1841/51 Census on SP .....

[DavidWW]

......snipped............ Try them wi a bottle o´Swedish usqebae, chill-filtered or not; see http://www.mackmyra.se/default.php and they widni mind keeping it chust fer them sels. We´re on an island and that means keep it out or pay to the hilt.

I´ve just imported five pulks to Iceland; the extra duty and costs amounted to 47%. Now we´re waiting for snow, wid ye believe.
......snipped............

Ouch!! ...my eyes are watering

€900 for a 30 litre mini barrel (that's ca. £600 or U$1.050), and they only cover storage for 3 years.

Some 15 years ago I bought a hogshead (the middle of the three sizes used in Scottish distilleries, next up is hogshead, with the smallest a barrell) which is roundabout 250 litres for ca. £900, and sold it for much much more when is was 12 years old, plus a case for me. I've got a second youngster that needs another few years before the independent bottlers will be really interested.

Fortunately I got into the game very early on, and this Springbank offer was sponsored by SMWS, as opposed to many of the later offers which were just money making businesses for the sellers, if indeed, the barrels actually existed

I was strongly tempted to buy a hogshead of Bruichladdich a few years ago when I was flush, when the distillery came back into production as an independent, but a long chat with my good mate the independent bottler led me to realise that I was being asked to pay a price of £/lpa (litre pure alcohol) for the new spirit that was way above the current market price for 10 year Bruichladdich ...........

The lesson, - it's generally a mug's game, with no reasonable prospect of a profit.

But still, €900 for 30 litres, - that's business that I'd like if I was selling Depending on the strength that they fill at, that's around £33/lpa Woweeeeeeee !! When I sold my first Springbank hogshead it was at £10/rla (regauged litre [pure] alcohol, - i.e. measured when sold.) - and that was a good price.

And then, because the cask is so small that means that the surface area to volume ratio is much higher that for barrels, casks or hogsheads, which does indeed mean a higher rate of maturation for the 30 litre mini-barrel, but at what cost in terms of the characteristics , never mind that losses by evaporation would probably be way above the normal ca. 2%/pa for a standard sized barrel................ so that after 3 years there might only be 26 litres left, - after 10 years, the amount left doesn't bear thinking about

David

[Thrall]

......shorn......

I´ve just imported five pulks to Iceland; the extra duty and costs amounted to 47%. Now we´re waiting for snow, wid ye believe.

All the best - Dauvit, I ken ye meant well,..........

Hi David, and there´s me been leading you up the garden path but quite unintentionally I would add. The "pulks" I imported were plastic sledges for carrying food and tents (and yes, perhaps a nip or two) over long distances on snow, pulled by a skier. This was to demonstrate the heinous customs duty here.

To return to libations, a litre bottle of Grouse is £41 here, and single malts don´t bear thinking about. No, my salary has not been designed to compensate!........

Have you tried the Mackmyra malt even if not yet ready?

Best wishes,

Thrall

Ps. Not looking for guinea pigs when the youngster matures?....

[DavidWW]

Hi David, and there´s me been leading you up the garden path but quite unintentionally I would add. The "pulks" I imported were plastic sledges for carrying food and tents (and yes, perhaps a nip or two) over long distances on snow, pulled by a skier. This was to demonstrate the heinous customs duty here.

To return to libations, a litre bottle of Grouse is £41 here, and single malts don´t bear thinking about. No, my salary has not been designed to compensate!........

Have you tried the Mackmyra malt even if not yet ready?

Best wishes,

Thrall

Ps. Not looking for guinea pigs when the youngster matures?....

No misleading involved, - it was the Macmyra prices that were making my eyes water.

I've still to try Mackmyra, - but it's on my list for my next visit to Sweden, which probably won't be until 2007.

When the second hogshead of Springbank reaches a good price, I think that I'll go for a couple of cases for me this time round, and reserve one case for visits from TS members

David

[Thrall]

....shorn....
When the second hogshead of Springbank reaches a good price, I think that I'll go for a couple of cases for me this time round, and reserve one case for visits from TS members

Thank you David, that is a most generous offer. Perhaps those TS members who visit should make sure the rellies accompanying are all long gone and there in the spirit only, or the case will disappear like snow off a dike......

