Mike Walsh of The Lone Wolf (63 Main Street, Amherst, MA, USA) has said that he’s putting on a Dalmore dinner night, this weekend, Saturday October 24.

The Menu

First Course
Mesclun Greens with toasted walnuts, golden beets, caramelized onions, Great Hill blue cheese, and balsamic vinegar.

The Dalmore 12 Year Old
The signature flavor of this award-winning 12-year malt comes from marrying select whiskies matured in 50 percent American white oak and 50 percent Oloroso Sherry casks. The appearance is deep gold with aromas of citrus and almonds, plus a subtle hint of chocolate. The taste is a pleasant combination of citrus, sherry and spice, offering the most heat of the Dalmore lineup, as befitting the youngest malt. The finish is moderate in length and distinguished by subtle flavors of oaky vanilla.

Second Course
Saffron, Leek, Artichoke Risotto Cakes with Blackened Ahi Tuna-topped with ginger hollandaise sauce

The Dalmore Gran Reserva
A lively expression of malt whisky derived from the combination of 60 percent sherry wood and 40 percent American white oak-aged malts ranging from 10 to 15 years of age. The appearance is soft gold to mahogany and the bouquet is primarily citrus. The flavors of malt, marmalade, roasted coffee and dark chocolate combine to create a distinctive, complex character. It finishes with citrus and a light touch of peat.

Entree
Southwest-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin topped with applejack-fig drizzle, served with mashed turnip and collard greens

The Dalmore 15 Year Old
A popular, award-winning malt, the 15 Year relies heavily on its wooden casks infused with three rare Sherries. The appearance is mahogany, with aromas of citrus and spice. The taste is well-balanced, with citrus flavors coming to the front and a long finish of Sherry wood, imparted from the casks.

Dessert
Pear Tart with Scotch sauce and raspberry coulis

The Dalmore 1263 King Alexander III
This tasty scotch combines aged malts matured in a range of wooden casks, including French Cabernet Sauvignon wine barrels, Kentucky bourbon barrels and port pipes. United by Master Distiller Richard Paterson, the result is a deep, rich spirit. The color is deep amber with reddish highlights. The aroma is complex with citrus, floral and oaky notes that evolve over time. The taste is even more complex, as each style of cask comes through in the flavor. Flavors include citrus, almonds, berries and vanilla, among others, and the finish is absurdly long.

Afterthought
Dalmore 21-Year-Old
Mature. Candied peels, melted white chocolate, fresh fruit salad. The oak takes things into the sauna (pine). With water become deeper: honeydew melon, currant, heather. A seamless flow of all the flavours on the nose. Beautifully balanced. Structure and softness in perfect harmony.

The event is $60 and anyone looking for more details should get in touch with the restaurant at 413.256.4643

Ralfy is at it again, he has published a review; #83 – Balvenie 12yo ‘Double Wood’

Ralfy at Work

Visit Ralfy at http://www.ralfy.com/ Click on “Whiskyreviews”

A new bottling of GlenDronach from the distillery that was purchased a short while ago by the nice people from BenRiach whom seem to have made a career out of rescuing closed distilleries. Comes in a striking blue tube and non chill filtered, natural colour and from exclusive maturation in Oloroso sherry casks. A damn fine start.  The nose is sharp with a background of sweetness, apricots, light citrus (lemon) and then Christmas cake followed by spicy wood notes and a hint of diesel plus some meatiness intermingle with some very light heather, also some hints of Lovage (Levisticum officinale). Excellent so far. The taste is very sherried and dry at first followed by some very good spice and brown sugar. The sherry and the spice, along with black pepper, are the dominate characteristics. There is also some mild hints of bung cloth and pine resin This is excellent whisky. The finish is of more very dry sherry, spicy wood notes, is very chewy with a touch of marmite in the background. After a short while it becomes drier and even spicier as the sherry influence drops off, bitter chocolate and cold unsweetened black tea at the very end. The finish is quite long.

£45 at Loch Fyne Whiskies

Score 89 Points

http://www.glendronachdistillery.com/

Port Ellen™ 30 Year Old 1979 ABV 57.7%

30 Years Old Natural Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky from the Isle of Islay.

Tasting Guide

Appearance: Full, burnished gold. Good beading for its age.
Nose: One of the best Port Ellen noses recorded. Little nose prickle yet still lively. Complex, rich and rounded, with soft pear fruit and a trace of tar, as in a driftwood bonfire. Sandy but also slightly sweet, with malty traces. Behind this, fresh shellfish: scallop, oyster with a touch of lemon. The fruity notes fade to samphire and smouldering oiled wood (that bonfire). Water has a calming effect, raising a classic extra virgin olive oil note whilst adding fresh maritime notes and a herbal hint (sage?). Further dilution reigns in the smoke and some boiled sweet notes emerge.

