a doubt, one of the absolute highlights of my jam-packed day at a through-n-through amazing whisky fair!

by Tobi

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*** I got a free ticket from Rising Brands. Thank you. ***