Jura 20 Year Old – Two Centuries

Commemorative bottling to mark the  200th Anniversary of Jura distillery.

Limited release of 200 numbered bottles from a single hogshead complete with Douglas Laing  anniversary series packaging. 51.2%.

Distillery: Isle of Jura

A Mediterranean resort on a sunny day, a tad draughty on some other days. Sheltered by Islay, by the mighty Paps of Jura, washed by the warm Gulf Stream, fronted by palm trees. More Red Deer than people, tranquil and refreshingly quiet. A quiet and gentle whisky.

Product Details

Age: 20 Year Old
Vintage: 1990
Volume: 70cl
ABV: 51.2%
Bottler: Douglas Laing

Visit the Whisky Barrel at www.thewhiskybarrel.com

Oculating

From Richard Paterson (he’s back despite the Brett Farve style promises)

The blog has moved (I’ve not stopped!) – and you could win a bottle of 30 year old Whyte & Mackay http://tinyurl.com/32xyg9a 

Some people took me too literally the other day, thinking I’d stopped blogging*. Not so! But the blog has moved to the very modern and new look Whyte & Mackay site, where I’ll talk about (you guessed it) Whyte & Mackay whiskies as well as everything else a Master Blender gets up to.

Remember, the two Willies from Jura also have their own blog up and running over on the Jura site… http://tinyurl.com/2aapoke 

And to mark the new look blog, we’ve hidden a bottle of 30 year old whisky on the site… http://tinyurl.com/HiddenW-M30

Slainte!

* That’s because you told the world you had stopped, see the original message here  https://www.whiskyintelligence.com/2010/10/richard-paterson-the-master-blender-last-blog-post-here-from-me-scotch-whisky-news/ 

COMPASS BOX 10th Anniversary Tasting 22nd October 2010  

An incredibly exciting event to celebrate exactly 10 honourable and innovative years since Compass Box was founded by gentleman John Glaser. The man himself will be there to lead punters through 8 drams (a rare mix of greatest hits and the new anniversary bottlings).

Where and When

Where: The Scottish Cafe underneath The National Gallery on Princes St.
When: Friday 22nd October 2010
Timings: 7.30 to 930pm.
What: 8 boutique whiskies presented by the man who made them.

Background To A Great Night

On 22nd October 2000 John Glaser walked into Royal Mile Whiskies and sold his first ever bottles of Compass Box boutique whisky. It was the glorious Hedonism, delivered from the boot of his car, and signalled his intention to provide a fresh, innovative approach to a largely traditional industry. Exactly ten years later (to the day!) the man himself is treating us to an exclusive Edinburgh tasting to celebrate a decade of good service to the whisky buying public.

John is probably too modest to say it, but we think he singlehandedly re-invented and re-invigorated the following categories, which were unloved and ignored before he waved his magic wand:

– Fine Grain Whiskies. No longer just padding for blends, now a style in its own right thanks to Hedonism.
– Small Batch Blended Peaty Malts. Smokehead, Big Smoke, Big Peat and the rest have a lot to thank Peat Monster for.
– Small Batch Blended Malt Brands. Plenty of people now understand vatted malts (well they did before we had to start calling them blended malts).

In addition to this he has pushed the boundries of wood technology, occasionally falling foul of the (in this case a bit silly) lawmakers.

Speaking of which, there are wholly-entirely-absolutely-ok-then-not-really unsubstantiated rumours that the ‘illegal’ Spice Tree may come out of hiding for a taste during this very special night. The line up is still under discussion as John kindly has a look at what is in his archive cupboard, but there is speak of the very first Hedonism being dusted off among other treasures. A few canapes too. 

Visit http://tinyurl.com/CompassBoxRMW for tickets

Berry Brothers – 2010 Reboot (£20 / ticket)
Blackfriars, Newcastle Upon Tyne 
Friday October 15th 2010, 7.30pm 
www.blackfriarsrestaurant.co.uk

Berry Brothers and Rudd have long been associated with fine wine and their shop in St. James’, London is a real experience and akin to stepping back in time to Dickensian Britain. For some years now they have also been developing a formidable reputation for bottling fine whiskies. These normally take the form of single cask, single malt and bottled at no less than 46% ABV. Join us on this fantastic evening when Ed Bates will be showing off some of their latest and greatest additions. Due to the sheer breadth of what they bottle, this tasting really is suitable for all tastes and we believe your breath will be taken away by the quality on offer!

