Tobermory Distillery
Starting on Monday July 13th Whisky Intelligence will be posting a daily tasting note of Tobermory single malt scotch whisky from the Isle of Mull including official bottlings and independent bottlings.
For information on the Tobermory Distillery visit them at http://www.tobermorymalt.com/
Tobermory Distillery
A single cask bottling from a refill hogshead by Douglas Laing, the independent bottlers, with the addition of colouring or chill filtration. The nose is quite strong at first with very light aromas of heather, vanilla, oak and malt. Even with some hand warming it remains closed. With the addition of a little water the aromas are very earthy and damp; like wet clay followed by some industrial notes. Additionally it’s very sweet with hints of leather. Quite a varied nose. The taste is both sweet and strong with a secondary layer of green malt, espresso and oak. It quickly becomes very dry and malty. With water it is (it takes quite a bit) both malty and chocolaty. The finish is long and warming with vanilla, malt, dry oak notes and some later stages of green plump malt. The maltiness continues for some time.
Not a hint of smoke anywhere and a very nice dram that certainly likes water which makes it quite delicious..
Score 86 Points
C$115
The Malt Maniacs have issued invitation to the industry seeking submissions for the 2009 Malt Maniacs Awards with an immediate response. The MM were planning to tweak the Awards for 2009 but after protests from participants they have decided to stick with the tried and true format. Keep an eye on http://www.maltmaniacs.org/ for the final results of the 2009 Awards later this year.
For a long time Ardmore did not have an official bottling however this has now been rectified with the launch of the ‘Traditional Cask’ by the distillery owners a few years ago. It has spent an unspecified amount of time in standard barrels and then “matured for a final period in small 19th century style Quarter Casks’. Both peated and non-chill filtered. The nose very sweet and peated with additional notes of varnish, honey and light malt and ever so slight cut grass. With water it loses the vibrancy and becomes less peated and has a smokey medicinal quality intermingled with a touch of coal smoke. The taste is quite sweet at first and then continues with honey, the cut grass, malt and spicy oak notes. With water is has a syrupy mouth feel and is slightly bitter and coal smokey and slightly sappy. The finish is peaty and very sweet and of a good length and at the very end it changes to peat smoke and malt very well intermingled. After a number of minutes the finish is very dry and filled with coal smoke and malt.
The preference is to sample this whisky without the addition of water; it’s much more vibrant undiluted.
US$45 at Binny’s
Score 80 points
http://www.ardmorewhisky.com/
By Alex Davis • alexdavis@courier-journal.com • July 6, 2009
Fans of Knob Creek bourbon may find their favorite whiskey in short supply this summer as the brand’s bottle warehouses near Clermont, Ky., are empty and the next batch of aged whiskey won’t be ready until November.
Bourbon experts say the looming shortage is somewhat unusual, although brands such as Knob Creek, which is aged for nine years, are more susceptible because their distillers must predict demand far in advance.
“It’s very difficult to forecast out nine-year demand,” said Kelly Doss, senior director of U.S. bourbon and whiskey at Beam Global Spirits & Wine, which makes Knob Creek. “We can only sell what we can bottle and ship.”
Beam Global, itself part of Fortune Brands, sells about 150,000 cases of Knob Creek annually, putting it at the top of the company’s small batch collection, but well below Maker’s Mark, and its flagship Jim Beam bourbon which is aged four years.. Doss said none of those brands are expected to face a shortage this summer.
Beam recently sent T-shirts emblazoned with “The drought of 2009” to 16,000 Knob Creek fans who registered on the brand’s Web site.
The company also plans to use the shortage as a marketing tool in the months ahead, playing on the notion that the lack of Knob Creek is connected to its popularity. A recent company statement announcing the shortage carried the headline “thanks for nothing” and said the brand will be “even more popular and profitable once supply is restored.”
Tom Pirko, president of industry consulting firm Bevmark, said the promotion probably will boost the brand’s image in the short-term. But if it lasts longer than a few months, he said it could prompt customers to switch.