Slàinte!

Thrall

Whisky may not cure the common cold..
but it fails more agreeably than most other things.

[Clydesdale]

Thrall

I stick by what my Grandfather said: "There is no such thing as a bad whisky - it is just that some taste better than others". I keep testing to see if he is right

[DavidWW]

....shorn....
When the second hogshead of Springbank reaches a good price, I think that I'll go for a couple of cases for me this time round, and reserve one case for visits from TS members

Thank you David, that is a most generous offer. Perhaps those TS members who visit should make sure the rellies accompanying are all long gone and there in the spirit only, or the case will disappear like snow off a dike......

Slàinte!

Thrall

Whisky may not cure the common cold..
but it fails more agreeably than most other things.

Aye, but they have to find their way to Livingston, and make their own accommodation arrangements .............

David

[DavidWW]

Thrall

I stick by what my Grandfather said: "There is no such thing as a bad whisky - it is just that some taste better than others". I keep testing to see if he is right

I just couldn't argue with that principle .......

I've only ever once tasted a malt that produced the reaction "Ugghhh - I'm not drinking that again", - it was the southernmost malt from Bladnoch in Wigtownshire. But I've given it a second chance, and it passed The first one must have been a bad bottle.

There's been quite a few others which have produced the reaction, "Hmmm.... a very interesting set of organoleptic qualities, but not just my taste".

At the end of my 6 years employment in Sweden I was given a very formal "going away" company lunch, - the full works with alcohol (most unusual!) during which I realised to my great horror that there would be a formal speech after the meal, to which I would have to reply, - in Swedish, - nae prob, ken, - I was fully fluent by this time, but this was different, - a formal speech in front of 30 Swedes

What possessed me, I know not, - perchance the sherry and the wine and the "café avec", but after all my formal responses I concluded by letting them in on the real secret of why I was leaving Sweden after 6 years........ which was to explain that I'd now sampled every single malt that it was possible to buy in the duty free shops across the world where Alfa-Laval business travel had taken me, - there can't be many Scots who have sampled the full range of Glen Grants available at quite young ages in Italy, - but that I'd now reached the point where, in order to advance my study of single malts further, there was no other alternative open to me but to return to Scotland.........

Some of them believed me [-X

David

[David Douglas]

There's always been a huge amount of smuggling of spirits into Scandinavian countries in reaction to the extremely high prices and, in some places, alcohol rationing. One of the more inventive techniques I heard of involved some Finnish lumberjacks. They were working with a German friend of mine in West Berlin in the 1980s (despite being a small enclave, West Berlin had quite a big forested area). Each time they went back to Finland, they bought some kegs of German beer (the big ones, as used in pubs), and poured the beer into the gutter (my German friend was almost in tears!).They then filled them with vodka, and sealed them. On arrival in Finland, they declared the quantity of 'beer' and paid duty on that. Since they told the customs officers they had bought the beer for a party to be held a couple of months later, the customs officer would have to be very sure of his suspicions if he were to break the seals.

[Russell]

David
Your UUUrrgh response to a whisky reminded me of an experience last year when a friend who has a malt shop produced a bottle carefully wrapped so that label and contents were unseen. He asked if any of the whisky drinkers would like to try a nip (usually its a tumbler) so we knew we were in for an experience.
Nips duly poured we sniffed, swirled, sampled then were asked for our verdict. The usual assorted replies. I said it was too lacking body, too rough no aftertaste, all burn -no slow warming all the way down.

He revealed the bottle BOMBAY MALT unashamedly Indian. Clearly labelled and proud of it too. He had been asked to stock it and, of course, refused since his entire stock is Scottish.
Can you imagine the angels share if they tried to mature it in the traditional way! Nothing would be left after 6 months I would imagine.
A valiant attempt though.
I did finish it but it finished my sampling for the day!!

Russell

[DavidWW]

There was an article in the Financial Times in the late 70s on the European sugar industry.

One table showed the per capita consumption of sugar in European countries. For some strange reason, Finland, Sweden and Norway topped the table by a long way

David