An independent bottling of Ben Nevis by Duncan Taylor under the Battlehill line. The nose is sweet, fat and oily with citrus, pear and apricot plus vanilla bean, big brown sugar, barley, very slight hints of Marmite and some whiffs of smoke and bung cloth. The taste is gentle at first and rises in strength and is very sweet with the brown sugar making a welcome appearance, stewed fruit, raisins, toffee followed by wood in the form of oak that has some spicy qualities. Very oily in the mouth and syrupy also. Quite and excellent dram so far. The finish is very malty and of the Marmite which is now stronger, no as sweet the nose and the taste but much more of the cask and dry at the very end, just before some more malt arrives plus some really nice smoke. The finish is very long with a continuation of the malt, fruit and mild smoke. It is also very dry and malty after a number of minutes. Good bitter oak delivery.

What a great dram. Try and find a bottle, it’s excellent.

C$70

Score 87 Points

Battlehill Single Malt Scotch Whiskies. Named after the famous 16th century clan battles in our home town of Huntly, Battlehill has been produced as an entry level malt for those consumers wishing to move up from blends. Within the range are our finest 6 to 10 year old single malt whiskies that have been selected for their exceptional characteristics. The range includes whiskies from Imperial, Auchentoshan, and Miltonduff amongst others. The whiskies are bottled at 43% ensuring that they are accessible for all to enjoy. Bottlings available in 700ml & 750ml.

Visit Duncan Taylor at http://www.duncantaylor.com/

Visit Ben Nevis Distillery at http://www.bennevisdistillery.com/

Ralfy is at it again, this week he has published two reviews; #77 – Mini-Independent Bottlers & #78 – ‘the bottlers’ Springbank Cask 180

Ralfy at Work

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

Compass Box “Orangerie” has been gorgeously re-designed and bottled as a 750ml. Orangerie had previously left the market after whiskymaker Compass Box founder, John Glaser realized he was too busy to continue hand zesting each batch. (Rumor has it he also developed a bad case of ‘Zest Elbow’) Now after enlisting a crew of new ‘official zesters’ – people can stop asking, “Where is Orangerie?” Orangerie is a whisky infusion made of smooth, sweet Scotch whisky instilled with the hand-peeled zest of Navalino oranges and subtle accents of Indonesian cassia bark and Sri Lankan cloves. In addition to Orangerie’s fascinating aroma of fresh-peeled oranges, it has soft, rich whisky flavors with a hint of vanilla (from casks of Vosges oak) as well as  playful, exotic spices. Compass Box recommends enjoying Orangerie with a splash of cold spring water, swirled over ice or chilled. As it says on the box, “Share and enjoy Orangerie. It makes people smile.”

Our Price:$45/per 750ml bottle

As always, don’t hesitate to contact us about any item.
Cheers!
Jonathan & Eric
Park Avenue Liquor Shop
292 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10017
212-685-2442
info@parkaveliquor.com

September 2009

Dear Customer

As we approach the Christmas Season(!) we have an interesting selection of two (2) new bottlings for OLD MALT CASK, as well as two (2) bottlings of OLD & RARE packs plus two (2) ANNIVERSARY BOTTLINGS – and one with a new brand (see below). Beyond them, and as indicated last month, such has been the success of the DOUBLE BARREL bottling of MACALLAN/LAPHROAIG that the range has been extended to include
ARDBEG/GLENROTHES and HIGHLAND PARK/BOWMORE bottlings – already well received from samplings carried out with visitors to our office.

For “something completely different” from the Laings, we are introducing you to BIG PEAT from Islay – a really colourful personality full of Islay Malts including (amongst others) ARDBEG, BOWMORE, CAOL ILA and PORT ELLEN. BIG PEAT really lives up to the name and taps into the enthusiasm for Islay Malts which we hope will establish a long term presence with its “small batch” bottlings at 46% alc vol, its uniquely quirky packaging, and aggressive pricing due to the depth we have of Islay stock.

