Please enjoy the excellent Johnnie Walker video advertisment starring Robert Carlyle via the link below;
This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Bartle Bogle Hegarty Limited – WI 18-08-2009.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7lnnZiORpk
UPDATE! It may now be located at http://www.bartleboglehegarty.com/#!/europe Bartle Bogle Hegarty Limited home page.
Such is the exceptional quality of our malt that our masterclasses are for a select few likeminded people only. I’m delighted to personally invite you and a friend to a very special Glenrothes Masterclass – one exclusive to members of our inner sanctum. (to join the inner sanctum please visit the Glenrothes using the link below).
I’ll tell you all about our distillery and charming malt, whilst savouring some of our Vintage collection and, of course, The Glenrothes Select Reserve.
Just as our Vintages are rare, places at our Masterclasses are limited. If you would like to be one of the select few, you can register by clicking on the link below for one of only two evening events:
26th August 2009, 7.30pm: 29 Club, 29 Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow G1 3AJ
27th August 2009, 7.30pm: Mercure Point Hotel, 34 Bread Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AF
Ronnie Cox
Ambassador of the Glenrothes
A new-ish version of the Famous Grouse that uses some Islay malts in the blend or as the label says “A marriage of fine, peated Scotch whiskies and THE FAMOUS GROUSE”. The nose is much like many blends with the grain whisky jumping out at the start. However this is soon replaced by delicate sweet peat smoke that is very pleasant, the peat smoke aromas are not over whelming. There are also some vague cereal notes along with honey, toffee and vanilla. The taste is once again briefly of the grain but quickly is over taken by the sweet peat smoke. The taste is quite lovely and the inclination is to have a second really big mouthful. The grain is actually very pleasant and the combination of peat smoke and sweetness is very well integrated. This is very easy and pleasant drinking. Beware! The finish is warming with the delicate peat, some dry bitter oak and cocoa (unsweetened) and some chewy peated malt. This effect goes on for quite a long time and the cocoa and oaky dry bitterness are hand in hand.
Peat smoke, the new black. A great dram to share with friends whom might not have a prior acquaintance with whisky.
C$40
Score 84 Points
http://www.thefamousgrouse.com/ls/en/
As local and international support for the campaign to “Keep Johnnie Walker in Kilmarnock” continues to grow, East Ayrshire’s Leisure Services team have been busy creating their own home grown iconic “striding Man” logo in flowers as a display for this year’s municipal exhibit at Ayr Flower Show.
Featuring a range of plants including begonias, the display was the brainchild of John Roxburgh, Assistant Outdoor Amenities Manager who was faced with a tough challenge, having just a few week’s notice to design, source plants and construct the exhibit – a process which would usually take months.
Members of Cross Party Working Group for the “Keep Johnnie Walker in Kilmarnock” Campaign, set up to fight the Diageo closure plans, were very impressed with the results: “Municipal exhibits at Ayr Flower Show are always a showcase for East Ayrshire, displaying the range of skills available within the Council. This year the exhibit has a triple purpose. Firstly it reflects the versatility and green fingers of our own staff, who have redesigned and achieved a magnificent result in a short timescale. Secondly it demonstrates our support for another skilled workforce, that of Johnnie Walker whose employees face an uncertain future. Lastly, it reaffirms the strength of our community, striding forward together and united in showing Diageo just what loyalty to each other and to the brand means to the people of Kilmarnock.”
A stall situated at the exhibit collected a phenomenal 4500 signatures in support of the petition to “Keep Johnnie Walker in Kilmarnock”. Already thousands of people from all over the world have put their names to the campaign both in person and online at the www.keepjohnniewalkerinkilmarnock.com website.
Hello Single Malt Enthusiasts!
This is a special edition of our monthly single malt newsletter. We are excited to announce that BlackBull 30 year old is now available in the U.S.
We are rolling our distribution across the country…this release is limited to about 1200 bottles, and after its gone this bull will revert to an on-going 12 year old expression.
You ready for this ride?
The Bull Is Back
BlackBull was first registered on October 24th, 1933, by George Wilshire & Co Ltd. The blend has been sold for over 70 years in the UK, USA, and Europe. Since 2001 the brand has been owned by Duncan Taylor & Co.
Since the release of BlackBull 30YO in the UK in April, the blend has been on a rampage! We are delighted to have a brand with both international presence and excellent reviews. Check out the bull on the web, www.blackbullwhisky.com
(Below a collage of BlackBull labels since 1933)
A Unique Blend50% Malt 50% Grain 50% ABV
This special blend is a marriage of the finest single malt and single grain whiskies produced in Scotland. The whiskies were vatted together in the 1970s and matured in sherry casks for 30 years resulting in this deluxe premium rare blend.
