Oslo Whiskyfestival 2014

11 Nov

The annual Oslo Whiskyfestival is a sure sign that Christmas is drawing near. It lights up the almost suffocating cold and wet darkness that smothers us in November. It is a beacon of whisky delight to warm us and bring a measure of relief in the stressful madness we call everyday life. Hmm...at least this is what it feels like in the days leading up to the festival! Well, on Friday and Saturday last week we got to experience the lovely spectacle again, and as always - it was great fun. I will try to convey just how much fun it was, but you should really just get off the couch and join in the fun next year.

My wife and I volunteered to help out on stand for Jon Bertelsen this year. It is actually great fun to serve whisky at a festival for a change, not just tasting the whisky. It is very social, you meet a lot of fun and passionate people, and engage in fun and strange conversation on topics near and very far from whisky.

The festival was held at the same venue as last year, Håndverkeren Kurs- og Konferansesenter. It works well, I think. Spread out over three floors, with another separate section for the master classes. At a guess I would say the attendance was about the same as last year, which is good. Not too crowded, but still a nice buzz.

Chris Maile, the dedicated organizer behind the festival, was as usual everywhere at once, in control of a smooth operation. The impact Chris has had on the general whisky interest in Norway, and the fun he has brought the whisky nerds like us, is immeasurable. I sure hope he keeps going for many years to come.

Masterclass - Nordic whisky

In between serving a lot of whiskies, we managed to attend one masterclass on Friday and one on Saturday. On Friday we attended the Nordic Whisky masterclass. Angela D'Orazio from Mackmyra (Sweden), Jari Mammi from Terenpeeli (Finland), Ivan Abrahamsen from Arcus (Norway), and Nick Ravenhall from Cask Norway (representing Stauning from Denmark), were all there. In addition, Roar Larsen, from the brand new Norwegian distillery Myken, got to say a few words about their exciting arctic project.

We were served the following delightful flight:

Mackmyra Ægirs Bior (see review)
Mackmyra Svensk Rök
Teerenpeli 8 YO
Teerenpeli Kaski - batch 3 (see review of batch 1)
Gjoleid Bourbon
Gjoleid Sherry
Stauning Young Rye (see review)

It is very hard to pick one favorite in this line-up. They are all good in their own way, although some of them are still quite young. I do admit that I am very fond of the Mackmyra Ægirs Bior though. The missing reviews will follow shortly, in our Nordic Whisky review series.

Masterclass - Samurai showdown

On Saturday we had tickets for a masterclass with Dave Broom and Ryan Chetiyawardana (aka Mr Lyan), a very easy choice really. Dave is one of the worlds foremost whisky gurus and the author of such fine books as [easyazon_link asin="1845339428" locale="US" new_window="default" nofollow="default" tag="whisag-20"]The World Atlas of Whisky: New Edition[/easyazon_link] and [easyazon_link asin="1845337557" locale="US" new_window="default" nofollow="default" tag="whisag-20"]Whisky: The Manual[/easyazon_link], and Ryan is arguably one of the world's best cocktail bartenders.

Together they presented the history of Japanese whisky and the following whiskies:

Chichibu Chibidaru
Chichibu On The Way
Chichibu Port Pipe
Nikka Miyagikyo 15 YO (see review)
Nikka Taketsuru Pure Malt 21 YO
Nikka Yoichi 20 YO

I was sure I had reviewed most of these, but I see I still have some work ahead of me. The blog will not go silent for a while yet!

The awards

The attendees at the festival all got to vote for the whisky awards. A number of whiskies had been entered into the competition, and these were announced at each stand. Here are the 2014 award winners:

Scotch Single Malt 12 YO or younger: Ardbeg Uigeadail
Scotch Single Malt older than 12 YO: Springbank 19 YO Dr Jekyll's Expression (see review)
Blended whisky: Nikka Whisky From the Barrel (see review)
World whisky (non-Scotch): Yamazaki 18 YO (see review)

The Pot Still Award was this year awarded to the following great whisky ambassadors:

Ivan Abrahamsen, Arcus
Martin Tønder Smith, Cask Norway

Very well deserved for both of them, in my humble opinion!

The 2014 Norwegian Whisky Nosing Champion was Fredrik Thomter. Congratulations!

Closing words

The most valuable lesson I learnt at the festival was to never, ever to let my glass go (Glasgow). If I care about the whisky in the glass, I must show I care by holding on to my glass. Mr Ian Millar, global brand ambassador for Glenfiddich, was very, very emphatic about this. Lesson learnt!

Another great highlight was getting to talk a lot with both Ingvar Rönde (author of the Malt Whisky Yearbook) and Dave Broom. Great guys both of them, and very knowledgeable.

Another great festival weekend is at an end. Great to meet so many old and new friends! Hopefully we will see you all again at a festival in the near future. PS! There's one in Bergen in just two months!