I must admit I was a bit in aw even before this tasting started, as it was not only my second whisky-tasting in just a couple of months with an influential character in the world of whiskies (the prior one being Distillery Manager of the Year 2012, John Maclellan), but this time it was with the one person that have brought me some of my best experiences with blended whisky, the nose himself, Mr. Richard Paterson. The tasting was held in the city of Vejle, Denmark, about two and a half hours drive from Hirtshals where my ferry docked. I slept at a privately hosted B&B just outside the city centre, the walls were neon green and the interior was mostly all pink, psychedelia here I come! After an hour sleep I went to town as I was not 100% sure about the location where the tasting was to take place. best to be on the safe side I thought. I found it quickly and suddenly had two hours spare to spend. What I encountered in the streets of Vejle was a mixture of modern business buildings and 2000's architecture in amongst older characteristic danish brick houses. An unsettling mix, but I'm a bit of an old-fashioned romantic when it comes to buildings and houses. Other than that, I found this great little shop called Havnens Vin where I bought a Glen Esk Duncan Taylor for just above 80GBP, not bad at all, and even though the shop looked small from the outside, the array of beer, wines and whiskies inside was impressive, to say the least. Before the tasting started I took a walk through the corridors of the hotel at which it was held, and to my surprise they had a bar serving only SMWS-bottlings (see photo below), and in the other bar at the hotel they also had some japanese whiskies. And by the reception they had a great array of some artsy whiskies on a display shelf. Impressive! Richard Paterson was the first guy in the room at this tasting, and I quietly sneaked past the registration queue to get a seat in front (bad behavior, I know). Richard Paterson came over to our table and chatted a bit before the show started, and collected information to spice up his performance, and of course I told him of my interest in Fettercairn whisky. Oh yes, I call this a show instead of a tasting, because it really was a combination of the two with an emphasis on the show part. I was entertained, to put it gently. The show started with some funny anecdotes on americans, danes and norwegians before he started on what was a detailed history of the distilleries Jura and Dalmore, just paused by a short mentioning of Fettercairn inbetween. There was, unlike on the tasting with John Maclellan, no chances for the audience to ask questions, but with a storyteller like that, no questions could have improved this show in my opinion. The whiskies were tasted after the distilleries and their history had been thoroughly described by Paterson. The tasting was not like I usually do my tastings, Richard insisted on having the whole dram in one gulp, swirling it around in my mouth while making some noises for a while before swallowing it all. And to be fair, it actually worked very well on all the whiskies, and gave me a couple surprises on whiskies I've found a bit dull earlier. And just so that its mentioned, I believe Richard Paterson knows more facts and history about scotch whisky than what one could ever be close to consuming in 4 hours. The whiskies we tasted were:
Jura 12yo Elixir
Jura 30yo
Jura Prophecy
Dalmore Cigar Malt
Dalmore King Alexander III
Fettercairn 24yo
Whyte & Mackay 30yo
MacKinlay blended batch#2
I must say, all this, for about 14.9 GBP or 149 Dkr, it was money well spent, but the initial price of the was higher. The whiskies was a great selection with the King Alexander ending up on my "to buy" list. The MacKinlay blend had a certain Millburn character, old style whisky! After the session, and some book-signing, I got to chat some more with Richard and he told me that the year they cut the necks of the stills at Fettercairn Distillery was back in 1963. And he did, to my great surprise, offer to send me some Fettercairn distilled back then. How lucky can one guy get?
Oh, and just a bit of a tip and a funny/embarrassing story if you ever find yourself at one of the font seats at a whisky tasting. On this tasting I had a pole position and in the early stages of the seminar I found Richard Patterson waving and nodding at me, for instance right after he made a good joke. I found this a bit humbling and amusing at the same time, so after a couple nods and blinks I starting making some courteous arm gestures and nodding back at him, like old friends would do. That went on for about 10-15 more minutes until I found that right beside me sat the guy running the shifts of the powerpoint canvas behind Richard. Well, how stupid I must've looked? Thankfully I don't think anyone noticed except maybe Richard and the powerpoint guy.
A bit of the mixed architectural landscape in Vejle where old meets new, but doesn't necessarily blend that well.
Havnens Vin in Vejle, close to the dock and just a bit outside of the main streets, but a great selection of whiskies at fair prices and employees with much knowledge in spirits and wines.
The bar at the hotel, which I unfortunately do not remember the name of, that sold exclusively SMWS whisky.
A bit of a gallery on the wall opposite the reception, what an hotel for a whisky lover
Enjoying a bit of canapeers with other whisky enthusiasts before the show. The bar in the background also had some good whiskies.
Richard Paterson looks to be happy with the attendance, and more came
The tastings
How to nose a whisky
At this moment, I can't quite remember what this was all about ;-)
One lucky dane tasting the 60yo Dalmore
Signed book, stunning Glen Esk and some King Alexander III which some poor soul had left untasted. Euphoria!
The Nose of Whyte & Mackay, Richard Paterson, with the Norwegian of the Evening, Jonas Bratteli
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