Body: Firm and dry.

Palate: More classic. Surprisingly sweet at first, with massive smokiness. Austere and flinty with a very light grip. Salty. The smoke dominates but the character remains pure, focused Port Ellen and is everything you’d expect. A good drop of water softens things at last, producing a lovely texture and great viscosity. As the sweetness fades, the delivery of flavours shifts to the
centre of the palate, with more light saltiness.

Finish: Very long and warming, with lingering peat-smoke.

Dear All,
 
With just under 3 weeks left to go to The Whisky Show in the Guildhall ( www.thewhiskyshow.com ), the excitement is really building for us, as the already fabulous line-up of whiskies seems to be expanding on a daily basis.

Tickets for either Friday 6th, Saturday 7th November are available from the shop in Vinopolis or can be booked online at http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/G-490.aspx  For the really dedicated, two day tickets are also available (which represent a considerable saving over the individual daily price) and we think that they’d make amazing early Xmas presents for the whisky lover in your life!

Also, for those of you that didn’t make it along to the ‘staff picks’ tasting last Monday, we’d just like to make you aware that our latest addition to the award winning Elements of Islay range Pe1 (our first ever bottling of Port Ellen) is almost completely sold out, so if you were considering getting one of the 240 bottles that came from a single sherry cask, we wouldn’t leave it too much longer!

Finally, we’ve got the following tastings lined up for November and they’re going to be:-

Monday 16th November – Bourbon with Jim Rutledge from Four Roses (30 people maximum)

This is a genuinely rare chance to meet one of the legends of Bourbon whisky making. Jim has been the Master Distiller at Four Roses for almost 15 years and despite the fact that he’s also a globe-trotting ambassador for them, only one of us in the shop has ever met him (very briefly) during a visit to the UK.

Monday 30th November – Diageo Single Malts with Colin ‘THANK-YOU!’ Dunn (45 people maximum)

Right now we haven’t decided exactly what we’re doing on this event (cloak and dagger stuff at the moment) and, frankly, it’ll be some awesome whiskies from Diageo, being presented by the ‘effervescent’ Colin Dunn so you’ll definitely want to get to this!

TICKETS FOR THESE ARE NOT AVAILABLE YET (SO PLEASE DON’T RING.) WE’LL BE SENDING A MORE DETAILED E-MAIL NEXT WEEK REGARDING THESE EVENTS

We hope to see you soon, and the offer of advice and a dram is open to all who come to see us!

Kind regards

The Team

STOP PRESS:- DIAGEO 2009 SPECIAL RELEASES ARE DUE INTO STOCK SHORTLY. ORDERS ARE NOW BEING TAKEN FOR ANY OF THE RANGE, PORT ELLEN 9TH RELEASE AND BRORA 30YO WILL SELL OUT VERY QUICKLY AND PRE-ORDERING IS STRONGLY ADVISED

The Whisky Exchange

Vinopolis

1 Bank End

London

SE1 9BU

Tel:-  +44 (0) 207 403 8688

Fax:- +44 (0) 207 403 8788

e-mail:-   vinopolis@thewhiskyexchange.com

website:- www.thewhiskyexchange.com

Arran 1998 Malt Sherry Single Cask No. 819 CSPC +647875 $110.00 (700 ml).

A rare and exclusive single cask for BC Liquor Stores only! This cask was tasted against various barrel offerings and came out on top! Although not reviewed, Jim Murray has reviewed a similar Arran Malt Sherry Single Cask 1998/353 (below) rated 94.5 pts, and awarded Best Single Malt Scotch 2010! 
 
Arran 1998 Malt Sherry Single Cask No. 353 Awarded Best Single Malt Scotch of the Year 11-15yrs (Single Cask) in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2010
 
“One of the noses of the year, for sure. It is just so rare to come across sherry butts unspoiled by sulphur these days I could weep for joy when I find one like this. ”  — Jim Murray — Rating: 94.5 pts.

http://www.bcliquorstores.com/

Graduate to the Master Class with the World’s Most Awarded
Global Ambassador to Host in-booth Master Classes at 4th Annual Whisky Live Festival

Who:   Ian Millar, Global Ambassador for Glenfiddich, the world’s most awarded Single Malt will host in-booth Master Classes – a true experience in expressive education.

What:  Ian will nose the Glenfiddich 12, 15, 18 yo.  There will also be an opportunity to sample a rare 1977 vintage Single Cask Glenfiddich. 

When:   Whisky Live takes place on October 23, from 4 pm. to 9 p.m.  Mr. Millar will be available for interviews from Wednesday, October 21 thru to Friday, October 23, 2009.

Where:  Telephone, studio and on-site interviews can be arranged.

Why: Glenfiddich created the international single malt phenomenon. Changing consumer tastes have made single malt one of the fastest growing areas of the spirit world.

