Whisky Review #245 – Black & White . . . www.ralfy.com gives a helping hand to a decent Blended Scotch ( a wee change from malts!)

So what’s the best whisky or scotch for Burns Night?

It’s that time of year when the haggis gets brought out and wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie’s everywhere panic and the age-old question is asked: what’s the best whisky for Burns Night?

In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with either the Whyte & Mackay 19 year old whisky or the Whyte & Mackay 22 year old whisky (without water even) because the age and the weight of these fine drams along with the sherry styles involved make them go just fine with haggis, neeps and tatties (and if anyone’s wondering how they should drink their whisky with the haggis, let them watch this video) – in fact, you can even add the whisky when cooking the haggis or just after it’s ready, as well as using it for the toasts.

There’s a wee bit more about both these fine whiskies in the videos below – and at the end there’s a wee treat for anyone looking to cook something a little bit different with haggis.

And for the more modern amongst you looking for a bit of help with a Burns Supper, I’m told that there’s an app for phones out there complete with autocue for reading the toasts and even tells you which way to face so you’re looking at Burns homeland – regardless of where you are!

Whatever you get up to – and I see a few people are holding off until the weekend – have a great night. I see there’s already plenty chatter on the Twitters about it with #burnsnight, #burnssupper & #robertburns – great to see people coming together from all over the globe celebrating this fine Scottish poet and more importantly, having a great time.

Scotland – Single Malt Scotch

1995 Highland Park 16 Year Old A.D. Rattray Single Bourbon Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whiskey 375ml ($55.99)

Talisker 30 year old 2011 Limited Edition sle of Skye Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($399.99)

Scotland – Blended Scotch

Johnnie Walker Black Blended Scotch Whisky 750ml – 1 available ($29.99)

K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com/
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

January 2012 – New Arrivals

Wow…How quickly has January flown in? It seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating Christmas & New Year!

We kick off 2012 with a fine new selection of whiskies including 7 new malts from The Dimensions Collection by Duncan Taylor, an outstanding limited range of single malt & single grain whiskies. We’ve some very rare & elusive Port Ellen’s back in stock along with batch 5 Glendronach single casks and several cracking international bottlings.

We’ve listed a few of our favourites below. To view all new arrivals follow this link…

Sláinte

Abbey Whisky

Abbey Whisky
enquiries@abbeywhisky.com
http://www.abbeywhisky.com/
07890 983 844

MILROYS OF SOHO JANUARY 2012 NEWSLETTER

Well Happy New Year – and what a year! It’s great to see so many distilleries keen to experiment and reach for higher quality. Our customers are also becoming more knowledgeable and certainly more demanding. We kept on increasing our range in 2011, we now stock more whiskies than ever. Christmas was particularly good fun: tasting whiskies with our regulars, meeting bloggers and our overseas friends whom we normally only meet via email. Now it is 2012, we have a massive January sale and plenty of tastings and events to invite you to.

So which were our favourite whiskies of 2011 and what can the canny enthusiast buy at a snip during the Milroy’s of Soho Green Spot Sale?

A Taste from the Past – Grant’s Stand Fast 1977

Good evening all,

The last bottle of Stand Fast I tasted about a year ago was pretty delicious, so you can imagine how delighted I was when I came across this slightly later version of the same blend.

Historically speaking, this bottle is also interesting as it was the last time the Grant clan motto ‘Stand Fast’…

…(Please click on the link to read the remainder of the article)…

THE LINK

Ludo

Ralfy from www.ralfy.com tackles a series of Blended Whiskies with an indroductory …. Whisky Review #244 – 5 recommended Blended Scotch Whiskies.

Because it’s not just about single malts!

Hello Fellow Scotch Lovers -

We now find ourselves half way through January and well into the winter of 2012. Here in the NYC area, its been a mild one so far…but I’ve managed to have a few fires, and enjoy more than my fair share of the wee dram while watching my NY Football Giants suddenly find inspiration over these past few weeks.

The year has certainly gotten off to a hectic start here at ForScotchLovers, what with all the hullabaloo one would expect to follow Whisky Magazine naming ForScotchLovers “Whisky Retailer of the Year Online” in the Icons of Whisky America 2012. So after a flurry of appearances by “The Neck” on Letterman, Leno and Law & Order, things have finally died down a bit, and we’re back to the business of finding great opportunities on wonderful whiskies…which brings me to this weeks Whiskey Wednesday opportunity from a truly unique distillery: Auchentoshan Valinch 2011

For those of you not familiar with Auchentoshan, it was established in the Dumbartonshire estate of Auchentoshan at the foot of the Old Kilpatrick Hills, overlooking the famous River Clyde in 1823. Since then it has had six careful owners and is one of the few remaining Lowland malt whisky distilleries in Scotland.

Auchentoshan, meaning `Corner of the field’ in Gaelic, produces a delicate, smooth and light single malt whisky. The subtle aroma and flavor of its spirit is achieved by their unique triple distillation process, whereby the spirit is not distilled twice, as elsewhere in Scotland, but instead distilled three times. This triple distillation, complemented by unpeated malt, gives Auchentoshan a delicate flavour and a final spirit strength of 81% ABV (162 proof).

Auchentoshan Valinch is a limited editon/small batch release whisky that is essentially a cask strength version of the popular Classic expression. It is named after the metal tube used to extract samples of spirit from the cask.

Fortunately for us, our man Nicky “The Neck” was able to extract several cases of the whisky from our contacts, and hence we are able to offer the lucky few who act quickly Auchentoshan Valinch for $58.95/ bottle. If you want a bottle, I urge you to act fast, because once its gone…

Until next Wednesday….

Doug Stone
Founder
http://www.forscotchlovers.com/

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AUCHENTOSHAN VALINCH TRIPLE DISTILLED CASK STRENGTH WHISKY

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TASTING NOTES: VALINCH 2011 CASK STRENGTH WHISKY

COLOR: Pale straw.

NOSE: Crème brûlée, tinned peaches in syrup, Madeira, cinnamon, newly-planed wood, coconut, and vanilla notes

PALATE: Sweet and spicy on the creamy palate, with vanilla, honey, praline and full bodied orange zest.

FINISH: Sweet, crisp and lingering. Oak and spice in the peach liqueur-like finish.

This wild, untamed release has been matured in new, heavily charred casks of air-seasoned American white oak, imparting additional smoky, spicy, barbecue flavours. Ardbeg Alligator. Charge your glass…
Follow the link to see the Ardbeg Alligator video 

LONG NOSE
Warning signs of cumin and barbecue sauce.
BIG TASTE
Hot and spicy flavours grip you, ginger and chocolate thrash.
FINISH YOU OFF
Slow and long mocha espresso while cigar smoke ebbs

The Whisky Shop
http://www.whiskyshop.com/

Ralfy @ www.ralfy.com puts a Scotch Classic under his malty-microscope, whisky review 243 – Johnnie Walker Blue Label.