December 2011
1 post
Ever heard of Tokaji Cask Finish?
Have you ever tasted a Tokaji Cask Finish whisky? No? And have you ever tasted Tokaji wine? This is a special late harvest wine from the North-Eastern region of Hungary, called Tokaj. „Vinum Regum, Rex Vinorum” as we say it in Hungary, which means: The wine of Kings, the King of the wines. And it really is! There are even 3 distilleries which found it a good idea to put there Single Malt Scotch...
November 2011
1 post
Ever heard of Cognac Finish?
Traditionally, Scotch whisky was matured either in Bourbon casks or Sherry casks. Couple of decades ago, some marketing guru might have advised to leading Single Malt distilleries to use Bourbon casks for the first period of the maturation, then Sherry casks for the last couple of years … then label the whisky as Sherry Cask Finish. To be honest, I don’t know who was the very first to play this...
October 2011
1 post
Set up your own tasting
A whisky tasting is easy to organise. Don’t take it to seriously - it’s meant to be fun, but follow the 6 steps below to be able to distinguish between different whiskies.
What you need is A) a range of whiskies (e.g. blended scotch variants, various single malt whiskies, Jack Daniel’s against bourbon whiskies, etc.) B) sampling glasses (preferably stem glasses, than whisky...
September 2011
1 post
Join the Pact
The Pact simulator is a tool of Johnnie Walker to promote its Responsible Drinking programme. It is a futuristic pod, which will provide consumers with a practical demonstration to remind them of the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol in a controlled virtual environment. It is better to crash yourself in the virtual world and learn from it. You have several lifes in the virtual...
August 2011
1 post
July 2011
1 post
Whisky Show 2011 Budapest
We are here again! The Whisky Society of Hungary and WhiskyNet proudly present the 2nd Whisky Show in Budapest. The event will take place on October 15, 2011 in the very same hotel just like last April: Ramada Plaza Budapest Hotel.
Isle of Arran, Glenfarclas, Benromach, Gordon & MacPhail, Inverhouse, BenRiach, Pernod Ricard whisk(e)y brands, William Grant’s & Glenfiddich,...
June 2011
1 post
'Fingerprint' Single Malts
Experts know, but rookies probably don’t, that each of the famous Scotch blended whiskies has its so called fingerprint single malts among their 40-50 ingredient whiskies. Just some examples to catch interest: Ballantine’s Finest two characteristic fingerprint malts are Miltonduff and Glenburgie, J&B’s one of the main fingerprint malts is Knockando, Chivas Regal (12 YO) has...
May 2011
1 post
The Scotch Whisky Regions
Although, each whisky distillery makes its own, unique Single Malt Scotch whisky in Scotland, but there are some similarities in their character by regions - this helps to group them in “families”. 2% of the ageing whisky evaporates through the wood of the barrels each year, and gives its space for the air surrounding the casks during the maturation period. Therefore it is possible...
April 2011
1 post
The story of Whisky Galore
The wartime looting of the ship SS Politician, which sank off the Outer Hebrides with a cargo of whisky and inspired the 1949 comedy classic Whisky Galore, is a tale of happy-go-lucky islanders outwitting killjoy tax inspectors. The novel of Compton MacKenzie, and later the film, was supposedly inspired by the story of quenching a thirst for whisky born in wartime rationing. In reality the...
March 2011
1 post
Uishgi
By the way, the name whisky is an English corruption of the ancient name for spirits “water of life” according to Edinburgh University. It comes from the Scottish and Irish Gaelic “uisge beatha” or “usquebaugh” which to English ears sounded like “uishgi” and henceforth became whisky.
January 2011
4 posts
Whisk(e)y articles for YachtLife Magazine
I have written some articles about whisk[e]ys for the quarterly issued bilingual YachtLife Magazine.
The Arran Malt Tokaji Finish 10-year-old malt whisky
There is a little island at the southwestern part of Scotland with a single distillery. The innovation of the place are the experiments of maturing the whisky in casks of Tokaji wine. Due to the Tokaji cask the whisky gets fruity smell and rich...
Whisky terms: 'dog'
‘dog’: is a relatively primitive device which was hand-made to smuggle out whisky or fresh spirit from the distillery or the warehouse. Whisky was rather stolen this way for home consumption than for sale.
The common ‘dog’ device was made of a copper tube sealed at one end and corked at the other. The tube was then hanged on a long copper chain. The worker filled the...
Isle of Arran Tokaji Cask Finish 55%
This is the Scotch single malt whisky ‘magyars’ are the proudest of. It took the whisky industry two decades until they discovered the unique late harvest wines of the Tokaji region (tokaji aszu) in Hungary as a source for special wine casks for doing “finishes”. As ‘magyars’ say: the wine of Tokaj is ‘The King of Wines. The Wine for Kings’....
Connemara Bog Oak
Last time I wrote about the Connemara Turf Mor, which is really a unique peated Irish whiskey from the Cooley’s Distillery. Here comes something even better, now!
First of all, I would like to thank for the experts at Cooley’s that they gave us the opportunity to taste and test their outstanding whiskey invention: the Connemara Bog Oak. Our team (the Whisky Society of Hungary) is...
December 2010
2 posts
Connemara Turf Mór 58.2%
I have got a sample of small-batch production Connemare Turf Mór 3 years old Irish Whiskey. The whiskey is cask strength, limited edition, bottled only in a quantity of 20.000 pieces. Cooley distillery released this heavily peated Irish uniqness to show how a peaty-smokey Irish whiskey tastes. It is peatier than the basic Connemara. Turf Mór has around a 55 ppm of phenols which is the range of...
