Venue: Oslo Whiskyfestival 2016

A recap of the second day of the whisky festival.

Part 2: Saturday November 5^th

For the second day, we had no plans or seminars booked, so it was just a matter of trying as many different things as possible before trying new things gets pointless (right around when everything tastes awesome is a good place to stop).

Never go to a whisky festival on an empty stomach.

Saturday

Since the Friday was such a success, there was no real rush to get to the festival; instead we opted for a solid lunch and getting there around 20-30 minutes after opening. There’s usually queues on Saturday too, but they’d long since cleared up by the time we got there.

Reviews and text in general on this page is normally all in English, since they’re (hopefully!) interesting for an international audience. This article, however, is mostly for people within a certain travel time from Oslo, and can be found in both English and Norwegian.

We had noted that four Glendronach Single Casks were available, and made a plan to try them all — but first, the “opener”: We opted for Eiktyrne Sokin og Eikin Sauternes Finish (cask sample) – and regretted going for such a young whisky to start out (not sure of the exact age here). It has potential, but a bit rough still, and it landed on a ⁵⁄₁₀. However, making a note to try it “somewhere in the middle” next time.

After blasting the taste buds with young whisky, it was time to go for something with a real punch: Glendronach 1995 Single Cask #444, which is a veritable sherry bomb. Lots of tannins and spice, almost too much cask influence, but with a finish that lasts an eternity, ⁹⁄₁₀. The day was officially started!

Not easily scared, the next whisky was the young Gjoleid Praksis 1.2 which is listed at Vinmonopolet as “nearly 5 years”. This was a fresh and clear whisky, lots of forest floor, heather, and just a tiny bit of sharpness due to being so young – ⁷⁄₁₀.

As this day had no real program, there’s mostly going to be these quick tasting notes throughout.

There were still one down, three to go, so the next sample was the (almost empty at that point) Glendronach 1995 Single Cask #4034, which was much more floral compared to the #444; it had a nicer flavour, but was significantly milder, with a less pronounced finish, and got a ⁹⁄₁₀.

On a whim, this was followed by The Balvenie Single Barrel 12, a first-fill bourbon cask matured whisky — and it was awesome! A veritable candy store, with marshmallows and candy floss, fruits, and lavender. At the festival it got ⁹⁄₁₀, however having gotten to try it after the festival, it’s getting upgraded to ¹⁰⁄₁₀. (This also won best in festival, 12 years or younger)

First-fill bourbon whisky is a long time favourite of festival general Chris Maile.

Glendronach 1994 Single Cask #4034 was next in line, and it was an explosion of sweetness, with a hilariously long finish ¹⁰⁄₁₀ — straight after this there was a chance for a small sample of Cadenhead Auchentoshan 17, and even after such a massive sherry bomb it managed to make an impression; the notes say ¹⁰⁄₁₀.

After this, a pair of Japanese whiskies seemed like a nice diversion! Nikka Miyagikyo Single Malt was really flavourful, almost oily, and scored ⁸⁄₁₀, while Chichibu Chibidaru was even better, with a nicely integrated flavour of Japanese mizunara oak ¹⁰⁄₁₀ (the latter won best in festival, whisky from other countries).

With this uncharacteristic amount of distraction, it was time to get back to the true purpose of the day: tasting Glendronach Single Casks. Last one out was Glendronach 1994 Single Cask #3308, and it had those nice flavours of a long sherry maturation – ginger, cola, and chocolate. Easily the most complex of the four, and of course rewarded with a ¹⁰⁄₁₀.

Out of single casks to try, but not discouraged, and with a long way to go until the pit-stop dram, the search for new things to try went on! Chieftains BenRiach 1999 was very good, ¹⁰⁄₁₀, but Berrys’ Blair Athol 1991 Cask #7279 was absolutely fantastic, lots of flowery flavours, nicely balanced, and a clear ¹¹⁄₁₀. There was a quick scramble to check the Vinmonopolet app after these, but sadly neither is available in Norway.

Around this time, a small sample of Macallan M Decanter was tried, and it’s one of those ridiculously expensive samples that it’s hard to do justice on a festival – it showed a tiny fragment of complexity, with peat, tobacco, and sherry, but it clearly needs more time in the glass than it was given here. It’s really great to have tried something that’s definitely off the scales in price, and one of those things that make you regret not bringing an extra glass so it could’ve been sampled over some more time.

This is where the notes get a bit sparse, so we’ll quickly go through the next samples:

• Bruichladdich new-make was really nice and actually quite drinkable ⁷⁄₁₀.
• Kilchoman Sanaig was a new release by the young Islay distillery, and it was light and sweet, with a fresh peat flavour ⁹⁄₁₀.
• Lost Distilleries Auchnagie got a ⁸⁄₁₀, while
• Lost Distilleries Stratheden (best in festival, blended whisky in 2013) got ⁹⁄₁₀.

It was pit-stop time after this, and it turned out that at Friday’s pit-stop at the Highland Park table, both bottles of Hjarta had been handed out by too eager staff, so the equally-out-of-sale Highland Park Loki was presented instead; it was really fantastic, with dark sherried fruits and peaches, ¹⁰⁄₁₀.

After a break, a pair of Glenturrets were sampled – Glenturret Triple Wood had a nice flavour, but was a bit young and sharp ⁶⁄₁₀ while Glenturret Sherry Edition was a tiny bit better at ⁷⁄₁₀. Luckily, the winning streak of the evening was reestablished with a series of really nice whiskies:

• Cadenhead Glenallachie 22 got ⁹⁄₁₀.
• Cadenhead Glen Burghie 7, while being approximately π times younger, also got ⁹⁄₁₀.
• Old Provenance Linkwood 17 also got ⁹⁄₁₀.
• Cadenhead Blend Light Creamy Vanilla 23 in fact everyone gets ⁹⁄₁₀.

The more astute reader will have noticed it’s nearing the end of the evening.

This was followed by some small samples of the other pit-stop drams, though the scores are probably approximate, at best:

• Caol Ila 30 with ⁸⁄₁₀.
• Glendronach 1986 actually was superb, ¹¹⁄₁₀.
• Glenfarclas Family Collector Series V 1986 at ¹⁰⁄₁₀.
• Kilchoman 2016 ‘Club’ Exclusive at ⁸⁄₁₀.

The last few tokens went to (with the same caveat as the above):

• The Balvenie Double Wood ⁷⁄₁₀.
• Berrys’ Dailuaine 1992 Cask 3137 ⁸⁄₁₀.
• Myken new-make (peated) ⁶⁄₁₀.
• Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2009 ⁸⁄₁₀.

It was time to go home after this, but it was a fantastic festival, and of course next year’s is already marked in the calendar!