The BlackBull Deluxe Blend began its life in the early 1930s and since that time it has achieved great following from whisky connoisseurs throughout the world for its exquisite taste.
SRP $199
Tasters Choice
BlackBull is non-chill filtered or colored – it remains completely natural.
Color: Chestnut
Nose: Initially chocolate then a hint of turkish delights, stewed rhubarb and lime pickle. Notes of dark cherries develop with time.
Flavor: Rich sherry notes. A big dram but also gentle at the same time. Again, more chocolate notes and some red fruits.
Finish: A cherry finish with a slight cinnamon note and obvious sherry character, but there is also a faint creamy note in the background.
Comment: Quite simply stunning!
What Does John Know?
Check out Malt Advocate’s “What Does John Know?” review of BlackBull on his blog –
http://blog.maltadvocate.com/2009/05/08/review-black-bull-30-year-old-blended-scotch/
Hopefully you will have an opportunity to rope in some of this rare blend … but only if you’re feeling bullish!
Cheers,
Ken Young
Preiss Imports
ken@preissimports.com
please email me directly to find local availability
As promised, you are among the very first to find out about new bottlings of Highland Park. With this in mind, I am delighted to announce the release of Hjarta, a natural strength 12 year old expression, limited to approximately 3,900 bottles. Available now from the distillery, our on-line shop and in Scandinavia during autumn this year.
Orkney has never forgotten its Scandinavian heritage; Hjarta is the ancient Norse word for ‘heart’ and the whisky has been launched to mark the total refurbishment of our visitor centre, itself a celebration of the rich history of the Islands.
As F Paul Pacult said in Wine Enthusiast magazine; “To say Highland Park is a cathedral in the religion of single malt whisky is an understatement. Think Mecca. Think Vatican.” For many whisky enthusiasts, a visit to Highland Park is a pilgrimage. Once there, pilgrims should find the quintessence of Highland Park – the soul of the whisky – a place of warmth and welcome that will stay with the visitor forever.
Natural Orcadian materials are used throughout; Neolithic and Pictish designs adorn the walls and the floor is made of Caithness flagstones. The tasting bar is made from a retired washback, which had given 37 years of unwavering service, and is circular in form reflecting a significant theme in Orcadian design.
The whisky has been created by Max MacFarlane, Whisky Maker, and is bottled at 58.1%. He has supplied the following tasting note for Hjarta:
TASTING NOTES
Colour: Deep amber, clear and bright.
Nose: Close scrutiny of this intense 12 year old cask strength malt reveals a glorious combination of rich, dried fruits, aromatic spice and heather, caramelised pineapple and fresh lemon peel subtly intertwined with hints of delicate smoke.
Palate: Rich flavour delivery, mouth-coating silky vanilla sweetness and hints of coconut converging in an exquisite balance of sweet, heather peat smokiness.
Finish: Long, gentle and smoky.
Hjarta is available at £65 per bottle.
Unless you are in Scandinavia, you can only acquire Hjarta by travelling to the distillery or by visiting the website.
For more information about the Best Spirit in the World visit www.highlandpark.co.uk
Gerry
Head of Brand Education, Highland Park
Linkwood 23yo 1983/2006 (52.1%, Murray McDavid Mission Gold, Madeira casks fin., 700 Bts.)
A cask strength offering that has been gathering dust on a shelf since 2006 bottled by Murray McDavid, without chill filtration, the addition of coloring AND the cask was selected by Jim McEwan. The nose is sweet and mildly buttery along with bourbon, bees wax and some very mild perfume; heather, roses, pine resin. Additionally there are some hints of plump raisins and warm brown sugar. Strong oak and assorted wood notes. With water it becomes slightly more aggressive and lacks the sweetness; the floral/perfume notes increase. Even though it is cask strength perhaps it would benefit by not adding water. The taste is sweet as with many Madeira finished whiskies but seems to lack an essential character and is perhaps over whelmed by the finishing. The Bourbon pokes it’s head through once in a while but it’s a rare sighting. Still, it’s tasty so there can’t be too much moaning. There is some pleasant butter to the taste along with some mild tobacco. With water there is an improvement (oops, ignore previous please) and it’s actually much better, the butter characteristic and the sweetness, the wood & Bourbon are all well integrated. The finish is warming, not overly long and features lots of dry wood notes, brandy, cedar and furniture polish. After a short while the oak is quite evident but little else.
The Madeira has brought this cask up market.
C$125
Score 82 Points
FOR IMMEDIATE USE: AUGUST 2009
FAMOUS AUTHOR BACKS KEEP JOHNNIE WALKER IN KILMARNOCK CAMPAIGN
Famous Scottish author William McIlvanney added his support to the swelling campaign to Keep Johnnie Walker in Kilmarnock, when he visited recently to make a film for BBC’s The One Show.
