Goodbye to 2022, welcome 2023

I won’t be sad to see the back of 2022.

Let’s be honest, the last couple of years have been pretty rubbish, really.

Covid reared its ugly head in NZ in March 2020, just a few days after Whisky Galore’s 2020 Dramfest.  It resulted in personal lockdowns, business close-downs and relationship breakups.  And a lot of empty whisky, wine, and other bottles.

Since 2021 Covid has also proved to be a very handy scapegoat for a whole range of ills – inflation, delays in supply, more inflation, lack of business performance, high inflation, reduced stock of nearly everything important (whisky), potholes, road works, road -re-works, high costs of public works, lack of performance, expensive groceries, horrendous petrol prices.  And inflation.

And Covid even managed to stop Dramfest 2022!

The covid-inspired disruptions to 2021 were a pain.  A couple of notable Scotsmen were detained in New Zealand, caught by the first sudden lockdown.  One did take the opportunity to make a bit of a name for himself by getting samples in to his isolation accommodation and putting up on-line tastings.

Limited Tastings

For the general whisky-drinking public, only a very limited number of whisky tastings were able to be held due to the demands of lockdowns, “social distancing”, mask-wearing and the like.

if you will forgive me a small personal indulgence, 2022 has been a calamity.

A fortunately short spell in hospital (where I discovered whisky consumption is frowned upon) was rather too quickly followed by an unrelated muscular injury which has required pain-killers of ocean-going strength.

Point of interest:  you may have experienced Tramadol, a manufactured-opiate based analgesic.  If you have, you will probably have also experienced some of its rather bizarre side-effects: a slight disassociation from normal reality (wooziness), muddled thinking, slow reaction times and (most spectacularly) dreams straight from Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band.

I’m probably going to get stick for not reading the box, but I wasn’t aware of  the combined effect of Tramadol and alcohol.

I quickly became really aware when a routine traffic breath-test stop indicated that I was perilously close to failing – on only one glass of a less-than-memorable pub chardonnay that had accompanied my steak meal.  On the plus side, probably better to discover this before Christmas festivities really hit their straps.  All my celebrations for the near future are now going to do wonders for the share-prices of ginger ale and orange juice.  Sad.

The Better Bits

But 2022 hasn’t all been rubbish.  I managed to get to some magnificent whisky events.  Two memorable ones:  – Dr Stopher’s Multi functional Madness, and the opportunity a week later to help Mel clean out the contents of her whisky cabinet to make room for planned purchase activity at Dramfest in March.

Another particularly bright note was the creation of the “Virtual Tasting”, where samples are distributed by courier and the tasting event held by a Zoom conference.  My wife came home one evening to discover 20 or more fairly convivially chatty people in little boxes discussing the contents of their whisky cabinets on our TV screen.

And there has been the testing/tasting all those generously-given samples I have received, along with the whisky-tasting evenings at Hare and Copper Eatery in Turangi.  One must keep a balance!

It is now high time to let 2022 go and move into 2023 with Faith and Hope.

Things to look forward to

I don’t know who wrote this, but I certainly empathise!

Dramfest

The major event for whisky aficionados to look forward to!

Dramfest 2023 is to be held at Christchurch’s new Te Pae Convention and Exhibition Centre on 4th and 5th of March.

This will be the much lamented,  Covid-struck event delayed from March 2022.

It will feature over 50 exhibitors (including, by ny count, seven New Zealand distilleries, 300 different single malts, blends and other whiskies available to try.

And, for the first time, rum will also be available as a “guest spirit”.

According to the website, tickets are already sold out.  Flights, at least from Wellington, are getting hard to find.  Accommodation is also looking to be under pressure.

Overseas Travel

Travel is back on again, although (like Tramadol) to be taken with caution.

It will be nice to be able go to Australia, the UK or America again.  We’ve done pretty much all of New Zealand now, time to stretch the wings a bit.

And cruise liners are back amongst us. Structures the size of Head Office blocks are parked alongside the wharf disgorging loud shirts, cameras, and peaked caps.  Great news for the hospitality industry, which has struggled considerably for the past couple of years.

Reduction in Covid cases

In the last few weeks there has been a startling resurgence in the number of Covid cases being reported, north of 40,000 a week with a significant quantity of people dying with/from the disease.

Hopefully, 2023 will see those numbers start to drop and life return to a normalcy.

Being able to drink

The impact of taking anti-inflammatories is an inability to drink whisky and wine.  It’s not that I’ve lost taste (although some may dispute that!), but the slight hallucinogenic effect of the drugs coupled with alcohol is not a pleasant mix.  So samples of whiskies have been building up, sitting in a corner of the cabinet and laughing at me.  It will be good to get rid of the pills and take other mind-altering substances instead.

And that is why there are no tasting notes for you to read at the moment.  Watch this space!

Teeling Release

The Revival Vol V, 12yo Single Malt, 46%

Ireland’s Teeling Whiskey Company are releasing a series of limited edition whiskies under The Revival series label.

WestmeathWhiskeyWorld have reviewed the latest in the series.  They note the feeling that these may well be Collector drams, unlikely to ever be opened.

 

Personally, I am very much looking forward to 2023.  I’m looking forward to tasting some new whiskies and re-acquainting myself with some others.

And I’m particularly looking forward to getting together with my whisky-drinking friends!

A very happy New Year to you all.

Slainte

John

Correction

I received the following from WestmeathWhiskyWorld on the subject of Teeling Revival V.

“The Revival Series finished with the Vol V bottle in 2018.

