Tobermory

Tobermory is a Scottish Island whisky. It is created on the island of Mull. I bought one bottle of its ten year old expression for my thirty euro project last year, and thought it a big disappointment.

About 2 years ago I got my hands on a single cask sample of an (I believe) 10 year old whisky which I really really liked, so I had high expectations of that bottle. It didn't live up.

The last time my friends and I went to a whisky shop someone bought a Tobermory 15, some special release, from a sherry barrel. One of the special aspects is that that barrel aged partly on Mull itself, while the brand usually uses a huge warehouse on the mainland.

Now, I don't really believe that 1 year in a different atmosphere/temperature can do all that much, this whisky is quite something. After tasting my friend's I had to get one myself. I bought it last week, but yesterday was the first evening in which I was relaxed enough to enjoy it, and in which it was not too bloody hot.

I love this whisky. Great taste, several layers of flavor in it. It keeps surprising with every sip. The smell is really good as well. And the more you smell, the more you discover in it. Should have made tasting notes :-)

Highly Recommended!

More movies!

Yesterday and the day before, my wife and I finally had time and sense to remember that we like to watch movies, so that is just what we did.

On Monday we watched Dogville. A movie which sets itself apart from all others since there is barely anything on the stage (yes, the movie is played on a stage). This makes this movie entirely about the actors, and not about special effects, but just about human interaction. They even have to pretend that doors are opened and closed. Really cool!

The movie itself was very interesting, a bit of a slow start that is compensated by looking at the weird stage setting. There is a little dip in the middle of the movie in which you might get a little bored, but after that things really get up to speed for the surprising end.

It is about a small town in which a runaway girl (Nicole Kidman) arrives by mistake. She is adopted by the entire town and starts to settle down when people in town start revealing their darker nature.

Yesterday we watched Donnie Darko. I have watched a few times before, but the last time was about 3 years ago, so I didn't really have everything clear anymore. Great movie, though! I find it really surprising every time I watch it. Great cast, great acting, really good script. Love it!

Even more movies coming up! Tomorrow I am finally going to see The Dark Knight. I really am looking forward to that one!

To the movies

Last Saturday we went to the cinema to see Hancock. The new movie in which Will Smith plays a super hero drunk.

We expected it to be very quiet, since Batman is getting so much audience and attention, but that was not the case. We were quite lucky to be just in time for the last 4 tickets.

We had to sit in the front row with some annoying red-necks next to us, which seemed a bigger problem than it turned out to be. They guy fell asleep before the commercials were over.

The movie was good fun. Better than I expected and I really had  a good time. The story was not too bad either, I would give the movie a 4 star rating I guess. There is room for improvements here and there, but not too much. The super hero genre needed something like this to break the line of Hellboy, Hulk, Iron Man, Batman, Superman, Spiderman and the other ones...

Whisky by the Sea

Tickets have been bought for the Whisky Festival in Vlissingen. Together with Thomas, Maite and my wife we will spend the weekend in Cadzand, in Thomas' dad's holiday apartment.

The Saturday evening will be the festival's evening and I am very curious and looking forward to what is available there.

Should be good, I have seen some liquor stores and importers who are showing up and which whiskies they will bring. Looking good!!!

I think I will focus more on the rare bottles that are available, since they are the most likely to never be in my possession, and regular bottles are always available for tasting anyway.

I am most interested in long time bottlers like Cadenhead and organizations like Lindores from Belgium, who are bringing rare old bottles that are usually considered collector's items. Also, Whisky Import Nederland has several high profile brands (Adelphi and Berry Bros) that look promising.

Traffic fine

After almost 15 months of fine-free driving, things have come to a close. I got my first traffic fine last night, for parking on a spot where I was not allowed to park.

Now, of course, I disagree with the fine, although I really wasn't allowed to park there. I can park in paid parking spots after 5 PM, without paying. In town, they have been doing road, canal board and parking place construction for a while, reducing the amount of spots for me to park on by almost half (within walking distance of our house).

So, instead of walking through the rain for 15 minutes, I decided to park my car just in front of one of the designated areas, which cost me dearly.

I think I will take the long walk again. But still, my respect for traffic wardens has decreased below zero. It was Monday night, past 9.30, so it is not that anybody can have found any hindrance of my car being there...

Ass holes...

