Loch Fyne Whiskies News has posted their, ‘Christmas Whisky DEALS! 2010’

Now available online, over 100 whisky DEALS! available until 20th December or whilst stocks last.

Also available as a pdf for download.

You may view the latest at
https://www.lfw.co.uk/blog/2010/11/12/christmas-whisky-deals-2010/

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

www.ralfy.com @ Glasgow’s Whisky Festival Vlogs 1 to 23 .. a big single-Festival feature at ralfy.com designed to compliment Whisky Fringe and Victoria Whisky Festival by giving a different view of what Festivals offer !

Like previous Independent Festival features, the format has been changed to offer additional perspectives    23 in all !

… ralfy recommends drinking Whisky whilst watching !

Glenglassaugh Distillery, Portsoy.  10 November 2010.

• First Minister and Chinese Consul General celebrate new Scotch Whisky Status at Glenglassaugh Distillery
• Unique cask of whisky filled with future bottling for charity

First Minister and Consul General with the celebratory octave cask

A visit from a very special guest to a small distillery in the north-east of Scotland has produced the opportunity for whisky lovers the world over to toast a piece of history.

First Minister Alex Salmond chose to mark a momentous occasion for Scotch Whisky at Glenglassaugh Distillery on the Moray Firth this week.

To mark the signing of a document giving Scotch Whisky recognition and protection in China, Glenglassaugh Distillery has produced a special Octave – 50 litres -of the amber nectar to be auctioned off for charity in five years time. The first minister gave this cask his seal of approval this week on his visit to the distillery as he was helped to fill it by Madam Tan Xiutian, Consul General for the People’s Republic of China in Scotland.

Mr Salmond chose Glenglassaugh Distillery in Portsoy to celebrate Scotch Whisky being given Geographical Indication of Origin Status in China, which means copycat versions of the famous drink can no longer be legally sold in China.

It was a very exciting day for Glenglassaugh, which was previously mothballed and only re-opened two years ago.

Managing director of the distillery Stuart Nickerson said: “I am delighted that the first minister and Consul General are marking this important day at Glenglassaugh.”

Mr Salmond had helped celebrate the re-opening of the distillery in 2008 and was very happy to be back.

“I was delighted to visit Glenglassaugh once again. Almost two years since I re-opened the distillery it was good to meet Stuart and the rest of the staff and great to see that Glenglassaugh is going from strength to strength,” he said. He added: “This is a highly important day for the Scotch Whisky industry and this designation is enormously helpful for the industry.”

The distillery took the opportunity to ask Mr Salmond and Madam Tan to fill a one-off octave of whisky which will be in high demand by bidders when it is opened in five years. It is expected that this will yield 50 to 60 bottles which will give whisky connoisseurs a chance to purchase a piece of history.

Madam Tan and the first minister signed the small cask marking the agreement which will hopefully see sales of genuine Scotch Whisky rise in China.

Madam Tan said of the agreement: “This designation is very important for both the whisky creator and the consumer.”

Bidders for one of the octave bottles will be in for a treat as one of the Glenglassaugh whiskies was recently described as “one of the great world whiskies for 2010” by acclaimed whisky writer Jim Murray and the aged whiskies have won several awards and much praise.

Mr Nickerson said: “China is a key Market for Glenglassaugh and this announcement means we can re-focus our efforts with renewed confidence, knowing our products and customers are protected.”

Glenglassaugh has a range of whisky available from 26 years of age to a 43 year old and more information on these and how to purchase them as well as your own Octave cask can be found on the distillery web site www.glenglassaugh.com .

The company also has a range of Spirit Drinks and more information on these can be found on www.thespiritdrink.com .

November Nips & Top Five Hits
The November Outturn has landed with full-force, have you got your bottle yet? If you’re not sure what to top-up on, here are the five most popular bottles from this month’s First Friday release:

Number 1:  127.5 Morning dew on Islay                 
£43.70 inc. Free p&p
A platter of seafood awaited us; shrimps, oysters and crabs, with a boiling pot of crayfish and lobsters

Number 2: 44.47 Strawberries dangling over straw 
£41.20 inc. Free p&p
Buttered toast and an earthy fruitiness, like summer strawberries dangling over straw19.48 Big, friendly, toffee nose

Number 3:  76.78 Foamy bananas dipped in cayenne pepper 
£49.70 inc. Free p&p
Rum fudge, vanilla, French toast, brown sugar, toffee apples and polished red leather Chesterfields

Number 4: 121.39 Easy-drinking dream
£45.70 inc Free p&p
Rich treacle toffee, banana Toffoes, spun sugar, Maltesers and banoffee

Number 5:  7.60 Life is a Cabaret, old chum…
£69.40 inc. Free p&p
1930’s Berlin cabaret – fag packets, cheap perfume, lipstick, seamed stockings, grease paint, serge uniforms, leather jackboots and bacon crisps (did they have those in the ‘30’s?).