A half-dozen liquor stores in Louisville and Southern Indiana reported Monday that they still had 750-milliliter bottles of Knob Creek available, at prices ranging from $28 to $34. Jerry Rogers, owner of Party Mart, said he’s been sold out of travel-sized miniature bottles since late May.
Officials at Southern Wine & Spirits, which distributes Knob Creek in Kentucky, did not respond to several telephone requests for an interview. Until earlier this year, Republic National Distributing Co. handled Knob Creek’s local distribution, selling 9,455 cases last year in Kentucky.
Republic’s local marketing director, Trae Joyce, said there were sporadic local shortages of Knob Creek throughout 2008, at some points lasting for two to three months.
“We’ve seen a lot more demand for bourbons in general in the last couple of years, especially your aged bourbons,” Joyce said of the older and more expensive brands.
Beam Global declined to provide figures on Knob Creek’s growth for the last several years. Paula Erickson, spokeswoman for Beam Global, said the brand’s looming shortage marks the first time that storage warehouses have been empty.
The next batch of Knob Creek will be dumped from barrels in October, and ready for retailers the next month. Areas that could see tight supplies first include southern California, and the eastern United States. Beam raised the price of Knob Creek earlier this year, she said, but the move was unrelated to the shortage and there are no more planned price hikes.
Charles Cowdery, who writes a blog about the industry and is the author of “Bourbon, Straight,” said Knob Creek has less flexibility with its production timeline because its bottles advertise the fact that the brand has been aged nine years. Some of Knob Creek’s competitors offer rough aging guidelines but don’t state the number of years on the bottle. Either way, Cowdery said the timing of the shortage could help the brand as it approaches the lucrative holiday season later this year.
“They’re getting some publicity out of a real situation,” Cowdery said. “I expect that with Knob, they’ll come back in November right before Christmas with a lot of new supply, and they’ll make a lot of noise about it, and price it to move.”
Reporter Alex Davis can be reached at (502) 582-4644.
Balvenie Signature
You may view the latest post at
https://www.lfw.co.uk/blog/2009/07/10/more-miniatures/
Best regards,
ship@lfw.co.uk
Loch Fyne Whiskies
Old Pulteney 30yo Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Loch Fyne Whiskies News has posted a new item, ‘Old Pulteney 30yo’
Old Pulteney 30yo
44% abv
£236.00 inc vat
£205.22 ex vat
Buy Now!
You may view the latest post at
https://www.lfw.co.uk/blog/2009/07/10/old-pulteney-30yo/
Best regards,
ship@lfw.co.uk
Loch Fyne Whiskies
And the best for last…..
Serge Valentin is the owner of one of the most distinctive moustaches in the world of Whisky, a founder of ‘Malt Maniacs’ and the man behind whiskyfun.com. The variety of topics covered and Whiskies tasted, and the style and quality of the tasting notes, keep us feverishly awaiting the next update. Many Whisky writers have informed us, but few also entertain as much as Serge. Here Serge details his favourite Berrys’ Own Selection
bottlings from his extensive collection.
1963/1978 Glen Grant, Single Speyside Malt, 43%
Extraordinary nose: old walnuts, Vin Jaune and sultanas, also notes of orange and honey, and antique furniture. In the mouth, it’s almost like a very old Tokaji – fantastically raisiny. It’s also got notes of mead, chocolate and crème caramel. Some roasted hazelnuts and a slight mintiness gives it a superb zing. Fab old Glen Grant! The finish is ‘as long as a day without bread’, as we say here. Still very nutty and raisiny, candied but nervous and never ‘thick’. 94 points for this old wonder.
1965/1977 Longmorn, Single Speyside Malt, 43%
The nose starts on bitter chocolate and high-class coffee and goes on with walnuts, leather polish and balsamic vinegar and then gets meatier with whiffs of soot. Very delicate, very complex, like an old wine that’s been aged particularly well. On the palate, sumptuous attack, big and full with excellent balance. Fantastic notes of oranges, mint, liquorice, wood, cinnamon, apricots, walnuts, tobacco… and who knows what else! Amazingly complex. The finish really does ‘the peacock’s tail’. Sumptuous old young Longmorn, and it’s only a 12- year-old! 93 points.
