StillSmart

UK members in the Midlands area might be interested in this event.
Apparently well worth the money for whisky enthusiasts.
http://whiskyfest.co.uk/

Regards Opus

Thanks for the link, Opus. It was very useful for me and I suspect quite a few others - given the high number of views.

Devotee ticket at £120.00 sounds a lot but if I can remain vertical long enough I can taste 200 different samples plus two dream drams. There usually in the £1000's price range.
and you get a goody bag of samples to take home.

Regards Opus

Yes, I'd pay that, but I suspect any more than 30 samples of anything I would start to get confused.

Some years ago I did a large-ish wine sampling which kick-started my love and deeper understanding of wine. I'd be hoping for much the same with Whiskey, but as I say my attention span and memory would be a limiting factor...

OK it took place yesterday (27th).
Absolutely brilliant worth every penny.

I paced myself as I wanted to enjoy it without getting stoned.

What did I get for my money;
Over 200 whiskys to taste and they weren't short measures, proper drams.
I managed 17 samples but had to sacrifice some to the bucket to stay sober. I calculated the bottle cost of those I sampled, total £2500.00.

Next was my masterclass with The Macallan. Another 6 measures to taste with a fascinating talk with Joy Elliot.
In this class I learnt that Macallan only cask 16% of the spirit run which could make me rethink my cuts in future.

The icing on the cake was the sample box of 8 fine whiskys ranging from 15 to 40 year old.

Was there a downside, yes I spent £300.00 at the shop.

Also I should add I received a nice cut crystal Glencain glass in with my package.

All in a fantastic day, Thankyou Nichols & Perks.

Opus

[quote="Opus 27"

Next was my masterclass with The Macallan. Another 6 measures to taste with a fascinating talk with Joy Elliot.
In this class I learnt that Macallan only cask 16% of the spirit run which could make me rethink my cut.

Opus[/quote]

Opus,I read this,when you first posted,but it came back to me today.
I know that you are savvy,but forget not,that the other 84% was returned to the feints receiver,not discarded.
And went around again,and again.The way of Scotch malt distilleries.
Recycling can taste good it seems.
Robert.

Yep I realised that, but it was the comparison between the 16% and the 60%-70% that I normally use that struck me.
I must try to ascertain at what ABV they normally stop collecting on the spitit run as I usualy stop just under 40% ABV.

Opus

Hi Opus

You will find most distilleries cut at between 65% and 60%

After that you are pretty much into the feints and fusel oil areas but obviously its ready to run again in the next batch of low wines

Personally I cut at about 61% wouldn't go below that IMHO

BTW that festival sounded good .....

Did you get those numbers right? 60-70% of the spirit run you retain?
And are we talking potstill or reflux here?
Just to throw some numbers in,my only true (AG) malt distillation I took took almost 5 litres at 63% from 28 litres at 25%,cutting from 70 to around 59%.So less than 20% casked.I understand,maybe wrongly,that most whisky distilleries charge the spirit still at around 28%
My LME washes to date have produced slightly higher volumes,and here I have to thank you,I see looking back that I was including,far more heads,as I was including spirit at 78%.
Maybe one reason that I have been less impressed with my efforts at attempting an easier way?

As an aside,my distilling notebook has one page left,before I start volume 2.
With loose leaf it would all be tidier,but less honest,as I would probably have "lost" the mistakes!
Robert.

Ok I'll try from another angle. I do two pot runs a stripping run and a spirit run. I start with two strips of about 17 litres (34 litres) which I run down to zero ABV. The two batches go back in the still and I cut with RO water to 25% ABV.
I dump the foreshots until it smells right I then start collecting in 250 ml flasks. This usually starts at about 85% ABV. I carry on collecting until ABV drops to 35-40%. During the collection I note the ABV of each flask to get an idea of heads tails and hearts.
I leave the flasks with a loose cover to breath for 24 hours and then start my tasting and sniffing process.
Starting from where I think the hearts peak I work out into the heads until it smells or tastes wrong and then do the same into tails.
This usually gives me a ratio of 6 out of 10 flasks I cask ie. 60%.
Hope that makes sense

Opus

Yes,I understand what you are doing.
I don't think that is what your speaker meant,saying that they cask 16% of the spirit run.
They dump nothing and collect all alcohol.
16% of that might make it to cask.
I think.
Robert.

Thanks Robert but better get back on thread now.
Suffice to say "Whiskyfest" was a resounding success for me. I got to taste whisky's I would probably never afford to buy and believe it or not I came out sober.

Opus