Let's just hope it stays at one for another 15 months (or preferably longer).

Considering traffic wardens:

New bottles of Whisky

Last Friday a couple of friend and I went to a whisky shop in Sint Oedenrode, called The Old Pipe.

We got a newsletter from them a while ago, stating their new bottles and a serious discount on those. That is always a good reason for a visit, so we planned a night with a bit of dinner, and then whiskies.

I bought 2 bottles, a 17 year old Highland Park by Adelphi, and a Longrow CV. Thomas bought a Tobermory 15 special release and the Longrow Gaja Barolo finish. Finally Dirk bough himself an Ardbeg Renaissance and a Highland Park 18.

Of course, we had to taste at least these six, which we did. All were good, with some exceptionally nice ones in there. The Tobermory was a huge surprise, since we know the 10 year old and that is not too great. The Highland Park 17 exceeded expectations as well. Both the Longrows kick ass. See my last post on the Ardbeg.

The Highland Park 18 is always a bit strange to me. All reviews are very enthusiastic about it, but for some reason, it doesn't do it for me. I recognize it as a very good bottle of whisky, but I don't think I would ever by one myself.

My wish list extended with the Longrow Gaja Barolo and the Tobermory. I have to be quick on the last one, since it is a very limited release (to be honest, I already ordered it).

The Longrow Gaja Barolo is only 7 years old, but since it is heavily peated and real peppery, it tasted properly matured. It has quite some bite which I really like.

The Tobermory is sherried, but not overly so. It has some strange notes which I could not really describe yet, with tasting it only once. Honestly, it took me by surprise, so I was a caught a bit off guard on finding the flavors and smells.

Things are looking good for my whisky collection and the hobby in itself. In September I am most likely going to the Whisky By The Sea festival in Vlissingen. There is one nosing and tasting in September and one in October. In November there is the Whisky Live Festival in Leiden. Apart from that, there are some cool bottles coming up in the near future, but that is something for another time.

Ardbeg!

In early June, the new Ardbeg 10 years old was released. Not the regular version, but one at Cask Strength. "Renaissance"

This whisky is the newest in the range, and is the follow up of last year's release called "Almost There".

Of course, I had to have this whisky, and I went to the Whiskykoning to get me one. It is great! Very peaty, salty and tasting like a drink to have after a long day of hard work (at sea, preferably).

I am starting to understand why Ardbeg has such a loyal and large fan base. The previous 'committee' only release called "Corryvreckan" was great too.  I still want to have a taste of one of those great Ardbeg whiskies from the sixties, but they are a little bit out of my budgetary range... Maybe at some festival!

Too bad summer is always a bit slow in the world of Scotch, but things are picking up a little bit. The festivals are being announced, Vlissingen, Leiden and some tastings in Den Bosch. Many good things to look forward to.

Corsica

Our honeymoon in Corsica was great, as I said in my last post. Nature is great there. A small island, but with a very diverse cover trees and a lot of maquis (Corsican underbrush).

The small town are nice, and have a very quiet and slow-paced atmosphere. In summer's high season it gets really crowded, so I was very glad to be there just before, when people are still friendly.

The small mountain roads are very cool to drive, but it is very tiring, so we had lots of in between stops. Being there for two weeks gives you the chance to see a lot of things, and have some days of extreme lazyness as well.

 

We planned to eat at our tent often, but in the end we only did that about 4 times. Going out for dinner is just a little bit more expensive than buying food at incredibly expensive supermarkets.

The local cuisine is incredible. Lots of good drinks, good food. Great steaks, great smoked porc. Only for the food I would recommend any non-vegetarian to go there...

Long time no see

It has been a while since I last blogged. A lot has happened, which is the reason for my absence.

Getting married, going on honeymoon, working your ass off just before your wedding tends to make you blog a bit less, apparently...

I don't have any pictures of our wedding yet, so I will report on that later. I do have some of Corsica, where we went on honeymoon.

Loved it there! Great weather, good food, better drinks, my wife and I without anyone in the area that we even remotely know... What else can a man want?

I even bougth three new bottles of whisky. I wanted to say Scotch, but since they are from Corsica, that would be kind of a lie. They taste great, for Corsican whisky. The P&M is very different with a chestnut flavor.

I will post a small report on our honeymoon soon.