(Some news from Balblair);

For the perfect vintage timing is everything
 
Good timing is the essence of Balblair. That’s why we only contact you when the time is right. We thought that you may like to know that Balblair has a new website.
 
The website tells the story of Balblair, its long and rich history, and our unique approach to whisky creation and dedication to only ever releasing the best vintage Single Highland Malt.
 
It also features Balblair news and our Distillery Manager, John MacDonald, with a lifetime of experience in creating unique whiskies, gives an insight into his world through the Manager’s Blog. 
 
Visit www.balblair.com 
 
The latest addition to our range . . .

 
Superbly well balanced, full-bodied malt with hints of honey and vanilla from the long years of maturation in American ex bourbon oak barrels. 
 
Read Balblair 2000 tasting notes at http://www.balblair.com/exclusive-vintages/

Balblair Vintages
 
Every Balblair Vintage is strongly individual. Each one is a unique essence of a year, captured in a bottle. Balblair only ever produces Vintages timed to perfection. 
 
Discover our vintages http://www.balblair.com/exclusive-vintages/

The Manager’s blog
 
Judging a Vintage, measuring the exact point of perfect aging, takes considerable skill and many years of experience. It can’t be taught overnight. Understanding the alchemy of process and environment takes dedicated craftsmanship. 
 
This is the craft of John MacDonald. John is a patient man. But he doesn’t stand by a clock, he waits. And waits. Until the whisky says it’s ready. Until it’s perfect. When it represents the best we have to offer.
 
Read about Distillery manager, John MacDonald’s day-to-day life at Balblair in the Manager’s Blog. http://www.balblair.com/about/managers-blog/

Loch Fyne Whiskies has stocked various new items from ‘Berry Brothers & Rudd’ (BBR) Caol Ila, Ledaig, Girvan & Invergordon.

BBR Caol Ila 1984 25yo 53.7% £86.50 inc vat

Bottled 2010 from cask# 5389

We’ll have our LFW tasting notes up soon but here are the official ones:

‘A deep smokiness lies behind the yellow fruit, green olives and leather aromas. The mouth-feel is textured, slowly releasing the smoky flavours which seep through the fruitiness. This is an intense and balanced Caol Ila with a charming and lingering peaty finish.’

BBR Ledaig 2005 4yo 62.7% £33.50 inc vat

Bottled 2010 from cask# 900008

We’ll have our LFW tasting note soon but here is the official one:

‘the balance of sherry influence from the butt it has matured in, against the moody peat-smoke, made it irresistible. Aromas of new leather and sweet toffee shield the underlying smokiness. The palate brims with smoke but has enough texture to keep sweet fruity elements shining through.’

BBR Girvan Grain 1989 45.1% £47.90 inc vat

Bottled 2010 from cask nos: 37530/1

Official Tasting Note:

‘This whisky has pronounced fragrance for a grain spirit. It is fruity with vanilla and custard creams. The palate is surprisingly full and oily with waves of coffee cream, spice and juicy lime. To finish there is a satisfying warm spicy prickle.’

BBR Invergordon Grain 1971 37yo 47% £91.50 inc vat

Bottled 2009 from cask no: 4

Official Tasting Note:

The aromas are of concentrated dried fruit with a bourbon-like vanilla intensity. Deeply engaging and exotic, this is a full, succulent 37 year old whisky with a velvety texture.’

All single cask independent bottling from Berry Bros & Rudd.

Best regards,
Loch Fyne Whiskies
david@lfw.co.uk

Visit Loch Fyne Whiskeis at www.lfw.co.uk

September Outturn On-sale NOW

September Outturn: Hot stone therapy?

We’re releasing September Outturn a little earlier than usual – we’re moving our duty paid cellars and need to close our dispatch from Mon 6-Fri 17 Sept.  We won’t be sending out any bottles during this time so please place your orders NO LATER than Fri 3 Sept so we can get your whisky to you toot-sweet. 

