Another excellent and subtle bottling from Balblair with the appearance of pale straw; honey gold. The nose has some ‘green’ aspects (vegetative) with carefully layered citrus, raisins and over ripe fruit. Oak, leather and tobacco in the back ground. With the addition of a little water there isn’t a dramatic change with the vanishing of the citrus to be replaced by a more even distribution of the wood and floral notes. Tea. The taste has some notes of resin and varnish followed by the oak and fruit, warming and biscuity, like Graham Crackers, stewed and then dried pears, , chocolate and toasted malt in the back ground. Cocoa. The finish has later stages of malt and oak, long and smooth, dry at the very end. After a few minutes there is a re emergence of the malt and a very slight bitterness and the green notes initially detected on the nose. Grass.

£40

Score 86 Points

Visit http://www.balblair.com/ for all the details on this exceptional distillery.

From the Supreme Court of Canada legal briefs;

The Respondent Glenora, a distiller located in Nova Scotia, applied to register GLEN BRETON as a trademark for use in association with its whisky. The application was opposed by the Scotch Whisky Association, which took exception to Glenora using a mark prefixed with the word “glen” for its whisky. It claims that the use of “glen”-prefixed marks in association with several well-known single malt Scotches (Glenlivet, Glenmorganie, and Glenfiddich) has resulted in an association between the word “glen” and whiskies distilled in Scotland. The grounds of opposition were premised on this alleged association. The Trade-marks Opposition Board rejected the Association’s objection. Although there was evidence of “glen”-prefixed marks used by Scotch whisky distillers, the use was not sufficiently widespread as to have instructed Canadian consumers to associate the word “glen” with Scotch whiskies. Accordingly, it found that “glen” had not become recognized through “ordinary and bona fide commercial use” as designating the geographic origina of whisky, and was not a prohibited mark pursuant to s. 10 of the Trade-marks Act . The Association’s application for judicial review, which was accompanied by significant new evidence on the issue of confusion in the marketplace, was allowed and the Registrar of Trade-marks was directed to refuse Glenora’s application to register GLEN BRETON. The C.A. allowed an appeal and directed the Registrar to allow Glenora’s application to register GLEN BRETON.
Scotch Whisky Association v. Glenora Distillers International Ltd. (Fed. C.A., January 22, 2009) (33079) “The application for leave to appeal…is dismissed with costs.”

Glenora Distillers International Ltd. wins fight against the Scotch Whisky Association over the name of its single malt whisky

Susan Krashinsky

Globe and Mail Update, Thursday, Jun. 11, 2009 04:19PM EDT 

They’re celebrating at the offices of a small Cape Breton distillery after winning a nine-year legal battle over the name of its single malt whisky.

“We’re celebrating now,” Bob Scott, vice-president of Glenora Distillers International Ltd. of Glenville, N.S., said Thursday after a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada put an end to the distiller’s fight with the Scotch Whisky Association. “I have a wee dram of Glen Breton in my hand as we speak.”

The Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a lower court decision to allow the distillery to use the word “Glen” in the name of its Glen Breton Rare whisky.

The Scotch Whisky Association has said the name creates confusion in the market by implying a connection to household names in Scotch whisky, such as Glenlivet and Glenfiddich.

The association submitted evidence to the court that showed Glen Breton being described as Scotch whisky in Canada, such as on menus and on price lists at some provincial liquor boards.

“Glenora has marketed its product as Scotch in all but name,” said David Williamson, a representative for the association. “The market was confused by that trademark.”

According to Mr. Williamson, there is international precedent that the use of “Glen” on a whisky not produced in Scotland is a form of unfair competition.

The Scots have good reason to defend their brand: Scotch whisky is sold in almost 200 countries internationally and is Scotland’s largest export. It also represents 25 per cent of the United Kingdom’s food and drink exports, according to the Scotch Whisky Association.

Mr. Williamson said this success is based on a strong international reputation, and any product that adopts a Scottish-sounding name is taking unfair advantage of that worldwide brand recognition.

But Glenora Distillery’s Mr. Scott argues Glen Breton has a fair claim to its moniker.

“We’re in a glen,” Mr. Scott said. “We’re in Glenville, we’re in Cape Breton, and that’s where the name came from.”

Now that the Supreme Court has made its decision, Glen Breton will be registered as a trademark in Canada.

The legal battle started with the company’s initial application for the “Glen Breton” trademark in 2000.

The case went through four levels of court challenges. In January, the Federal Court of Appeal approved its trademark registration, which prompted the Scotch Whisky Association to take its appeal to the Supreme Court.

Mr. Scott would not comment on exactly how much this battle has hurt his small company, but he said that aside from legal costs, the fear of further challenges has prevented the distillers from marketing Glen Breton in some countries overseas.

“Now we can do whatever we like, moving forward with our brand name,” Mr. Scott said, adding that the exposure Glenora has received as a result of the case has been helpful. “It gives us brand recognition, which helps us out.”

The company is now planning to market Glen Breton in Asia, with future plans for expansion into Europe.

The Scotch Whisky Association has vowed to keep fighting against expansion of the Glen Breton brand into international markets, but for now there is a party going on at offices of the Nova Scotia distillery.

“It’s a really huge victory for us,” Mr. Scott said. “We’re celebrating – and I have a designated driver for tonight.

Here’s something you don’t see every day; a vintage Highland Park. Released last month, it was created exclusively for duty free and (what we in the trade call) Global Travel Retail markets.