The whiskies will be available to purchase on the night and we are able to accept credit cards on the night for these purchases (apart from Amex)

As always each tasting is designed to be fun and enjoyable for all levels of whisky drinker, and is not a lecture. You will almost certainly learn something new every time, but if you don’t walk out with a smile on your face then there we have done something wrong!

You will not be sent a ticket through the post. Your details will be added to the event register and all you need to do is print the payment confirmation page and bring it with you to the event
 
http://www.thewhiskylounge.com/Events.aspx?id=142

*BOWMORE & AUCHENTOSHAN WHISKY TASTING – TUESDAY 9TH NOVEMBER 2010*

On Tuesday 9th November Zoran Peric, Brand Ambassador for Cellar Trends, will be returning and this time he will be presenting whiskies from Auchentoshan and Bowmore distilleries. Both these distilleries are owned by Morrison Bowmore Distillers (a subsidiary of Suntory) but Auchentoshan hails from the Lowlands and is characterised by its light, refined profile whilst Bowmore is the oldest distillery on Islay and produces a medium peated whisky that is not as heavy hitting as the typical Islay malts but has its own fragrantly smoky style. 

As Zoran will explain to us, the whiskies may be quite different but both distilleries have interesting features in their production processes that are unusual in this day and age. Auchentoshan is one of only two distilleries that still carries out triple distillation and this is one of the elements that contributes to its light, fresh style. As for Bowmore, not only does its peating level vary from the Islay ‘peat monsters’ such as Ardbeg and Laphroaig but also it is one of the few distilleries in Scotland to still have a working floor maltings (which produces from 30-40% of the malt required by the distillery).

This is a great chance to compare and contrast two quite different but equally delightful single malts. The Auchentoshan provides a taste of how triple distillation can produce a delicate yet robust whisky and, even if you have shied away from peated whiskies in the past, the smoky yet perfumed Bowmore may make you change your mind as it is a great introduction to that style of whisky. This is sure to be a popular tasting so book your tickets now!

*How to book*

The tasting will be at Stanton House Hotel, Stanton Fitzwarren  www.stantonhouse.co.uk and will commence at 7.00 for 7.30pm. Tickets for the event are priced at just £10.00, and this includes a discount of £3 against a bottle of one of the featured whiskies if bought or ordered on the night of the tasting.

Most, if not all, of the whiskies tasted will be available to purchase on the night. We accept cash, credit/debit card or cheques.

Tickets are limited, and allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. To buy them just log on to www.whiskyandwines.com

and place an order for the number you require, or telephone us on (01793) 765071, or call in and see us at Arkwrights, The Dormers, Highworth, Wiltshire. Admission to the tasting is by ticket only, and Arkwrights reserve the right to restrict the number of tickets per person.

Tasting tickets always sell very quickly (usually within 48 hours) so it is best to book ASAP.

We look forward to seeing you for another great evening of whisky tasting.

Slainte!

Fran and Ken

Arkwrights Whisky and Wines

Friday 29th October  – Bowmore & Glen Garioch Distilleries SOLD OUT

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Thursday 11th November –  Welsh Penderyn Distillery

To celebrate the Ryder Cup victory at the Celtic Manor course     Cost: £25 per head. Its about time we had a more local distillery up for a tasting session  and we are pleased to welcome the distilling leek troffers from Penderyn to satisfy us on this occasion to sample some of their more rarer fare.

The Penderyn Distillery  

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Friday 19th November –  Speyside Glenfarclas Distillery, a Masterclass with George S Grant (6th generation family owner)

Cost: £35 per head

Unmissable opportunity for us to assist at an George Grant Master class and to hear his legendary tales of whisky and far off adventure, 15yo, 25yo, 30yo, 40yo and a Family Cask. The Glenfarclas family!

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Jim Murray’s WHISKY BIBLE 2011 is now on sale in the shop.

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Tickets available for November dates now!

01384 394518

info@nickollsandperks.co.uk

david@nickollsandperks.co.uk

Slainte

A bottle of 20cl Gordon & MacPhail’s Mortlach 70 years old  Generations has vanished (and was possibly stolen) from the Symposion booth at the Stockholm festival this last weekend. The retail price is +/- $6,000 USD. For further details on this bottling please visit https://www.whiskyintelligence.com/2010/03/gordon-macphail-bottle-the-oldest-single-malt-in-the-world-scotch-whisky-news/

A few words from the Swedish Importer;

Thanks for your interest in spreading the search for the stolen Mortlach 70 Years Old Generations. We are truly sad and disappointed that something like this happen in Sweden.

