TWE 10th Anniversary Tasting Monday 18th October, 7:00pm.

£50 per ticket.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen,

This month we have for you something rather special lined up for you.

What with The Whisky Show 2010, London Cocktail Week, Rum Fest and other fun things happening this month in the world of fine drinks, we felt that we had to pull out the stops in the shop too!

As we are sure a lot of you are aware, 2010 brings us to the end of our 10th year of trading online, and to celebrate this we have done some commemorative bottlings. 10 of them in fact. To celebrate 10 years, you see. So for our tasting this month, we will be going through all 10 of these magnificent expressions.

Now some of these bottlings have long since sold out and entered into the realm of legend (although we have been able to find enough for you lovely people), so this tasting is going to be a chance for you to try some whiskies that you may well never see the likes of again! Of the 10 whiskies we will be sampling on this fine evening, however, only 3 are under £100 a bottle. As a consequence, this does mean that the ticket price is a touch on the premium side at £50.00. Of course, this veritable cornucopia of marvellous malts includes a certain Japanese whisky from 1967 that now seems to exchange hands for around £800.00 a bottle, an ancient Longmorn 1969, the very highly rated Linkwood 1973 and Clynelish 37yo, and a beautiful Hakushu 1989 Sherry Cask. So we hope you agree that this is not an unreasonable ticket price.

To host this evening of many delights we have decided that to make it a true TWE tasting, our very selves will be doing the honours. This means you get the joy of us scruffy tykes regaling you with stories and anecdotes (or just waxing lyrical about how good it tastes) for the 2 hours or so that it will take to get through them all.

We would have loved to host this on the 10/10/10, but as it’s a Sunday we can’t even put the tickets on sale on that date. The tickets will therefore go on sale at the usual time of 3:00pm on Monday 4th October, and as always are sold on a first come, first served basis and limited to 2 places per booking. Tickets will be available by calling +44 (0) 207 403 8688 after the above time and date, although despite all the other things going on in October, we are expecting this to sell out quickly so please be very persistent and patient with the redial button!

Scotch Whisky Tasting
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010  6 pm
Café Med  Bakersfield, CA

Hosted by:
Imbibe Wine & Spirits Merchant
4140 Truxtun Avenue
(at Empire)
Bakersfield, CA 93309
661.633.WINE (9463)

http://www.imbibewine.com/

$45 per person. 
Seating is limited to the first 60 guests. 

Join us for a memorable evening with Whisky Expert Ed Kohl to taste through a selection of fine Scotch whiskies and enjoy hearty appetizers at Café Med. Imbibe’s scotch whisky tasting events only happen about once a year.  Don’t miss it!

Bladnoch 1993 Lowland Single Cask (16 yr)
Isle of Skye Premium Blend (8 yr)
Edradour (10 yr) (Scotland’s Smallest Distillery)
Highland Park 1991 Single Cask (17yr)
Smokehead Islay Single Malt
Ben Nevis 1992 Cask Strength Single Cask (17 yr)

*Special Guest:  Chris Uhde

Contact Imbibe at 661.633.9463 with any questions or to purchase tickets.
*48 HOUR CANCELLATION NOTICE REQUIRED FOR REFUND

Curl up this winter with a warming ‘Song of Fire’

With winter looming and frosty nights approaching, there is no better time to stay indoors with your nearest and dearest, open the drinks cabinet and mix a warming cocktail.

‘Song of Fire’, inspired by bartender Jon Hughes of Sygn, Edinburgh – at The Glenrothes Ultimate Gentleman’s Cocktail Competition – is a sweet and spicy cocktail, combining the fruity notes of The Glenrothes with zesty orange, honey and a touch of cinnamon spice.  A genuine winter warmer.

To make the ‘Song of Fire’, stir 50ml of The Glenrothes Select Reserve with honey and hot water in a mixing glass until the honey dissolves.  Then take a snifter glass and place the cinnamon stick and orange zest in the base of brandy glass with the Chartreuse and ignite the alcohol in the glass to extract the flavours. Then pour the honeyed whisky mix into the glass to extinguish the flame. Finish of the cocktail by garnishing the glass with a cinnamon stick and an orange zest twist.