We’ll still be taking orders after Fri 3 Sept; it just means we won’t be able to deliver them until after 17 Sept.  But please let us have you order as soon as possible so we can avoid any disappointment, stocks of our single casks are limited.

4.143 Honey on hot stones
Highland Island
£81.10 inc. Free P&P
Rich toffees, hot coffee, buttered toast with acacia honey and syrup; then it changed to cotton and eiderdown, wallpaper paste, stripped floors and ink in an old house

29.86 When the locket bursts
Islay
£60.50 inc. Free P&P
Immense with a burst of honey and lemon lockets, baked apple, becoming savoury with smoked German sausage, tarragon and dill

Sept Pair Recommendation: Buy 4.143 with 29.86 for £89 (save £12)

121.37 Very tasty Danish pastry
Highland Island
£45.70 inc. Free P&P
Grass, coriander, white grape and felt tip pens, then tinned fruit, Victoria sponge, Danish pastries with apricots and marzipan and Lockets (menthol and honey).

9.53 A peppery explosion
Speyside Spey
£57.30 inc. Free P&P
The initial nose was stimulating, with orange, chocolate limes and sweet chilli. Once settled, its richness (Ambrosia custard, Werther’s Originals, caramel, toffee) was more calming.

Don’t forget our August Recommendations, available until Tue 31 Aug

Pair Recommendation: Buy 125.39 with 35.39 for £97 (save£12.60)

Trio Recommendations: Buy 48.23 with 76.71 & 27.82 for £138 (save £17.70)

September Outturn at http://tinyurl.com/27a3358
Browse all bottlings at http://tinyurl.com/2bbqckk
(73 different bottlings!)

SMWS Whisky Tasting & Events

New Outturn Tasting – 19 Greville Street, Sat 4 Sept
Highland Connoisseur Tour – 28 Queen Street, Sun 5 Sept
New Outturn & Sunday Roast – The Vaults, Sun 5 Sept
Fire, smoke and earth! Arbeg Tasting – 28 Queen Street, Tue 7 Sept
Innis & Gunn Tasting – 19 Greville Street, Thu 9 Sept
The Ultimate No 1 Tasting – 28 Queen Street, Fri 10 Sept
Glenkinchie Tour with bowls & BBQ – 28 Queen Street, Sun 12 Sept
Islay Tasting – Subterranean Vaults, Wed 15 Sept
Glasgow Preview Tasting – One Devonshire Gardens, Thu 16 Sept
Mix it up! (Whisky Cocktails) – 28 Queen Street, Fri 17 Sept

Visit www.smws.co.uk to join the Society

Douglas Laing limited Edition Mixed Cases Now Available

Douglas Laing has the largest and most significant range of aging casks of any Independent Bottler in Scotland, covering almost 100 different expressions and 40 different Distilleries.

Every month they choose some of their casks, to be bottled as their Brands, Provenance, Old Malt Cask or Old & Rare. These are then offered to markets throughout the world. All are limited in quantity with the unique DNA captured from the matured cask.

To satisfy the increasing interest from Single Malt Enthusiasts & Small Whisky Clubs in British Columbia for access to our wide range of products, Rare Drams is introducing the opportunity to purchase a Mixed Case.

This will provide the whisky enthusiast the opportunity to taste or collect three different Single malts from three separate distilleries.

We are currently taking orders of interest for our first two selections, which will be available at the end of September. Minimum purchase 1 Case: 6 Bottles/case.

To reserve a case contact bobkyle@raredrams.ca

Maltstock Newsletter 7   
  
Fellow whisky enthusiasts,

A good 2,5 weeks until Maltstock. Time for the latest news. And please remember, tickets for Maltstock have to be bought in advance. No ticket sales during the Maltstock weekend. If you haven’t got your tickets yet please visit our web shop now. For the full program and all information, please visit our website, www.maltstock.com

Breakfast whisky is ready
We have received news from the guys from Compass Box. The breakfast whisky is ready. This will accompany the Scottish breakfast at Maltstock provided by the Highlander Inn.  The Compass Box team on this unique whisky: “We have found an absolutely delicious whisky for you to have with The Highlander Inn Scottish breakfast at Maltstock. It’s from a really unusual old Bourbon cask of Eleuthera that we had forgotten we had! It has been gently maturing and marrying since we blended it all together 4 years ago. It is a blend of Clynelish and Caol Ila with an average age of 18 years. The alcohol level is 45.3%. The cask has been half full so the whisky is especially light, creamy, fruity and floral in character. It reminded Gregg of Scottish sliced fruit pudding so it sounds perfect for any proper Scottish breakfast!”