Sherry Butt Pair:
76.78 & 44.47 for £81 and save £9.90

SMWS Whisky Tasting & Events

South African Rugby Brunch – The Vaults, Sat 20 Nov
Christmas Outturn Tasting – Queen Street, Thu 25 Nov
Winchester Preview Tasting – Hotel du Vin, Thu 25 Nov
Glasgow Preview Tasting – Malmaison, Fri 26 Nov
Pan-Asian Curry Experience – London, Sat 27 Nov
Christmas Parcels Tasting – London, Thu 2 Dec
Newcastle Christmas Tasting – Northern Counties Club, Fri 3 Dec
Christmas Drinks 101 – Queen Street, Fri 3 Dec

Visit the Society for your chance to join at http://www.smws.co.uk/memberships

Glenglassaugh Distillery ‘The Manager’s Legacy’
Release No.2 – Dod Cameron 1986 45.3%

The second in a series of four single cask releases to celebrate the achievements and influences of Glenglassaugh distillery managers during the period 1964 – 1986. Bottled on site at natural strength, without colouring or chill-filtration. The Dod Cameron release is limited to 500 individually numbered bottles from a refill sherry butt filled in December 1986 and was one of the last casks filled at Glenglassaugh under its previous ownership.

Age: Distilled December 1986
Volume: 700ml
Strength: 45.3% abv

Tasting Note
Colour: Orange Gold
Nose: Fresh and fruity with barley sugar sweetness. Boiled sweets, stewed plums and a sprinkling of demerara sugar. Banana skins and orange essence giving way to clove oil and liquorice.
Palate: Juicy, syrupy and round with sweet stewed plum and orange flavours, balanced with gentle oak spice and nuances of clove and liquorice.
Finish: Lingering fruits, warming spice and liquorice.   

Excl. VAT: £135.00 Incl. VAT: £114.89

The Rare Cask Series

With cask stocks continuing to deplete, Glenglassaugh’s youngest whisky is a 26 years of age. It’s still the same tear-drop bottle but with the older age on the neck label.
Excl. VAT:£127.65 Incl. VAT:£149.99
 
Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
phone: 0845 6066145
email: info@singlemaltsdirect.com
web: www.singlemaltsdirect.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*DOUGLAS LAING & CO WHISKY TASTING – WEDNESDAY 8TH DECEMBER 2010*

For our final whisky tasting of the year we are pleased to be welcoming Jan Beckers Malt Ambassador for the independent bottlers Douglas Laing & Co.  Established in 1948 in Glasgow, Douglas Laing is a family company that has built it’s reputation on the quality whiskies they bottle from their vast stock of casks that hail from many different distilleries.  The Laing family’s huge passion for their product, their insistence on no added colour or chill filtering for their whiskies, and the wonderfully quirky tasting notes they produce, all add up to a truly independent company whose aim is to make the discerning whisky drinker happy.

Amongst the whiskies that Jan Beckers will be presenting for us there will be some from the renowned Old Malt Cask range.  These are single cask bottlings from a  variety of distilleries, including a number of closed ones.  There are always some real stars to be found in this range, and all the whiskies are bottled at 50% abv (known as the ‘Golden Strength’).  Also on show will be some of the Provenance collection, an intriguing range of small batch and single cask expressions that feature the season the whisky was distilled (be it Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter) on the bottle label.  Last, but certainly not least, there will be a guest appearance from that wonderful Islay character Big Peat.  Rapidly becoming one of our best selling whiskies, this vatted malt has some of the real big hitters from Islay – Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Bowmore and Port Ellen are all brought together in one glorious breath of peat reek that is an ideal dram for a cold winter’s night (or any other night really)

This is the last tasting of the year so don’t miss out.  Come along and enjoy some great whiskies (and start compiling your Christmas ‘wish(ky)’ list!)

*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
www.whiskyandwines.com

Maltstock
Discount reminder

Hello whisky enthusiasts,

Just a short reminder that you get a 10% discount on your Maltstock 2011 tickets if you buy them before the end of 2010. Click here to go directly to our webshop.

The first tickets for Maltstock 2011 have already been sold. We expect many to follow. Remember there’s a limited number of tickets available. So avoid disappointment and get yours in time.
We already have one special tasting lined up for Maltstock 2011: the guys from Master of Malt will do a closed distilleries tasting. We will of course keep you updated on the Maltstock 2011 program.

This weekend the Maltstock team will be at the whisky fair in Leiden. We look forward to meeting you there. Also in Leiden will be the terrific team of the Highlander Inn, Craigellachie, Speyside. They made a superb Scottish breakfast at Maltstock this year. And we are very happy that they will be back next year!

Any questions? Just let us know! You can also follow us on Facebook.

Slainte!

