Whisky Live Leiden 2007

[K-Mile]

In a little over a month is Whisky Live Leiden 2007. I was thinking of going to the event.

Are any members of the forums thinking about going? Any previous experiences with other editions in Leiden? Is it worth it?

And for goodness' sake, let's leave the vouchers out of the discussion

[K-Mile]

Well, received my ticket today in the mail, so regardless of what you guys were planning on responding to this topic I am going anyway

Also signed up for the Diageo masterclass.

[Muskrat Portage]

Wish I could go to at least one of the "across the pond" Whisky Live shows. From what I've read in earlier postings they are generally well received. Looking forward to seeing what your experiences were like K-Mile.

Muskrat

[Matt2]

I was meant to go last year but passport problems put a stop to that

From what I've heard it was very well organised and the venue (still in the church?) is amazing.

Look forward to reading what you think about it (vouchers and all)

[K-Mile]

I will be attending the event on Friday, and yes, it will still be in a church.

I was meant to go last year but passport problems put a stop to that

What did you do, ate your passport? You can also travel within the EEA with an ID-card.

Great, I'll be there on Friday as well. My first visit, but the venue appears to be pretty great.

We'll make sure to let you guys know how it was. I'm really looking forward to it

[Sean]

A friend and i are going to the Saturday afternoon session. It'll be our first visit and can't wait. I'm travelling from Derbyshire, England and he's making the epic trip from Dubai. Is there a prize for longest journey. If anyone fancies a chat come and say hello.

Cheers Sean

[K-Mile]

A friend and i are going to the Saturday afternoon session. It'll be our first visit and can't wait. I'm travelling from Derbyshire, England and he's making the epic trip from Dubai. Is there a prize for longest journey. If anyone fancies a chat come and say hello.

Cheers Sean

Dubai! That's a long way to go for this event I bet if there was such a prize, he would no doubt get it.

Are you staying in Holland just for the weekend?

[Jeroen Kloppenburg]

I've had from Austria visiting me twice for the festival. Little shorter then Dubai though

If I can get tickets I'll be there on Saturday.

[Sean]

K-Mile wrote
Dubai! That's a long way to go for this event I bet if there was such a prize, he would no doubt get it.

Are you staying in Holland just for the weekend?

Yes, land at Schipol on Friday and leave Sunday. We're staying in Amsterdam so will be visiting the well stocked L&B Bar both nights.

[Jeroen Kloppenburg]

Try The Still as well (unless you don't like it maybe ).

[K-Mile]

Try The Still as well (unless you don't like it maybe ).

Is that still (no pun intended) open? Their website states that they are closed since May 1st '06....

[Jeroen Kloppenburg]

Euh, I haven't been there in a while so that might actually be the case... Been a while out of the loop since the birth of our son. Maybe someone on the forum can tell for sure.

[Sean]

I too had heard that De Still had closed its doors once and for all.

Fancy trying to blame the kids allready.

If anyone out there is ever visiting Amsterdam i would thoroughly recommend Whiskycafe L&B with over 800 on choice.

Sean

[Iain]

To get back on topic - what happened? Any reports from Leiden?

[K-Mile]

I just got home from a great night...

A condensed report from my notes:

I started off with a Talisker flight.. .10yo, 18yo, 175th, DE, and 25yo. My favorites were the 175th (well balanced, lots of flavor), 25th (rich fruity, but definitely Talisker), and the 18yo.. Very interesting masterclass as well, enthousiastic distillery manager (forgot his name, will post details tomorrow..)

Then I went on on the main floor of the event. The hall was great, and here is a small sample of my impressions:

Jura 21: nice bloke at the Jura and Ardmore stand, very dark chocolate, nice dram.

Festival Dram: Bunnahabhain 10yo, peated... very nice, got a bottle, well balanced sherry and peat.. Definitely more peaty than sherry though..

Lots of Cadenheads, had a nice talk there... The Convalmore 26yo was the best I've tried, had the best balance and richness of flavors.. Also tried a Dallas Dhu 22yo(?) which was pretty nice as well..

The Laphroaig 25yo. The nose is very nicely peated. On the palate, wow! This is one fine dram! Even after 10 or 15 other drams, this one just stands out headd and shoulders above the crowd. There are only 60 bottles in The Netherlands, at 350 EUR, but I got one nonetheless. This was really, really nice...

I finished off with an Ardbeg from 1972, but I don't think my palate was up to that.. I tried 20 different drams in total, so at the end they pretty much blended into a peaty, dark chocolate aroma..

It definitely was a great night, the 'drams' (the currency for the evening) working out pretty good. Most stands did a pretty good job pouring wee drams of great whiskies for free, and some even got out a few more luxury bottles to try.

Will post more details tomorrow, first try and get some sleep...

