Tasting begins!

You will be given five different whiskies and listen to explanations of these whiskies.　They are then taught how to taste, look at color, smell, and express their enjoyment of them. And then, we write on them on a piece of paper.

_It's nice to see Taketsuru here in Sweden. _

Yes!!! Yes!!! Yes!!! This is Bourbon Whisky from Kentucky! 🤭🤭🤭

It seems that they drink lots of whisky here haha! Isn't this cool?

After the tasting we walked around town a bit.　The effects of Corona are long gone, tourists are returning to town, and the town is coming back to life.　The old town was really bustling with tourists as well.

_A bronze statue in the old town.　This work, Saint George and the Dragon, seems to have been created at the time of Sweden's conflict with Denmark, and expresses Denmark as a dragon fighting. _

Evert Taube! He is a nationally popular singer.　He is so popular that he has been used in the design of banknotes.　

Listening Test in Swedish

I recently went to a whiskey tasting.　This was my first time attending a whiskey tasting.　This was a Christmas gift from Sambo's parents before the Covid19 outbreak, and we decided to attend the tasting after two years because I heard that the infection had finally settled and the group tasting was back in session.

I have attended a few wine tastings, but this was my first time attending a whiskey tasting.

I am very talkative when I speak English, but I am not very good at speaking Swedish at all.　I have improved my listening comprehension in Swedish when I speak with other international students or in simple conversations, but even now I can understand less than half of what a native speaker says in Swedish.　I have been able to understand TV programs with subtitles, but I am not able to keep up with conversations in person.

This tasting was conducted entirely in Swedish, and to be honest, my comprehension level was about 20 percent of what he explained.　The person who gave the commentary was a bit elderly, (well, he is about 70ish), I guess, and for some reason I have a very hard time deciphering the language spoken by elderly people in general (Sorry, but please understand that I am not being mean here).　This is something that I am sure people who study a second language can understand, but when the language is not spoken clearly (I would say, it is not enunciated well, it is maybe too much?) , the comprehension level drops dramatically.　Also, I am sure that the slightly outdated and peculiar expressions and phrases spoken by the elderly further reduced my comprehension level as a non-native speaker.

For all these reasons, I was a strange Japanese, listening to Swedish (which I only understood 20 percent of it) and smiling with an unintelligible embarrassment from beginning to end.　For some reason, I think I was a rather suspicious Asian with a weird smile on my face, both from embarrassment and from my own lack of improvement in comprehension despite all this study.　LOL.

Having lived for many years in the area of Kentucky where bourbon was produced, I had some knowledge of whiskey, but could not talk about it or converse about it, much to my frustration, but the tasting itself was a lot of fun.

For your info, the collection of whisky we drunk were,

Pete's Sake
https://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies/whisky/146639/angus-dundee-for-peats-sake
Millstone
https://www.masterofmalt.com/distilleries/millstone-whisky-brand/
Laphroaig
https://www.laphroaig.com/en/
Paul John Whisky
https://pauljohnwhisky.com/en
Westland
https://www.westlanddistillery.com/

I was like, "What? You don't choose any Bourbon Whisky for this tasting? WTH?" But, well, well, LOL!

It was more like a tasting or, for me, a Swedish listening comprehension test at school, and I thought I got an F on this listening comprehension test anyway.

The hearing was F, but the tasting period was A.　I have good memories of it all.　I really appreciate Sambo's parents for giving me the opportunity to make these memories.

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スウェーデン語の聞き取りテスト

先日、ウイスキーの試飲会に行ってきました。　ウイスキーの試飲会に参加したのは初めてでした。　これはサンボのご両親からコロナが発生する前にクリスマスのプレゼントとして頂いたもので、やっとコロナ感染も落ち着いてきて、集団での試飲会の開催が再開されたと聞いたので２年越しで試飲会に参加することにしました。

ワインの試飲会などには何回か参加したことがあるのですが、ウイスキーの試飲会に参加するのは初めてでした。

英語で話すと饒舌になるわたしですが、スウェーデン語での会話はまったく苦手で、すごく無口になります。　スウェーデン語での聞き取りは、留学生同士や簡単な会話だとかなり理解度が上がってきたのですが、ネイティブが話すスウェーデン語は今でも半分以下しか理解できません。　テレビで見る番組などは字幕を付けてみているので、かなり理解できるようになってきたのですが、対面での会話ではまったく話についていけません。

今回の試飲会はすべてがスウェーデン語で行われ、正直理解度は２０パーセント程でした。　解説してくれた方が少しご高齢の方で、なぜかご高齢の方の発する言語を解読するのがとても苦手です。　これはきっと第二言語を勉強している人にはわかることだと思うのですが、活舌が悪くなると一挙に理解度がさがります。　それと、きっと高齢者が話すすこし古い独特の表現や言い回しなどがネイティブでないわたしの理解度をさらに下げたと思います。

それらの理由が重なり、わたしは終始意味不明なスウェーデン語を聞きながら、意味不明な照れ笑いを浮かべている変な日本人でした。　なぜか照れ笑いとこんなに勉強してるのに理解度が向上しない自分への情けなさからなぜか変な笑みを浮かべるかなり怪しいアジア人だったと思います。　笑。

ケンタッキー州のバーボンが製造されていた地域に長年住んでいた経験から、ウイスキーの知識はあったのですが、それを語ることも会話することもできず、かなりわたしの中ではフラストレーションがたまったのですが、行った試飲会はとても楽しかったです。

試飲会と言うか、わたしにとっては学校のスウェーデン語の聞き取り試験のようで、とにかく今回の聞き取り試験はFをとったと思いました。

聞き取りはFでしたが、試飲会時代はAでした。　ともて良い思い出が出来ました。　このような思い出を作る機会をくれたサンボのご両親には本当に感謝します。