Ralfy reports impending news… “hope all is malty-well, and after a run of Irish stuff, it’s back to the Scotch next week with a pending review 127 on Ardbeg Corryvrecken!”
Visit Ralfy at www.ralfy.com
Loch Fyne Whiskies has stocked a new item, ‘Glendronach Grandeur’
Glendronach Grandeur 31yo
45.8% abv
£340.00 inc vat
£289.36 ex vat
Wonderfully presented whisky.
1013 bottles available from Batch 1. 100% Oloroso Sherry matured.
Official Tasting Note:
Nose – A tremendous concentration of fruits, nuts and berries enveloped in a coffee and mocha glaze. Subtle sweet sherry notes interact beautifully with sticky date pudding aromas.
Palate- Very big and gusty flavours adorn each mouthful, yet with perfect balance and refinement. Initial spiced orange flavours and rich old Oloroso sherry are met mid-palate with roasted almonds, coffee and treacle. The dry concentrated flavours from the almonds and the oloroso sherry are balanced in perfect harmony with sultanas, chocolate and honey.
Conclusions- This is a rewarding, memorable and captivating GlenDronach expression for a very special occasion.
Best regards,
Loch Fyne Whiskies
david@lfw.co.uk
The British Banker’s Club
Whisky Dinner Tuesday April 27, 2010 6:30pm
Reservation’s Required
$55.00
I
Potato Leek Soup
Fresh Chives & Extra Virgin Olive Oil
II
A Duo of Pork Terrine and Pork Belly
Grilled French Bread, Wild Arugula Salad, & Stone Fruit Glacé
III
Wild Mushroom Duxelles Stuffed Pork Loin
Braised Swiss Chard, Roasted Garlic Potato Gratin, & Pork au Jus
IV
Ibarra Chocolate Mousse
Edible Chocolate Cup, Chocolate Sticks, & Raspberry Coulis
Featured Single Malts
Featured Single Malts
Auchentoshan 10 yr – Signatory Vintage
Benromach Organic – Distillery Release
Dalmore 18 yr – Signatory Vintage
Edradour Caledonia 12 yr – Distillery Release
Glen Grant 15 yr – Gordon & Macphail
Glen Scotia 18 yr – Signatory Vintage
Longmorn 17 yr – Signatory Vintage
Rosebank 18 yr – Gordon & Macphail
The single malts will be presented by Val and Amit of JVS Imports
The British Banker’s Club
1090 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Ph. 650-327-8769
Tuesday April 20th
Spirit School Seminar: Precious & rare Scotch 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Friday April 23rd
Spirit School Seminar: Bourbon & American whiskies 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Thursday April 29th
Spirit School Seminar: Intro to Scotch 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Whisky Intelligence has reproduced (with permission) The Gauntleys Whisky Newsletter for April 2004; a small sample of scotch whisky archeology. The author, Chris Goodrum, has some excellent insights of whisky, which makes for excellent reading on a Sunday. However as you may have noticed we are nearing the end of the series of his excellent newsletters. Enjoy one of the final installments!
Dear Whisky Customers
Updating the whisky list has now become comparable with painting the forth road bridge. No sooner does one get to the end then you have to start all over again. Why is that I hear you ask. Well……………………
MURRAY McDAVID MISSION 3
Many of you will be rather familiar with Jim McEwans Mission series, but for those new to the newsletter I will briefly explain, the reason to get excited for.
One of the things that Jim likes about his job, is that the Directors of Murray McDavid give him a large wad of cash to go and buy interesting casks of whisky. The best of which are selected for his Mission series. Why Mission? well Jim sees it as his mission to boldly go where other bottlers have not.
That basically means bottling at 46%, using only Islay spring water, not chill filtering as he believes, and quite rightly too, that this process strips out the heart of the flavour contained in the whiskies natural oils, fats and proteins. Each bottling in the series is limited to 600 numbered bottles.
So what does this series contain?
Craigellachie Distilled 1970 (33 year old), Sherry Cask £91.95
Dallas Dhu Distilled 1974 (29 year old), Sherry Cask £91.95
Glen Scotia Distilled 1975 (28 years old), Bourbon Cask £85.95
Glenugie Distilled 1977 (26 year old), Bourbon Cask £91.95
Old Rosdhu Distilled 1979 (24 year old), Bourbon Cask £76.95
Clynelish Distilled 1983 (20 year old), Bourbon Cask £68.95
And why should you get excited?
Well the official release date for the Misson 3 series is May 2004, so for orders placed before the 1st May we will give a discount of 5% on the above prices.
