Back in 2011 Colin Campbell announced that he was organizing a Twitter tasting of Mackmyra whisky in conjunction with Angela D’Orazio (Mackmyra’s master blender, or “Chief Nose Officer” as it says on her business card) using the #MackmyraBlind hash tag. Having taken part in a Twitter tasting (or twasting) before I knew how much fun they were and signed up immediately.
Unfortunately the original date for the tasting, December 15th, was pushed out, and pushed out again due to a plethora of reasons until February 8th 2012. That meant I had 5 numbered samples of Mackmyra whisky sitting in my office staring at me every day for weeks on end. As some of the other participants of the tasting mentioned, a great deal of self-restraint was necessary. But as the saying goes: “All good things that come to those who wait.” so I knew we were geared up for a great evening’s tasting.
One thing I didn’t count on though was having to share my samples. When Lars the Bear found out that I would be sampling whiskies from his homeland he invited himself along. It’s amazing… He’s hardly said two words to me in the last couple of years and now I couldn’t get him to shut up. “Mackmyra this… Mackmyra that…” he went on and on as we were sitting in my home office waiting for the tasting to begin. He also planted himself next to sample number 5 claiming that this one belonged to him. I have a sneaky suspicion that he already knew what was in the bottles.
As we waited for the participants to come online. Colin (being a responsible co-ordinator) asked me if Lars was of legal drinking age to which I replied “Bearly”. I swear I heard a collective *GROAN* shudder through Twitter-dom.
And then it was time to start! Colin handed over the reins to Angela and we began working our way through the samples. (I’ve put the name of the sample in brackets – we didn’t know what we were tasting at the time.) I’ve listed some of my favourite tweets below, as well as some extra notes.
Still want more? Then have a look at these posts about the evening and the whiskies tasted by my fellow participants: Malt Facination, Whisky Israel and A Wardrobe of Whisky. (I’ll add more as they become available)
The tasting lasted for just under 3 hours and the 14 participants (and a few observers too) sent over 500 tweets in that time! That’s impressive, but not as impressive as the Swedish whiskies tasted. Samples #2 and #5 stood out from the rest, with #2 (the Special07) having an absolutely wonderful nose, and #5 (the smoky, sherried 3yo) just an amazing flavour profile. Smoke and sherry – when done right, as in this case – are an awesome combination.
I’d like to thank Angela and Mackmyra for a truly enjoyable evening thanks to their brilliant whiskies, and to Colin for putting it all together. I hope that this experience, and the participants’ blog posts, helps to shine a spotlight on this Swedish distillery and their great range of products. With the recent opening of Mackmyra’s new gravitational distillery and it’s increased output I look forward to seeing Mackmyra’s expansion into the global market as that will mean I may one day be able to pick up a bottle or three at my local liquor outlet.
SlΓ‘inte!
very nice!
was a pleasure tasting
Lovely post man, and the stories of Lars the Bear. It took me a while to get what that was about…
Thanks for the links!
Sjoerd
Great post. I also spend a great night. Although the taste longed more than I expected π
Great whiskies and great people. I can’t ask anymore. I love #2 also.
Great summary of the event. I really like the way you’ve captured the tweets for each sample. Still kicking myself for missing this.
Thanks Patrick – it’s a bit of a mission going through all 500+ tweets and extracting the nuggets of gold, but I think it conveys the feel of the event more. Of course I add in some of my own thoughts and impressions of the drams tasted but I enjoy capturing and sharing the experience more than solely writing up my own tasting notes π