SPRINGBANK SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

Greetings to all Society Members.

Summer is here, but as usual in Scotland we are still having four seasons in one day on a regular basis.

The tourists don’t seem to be put off by our weather as they still keep coming. The shop has been very busy with people wishing to tour the distillery and taste the whisky. Lea, our summer tour guide is getting plenty of practice, and is also out and about like a tourist herself, taking in the sights of Davaar Island, St Columba’s footprints at Southend, all the local beaches and, of course, the pub at night. She has fitted right in and seems to be enjoying her time so far in our wee community.

Customs & Excise

We are just about there with the customs problems. We have been advised that we have to ensure that the duty is paid on whisky in the country of final destination in the EU member states before we can dispatch orders. This means that we have to send out an invoice to our customer, who then has to go to their customs & excise and pay the duty then send the original receipt to me for dispatch with the order. We will of course deduct the UK duty so that these customers are not paying two lots of duty.

This will hold up orders a little and will entail some more admin work, but as long as you don’t mind waiting a little longer for your whisky, I certainly don’t mind the extra work. The invoices will be e mailed to you so that will speed up the process a little. At the present time we have a little “trial” going on with a few members to see how things work out. We really apprecialte your help in this and also appreciate the members’ patience with us at this time.

Society bottle

We still have a little of the Springbank 14y/o Society bottle – this is the only one available now, but if you ordered any of the others before our dispatch “crash” then they should still be on the reserve shelf for you and we will get them out as soon as we are back to full “distance selling” mode. Invoices to follow!!!

Open Day Bottles

The Springbank open day bottle, as you might know, sold out very quickly. However, we have a little of the Longrow open day bottle left, so if you are interested please let me know. The price is £45 plus p&p.

We also have some Glencairn Open Day glasses, £5 each or £25 for six plus p&p. We don’t have too many of these left, so if you fancy one or two or  even six, let me know and we’ll get them out to you.

Of course we still have some of the Society Glasses, again Glencairn, available only to Society members at the same price as the Open Day Glasses.

Upcoming events

Tiree Music Festival 24th & 25th July
World Pipe Band Championships, Glasgow Green 14 August
Whisky Fringe 14th & 15th August
Campbeltown Music Festival 19th to 22nd August
Whisky Live Glasgow 11th September

New Releases

The new Kilkerran Work in Progress is now available from our shop, you can e mail me or buy online if you would like to sample this year’s release.

Hazelburn 12y/o will be available in August this year. As soon as possible I will let you know the cost and send you the tasting notes.

New Distillery Manager

Gavin has been working closely with Frank McHardy and seems to be taking to his new post like a duck to water. I am sure Frank will be a great support to Gavin while he settles in to his new role as DA BIG BOSS.

Whisky Bar of the Year

Dram Magazine have awared Whisky Bar of the Year 2010 to Ardshiel Hotel in Campbeltown. We are delighted for Flora (who is a Society Member) and her business partner Marion. They have both worked very hard to build up their business and their popular whisky bar. www.ardshiel.co.uk

Whisky School

As well as everything else he’s up to Frank is busy organising the Whisky School for this year and next year. The dates for this year are w/c 28th November and w/c 5th December.

Next year the school will run for six weeks from w/c 15th May 2011. If you are interested in joining the whisky school please e mail me at whiskyschool@springbankwhisky.com and I will send you the relevant information and registration form.

If this year’s school is anything to go by, you will have a great time, working with our friendly team and making new like minded friends.

Well, that’s about it for now. I am still on the case for the hip flasks, I am trying to get a sample made up so that I can send photographs of how it will look. The Society bottle will soon be in the USA and I will e mail the details to our American members so that they can order their bottles.

Right now the sun is shining over Campbeltown – which is unusual, the last few weeks have been very bleak. Here’s hoping for a nice sunny, warm week end.

Slainte

Janet

See all that you’re missing by not being a member of the Springbank Society? Contact Janet at society@springbankwhisky.com for information on how to join and the many benefits!