This very special breakfast whisky will only be available at Maltstock with the Scottish breakfast. It will not be available at Maltstock or afterwards. We can however order a few extra bottles before Maltstock. However, if you would a bottle of this as well, you have the to be fast. You can order either a 10 cl or a 70 cl bottle. But you need to contact us at the latest Wednesday August 18. After that it will not be possibe anymore to get a bottle.

Stuart Thomson campfire

Last year we had Jim McEwan and Billy Walker putting up a terrific show at the campfire. This year Stuart Thomson has agreed to tell some stories. We’ll also have some music at the campfire, McHollander will perform. It promises to be a great evening again.

Maltstock on the Scotch and Folk blog

A few days ago Maltstock was interviewed by Jock Shaw from the Scotch and Folk video blog. He has taped two blogs. Here are the links to these video’s:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn2z2umSSac and: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQn3ztJhuOU

Drinks by the Dram

The team from Drinks by the Dram will also be present at Maltstock. So you can save some on shipping costs. If you have something you would like to order, just mention you will be at Maltstock and they will bring it to Maltstock for you. Drinks by the Dram is part of Master of Malt.

Drinks by the Dram: http://www.masterofmalt.com/drinks-by-the-dram/
Master of Malt: http://www.masterofmalt.com/

Octomore 3_152 ppm – Maltstock special

Just a short reminder, it is possible to pre-order the upcoming new Octomore 3_152 with a special discount. Just 87,50 euro for Maltstock guests and 95,- euro for those of you who are not able to make it to Maltstock. Octomore 3_152 will be the world’s heaviest peated whisky. It has been matured for 5 years in ex-bourbon casks. If you want one or more bottles, please send an e-mail to info@maltstock.com

Four Roses – world première

Soon, very soon I hope to be able to send you another message. With a bit of luck we will have something very special for you from Four Roses. Something which has never been done before in the world. You might think having the ten different white dog is very special. Well you are right of course…. But wait until you find out what else we have. More to follow soon.

Music at Maltstock

We will have some live music at Maltstock this year. “Take the Biscuit” will play for us. And around the campfire we will have “McHollander”. If you feel like making some music as well feel free to bring your instrument.

Whisky quiz and raffle

We have been receiving some really terrific prizes the past few weeks for the whisky quiz and for the Maltstock raffle. So start practising whisky trivia and win some great prizes. And if you managed to just loose out at the whisky quiz, no problem, we will have a big raffle as well. So a chance for everybody to go home with some really great prizes.

Ian Gray prints –  20% discount

It is still possible to take advantage of a special Maltstock discount on Ian Gray prints. Even if you’re not coming to Maltstock. Please visit the specials in our web shop too find out more. Prints normally are 75,- euro but with the Maltstock discount they are available for just 60,- euro. A 20% discount!

Maltstock 2011

For those unfortunate whisky lovers amongst you who can’t make it to Maltstock this year, we already have the dates for Maltstock 2011. So put them in your agenda: 9-11 September 2011.

That’s all folks. Hope to see you all in a good 2,5 weeks. See you at Maltstock!

Arthur, Bob, Eline, Rogier & Teun
info@maltstock.com

www.maltstock.com
the relaxed whisky weekend

World Premiere at Maltstock 2010 with Four Roses

The fledgling “festival” Maltstock will have its second edition this year. It isn’t a festival really, it’s more of a worldwide gathering of whisky-lovers who come together for a weekend of fun, whisky and stories with the known and unknown.  Maltstock is different from the many whisky festivals. At Maltstock people come together for a whole weekend. We eat, drink, sleep and have fun all at the same venue. Visitors take their own bottles and share the contents with likeminded people, but there are importers too, presenting special bottlings that are difficult to obtain. All in a very unique, relaxed atmosphere.

