Visit the Whisky Exchange at http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/

Ralfy is at it again, in these reviews he has published #75 – Budget & Quality Whiskies and #76 – Kilchomans’ First Whisky.

Ralfy at Work

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

From Andrew at Kensington in Calgary

There are no more than 90 total bottles of each coming into the province, and some of them like the Brora and Mannochmore are limited to only 36 bottles.  I have provided the approximate retail prices.  They may be slightly more or less than indicated.

1.      Port Ellen 30Yr 1978 – $457

2.      Brora 30Yr – $471

3.      Talisker 30Yr –  $489

4.      Mannochmore – 18Yr – $276

5.      Benrinnes – 23Yr – $320

6.      Pittyvaich 20Yr – $299

7.      Caol Ila 10Yr Unpeated – $105

Visit Kensington at http://www.kensingtonwinemarket.com/

Laphroaig’s Newest (older) Bottle Is Now At The Park Ave Liquor Shop

Greetings, Fall. A time of new releases. Fall fashions, TV Shows, a new NFL season and most  importantly…new scotches. This Fall many exciting Single Malts will be arriving and some of which will be exclusive to the Park Avenue Liquor Shop. You, our loyal website and Twitter subscribers will be the first to know about them as they arrive. Today’s bottling is the new 18 year old from one of Islay’s most beloved distilleries, Laphroaig. See below for details on this bottle as well as what this means for Laphroaig 15 year old.  Thanks for taking a look. If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact the store.
Cheers!
Jonathan & Eric
Park Avenue Liquor Shop
292 Madison Aveune
New York, NY 10017
212-685-2442
info@parkaveliquor.com
www.parkaveliquor.com

Laphroaig 18 Year Old

This 18 year old expression of Laphroaig is new to the U.S. market as a replacement to the 15 year old bottling. It is the very definition of a soft, sweet and spicy Islay. Peat smoke and soft toffee greet you when you first open the bottle.  The  immediate taste is an oak sweetness with nutty and floral hints from 18 years in the barrel. A faint hint of the sea can be detected, testimony to its time maturing on the remote island of Islay. It has a long-bodied finish with a luxurious smoothness. Bottled at 48% ABV and non-chill filtered for a depth of taste and texture.

Our Price:$160

Laphroaig 15 Year Old

Sadly, it is ‘last call’ for this multi-award winner from Laphroaig. We have been told we can no longer order the 15 year old, so our current stock is it.
The 15 year old is rumored to be one of Price Charles’ favorite single malts and  it is no surprise why. The nose is mildly smoky, toasty and pleasantly sweet, like new hay. Full bodied  zesty oak, warm peat with sweet undertones fill the palate. Fresh nutmeg, toasted almonds and faint salt are also present. It all ends in a prolonged yet mellow finish. Grab a bottle while they last.

Our Price:$83

Scotland – Malts

2000 Caol Ila 8 Year Old, Murray McDavid Ridge Zinfandel Finish Islay Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($49.99)

A golden amber color, with a slight rose tint. This independent bottling of Caol Ila is powerful with rich toffee and spicy notes on the palate. Besides the color, the red wine influence from the Ridge Zinfandel casks also shines through in the nose, where dried red fruits intermix with subtle chocolate flavors. The flavor profile is very complex for such a young Islay malt, but the price tag is very low for something so interesting. This is one of the most exciting whiskies we’ve found in a while.

Highland Park 8 year old, Gordon & Macphail, Isle of Orkney Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($34.99)

There’s only one thing you need to say about this bargain-priced dram from the Isle of Orkney’s finest producer Highland Park – you really get your money’s worth of whisky. The straw colored spirit is soft, elegantly sweet and gentle on the entry. It gives way to notes of dried fruits and hints of caramel on the finish. It has all the grace of the twelve year, despite its younger age, and is one of the most easy going whiskies we’ve tasted all year. Every staff member who has tried it has reserved at least one bottle for themselves, so you’re going to have to compete with them. Undoubtedly a great bottle for yourself and so generally pleasing that it would make a great gift for any whisky lover.

1999 Laphroaig 10 Year Old, Murray McDavid Chateaux Margaux Finish Islay Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 12 available ($72.99)

One of the most revered Islay malts married with perhaps the most beloved wine in all of France: a young Laphroaig whisky meets the decadent Chateau Margaux. The color is a delicate amber and rose tint, but that’s where the delicacy ends. Big smoky flavors dance with iodine, seawater, saline notes, and seaweed with rich meaty flavors on the finish and hints of dried red fruits – this is as Islay as it gets without succumbing to the heavy influence of peat. A second taste allows you to prepare yourself for the flavor onslaught and see past it into the rich Cabernet flavors of the Margaux wine. Not for the weak of heart and not for the uninitiated – this is a serious dram!

Visit K&L at http://www.klwines.com/

For Immediate Release
Contact: Svend Jansen

Public Relations Manager

Brown-Forman Corporation

502-774-7825

Canadian Mist Whisky Announces “Double Gold” Sweepstakes

Winner Will Travel to San Francisco for a Chance at Big Cash

Louisville, Ky. (September 14, 2009)  –  At the 2009 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, only one Canadian whisky brought home the coveted Double Gold Medal: Canadian Mist. Now consumers will have the opportunity to bring home their own “Double Gold” in the Canadian Mist Whisky “Double Gold” sweepstakes.

Consumers can register online at www.canadianmist.com/doublegold for the chance to win a trip for two to San Francisco from February 18-21, including roundtrip airfare and lodging.

While in San Francisco, the randomly selected winner will be taken to a pre-designated location where he or she will have one hour to search for up to 100 gold-colored coins numbered 1-100. After the search, he or she will select 10 coins from all the coins they find. If the two numbers randomly drawn before the search match the numbers on two of the winner’s selected coins, the contestant will win two gold bars valued at over $700,000.

