Divergence Archives - Rant And Whisky

April 6, 2023

Dramfest 2023 Review – Chapter 2 – The Adventures of Pat

Over the weekend of 4^th and 5^th of March I got to go to New Zealand’s premier whisky event, Dramfest.

Before I went, my wife told me to treat this like an adventure – very good advice, as you will see.

Saturday morning flight to Christchurch and off to the Te Pai Convention Centre at 12:30 to be meet a queue of other Whisky addicts. Te Pai has plenty of space and the show was well laid out on one level (t as the afternoon went on, that was good as everybody became relaxed in various degrees of inattention).

After a lovely bagpipe intro, the stands were allowed to pour.

The Show

This year I decided to forgo the master classes and instead just do the stands. At previous Dramfests I have gone to every master class available; this time I wanted to spend more time just mingling.

On Saturday I managed to try about forty drams, the majority cask strength (the Wellington Curse).

Saturday picks

My pick for the day – and indeed as one of the stand outs for Dramfest – was the Cotswolds Founders Choice at a hefty 60.5% ABV. My notes record just the word “Wow” under Nose, with the same recorded in Taste. I don’t usually limit myself to a few words, but this was fantastic.

The next memorable stand was the Alistair Walker Whisky Company. They had two drams that stood out: the Infrequent Flyers Benriach at 57.2% and the Glenrothes at 62.8%. I feel the Benriach nudged ahead and indeed shares my first equal as the best dram of the weekend with the Founders Choice.

The impact of 40 high-strength whiskies during Saturday afternoon created a few internal GPS issues.

A surprising Saturday find for me was the Sagamore Spirit stand. Sagamore make Rye whiskey, and I like Rye whiskey. Two drams on the stand stood out, mainly by not having that minty taste you sometimes get with Rye. I found one not listed in the menu but that had a very much a Wow moment – the Sherry Finish Rye finished in PX sherry barrels at 52%. It came at you in two layers on the taste, and I hope Whisky Galore gets more in!

The Adventure – aka Pat’s Magical Mystery Tour

The Te Pai venue is 200 metres in a straight-ish line from our hotel – a short walk. However, the impact of 40 high-strength whiskies during Saturday afternoon created a few internal GPS issues, and getting to the hotel became a much greater challenge than anticipated.

I had walked four blocks past my hotel before I encountered another Dramfest attendee.

“Pat, you’ve gone too far. You need to turn around and go back into town.”

So I went back three blocks, then sat down thinking “This is hard work!”

There followed a text conversation with my wife (who was waiting with deteriorating patience in the hotel lobby) – refer photos below. My part in the conversation was rather confused, and my wife was not amused in the slightest. I walked the last block and saw a large neon sign identifying the hotel. Bliss.

Screen Print 1 – **Blue messages are from Mrs Pat.**

For clarity, the phrase “No funding idwa” contains typing errors.

Sunday

I started the Sunday session with the Kavalan 58.6% Port finish. It is amazing, and surprisingly better than their Sherry finish.

The New Zealanders

I was taken aback with delight by the New Zealand offerings at Dramfest, and my Sunday tour of various NZ distillers’ stands revealed some new delights.

I visited the stand of Christchurch’s own Spirits Workshop, with their 5-year-old Divergence 5 and the new bottling of the Portwood in tawny casks.

Next was the Pokeno Whisky stand. The Origin was a lovely smooth dram, but the pick was the Prohibition Porter from a first fill bourbon single cask – dark chocolate all the way and very smooth indeed. I had to leave the stand; staying was far too far too tempting.

Then on to Waiheke Whisky. I had sort of written Waiheke off a few months back after tasting some of their sample minis. After tasting their offerings at Dramfest, I admit I definitely was wrong. They gave me the Dramfest special bottling at 46%. There is amazing mouth feel and, typical of NZ peat, just a hint of sea, smooth with a long finish.

I was then given a dram called Cantankerous which they said was for a cantankerous person. Moi??? Again, this dram was not on the menu. It is excellent and well worth finding – if you can.

Going home

No worries getting back to the hotel this time.

