DramFest '09

DramFest is New Zealand's whisky festival. Last weekend it was organised for the second time (premiered in 2007) at the Convention Centre in Christchurch. We were, of course, on the spot, tasting this wonderful, complex spirit. Those of you who wrinkle your noses at the slightest mention of whisky, uisge beatha, the water of life, the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine and so forth (kärt barn har många namn) may wish to skip the whisky jargon which is about to follow. Those of you, on the other hand, who do appreciate the finer things life has to offer, please keep on reading!

It is perhaps not so surprising to find a large and lively whisky community in this country, New Zealand being a former member of the British Empire and many Brits and Scots having emigrated here. The Main Event on Saturday and Sunday was pretty much sold out, as were all Tasting Classes (more on these later). Around 30 whisky producers were represented and a total of up to 170 different whiskies were on display, the majority available for tasting. Most were Scotch Single Malts, but a few blends were also thrown into the mix, as well as Irish, American, Australian whiskeys and New Zealand whiskies. With your DramFest '09 glass in hand, you had four hours a day to walk from stand to stand and sample as many different drams as your heart desired.

We made it through around 14 different distilleries and 20 whiskies of varying age, type and strength on Saturday. I won't mention all of them, just the most interesting ones.

Besides tasting the pure stuff, you could also try some whisky drinks prepared by the bartenders during cocktail demonstrations. We had both the good and the really bad - it's a tricky thing making cocktails of single malt whisky!

First of all, you need to know about the only New Zealand whisky available. This is the "Milford" range of single malts and blends. Presently there is no operational distillery in New Zealand. However, the Willowbank distillery was opened in Dunedin in 1974. Being the first whisky distillery to operate in NZ, it first produced two blends until releasing a single malt whisky in 1984. It was named Lammerlaw. Unfortunately a turn of events forced the distillery to cease production in 1997. By this time there was a large stock of maturing whisky produced between 1987 and 1993. This was acquired by The New Zealand Malt Whisky Company and it is this whisky which is today sold with the Milford Single Malt label. As the number of old Lammerlaw casks is finite, this is a very exclusive whisky. When it's gone, it's gone for good! There are 10, 12, 15, 18 and 20 year old single malts available, as well as two cask strengths. In our opinion these are some first-rate whiskies that can compete with the plethora of quality Scotch single malts out there.

The New Zealand Malt Whisky Company is located in Oamaru on the east coast of the South Island, between Christchurch and Dunedin. It is well worth a visit even if you're not a whisky fan, since it lies in Oamaru's beautiful historic quarter (more on this in a later blog post) and the interior is stunning.

Kilchoman is a new farm distillery on Islay in Scotland. It has only been operational for three years, so there are no mature Kilchoman malts yet. We did, however, taste their 2 year old New Spirit maturing in Bourbon barrels and Oloroso Sherry butts. Kilchoman has great potential and if you are a fan of Islay whiskies, this is definitely a malt to keep an eye out for in 10 years or so (strong peat flavour). Kilchoman is the first distillery to be built on Islay for 124 years, and is unusual in the sense that it grows its own barley at the distillery and will do the bottling at the distillery too.

Giigan at the Ardbeg stand. Did you know there are 106 distilleries licensed to produce Scotch whisky?

At the Ardbeg stand we had the opportunity to taste the limited edition Supernova, which is a real peat monster with barley peated to 100 parts per million of phenols (almost twice as much as the signature 10 year old Ardbeg). At almost 60% Vol., it's an explosive experience with long lasting flavours!

One of our absolutely favourite whiskies at the DramFest was the 17 year old Old Pulteney. Its smooth vanilla and flower flavour was amazingly delightful. This is a whisky to be had on a summer evening sitting on the wharf by the sea at the summer cottage, or out on the sailing boat. A "Genuine Maritime Malt".

Two happy Finns at the Old Pulteney stand. Did you know 18,4 million casks of whisky lie maturing in warehouses around Scotland?