Teeling are now embarking on a Renaissance Series to celebrate their own distillate coming of age at their Dublin distillery.

Renaissance will be of similar style to the Revival bottlings, limited editions, fancy packaging & premium pricing along with pretty tasty whiskey too!”

I greatly appreciate the information.  And I’ll go looking for a bottle to see if any travelled all this way!

Bits and Bobs – Dramfest and beyond

I have decided to stop giving numeric scoring to whiskies.

My change in approach has come from comments that passed my way recently: the first is that the most important thing is “do you like it?”. This was followed by a remark from a whisky writer defied anyone to tell the difference between a whisky with a rating of 8.2 and one rated at 8.4.

So I’m going to grade:
A – love it/want it
B – would drink it, but not spend money to get it
C – you fill in the gap!

Here are a few recent tastings. The first two – fantastic GlenAllachies – were In the Wee Dram corner of Dramfest 2020. My ticket to the tasting was provided free of charge by Kurt, for whose generosity I am deeply indebted! The others are from help Pat come out of lockdown!

Glenallachie Madiera Finish
Cask no 3756, Refill Bourbon
Age: 16yo, distilled 2005, bottled 2015,
Colour 1.1 (deep tan)
Non-chill filtered, non-coloured

Nose:  Fruity and sweet. Softly medicinal, like going out on a date with a nurse (I thought about adding an explanation here about a girlfriend – a nurse – in my late teens. In trying to write the explanation, though, it really only made things worse!)

Palette:  Oily, strawberry, with alcohol heat and Madiera sweetness. No clear bourbon notes, though.

Finish:  Long and rather drying, nutty at the end.

Comment:  At 16 years of age, the whisky heads back to a distilled date in the period when the distillery was owned by Chivas Bros: a good 14 years before current owners Billy Walker, Trish Savage and Graham Stevenson bought the place.

Since that purchase in 2017, I have experienced some varied output from GlenAllachie. One was delightful but a couple were less than memorable.

However, both this Madeira finish and the Sauternes finish below are stunners! Both well in grade A.

Glenallachie Sauternes Finish
Cask No 3727, first fill Bourbon
ABV 58%. Age 11yo, distilled 2009,
Colour 0.7/.0.8 (darker golden),
NC2

Nose:  Soft and sweet

Palette:  Light and pure, not as heated as the Madeira Finish. Honey, tannic and waxy.

Comment:  Shorter finish that the madeira, but still long.

 

From Pat’s lockdowns:

 

Monkey Shoulder
100% malt whisky, blended from “small batches of different Speyside malts” – reputedly Glenfiddich and Balvenie [William Grant & Sons].

The Monkey Shoulder website loudly & luridly claims the whisky is “Made for Mixing”. The site provides recipes for a “Lazy Old Fashioned” (Angostura Bitters, sugar syrup and orange zest), a “Ginger Monkey” (dry ginger ale and an orange wedge) and a “Monkey Splash” (replace the dry ginger ale and orange wedge with soda and an orange wedge).

Nose:  Fresh apricots and Airfix plastic model-aeroplane glue.

Palette:  Tongue-numbing, smooth, apple. Peaches and nectarines in custard, held together with the plastic glue.

Finish:  A slight smoke residue.

Comment:  At well under NZ$100, I’d have that. Graded a low A.

The website loudly & luridly claims the whisky is “Made for Mixing”.


Teeling Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey


ABV 46%, no age statement, bottled Sept 2019
Colour 0.9

Nose:  Coffee and golden syrup

Palette:  Peppery (but it’s very short). Drying my mouth, and sour.

Comment:  Single pot still – in Scottish terms, technically a grain whisky and not a single malt.

Finish:  Medium

According to the Teeling website, this is “The first whiskey to be distilled in Dublin in nearly 50 years”. It is 50% malted and 50% unmalted barley, triple distilled, matured in a combination of American Virgin Oak, Bourbon, and Sherry casks.

The website description is very chatty about the nose (hibiscus flowers, grapefruit & citrus), palette (a hint of lychee, white grape notes, white pepper, roasted peaches and baked biscuits) and finish (dry, hints of spice, roasted almonds and maple syrup).

I’m not sure that I got all those, but I did like it and would definitely own one.

Glenfarclas Legend of Speyside SPRINGS Speyside single malt whisky


ABV 46%, No Age Statement,
Colour: 1.3

One of the Legends of Speyside trilogy released for the German market. Aged in ex oloroso casks, with the darker colour suggesting that these were pretty good casks.

Nose:  Grain (brown bread), sweet and rich.

Palette:  Young, with that slightly sour oloroso sherry taste and a bit fizzy on the tongue. Not mouth-filling.

Finish:  It doesn’t stay around. In wine-drinking terms, this is a quaffer.

Comment:  Length is  disappointingly short.

The bottle label is totally in German.  My extremely rudimentary grasp of the language is pretty much limited to “Eine Bier, Bitte” – not a helpful phrase in the circumstances!  However, although it’s not a great comment on the quality of the contents, the tube the whisky comes in is very pretty, arty and attractive.

Mark A-

Benriach 17yo
Casks: Bourbon, then PX finish.
ABV 46%, age 17 yo,
Colour 1.2
NC2

Nose:  Strong. Over-ripe bananas, wood and a wet nappy.

Palette:  Smooth, pepper, caramel, and a musty flavour reminiscent of an old coat cupboard.

Finish:  Tannic (from the bourbon cask?)

Comment:  The label says “PX Sherrywood finish”. Bourbon-matured American oak, then in PX.

Mark A-. At NZ$150, this is too expensive for what it is.