QM Events (2026)

09/05/2022

"La dolce vita" - words to live by
Enjoying the good life is what we think of when enjoying a fine dram. However, it is also a life motto forthe Italians. Therefore it was a surprise to learn that they waited until 2010 before creating their first distillery! We can thank Albrecht Ebensperger for fouding the Puni distillery, which led to the original Italian Single Malt Whiskey 🤌 🇮🇹 When we bring our glass to our noses, we get hit instantly by sweetness, in the form of honey and bloodoranges. The smell flows over into heather flowers, which adds some spring feeling 🌷 Sweet remains the operative word, because it feels like we just took a scoop of honey, both in taste as in texture. Joining the party is some slight bitterness from dark chocolate, with a light hint of blood oranges once again: like we're enjoying some jaffa cakes. In the end we're left with that sticky sweetness, both on the palate as on the lips. Which encourages us to just take another sip 😄 Puni whiskey, ci vediamo presto! Don't forget to check out our website: https://www.quercusmagnus.be/blog Sláinte!

18/04/2022

"Have it Jack's way. Neat. While savoring the moment." - Jack Daniel's quote
We have to be honest with you. When we were young(er), we ventured into the world of whiskey thanks to Jack Daniel's. However, we didn't take it neat, but with ONE ice cube, which we were very particular about. And boy, did we feel fancy 😄 Our palate grew and our whiskey world expanded, but Jack Daniel's kept its special place in our heart. Therefore we are happy to be reviewing Jack Daniel's Single Barrel, Barrel Strength 🥃 First, let's tell you what's special about Jack Daniel's and most other whiskeys from Tennessee. They receive what is called an "Extra Blessing", also know as charcoal mellowing. This is an extra filtering through maple charcoal chips , before filling the barrel. Enough of the fun facts, let's see what this Jack has to offer 🙂 The nose gets treated to some fresh vanilla cream, with a syrupy sense like maple syrup or honey. We also get a charred scent from the blessing. When taking our sip, we weren't prepared for the kick we received: the barrel is indeed strong! The flavor seems quite spicy, however we're not really sure if it is spice or just the alcohol burning 😄 What is sure is that it packs a punch 💪 This power is tempered by the sweet taste of caramel, brown sugar and vanilla. At the end, some menthol shows up to freshen up the tasting experience. This lingers on quite a while, straight into the aftertaste, where we are left with sweet caramel to savor our moment. We're not quite sure if our younger selves could've handled this 😄 Don't forget to check out our website: https://www.quercusmagnus.be/blog Sláinte!

27/03/2022

"Time in a bottle." - Jim Croce
And this week's selection has put 8 years worth of time into a bottle, for all of us to enjoy! 😄 That enjoyment comes from The Single Cask Linkwood 8 years 2011, a cask strength from a private bottler, named "The Single Cask". The contents were prepared by the Linkwood distillery, whose production is mostly used in the blends of Diageo. This makes an actual bottling from them a treat to savour! When we take in the scent, we feel like walking through some woods, which stems from the smell of walnuts. Overall the scent is quite sweet, namely pear and vanilla, contrasted by some fresh sourness, which we identify as lime. The flavor starts of with the lime and brings us a sour and slightly sweet opening, but this evolves into a much more pronounced sweet taste, like caramel. By the end it turns to a dryer, oily sensation, as if we're tasting some cracked walnuts. This presses on into the aftertaste for a bit, after which we are left with a lingering sourness. Definetly a great whisky meant to be opened, shared, and enjoyed, as the say at The Single Cask. Don't forget to check out our website: https://www.quercusmagnus.be/blog Sláinte!

07/03/2022

"Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey." - Luke Bryan
And Bowsaw Distillery makes a proper Straight Corn Bowsaw American Whiskey, with a whopping 91% corn! 🌽 This is joined by only 56% barley and 4% rye, to present us a corny delight, aged for 4 years in American Oak Barrels 🥃 So an all American whiskey, to grace our pallet 🇺🇸 The smell of this dram is slightly spicy, leaning towards ginger most of all. The main player in the odour story however is corn, joined by some sugar, vanilla and even some caramel. This isn't exactly a surprise of course, given the origin of the barrels and the percentage the corn takes up in the mash. When we taste, the corn remains ever present, albeit as sweet corn. Spices however also take on an important role, again ginger, joined this time by nutmeg. In the end we are left with a sticky mouthfeel, which is mostly because of the sweetness. This lingers for quite a while, which makes us look for some rain to quench the thirst ... or on second thought, maybe another sip of our dram 😉 Don't forget to check out our website: https://www.quercusmagnus.be/blog Sláinte!