NEW ADDITIONS TO THE MURRAY McDAVID CORE RANGE
As you know, we at Gauntleys are big supporters of the Murray McDavid core range, and judging from the amount of customers who come back time and time again just to buy their whiskies, we are not alone (as they say!)
If the Misson 3 series represents ‘blow the budget’ purchases, which let’s be honest don’t happen all the time, then you’ll be pleased to know that they haven’t forgotten about their core range, which I think represents exceptional value for money.
As in life all good things must come to an end, and as you will see from the list that the rather fantastic 1990 Craggenmore, 1990 Macallan and the 1988 Laphroig have left the building. Ming you they have been replaced by some equally good whiskies. The 1990 Clynelish reminds me of vanilla ice cream, the 1991 Glen Elgin is a big, rich and powerfully sherry casked whisky, and not forgetting an interesting vatting of young and old Springbank.
So here is the new list
Speyside
Auchroisk Distilled 1993 46% £28.95 (available in May ’04)
Dufftown Distilled 1993 46% £28.95 (available in May ’04)
Glen Elgin Distilled 1991 46% £31.95
Glen Lossie Distilled 1993 46% £28.95
Mortlach Distilled 1993 46% £28.95
Highland
Clynelish Distilled 1990 46% £35.95
Longmorn Distilled 1990 46% £31.95
Mull
Tobermory Distilled 1995 46% £30.95 (available April ’04)
Campbeltown
Springbank Distilled 1993/65 46% £48.95
Rare/ Mothballed
Glen Garioch Distilled 1993 46% £28.95 (available May ’04)
NEW JOHN McDOUGALL GOLDEN CASK
Jim is not the only one to have been busy of late, John has too!
Speyside
Aultmore Distilled 1989 58.3% £41.95 (available April ’04)
Tomintoul Distilled 1992 63.5% £37.95 (available April ’04)
Highland
Glen Moray Distilled 1990 62.1% £41.95
Macallan Distilled 1989 57.1% £40.95 (available April ’04)
Lowland
Bladnoch Distilled 1988 56.4% £44.95 (available April ’04)
Islay
Caol Ila Distilled 1991 59% £46.95 (available April ’04)
AND FINALLY SPRINGBANK
Well it wouldn’t be a whisky newsletter without a mention of Springbank. Just to let you know that we have a few bottles of the 1991 Bourbon Oak bottling, that I mentioned last time, and having had the good fortune to taste it I can declare that it is an absolute stormer. Deep, intense and complex, a perfect marriage of salt, fruit and sweet oak. In the mouth it is divine, rich, oily and smoky, a touch of water reveals spice, banana, coconut, creme brulee and mellows its smoky character so that it gently wafts in on the finish. All this for just £47.95. Not bad huh!
CONTACT
We would welcome any comments you would like to make about this newsletter, any of our products, or how we can improve our service. Please feel free to contact us on rhone@gauntleywine.com
Sincerely
Chris Goodrum
Visit Gauntleys of Nottingham at http://www.gauntley-wine.co.uk/
Three New Tomatin’s
The Tomatin Distillery, Inverness-shire, is delighted to announce the release of two single cask and one limited edition bottling.
The first of the single casks was distilled in September 1997 and matured in a first fill bourbon barrel for over 12 years and bottled at cask strength – 57.1%abv . Only 244 bottles are available and will be sold in a limited number of Western European markets as well as Japan.
The second Single cask was distilled in January 1999 and initially matured in a re fill American oak cask before being transferred into a European oak cask which was used to mature tempranillo wine. After spending over 2 year in the wine cask it was bottled at cask strength – 57.1%abv. Only 302 bottles are available and again they will be sold in a limited number of Western European markets as well as Japan.
The third release is a limited edition 21 year old bottling which was created using 7 casks, 6 of which were re fill American oak casks and the 7th an ex sherry butt. Again bottled at casks strength – 52%abv – and limited to a release of just 2400 bottles which will be made available in selected markets throughout the world including the United Kingdom.
Stephen Bremner, Sales Director at the distillery commented: “Up until very recently you would have been hard pushed to find any limited edition official distillery bottlings from Tomatin. This is no longer the case and I am pleased to confirm that there will be a steady flow of these for the foreseeable future. We have some amazing casks from the 1960’s up to the present day and I feel confident that consumers will be delighted with what we bring to the market in the near future.”