Meantime, the OLD MALT CASK Tasting Notes follow:

OMC 1751 ARDBEG 18 YEAR OLD
Nose: Starts sweet, warms to barley, tails to peat.
Palate: Heavily and sweetly phenolic, now tarry/creosoted
Finish: Sweet with soft tar, plus light smoke ‘n’ spice (F)

OMC 1747 PORT ELLEN 26 YEAR OLD
Nose: Fresh / clean & gristy sweet + eucalyptus + home baking
Palate: Complex, creamy, vanilla’d with late gently peated smoke
Finish: Smokey and sweet, very mellow with soft tar and ashes (J)

OLD & RARE Tasting Notes as follows:

OAR0081 BRORA 28 YEAR OLD SHERRY MATURED
The nose is complex with leather, dried fruit and comes over rather mentholated. The full bodied and mouthcoating palate opens dry and fresh, almost saline, lightly peated and develops to a rich herbal character with dried plums. The finish remains complex with a beachy style, sweet spices and an oak tang. (J)

0AR0079 LAPHROAIG 20 YEAR OLD SHERRY MATURED
This “middle-aged” Laphroaig opens with citrus, developing a character of freshly malted barley, with ripe bananas and marzipan appearing as it opens further. The rich, mouthcoating palate opens sweetly and evolves in a tarry, smokey style. The finish is medium long with a burning wood smokiness, more tar and a salty, beach quality. (J)

We hope you find some interesting and exciting expressions not only from our traditional single cask bottlings with which you are already familiar, but also from the extended selection offered under DOUBLE BARREL allied to the interesting character that BIG PEAT will offer you.

Beyond them our 60th ANNIVERSARY BOTTLING for September is a fabulous cask of undoubtedly FDL’s favourite Malt, being a Port Ellen (in this case 30 years old) and as Stewart and Fred also wanted to make their own contribution Fred is releasing “his” 36 year old ARDBEG, being the last at this age in the Douglas Laing stock. We hope these Malts will excite you and send you our best regards,

Yours faithfully

Fred Laing

http://www.douglaslaing.com/

Speyside’s smallest distillery has revealed the first bottling of its ten-year-old Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

Benromach distillery, in Forres, has launched Benromach 10 Years Old, a golden malt with rich fruit, sweet chocolate and delicate spicy aromas.

Benromach distillery, which employs just two experienced distillers, is owned by Elgin-based whisky specialist Gordon & MacPhail.

The distillery went through many changes of ownership and closures before being ‘rescued’ and restored by Gordon & MacPhail in 1993 and was officially opened by the Prince of Wales in 1998.

David and Michael Urquhart, Joint Managing Directors of Gordon& MacPhail, said:

This is a milestone for us – our family have been whisky specialists for generations, so to finally unveil our own ten-year-old single malt is the fulfilment of a dream. We think that Benromach 10 Years Old displays a big taste from a tiny distillery and we hope that people will enjoy our whisky as much as we do – and share the secret of Benromach with fellow whisky-lovers.”

The launch of Benromach 10 Years Old comes just six months after Gordon & MacPhail was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in recognition of its export success. The company made malt history in 2006 by launching the world’s first certified organic whisky – Benromach Organic.

Benromach 10 Years Old will be available from whisky shops and fine wine and spirits retail specialists worldwide, as well as selected bars and restaurants in the UK. It will have an RRP of £27.99 but will be released with a special introductory price of £24.99 in the UK.

Ends

For more information and product images please contact Linda Bruce or Kate Trussler at Platform PR – 0131 226 3000/ 07920 529 138.

Links
www.benromach.com

THE GLENROTHES ENTERS SAINSBURY’S OUTLETS NATIONWIDE

The Glenrothes Select Reserve, distributed by Maxxium UK, is set to hit the shelves in 245 Sainsbury’s outlets throughout the UK from mid-October 2009

As the first confirmed listing within the multiple grocery sector, the deal comes as an extremely positive move for The Glenrothes within the UK off trade.

Jen McLaren, Maxxium UK’s assistant brand manager for The Glenrothes, said: “The launch of The Glenrothes Select Reserve into Sainsbury’s outlets throughout the UK is an incredibly positive and exciting step for the brand and will allow more whisky drinkers to discover the secrets of this exceptional single malt.”

The Glenrothes is an award winning Speyside Single Malt Whisky of exceptional quality. Its portfolio includes a limited range of Vintages, each selected on their own unique personality, and the non-Vintage specific Select Reserve. The Glenrothes was among the first whisky distillers to adopt this unusual vintage approach. The vintage concept means bottling by year (rather than age) and casks are only selected when they have reached absolute peak of perfection.

Introduced in 2005, and produced to the same exacting standards as the Vintages, The Glenrothes Select Reserve is a vatting of casks distilled in different years and typifies the distillery house character of ripe fruits, juicy citrus, creamy vanilla and hints of spice. Previously only available in specialist retailers, Select Reserve is presented in the iconic Glenrothes bottle and is the very essence of The Glenrothes range.

