Glenfarclas Aged 40 Years

Annankadun William K:n hyllyltä tuli bongattua tämä 40 v Glenfarclas. Pidän kovasti Glenfarclasin tuotoksista ja heti piti tämäkin saada maisteluun. Varsinkin kun hinta ei mikään päätä huimaava ole, kun vertaa joihinkin muihin 40 v viskeihin.

Ulkonäkö: tummaa syvää meripihkaa. Hieno väri.

Tuoksu: Ensinuuhkaisuna voimakkaan konjakkinen. Suklaata ja kahviakin löytyy sekä hedelmiä ja pähkinää. 22 pistettä

Maku:  Täyteläinen viski, jossa karamellia, hedelmää, makeutta ja puuta. 24 pistettä.

Jälkimaku: Pitkä, hedelmäinen ja konjakkinen jälkimaku. 23 pistettä.

Balanssi: Tuoksu ja maku toimivat hyvin yhteen. Tasapainoinen viski. 22 pistettä.

Yhteensä 91/100 pistettä.

Enpä ole vielä antanut yhdellekään maistamalleni Glenfarclasille alle 80 pistettä. Hieno tislaamo, ei muuta voi sanoa. 


At William K Annankatu I saw Glenfarclas 40 year old bottle on the shelf. I very much like this distillery and I had to have a dram of it. Especially when the price wasn't too high when compared to other 40 year old whiskies.

Colour: beautiful deep dark amber

Nose: first sniff gave lots of cognac. Then chocolate, coffee, fruits and nuts. 22 points.

Taste: caramel, fruits, sweet and wood. Full-bodied. Very nice. 24 points.

Finish: long and fruity with cognac. 23 points

Balance: 22 points.

Points: 91/100.

I haven't yet tasted a Glenfarclas whisky that I gave less than 80 points. Great distillery.

Ruosniemen Panimo: Pikkupomo

Last Friday while having fun at Pori Jazz Festivals I finally got my hands on a pint from the latest microbrewery in Finland (Pub Winston).  Ruosniemen Panimo was formed only few months ago and now they've already have something brewed. Pikkupomo (which means middle management or something like that) is 6.0% ABV and had orange and red in the colour. The nose was very very fruity, sweetshop. Taste was medium-bodied and creamy and had citric, fruity and hoppy flavours. Slightly bitter. Very good brew. Let's see what future brings in. Points: 37/50.

Viime perjantaina Pori Jazzeissa käväisin Pub Winstonissa maistamassa Pikkupomoa. Muutaman kuukauden vanha panimo sai kyllä heti alkajaisiksi hyvän oluen aikaiseksi. Kuuden voltin Pikkupomon tuoksussa on paljon hedelmää ja karkkia. Maussa sitrusta, hedelmää, humalaa ja hieman katkeruutta. Mukava ensipano kyllä. Katsotaan mitä tulevaisuus tuo tullessaan. Pisteet: 37/50.

Uutinen Satakunnan Kansasta 21.7.2012:
http://www.notuli.com/scanned/SK_2012-07-21_RuoPa_01.jpg
http://www.notuli.com/scanned/SK_2012-07-21_RuoPa_02.jpg

Poacher's Choice and Achel 8 Blond at Janoinen Lohi

A walk in foggy Helsinki on a Saturday afternoon. Then finding ourselves at a pub called Janoinen Lohi (thirsty salmon) after having a breakfast at Cafe Tin-Tin Tango. Very cute barmaid recommended Badger's beer called Poacher's Choice. And it really was one helluva beer. Even the colour was very alluring: a dark and ruby red. Very nice. Lots of liquorice but still in a smooth way. Not disturbing amounts I mean. Fruits, caramel and nuts also. Points: 42/50.

I also spotted Achel 8 blonde on the shelf. I love trappist beers and I haven't tasted this yet. Very nice beer but slightly - and I emphasize on the word slightly - less interesting than the bruin version. Floral, fruity beer with white bread on the palate. Very nice full-bodied trappist beer. Points: 42/50.

Two over 40 point beers at the same day. Fucking nice. Pardon my French...