It is always a pleasure to go to a world class event here in NZ and, as usual, the team at Whisky Galore have done an superb job in a great venue.

Silly Statistics

Because we were interested (and a little bit bored) we analysed some of the numbers in the Dramfest catalogue. They make for quite interesting reading.

The total price of all bottle in the catalogue: $34,320.76

The average prince: $138.39

The highest orice: the Glenfiddich “Grand Cru” 23yo 40% $592.00
Second: the Buffalo Trace Stagg JR 64.2% $401.00
Third: The Whisky Cellar Cambus Single Grain33yo 52.5% $386.00

On the (probably slightly under attended) Black Tot rum stand on Sunday, we used three bottles of each of the two drams we had. Assuming the same level of consumption for all the other stands over the two days, that is $205,900 worth of whisky consumed!

And that wildly undependable calculation:
– undoubtedly understates the number of bottles used on many of the stands,
– does not include the values of the “under the counter” bottles, or
– the value of merchandise sales from the front shop.

September 26, 2022

Whisky Wednesdays at Hare and Copper

Whisky Wednesdays at Hare and Copper.

A catchy and pretty self-explanatory event title – What, Where, When and, to a certain extent, Why.

Hare and Copper is a delightful Eatery & Bar, located just outside Turangi at the southern end of Lake Taupo on NZ’s North Island. Both the Eatery and Bar and its Whisky Wednesdays are the brainchilden of entrepreneurial owner, Andrew Wood and his wife Liliana.

Hare and Copper Eatery and Bar, Turangi, NZ

The name Hare and Copper initially conjured up an image of a large rabbit taking a nice warm bath in a large shiny cauldron, in the company of a selection of chopped carrots, onions and potatoes.

A nice concept, although maybe naming the kids’ pet rabbit Stuart was a little thoughtless!

But this Hare and Copper is not a recipe suggestion – at least not for rabbits. The Hare and Copper is a species of fishing lure, used locally to invite trout to dinner.

A Hare and Copper Lure — The Hare and Copper Lure

NZ Whiskies

Three Whisky Wednesdays have been held at Hare and Copper this year, one each on the first Wednesday is July, August and September.

The first featured three NZ whiskies.

Very high interest in the event resulted in 30 attendees booking seats.

The event was sponsored by Central Otago’s Cardrona Distillery. who generously provided their Territory Manager, Jonnie Cocks, to the event. And they equally generously provided bottles of Cardrona Solera plus another as a door prize. (The prize was won by Neville, who had travelled to Turangi from Havelock North especially for the event – a well worthwhile trip!)

As well as sampling the Solera, the event tasted Kiwi Spirit’s Waitui whisky from Takaka and The Spirits Workshop’s Divergence PX Sherry whisky from Christchurch.

Winner was Solera, followed closely by the Divergence.

Japanese Whiskies

August’s event was Japanese whisky focused. Chosen drams were:

- Nikka’s Rare Old Super, a 43% blend with a lot of colour,
- Matsui’s Kurayoshi. An 8yo “pure malt” at 43%, and
- Matsui’s Mizunara (Japanese Oak) cask, bottled at 48%.

The Nikka Rare Old Super is described as “an entry level premium blend” – whatever that is! It is a good easy-drinking, simple, inoffensive blend. It lacks a bit of character beyond the faint hints of peat and nuts.

The Kurayoshi from Matsui Shuzou is also a blend, this time made from whiskies sourced from Scottish distilleries blended with Japanese whisky and “volcanic-stone-filtered water”. A big (and seemingly impenetrable) question is which Scottish distilleries were involved – no-one is saying!

The Mizunara is named for the Japanese oak used in the expression’s maturity. At the end of World War II, Japan faced shortages of medicine, food and other daily necessities. Against this backdrop, the lack of imported casks in which to age whisky was the least of the country’s problems.

However, whisky was popular with the occupational armed forces, so whisky makers had to do something. Local distillers began to use the native oak, mizunara.

Mizunara-aged whisky is known to impart distinct sweet and spicy flavours with unique aromas reminiscent of sandalwood and incense. Coconut and vanilla are also pronounced characteristics.

