A Whistle Stop Journey - All Aboard The Norwest-Euro Express! MMXXII
“Please take care alighting from this train”
Welcome to our Norwest-Euro Express! This is a whistle stop journey of nine whiskies from across Scandinavia, and North West Europe!
There are five brand new whisky labels from the pen of Emily Chappell, and this collection includes our first ever whisky produced in Austria, and our first Buckwheat spirit too. We can’t label this whisky, because Buckwheat isn’t a grain, although it is known as a ‘pseudocereal’. It’s actually a grain-like seed, and not related to wheat at all. It’s actually related to sorrel and rhubarb!
As for the Scotch whiskies, as always we have a kick-ass collection of single malts, and an amazing collection of blended scotch whiskies. Oh, and let us not forget Boutique-y Pete, who missed the train and ended up in a paddle boat to the Caribbean. He’s some bloke! You can head over to That Boutique-y Rum Company to find out more on that!
Boutique-y Whisky’s Norwest-Euro Express 2022
HEADLINERS
Broger Batch 1, 6 Year Old Single Malt, 62.3% ABV 340 Bottles RRP £69.95
Huzzah! This is our first ever Austrian whisky! We know of 14 distilleries in Austria making whisky, but we’ve never seen any here.
The Broger distillery is a family business in the true sense of the word, as the team purely consists of family members and is affectionately operated in their leisure time, in their own home.
This is a 6 Year Old single cask of Broger’s signature ‘Burn Out’, a single malt whisky made using a heavily peated malt, matured in French Limousin oak. What makes this slightly different from your run of the mill heavily peated malt is that when milling the grain, Broger retains the husks and includes them in the fermentation, significantly increasing the peat quota.
N: Big! Farmyard funk and peaty tar. Hints of dark pipe tobacco, Black rubber, and liquorice, Underneath though, caramel, BBQ sauce, and sandalwood.
P: Oily and chewy. Woodsmoke and chimney soot, hard rubber, liquorice root, and an underlying sweet citrus note.
Eddu Batch 1, 14 Year Old Single Malt Buckwheat Spirit, 47.9% ABV 204 Bottles RRP £119.95
Our first ever batch of ‘Eddu’ from Distillery Menhirs, which is located just south of Quimper in Brittany, France.
The distillery blazed a new trail in the whisky world in 2002, by creating the first ever pure buckwheat whisky in the world. Buckwheat, a staple of Japanese and European cooking since ancient times, lends the spirit a distinctly earthy body. It's a huge commitment, as buckwheat is four times the price of corn, takes three times as long to mill and is heavy to mash. Incidentally, “Eddu” means “buckwheat” in the Breton Language.
Our ‘Eddu’ has been matured for 14 years, in French Limousin Oak.
N: Honey, charred lemon peel, and exotic spices. Lots of fresh ginger, with hints of fenugreek and some earthy cumin.
P: Delicate, with a surprisingly light mouthfeel. Honeyed sweetness, with plenty of spices, candied ginger leading, oranges and a generous pinch of salt.
Fary Lochan Batch 1, 6 Year Old Single Malt, 60.2% ABV 430 Bottles RRP £99.95
Denmark’s Fary Lochan distillery is a small family distillery, now run by three siblings, and their mother. The distillery is named after the lake on the plot and an ancient spelling of the town, Farre, it’s located in. Founder Jens-Erik Jorgensen found inspiration from memories of smoked cheese from his mother used to smoke over fresh nettles. With these memories in mind, he picked up some fresh nettles, did the first tests of smoking his whisky-malt in 2009.
Sadly, Jens-Erik Jorgensen passed away in 2016.
Our Fary Lochan is not a nettle smoked malt, but has been matured in an ex-Pedro Ximenez Sherry Cask for full term.
N: A soft and fruity nose, with lots of dark chocolate and hazelnut, Dried fruits, raisins and dates, with hints of roasted coffee.
P: Rich and luxurious with rich dark chocolate, Black Forest gateau, black cherry, and an underlying woody char.