 “This sweepstakes will give one lucky consumer the chance of a lifetime to win two gold bars that could change their life forever,” said Alan George, Brand Director for Canadian Mist Whisky. “With Canadian Mist bringing home Gold Medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in three of the last four years, this sweepstakes reinforces the superior quality and exceptional value it brings to our consumers on a daily basis.”

Entries must be received by October 31, 2009 in order to be eligible for the drawing. You must be of legal drinking age and a legal resident of the United States to enter. Visit www.canadianmist.com/doublegold for more information or to fill out an entry form.

About Canadian Mist

Canadian Mist is an award-winning whisky distilled in Collingwood, Ontario with water from the pure Georgian Bay. Brown-Forman Corporation is a diversified producer and marketer of fine quality consumer products, including Jack Daniel’s, Canadian Mist, Southern Comfort, Finlandia Vodka, Early Times, Old Forester, Fetzer Wine and Korbel California Champagnes. For more information, visit www.canadianmist.com.

###

 _______________________________________________________

Enjoy Life. Drink Mist Responsibly.

Imported and Bottled by Brown-Forman Beverages, Canadian Whisky, A Blend, 40% Alc. by Volume, Louisville, KY ©2009 CANADIAN MIST is a registered trademark.

Svend Jansen

PR Manager – Canadian Mist, Early Times & Old Forester

Brown-Forman

850 Dixie Highway

Louisville, KY 40210

Office, (502) 774-7825

Mobile, (502) 744-0462

svend_jansen@b-f.com

Loch Fyne Whiskies reports that Bowmore Distillery is to soon release a new 10 year old cask strength bottling called “Tempest”

Visit Loch Fyne Whiskies at  http://www.lfw.co.uk/  and Bowmore Distillery at http://www.bowmore.co.uk/

We do now have the finalised listing for the Chivas event and the good souls at Pernod Ricard have ‘upped the ante’ by offering us an evening that shapes up as follows:-

Glenlivet 18yo as a welcome drink, followed by

Strathisla 12yo

Strathisla 18yo

18yo Grain Whisky

Longmorn 16yo

Longmorn 18yo

And finally the exceptional Chivas Regal 18yo

To add to the interest they’ll be ‘pairing’ the whiskies with Valrhona chocolate, which is recognised as being the finest in the world. As if this isn’t enough, they’ve also agreed to bring along the very first bottle of a limited edition Chivas that has been designed by Christian Lacroix. There are only going to be 100 of these in the UK and this bottle will be the prize in a raffle that will be held on the night. A handful of places for this event are still available at £25pp and you can grab yours by calling us on 0207 403 8688 (but we wouldn’t leave it too long if we were you….)

Kind regards

The Team

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

Our latest release, just arrived, is now available at £125.00 per bottle

Here is the ninth edition of our annual “Single Cask Bottlings” this time a great single cask from that famous Islay distillery, Bowmore.

Cask Number 85163 was distilled at Bowmore Distillery on Islay on 4th October 1982 and held in their bonded warehouses until July 2009 when it was specifically selected from several cask samples at a nosing and tasting by Duncan Elphick, Tatsuya Minagawa, Rachel Richard and, of course, Mark Watt, at Duncan Taylor & Company’s warehouses in Huntly.

 When bottled on 10th August 2009 at its natural cask strength of 49.4% alc/vol, the Angels gave us only 186 bottles (700ml). I hope they let Michael sample it!

As good friends of The Highlander Inn will know, our good friend Michael Jackson wrote the tasting notes on the back label for us for 7 years, until St. Peter ‘called him through the pearly gates’ in August 2007.

From 2008 onwards, we decided to invite a different person each year to write the tasting notes for us. The criteria are that they must have a great reputation in the “whisky world”, and have been Michael’s true friends. Last year, Hideo Yamaoka, Japan’s foremost Malt Scotch Whisky “otaku” and the translator of Michael’s books into Japanese wrote the notes.

This year, John Hansell, agreed to write his comments for us.

John Hansell is one of the foremost drinks writers in the United States. He is a contributor to The Wall Street Journal and has appeared in USA Today, The New York Times, Smart Money, Business Week, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Stuff, Cosmopolitan, Playboy, Food & Wine, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, and numerous other publications.

He is the creator, Publisher, and Editor of “Malt Advocate”, the USA’s leading magazine for the whisky enthusiast.

In 1997 he created WhiskyFest, the America’s largest independent festival featuring the world’s greatest whiskies and the people who make them with annual events in New York, Chicago and San Fransisco.

 Included with each bottle is a Certificate of Ownership, like the one on the left, that can be framed and hung on your study / office / drawing room wall.

As in all previous years, each label was individually applied to the bottles and hand numbered by Duncan Elphick ~ none of this automatic labeling & numbering for us!!

It is now available to be purchased by the bottle (700ml) from the Highlander Inn for £125.00 and also by the nip (25ml) in our bar at the introductory price of £8.40 so you can taste it without breaking the seal of your own bottle.

Visit the Highlander Inn and their exciting new bottling of Bowmore at http://www.whiskyinn.com/whisky2009.html

The Bladnoch 8-Year-Old Launch
03 October 2009 – 18:00 pm – Main Hall – £10.00

Join us for the launch of Bladnoch’s 8-year-old malt, the first since the distillery reopened. The celebrations will include a tasting by John Lamond, while the Robert Burns Fellow, Rab Wilson, will toast the new arrival in verse. Music is provided by Willie Drennan and members of the Ulster-Scots Folk Orchestra.

Visit both the distillery and the festival at;

http://www.bladnoch.co.uk/

http://www.wigtownbookfestival.com/