Strathisla 40 years old 43%
My 40th birthday was a good occasion to taste the Strathisla 40 years old Speyside whisky. The sherry casks have a clear impact on the whisky. Spicey and fruity in scent, taste and its finish. Full-bodied, dry, slightly peaty, but not smokey at all. 40 years of ageing had an impact on its strength, too. Although, it is diluted back to 43% abv when bottled, but it feels much stronger. A sweet,...
May 2010
1 post
Glendronach Grandeur
It was in 2008 when Billy Walker, the owner of BenRiach Distillery Co has aquired the Glendronach Distillery from Pernod Ricard. The distillery was granted by James Allardes in 1826. The single malt whisky they made was one of the fingerprint malts of Teacher Highland Cream. The distillery was one of the very last coal fired distilleries that were operational in the 21st century. Floor malting was...
April 2010
2 posts
Whisky Show 2010 Budapest - Summary
The Show went well. More than well. Actually, we overachieved our goals. We believed that it will be welcomed by the whisky fans in Hungary. But it was more than welcomed: it was loved and appreciated. Everyone tried to convince us to do it every year instead of every second year. We really consider to repeat the Whisky Show already in 2011.
Let’s see some statistics. There were 400...
Whisky Show 2010 Budapest
The Whisky Society of Hungary presents: Whisky & Whiskey for Everyone! The first ever Whisky Show takes place in our lovely city on April 24, 2010 in the conference centre of Ramada Plaza Budapest Hotel. 15 exhibitors, hundreds of whiskies.
Whisky giants like Diageo, Pernod Ricard, William Grant’s, Brown-Forman, Jim Beam Brands will be there via their local subsidiaries or distributor...
March 2010
6 posts
Mortlach 70 years old
The oldest whisky I have ever tasted was 40 years old. It was bloody expensive, so I could afford only a half of a dram. The oldest spirit I have ever tasted was a 60 years old cognac. I didn’t like it, because I found too much influence of oak on the spirit. Too much of those vanila, oaky flavour with a wee bot of tannins. Nevertheless, I am very much interested how the oldest single malt...
Glenfiddich innovation
There are two inventions worth to mention from the Glenfiddich distillery this year.
End of January, the 2010 release of Glenfiddich 30 Year Old whisky is rolled onto markets worldwide. This year, for the first time, the bottles carry individual bottle & batch number. The new bottle is sealed with wax, embossed with a badge, and enclosed in a wooden case. A bottle of Glenfiddich 30 Year Old...
WatchIrish whiskey basics presented by Patrick, the owner of Caledonia Bar in the downtown of Budapest. Althought, he won’t be with us tonight when we will taste real Irish Single Malt Whiskeys. Tonight is the next gathering of our Whisky Society. The range we taste: Tullamore Dew 10 YO Single Malt, Bushmills 16 YO Single Malt, Knappogue Castle and Clontarf Single Malt Whiskeys.
February 2010
1 post
January 2010
5 posts
iTouch, iPhone, iPad ... iWhiskey
I wonder, if someone like Steve Jobs took over any of the whisky distilleries, what hype he would generate around every new release and how he would dramatize the official introduction of every new bottling. On one hand, it might be beneficial for the industry in terms of publicity, awareness, hip & style. On the other hand, it might alienate many whisky-lovers, whisky-freaks and fans.
...
Whisky Club Budapest 2010
I have put together the draft lists of whiskies we are intended to taste and enjoy in the Whisky Club this year: Benromach, Bruichladdich, Glenfiddich, Kilchoman, Royal Lochnagar, Inchgower, Auchriosk, Teaninich, Dalmore, Glen Grant, Tomintoul, Glenfarclas, Talisker, Oban, Nikka, Yoichi, Yamazaki, Hakushu, Grant’s, Ballantine’s, Crown Royal, Jameson, Paddy, Powers, Green Spot,...
The Malt Matcher
Diageo has launched recently a tool that helps you to match single malt whiskies to anyone’s individual taste either by their favourite single malt they usually drink, or their favourite whisky region, or their favourite type of food (by categories like Scottish, English, Seafood, Tapas, Dessert, etc).
The tool suprised me first when I tried to find “my single malts” to my...
November 2009
6 posts
New Scotch Whisky Law
New Scotch whisky rules covering every aspect of the distilling, bottling and labelling have come into force today. Introduced by the UK Government, the regulations are designed to “reinforce the integrity of Scotch” and provide legal protection for Scotch Whisky from imitations, said the Scotch Whisky Association.
From today, single malt whisky can only be bottled in Scotland. Other measures...
“Short summary of the 5th Birthday Club Event of the Whisky Societyof Hungary...”
– Whisky Society of Hungary
October 2009
6 posts
Bruichladdich Organic Whisky
There was an organic whisky bottled by The Macallan couple of years ago without any huge success. Now, here is another one from Bruichladdich. The Islay distillery is very strong in innovation, so now wonder, they ride the waves of the “fight against climate change” hype. No industry can resist. Everyone shares the responsibility of global warming. The Bruichladdich Organic 5 Years Old...
Whisky & Cigar blog in Hungarian →
Prestige Whisky →
September 2009
10 posts
“Beam Global Spirits & Wine has filed a lawsuit against Diageo North America,...”
“An internet campaign to boycott Scotch whisky and other Scottish products has...”