“The Dutch Whisky Brothers Edition” (First Chapter)
It’s that time of year 🎄🥃 and we think some of you might already started of with their Whisky Advent Calendar…
We, as Dutch Whisky Brothers, really searched for a great Advent Calendar which needed to be fun, interesting and affordable. But we couldn’t find one without looking at the sample list to actually know if this calendar would be something for us. But with peaking in those lists… we lost that magical moment of an Advent Calendar.
Some calendars just aren’t our cup of thee and some others are just a bit to expensive (even we are on a budget 😬). So what to do! Well…..
We came with a superb idea (at least in our opinion) to create our own Whisky Advent Calendar!
So here’s an DIY:
- Take some empty sample bottles (12/24/xx)
- Number the sample bottles
- Make a comparing list to the sample numbers
- Fill the samples with your own drams! Open bottles, or freshly popped
- Write down ever dram on your own list
Now comes the very creative part….
- Make your own Advent Calendar! Be creative and make a surprise gift, or something else.
- (for the lazy people… you can buy empty Advent Calendars!)
When your Calendar is ready… do a swap! Make sure you don’t tell your whisky brother (or sister 😉) what samples were explored after some blind sample notes (ask for proof! 📝).
It’s really fun to do and it trains your senses and flavor frame of reference.
So what did we taste so far? We’ll lets find out in this first chapter:
On this side you’ll read about the samples I, Dramtastic.86, received from my brother Whiskypeater
On this side you’ll read the opposite from the left side 😉
Sample 1
- Single Malt
- Distilery: IJsvogel
- Bottler: OB
- Vintage: 2016
- Age: 4yo
- ABV: 46 %
- WB: 164563
- Singel Malt
- Distillery: Arran
- Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
- Vintage: 1999
- Age: 19yo
- ABV: 46 %
- WB: 132524
Sample 2
- Single Malt
- Distillery: Islay
- Bottler: The Single Cask
- Vintage: 2008
- Age: 10yo
- ABV: 58.2 %
- WB: 130307
- Single Malt
- Distillery: Tomatin
- Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
- Vintage: 2007
- Age: 8yo
- ABV: 60 %
- WB: 87037
Sample 3
- Blended Scotch
- Distillery: Islay & Lowand
- Bottler: Murray McDavid
- Vintage: 1988
- Age: 29yo
- ABV: 50 %
- WB: 117702
- Rye
- Distillery: New Riff
- Bottler: OB
- Vintage: 2015
- Age: 4yo
- ABV: 50 %
- WB: 144722
Sample 4
- Single Malt
- Distillery: Laphroaig
- Bottler: OB
- Vintage: –
- Age: NAS
- ABV: 48 %
- WB: 44586
- Single Malt
- Distillery: Ardnamurchan
- Bottler: OB
- Vintage: 2014 – 2015
- Age: 5yo
- ABV: 46.8 %
- WB: 165871
Sample 5
- Single Malt
- Distillery: Highland Park
- Bottler: OB
- Vintage: 2006
- Age: 12.5yo
- ABV: 56.7 %
- WB: 128812
- Singel Malt
- Distillery: Deanston
- Bottler: OB
- Vintage: 1977 – 2006
- Age: NAS
- ABV: 46.3 %
- WB: 104858
Sample 6
- Single Malt
- Distillery: Bunnahabhain
- Bottler: Cadenhead
- Vintage: 2009
- Age: 9yo
- ABV: 58.9 %
- WB: 124867
- Single Malt
- Distillery: Macallan
- Bottler: OB
- Vintage:
- Age: NAS
- ABV: 48.6 %
- WB: 159712
Comments
@Whiskypeater: My stunner was definitely that Deanston… what a dram 🤤! My runner up and a big surprise was the Arran. I’m normally not a big fan of Arran, but this is something else: a very tasty summer fruit dram. And maybe the biggest game changer was the New Riff. I’m no fan of Rye whisky’s (just like my brother @Dramtastic.86 isn’t), but this was really lovely. A wonderful nose and different then any other Rye whikey’s I’ve had so far. The Ardnamurchan is promising for the future, but price/quality a good dram.
Although I like the Macallan, it’s not overly complex, just a decent dram. I’m already looking forward to the next chapter!
@Dramtastic.86: I know my brother is kinda a peat lover, and mostly a frogman… so this wasn’t an easy journey with al those Islay whisky’s. But I really enjoyed it! Especially the Laphroaig an Cuan Mor was delicious. It’s not a normal “typical” dry ashtray Lappie 🐸, but it was savory and complex, tasty stuff! Also The Single Cask surprised me with their Islay Single Malt. The Highland Park was good, but when I found out the price point… my o my… about €200,- for a 12.5 year old 🙄. The one I didn’t like was the IJsvogel. It was to young and had chemical tasting notes in it. The balance was just off…
But hey… we’re just halfway this journey and I know my brother will have some special surprises for me coming up. I’m in!
Slàinte,
Dutch Whisky Brothers
