Batch Strength Tour Update 3: Sweden – Germany

Back on the road again for another busy few weeks, joining the tour in Sweden before travelling through into Norway, Denmark and Germany. 16 out of the 20 countries have now been ticked off the list – the Batch Strength pickup is really clocking up the miles now! Let me fill you in on what we have been up too….

I arrived in Malmö, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, to take over from Catherine and meet George. After sorting out the minor issue of booking a hotel in the wrong city (easy mistake…), it was smooth sailing! Sweden welcomed Kilchoman with open arms, meeting a lot of familiar faces and were shown photos from the first ever European tour 10 years ago where, annoyingly, George looked exactly same!

We headed to Fiskebäckskil for the final stop in Sweden, and my jaw was on the floor by what we were met with. From the outside, it looked like a small boat shed, and when we walked in, the entire space was covered floor to ceiling with whisky bottles—almost 3000! The town was small, but the tasting drew in a crowd, with people travelling from all over to take part. We are very grateful to everyone who makes the effort join us on tour.

Next, it was a long drive to Norway, where I had my face pressed against the window trying to spot a moose (I was unsuccessful). We had two packed days with bar visits, masterclasses, and Kilchoman whisky cocktails. George and I ended up in Oslo on the same day as a marathon – unfortunately, we were far too busy to take part! But it did mean the city would prove very difficult to drive around, so we decided it was safer to leave the pickup in the garage, and it just so happened that meant both myself and George could indulge in some Kilchoman cocktails, which got both of our seals of approval!

I said goodbye to George, and Peter joined me as we drove 8 hours back through Sweden and across to Denmark. We hit the ground running in Denmark with a busy day in Copenhagen visiting shops, hosting a masterclass, and, of course, stopping by to offer the little mermaid a dram of Batch Strength before heading off to Odense, Harlev, Randers, and Varde over the next few days. We visited some incredible whisky shops, including the showroom for whisky.dk, which was a whisky lover’s dream! And the most unusual whisky shop I have ever visited where you could buy a bottle of Machir Bay at the same time as buying paint samples, a frying pan or a samurai sword. Asking the shop owner, he told us that “if they want it, I will sell it”, a true businessman I thought. 

Peter and I then headed to Germany for what we thought would be a regular in-shop tasting, but we were told we would be driving the pickup into the CITTI supermarket and parking it next to the fruit and vegetable aisle. A very strange experience for us and I’m sure the shoppers as well. In the following days, we held some fantastic tastings and masterclasses, chatted with some familiar faces, and taught some newbies all about Kilchoman. I said goodbye to Peter and was joined by James (who brought the lovely Scottish rain with him) to finish the rest of the tour in Germany, rounding off the week with a 130-person tasting in Nürnberg.

Now, after 16 days. It’s time to head home to catch up on some rest and, no doubt, talk about Kilchoman in my sleep before re-joining the tour for the final leg in the UK. Keep your eyes peeled for more updates, and if we haven’t visited you yet, we will see you very soon! 

Emma

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