Few drams and pints at Angleterre, Helsinki (18 December 2011)

It's been few years since I was last at Angleterre in Helsinki. Last time I was there they had one real ale and approximately 20 single malts. Now they have two real ales and approx. 30 single malts. Great improvement. I had both of those real ales tonight, first Dark Star's Old Chestnut and then Hophead by the same brewery. Both were very tasty. The first one was very dark amber, almost black with very thick and long lasting head. The beer had burnt scents with coffee, malty and nutty scents also. Taste had bitter, malty and nutty aromas. Hophead was golden hay colour with a thick head that was leaving nice lace all around glass. Nose: citrus, hoppy, leathery, meat pie for some odd reason. Taste: fruity, grassy, hoppy, woody. To both beers I give 38/50 points. I also had Bruichladdich MCMLXXXV (DNA 3) which was very nice, like Bruichladdich's always. Amber coloured whisky had floral, fruity, grassy, honey and cloudberry aromas. On the palate: caramel, citrus, fruity, honey, malty and sweet flavours. Long and fruity aftertaste. Points: 90/100.

Few drinks @ Maltainen Riekko (16 October 2011)

Maltainen Riekko is a nice pub at Alppila area in Helsinki with a nice collection of single malts. Yesterday I had a chance to taste Mackmyra which is a Swedish whisky. Preludium 05 couple of years ago was a nice experience and this "Swedish single malt - the first edition" was very good indeed. Very vanilla flavoured and fruity. 84 points to that. American microbreweries are something I like very much. Yesterday I had two bottles: first Flying Dog's Snake Dog IPA and Short's Brew's Golden Rule. Both were excellent beers. Snake IPA had some great hoppy flavours and Golden Rule (with very funny label) was also piney and hoppy. 3.8 and 3.6 points to them. I also tasted some Irish whisky and I have to say that Connemara peated was excellent. Beautiful peaty, earthy and tarry nose and taste. Easily 89 points to that. I almost forgot that I had some belgian beer too: Scaldis. That's 12% ABV but still very soft beer. Belgium is definitely one of the best beer countries in the world. 3.6 points to that beer. Nice evening beside a Scrabble game and great beverages. People should taste more these kind of beers and not only cheap bulk lagers.

http://www.shortsbrewing.com/
http://flyingdogales.com/
http://www.mackmyra.se/
http://www.connemarawhiskey.com/
http://www.br-dubuisson.com/
http://www.maltainenriekko.fi/

Few drams at the local (3 October 2010)

Friday was spent in the local pub (Maltainen Riekko) where is a rather good selection of single malts (approximately 40). Nice modern pub with friendly atmosphere. First I tasted Dougie MacLean's Caledonia Selection's 12 Year Old Edradour. It was a nice whisky with winey, honey, fruity and apricot aromas. After water there were also some grassy scents. On the palate was sweetness, leather and fruity flavours. Nice starter for the evening: 81 points (21+20+20+20) and that's grade 8 whisky on the scale of 4-10. I also had Belhaven's Robert Burns Scottish Ale which was interesting ale with rye and malty flavours. Like liquid bread and it also smelled like peasoup. On the scale of 0-5 perhaps this was 2. Next whisky was Douglas Laing's Bowmore 1983 (Old and rare, a platinum selection, d 3/1983, b 8/2008, aged 25 years) that brought me just beside a sea. Very beautiful salty, sea climate and spicy aromas. Just like breathing wind that was coming from the sea. The main flavours were smokiness, salmiac and spicyness. This whisky had a nice long, smoky and salmiac-flavoured finish and aftertaste. But definitely this doesn't need water at all. Ruins the whisky totally. 89 points (22+22+23+22) which is 9-. Then I had Glenmorangie's Madeira wood finish and William's Midnight Sun porter. Well, to me Glenmorangie's whiskies have never been favourite ones and this one's definitely not going to the top of my list. It was winey (of course) and fruity but there also was scents from plum and some interesting autumn aromas. It was medium-bodied and it had strong madeira wine on the palate. But this whisky was also destroyed when I added water. That's why I usually add water to the last drops and not earlier. Points are 83 (21+21+20+21) = 8+. The beer was funnily black nevertheless it's called Midnight Sun. It was very very licorice flavoured with salmiac in the back. Very nice beer. On the 0-5 scale it's rating 4. Last whisky was Laphroaig Aged 25 Years (2009 edition). Nice amber coloured whisky with leathery, smoky lamb, plum, floral scents. Full-bodied whisky with spicy and smoky and tarry notes. Very long and smoky finish. Great whisky to be enjoyed in the autumn by the fireside. If you have one. Points: 92 (23+23+23+23) = 9. This was definitely the best whisky I had that evening and it was good to stop there. 'Till the next time...