He continued “The single casks are obviously very different in character with one representing the traditional house style of Tomatin and the other showing that our whisky is fairly adaptable and works well in different cask types. I feel that the 21 year old is a good example of a traditional highland malt whisky. It is very soft and smooth but also has a slightly spicy edge to it which is typical of Tomatin as it gets past the teens.”
Notes
The 1999 and 1997 Single casks will be available in selected markets in Europe The 21 year old is a worldwide release. The Tomatin Distillery is located in the Highlands of Scotland 16 miles south of Inverness Tomatin malt whisky was historically purchased by the major blending companies in Scotland; however, the company is now focused as selling Tomatin as a single malt in it own right.
Tasting Notes
1997 Single Cask
Nose – Wonderfully rich, sweet vanilla. Fresh, lively notes of apricots, tropical fruit and lemon curd.
Palate – Mouth coating and rounded. Roasted nuts and white pepper with a minty touch.
Finish – Smooth and creamy with uplifting eucalyptus.
1999 Single Cask
Nose – Elegant with a rich sweetness. Toffee popcorn, gently toasted hazelnuts, dried orange peel and butterscotch.
Palate – Smooth, velvety texture. Sweetness layered on dry maltiness with hints of cracked black pepper.
Finish – Dry but smooths off with cereal notes.
21 Year old Limited edition
Nose – Delicate, flowery aromas to begin with, giving way to aniseed, old leather and pipe tobacco.
Palate – Rose water, aniseed and white grape juice.
Finish – Warm and zingy with a dry, oaky spiciness.
Visit Tomatin Distillery at http://www.tomatin.com/
Tomatin Performs Well at San Francisco
For the third year running Single Malt Scotch Whisky producer, The Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd , Inverness-shire , has picked up a plethora of medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Celebrating its 10th year, the competition was the biggest yet, with 1024 entries coming from 57 different countries. The judging was carried out by 30 industry experts who tasted all entries blind in order to ensure the competitive integrity of the competition, which is regarded by many as being the premier tasting event in the world.
The distilleries single malts performed particularly well, winning a double gold, a gold and 2 silver medals. Its deluxe blended whisky range ‘The Antiquary ‘also scooped 2 bronze medals. The multi award winning company has picked up 52 medals over the last 4 years at international tasting competitions.
Stephen Bremner, Sales Director commented “We are absolutely delighted to be associated with such a prestigious competition. These awards are very much for the guys at the distillery who put in a great deal of hard work in order to ensure that we are able to sell a spirit that we feel is of a high quality”.
A summary of the awards won by Tomatin at the competition are as follows:
The Tomatin 12 year old Highland Single Malt Whisky Silver
The Tomatin 15 year old Highland Single Malt Whisky Gold
The Tomatin 18 year old Highland Single Malt Whisky Double Gold
The Tomatin 25 year old Highland Single Malt Whisky Silver
The Antiquary 12 year old Deluxe Blended Scotch Whisky Bronze
The Antiquary 12 year old Deluxe Blended Scotch Whisky Bronze
Notes
The Tomatin Distillery is located in the Highlands of Scotland 16 miles south of Inverness Tomatin malt whisky was historically purchased by the major blending companies in Scotland; however, the company is now focused as selling Tomatin as a single malt in it own right.
Visit Tomatin Distillery at http://www.tomatin.com/
Be sure to stop by and say hello to the Templeton Rye team at the Des Moines Farmers Market throughout the summer! We will be there May 8 and 29, June 5 and 26, July 3 and 31, August 7 and 28, September 18 and October 9 and 16.
Visit Templeton Rye at www.templetonrye.com
Reserve Whisky Master Class Blends. Thursday 22nd April 2010
RESERVE WHISKY MASTER CLASS
The history of Scotch is the history of how and why Scottish Whisky blends captured both the imagination and the palates of a global audience. Learn all about the intricacies of how blended Scotch whisky is made, as well as how some of the world’s greatest whisky brands came to be. The Johnnie Walker brand will be showcased and you will learn how a dynasty arose from the humble beginnings when the young John Walker lost his father when he was just fifteen years of age.
Tickets: $30 or $20 for members
When: 6.30pm – 8.30pm Thursday 22nd April
Where: The Oak Barrel Cellar Room
To purchase tickets email events@oakbarrel.com.au or call 02 9264 3022
Evan Williams Single Barrel 23 years Bourbon
Duty Stamped if Required
12 Bottles in Case
75 Cl Bottle Size
53.5% Alcohol
Only 5 CASES AVAILABLE
CASE PRICE £1420.00
Trentino Distribution
email winesales@runbox.com
More information from www.heaven-hill.com