[K-Mile]

OK, I am slightly recovered from last night, so here is my report:

I went there by myself, right on time for the start at 7pm. I started of with a Masterclass of Diageo, which was led by Gerrit Duit, an extremely enthusiastic man who was a brand ambassador for Diageo for many years. He arranged a flight of Taliskers for the tasting

The tasting itself was done by the distillery manager of Talisker, Bruce (forgot his lastname), and one of his female colleagues. Straight from the source!

The 10yo was the only one I tried before, and it was as good as could be expected. The 18yo is a fuller, richer version of it, showing a little bit more fruit and spice, while the 10yo is smokier. Then came the 175th anniversary edition. This was my winner of the 5 I've tasted. Slightly more balanced, but still that spicy, smoky, and salty that is Talisker.

Then came the DE (don't know what year, probably recent..) which I thought a little disappointing. The sherry cancels out the strong distinct flavors. Last was the 25yo which was second best I think. More powerful than the 18yo.

With that behind me it was time to hit the festival floor. I started of with a quick round to see what was going on. Then I stopped at BenRiach, mainly because that is one of the last whiskies I would look into, so I thought it was a good time to some. I had a small chat and finally decided not to try BenRiach, but a Mannochmore IB from 1984. Sweet sherry and toffee, smooth, and again something I probably wouldn't have tried otherwise.

I had a little bit of the Festival Dram, a 9yo peated Bunnahabhain that reminded me of Kilchoman New Make, but with added smoothness and some fruitiness from the sherry cask it is finished in. It was actually quite nice, and since this was my first Bunna I got a bottle of it to try again at home.

Another novelty for me was a pure grain whisky. I had a chat over at Compass Box, and it seems they have quite a nice lineup of blends there. I settled for the Hedonism, which is a blend of a 25 and 12 years old grain whisky, again because I never tried this before. It was dry but sweet, had a different kind of sweetness to it, similar to single malts, but not the same.

I had a great time talking with some of the people from Cadenhead. They were kind enough to let me try a few of there bottlings, and all were great. Best was a 26yo Convalmore.

I was determined to try some of the Islays that I never tried before, Bunny, Laddie, Lappy, or Coal Ila (Colly?). Luckily I stopped at Laphroaig. They had the standard range, 10yo, CS, QC, and 15yo available, but I asked if they had the 30yo available to try, since I heard some amazing stuff about it here in the WhiskyMag forums. They didn't have it, but they could let me try some of the new 25yo that they said was better, and released to the Dutch market this week. He let me have a dram, and it completely blew me away. The nose it nicely peated, rich, but not complicated and very inviting. On the palate it is just a mix of peat smoke, sherry sweetness, and very, very smooth. Extremely well balanced, and very enjoyable. It reminded me of a Laga DE, but with added richness and the rough edges removed. I don't know if it was the previous drams kicking in, but I signed up for Friends of Laphroaig and got myself a reservation on a bottle. One of 60 available in The Netherlands... I will have to have a look around, because the price seems a little bit high. In my enthusiasm yesterday I posted I got one at EUR 350 , but thinking about it at RMW or TWE it's 40% cheaper. So I'm lucky it's not a definite order yet... And it seems quite a difference, so the guy at Laphroaig might have been mistaking?

After recovering a bit I had a nice discussion about Bowmore Darkest with the people from Bowmore. They mentioned the new Darkest expression, which is a little bit older, and has been on sherry casks for three years instead of 18 months. The dark chocolate took over taste, while the saltiness is almost completely gone. It has become really 'sophisticated', but I liked the older Darkest because it is raw, with lots of different flavors, and hard to 'get' completely.

The organization was superb, the venue is absolutely great, and not too crowded. Bread and water was available on every corner and table, so that was really nice. Another nice thing is the keychain, which contained two elastic bands that hold a Glencairn glass. So you could carry your glass, and just unclip it when you wanted a dram. Very convenient.

I'm sorry for the long and detailed post, but it was a very enjoyable evening with lots of great people and great whiskies. I definitely broadened my horizons yesterday...

[Sjoerd]

I also went, and had a great time there. I did try to avoid the Diageo stand, however, they were far too expensive. Even a Talisker 10 cost 2 euros, while others had 15 year old whiskies for free.

My top of the festival was the 'Berry's own' Port Ellen 24 from 1982 (for five bucks each ).

We had ourselves some tasting with Highland Park (25 and 30) and Macallan (all fine oak, 21, 25, 30). The Highland Park whiskies were both very good, with a little extra on that 30 year old. Of the Macallans we all liked the 25 fine oak best. The 21 was very good too, but the 30 year old lacked the edge we experiences in the 2 younger ones.

The worst whiskies we tasted were Goldlys 10 (rye, apparently), Great Outback Rare Australian, and Black Grouse.
The first and last were to be expected, since I actually don't like any other than single malt (yes, I am a bit spoiled), but the Australian was very well received by Jim Murray and others, although they were different bottlings.