The Maltstock team
Arthur, Bob, Eline, Rogier & Teun
www.maltstock.com

Malt Advocate held its annual WhiskyFest New York this past week, and the microdistilling community was out in force. Some of the most creative experiments in distilling are being done at American microdistilleries, and you’ll hear from some of the distillers in this episode. In the news, a boiler explosion shuts down Springbank, a $160,000 bottle of whisky is still on the market, and the Friends of Laphroaig visit the Statue of Liberty.

Listen to episode #289 at www.whiskycast.com

Whisky in Your Pocket
Publication date: 18th November 2010

Waverley Books Limited
Book Publishers

World’s bestselling pocket guide to Scotch returns after 12 years

The single Scotch malt category owes much of its increasing popularity to a couple of Scottish wine and spirit merchants who persuaded the big London hotels, restaurants and clubs to start stocking single malts back in the late 1960 and 70s. They were the Milroy brothers, Jack and Wallace, who made their forays into the on-trade from their tiny Soho Wine Market. In the mid-1980s Wallace was approached by Neil Wilson, a  whisky writer and publisher, who suggested he should write a pocket guide to single malts for his fledgling list. The result was Wallace Milroy’s Malt Whisky Almanac and it was to go on to sell over 300,000 copies worldwide.

After seven editions Wallace and Neil felt that it had served its purpose and it was retired in 1998. Jack went on to sell the Soho Wine Market and Wallace became a consultant to the trade. But in 2009 Neil and Wallace decided that the time was right to bring the almanac back, but this time to cover grain and blended whiskies as well. Their reasons were simple: confused consumers were growing in number and a new entry-level pocket guide to the world of Scotch was desperately needed. The published guides that had followed the original almanac had raised the level of information and subjective opinion on whiskies, but they felt that newcomers to the subject were increasingly confused and bewildered by what was on offer.

The result is Whisky In Your Pocket, which details 139 single malts (including Bushmills from Northern Ireland), 10 single grains, 4 blended malts, 2 blended grains and 16 blended Scotch whiskies. Illustrated with bottle shots, regional and distillery location maps throughout, the result is a comprehensive thumbnail picture of what consumers can expect when they take their first foray into the amazing world of Scotch whisky.

Whisky In Your Pocket by Wallace Milroy and Neil Wilson
Publication date: 18th November 2010
ISBN: 978-1-84934-023-6
Price: £7.99
192 pages, full colour throughout

The Taste:

It blends the recipe of centuries ago with the smooth, refined flavors that appeal to today’s palate

Nose – Freshly snapped cornhusk, but only after a bare drizzle of pure water is added to open the nose.
Taste – Smooth, mellow and elegant. A mid warm sweetness of unrefined raw sugar, retaining the richness from freshly picked corn.
Finish – A pleasant and tempered clean finish, void of impurities, with a diffused and balanced lingering of warmth.

Versatility – the subtle, distinctive character is most noticeable when sipped just shy of neat with a slash of pure water. When wall bruised with ice, it transforms into a creamy, voluptuous, satiny texture. The mixability of this spirit is most friendly to any fruit that has medium or strong acidity, but is also well-matched with most mixers within the bartender’s repertoire.

Did You Know…

MOONSHINE was crafted by many U.S. Presidents….and outlawed by others.

For more then a decade it ruled New York’s most decadent and glamorous age of nightlife and was hotly pursued by federal agents. It gave birth to the nations second largest sport: NASCAR. During Prohibition MOONSHINE runners souped up their cars so they could get away from the law.

Signature Cocktail: The Shiner

1 ½ parts Original MOONSHINE
Juice of one-half Lime
3 oz of club soda
Pour Original MOONSHINE and lime juice into an old fashioned glass over ice cubes. Top with club soda and stir. Garnish with a slice of lime.

The STILLHOUSE Distillery:

The STILLHOUSE Distillery is located in historic Culpeper, Virginia.

The Culpeper area was a highly prized position for both sides during the Civil War. In 1863, over 20,000 soldiers clashed at Brandy Station just outside of Culpeper, engaging in what would go down in history as the largest cavalry battle in the history of the Western Hemisphere.  All the corn that goes into the production of Moonshine is grown at the estate in Culpeper. The estate distillery houses a genuine sold copper pot still, which was constructed in 1930, there years before the end of Prohibition

The Brand

Original MOONSHINE is the first product launched from STILLHOUSE, a premium spirits brand based in Culpeper, VA .

STILLHOUSE partners include entrepreneur Brad Beckerman and famed chef Adam Perry Lang, who passionately developed the Original MOONSHINE recipe over the past 3 years.  Original MOONSHINE is now available in select locations throughout New York, Los Angeles, Austin and Virginia and is coming soon to Las Vegas and Miami.

It also will be available off- premise in early 2011 at select retailers.

www.moonshine.com