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https://www.whiskyschiff-hallwilersee.ch/

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The Hallwilersee Whisky Schiff is a nice small whisky event located on the shore of Lake Lucerne in the centre of Switzerland. The last edition I attended was during post-covid and this will be my last one, as the hotel where part of the event is taking place will be closed next year for renovation.

The path from the train station to the pier is very well indicated, but a free shuttle bus is also organized.
 

View of the pier


The event takes place between the hotel and two ships attached to the pier. Outside, under a small tent is located the stand of a small Swiss whisky distillery named  Distillery Seetal.

The 4 new bottlings from Hermann brothers

I moved straight to the stand of Hermann brothers, where I could taste their new bottlings, a very round, rich, complex Glen Grant 1998 matured in a small ex Firkin Pedro XIminez cask, nicely grassy, rather intense and with some gooseberries. The Deanston 13 YO  was a round and very fruity whisky, with some orchards fruits, berries, honey and exotic fruits. The Ardnamurchan 7 YO unpeated has been matured in a very active PK Hogshead, on black sherry, with aromas of black cherries, leather, tannins, light floral flavours and liquorice (Haribo). A sherry bomb without sulphury or rubbery flavours. A whisky with a strong personality. The Ardmore 15 YO speakeasy was a nice light style of Ardmore, with a lovely aromatic peat smoke, herbs, some vanilla, nice dirty flavours and a touch of citrus. Very good. I tasted afterwards some Canadian whiskies distilled on Vancouver Island, the Macaloney’s, which used the whole barley grain for their production. The Kildara is a triple distilled whiskey, with a maturation in different cask types. The result is a very nice sweet and fruity nose, on exotic fruits and berries, with a nice round body. The Siol Dugall is a peated version using barley peated to 27 ppm, with a cleaner and lighter profile than the Kildara and nice mild peated flavours, with light and aromatic floral flavours, somehow in the Highland peated single malts. The next whisky was a single malt from Thomson Manuka wood smoke. The whisky was original, but very pleasant, with light malty flavours, nicely complex and flavours of white fir tree and some eucalyptus. I enjoyed very much and it is definitely worth trying.

Some of the travel retails exclusives at Acla Da Fans

The next visit was at Acla da Fans, where I tasted many new travel retails exclusives, starting with a nice rich and fruity Bushmills 15 YO, with lovely malty flavours and a fair dose of exotic fruits, such as passion fruity and guava. An excellent value whisk(e)y. The 21 YO was a triple wood matured, more complex and mellow, but also with dried fruits, sweet winey flavours and a dash of pepper and other spicy flavours. Rather different from the 15 YO. The Singleton of Glendullan Exotic Spice Grove carries well its name. It is a very smooth whisky, rather light, with light exotic fruits (peach, guava and some mango), as well as cinnamon, vanilla and oak spices. The fruity flavours are indeed very light and tend to fight against the oaky spices. I wish the fruity flavours were more intense. The Aberlour 16 YO double charred was a very pleasant round whisky, with nice round sherry flavours on sultanas, orange, some cinnamon, light vanilla custard and a touch of mineral flavours. Well-made and harmonious. The Balblair 17 YO was very nice, with rich intense sherry flavours, on cocoa, spices, leather, cinnamon, honey and sultanas. The Tamdhu Quatro was a sweet and easy drinking whisky, light,  on dried fruits, some orange and light sweet winey flavours. Not too well balanced. The Bruichladdich 16 YO organic barley was elegant, rather intense, on ripe vanilla, some light yellow fruits and round barley flavours. The 50% ABV gives a nice intensity to this well matured and rather complex whisky. Very nice. The Classic sherry was slightly less complex, but also very nice, with a light round sherry influence on red berries, some tangerine, sultanas and spices. The quality of Bruichladdich seems to have improved lately. The quality of these travel retails was mostly good, with some very good ones, such as the Bushmills, Bruichladdich, Aberlour or Balblair. In addition, prices for some whiskies like the Balblair have deceased markedly, which are very good news for the consumers. From The Whisky Agency in their Fade Away series, the Glenkinchie 2008 was a very good whisky, intense, on a lovely round whisky, with lovely sweet and fruity mild sherry flavours. One of best Glenkinchie I have tasted and except for some old Cadenhead’s bottlings, it is very rare to find independent bottlings from this distillery. On the other hand, the Auchentoshan was less intense, slightly oaky, with mild malty flavours and some vanilla.