The Glenrothes Select Reserve has been a resounding success amongst whisky connoisseurs and has already picked up a number of awards including Best in Class at the World Whiskies Awards 2008, Winner and Platinum Q at The Quality Drink Awards 2008 and a double gold medal at The San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2007.

The Glenrothes is also available in a limited range of Vintages, currently including 1978, 1985, 1991 and 1994.

For further information please visit www.theglenrothes.com 

For press enquiries or photography, please contact:

Linda Edstrand / Pamela Wils, The BIG Partnership

Tel: 0131 555 5522

Email: linda.edstrand@bigpartnership.co.uk; pamela.wils@bigpartnership.co.uk

Notes to editors:

About The Glenrothes

·         The Glenrothes was founded in 1879

·    The Glenrothes is also available from Oddbins, Thresher and whisky specialists nationwide and on The Glenrothes website www.theglenrothes.com

·         Little more than 2% of the distillery capacity is bottled as Single Malt to ensure exceptional quality

·         Of the 16 Vintages released to date, 12 have entirely sold out

·         It is matured in a combination of Spanish and American oak casks – the best of both worlds

·         The Glenrothes Select Reserve was voted Best in Class at the World Whiskies Awards 2008 and won two Double Golds at The San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2007

·         The Glenrothes 1978 Vintage was voted Best Speyside Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards 2008

·         The Glenrothes 1975 won a Double Gold award at The San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2008

·         “I have always felt that Glenrothes deserved to be more widely appreciated. Beautifully rounded, sophisticated after-dinner malt.” Michael Jackson’s Malt Whisky Companion

·         Jim Murray, in his Whisky Bible 2007, refers to The Glenrothes Select Reserve as; “One of the softest deliveries on Speyside, the silky barley and citrus caress the tastebuds with rare tenderness” and scores it 24 out of 25

Maxxium UK:

Maxxium UK Ltd is part of the global sales and distribution alliance between Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc and The Edrington Group.

Its UK portfolio of premium brands includes: blended Scotch (The Famous Grouse and Teacher’s), malt whisky (Highland Park, Laphroaig, The Macallan, The Glenrothes and Ardmore), imported whiskey (Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Knob Creek, Canadian Club, Tullamore Dew), cognac and brandy (Courvoisier and Fundador), sherry (Harveys), port (Cockburn’s), vodka (Stolichnaya), tequila (Sauza), rum (Brugal and Cruzan), liqueurs and specialities (Sourz, Bols liqueurs, Galliano, Vaccari, After Shock, Carolans and Irish Mist)

 For further information on our brands and how to enjoy them, log on to www.mixxit.co.uk

The Glenrothes Select Reserve 700ml

The Macallan 57 year old single malt whisky in Lalique decanter

(Perth, Scotland) Iconic luxury brands The Macallan and Lalique have launched the third decanter in The Macallan in Lalique Six Pillars Collection. The Macallan in Lalique Finest Cut decanter contains an exceptionally rare 57 years old single malt whisky valued at USD$15,000 and goes on sale in September 2009.

The Finest Cut decanter has been designed by the legendary French crystal house Lalique, exclusively for The Macallan.  A limited edition of just 400 have been produced, each individually numbered and available in selected outlets in the USA, UK, Europe and Asia.

David Cox, Director of Fine & Rare Whiskies for The Macallan comments: “This is the third collaboration between The Macallan and legendary crystal makers Lalique. It is a truly stunning addition to the Six Pillars decanter collection.  As a reflection of the beauty of the decanter we chose to fill it with a particularly rare 57 years old Macallan single malt whisky. It is the second oldest ‘vintage’ Macallan whisky ever released, only surpassed in age by the legendary 1926, a 60 year old Macallan bottled in 1986.

“The 57 year old has been vatted together from two casks; the first, a 1950 American oak sherry butt, the second a vatting of Macallan from Spanish oak sherry butts originally filled in 1949, 1951 and 1952.  The result is a softly sumptuous single malt, showing off the classic dried fruits, spice and hints of peat redolent of The Macallan house style of the early 1950’s. Due to the rarity of the liquid, only 400 decanters will be produced.”

The third decanter in The Macallan in Lalique Six Pillars Collection takes its inspiration from The Macallan’s Finest Cut, that fraction of the new make spirit which is filled into casks for maturation.  At The Macallan, this fraction is a mere 16%.  It is the heart of the run, the best of the best, delivered at a very slow rate of distillation to maximise flavour and deliver the distinctively rich, fruity, linseed oil character of The Macallan’s new make spirit.