Helsinki Distilling Co. Batch 2, 6 Year Old Rye Whisky, 58.9% ABV 330 Bottles RRP £69.95
It’s a welcome return for a second batch from Finland’s Helsinki Distilling Co. as I was a big fan of the first release we brought to you in our Rye Series last year. This is a 6 Year Old rye whisky, from 70% malted rye, and 30% malted barley, that has been matured for six years in a new charred American oak cask, char level 3.
Low year round temperatures in Helsinki year round leads to a slower interaction with wood. This presents a preferable situation for maturation in powerful, first fill casks. Hell yeah!
N: Deliciously complex! Aromas of coffee, light honey on toasted rye bread, dark chocolate, and hints of pine needles and linseed oil.
P: Hints of liquorice, dried apricots, creamy vanilla caramel, coffee, and cocoa, alongside a charred wood smoke note. Love this!
HighGlen Batch 1, 3 Year Old Single Malt, 46.4% ABV 119 Bottles RRP £69.95
Here’s another Swiss distillery for our ever growing world whisky portfolio. This 3 Year Old Single Malt ‘Swissky’ was matured in HighGlen’s signature 100 litre casks which comprise of ex-bourbon barrel staves, and ex sherry cask heads - i.e double wood in a single cask.
A one Man operation, situated on the peak of a Swiss Mountain, heavily inspired by Scotland, and run by the larger than life character, Lord Gunter Sommer. The distillery, built into his home, is on the border of Switzerland and Italy, at an altitude more than twice that of Ben Nevis.
N: Fruit and nut chocolate! The fruits get a little darker with time, plums and black cherries.
P: Rich chocolate, dried peel, spices, caramel, with a slight herbal woodiness
Kyrö Batch 1, 4 Year Old Rye, 53.1% ABV 350 Bottles RRP £59.95
It seems like every Finnish whisky distillery starts life in a sauna, and Kyro was no different! Surprisingly, the idea of starting their own distillery still seemed like a good one the following morning, and from there, the journey of Kyrö began.
This is a 100% whole grain malted rye, that went into a new American oak cask for two years before being re-racked into a first fill bourbon barrel for the remainder of its maturation. It’s banging!
N: Vanilla creams, caramel, chalk dust, dried apricot, rye bread dough earthiness, fresh rain on dry ground; petrichor.
P: Sweet, malty, toasted rye bread, earthy honey, red berry fruit notes. Hints of coffee linger in the finish. Spectacular!
Slyrs Batch 2, 3 Year Old Single Malt, 62.3% ABV 345 Bottles RRP £74.95
This, our second batch from this Bavarian distillery, is another 3 Year Old. This release hails from a new American oak cask, to the heaviest char available, also known as ‘Crocodile Toast’ as the inside of the cask is charred so deep that it resembles the cracked skin of a crocodile.
Our first batch from the Slyrs Distillery was awarded a Gold medal at The Spirit Business World Whisky Masters, and has always surprised people when told; where it’s from, and how old it is.
N: Fruity, with crisp green apples and fresh peaches. Hints of pear drops, Demerara sugar and caramel
P: Medium bodied, with honey, sweet grains, and hints of roast peanuts. Spicy with nutmeg and white pepper. It’s another cracker!
Smögen Batch 2, 8 Year Old Single Malt, 60.3% ABV 340 Bottles RRP £129.95
It’s our second batch from this Swedish distillery that has a bit of a cult following. Our first release certainly disappeared rather quickly. This 8 Year Old comes from a single first fill ex-Bourbon barrel named No.39 - odd name I guess, I would have probably called it Eric, or something.
This is a very typical example of the Smogen whisky style, clean, crisp and very drinkable. Lively citrus notes evolve with dilution. Don’t miss this!
N: Crisp and clean. Vanilla and oak with a splendid hit of earthy coastal peat.. Hints of green banana and peanut brittle
P: Chocolate and malt, with hints of strong sweet coffee. Peppery spices linger with some charred lemon zest.