The 9 yo Bunnahabhain Festival Bottling is very nice. I am glad I pre ordered one.

One of the surprises of the festival was the Ardbeg Mór. We managed to get one free, with a little help from our local whisky retailer who used some of his connections. A dram well worth the five bucks. Too bad they only sell it in those rediculous bottles of a gallon.

One whisky that was a bit disappointing was the most expensive one I tasted, the 25 yo Port Ellen from Diageo. Since it was twice expensive as Berry's own version, we had worked up our expectations, and that was a bit of a let down. Could be the other ones wasting my taste, but thusfar, I am not too fond of the Original Bottle.

Trying to get my hands on the Berry's Own

Sjoerd

PS: does anyone know where to get some good pictures of the fest, for my blog?

[les taylor]

Welcome to the forums Sjoerd, ggod work along with K-Mile. It was good to read both your reports. I'd missed K-Miles at the weekend. Thanks guys.

Is the 9 year old Bunnie the release at all the whisky lives or do the change it from venue to venue?

[Sean]

Les

The Bunnie was just for the Leiden show. 607 bottles in total. Mine's number 160 yippee.

I beleive that New York had a Highland Park and Tokyo had a Port Ellen or visa versa and Glasgow had a Tullibardine. All in very limited numbers. I wonder if London will be having one?

Leiden was a fantastic event in a magnificent location. A little tricky to find i would imagine especially in Friday nights rain but thankfully the taxi driver appreciated a dram and knew exactly where to go. We even tipped him on the return pick up with a shot of JW Blue Label as we where all talking about it on the ride there.

I would say that Leiden attracted a greater number of exhibitors and visitors than Glasgow did the weekend before but maybe the venue just made it feel that way. It'd be interesting to know if anyone has the numbers etc.

I thought that there was quit a variance in the tokens/drams required between Glasgow and Leiden. Both systems worked well and i've no complaints but the exhibitors in Leiden were much more focusd on taking the drams from us compared with Glasgow whereby i only parted with 5 and beleive me i sampled far more. I also felt that the pricing structure differred between events with far more samples at Leiden being offered f.o.c and especially some of the more costly bottlings compared with Glasgow.

I think my dram of the event was a Sotts Selection 1964 Glenfarclas. Beautifull stuff. I'm also very honoured to have tried a Brora 30. Thanks Diageo for bringing it along.

It was also good to see Penderyn there as i'm a big fan. Let's hope their next stand will have a few more expressions to try.

It was my first visit to the show and i will definately be crossing the channel again next year.

All the best.

Sean

[Sjoerd]

I have to update my opinion on the Black Grouse I posted a couple of weeks ago.

Last week I tasted it blind, it being the first whisky of the evening. It makes quite a difference if you tasted 20 odd whiskies before.
I recognized it as a blend (which I should...) and I quite liked it. It didn't compare to the peated fury we had during the rest of the night, but still it was quite an acceptable dram.

[GIsabbel2]

Just found this web site.Whisky Live was excellent this year as always. Pieterskirk in Leiden is the best venue ever as there is plenty space. I go over from Glenkinchie Distillery every year and the festivla just gets better all the time. It is well worth going over for the weekend but I suggest that two of the four sessions should be taken in and that allows you to enjoy the fine selection of malts that are available. Roll on 2008

[GIsabbel2]

Bruce's second name is MacKenzie and he is the site operations manager at Blair Athol Distillery and Helen Gardiner who is the Visitor Centre Manager at Cardhu Distillery.

OK, I am slightly recovered from last night, so here is my report:

I went there by myself, right on time for the start at 7pm. I started of with a Masterclass of Diageo, which was led by Gerrit Duit, an extremely enthusiastic man who was a brand ambassador for Diageo for many years. He arranged a flight of Taliskers for the tasting

The tasting itself was done by the distillery manager of Talisker, Bruce (forgot his lastname), and one of his female colleagues. Straight from the source!

The 10yo was the only one I tried before, and it was as good as could be expected. The 18yo is a fuller, richer version of it, showing a little bit more fruit and spice, while the 10yo is smokier. Then came the 175th anniversary edition. This was my winner of the 5 I've tasted. Slightly more balanced, but still that spicy, smoky, and salty that is Talisker.

Then came the DE (don't know what year, probably recent..) which I thought a little disappointing. The sherry cancels out the strong distinct flavors. Last was the 25yo which was second best I think. More powerful than the 18yo.

With that behind me it was time to hit the festival floor. I started of with a quick round to see what was going on. Then I stopped at BenRiach, mainly because that is one of the last whiskies I would look into, so I thought it was a good time to some. I had a small chat and finally decided not to try BenRiach, but a Mannochmore IB from 1984. Sweet sherry and toffee, smooth, and again something I probably wouldn't have tried otherwise.