The decanter has been designed by Lalique’s Design Studio who were inspired by the legacy of Rene Lalique to design a decanter featuring the ‘stilligoute’ of a perfume bottle, the long piece of pure crystal flowing down to a point from the base of the bottle stopper.  A portion of the stopper has been left completely clear and not “satinee”, running from the top down to the point.  This clear portion represents the 16% ‘finest cut’. When inserted into the elegantly tapering decanter, the stilligoutte, bathed in the rich whisky, reflects the natural colours of The Macallan through the play of light; when withdrawn, you can appreciate the full, heady aromas exuded by each drop as it slowly runs down the crystal stem.

Silvio Denz, President and CEO of Lalique, comments: “We are delighted to be working with the world’s finest single malt as it has given us the opportunity to design a series of decanters which reflect all the best attributes of our brand – creativity, heritage and craftsmanship.  The Finest Cut decanter was created by our design team in Paris and hand crafted at Lalique’s crystal making facility in Wingen-sur-Moder, Alsace. Each piece was worked on by up to 15 craftsmen, many of whom have attained the ‘Meilleur ouvrier de France’ – the Finest Craftsman of France Award.   Each decanter bears the esteemed ‘Lalique France’ signature, which symbolises authenticity and over 100 years of creativity, heritage and craftsmanship, and comes in a beautifully designed lacquer presentation box, with a crystal stopper and a collectors guide, detailing the craftsmanship that has gone into producing this beautiful object d’art.”

The Macallan has been working with Lalique since 2005 to produce an exclusive series of limited edition decanters based on The Macallan’s Six Pillars. The first two decanters in the series, Exceptional Oak Casks and Natural Colour, have proved hugely popular with both whisky consumers and collectors of Lalique crystal.

Respected and admired by discerning whisky lovers and named ‘Distiller of the Year 2008,’* The Macallan remains the single malt against which all others must be judged.

*Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s 2008 Star Awards.

Ends
 
For further information or photography, please contact:

Linda Edstrand / Pamela Wils, The BIG Partnership

Tel: 0131 555 5522

Email: linda.edstrand@bigpartnership.co.uk; pamela.wils@bigpartnership.co.uk
 

Please enjoy our brands responsibly.

NOTES TO EDITORS:
 

The Macallan 57 years old in Lalique – tasting notes:

 Colour            Mahogany

 Nose               Ginger, raisin, orange, vanilla, oak notes in the background

 Palate             Rich in spices, sweet fruit, toasted oak

Finish             Long and full bodied

Alcohol Strength 48.5% abv

The timeless reputation of The Macallan is founded upon Six Pillars:

The Spiritual Home

Easter Elchies House proudly watches over The Macallan distillery in Speyside, Scotland. Built in 1700, this Jacobean manor house is The Macallan’s spiritual home.

Curiously Small Stills

The Macallan’s curiously small and uniquely shaped copper stills help to concentrate the flavour of the ‘new make’ spirit.

The Finest Cut

The ‘cut’ is the amount of distilled spirit collected from the stills as ‘new make’ spirit. The Macallan takes one of the finest ‘cuts’ of any distillery in Scotland; typically just 16% goes forward to fill or our casks. 

Exceptional Oak Casks

The Macallan’s unfaltering obsession with selecting exceptional oak casks brings an unsurpassed, timeless quality to The Macallan.

Natural Colour

The Macallan insists upon Natural Colour. It is the interaction of spirit and wood alone which delivers the rich variety of colour, aroma and taste evident through out the range.

Peerless Spirit

The Macallan remains the single malt against which all others must be judged. It is celebrated far and wide by experts and discerning drinkers as the world’s most precious whisky.

Pamela Wils

Account Executive

The Big Partnership

Suite 4/3, Great Michael House, 14 Links Place, Edinburgh, EH6 7EZ

www.themacallan.com/

Macallan 57 Year Old Lalique

25nd September 2009

WHISKY GURU CHALLENGES PUBLISHERS MORALS AS REPRINT GOES ON SALE

Internationally acclaimed whisky writer Jim Murray has today questioned the moral and ethical rights of publisher Prion to re-print, re name and publish a twelve year old book that carries his name.

Originally published in 1997 as ‘Jim Murray’s Complete Book of Whisky’, the book which is now titled ‘The Classic Whisky Guide by Jim Murray’ is claimed to be up-to-date and reflecting the current whisky industry.  This is blatantly not the case in that the ‘new’ book has not been re-written, revised or amended by its creator.  In fact Jim Murray says that the first he knew about his ‘new’ book was when he “stumbled across it on-line!”

