We have re-launched our website with the aim of making it easier to navigate and find the information which you are looking for.  There is now more information available and direct links to the new on-line shop, subscribing to this blog and providing feedback to us. It now comes with more familiar drop-down menus and has slide shows and two small videos to view.

We would appreciate any feedback that you have, even if you preferred the last site.

We have plans to improve the site further and I will keep you informed of progress as the changes are made.

Last week was a celebratory week for us as we did well at The San Francisco World Spirits Competition with the 21 year old winning a double gold medal and the 40 year old winning a gold medal.  Following the awarding of 94 points in Jim Murray’s 2010 Whisky Bible for the 21 year old it is pleasing to see that it is being acknowledged as an outstanding whisky in it’s own right and on a par with it’s two older siblings.

Back home in Scotland, on Thursday we won an award for export development for our success in expanding availability of the new range to 13 new markets and already this year we have added more markets to that list with plans for more.

We will also be publishing a book detailing the history of Glenglassaugh and this will be available from the shop, where copies can be personally signed by Graham and/or myself if desired. We will shortly be publishing a high quality book covering the history of Glenglassaugh from its beginnings in 1875 up to the present day and its recent revival. The book will be in hard-back format and of extremely high quality and a landscape format which allows a complete re-print of an original specially commissioned article by celebrated Victorian whisky author, Alfred Barnard, to be included.

The retail price will be £19.99, excluding delivery, and the books should be available from the distillery after 14th April. Alternatively there will be a paperback version available at £14.99 plus delivery.

If anyone wants to pre-order one of these books then this can be done via the on-line shop.

Slange

Stuart

Visit Glenglassaugh at http://www.glenglassaugh.com/

Springbank OB WB 1919 / 51yo 46%alc.

From Richard at LFW;

You should have bought this before July 2003, it was just £10,000 then, I did warn you, but you ignored me, between then and January 2009 you could have got one for £14k. Now look what your investment would have done. I did tell you, but did you pay any attention? More fool you., now this is the last bottle remaining to be sold, hurry while stocks last!

If you buy one make sure you drink it, musty and gingery, a bit like rummaging about in yer grannies garret – Sam Browne belts?

Price excluding VAT: £42,553.19
£50,000.00 Including VAT at 17.5%

Buy yours today at www.lfw.co.uk 

Makes the Morltach 70yo Generations look like a complete deal at £10,000

April 8th Thursday 7:00 PM and April 11th Sunday 4:00 PM Single Malt Tasting.

Ladies’ Choice Tasting, Gentlemen always welcome! Let Cortney, Jeni, Rachel and Corilee regale you with their fave whiskies. Glenmorangie, Ardbeg, Bunnahabhain, Tullibardine, more! $50 per person.

Contact the Dell at  patg@dundeedell.com

5007 Underwood Avenue
Omaha, NE 68132-2235, United States
(402) 553-9501

Ralfy posts episode #122 in which he reviews Sainsbury’s Single Malt Irish Whiskey. The Irish journey continues…

Visit Ralfy at www.ralfy.com

Our friends at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society of America have released their ‘Early April’ edition of “OUTTURN” which features their excellent bottling list.

Visit the Society at http://www.smwsa.com/

New Single Cask releases

April 2010

Dear Customer,

This month we are offering two (2) new OLD MALT CASK releases, two (2) new PREMIER BARRELS, as well as 1 (one) OLD & RARE, and one (1) CLAN DENNY Grain.

The OLD MALT CASK Tasting Notes follow:

OMC 1824 Bunnahabhain 13 Year Old
Nose: Fresh, with stewed strawberries + cookie dough
Palate: Opens sweet and flowery + fresh pears+ vanilla tablet
Finish: Short, attractively soft + an orange tang character (J)

OMC 1822 Dailuaine 27 Year Old
Nose: Fresh and clean, opening to pear, wood shavings and grist.
Palate: With vanilla caramel, citrus and loads of barley.
Finish: Barley sugar + honey + light smoke and spice (F)

The OLD & RARE Tasting Note follows:

OAR 0095 Macallan 32 Year Old Wine Finished
Clean, still fresh, on the nose with a distinct honey (plus may be liquorice) and gristed style. The palate is full of sweet barley juice, some more evident light liquorice influence, with a hard candy/barley sugared character. The
finish is spiced – warmingly so – still sweet, and runs late to tail with a dry kindling smokiness. (F)

The PREMIER BARREL Tasting Notes follow – with our normal apologies for their extreme extravagance.