The new Glenburgie 50 YO from Dramcatcher

It was time to move to Dramcatcher to taste their new Glenburgie 50 YO, round, mellow old style whisky, slightly aromatic, with a light aromatic peat smoke, some orange, aromatic herbs, sultanas and candied oranges. Very good, with a good flavour intensity. I just wished the finish was longer. From Cask Masters, the Caol Ila Chateau Chizay is matured in a first fill Ukrainian wine cask. The whisky was very peaty, intense, medicinal, with hemp rope, becoming more on smoke bacon flavours, as well as sweet grapes and winey flavours over time. The Ardbeg Riversaltes Barrique was nicely maritime, peated, slightly phenolic, with mild sweet winey flavours. Less peated but more subtle than the Caol Ila.

A large selection of Decadent Drinks whiskies at Whisky Bibilothek

Then, I moved to the Whisky Bibliothek and Waldhaus am See stand. My first whisky there was the new Filey Bay Nurture, a whisky matured in ex-red wine and ex-bourbon casks. The whisky had a nice smooth body, rather malty and with a very strong influence of spicy red wine. A wineshky. I tasted then many Decadent drinks that Whisky Bibliothek is importing now to Switzerland. The Glentagious was a very complex single malt distilled at Glenfarclas distillery, with rich spices, some aromatic herbs, on sultanas, dried fruits, including berries. Complex and nicely balanced. Most enjoyable. The next one was a very good 30 YO Caperdonich, matured for 26 years in ex-bourbon cask and finished for 4 years in ex-sherry casks (oloroso?), a nice mellow, grassy, on various mellow fruity flavours, some honey and aromatic herbs. The Craigellachie was a heavily sherry whisky, very intense, spicy, pungent and with strong fresh rubber flavours. One for the sherry freaks. The next one was one my favourite whisky of the evening, with a very intense, rich and complex Tomtatin 10 YO, with sweet fruity flavours of orange, tangerine, some exotic fruits and soft spicy flavours. The Springbank 25 YO had a nice smoky and dirty nose, slightly waxy, bold, on sea brine, with a light smokiness, as well as mineral oid. Very good and complex. I tasted then some Heilberger single malts single casks bottled World of Whisky.ch,, with a nice spicy, aromatic ex-Amontillado sherry cask, with light vegetal aromas and aromatic herbs. The palo cortado was more intense, acetic and drier, with a similar nice rich body. These two whiskies were remarkably mature and complex for their age and well-made. The Royal Salute 25 YO for Claudio Bernasconi is a blended whisky bottled at cask strength including malts from Caperdonich, Imperial, Strathisla and Royal Brackla. It is remarkably complex and fresh, with various spices, light aromatic and peaty flavours, on sultanas, dates, orange and various dried fruits. An impressive whisky. The Glenlivet 18 YO Signatory  Cask Strength was floral, round, spicy, with a rather rubbery sherry influence. The Blair Athol 2007 100 Proof from Signatory was a very sherry whisky, with light yeasty flavours, cinnamon, black liquorice, round floral flavours, toffee and dark fruits. Very good and not tannic or bitter, as the colour might suggest it. The Caol Ila 2015 100 Proof Signatory was very intense, smoky, maritime, on iodine, seaweeds and a light sweet sugary mild influence from the sherry cask.

The new Ardnahoe small batch exclusive for Switzerland

Finally, I tasted the Ardnaohe Small batch for Switzerland, a vatting of 2 PX quarter casks, a nice round peated whisky, maritime, on seaweeds and nice sherry flavours on leather, orange, sultanas and soft spices.

And the remaining flight of whiskies I tasted was Black whiskey, a Peruvian whisky made in the US Bourbon style but with black corn (maize) and heavily charred oak barrels. The standard release was very smooth, on cinnamon, corn syrup, charcoal and cooked cereals, reminding me strongly of the best-selling Tennessee whiskey. On the other hand, the single barrel was approximately 6 years of age and was markedly more complex, aromatic and mineral. Very satisfying.

As the week was intense, it was time to take the train home and to recover from this intense day, even though I visited only half of the stands and a very limited selection of the available whiskies. It is sad to see this small but very convivial whisky event disappearing from the whisky scene, hopefully it will be only transient? Who knows?

Patrick,28 September 2025