Willie, who was born in Kilmarnock in 1936 and now lives in Glasgow, spent the day with the BBC film crew. They visited various locations around town, including Grange Street and West George Street, where Willie spoke to several ex-Johnnie Walker workers.
He also chatted to passers-by in Bank Street about the plight of hundreds in the town facing joblessness and the fight to save 700 Johnnie Walker jobs in Kilmarnock.
Mr McIlvanney, who had been abroad when the 20,000 strong mass rally was held, said: “I couldn’t believe the passion in the place. I only wish I had been able to be at the march.”
He added: “It was the Kilmarnock Edition of Robert Burns that introduced his poems to the world – poems which had at their core a profound belief in the dignity and importance of the ordinary worker.
“It is bitterly ironic that what is probably the second most famous product of Kilmarnock, Johnnie Walker whisky, is now being used to subvert that belief, to demonstrate utter contempt for the ordinary workers who, over generations, have made the product the respected world brand it is today.
“It’s enough to make Robert Burns turn in his grave at a thousand revs a minute.
“Diageo, the current owners of Johnnie Walker, can have no motivation for closing down the plant in Kilmarnock but greed. Having made over £2 billion profits last year, they are trying to devise ways of making more, regardless of the devastating impact their soulless pursuit of
money will have on the lives of those who made their product so profitable in the first place. There can be no response to such contempt for people but total opposition.”
Other well-known Scots backing the campaign include the Proclaimers, Biffy Clyro, Eddi Reader, Trashcan Sinatras and poet Rab Wilson.
For more information, visit www.keepjohnniewalkerinkilmarnock.com.
Note to editors:
William McIlvanney was born in Kilmarnock in 1936, the youngest of four children of a miner who took part in the 1926 General Strike. His father died when Willie was eighteen, an experience reflected in his first novel Remedy is None. Willie was educated at Kilmarnock
Academy and was the first member of his family to go to university. He was an English teacher in Ayrshire, before becoming a full-time writer in 1975.
Remedy is None (1966) won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. Docherty (1975), a moving portrait of a miner whose courage is tested during the depression, won the Whitbread Novel Award. Other works include The Big Man, The Kiln, Laidlaw, The Papers of Tony Veitch and Weekend. Some of his stories are set in Graithnock, a fictional town based on Kilmarnock.
ends
Scapa 16yo 40% – RRP £48.99 – Offer £43.99 SAVE £5.00
To the North of mainland Scotland, marking the point where North Sea and Atlantic converge, lie the islands of Orkney. At the heart of these lies Scapa Flow, an expanse of calm water which has acted as a sanctuary for weary seafarers through the ages.
The Scapa distillery has overlooked these waters since 1885. Here, a surprisingly subtle malt whisky is created, a malt reminiscent of an Orcadian summer’s day. With its warm golden embrace, traces of honey and wild heather, and the merest hint of the sea, this delicious whisky is an expression of the life of the islands, where community and friendship are still valued above all else.
Aged in Orkney for 16 years, this golden malt delivers a sweet and silky-smooth, heather-honey taste perfectly balanced with delicate spice.
Ardmore Traditional Cask £26.99 Offer £22.99 SAVE £4.00
Founded in 1898 by one of Scotland’s most famous whisky families, Ardmore single malt has a long commitment to quality. William Teacher was a believer in traditional distilling methods and insisted that Ardmore only used the aromatic smoke from natural, Highland peat fires to dry their malted barley. Sadly, today the high cost has meant that only one Highland Distillery still routinely fully “peats” its standard malt. Ardmore is rightly proud to be that distillery. Ardmore Traditional Cask is double matured, first in the more unusual oak barrels, and then in much smaller “quarter casks”. These were common in the 19th century, but are too costly for most distillers to use today. Finally, bottled at 46% abv, Ardmore is only barrier rather than chill filtered thus preserving the natural flavours. These methods ensure we maintain the quality of our uniquely complex and rewarding malt whisky. Taste: Full, smooth, peat-smoke and earthy richness, tempered by subtle sweetness.
Limited Release
Ardbeg 1993 15yo 58.9% cask 1724 – Duncan Taylor & Co. RRP £99.99
A single cask bottling from the Icons of Whisky “Independent Bottler of the Year 2009”. Colour: Pale gold. Nose: Creamy, oily with a little warm grass note. Smoke and dry ash giving way to a touch of liquorice. Taste: More dry ash. Hints of olive oil, some bread like notes. Quite creamy with a faint hint of treacle toffee all wrapped in smoke. Finish: Obvious lingering smokiness, quite oily and chewy. Wet wood smoke and dry moss and a touch of pepper.