The Glenrothes Select Reserve is a versatile yet unique malt laced with notes of ripe fruits, juicy citrus, creamy vanilla and hints of spice – making it the perfect liquid to partner with cocktails.

A vatting of casks distilled in different years, The Glenrothes Select Reserve typifies the Speyside distillery house style. It is presented in the iconic Glenrothes bottle and is the very essence of The Glenrothes range. RRP £33.45, available at Sainsbury’s, Oddbins, House of Fraser, Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Wine Rack, specialist whisky retailers or online at www.theglenrothes.com.

Additional cocktails to try:

Monol of the Glen

Matty Hutchinson, Ricks, Edinburgh

Glass: Coupette

Garnish: Orange zest twist

Method: STIR all ingredients with ice and strain into chilled glass.

50ml The Glenrothes Select Reserve
20ml Cointreau triple sec
5ml Antica Formula
2 dashes Chocolate bitters

Fantastic Mr. Fudge

Sheverne Shahbazkhani, Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh

Glass: Old-fashioned

Garnish: Half passion fruit

Method: SHAKE all ingredients and fine strain into ice-filled glass.

2 shots The Glenrothes Select Reserve
2 wedges Freshly squeezed lime
1 shot Fudge reduction (homemade)
½ shot Passion fruit juice
½ shot Inness & Gunn

Sweet N Sour Spicy

Matthew Law, Bind Pig, Glasgow

Glass: Old-fashioned

Garnish: Rinse glass with Ricard

Method: SHAKE ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled glass.

50ml The Glenrothes Select Reserve
25ml Freshly squeezed lemon juice
25ml Simple syrup (2 sugar to 1 water)
½ fresh Egg white
15 dried Cloves
1 dash Runny honey

Notes

About The Glenrothes

All cocktail recipes were created for The Glenrothes Ultimate Gentleman’s Cocktail Contest which took place in The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh on Monday 30th November 2009.

The Glenrothes was founded in 1879

Little more than 2% of the distillery capacity is bottled as Single Malt to ensure exceptional quality.

Of the 16 Vintages released to date, 12 have entirely sold out.

It is matured in a combination of Spanish and American oak casks – the best of both worlds.

The Glenrothes Select Reserve was voted Best in Class at the World Whiskies Awards 2008 and won two Double Golds at The San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2007.

MILROY’S OF SOHO OCTOBER NEWSLETTER

With the days starting to close in and the end of daylight saving not far away, we are well and truly entering whisky drinking season.  It is also an incredibly busy time of year for new whisky releases to hit the shelves.  This month’s newsletter brings news from Bruichladdich, Arran and Bowmore distilleries, as well as a couple of rare limited release bottlings from two of Suntory’s distilleries in Japan. 

NEW FROM BRUICHLADDICH

The 2nd batch single cask releases featured in July’s newsletter have landed at Milroy’s of Soho.  Please be aware that quantities are limited and whiskies are selling quickly.  Do act now if you are interested.

BRUICHLADDICH ORGANIC Multi-Vintage, 46% ABV

Bruichladdich Organic joins Benromach as the only two certified organic single malt whiskies produced in Scotland.  Stylistically, it is a “classic” lightly peated, Bourbon wood-matured Bruichladdich, gently fruity and low in phenolics.

£35 per bottle

BRUICHLADDICH PORT CHARLOTTE Multi-Vintage, 46% ABV

After 4 annual releases under the Port Charlotte moniker (all based on spirit distilled in 2001), Bruichladdich distillery has introduced the first multi-vintage Port Charlotte.  Peated at 40ppm (not dissimilar to Ardbeg) and bottled at a lower strength than previous PC expressions (46% ABV rather than cask strength) it makes an interesting to the standard distillery releases from the “big 3” Islay south coast distilleries (Ardbeg, Laphroaig and Lagavulin).

£35 per bottle

OCTOMORE 3 – 152, 59% ABV

The third annual release of Octomore has taken things a step further when it comes to peat smoke.  Weighing in a 152ppm, it seizes the mantle of “the heaviest peated whisky ever released” from its immediate predecessor.  Matured exclusively in ex-Bourbon American oak barrels and bottled at 5 years of age, this is a hedonistic monster of a whisky for those that like the malts to bite back!

