Eastern promise?

Eastern promise?
Alex Kraaijeveld

On May 1 2004, the European Union was enlarged with another 10, mostly eastern European, countries. Now this is clearly not the place to talk about the political and economic ramifications of this expansion. So let’s talk whisky. One potential effect of the enlargement is that whisky distilleries from these eastern European countries are offered a far larger market for their own whiskies. Whether they can, or even want to, take advantage of this larger market is another matter. Time will tell, but what whiskies might just be heading our way from the east?

Poland

Vodka is Poland’s national spirit, often distilled from potatoes, but whisky is made in at least one place. At the Zielona Góra distillery two whiskies are distilled: “Dark Whisky” and “Old Family Whisky”. Exactly what grain(s) the whiskies are distilled from and in what type of still is not clear. Attempts to contact the distillery for more information all failed. “Old Family Whisky” has a nose with cream, vanilla and custard. A harsher graininess comes through the vanilla in the palate and the finish is dry-ish and somewhat bitter. “Dark Whisky” is, counter-intuitively, an extremely light whisky. It has subtle fruity notes in the nose and a softer, rounder and warmer palate than “Old Family”. Perfectly drinkable, but in a very inoffensive way.

Latvia

For all I know, Latvia’s only whisky-producing distillery is Riga’s Latvijas Balzams. The two Latvian ‘viskijs’ produced there are “LB” and “Aleksandrs”. Both are said to be distilled from Latvian rye in 1993. “LB” is light, grainy, spirity, with an odd almost creamy kind of sweetness. “Aleksandrs” has a quite unusual, but not unpleasant, nose, reminding me of a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. It’s an extremely light whisky, but clearly comes from the same stable as “LB”. Again, repeated attempts to contact the company for more information on their whiskies and distilling methods were all met with silence.

Czech Republic

The only eastern European country with something of a whisky history is the Czech Republic. Whisky distilling has taken place there at least since the 1970s, and possibly earlier. One of the earlier brands, “Halberd”, was produced in the town of Plzen. A quite light whisky with a spirity nose, and vague notes of pickled gherkins. The palate was sweetish, with caramel-fudge and hints of malt. Finish was so short as to basically be non-existent. Plzen is still a whisky town. A blended whisky with the label “Printer’s” is distilled by the Stock distillery nowadays. A very light whisky, with a fudgy sweetness not dissimilar to “Halberd”.

“Hill’s” comes from the distillery of absinth fame in the town of Jindrvuc Hradec. Besides absinth, the distillery produces a wide range of spirits, including whisky. “Hill’s whisky” has a nose like a full sweetshop. The palate is dominated by a nauseating soapy sweetness and lacks any whisky taste. Is this really distilled from grain? Either way, whether “Hill’s” is still being produced is not clear; the company did not reply to requests for information.

The current Czech centre of whisky distilling is Olomouc. Two distilleries near this town are Tesetice and Dolany, both owned by Likérka Dolany. The situation surrounding Likérka Dolany’s whiskies is a bit confusing, as the same label has been used for blended and malt whisky over the years. Also, the malt whisky can come from either of the two distilleries without it often being clear from which one. “King Barley” has been a malt whisky from Tesetice, and was also bottled under the similar name “King Barleycorn”. This version of “King Barley” had a fresh sea breeze nose, with the palate dominated by notes which I would have called ‘salty’ in my early whisky-loving days when I didn’t know better. Clearly it can’t be due to actual salt as the distillery is smack-bang in the centre of the European continent with not a coast line in sight. More recently “King Barley” is a (6 y.o.) blended whisky, very light, slightly sweet and on the grainy side. “Gold Cock” has also been both blend and malt. As a malt whisky it has come from both Dolany and Tesetice, but most recently from the latter. At Tesetice the malt whisky is distilled in a copper pot still which vaguely resembles an old Soviet space capsule. All the grain whisky the company uses in its blends comes from the nearby Kojetin distillery. The current line-up of the company is a range of three “Gold Cock” whiskies, ‘Red Feathers’ being a 3 y.o. blend, ‘Black Feathers’ a 6 y.o. single malt and ‘Green Feathers’ a 12 y.o. single malt.Quite full-bodied, with a buttery nose and toffee-ish notes on the palate; finish is drying with very faint leathery notes. Czech single malt whisky may soon be a thing of the past though. The most recent reports from the Czech Republic suggest that Likérka Dolany is in serious financial difficulty and close to bankruptcy.