Having read the latest offering from Prion, Murray points out that ‘The Classic Whisky Guide’ is merely a reprint of an abridged edition in new clothing and that people buying it believing it to be an updated version of the original are likely to be very disappointed!  Murray comments “I have major concerns over the moral and ethical actions of the publisher in that none of the promotional material supporting the book makes clear its very long history.  It’s only when the reader has bought the book that its status as a reprint is revealed and the fact that it is horribly out of date”.

“The reality is that the whisky industry and its whiskies have changed significantly since 1997, in some cases almost unrecognisably so.  Naturally, I feel aggrieved on behalf of my readers who may have already bought this book believing it to be a new work by me, either as a follow up to my hugely successful  ‘Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible’, or an accompaniment to it.  I would fully understand their disappointment and anger to find the book already in their libraries; and as such I need to underline the point that I did not have any hand in this”.

Believing that the Prion book could damage his professional reputation, Jim Murray asserts that “readers buying this offering from Prion must not automatically take what is contained therein as my views on whisky today”. 

For the current status of the whisky industry Dram Good Books can confirm that the 2010 edition of ‘Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible’ will be launched on October 5th 2009.  “The fact that the 2010 ‘Whisky Bible’ features no less than 946 new whiskies, all of which have been tasted and catalogued, serves to highlight the scale of the changes that have occurred in the whisky industry just in 2009, let alone the last decade!” added Murray.
~Ends~
For more information please contact:

Mark Hunt
Director of Communications
Dram Good Books Ltd
Email: mark@whiskybible.com
Tel:  07768 145583

http://www.dramgoodbooks.com/

From John Campbell at Laphroaig Distillery;

I hope you are looking forward to the Distillery Live Whisky tasting tonight at 20:00 EDT. I am actually writing to you from the States. I’ve been over here in America for a week visiting some US FOLs – I’m having a great time and have been welcomed warmly!

The website is now live and you can go on to familiarise yourself with it before the live webcast begins. As you will see there is an area where you need to input your name. This will allow you to watch the live show and also to submit any questions you want on the night. There is also an area which gives you a brief synopsis of the event and also shortened biographies of each of our panelists.

I have included all the details again below so that you have the web address to hand:

Distillery live online whisky tasting
When: Friday 25th September 2009
Where: www.distillerylive.us.com
Time: 20:00 EDT (Saturday 26th September 01:00 British Summer Time)

Remember you can see what time 20:00 EDT is in your country by following the link on the Distillery Live website.

We have checked that this works on all the latest browsers but would recommend viewing in Internet Explorer if possible. Also, you will need to have flash on your computer to watch the show. You can follow the link on the Distillery Live website to download flash for free. Make sure you do this in advance as I wouldn’t want you missing anything!

I really hope you can join us tonight for this unique online event, as I mentioned before there will be not only tastings of Laphroaig expressions, including the new 18 Year Old but also cocktails and some gourmet food!

Do feel free to pass this email onto any of your whisky loving friends. We’re always looking for new converts!

Sláinte,

John Campbell

The Inaugural Release from the ‘farm distillery’ on Islay, 8450 bottles world wide  and matured for 36 months in ex bourbon barrels and then finished for 6 months in sherry casks. How exciting! The nose is of rich peat, very earthy and buttery at first with some hints of peanut butter, honey and fruit, a drawing room on a hot day (think of the air in a closed room filled with antiques). Quite nice; where are the off notes? They appear to have stayed home. The taste is not overly strong but immediately of huge peat, fruit and malt. This whisky tastes much older than it is which is quite extraordinary. The taste is quite brilliant and very, very enjoyable, some small amount of shock here….malt, peat, fruit all very well integrated. Rich, loamy peat smoke. More fruit. Some maritime hints. Extraordinary. The finish is of rolling peat smoke, fruit and oak, later arrival of some really clean coal smoke (ignore the obvious problems with that last statement) followed by some hints of shrimp crisps, another round of peat smoke and hugely chewy malt. The finish is very, very long and after a number of minutes it’s all peat smoke and malt, like when you scoop a handful of peated malt from the pile at the distillery.

My God, what a great dram, the distillery must be very pleased that their hard work has paid off so very early.

Score 86 Points

£45 (and recently sold on ebay for £185)

http://www.kilchomandistillery.com/