This is a quick little ditty about the new Triple Triple from Jameson: we tried this last week at one of our whisky tastings in Hamburg. I picked it up in Dublin for 52 euro in travel retail for a 1 liter bottle. Firstly the bottle feels huge and honestly I really like the name and branding. We reviewed it as a group and strangely there wasn’t a lot of dispute about the notes, so here you go - Aroma: Banana, chocolate, green apple, almond,and orange marmalade. Vanilla and cinnamon were also there. Flavour: Grapefruit, a little oily, pineapple caramel and overall a very smooth whiskey. Finish: very short but pleasant: coffee, tobacco, dark chocolate and orange oil.
In general this is a pleasing whiskey that’s very easy to drink. If you’re looking for something amazing then you won’t find it here. However if your hotel or restaurant bar had it on the back bar then you wouldn’t be disappointed either. Will never be a classic but I would find it hard to find people who didn’t like it. Overall nice, maybe even delicious but you might ask yourself if you couldn’t use your 52 euro more wisely. Make it 40 Euro and 700 ml and you’ve got me. Big thanks to my reviewers aka partners in crime!
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Tasting
Peolple say that parents don't have a favourite child but if whisky events were children then this was my personal favourite from 2017.
The theme was salt, sugar & smoke and that we had! Whenever we do a tasting at Blackline then we put in a little extra effort with the food. I started the evening by smoking some walnuts to accompany the crispy winter salad to go with Jansson's temptation. If you've never had it, it's loaded with potatoes and anchovies and then baked in the oven until the anchovies start to melt. Amazing with a whisky or beer. Sweet? Nope but the dessert was: plum and apple compote with whipped cream, meringue, star anise and clove.
This set us up well for the whiskies that followed:
We started with the 10yo from Teaninich, which is located in the Northern Highlands close to the shoreline of Cromarty Firth. - Fruity and exotic with a salty finish and a hint of smoke. A big up to Michael from Borco for Prophecy from Jura that came next - heavily peated and very costal. We mostly found sweet and nutty notes in the background but in general it gave us a shape of things to come. Whisky number three was the 2016 edition of Longrow Peated, which I bought ages ago for the next time we had a smoky tasting in Eppendorfer Weg. The fine Campbeltown malt was very complex, lots of fruitiness, green apples and the freshness of mint. But what about the smoke? oh yeah there was smoke! Peat and tar in the mouth with sea salt, black pepper and candied pears to remember it by.
A big thanks goes to Ewald from Bruichladdich for our finale: Octomore 08.1. Animal like in it's intensity and definitely one for people looking for a light whisky. As all with all the other Octomores the 08.1 is incredibly peaty and very complex. Tobias from Barleymania described it as: "A wealth of malty, grainy and meaty flavours as well as hints of light fruits and chewy fudge." We paired it with some really well made Beef Jerky from Grizzly Snacks.
A great evening and if you are thinking of joining us in February for the next Tasting I may have an event that tops this one! http://thewhiskyjack.com/future-tastings/
Some friends: www.barleymania.com www.blacklinecoffee.de www.borco.com www.bruichladdich.com www.grizzlysnacks.de
Kittel's Fine British Goods whisky tasting - Lowlands vs Highlands
We had a great evening here and it's always a pleasure to work with the Kittel's team.
On the evening we focused on Highlands and Lowlands Whiskies and there were some great drams on offer. I liked the Auchentoshan as usual it's a great lowlands solid. I also used my own lowlands blend as of late I've been blending even more of my whiskies and am really enjoying it. We're offering our first Blending Seminar in march and I can't wait. The Highlands that stole my heart was the Deanston 15 year old organic. What a whisky, the definition of a slow burner. It's starts off a little shy but with every sip you take it unfolds into a very complex yet easy to drink scotch. Beautiful. We also had the Teaninich 10 which we really enjoyed and then the Gerston from The Lost Distillery as a smoky finish. I loved it but it really split the crowd. The power of Whisky!
This was one of our favourite tastings so far. Before anything else BIG thanks to everyone who helped: Vicky, Claudius & JIl from Black Delight, Camile, Marvin, and Philipp Harker from the Whiskey Union. Thanks also to Douglas Laing & Bremer Spirituosencontor for helping us with this one.
We had 4 amazing blended whiskies, and a four course dinner including oysters, warm salad, smoked & baked cod followed by an amazing cheesecake!
Fun was had and if you weren't there then hopefully we'll see you next time.
http://www.whiskeyunion.net/home.html
https://www.douglaslaing.com, http://www.bremerspirituosencontor.de/
http://www.camillesachse.de/
We recently had a great tasting at Salon Wechsel Dich in Hamburg. Here are a few pictures for those who couldn't join us. It also goes without saying, thanks to those who were there to enjoy a few great whiskies with me! See you on January 14th in Black Delight in Hamburg!
I'm not sure if I'll ever love bourbon but that's even more of a reason to try some more, keep your mind open and maybe do it all again next summer!
This was a great evening and as luck had it it was cold and rainy too.... perfect weather to enjoy the smokey delights of Islay.