The Longrow by Springbank was a true discovery for me. The double distilled, double peated 10 year old has a good balance of smoothness and peat, proving that Islay-style single malts can be produced on the mainland too (the Springbank distillery lies in Campbeltown). There is also a 14 year old Longrow, but we didn't try it. A bottle of Longrow will definitely find its way into my whisky cupboard when I return from this journey :-)

Being a fan of Islay whiskies, my last dram for Saturday was a 26 year old Port Ellen from the Old Malt Cask range bottled by the independent bottlers and blenders Douglas Laing & Co. The Port Ellen distillery is no longer in business, so it was quite extraordinary to be able to sample this superb single malt coming from a single cask producing 721 bottles.

JBB enjoying his 26 year old Port Ellen in front of the Old Malt Cask stand. Did you know more Scotch is sold in a month in France than Cognac in a year?

As sure as having to drink a lot of water in between the drams makes you run to the toilet every now and then, drinking whisky half a day makes you hungry. We topped off this splendid Saturday by having dinner at The Flying Burrito Brothers. This Wellington-Christchurch-Tauranga-based restaurant serves top notch mexican food the likes of which you can't get in Finland. And a hint for the women unlikely to have read this far in this blog post: they make excellent margaritas. We know from experience. If you're more of a beer fan, head over to The Twisted Hop - a popular microbrewery pub in Christchurch. That's what we did having made our tummies happy with quesadillas and fajitas. The Twisted Hop uses quite a lot of hops in most of their beers. If you like that and bitter beers, don't miss out on this quality microbrewery!

The next day (Sunday) we participated in one of the Tasting Classes at the DramFest. The Tasting Classes are a way to dig deeper into the whisky range of a particular distillery. There were eight classes available. We attended the Glenfarclas class.

The Glenfarclas stand at the Main Event on Saturday.

The Glenfarclas distillery was officially established in 1836 (although there is indication that distillation had begun a number of years earlier, without a license). Glenfarclas lies in Speyside and is, contrary to most distilleries in Scotland, family owned. It has been in the hands of the Grant family since 1865 and was a farm distillery up until as late as 1988, when the then chairman George Grant decided that "we are distillers, not farmers". As a true independent distillery, Glenfarclas distills and matures its great single malts using time-honoured practices, producing traditional Speyside whiskies with a strong sherry touch.

Besides getting a presentation on the history of Glenfarclas, we got to taste five whiskies from the impressive Glenfarclas range.

The five Glenfarclas whiskies in the Tasting Class. Numbered 1 to 5 from left to right.

We started off with the family favourite, the signature Glenfarclas whisky if you will; the 15 year old. Like most Glenfarclas whiskies, it has been matured in Spanish sherry casks, giving it a good balance of sweetness, fruitiness and smokiness. An enjoyable malt.

Next in turn was the 21 year old. It was fresh yet spicy at the same time, and just sort of melted in the mouth. A dangerous whisky, as it always makes you crave for another dram of it! This one was my personal favourite.

Third in line was the 1984 Family Cask. The Family Casks is a unique collection of the very best single casks from 43 consequtive years. No other distillery can boast with a collection of so many rare whiskies. It was quite exceptional to have a Family Cask at the Tasting Class, and we thoroughly enjoyed this 23 year old non-typical Glenfarclas, which has actually been matured in a plain oak cask (hence its pale colour).

Moving on to the fourth, the 105 Cask Strength 60% Vol., proved to us that high alcohol content doesn't mean the spirit has to taste alcohol. The 105 has great smoothness bundled with sweet toffee flavours, making your mouth water and enabling you to drink it at cask strength.

An experience like this needs to end with something spectacular, and something like that was certainly in store for us. The fifth whisky was a limited edition release from just a few casks, producing only 893 bottles in total. Our Tasting Class was the the first group in the southern hemisphere to taste it. I'm talking about the 105 Cask Strength Aged 40 Years 60% Vol. Complex, smooth but strong with fruit and liquorice flavours, fully drinkable at cask strength, it was, perhaps, the best whisky I've ever tasted. But at 1500 NZ dollars per bottle, it should be too.

Giigan and JBB at the Convention Centre, making the last dram of the 40 year old Glenfarclas last for as long as possible.

When we are back in Finland drinking drams from our DramFest '09 souvenir glasses, we will certainly remember this very special weekend. If New Zealand was any closer to Scandinavia, DramFest would most likely become a tradition for us.

Drink responsibly - Drink for life!
(DramFest trademark)