Impression // Teeling’s Unconventional Collaborations (Micro stories)
Today, I am writing a different type of article. It’s an article about Teeling, one of my favorite whiskey brands. As you might know, I post fairly regularly about Teeling, and I am always rather lyrical about their expressions. That’s why today, after careful consideration and quite the praise from Darran Lovely and Chris Hayes, I am writing 4 micro-stories (very very short stories) about the 4 unconventional collaborations Teeling has recently released . I hope you enjoy!
Text by Mickaël Van Nieuwenhove
Photography is © Teeling
A little bit of background information before we dive in. I attended the virtual Unconventional Collaborations tasting a while ago, but haven’t gotten round to writing something about these releases. During said tasting session, we were expertly guided through 4 expressions by Teeling Master Distiller & Blender, Alex Chasko, Teeling Operations Manager, Iain Wood, and Teeling Global Brand Ambassador, Robert Caldwell. As always, they dared us to come up with the most outlandish tasting notes imaginable. I took that challenge to heart. So here we go.
Teeling Amber Ale Collab with DOT BREW
Cask Finish: Amber Ale from DOT BREW
Abv: 46%
Availability: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, Greece , Denmark, Norway, Poland , Denmark, Greece and more
Tasting notes: Hops, a bit of sweetness, a little bit of brine? Also strong honey water. A bitter note, reminding me of grains.
Micro story:
He was sitting at the bar, quiet and alone, though surrounded by the regulars. He hadn’t drained his pint like the rest of them. Instead, he was staring at the text he had just received. It had instantly transported him to the sun-drenched fields outside the village he grew up in. Sure, the farmers were not always that happy when he had ploughed through another stretch of barley, but running away from pitch forks had been his favorite thing to do. That is, if she was there too.
They had spent their afternoons and weekends together for years on end. Growing up a couple of houses from each other can do that to children with high energy levels and a completely lack of basic safety. The bruised knees and muddy clothes were trophies that were eagerly shown around when they were called in for supper. Their mothers had been only slightly annoyed. At least they were getting plenty of fresh air.
But all of that was in the past now. At some point, they had figured out that friendships between boys and girls might get difficult, and for once they had decided to ‘play it safe’. It was a decision which had created near-instant regret, but neither of them had had the guts to admit it to the other.
Summers had gone, and they went on with their lives. They became residents in different cities. She moved further up North, he stuck around the coast a bit longer before moving to the capital. And gradually, they had forgotten about their endless summer days.
To this point. It was all rushing back. His mouth was dry as sand. He felt the blood rushing to his head. His heart was racing. Three words was all it took: “Wanna catch up?”
Teeling Riesling Collab with Reichsrat von Buhl
Cask Finish: Riesling cask from Reichsrat von Buhl
Abv: 46%
Availability: Germany & Austria through Whisky.de
Tasting notes: Centralized, like a flower bud that has yet to open, a curious egg yolk note, a bit sharper, a bit more sour, then calming down and smoothing out.
Micro story:
Friday night. She had dressed up for the part despite the huge amount of stress that had decided to nestle itself on her shoulders. Work was hell, her family was hell, her apartment was tiny and her cat was obnoxious. But it was Friday night. And that meant one thing: treat yourself.
Her Uber had brought her to the jet-set neighborhood of the city. Most cocktail bars would now be crawling with people looking for a quick fix, in more ways than you want to imagine. She had opted for a venue in an alley of a side-street of a popular stretch of clubs. No one to bother her here.
It had taken quite a while for her to get used to going out on her own. She had been tired of being stood up by her friends or her friends’ friends who were supposed to take her out on a date. There was nothing wrong with her, nor was there anything particularly annoying about the people in her life. Life was hectic, and everyone was trying to get by. Everyone needs to deal with it in their own way.
This was her dealing with it. She might hang out with some friends later, she might grab a slice of pizza before bed. She might go for karaoke. Everything was still up in the air.
The two bartenders were cute. But more importantly, they knew exactly what she was in the mood for. This cocktail offered up sparkles and bright lights. The dance floor belonged to her tonight.
Teeling Sommelier Select Amarone
Cask Finish: Amarone Wine Cask
Abv: 46%
Availability: Sweden, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland , Greece and more
Tasting notes: Light and spongy, like chocolate cake, kirsch, cherries on syrup, warm, the dram crawls up the nose, smooth, rich, simply wonderful
Micro story:
Perhaps the best thing about these last couple of years was her renewed focus on baking. Sour dough, shortbread, coconut flake chocolate biscuits, simple but divine apple pies, she had done them all. At first, she had tried to stay modest about it all, but as her fame (and notoriety, for that matter) grew beyond the borders of her apartment building, she had started taking requests by people in the neighborhood. A birthday cake with the current most popular superhero? She’s got you covered. An emergency batch of gingerbread cookies for Sunday’s book club? Don’t mention it. Pancakes? Well, sure, but wouldn’t you like to try for yourself first?