New Products
Glendronach 12 Year Old 43% – £25.99 was 27.99 save 2.00
Knockando 14 Year Old Old Malt Cask 50% – 47.99
Macallan 1990 19 Year Old Rare Auld Cask 8099 50.1% – 75.99
Balvenie 1978 30 Year Old Vintage Cask 2705 *Limited Edition* 53.8% – 459.00
Introducing
Loch Ness Single Highland Malt – RRP £30.99
A mature and singular malt distilled just a few miles, as the eagle flies from the shores of Loch Ness. A “Monstrously Good Malt”. Loch Ness is an enchanted place set in the ancient Highlands of the historic North of Scotland. Generation after generation has grown up with the legend of the monster thought to inhabit the cold depths of the loch. There are said to have been several sightings during the last hundred years and there has, from time to time been inconclusive photographic evidence. The first sighting of the monster to be recorded in the local press was reported by the Inverness courier in 1868 – which described it as a huge fish! Today Nessie, as she is affectionately known, continues to be the subject of many different theories and much scientific research. Of only one thing can we be certain – we shall toast with The Loch Ness Single Malt Whisky, the first people to prove beyond doubt her existence!
Contact Single Malts Direct info@singlemaltsdirect.com
Dear Malt Messenger Subscribers,
I hope you are enjoying your summer, even if it has been a little wetter, little windier and little cooler than usual. I’m often asked, what my favourite whisky is, and in all sincerity I have often replied that my answer depends on a number of factors including: time of year, weather, time of day and my mood. This past weekend I enjoyed some rich and smooth Strathisla 40 Year ($343.99) with a Cuban cigar; the deep tobacco notes in both made an excellent pairing. I also happily sipped on some fresh, sweet, malty Arran 10 Year ($53.99) while sitting out on the deck. I find my palate and my preferences for single malt whisky changes with the seasons. Fall is the time for lightly peated medium bodied whisky like Highland Park or Springbank. In winter I reach for the big-smoky-peaty whiskies like Port Ellen, Bowmore and Ardbeg. In Spring a rich and spicy Speysider is what’s called for like Glenfarclas, Aberlour or Strathisla. And in the summer I look for something light, and refreshing like an Arran, Rosebank or the Benromach Organic.
Benromach Organic has been one of our best selling single malts for the last three years. It was until very recently the only certified organic single malt Scotch in the world. Produced from organically sourced barley, and made with organically approved distilling methods the whisky was then matured in virgin American oak casks from a wild forest in Missouri. Because the whisky was matured in new oak, rather than used bourbon barrels, it is very buttery on the palate with a massive surge of sweet vanilla. This soft, sweet, buttery palate was the principal reason for the whisky’s success. It found admirers amoungst those looking for a softer light dram—a breakfast or summer dram if you will—and those looking to wean themselves into the word of single malts. Whether people were buying it as a “gateway-whisky” or a patio sipper, Benromach Organic never disappointed. Jim Murray gave it 91pts in his Whisky Bible and called it a “guns-blazing big’un!”
This whisky has been a Kensington Wine Market exclusive for the last three years, and is not available anywhere else in Canada! Sadly, Benromach distillery has confirmed that they have discontinued the Benromach Organic, and we will not be receiving any further shipments of it. Between our warehouse and the store we have but 26 bottles, and when they’re gone, they’re gone! If you’re a fan of the Benromch Organic or looking for the right “gateway-whisky” to get you into single malts, don’t delay, the Benromach Organic will soon be nothing more than a memory, or a heel in someone’s whisky cupboard… hopefully yours!
The last 26 bottles of the Benromach Organic will retail for $85.99 + GST. They are exclusively available at Kensington Wine Market, 403-283-8000, or www.kensingtonwinemarket.com.. Jim Murray’s complete tasting note is below: “Nose: massive oak input and the freshest oak imaginable. But sits comfortably with the young pulsing malts. Wow!!; Taste: oak arrives first again, but has enough deftness of touch to allow the rich, mouthwatering malts to prosper; Finish: plenty of vanillins and natural, sweet toffee; Balance: young and matured in possibly first fill bourbon or more likely, European (even Scottish) oak [Jim Murray’s palate didn’t know what to make of the new oak influence, and who can blame him!]; you cannot do other than sit up and take notice of this guns-blazing big’un. An absolute treat!”
____________________
If you have any whisky questions or comments concerning The Malt Messenger please contact me by e-mail, phone, or drop by the store. Feel free to forward me any whisky news you feel should be included in a future issue of The Malt Messenger; it might just get included.
All of the products mentioned in THE MALT MESSENGER can be purchased in store, over the phone or from our website at www.kensingtonwinemarket.com.. All prices quoted in the Malt Messenger are subject to change!
Thanks for reading the Malt Messenger!
Slainte!
Andrew Ferguson
KWM Scotchguy
403-283-8000
888-283-9004
1257 Kensington Rd. NW
Calgary, AB, Canada
T2N 3P8
