June 20: Woodford Reserve Bourbon Academy, Versailles, Kentucky

June 24: The Whisky Guild Whisky Dinner Cruise, Washington, DC

June 24: Precious & Rare Scotch Class, Brandy Library, New York City

June 26: Introduction to Scotch, Brandy Library, New York City

July 8-12: Tales of the Cocktail, New Orleans, Louisiana

July 11-25: Classic Malts Cruise, Scotland

August 3-5: Glenlivet Whisky School, Glenlivet Distillery, Ballindalloch, Scotland

August 31-September 6: Whisky Live, Sydney, Australia

September 4-6: Maltstock, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

September 6-7: Whisky Live at the San Francisco Highland Games, Pleasanton, CA

September 10: The Whisky Guild Whisky Dinner Cruise, New York City

September 12: Whisky Live, Glasgow, Scotland (NOTE DATE CHANGE)

September 15-20: Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Bardstown, Kentucky

September 17: Whisky Live on the Docks, Newport, Rhode Island

September 17-19: Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival, Stockholm, Sweden

September 18-20: Whisky Galore Festival, Isle of Barra, Scotland

September 25-29: Autumn Speyside Whisky Festival, Dufftown, Scotland

September 24-28: Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival, Stockholm, Sweden

September 26-28: Whisky Live, Paris, France

October 5-7: Glenlivet Whisky School, Glenlivet Distillery, Ballindalloch, Scotland

October 15: Whisky Live on the Docks, Annapolis, Maryland

October 16: Malt Advocate’s WhiskyFest, San Francisco

October 20: Whisky Live, Los Angeles, California

October 23: Whisky Live, Toronto, Ontario

October 28: Whisky Live, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

November 7: Whiskies of the World Expo, Washington, DC

November 10: Malt Advocate’s WhiskyFest, New York City

November 12-14: Whisky Live, Cape Town, South Africa (Tentative)

November 13-15: International Whisky Festival/Whisky Live, Leiden, The Netherlands

January 22-24, 2010: Victoria Whisky Festival, Victoria, British Columbia

April 24, 2010: Spirit of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario

Visit WhiskyCast at http://www.whiskycast.com/

99 Drams of Whiskey: The Accidental Hedonist’s Quest for the Perfect Shot and the History of the Drink Kate Hopkins. St. Martin’s, $24.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-312-38108-0

Available at Amazon etcetera and further details can be found at http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php

From the Knockdhu Distillery in the Highlands of Scotland we have a well respected single malt and the malt is pronounced a-nock. On the nose is complex and quite strong for a 40% bottling; mild bees wax, honey, cedar (similar to the thin tube inserts for good quality cigars) and old musical instruments. Malt and lemon-orange but muted; toffee and more wood notes. Dusty malt and no off notes. The taste is as found on the nose with dry wood tastes and the dusty malt layered with fruit and honey, quite delicious. After a minute or two the malt is the dominate characteristic with a very dry woody mouth feel and taste however the lumber does not over whelm. A brief and very slight surprise flash of Tandoor! The finish is quite long with the malt and the dry wood notes elbowing each other towards the finish line to be replaced with more fruit and honey. Actually very long and warming.  

Every single malt lover should have a bottle of this at home.  

C$80 

Score 88 Points

For more information please visit http://www.ancnoc.com/ or http://www.inverhouse.com/ to view details of other distilleries in the Inver House Family.

A. Dewar Rattray Independent Bottler is offering through their Alberta agent, Purple Valley Imports, mature casks of single malt scotch whisky which is ready for immediate bottling.

The very exclusive and limited selection is as follows;

Coleburn (Closed) 1983 25 years old  48% 47 cases*
Auchentoshan 1991 18 years old 59.9% 35 cases*
Glenrothes 1990 19 years old 55.7% 35 cases*
Strathmill 1989 20 years old 59.9% 35 cases*
Aberfeldy 1994 15 years old 57.5% 35 cases*
Laphroaig 1996 13 years old 59.9% 35 cases*
Cragganmore 1997 12 years old 59.9% 35 cases*

* cases are 6 bottles each and the number of cases is approximate. Please contact Jonathan Bray of Purple Valley Imports for further information. Sale of these exclusive casks are strictly on a first come first serve basis. Exclusive casks will be offered only once a year and are highly sought after by markets worldwide. No guarantee is made that a particular cask will still be available. Case numbers are approximate and may vary considerably.