She wasn’t in it for the money, far from it. With what she earned for every order, she was able to break even. Some of these baking ingredients can get quite expensive. Perhaps she should start asking a bit more? She hadn’t had the heart to refuse any of the requests so far, not after that one message she received from a young woman two blocks from here.
It was a simple, yet heartbreaking story. A daughter wanted to surprise her mother for her 72nd birthday. A cake. A cake like her mother used to make on birthdays. That young woman had admitted that she didn’t know the first thing about baking, but she did find a scribbled note that resembled a recipe while cleaning out her mother’s desk. You see, the message had read, her mother had to move to a retirement home, to a wing on which few people visit. Her memory had started to decline rapidly these last couple of months, and the family had decided to get professional help. She didn’t always know who the people were that came to see her every Sunday, but she did remember that she used to bake whenever people came over. The painful part, she had forgotten how. And the young woman wanted to bring back her memory somehow.
The assignment had quickly become a quest for the best ingredients and the most idiot-proof baking method. It had taken her almost two days and a handful of cakes to figure things out. The chocolate sponge cake had to be moist, but not too much. The cream had to be fatty enough, but not too much. The cherries had to be sweet with a little sour touch. The stress had made her want to quit on multiple occasions, but she had succeeded, and she had delivered that cake as if it was a gift to the baby Jesus himself.
And she had received a picture a couple of hours later, of a mother and a daughter, the former in a hospital bed, the latter sitting in an armchair next to her, both smiling.
Teeling Small Batch Aquavit Collab with OHD
Cask Finish: Aquavit cask from Oslo Håndverksdestilleri (OHD)
Abv: 46%
Availability: Exclusive to Vinmonopolet in Norway
Tasting notes: Deep, almost covered up, deodorant?, fresh spruce, moving to mints, caraway, nice and invigorating.
Micro story:
The sun hadn’t been out for 17 days now. So far, that’s how long they had had to spend with a sliver of sunlight. Needless to say, he had started to get a bit melancholic. A lack of vitamin D can do that to a man.
He had gotten up early that day, although the only way to tell was by checking the digital alarm clock on his nightstand. It did not matter anyway. For all he cared, he could get up at midnight and do all the chores he was expected to do.
A fresh blanket of snow had covered the forest paths, which, to the inexperienced traveler, would spell trouble. To him, it just meant a hike that was going to take a bit more energy and a bit more time. He might even spend a while taking in the natural beauty of the place. If you grow up in a remote place, you start to pass off the rugged wonders as ‘just another part of life’.
Nearly there, he thought. Time to cut down that tree for the family. It would have to spend a couple of weeks indoors, after which it would get planted again. Sustainability is a thing, you know. Take and give back. This had been the family tradition ever since his great-grandfather Gunnar had personally cut down the ‘mightiest tree in the forest’, at least according to the stories that were told about him. In one way or the other, every year, that fabled tree gets a bit bigger, and that crash shakes the ground just a tad more.
He liked those stories. His great-grandfather was somewhat of an icon in the family. His woodcutter’s axe, his meticulously planned out firewood stacks, his hipflask… Nearly every aspect of the man had a story connected to it. It truly was a miracle the old photograph in the small kitchen had not turned into a shrine yet.
Speaking of which, that ancient hipflask was hanging from a leather cord attached to his belt. It contained water, yes, but he could swear it sometimes tasted like the stuff his grandfather would drink before, during, and after dinner, like the spirit had decided never to fully leave the inside of that flask.
He took a sip, and gazed at the trees for a while. Soon, these dark, cold nights would get a bit brighter again.
A note by the author
God, that sounds so pompous, doesn’t it? It does to me, but I’m keeping it there for the irony of it all.
Thanks for reading all the way through the end. I had great fun tasting these expressions and coming up with suitable micro stories for each of them. Of course, they are more ‘companion pieces’ than anything else. They are the result of my mind going for a wander.
If I can say one more thing about the whiskies, it would be the following: try them out. I personally like the aquavit expression the best, but would gladly settle for any of the other whiskeys… if I could get my hands on them. You see, some of these are rather hard to track down, unless, of course, you start googling away. There’s more than one online whisky shop offering bottles if you’re prepared to spend a bit more. And trust me, these are worth it.
Cheers,
M.