The Czechs even have their independent bottlers. A 3 y.o. blended whisky, bought in from Likérka Dolany, is marketed by Fleret Likérka under the label “GWC”. In Slovakia, “GWC” is sold in bottles shaped like a gun, the largest of which has a content of a whopping 3 liters! “Kohut”, another seemingly independent brand, also appears to originate from Likérka Dolany. Very buttery nose, soft and rounded, with Werther’s Original-like toffee notes. Not at all dissimilar to the 12 y.o. “Gold Cock” single malt, but, for me, a bit better.

Hungary

Hungary produces a range of whisky brands which all have one thing in common: they’re not whisky. Even though they all proudly proclaim to be  ‘whisky’ on the label, they are actually neutral spirit, often distilled from potatoes, with colouring and flavouring added to make it resemble whisky. Two examples of this Hungarian ‘instant whisky’ are “Flat Country” and “Big Jim Bourbon”. Although they may resemble whisky in terms of colour, they must certainly do not in terms of taste! Because of its name, “Flat Country” ought to appeal to a Dutchie, but it doesn’t ….. The normal whisky vocabulary isn’t relevant to this ‘whisky’: a very odd sweetness in the nose coupled with an even odder palate which I can only describe as reminiscent to burning matches. “Big Jim Bourbon” is as far removed from real bourbon as you can possibly imagine: a harsh spirit covered by a very chemical fruitiness.

Slovenia

 “Jack & Jill” is marketed by the Dana company in Mirna. The label proclaims it to be ‘Spirit drink with finest old malt whisky’. In other words, it is a so-called ‘hybrid blend’, Scotch malt whisky blended with locally-distilled corn spirit. Although the label does not actually claim the bottle contains whisky, it does try to give that impression: the word ‘whisky’ is highlighted compared to the other words on the label and the shoulder flash mentions ‘Fully matured’. “Jack & Jill” is very light in colour and extremely light in taste. It has a spirity nose and the palate has vague hints of a St George-like fructose-sweetness. It’s such a light spirit that there is very little to like or dislike.

So should Scotland be worried about a host of eastern European whiskies flocking to western shelves? I don’t think so. It seems pretty unlikely that any of the distilleries has the interest or the money to try and jostle for shelf space in the west. Most likely, eastern European whisky distilleries will focus on the local market and, given their price edge, undercut imported whiskies mainly in the country of origin. And, to be honest, none of the whiskies I tasted are of such a quality as to warrant serious interest from whisky lovers beyond their ‘oddity’ status. Having said that, one or two eastern whiskies might just have general appeal to western drinkers. People who like extremely light whiskies such as Paddy would probably like “Dark Whisky” as well. The Czech single malts aren’t bad either, although the latest bottling certainly isn’t the best to have come out of this country. However, given the financial difficulties the company is in, the only eastern European single malt may not be around for much longer.

One final twist is that for some countries joining the EU might spell the end of their ‘whiskies’. Hungary will have to comply with EU regulations as to what constitutes whisky and the present Hungarian ‘whiskies’ most certainly do not. The Slovenian “Jack & Jill” doesn’t actually proclaim itself to be whisky, but sails dangerously close to the wind …..

© 2005 Alex Kraaijeveld

Without a range of people I might still have written this article, but certainly wouldn’t have been able to add photos and tasting notes: Jürgen Deibel, Marion Seier, Thomas Berendonk, Josef Kvapil, Ondrej Filip, Gyuri Csóka and Rado Klemencic either sent me whisky or brought back bottles from their travels to eastern Europe; thank you all for your help!