TNs: Two "world" whiskies

Scotland, Ireland, US and Japan aren't the only places making great whisky these days. I recently tried one Israeli and one Finnish. Both good but the Finnish was almost what one could call special. And I don't think I'm a terribly patriotic person so hopefully this isn't just bias. But it might be because humans are weird. Anyway, M&H: fun young stuff, certainly one to try if you see it at non-Finnish prices. Teerenpeli: eww, gross, don't go near, send any bottles you bought my way and I'll dispose of them in a facility that can handle such toxic waste.

M&H Elements Sherry Cask Single Malt - 46% abv; c. 63€/0,7l.
This is an Israeli distillery, M&H stands for Milk and Honey, and it's aged in Kosher sherry casks. It won some whisky award recently against some pretty stiff competition. So stiff that the award is obviously a joke (I mean Ardbeg and Springbank were apparently worse). So one could be snarky about this but actually it is really nice. It has really lovely sherry cask aromas - it's all dried fruits, x-mas spices, nuts and toffee. Sweet and spicy. It's about 50/50 PX and Oloroso casks and that PX raisin is way more obvious to me on the palate than on the nose. It's seems like a pretty young malt but balanced and really solid with a good amount of obvious Sherry cask character, without it crossing into the "sherry bomb" punch in the face expression of sherry (and I even enjoy sherry bombs on cool days!). I might save the rest of the bottle for next winter. I always seem to like strongly sherried whiskies in cooler months. Fun stuff.

Teerenpeli 14yo Single Malt - 54,9% abv; c.90€/0,5l. (ouch!)
Though not as internationally famous as Kyrö, I think Teerenpeli makes far better whiskies. It's been around for almost 20 years but the 14yo is the oldest single malt they've sold. Their 10yo is pretty nice though I think hampered a bit at being bottled at only 43% abv. I honestly like their 7yo better since it has lovely sherry character and is bottled at an intense 50%. So how is their oldest whisky to date? Lovely.

It's bottled at such a high abv that I don't dare try it without a bit of water. But just a tiny spoonful opens up the aromas. It's all apple jam, fleeting traces of smoke, wheat, honey and just a touch of dried fruit that makes me think it might see a bit of sherry cask (though not in any way near the levels that the M&H did). What an absolutely seductive scent. The palate is incredibly rich but without being as oily as so many cask strength Scottish whiskys are. Instead there's just interminable flavours of honey, summer meadows, wheat, jammy apples and sunshine. What a happy, intense whisky. Am I allowed to like a non-Scottish whisky so much? Frankly this is a better Speyside than the fanciest, most expensive Speysides I've tried. :D The price is painful but I might honestly have to get a second bottle of this because I will be sad when this is finished.
 
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