Please find a little background to the incident and the whisky bellow:

The theft took place at night after the Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival’s final day. We do not to address accusations in any direction at this point. However, as the theft took place after the visitors left the fair and as the bottle was dismantled and hidden in the booth in a guarded hall, we assume that the thief knew what he/she was looking for and that it was a person who felt at home in the showroom.

The back of the gift box as well as the green box in which the gift box delivered are left in our possession.

Due to its scarcity, the allocation for Sweden was limited to only two 70cl and three 20cl bottles. The full size bottles found buyers directly, while the smaller bottles was immediately reserved for a whisky tasting led by Michael Urquhart at The Bishop’s Arms in Malmo in early November. It was one of the 20cl-bottles (worth 5,200 USD) that were stolen and we are at present working on finding a solution for our client The Bishop’s Arms.

In addition to our regular allocation, G&M agreed to let us buy another bottle to use for a unique tasting where we have chartered a private plane for the day, flying Swedish connoisseurs to Scotland to finish off a bottle of Mortlach 70 Years Old in Elgin, and then return back to Sweden the same day. Although the cost for this one-day trip is equivalent to a normal holiday week, all 65 seats were sold out in less than one and a half days.

We have made a police report, and also made inquiries through Social Media as well as traditional Swedish media. We are currently working on getting the bottles individual identification number. The attention together with the uniqueness of the whisky will most likely make the whisky quite difficult to sell. And hopefully, the thief being caught!

Feel free to contact me for any further information (Office: +46 40 20 47 63, Cell: +46 708 20 19 30)

Best regards,

Thomas Kuuttanen

SYMPOSION INTERNATIONAL AB

www.symposion.nu

www.purityvodka.com

Many thanks to Mark at WhisyCast for this article. Visit WhiskyCast at www.whiskycast.com

New at www.ralfy.com  Whisky Review 153 – Berry Brothers & Rudd Ledaig 4yo (cask 900008). An unusual and very accomplished 4 yo sherry monster from Ledaig, (peated Tobermory)    … off the malt ‘radar’ until brought to my attention by experienced maltsters at Loch Fyne Whisky (www.lfw.co.uk).

BENRIACH DISTILLERY COMPANY BOOSTS SALES TEAM
 
THE BenRiach Distillery Company, owners of the BenRiach and GlenDronach brands, is beefing up its sales team with the appointment of Donald MacLellan.
 
He joins the fast-growing Edinburgh-based company as International Market Development Executive.
 
Working alongside Regional Sales Directors Alistair Walker and James Cowan, MacLellan (29) will be responsible for developing business in new markets such as South and Central America, and Eastern and Central Europe.
 
He was born in Australia to Scottish parents and educated there, obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management.
 
After travelling around Europe in his gap year, Donald joined Bruichladdich where he spent five years, first as Web Shop Manager and thereafter in the sales team where he was responsible for Eastern Europe and Russia which he subsequently developed into more than fifteen active markets.
 
Commenting on his appointment, Donald said: “I couldn’t resist the lure of working with the BenRiach and GlenDronach brands – two phenomenal malts with huge growth, especially in the last two years – and innumerable opportunities for impressive growth in the future.
 
“BenRiach is enormously under-appreciated by malt whisky fans. Until becoming independent in 2004 it was largely unknown on the general market as it was used primarily for blending in the past, but with over forty years’ stock – both peated and unpeated – it has huge potential worldwide.”
 
Donald also plans to develop BenRiach and GlenDronach’s social media accounts, such as on Twitter and Facebook.
 
“These give us a huge opportunity to connect with our many thousands of fans worldwide. I’ll keep all BenRiach and GlenDronach followers fully informed about news, stories, new products, tasting notes and general distillery happenings.”
 
Alistair Walker said: “We are delighted to have Donald on board. He brings excellent industry experience with him, and his addition to the team will allow us to further expand the availability of our malt brands worldwide.”

Finally, Kilchoman is available in the United States for the first time!!  This is a Summer 2010 Release that has been matured in 100% Bourbon barrels from Buffalo Trace, Kentucky.  It has been bottled at 46%, unchillfiltered and natural color.  The fist 2 releases from Kilchoman were given 92 and 90 points by John Hansell at Malt Advocate.  The Summer 2010 Release is limited to 378 / 6 packs in the U.S..

For more information on where to purchase or on upcoming tastings, featuring Kilchoman, please go to www.impexbev.com or contact ImpEx Beverages at office@impexbev.com or by phone:  650-872-1113