After a weekend away in the lovely town of Maastricht, in the South of the Netherlands, we decided to make a little detour on the Sunday we drove back, and visit de Molenberg distillery in Blaasveld, Belgium, number 59 on our list of visited distilleries since the start of our crazy adventure in April…
Category: travel
Weduwe Joustra
In our ongoing discovery of the #DutchSpirit we went to the North of the Netherlands to the lovely town of Sneek, connected to the Frysian waters, with old details and bridges throughout the city. A place where you can feel and breath Dutch history. At the site of the Weduwe Joustra, this is no…
Hielander Festival 2015
This was our third time going to Alkmaar to visit the Hielander Whisky Festival and we were loving the relaxed feel it has to it all. At this event, the people behind the tables still have some time to talk to you about their whiskies, and it is great seeing people again from the Dutch…
Säntis Malt – Swiss Highlander
At some of the festivals we recently visited we have noticed and tasted some of the products of Säntis Malt, produced at Locher AG brewery located in Appenzell, Switserland. In 1886, the Locher family took over the brewery in Appenzell and today, the brewery has been in the hands of the family for five generations….
This place in South Africa where whiskies stand on their heads
There is this beautiful distillery in South Africa, called the James Sedgwick distillery, home of proud distillery manager Andy Watts. We already had the pleasure to meet Andy in 2014 when he was here from South Africa for a cricket tournament in the Netherlands – nothing to do with whisky, but nonetheless, we decided…
In conversation with Andrew Hart
We had the pleasure of meeting Andrew “Andy” Hart for a couple of times at festivals with the stand of Whisky Import Nederland. Andy is always ready to answer your most difficult questions about his products with a big smile on his face. Every time it is great to meet again and have a chat…
Fledglings
/ˈflɛdʒlɪŋ/ noun: fledgling; plural noun: fledglings; noun: fledgeling; plural noun: fledgelings ~ , a young bird that just has its feathers and is learning to fly. ~ , a person or organization that is immature, inexperienced, or underdeveloped. ~ , a spirit that has not been matured fully, and is on its way to…
Whisky Weekend Amsterdam 2015
The time has come. The first festival of the year is here again. For us, this was to be a new festival to explore in the Netherlands. Whisky Weekend Amsterdam. The Netherlands has a good spread of different festivals during the year, from small to massive events, so we are spoiled for choice. At the…
Knockdhu: A modern Tradition
After the Spirit of Speyside Festival earlier in 2014 was over, we stayed another week and visited the Knockdhu Distillery where we met distillery manager Gordon Bruce and his right hand Alistair “Ally” Reid. After this great day Alistair accepted our request to send some questions over to get some more information on this…
"Better blends then, compared to most single malts now"
Every self-respecting Dutch whisky connoisseur knows of the existence of van Wees‘ shop in Amersfoort, their different lines of independent bottlings and their relationship with the industry in and outside of Scotland. Responsible for the fame and success of this business is Mr. Han van Wees, born in 1931 and still going strong. On November…
Whisky in the Jarr – part three: Going to church
After having been introduced into the world of Jim Beam and being directed into drinking some rare old XXL niceties on the Saturday afternoon, the Saturday evening was open for us to step into the church and browse the tables, shake some hands, hug some friends and share a dram with people we just met…
Whisky in the Jarr – part two: XXL tasting with the Director
In part one of our visit to Whisky Live Holland in the Hague, we already told about Hans Offringa’s masterclass about American Whisky – especially the Jim Beam expressions. Like other masterclasses during the festival, it lasted 45 minutes, so there was little time for chitchat and making elaborate tasting notes. Time was deliberately kept…
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