Teerenpeli Batch 2, 3 Year Old Single Malt, 55.53% ABV 449 Bottles RRP £59.95
You wait years for the first batch from Finland’s Teerenpeli distillery, and then two turn up in our last two outturns! Check out our Wine Cask Series for a full-on sherried 5 Year Old <link to add>
This 3 Year Old lightly peated malt has had it’s full maturation in re-coopered American oak ex-Bourbon hogshead, and it is fabulous!
N: Charred lemons, peated malt, fresh grain and dried husk. Baked apple, green leaves, fruity toffee and peppery touches.
P: Light and clean, sweet muesli and pineapple cubes, charred wood smoke, and vanilla. There’s a hint of grapefruit too..
NORWEST-EURO EXPRESS SCOTCH WHISKIES
Alongside the Norwest-Euro Express releases - of course - we have a kick-ass Scotch Whisky release of nine bottlings covering Islay, the Islands, The Highlands, and Speyside. There’s also a collection of Blended Scotch Whiskies, with some older than my jokes!
ISLAY
Bowmore Batch 22, 15 Year Old - A vatting of ex-Bourbon barrels, from Islay’s oldest distillery. RRP £104.95
THE ISLANDS
Ledaig Batch 11, 21 Year Old - We’ve had some wonderful Ledaig, and here’s another release! This is from a single butt, distilled in September 1997, and we’ve bottled this at 48.7% abv. RRP £159.95
HIGHLAND
Macduff Batch 6, 11 Year Old - Distilled in November 2007, and matured in a single puncheon. We’ve bottled this at 48% abv RRP £41.95
SPEYSIDE
Secret Distillery #1 Batch 8, 30 Year Old - a new release from this undisclosed, and popular Speyside-based distillery, a release of just 806 bottles at 47.5% abv.. RRP £199.95
Speyside #3 Batch 2, 6 Year Old - From an undisclosed Speyside distillery, comes this vatting of four ex-Sherry butts, we’ve bottled this at 49.3% abv. Yes, it’s young, but it really shows the distillery character off wonderfully without too much wood influence.. RRP £29.95
BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY/SPIRIT
Our amazing collection of long aged Blended Scotch Whiskies; 22,32, 42, and 52 Years Old. One of these must surely be the answer to Life, the Universe, and everything!
Blended Whisky #2 Batch 3, 22 Year Old - To commemorate a great year of Boutique-y “series” releases, TBWC present 3 bangin’ blended scotches and one “spirit drink” of great age, all presented with a wink to nostalgia through the lens of our artist Emily Chappell. RRP £63.95
St. Thomas Batch 1, 32 Year Old - Taking visual cues from great old blended Scotch brands, in this case St. Leger, TBWC’s St. Thomas references three of our team members on a single label including a whisky industry first “...& Daughters”.. RRP £104.95
Cutler & Stubbs Batch 1, 42 Year Old - What do you get when you stick the heads of two of our whisky team on their respective pets? A tasty, tasty treat, it turns out… now sit! Good boy..Cutler & Stubbs is a true Boutique-y original. RRP £224.95
Auld Alford’s Batch 1 52 Year Old - Having fallen below 40% abv in cask, we can no longer call this whisky, but that makes it no less delicious! Like its younger cousins in this range, the inspiration for this label came from a classic blended Scotch whisky of yesteryear (Ainslie’s “Old Liqueur Whisky”). . RRP £64.95
WRAP UP
How many of these distilleries have you come across in your whisky journey so far? Hands up if you’ve had a whisky from Austria before? It was a first for me too!
There is, once again, a Boutique-y-ful selection of independently bottled world whiskies, alongside some glorious Scotch whiskies in this new series release
Stay connected on socials - Pete and I will be doing our usual Tots ‘n’ Drams tomfoolery, date to be confirmed soon!
Slàinte!
Boutique-y Dave x
These latest releases will be available from all the finest retailers now!
Off-trade/on-trade enquiries should be directed to our UK distributor; Maverick Drinks.