28/02/2022

"Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye" - American Pie, by Don McLean
🎵 But February made me shiver. With every paper I'd deliver. Bad news on the doorstep. I couldn't take one more step. 🎵 In these troubling times, it bodes well to focus on the positive things in life, like a good rye whiskey, enjoyed in the company of your "old boys" 🥃 🤝 So as our rye whiskey, we picked the Rittenhouse Straight Rye whiskey from Heaven Hill Distillery, named after Philadelphia's famous Rittenhouse Square. This rye is a smooth experience right from the start, with caramel and brown sugar sweetening our nose, followed up by some dried fruits and a slight spice to liven things up. The taste continues on with a clean smoothness, where milk chocolate and vanilla take a central role. There isn't much of a rye taste, with only some subtle spices coming to the forefront: cinnamon and nutmeg. These flavors are joined by a light sourness coming from citrus. When we get to the end, there is an unexpected thickness to the dram, which we can describe as a maple syrup experience. This makes for a rather long aftertaste, that leaves us wanting more. 🎵 Now let's believe in rock and roll and that music can save our mortal soul! 🎵 Don't forget to check out our website: https://www.quercusmagnus.be/blog Sláinte!

20/02/2022

"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir
And not just any mountains! ⛰️ The Paps from the Isle of Jura, comprised of The Sacred Mountain 😇, The Mountain of the Sound 🎵 and The Mountain of Gold 🪙 The Isle of Jura is an island of one: one road, one pub, one hotel and one amazing distillery. In honour of their island, Jura distillery has made some special bottling, the last of which is the Jura 19 Years The Paps edition, which we are reviewing today. When we take in that mountain air, we immediately get the sherry cask influence, with red fruits and raisins being prevalent, combined with a nutty smell. However there are also some spices, namely ginger. The balance switches somewhat in the taste, with the ginger taking a more central role with a slight bitterness joining it. The sherry has become more of an afterthought and the remaining sweetness is more like dark chocolate. The aftertaste is rather woody, with the bitterness lingering a bit. A burning sensation remains for quite a while, but is soothed by some vanilla popping up. We are glad to have climbed this mountain and will gladly do so again! Here's hoping a follow up edition will come 😉 Don't forget to check out our website: https://www.quercusmagnus.be/blog Sláinte!

06/02/2022

"When your whiskey comes from a castle, you know it’s fit for a king." - Knappogue story
With that in mind Mark Edwin Andrew decided to buy a castle and plunge himself onto the noble quest that is whiskey business. Using the name of the castle as its brand, Knappogue Casle, which roughly translated means "hill of the kiss", quickly became known as a fine bottler of exquisite Irish whiskey. This week we are reviewing the Knappogue Castle 14 years Twin Wood Single Malt Irish Whiskey, a whiskey matured in two types of casks: bourbon barrels and Olorosso sherry casks. The nose starts of fresh and fruity, mainly bananas and apricots. This makes us think of candied fruits more than anything else. When left out for a while, some vanilla and spices start to creep up. The taste is quite smooth and with a somewhat bittersweet dryness, coming from dried red fruits and grapefruit. After a while we get some added dryness, like nuts, and a little hint of spices. Overall bitterness plays the central role, which continues on into the aftertaste. This is in the long run joined by some dryness from the malt. It's good to be the king! 👑 Don't forget to check out our website: https://www.quercusmagnus.be/blog Sláinte!

31/01/2022

“Smell the sea and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly.” – Van Morrison
This quote perfectly describes a particular whisky from a certain island: Talisker whisky, made by the sea and distilled on the Isle of Skye! This classic distillery is the oldest still working distillery on the island, so you know they have the experience of making excellent whisky. Today we are trying their distillers edition 2008-2018, which is double matured in Amoroso casks. In the scent we immediately recognise the smell of the sea, with that clear smokey peaty smell we love to associate with Talisker 😄 However, its sherry origins cannot be denied and is translated by some dried red fruits, mainly raisins. This betrays the fact that it hails from Amoroso cask. A very nice combination, which joins the sweetness of sherry with the intensity of the peat. The taste is peated once more, with salt bringing out the ocean character of the bottle 🌊 However, the sherry is pushed to the back, but this does not render it without sweetness ! Milk chocolate has taken its place as the sweet element 🍫 This creates an interesting effect, which continues on into the aftertaste. Who knew the sea could be this sweet 🙂 Don't forget to check out our website: https://www.quercusmagnus.be/blog Sláinte!