I had a little bit of the Festival Dram, a 9yo peated Bunnahabhain that reminded me of Kilchoman New Make, but with added smoothness and some fruitiness from the sherry cask it is finished in. It was actually quite nice, and since this was my first Bunna I got a bottle of it to try again at home.

Another novelty for me was a pure grain whisky. I had a chat over at Compass Box, and it seems they have quite a nice lineup of blends there. I settled for the Hedonism, which is a blend of a 25 and 12 years old grain whisky, again because I never tried this before. It was dry but sweet, had a different kind of sweetness to it, similar to single malts, but not the same.

I had a great time talking with some of the people from Cadenhead. They were kind enough to let me try a few of there bottlings, and all were great. Best was a 26yo Convalmore.

I was determined to try some of the Islays that I never tried before, Bunny, Laddie, Lappy, or Coal Ila (Colly?). Luckily I stopped at Laphroaig. They had the standard range, 10yo, CS, QC, and 15yo available, but I asked if they had the 30yo available to try, since I heard some amazing stuff about it here in the WhiskyMag forums. They didn't have it, but they could let me try some of the new 25yo that they said was better, and released to the Dutch market this week. He let me have a dram, and it completely blew me away. The nose it nicely peated, rich, but not complicated and very inviting. On the palate it is just a mix of peat smoke, sherry sweetness, and very, very smooth. Extremely well balanced, and very enjoyable. It reminded me of a Laga DE, but with added richness and the rough edges removed. I don't know if it was the previous drams kicking in, but I signed up for Friends of Laphroaig and got myself a reservation on a bottle. One of 60 available in The Netherlands... I will have to have a look around, because the price seems a little bit high. In my enthusiasm yesterday I posted I got one at EUR 350 , but thinking about it at RMW or TWE it's 40% cheaper. So I'm lucky it's not a definite order yet... And it seems quite a difference, so the guy at Laphroaig might have been mistaking?

After recovering a bit I had a nice discussion about Bowmore Darkest with the people from Bowmore. They mentioned the new Darkest expression, which is a little bit older, and has been on sherry casks for three years instead of 18 months. The dark chocolate took over taste, while the saltiness is almost completely gone. It has become really 'sophisticated', but I liked the older Darkest because it is raw, with lots of different flavors, and hard to 'get' completely.

The organization was superb, the venue is absolutely great, and not too crowded. Bread and water was available on every corner and table, so that was really nice. Another nice thing is the keychain, which contained two elastic bands that hold a Glencairn glass. So you could carry your glass, and just unclip it when you wanted a dram. Very convenient.

I'm sorry for the long and detailed post, but it was a very enjoyable evening with lots of great people and great whiskies. I definitely broadened my horizons yesterday...

[GIsabbel2]

There were some really good whiskies on the Diageo stands that were free. There were a few Scots working on the stand and they would have advised you of the good whiskies that cost no drams. I have a few pics of the festival but maybe they would not be what you are looking for.

I also went, and had a great time there. I did try to avoid the Diageo stand, however, they were far too expensive. Even a Talisker 10 cost 2 euros, while others had 15 year old whiskies for free.

My top of the festival was the 'Berry's own' Port Ellen 24 from 1982 (for five bucks each ).

We had ourselves some tasting with Highland Park (25 and 30) and Macallan (all fine oak, 21, 25, 30). The Highland Park whiskies were both very good, with a little extra on that 30 year old. Of the Macallans we all liked the 25 fine oak best. The 21 was very good too, but the 30 year old lacked the edge we experiences in the 2 younger ones.

The worst whiskies we tasted were Goldlys 10 (rye, apparently), Great Outback Rare Australian, and Black Grouse.
The first and last were to be expected, since I actually don't like any other than single malt (yes, I am a bit spoiled), but the Australian was very well received by Jim Murray and others, although they were different bottlings.

The 9 yo Bunnahabhain Festival Bottling is very nice. I am glad I pre ordered one.

One of the surprises of the festival was the Ardbeg Mór. We managed to get one free, with a little help from our local whisky retailer who used some of his connections. A dram well worth the five bucks. Too bad they only sell it in those rediculous bottles of a gallon.

One whisky that was a bit disappointing was the most expensive one I tasted, the 25 yo Port Ellen from Diageo. Since it was twice expensive as Berry's own version, we had worked up our expectations, and that was a bit of a let down. Could be the other ones wasting my taste, but thusfar, I am not too fond of the Original Bottle.

Trying to get my hands on the Berry's Own

Sjoerd

PS: does anyone know where to get some good pictures of the fest, for my blog?

[Eric m]

My cousin and me have been in Gent as well in Leiden and honestly Leiden can be deer but you have the whole industry there in Belgium it was a small place with only a few interesting things.
Eric.