SMWS ADVENTURES
Olaf’s postcard from Germany
After celebrating 20 years with the Society last year, there wasn’t much Society ambassador and Tasting Panel chairperson Olaf Meier hasn’t done during his time with the SMWS. But despite his travels, it was a surprise to learn that our German-born ambassador hadn’t yet hosted a tasting in his native country! Last month, that changed when he headed on a German road trip with Andrew Park from our UK team to host epic tastings in six cities in six days. Here’s Olaf’s diary of his return to Deutschland
ABOVE: Olaf getting organised for his first tasting in Düsseldorf
TUESDAY 27 AUGUST
It’s a 4am start from Edinburgh for the flight to Weeze in Germany. After renting a van, Andrew and I drove 120 miles to our distributer in Germany, loaded up the whisky and then carried on a further 90 miles to Düsseldorf.
Peter Kohl, the local ambassador, was very happy to meet us at Boothby’s, one of our many Society partner bars. Walking between our hotel and the bar, I heard someone shout ‘Olaf’.
It came from a member enjoying a drink in the 25-degree heat in a beer garden ahead of the event. I had to smile, I’d only walked for about two minutes in Germany, and someone had already recognised me – that’s the power of the virtual world these days!
That evening we had 34 members enjoying a late summer’s tasting with plenty of chat, plenty of whisky, and a really successful event overall. After the last guest left around 10.45pm, we enjoyed a cold beer, reminiscing how far we’d come, having started that day at 4am in Edinburgh.
ABOVE: Members at Olaf’s first tasting in Düsseldorf
PICTURED Day Two of Olaf’s epic German road trip was in Frankfurt
WEDNESDAY 28 AUGUST
Wednesday started with a 150-mile drive to Frankfurt where we were met by Gregor Haslinger, who runs a very successful whisky shop in Sachsenhausen called Whisky Spirits.
Next to the shop he has a tasting room which seems a bit like Aladdin’s cave. He presented us with a miniature bottle of JG Thomson’s De Luxe Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky, 8 years old.
ABOVE: Olaf in Frankfurt with Gregor Haslinger and Andrew Park
ABOVE: The Frankfurt tasting attracted almost 60 members
Travelling south the temperature rose to 30 degrees but thankfully Gregor had a small outside courtyard which was a respite from the stifling heat. It was a great evening, sold out with 58 like-minded members enjoying good whisky and each other’s company. As the last guest left I had a surprise for Andrew. A good friend of mine, Peter Burger and his lovely wife Birgit, invited us into their cellar which was just around the corner. It’s not just any old cellar, it’s a place where dreams come true. Thank you very much Peter for a lovely ending to our time in Frankfurt.
ABOVE: Olaf with Peter Burger in his whisky cellar, along with Society ambassador Gregor Haslinger
PICTURED: If it’s day three, it must be Stuttgart...
THURSDAY 29 AUGUST
We set off for another 130-mile drive south to my hometown Stuttgart, where we were guests at the Schwarz Weiss Bar. It’s a great cocktail bar and with the temperature now reaching 35 degrees, a cool cocktail wouldn’t have been a bad idea. Yet our members were out in full force, 42 in total, and again we had an evening full of laughter and good stories. Many of my Swabian fellow country people asked me: “How does a guy from Stuttgart get to Scotland and become a chairman of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s Tasting Panel?” That reminded me of a concert I had just been to just ahead of the trip as part of the Edinburgh International Festival, featuring a Canadian pianist and songwriter called Chilly Gonzales (who coincidentally lives in Cologne). One of his songs he played is called ‘Open the kimono’ which is all about laying bare the truth!
ABOVE: Olaf and members on a balmy evening in Stuttgart
ABOVE: Olaf and guests at Beim Almosmüller in Nuremberg
FRIDAY 30 AUGUST
After another 135 miles on the motorway we arrived in the city of Nuremberg, where we held our tasting in the vault of an 800-year-old mill. The temperature was still hovering at around 30 degrees. It is run by the wonderful couple Moni and Ralph and is called ‘Beim Almosmüller’ – get there and you’ll find out why! Another Ralf, Ralf Daenzer, is the local ambassador, and with his help we managed to keep this wonderful crowd of 51 fed and ‘whiskied’ for the evening.
PICTURED: Day five and the German tasting roadshow reaches Dresden
SATURDAY 31 AUGUST
Onwards very early, we had to drive 200 miles to Dresden for a 1.00pm start at a whisky shop called Whisky & Genuss. The morning was a little overcast, so we’d originally planned to sit outside. But as midday approached, the sun came out and the thermometer climbed over 30 degrees again.
That did not stop the 29 members from enjoying what turned out to be a wonderful afternoon. Andrew, who was running the sun-glazed bar while I was mingling with the members, was offered a couple of umbrellas to block the sun.
But as we found out, they were not for him but for the whiskies! Our members know their priorities.
ABOVE: A sunny afternoon at Whisky & Genuss in Dresden
SUNDAY 1 SEPTEMBER
Our last and final stop was appropriately the capital of Germany, Berlin, 125 miles north of Dresden. We held the event in our partner bar Bar Franzotti which is usually closed on a Sunday, but they opened for us to have a great gathering. We had two helpers which by now I think Andrew and I needed. Peter Eichorn, a very well-known personality in the beer and whisky world in Berlin, as well as Matthias Rech who looks after a lot of SMWS Germany. It was a wonderful afternoon and by the time our final member left we were all looking forward to having something to eat and a refreshing beer.
What I found so enlivening in those days is that wherever I go and meet members we have a good time and forget all the worries of daily life for a few hours. Many of the people I met were just members to begin with, but now they are friends.
Overall it was a great idea from Andrew and well organised. Thank you for taking me along on this adventure in my home country. It was great fun, however if you ever ask me again to travel 950 miles over six cities in six days again, my answer will be ‘forget it!’