Enjoying and expanding your experiences with whisky can be a costly business. There is zero possibility of tasting everything from a financial and medical viewpoint, so you’re left to be selective and make those choices count.
Given the choice I always prefer to spend some time with a bottle of my own before coming to taste conclusions. Samples obviously lack this longevity and instead focus the senses more, meaning that first impressions have greater emphasis. This does have drawbacks particularly with 3cl samples; you’re only receiving a glimpse, a snapshot and in this backdrop I try to keep everything else constant. Given the choice I always tend to prefer 5cl’s at least for reviews. I’ll experience samples in the same environment, relying on the exact type of glass (Glencairn) with the same preparation.
So this is the 1st of 2 Teerenpeli taste reviews before we move onto Sweden to complete our short Scandinavian tour. So a healthy sample means 2 good sized tasting drams and some great snowboarding coverage.
Age: 8 years (sorry due to the sample I don’t know the exact year of distillation)
Strength: 43%
Price: expect to pay around £70 for 50cl = a little more expensive due to the smaller bottle
Teerenpeli 8 year old – review
Colour: hay bales
On the nose: Sweetness, especially strawberries on the nose dominates. A little wood in the background, mint and pine nuts.
In the mouth: Oh yeah, this is an easy drinking well balanced whisky. I hate to say ‘smooth’ as many assume this means bland when it doesn’t apply to this whisky; perhaps refined is more appropriate. A pineapple freshness, a touch of pear with a dollop of cream to finish. This isn’t a glorious fruit salad as everything is in harmony. No single flavour dominates over the others. There was another flavour that only came after the 2nd dram which was crème brûlée.
I will be reviewing another Teerenpeli as part of this trio, which will be a from a sherry cask. In the meantime enjoy the Winter Olympics!