Glenfiddich:

Glenfiddich is the world’s most awarded single malt Scotch whisky and the first to introduce the world to the pleasures of single malt.  The Glenfiddich range of single malts now includes the Glenfiddich Special Reserve 12 Year Old, Glenfiddich Solera Reserve 15 Year Old, Glenfiddich Ancient Reserve 18 Year Old, Glenfiddich Gran Reserva 21 Year Old and Glenfiddich 30 Year Old. The Glenfiddich Distillery also produces some rare and extraordinary single malts including a Glenfiddich Vintage Reserve, the Glenfiddich 50 Year Old and the world’s oldest single malt Scotch whisky, the 64 year old Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1937.

For more information please contact:
Stephanie Charlton/Gerald Crowell
Jesson + Company Communications
Tel: 416-323 – 7828 ext. 26 / ext 22
E: Scharlton@jessonco.com or gcrowell@jessonco.com

From Laphroaig Distillery;

I hope this letter finds you well as the evenings draw in. I am writing to all our Canadian Friends of Laphroaig to let you know that we will be at Whisky Live in Toronto this Friday, October 23rd.
 
Our North American Ambassador Simon Brooking (whom I’m sure some of you will already know) will also be conducting a Laphroaig masterclass suitably called ‘For Peat’s Sake’ at 4:30 – 5:30. This will involve a very special tasting of our new Laphroaig 25 Year Old!

 
The details are as follows:
 
Whisky Live Toronto
October 23, 2009
Metro Toronto Convention Centre- Halls F & G
255 Front Street West,
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 2W6
Canada
http://www.whiskylive.com

Masterclass:
Class name – For Peat’s Sake!
Presenter – Simon Brooking
Time – 4:30-5:30pm
Room: 1

Masterclass Ticket: $25, in addition to the entrance.

VIP Ticket: 4pm to 10pm $95, including Whisky Live tasting glass, show guide, 8 vouchers and food. On door price $110.

Evening Ticket: 7pm to 10pm $50, including Whisky Live tasting glass, show guide, 4 vouchers and food.

On door price $60

We will also be at the ‘Hopscotch’ event in Vancouver in November – details below:

Hopscotch Vancouver
November 20th, 2009
1755 Cottrell St., Vancouver, BC
Consumer portion 5pm – 10pm
Tickets: $40

If you do go to either event then please let me know what you think, you can email me at info@laphroaig.com or even tweet me for any of you on Twitter, my twitter username is @laphroaigwhisky.
 
Finally, for those who missed our live Laphroaig webcast on 25th September from Kentucky the show is now available at www.laphroaig.com/live

Slàinte,

John Campbell

Mortlach 12yo 1994/2007 (50%, Douglas Laing OMC, Ref#3554, 654 Bts., D07/’94 B05/’07)

An individual cask bottling by Douglas Laing under their Old Malt Cask label; matured in sherry casks. The nose is at first slightly closed with background hints of clove and spice. After a few minutes the sweetness begins to emerge along with warm brown sugar, orange peel and some oak notes. This is followed by some good sherry and slight hints of bees wax. With time and a little hand warming more sherry notes emerge. The taste is dry at first followed by the orange and the sherry along with some very gentle cured tobacco, resin and marmalade. There is also some sweet dried fruits, and bitter dark chocolate. The finish is long and assertive with lots of bitter dry wood notes, Christmas cake and oak along with marmalade once again. After a few minutes the finish is very dry with some slight hints of malt.

Not a dram to rush….but quite delicious. A great example of a  really sound sherry cask.

C$150

Score 89

Visit Douglas Laing & Co at http://www.douglaslaing.com/

Talisker™ 30 Year Old ABV 53.1%

30 Years Old Natural Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky from the Isle of Skye.

Tasting Guide

Appearance: Gold, with little beading.

Nose: The softly muted character of age. Mild and unusually fruity (citrus), fading quickly into lush seaweed with charred sticks – as with a spent fire, in which the charcoal and peat embers barely glow. Soon becoming soft and very slightly waxy or creamy, like fudge. Needs little or no water, but a drop freshens things, bringing up drying wooden fish boxes and a return of the
tangy fruit (tart plums). Then it all drifts away into charred old wood.

Body: Medium.

Palate: Drinks well at full strength and has a pleasant, teeth-coating texture. The smoke is immediate and dry with creamy oak. Almond milk and light, sweet stone fruits emerge, joined by a trace of salt, as with peat moss in the rain or seaweed. Water (add only a little) brings up a
pleasant smooth texture. It’s now quite sweet to start but less so overall, with some salt and a trace of cloves.

Finish: Long and gently warming, with salty seaweed in the lingering maritime aftertaste and just a white pepper tingle on the tongue in place of that chilli pepper ‘catch’.