Hogshead Imports Online tasting

Before you see it, let me mention it: It seems that the writings section on this website is moving slowly from whisky stories and dram adventures to tasting reports. But hear me out, because this one actually was a small adventure!
I'm talking about the Hogshead Imports Blind online tasting.

So first things first: Hogshead Imports.
If you have been to a whisky festival in the Netherlands recently, you must have spotted them. Instead of a stand with a table with bottles on it, a very large cabinet with a big mirror in the back with the logo on it has been placed on their spot.

It is filled with beautiful brands of indie bottlers that are imported by Hogshead. And next to those, green bottles with a very nicely designed label. (I wrote about those here.) The bottles of Hogshead Indie.
More importantly, the people from Hogshead are not standing behind something, but in front of that cabinet, open for interactions, stories, explanations and connections with whisky enthousiasts.

Being Rickrolled

A small invited was dropped in my mail box, with the question if I wanted to participate in an online blind tasting of their new and upcoming releases by Hogshead.
The mail started with a line like: " As a member of the Hogshead family". That already told me something, but let me return to that later.

I responded I wanted to join, send over my address, received a box with six drams and on that box a QR code was placed with the text that if I would scan it AFTER the tasting, I would have some exclusive access to some Hogshead Community bottles.

Curious as I am, I scanned the code, not sure what to expect.
And I got Rickrolled for it.
That humor is right up my alley and it gave me a grin I could not get of my face.

The Tasting

When the day of the tasting arrived, I was excited. One of the best whiskies I had last year was actually a Hogshead Indie bottling (A Coal Ila on ex Caroni Rum Cask. Simply INSANE.), and I was looking forward to the new releases.

Now, I will name those new whiskies at the end of this post, but I wanted to write about something else that happened.
When the tasting started, Toon and Stijn welcomed us and Toon explained that they wanted to do more with the Hogshead Community. Already affectionately called Hoggies. Therefore, us Hoggies were invited to a blind tasting, to have some fun, chats and discussions.

I was sitting ready with an open document to make notes and make sure I was able to review them all.
And at first, I did. But then I noticed some things that completely pulled me of reviewing and pushed my towards a very nice experience:

At first, most camera's of the participants were off, and so were the microphones. But sip by sip and after some questions by Toon, the Hoggies started to discuss and mention what they smelled, tasted and felt. Heavy, but fun discussions on the possible cask, alcohol percentage, age and distillery started and led to more fun.
Jokes were being made before the second dram was poured and an online blind tasting suddenly felt like sitting in one big room, enjoying some drams with some banter.

I enjoyed that to the max, with the choice of a blind tasting, instead of a launch or introductionary tasting, the Hoggies were actively participating and even setting the course for the whole tasting.
I could see Toon and Stijn from Hogshead enjoying this, smiling when people started guessing, smiling even wider when they noticed that most got it wrong. (I only managed to guess one of the six, but was not sure enough to shout that distilleries name.)

I know it was about exposure for 4 new Hogshead expressions coming to the stores, but a very nice secondary effect was created: A group of whisky enthousiasts centered around a brand. That is building a community and makes me proud to be a Hoggie.

When the tasting ended, I was a bit sad, because I was really enjoying myself. However, the good news was that the QR code was no longer showing a link to Rick Astley's 'Never gonna give you up', but a shoplink instead.
Two bottles that we had tasted during the blind tasting were up for sale. And it just so happened that my favorite from the tasting was available there!

The whiskies

So, Since I forgot to write down all my notes during the event, best thing I can do is to sum up what we actually tasted! I have put the in the order we enjoyed them, but not all six are generally available.

Lowland Distillery (Glenkinchie), aged for 9 years on a refill hogshead. It is bottled at 48%. (442 bottles)
Campbelltown. An 8 year old Glen Scotia, teaspooned with Springbank. Bottled at 48%. (318 bottles)
Secret Speyside. Aged for 15 years and bottled at 56,8%. (322 bottles)
(Community Release) Distilled at Mortlach Distillery, Aged for 9 years on a refill hogshead. Bottled at 58.4% and only 133 bottles available.
(Community Release) Aultmore, 14 years old and bottled at 57,7%. (86 bottles available)
An Islay Distillery (Ardbeg), aged 13 years on a refill barrel. Bottled at 55.8% and 304 bottles were made.

Now, number 4 and number 6 were my favorites of this line-up. But Hogshead Indie again selected a nice range of casks to bottle and I would recommend them all. Numbers 4 and 5 are community releases, so if they sound like the dram you are looking for, do not hesitate and join the Hogshead community!
If you are looking for some tasting notes, Whatsinmytumbler managed to keep on writing during the whole session!

A special thanks goes towards Toon and Stijn. Thank you for inviting me and naming all participants a Hoggie!