1953/1975 Talisker, 43%
Some smoke but discreet at first, and then it grows, together with something animal and resinous characteristics as well as lemon balm. Then gets really seasidy with a little liquorice. Keeps developing with coal and hints of bitter oranges. Really beautiful! In the mouth, a very structured oaky backbone and silky tannins, lots of body and herbal teas. Then the spice arrives. Very little peat or even smoke. Goes on with oranges, dried tangerines and liquorice, getting bolder with time, to the point where it tastes like a 100%
proof Whisky. Excellent finish, with smoke and dried tangerines. Pure pleasure. 92 points.
1977/1999 Laphroaig, Single Islay Malt, 43%
Truly coastal, with puffs of sea breeze, clams, oysters… Then it’s back to citrus and pepper… The balance is perfect. Old books and candle wax and wool. In the mouth, a little softer but then it gets really bold. Very salty with a taste of oysters with lemon juice and pepper. Surprisingly assertive. Much more medicinal, with something like cough syrup, tarry and herbal. A long and medicinal finish with a signature on grapefruit and white pepper.
Very excellent. 92 points.
1970/2001 Glen Grant, 55%
The nose is sherried at first with notes of coal, ham, wild mushrooms and flowers and stout. In short, rather masterly. And what a superb ‘rancio’! Excellent in the mouth and very complex. Caramel, all sorts of red fruits, bananas and raisins. A kind of freshness that’s always welcome in these old Sherry monsters, even hints of tropical fruits. Also, roasted nuts, several kinds of fruit liqueurs and cake. And the finish is long, not rubbery, bitter, sour or tannic but just excellent! 92 points.
Visit http://www.whiskyfun.com/ and http://www.bbr.com/
2000 Berrys’ Own Selection North British Single Grain, 46%
A single Sherry butt has yielded this superb Single
Grain. At 8 years old, this shows perfectly the qualities young grain Whisky can attain if aged adroitly. Very fruity with lime and pink grapefruit,
some hints of rum round out into a creamy finish which delivers real complexity and deftness.
Craoi na Móna, Irish Single Malt Whiskey, 46%
Following on from the success of our previous bottling, we have just released the new edition of Craoi na Móna, (Gaelic for ‘heart of peat’),
now a 10-year-old and at 46%. The Whiskey has not been chill-filtered and is natural coloured. The added age has provided the spirit with rounded succulence which balances against the subtle peatiness. This is top
class Irish Malt in the once traditional peaty style.
*** STOP PRESS ***
1971 Invergordon, Single Grain Whisky
Following on from the dramatic success of the 1968 Carsebridge Single Grain a couple of years ago, we’re delighted to have acquired some truly
outstanding 1971 Invergordon Single Grain. We’re hoping to get the casks into our bottlers as soon as possible, so watch this space!
For further information please visit Berry Bros & Rudd at http://www.bbr.com/
It’s taken a while, but finally a shipment of Berrys’ Own Selection Whiskies is
heading to Canada. Our new partners are George Stephen & Associates, a
family-run business founded by George and Roberta Stephen in 1993.
George and Roberta are now retired and the business is run by their
daughter Jan Heastont. Jan shares her parent’s passion for Whisky and is
rather partial to a Sherry cask Speyside.
Operating as a licensed agent, the company specialises in the importation of
Single Malt Whisky, bringing only the highest quality products to the
Canadian consumer. Originally operating in Ontario, the business now
includes Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Each province has different regulations; agents must obtain a license in each province to comply with both provincial and federal regulations.
Consumers in Ontario are encouraged to purchase products through private ordering. This gives customers the opportunity to order products from the portfolio that are not available for sale in stores.
For more information go to http://www.singlemalt.ca/Home.html and http://www.bbr.com/