24/01/2022

“You want to be a writer? Start writing. You want to be a filmmaker? Start shooting stuff on your phone right now.” – Matthew McConaughey
You want to learn about whiskey? Just open a bottle! Which just happens to be our favourite thing to do 😄 This week we followed Matthew McConaughey good advice, not only with regards to life, but also with regards to whiskey: we enjoyed a dram of Wild Turkey Longbranch, a bourbon that he, as creative director, created in collaboration with the distillery's master distiller, Eddie Russel. The result is a a smooth, enjoyable bourbon 🥃 Our nose immediately gets treated to a fresh, yet sweet scent, as if we are getting a combination of eucalyptus and mint, with vanilla and caramel sweetening it all up. Its a very appeasing smell, that develops over time and starts to lean towards milk chocolate. Sticky caramel is central when we take that sweet sip, with vanilla, honey and a malty effect adding character. There is a bit of spice, however it is just enough to give a slight kick, without overpowering the taste. In the end, we get the feeling of moist wood and a slight dryness, with the sweet vanilla and caramel remaining behind but slowly fading away. A perfect bourbon to enjoy while watching a sunset, maybe? Let us know if you try it out, we'll do the same! 🌇 Don't forget to check out our website: https://www.quercusmagnus.be/blog Sláinte!

17/01/2022

“America’s Native Spirit” - Congress resolution of May 4th 1964
In 1964 the American Congress took on a resolution declaring bourbon to be America's Native Spirit (not in those exact words, but still). This has been repeated multiple times since. And what is else is typically American? Cowboys! Especially cowboys using "The Gun The Won the West", namely the Wi******er rifle. Therefore we decided to try out a very American bourbon, the Wi******er Extra Smooth Bourbon 🥃 The nose starts rather light, with a grainy sensation, joined by some sweetness. That typical bourbon caramel is very present, it is as if we're smelling some sweet popcorn or caramalized nuts. The taste is truly from the wild west, with a combination of spices and sweetness, with some bitterness thrown in. We are getting hints from espresso, ground pepper and caramel, with a hint of ginger to finish things off! In the end, smoothness is the operative word for this bourbon's aftertaste, which goes down very easily, with a slight burn to keep us on our toes 🤠 Giddy up partner! Don't forget to check out our website: https://www.quercusmagnus.be/blog Sláinte!

09/01/2022

"Blended by Angels, to be Shared with Friends" - Angels Nectar quote
But even Angels sometimes venture into the land of single malt, so this week we're reviewing Angels Nectar 11 years Cairngorms Edition Single Cask and Single Malt, a limited edition of which only 263 bottles were made 😄 Angels Nectar are known for their blended malt whisky, so it's always a treat to enjoy their single malt versions. The brands' name hails from the Angels' Share, which refers to the evaporation that takes place during maturation (maybe the angels are stealing it? 😇). If the share is what we lose, the nectar is what we gain! And like all true Angels, the distillery strives to support a good cause with this bottling, namely the Environmental and Community projects in the Cairngorms National Park. Sweetness floats into our nose, mainly candy-like scents and fruity flavors. We get a mix of rhubarb jam, dried orange slices and licorice, with a very slight hint of honey. When it makes its way to our tongue, some bitter fruit becomes apparent as well, as if we're enjoying some grapefruit. However the sweetness isn't gone. All of this is also joined by spices, like cayenne pepper burning the sin out of our soul! In the end we are left with a bittersweet aftertaste, sad to see the end of this trip. Luckily the angels didn't take everything, so we're left with some more in the bottle 😉 Don't forget to check out our website: https://www.quercusmagnus.be/blog Sláinte!

03/01/2022

"These Boots Are Made For Walkin' " - Nancy Sinatra
So let's walk into the new year with one of the old classics: Johnnie Walker! We chose to review their Johnnie Walker Bourbon & Rye Finish Blenders' Batch to ring in 2022, which strives to combine the traditions of Scottish whisky with the sweetness of bourbon and the spiciness of rye. The dram is poured, so we take a whiff: it's a very sweet and slightly fruity scent, with some caramel and honey thrown in the mix. The taste comes like an avalanche however, with sweet and smooth flavors rolling down our tongues. The bourbon influence is very clear, with sweet vanilla and caramel taking front and centre. It feels like we're enjoying some nice milk chocolate treats of some Jaffa Cakes, we might even say that there is some creamy mocha mixed in as well. If we need to give it a name, this would be the perfect dessert whisky 😄 For aftertaste, it continues the trend of sweetness, with a slight bitterness added to it, like dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate this time. The end of the year deserves an end of meal whisky 😄 All the best wishes from QM to all our followers for 2022 and we hope that we can all share some nice drams together this year! Don't forget to check out our website: https://www.quercusmagnus.be/blog Sláinte! #2022

QM Events

09/05/2022

18/04/2022

27/03/2022

07/03/2022

28/02/2022

20/02/2022

06/02/2022

31/01/2022

24/01/2022

17/01/2022

09/01/2022

03/01/2022

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