Earlier this year – in the summer of 2023, to be precise – my wife Dini and I became cask share owners at Thy Whisky in Denmark. In four-or-so years, this will get us a dozen bottles of beechwood-smoked, PX-matured, organic single malt whisky. But that’s not all! To pass the time until the juice is ready, we will also be invited to a dedicated Cask Owners Tasting once a year. In our hometown of Hamburg, those events are extra-cool! Cause here, Thy Whisky and their local friends always do their best to come up with special multi-hour happenings that combine top-class tasting experiences with super-interesting side activities. Sadly, Dini and I missed 2022’s kick-off event at the Hotel Atlantic. But luckily, we were part of 2023’s get-together aboard the Cap San Diego – the largest operational museum cargo ship in the world!

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When we arrived in the early afternoon, we sat down with our friends and started the Cask Owners Tasting with chatter, craft beer, and a most delicious welcome dram: the delicate Thy Whisky Society Cask no. 778 with a double-maturation in PX- and Oloroso-treated wood. Then came the first real item on the agenda: a 30-minute tour of the vessel. The bridge, the deck, the cranes, the hold, the engine room, the swimming pool for the travel passengers – one by one we saw it all! And as we did, we learned a ton about the history of the Cap San Diego in particular and the importance of the “Cap San” class for German post-war seafaring in general. I completely and wholeheartedly soaked in all the stories, anecdotes, and references that our guide shared with us. After all, I – like most people here in Hamburg – have known the Cap San Diego for a long time. A while back, I even attended an Ardbeg Night there. But up until recently, I had no clue about the ventures this 11,650-horsepower-strong sea giant had untertaken, the places it had seen, and accomplishments it had made!

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Soon after we had returned to our seats, the tasting began. And man, it was great! As the attendees were placed across three adjacent rooms, Thy Whisky’s co-founder Jakob, who lead us through the main part of afternoon, had to do a little more talking than usual. To make sure everyone knew what precious drops they were sipping, he introduced each whisky not once or twice, but thrice – thus making sure no information was missed and each group knew exactly what they had in their glasses. The selection was top-class: Every cask owner got to try a recently sourced dram of the cask they had chosen. Plus a ton more! New releases, limited editions, sister bottlings, warehouse samples … we got ’em all! Since I wanted to enjoy the moment without racking my brain too much, I did not take any notes this time. So all I can tell you about the eight-or-so different drams I had is this: I loved each and every one of ’em!

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If you’re based in Germany and think to yourself now, “Hey, this sounds cool!”, I have good news for you: There are still some stocks of both German Casks ’23 available via the Thy Whisky website! One contains beechwood-smoked whisky on Palo Cortado, the other contains beechwood-smoked whisky on 2nd-fill PX Sherry, and both are coming along mighty fine! While the asked-for price of 600 Euros per share sounds much at first, you will totally get your money’s worth. After all, you will not only receive a dozen 0.5 liter bottles of the finished dram, but you will also get free invites for two people to the annual Cask Owners Tasting in your city. So how about teaming up with a whisky buddy and coming aboard? You’ll surely be in for a ton of fun, and – as goes without saying – some most delicious Danish single malt whisky, too!

by Tobi

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Thy Whisky @ Web: https://thy-whisky.dk/en  (Whisky)
Cap San Diego @ Web: https://www.capsandiego.de/ (Location)