Fahrenheit 173 - Aged Spirits

"If it's not good enough to drink slowly, then it's not worth drinking"

A few weeks ago I visited the Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival for the first time.

As usual, the entrance fee included a tast­ing glass. A beer glass, hmm... Once inside I looked around and I discovered that the whisky was served in tiny plastic cups. What! No way was I going to drink and nose (hah!) whisky from those thimble-sized plastic things! For a moment there I considered ignoring the whisky and getting drunk on the beer instead =)

No, I thought, that's not why I'm here. I calmed down a bit and went back to the reception area with a mind to complain. There I noticed that they sold nosing glasses as souvenirs. Ok, then...

My mood lifted considerably once I got a dram of the new 21 y.o. Laga­vulin (despite the hefty price, see below). I had read Serge's glowing review of this new bottling and he wasn't kidding! (Not that I thought he was.) If I had tried it blind I'd have guessed it was the Laphroaig 30, one of my all-time faves.

All in all I enjoyed my visit but I doubt I'll go there again. The selection of whisky was quite good but I found the whole thing too expensive: The entrance fee was 20 Euros, another 3 Euros for a tast­ing glass, 3-4 Euros for 2 cl of fairly ordinary whiskies and a whooping 14 Euros for the new 21 y.o. Laga­vulin. I'd be better off in a good whisky bar - no entrance fee, similar prices and I can sit down...

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