Maltstock is the brainchild of Teun van Wel and Bob Wenting, aka The Bruichladdies. Whisky aficionados themselves, they act as guides to the uninitiated at the Dutch whisky festivals and organise whisky trips to Scotland for small groups who want to taste the cratur at its origin: the distillery.

Last year Maltstock welcomed Jim McEwan as honorary guest, among others.  He captures the essence of Maltstock in this statement about the first edition:

“I think it is a totally unique event, there is nothing like it in the world. It is inexpensive, the venue is perfect. The people who attend are really into malts and they were happy to share their whisky and their stories with complete strangers. And when the time came to say goodbye, there were no strangers, only friends, and they will remain that way for a long time.

This is when the Magic of Malt comes alive, when it is shared willing with people who share the same passion. This event provides the perfect stage for it all to come alive. Slainte.” 

For Maltstock 2010 the founding fathers wanted to create an original experience with bourbon, not limiting their scope to single malts. This spring, Teun and Bob attended the Four Roses “white dog” tasting at the Groningen Festival (WFNN) conducted by master distiller Jim Rutledge and whisky writer Hans Offringa. For those who do not know, Four Roses uses five yeast strains and two different mash bills with which Jim Rutledge and his crew create 10 different “white dogs” (new make spirit as it is called in the USA). No other distillery does this.

In April this year Hans was in Chicago judging a whisky competition and met Brett Pontoni of Binny’s, who happened to be on the jury as well. Brett told Hans that Binny’s – the largest wholesaler and retailer of whisky in Illinois – stocks the 10 different single barrel Four Roses, made out of the 10 different recipes.  When Hans informed them, Teun and Bob knew how to create an unique experiment at Maltstock 2010:

Organize a tasting where the participants could not only taste the 10 white dogs, but also the 10 mature versions, bottled after having been in the barrel for several years! Something which has never been done before anywhere in the world. It will be an unique opportunity to find out if yeast really does matter!

Jim & Hans

The Bruichladdies asked Hans if he could arrange white dog for Maltstock and Jim consequently supplied Bob and Teun with 10 sample bottles. With the help of Jim, Hans, Brett and Pernod Ricard NL (the importer of Four Roses in The Netherlands), Maltstock was able to obtain the 10 different single barrel bourbons and will present them on Saturday September 4 in a special tasting.

This has never been done before and Jim Rutledge is very enthusiastic about it. Since he cannot be in Europe at the time, he asked Hans Offringa to conduct this unique tasting. The two have known each other for years and enjoy working together.  Jim recently assessed Hans’ manuscript “Bourbon & Blues” and says about it: “I read Hans’ book on a plane and I think it is fantastic. A very ‘easy’ flow and read.”

The book is scheduled for publishing Spring 2011 and no doubt Four Roses plays an important part in it. Hans says about it: “I have been a devotee of Four Roses straight bourbon since my late teens and I can truly tell there is a lot of Four Roses in this book … and in its writer! I am honoured to host this unique tasting at Maltstock 2010.”

Don’t miss out on a unique event and register for Maltstock 2010 now. Simply go to www.maltstock.com, register first and then go to the online web shop to order your tickets. Hope to see you at Maltstock!

Slainte,

The Maltstock Crew
Arthur, Bob, Eline, Rogier and Teun

HEAVEN HILL DISTILLERIES, INC. APPOINTS STEVEN E. FELLER VICE PRESIDENT OF NORTH AMERICAN SALES 

Elected Officer of Company After Guiding Sales Efforts for 18 Years

LOUISVILLE, KY—Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. announced today that current Director of North American Sales Steve Feller has been elected as a Vice President, recognizing his 18 years of service to the company and his last five years leading sales efforts in the U.S. and Canada.