PBR 0074 Bowmore 9 Year Old
Most bodacious Bowmore! Savour this syllabus of sumptuous saltiness – its suffusion of stylish smokiness – this sea shanty of seaweed and seafaring sorcery …. Hello Sailor! (F)

Visit the extreme extravagant Douglas Laing at  http://www.douglaslaing.com/

Dew of Ben Nevis 12yo (40%, OB, +/-2009)

A famous name in the world of Scottish blends and one has to presume, this blend contains a good amount of Ben Nevis (Ben Nevis is a wee mountain)single malt. From the Ben Nevis (the distillery is located in Fort William on the west coast of Scotland) distillery website;  This whisky is so rich in malt content that many people think of it as a malt whisky. As part of his whisky Tasting evenings our Danish importer has in the past conducted ‘blind’ tastings using our “12 Years Old Deluxe” blend and having the audience compare it with some of our larger competitors more famous blends, of the same vintage. The tide of opinion favoured the Ben Nevis whisky each time this challenge was tried. This product sells particularly well in our Visitors’ Centre and also on the internet with many orders being repeats. This product gained a gold medal from Monde in 2000.

The nose is not very forth coming at first and it takes some hand warming to bring out malt and fruit with some wood notes hovering in the background. The official notes are correct; it does not nose like a blend, it’s not a huge collection of aromas but they are pleasant. After a while in the glass and the hand it opens up further and it increasingly pleasant. Warm birthday cake, toffee, mild hints of orange and bees wax. The taste is malty and sweet and really, really very nice. Wow! There’s a temptation to start drinking and abandon the tasting notes altogether. There’s a solid back bone to the sweet malt notes of wood and tobacco (but not over whelming). This all very good. The finish is warming, fragrant and long with the spicy oak notes riding the crest of the wave before being over taken by the malt and the sweetness at the very end.

Richard Joynson at Loch Fyne Whiskies is correct “Good value deluxe dramming, buy two”.

£22

Score 85 points

 
PRESS INFORMATION
 
WHISKY CONNOISSEUR DAVE BROOM VISITS THE GLENLIVET AHEAD OF SPIRIT OF SPEYSIDE FESTIVAL 2010
 
Chivas Brothers, the Scotch whisky and premium gin business of Pernod Ricard, recently hosted whisky writer and connoisseur Dave Broom at The Glenlivet Distillery, as he prepares for his Whisky Master Classes at the forthcoming Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, which takes place from 29th April – 3rd May 2010.
 
Broom was welcomed by The Glenlivet Master Distiller Alan Winchester and his Master Class co-host Brand Ambassador Ian Logan. Together they selected an exclusive range of whisky samples to showcase at the tasting, including award winning expressions of The Glenlivet as well as some cask strength samples which are rarely made available.
 
Alan Winchester, Master Distiller of The Glenlivet comments; “It’s a real honour to have a whisky legend of Dave’s calibre here at The Glenlivet Distillery. We have chosen a selection of elegant and mellow malt whiskies, which perfectly reflect the quality and excellence of The Glenlivet range. Both Ian and I are really looking forward to welcoming Dave back here again in a few weeks time, during what is set to be a fantastic Spirit of Speyside Festival 2010.”

 
Since 1824 the wild and remote setting of Glenlivet has been the home of the single malt which inspired a region. Crafted in the remote LivetValley, it is the only whisky with the unchallengeable right to be called The Glenlivet.
 