The guys who look after duty free asked us to make a whisky that is like the 12 year old… but smokier. So we hand-picked a selection of Highland Park casks from 1997 – with an emphasis on American oak sherry casks – and vatted them together in the time-honoured fashion. The result is a deliciously complex single malt with a long smoky finish.

Why the emphasis on American oak sherry casks? As you know, the biggest single influence on whisky flavor is the oak in which the whisky matures. At Highland Park we use expensive sherry seasoned casks; those made from American oak give the whisky soft, creamy vanilla and coconut sweet flavours which allow the aromatic smokiness of our whisky to fully express itself. Some refill European oak sherry seasoned casks have been used in the 1997 vintage to provide complexity, citrus sweetness and that all-important Highland Park sense of balance.

In terms of style, Highland Park 1997 vintage is closely related to the 16 and 21 year old expressions. We hope you have as much fun savouring it as we did putting it together for you.

Highland Park 1997 40%
Colour: Soft amber hue.
Nose: Classic American oak sherry cask notes of sweet vanilla, hints of butterscotch and coconut to the fore. Background notes of ripe citrus fruits with a whiff of teasing toffee and camphor.
Palate: Beautiful balance of sweetness and heather peat smokiness.
Finish: Long and smoky.

Highland Park 1997 is available in one litre bottles at €42. Look out for Highland Park 1997 when you are at any of the following airports; Berlin/Tegel, Berlin/Schönefeld, Köln/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, Hahn, Frankfurt, Weeze, Copenhagen, Trondheim, Wien, Linz, Graz, Dalaman, Ankara, Izmir, Istanbul, Antalya, Budapest, Dubrovnik, Pula, Rijeka.

For more information about the Best Spirit in the World visit www.highlandpark.co.uk

Gerry
Head of Brand Education, Highland Park

The Scotch malt Whisky Society of America has released its June 2009 Bottling List featuring many exceptinal limited bottlings from all the regions of Scotland.

The list may be viewed at http://www.smwsa.com/members/index.html

The Society is famed for the quality of its single cask bottlings released without chill filtration or the addition of coloring.

You may join the Society at http://www.smwsa.com/join.html

Ian Macleod’s Isle of Skye Scotch Whisky will be conducting a tasting seminar at the Clan MacLeod Annual General Meeting in St. Louis, MO on the 12th of June.

To learn more about Isle of Skye Scotch Whisky please visit http://www.ianmacleod.com/brands/?id=14 or contact Sam Filmus of Impex Beverages at samf@impexbev.com

A brand new bottling from Tomintoul Distillery in Speyside and a welcome addition to the official bottling range released by the distillery. The nose is quite delicate and follows the Tomintoul tradition of being ‘the gentle dram’ with malt, cereals, faint green beans, honey, and vanilla. Light oak in the back ground and happily a distinct lack any off notes. The taste is creamy with leather, tobacco and malt being the first impression. Some heat in the mouth followed by some light heather notes and sweetness; honey, fruit and light vanilla followed by tea (shades of the leather and tobacco). The finish is quite long and has many of the previously described characteristics  which arrive in different waves, perhaps some minor addition of candle wax; the scented variety often associated with hand made candles. Additional malt and fruit with more of the leather and tobacco.

Excellent!

£31

Score 86 Points

Visit http://www.tomintouldistillery.co.uk/ for more on Tomintoul Distillery

Please be advised Beer Hunter, Whisky Chaser (9781906000042) is available to order from Meluki Book Marketing for $23.95. Beer Hunter, Whisky Chaser is a new writing on beer and whisky in honour Michael Jackson with contributions from Stephen Beaumont, Dave Broom, Ian Buxton, John Hansell, Julie Johnson, Charles MacLean, Hans Offringa, F Paul Pacult, Roger Protz, Lucy Saunders, Conrad Seidl, Carolyn Smagalski and Gavin D Smith. Please see the attached flyer for more information on this title.

Other new whisky titles available include:
9781903238677 Goodness Nose $35.95
9781841586526 Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom $69.95

And soon to arrive in stock:
9781906476038 A-Z of Whisky new edition price TBA
9781841585567 MacLean’s Whiskypedia price TBA

For more information on these titles, trade discounts, or to place an order, please contact us directly or visit our website http://store.meluki.ca/spirits.html

Meluki Book Marketing
604-925-4415 (tel)
604-925-4438 (fax)

This bottling is the newest permanent addition to the distillery’s core range and consists a vatting of 80% sherry casks and 20% bourbon barrels which has been bottled at 46% without colouring or chill-filtering. Of the 7,800 bottles produced for the world wide market, a grand total of 180 were allocated to the Canadian Province of Alberta (the remainder of Canada was out of luck). The nose reveals fruit, raisins, Christmas cake and is actually not as assertive as one would expect from an abundance of sherry casks used in the vatting. Some slight smokiness with some very light wood notes. A slight tinge of furniture polish perhaps? Very pleasant. The taste is sweet and luxurious, rich and slightly creamy cooked dark fruits (plums) fruit tart and apricot. The smoke is much more evident than on the nose but not over whelming; also the taste is quite dry layered with toffee and wood notes. It’s very pleasant and whatever amount is in your glass the inclination is to add more. The finish is quite long; at first there are lots of sweet fruit components but after a short time you’re left with a lot of dryness and wood notes. Exceptional.

 C$150

 Score 88 Points

Visit http://www.springbankwhisky.com/ for further details.