Heaven Hill Distilleries, the largest independent family-owned and operated distilled spirits supplier, is the producer of such renowned category leading brands as Evan Williams Bourbon, Christian Brothers Brandy, Burnett’s Vodkas and Hpnotiq Liqueur, and under Feller’s guidance has leveraged strong sales growth to become the nation’s seventh largest spirits supplier.

Feller, who will continue to lead the company’s overall sales efforts in North America and report to Heaven Hill President Max L. Shapira, joined Heaven Hill in 1992, progressing in the sales organization to become Director of North American Sales in 2005.  Prior to coming to Heaven Hill, Feller was with Glenmore Distilleries and United Distillers.  He is a graduate of the University of Louisville and holds an MBA from Bellarmine University. 

“In his new position, Steve will continue to provide the leadership that has driven our robust growth during his tenure,” commented Heaven Hill President Shapira.

Founded in 1934, Bardstown, KY-based Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. (www.heavenhill.com) is the nation’s largest independent, family-owned and operated spirits producer and marketer and the world’s second-largest holder of Kentucky Bourbon. Heaven Hill’s diversified portfolio of brands includes The Christian Brothers Brandies; Evan Williams and Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskeys; Burnett’s Vodkas and Gin; Hpnotiq Liqueur; PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur; Lunazul and Two Fingers Tequilas, and Dubonnet Aperitif.

Heaven Hill reminds you to “Think Wisely. Drink Wisely.”

Loch Fyne Whiskies has stocked ‘Kilchoman 3yo Summer 2010 Release’

Kilchoman 3yo Summer 2010 Release
46% abv
£44.90 inc vat
£38.21 ex vat

(LFW comments) Full tasting note soon…

The ‘Summer 2010 Release’ has been matured in fresh bourbon barrels from Buffalo Trace for 3 years.

These 3yo whiskies from Islay’s juvenile distillery are truly remarkable, they’re as good as any single malt Scotch – nailing the long dead misconception that under (say) eight years is too young. It’s great.

Loch Fyne Whiskies
david@lfw.co.uk

September 25 – Scotch Tasting in Woodbury

2:00pm – 3:00pm at The Cellars Wines & Spirits – Woodbury

“Vinocopia and The Cellars are teaming up once more to present to you a Scotch Tasting. Last years event was so popular we had to create a second session, so we ask that you sign up in store, or RSVP via Facebook to reserve a place.”

Woodbury Location
East side of Radio Dr., N. of Valley Creek Rd.
1815 Radio Dr., Woodbury, Minnesota 55125
651-738-8110•Fax: 651-578-9308
woodbury@TheCellars.com
  
http://www.thecellars.com/events.htm

Single Malts Newsletter
Laphroaig, Bunnahabhain, Glenfiddich and more on offer this week
Week of 20th August 2010
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Greetings!
 
Deals of the Week ££££

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Ardmore Traditional

Special Offer Price

Only£21.49 Inc Vat£18.29 Ex Vat Saving of £10.00 (RRP £31.49 inc Vat)

Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old

Special Offer Price

Only £26.99 Inc Vat £22.97 Ex Vat  Saving of £7.00 (RRP £33.99 inc Vat)

Dalmore 12 Year Old

Special Offer Price

Only £29.99 Inc Vat £25.52 Ex Vat Saving of £9.00 (RRP £38.99 inc Vat)

Glenfiddich 18 Year Old

Special Offer Price

Only £37.49 Inc Vat £31.91 Ex Vat Saving of £11.50 (RRP £48.99 inc Vat)

Laphroaig 10 Year Old

Special Offer Price

Only £22.49 Inc Vat £19.14 Ex Vat Saving of £8.50 (RRP £30.99 inc Vat)

Old Pulteney 17 Year Old

Special Offer Price

Only £40.49 Inc Vat £34.46 Ex Vat Saving of £12.50 (RRP £52.99 inc Vat)

phone: 0845 6066145
email: info@singlemaltsdirect.com
website: www.singlemaltsdirect.com
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