The Islay Tasting

The last event for the winter season was September’s 5-dram Islay tasting.

A record 36 people turned out for this one, including Mike and his bagpipes.

The dram selection was pretty much what you would expect, but with a couple of odd ones thrown in for interest and variety.

The starter was the standard Laphroaig 10 yo, 40%, 45ppm phenols (may as well get The Peat in first!).

Second was a new entry from Kilchoman – Sanaig, named after a local bay just north of the Kilchoman distillery. I am generally a bit ambivalent about Kilchoman expressions, but this one is rather nice.

Then the old Standard, Bruichladdich Classic Laddie Scottish Barley in it’s striking turquoise tube.

Next came Ileach, which I’ve not had before. 58% abv and around 40 ppm of phenol, the genesis of Ileach is a bit obscure. Suspicion is that it is either a teaspooned Lagavulin or Caol Ila. Either way, it’s totally drinkable, if a little youthful.

Last was the latest Port Charlotte, PC10, 59.8% abv and 40ppm. I vividly remember my first introduction to the PC ranges – someone gave me a glass of PC7 and the peat in it nearly blew my head off! PC10 is not like that – a wee bit underwhelming when you’re expecting a blast!

Group scores for the evening:

- Classic Laddie 8.75
- PC10 8.48
- Sanaig 7.88
- Laphroaig 7.86
- Ileach 7.67

Whisky Wednesdays

It’s an informative title, if a bit bland.

It really doesn’t cover the essence of the events.

It doesn’t cover the roaring fire, the bonhomie of whisky tastings, and it specially missed out the extremely critical bit of the fantastic platters and service provided by hosts, Andrew & Lili.

Whisky Wednesdays are sadly parked now for the summer months. But look forward to them resuming again next winter! I’ll be queuing up to be there!

The Bagpipes

I have always liked the skirl of bagpipes.

I used to sit on a summer Sunday in Wellington’s Botanical Gardens and listen for as long as my parents would let me.

For future reference, hearing the bagpipes played outdoors on a hillside is one thing. Having them played indoors and a metre from your ear is a whole other matter entirely.

By quite a few decibels!

John

August 27, 2021August 29, 2021

Level 4 Lock-down – Sampling Time!

Want to get creative during lockdown?

I admit that lockdowns come with a whole range of less-than-wonderful side effects: queuing to get into the supermarket and everyone watching you buy toilet rolls, not being able to get a proper latte, not being allowed out, and rubbish TV programmes (if you don’t count the Paralympics, which are amazing!).

And some of the postings on social media indicates that a lot of people have way too much time on their hands!

But every cloud has a silver lining. Not having to dress properly for work means less laundry (who needs to wear pants for a Zoom meeting?), no cars on the road and heaps of empty parking spaces. And a tank of petrol lasts forever!

To top it off, there is the chance to stretch your metaphorical legs and stroll gently through your whisky stocks without having to drive home. Continue reading “Level 4 Lock-down – Sampling Time!”

August 8, 2021

Divergence: Kiwi-ness in a bottle

Don’t worry about the state of whisky in New Zealand.

True that our “traditional” Scottish-sourced sauce may be a bit harder to come by while the world recovers.

But sometimes when you go digging, you hit a gold seam. And that seems a good view of the distillery featured in this article.

The Spirits Workshop

The Spirits Workshop began in late 2015 when four whisky lovers got together and bought a small still, curious to develop distinctly New Zealand spirits.

The company describes itself as ”a small batch, craft distillery” in Christchurch, New Zealand. Canterbury grain is used to make a range of spirits that include quality single malt whiskies, gins and other spirits.

Researching and talking to the company, I have been extremely impressed with what they do and where they look to be headed!

The Spirits Workshop’s whisky brand name is Divergence. I recommend that you note that name – I confidently predict it will become a big player the next few years. And that opinion is reinforced when I look at the mouth-watering expressions they have in the pipeline.

The Process

The whisky spirit is double-distilled in a 500 litre copper pot still with a horizontal lyne arm and a copper shell and tube condenser.