Jonathan Bray  (403) 862 3577 or jonathan@purplevalleyimports.com

And for information on A. Dewar Rattray please visit http://www.adrattray.com/

Guests will have a chance to meet modern-day world explorer Colin Angus and taste a range of single malt Scotch whiskies from Glenfiddich, the most awarded single malt Scotch whisky in the world.  Please see the evite below (and attached) for more details on the event, Colin or the Glenfiddich brand.

In terms of the product, as you surely know, Glenfiddich is available across Canada (no new product release here), and is the world’s most awarded single malt Scotch whisky.

For more award information, you can visit www.glenfiddich.ca.

Anyone interested in attending the event can RSVP to glenfiddich@ddbcanada.com to reserve a ticket, as space is limited for this exclusive event. 

After a long wait the excellent single malts from the Glencadam Distillery are now available in Canada (currently in British Columbia).

The Glencadam DISTILLERY
The distillery is capable of producing around 1.5 million litres per year and has a storage capacity of approximately 20,000 casks. Plans are under way to increase capacity for storage in the vicinity of the town. The distillery holds stocks of quality whisky up to 30 years old. Glencadam has operated two pot stills since the beginning. The shape of the stills at Glencadam has never altered over the years. An unusual feature about the stills is that their lye pipes run upwards at an angle of 15 degrees rather than downwards. The belief is that this helps to produce a particularly delicate and mellow spirit which after maturation yields sweet and fruity notes in the final product. The essential supply of pure water for distilling depends on Glencadam’s long-held rights to springs at The Moorans, some 8.7 miles away and perhaps the longest water supply for distilling purposes of any Scottish distillery. This precious resource then flows through the Unthank hills on its way to the distillery . The distillery also has rights to draw water from Barry Burn for cooling purposes.

Two editions of Glencadam are being introduced;

Glencadan 10yo Highland Single Malt #656561
Grassy freshness and citrus on the nose and a pleasing harmony between a natural sweetness and the soft spicy oak on the palate.

A Whisky Intelligence tasting note for the Glencadam 10yo can be viewed at https://www.whiskyintelligence.com/2009/05/glencadam-10yo-46-ob-2009/

and the Glencadam 15yo Highland Single Malt ;

Colour: Pale gold; Nose: Salty notes with balance of sweetness. Delicate, elegant and charming. Palate: Cut-grass juiciness with mouth-watering malty signature. Restrained sweetness caressed by soft oak. Finish: Medium length. Oak balancing sweeter characteristics.

For more information on the Glencadam Distillery please visit http://www.glencadamdistillery.co.uk/glen/welcome.htm

or http://www.raredrams.com/

Issue #113 of the Malt Maniacs newsletter has now been published online with eight new Single Malt Scotch Whisky articles.

Visit  http://www.maltmaniacs.org/malt-113.html to read these excellent articles today.

The hotly anticipated new offering for the famed distillery on Islay; for a distillery of such note the official bottlings have been quite rare (10yo, 10yo Cask Strength, 15yo, and 30yo along with a handful of special bottlings at various ages and vintages). Not a huge ramge but highly sought after! Additionally the new 18yo is replacing the beloved 15yo in the line up; and bottled without chill filtration too! The nose is immediately of peat smoke, delicate coal smoke, iodine and gauze and a faint burnt stick. Mild oak wood dust intermingled with a faint fragrant furniture polish and the ever slightest hint of fruit cake. Very typical of other Laphroaigs. The taste is of sweet strong peat smoke intertwined with malt and oak followed by mild oranges and apricots, vanilla, honey and a light mouth feel. The time in the cask has mellowed the famed Laphroaig attack but this is sensational whisky. Toasted oats? The finish is quite long and warming with more smoke and oak notes followed at the very end by some slight floral notes. Also honey and some more smoke and the slight hints of seaweed and/or the beach. Quite mellow (for an Islay) and lacks any rough edges or elbows. Well integrated bits make this a welcome addition the line up.  

£62 

Score 90 Points

For the full details on Laphroaig Single Malt please visit http://www.laphroaig.com/ and become a Friend of Laphroaig!

Kate Hopkins’ new book “99 Drams of Whiskey: The Accidental Hedonist’s Quest for the Perfect Shot and the History of the Drink” is getting a lot of attention from whisky lovers…and with good reason. She’s been blogging as the Accidental Hedonist since 2004, and I think it’s one of the best whisky books of the year. We’ll hear from Kate in this episode…and in the news, the legal fight over Glen Breton Rare Single Malt Canadian Whisky may be over after a Canadian Supreme Court ruling, Isle of Jura shuts down because of ferry problems, and new whiskies from The Glenrothes and Douglas Laing.

Visit http://whiskycast.com/ to listen to this Episode