Well what a marathon string of tastings, the World Whisky Review tasting hit seven cities throughout September and showcased some of the best medal winning world whiskies this year. Take a look at the all star line up….
Bain’s – Single grain, 43%. South Africa
Sullivans Cove – Double Cask, 40%. Tasmania
Kavalan – Port Cask, Concertmaster, 40%. Taiwan
Mackmyra – Moment, Skog, 54.4%. Sweden
Hakshu – Bourbon Cask, 48.2%. Japan
Amrut – Fusion, 50%. India
This is by far one of the most interesting line ups of whisky I’ve ever had the fortune of tasting and taking around to you all. In the history of all The Whisky Lounge tastings (which is a lot of tastings, around 100 a year!) this was the first to not have a single Scotch or Irish whisk(e)y involved and the first (as far as I know) without an age statement in sight!
Each and every whisky featured was outstanding and if you come across any of these they’re all well worth trying. After each tasting we asked for a show of hands for whisky of the night, here’s the results….
1st place… Mackmyra taking large majorities in Sheffield, York and Leeds
2nd place… Amrut taking large majorities in Newcastle and London
The Hakshu was very popular in all cities but cleaned up in Manchester
The Kavalan and Sullivans Cove were very well received and very much enjoyed but seemed no match for the stronger and cask strength offerings.
In terms of value for money, worth mentioning the Bain’s was the winner throughout the series.
What surprised me the most throughout this run of tastings is just how many people had never tried a World Whisky! I suppose when we have such an abundance of amazing tried and tested Scottish single malt available then this makes sense. However I think the audiences biggest surprise was just how good World Whisky can be and that they’re well worth exploring and tasting.
If it weren’t for this run of tastings we were all (including me) fairly unlikely to try any of these whiskies, by providing a stage for these drams to shine means everyone can get a chance to try these illusive drams.
The main lesson displayed in this line up, I think…..
It’s not about where and it’s not about age. It’s about skill and passion, it’s about quality of spirit and the quality of wood that’s what makes great whisky.
Of the 250 people reached throughout this series, after tasting this line up everyone was in agreement. Hope you are too.
Cheers, Joe