Divergence Pot Still — The Spirits Distillery Post Still & Condensers

The company currently forecasts capacity to make 8,500 litres of barrel-strength new make annually, operating a single shift, five days a week.

The recently drawn NZ Whisky Guidelines and Definitions have set a two year maturation minimum for NZ Single Malt Whisky. However, the distillery has opted for a minimum three year period for their range. And it looks as if some upcoming production may be held in barrels for longer than that.

Other single cask options include aging in ex bourbon casks, ex Australian and Spanish sherry casks, and ex Portuguese Tawny Port casks

The mainstay whisky is a multi Gold Medal award winning New Zealand Single Malt expression. It is double pot stilled, fully matured for 3 ½ years in 50 and 100 litre virgin French Oak casks, and bottled at 46% abv.

I purchased a bottle of this delightful dram – strictly for research purposes, you understand!

My tasting notes are:

Visual: Orange amber, with good legs.
Nose: Sweet and aromatic, soft poached pip fruit (nashi pears?), a light-weight dark chocolate, musty.
Palette: Tongue heat feels a bit harsh at first then quickly mellows out to sweetness. Well integrated and balanced. Oaky wood comes through.
Finish: Tannic drying, and the oak wood remanis.
Comment: Good, at the first glass from the bottle. But this whisky, like a lot of others, benefits from a bit of breathing.
Score: My initial first dram score was 7.5, but improved to 8.5/8.6 a few breaths of air later.

At the time of writing, the distillery also had stock of their Port Wood expression. This expression is a 46.3% abv, matured in a 100 litre ex-South Australian Tawny Port barrel.

What to look forward to

Company Managing Director, Antony Michalik, says “Our next bottling will be another single cask, cask strength, release of the Sloe Gin Barrel Finished. This time finished in the Sloe Gin barrels for more than 12 months.

“We also have ex NZ Pinot Noir barrels both finishing whisky (which should be ready for bottling in the next 6 – 12 months) and fully aging whisky (which will be at least 2 years away).”

Also in the mix are ex New Zealand Port barrels both finishing and fully aging whisky at the moment. There is a further range of other single cask options aging in ex bourbon casks, ex Australian and Spanish sherry casks, ex Portuguese Tawny Port casks – some of which may be ready for release in the next couple of years and some of which the distillery may choose to age for longer periods.

I am so looking forward to trying these!

Manuka Experiments

The company is determined to put as much “Kiwi-ness” into their product as possible.

Antony talked about some experimenting they had done using native manuka wood to create a more NZ flavour.

“Unfortunately we can’t make barrels from manuka but we have experimented with using charred and toasted manuka chunks. The results have been very pleasant and promising of a potential truly NZ flavour profile.”

“However, the newly developed … rules for NZ Whisky do not allow for the addition of free-floating wood in aging New Zealand Single Malt Whisky so we have to find another way to introduce the Manuka wood contact, which we are working on”, said Antony.

The Spirits Workshop distillery is situated a short walk from the centre of Christchurch CBD, open for tours and tastings Monday to Saturday.

As well as the distillery itself, they also have a small cocktail bar at the Riverside Market right in the CBD where you can enjoy their whiskies as individual drams, in a flight of up to three current expressions or in delicious cocktails.

I’ll see you there!

PS:

As I mentioned earlier, The Spirits Distillery make a range of gins under the Curiosity label. They use the same pot still but with a different lyne arm and a stainless steel condenser. There is also a 20-plate copper column used to refine barley malt spirit for the base spirit of two of the Curiosity gins.

I recommend trying the Curiosity Pinot Barrel Sloe.

This gin liqueur is something else! Taken straight without additives, it is the most delightful Christmas Cake like your grandmother used to make.

And that is why I’m hanging out for the Pinot Noir Divergence whisky!

Footnote: This article has not been sponsored by The Spirits Workshop in any way – the opinions and views expressed are entirely my own. However, I would like to acknowledge the support and assistance provided to me by the distillery. They have been most generous with their time and information, and happy to answer some quite nosey questions.

John