Dave Broom’s Whisky Master Class will take place on Friday 30th April from 09.30 -11.30 and Saturday 1st May from 14.30 – 16.30. Tickets cost £20.00 and can be booked at www.spiritofspeyside.com.
 
-Ends-
 
Note to editors:
 
The Glenlivet Distillery offers free tours on Monday to Saturday 09.30-16.00 and Sunday 12.00-16.00. There is a Coffee Shop selling refreshments and light lunches.
 
For more details at www.maltwhiskydistilleries.com and www.theglenlivet.com
 
Other events at The Glenlivet for the Festival include:
 
• The Sma’ Still which will be run again, by popular demand, by Hamish Proctor, The Glenlivet Distillery Manager on Saturday 1st May around 13.00. Taste a dram of the new spirit as it flows from the still. Free of charge
• Two walks along the Smugglers’ Trails will set off from the Distillery with support from the Crown Estate Rangers.
 
o On Friday 30th April at 14.00 the 6km “George Smith Smugglers’ Trail” will follow the River Livet (“Smooth-flowing One”) to the remains of DruminCastle, built in the 14th century by the Earl of Buchan, the notorious “Wolf of Badenoch”. The route also passes the former home of George Smith, whose knowledge of the glen and its natural whisky-making resources was unrivalled. Tickets cost £3.00
 
o On Saturday 1st May at 09.30 you can follow in the footsteps of Robbie MacPherson, Smugglers’ Trail, one of the most notorious whisky smugglers, and enjoy commentary from expert guides and a dram on the way. The walk will be led by Alan Winchester, Master Distiller for The Glenlivet and Rangers from the Crown Estate. The 11km trail from The Glenlivet Distillery passes the 16th century BlairfindyCastle, leads to the summit of Cairn Daimh [570m] and continues to the site of George Smith’s original distillery in Upper Drumin. It returns close to Josie’s Well, the natural spring which bubbles hourly 3,500 gallons of pure, ice cold water for making the whisky. Tickets cost £5.00
 
o Stout boots and waterproof jackets are recommended for both walks.
 
 
Chivas Brothers is the Scotch whisky and premium gin business of Pernod Ricard – the world’s co-leader in wine and spirits. Chivas Brothers is the global leader in luxury Scotch whisky with a portfolio that includes Chivas Regal, Ballantine’s, Beefeater Gin, The Glenlivet, Royal Salute, Aberlour, Plymouth Gin, Longmorn, Scapa, 100 Pipers, Clan Campbell, Something Special and Passport.
 
Visit our new corporate website at www.chivasbrothers.com

Loch Fyne Whiskies has stocked a new item, ‘Highland Park 40yo 5cl’

Highland Park 40yo 5cl
£89.90 inc vat
£76.51 ex vat

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

April 2010

Dear Customer

There are six (6) new DOUGLAS (of Drumlanrig) bottlings this month, which we hope you will find attractive.

DOD 0115 Glenburgie 11 Year Old
Anticipate: candy floss / sweet with pears / spicy with cloves (J)

DOD 0113 Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old
Fresh & fruity – barley sugar & mandarins – light + an orange tang (J)

DOD 0112 Arran 13 Year Old
Anticipate: spices + bees wax / toffee + dried fruit / oak tang (J)

DOD 0111 Laphroaig 16 Year Old
Anticipate: sweet smoke, seaweed & iodine, bandages, ashes (J)

DOD 0110 Macallan 20 Year Old
Anticipate: Fresh & sweet, spicy with stewed apples, toffee & chocolate (J)

DOD 0114 Port Ellen 27 Year Old
Anticipate: sweet, chewy tar/ beach bonfire ashes / rock pools (J)

The range continues to open up new markets and the selection is therefore being made wider. We hope you will savour and enjoy these new offerings beyond the current range.

We thank you for your support which is always appreciated, and if you have any ideas of Malts you would like to see included, please let us know.

All best wishes

Fred Laing

Visit Langside Distillers at http://www.douglasofdrumlanrig.com/Douglas_of_Drumlanrig/About_Douglas.html