£85 per bottle

ARRAN TURNS 14 – ARRAN 14 YEAR OLD, 46% ABV

In our view, Arran distillery is much under-rated and does not receive the exposure that its fine spirit merits.  Recent limited edition releases including the Peacock and 15th Anniversary have been outstanding, both displaying the ripe stonefruit (apricot, peach) and sweet maltiness we have grown the associate with Arran.  The new Arran 14 year old marks the blossoming of Arran from precocious youngster to adult in the whisky world.  Though far from an elder statesman, this is a malt whisky to keep your eye on.    It delivers an enticing combination of sweet vanilla, toffee apples, dried apricots, caramelised orange zest and cinnamon spice.  A noticeable touch of island brine lends bite to the finish.

£39 per bottle

BALVENIE MEETS ISLAY – BALVENIE 17 YEAR OLD Peated Cask, 43% ABV

Balvenie is without a doubt one of the great Speyside distilleries.  We know Balvenie spirit for its textbook vanilla and honey qualities.  This new limited release expression adds a subtle and smoky twist to this much loved whisky.  The whisky itself is a marriage of 17 year old Balvenie that has been matured in casks that previously held heavily peated spirit, together with Balvenie finished in new American oak casks.  The resulting whisky is rich, creamy and spicy, with a gentle underlying smokiness that adds complexity.  There is very little of this release available for the UK market, so do act quickly if interested.

£71.99 per bottle RRP

Exclusive Newsletter Offer Price – £67 per bottle

HIGHLAND PARK SAINT MAGNUS Edition 2

The much loved Highland Park distillery has followed up last year’s highly successful Earl Magnus Edition 1 with Saint Magnus Edition 2.  This limited release bottling (circa 12,000 bottles) is bottled at cask strength, 12 years of age.  This is a great and indeed rare opportunity to enjoy Highland Park at cask strength.   Last year’s release sold out within a month, so we don’t expect its successor to hang around for long.

£85 per bottle RRP

Exclusive Newsletter Offer Price – £80 per bottle

DIAGEO 2010 SPECIAL RELEASES – Heads Up

The much anticipated annual Diageo Special Releases are due to be launched at the end of October.  While we won’t get to taste the whiskies for a few weeks, we do have details of this year’s line-up:

–          Brora 30 year old

–          Caol Ila 12 year old Unpeated

–          Lagavulin 12 year old

–          Port Ellen 31 year old

–          Talisker 30 year old

–          Auchroisk 30 year old

–          Cragganmore 21 year old

–          Glen Spey 21 year old

–          Glenkinchie 20 year old

Our verdict and full tasting notes will be provided in the November newsletter.

Keep your eyes on your inbox in the next couple of weeks as we’ll have news of a couple of rare limited release Japanese whiskies; Yamazaki Sherry Puncheon and Hakushu Heavily Peated.

Until next month, slàinte!
 
Best regards

Philip Shorten
Milroy’s of Soho
3 Greek Street
London, W1D 4NX

T: 020 7437 2385
F: 020 7437 1345
W: www.milroys.co.uk

October Outturn: 12 Out-of-this-world single casks
Discover a new world of tastes and flavours with our latest selection of the finest single cask single malt whiskies on the planet

25.54 Dresses to impress
(Closed Distillery)
Lowland
£77 inc. Free P&P
The elegantly impressive nose had buttery lemons and honeydew with a dusting of sugar. We also found powdery perfumed notes with rose-scented Turkish delight in sugar paper casing.

35.41 Sweet and savoury in a double oven
Speyside Lossie
£139 inc. Free P&P
The palate was syrupy with a spicy kick- treacle scones with Nutella, toasted bread with marmalade, and sweet and Char Sui chow mein.

95.12 Brings a tear to the eye
Speyside Spey
£57.30 inc. Free P&P
Fresh and fruity (banana toffee, strawberry pavlova, rhubarb and custard, Campinos, drops of lemon); also vanilla, hazelnut, chocolate

3.168 After dark
Speyside Spey
£57.30 inc. Free P&P
Dark caramelised notes of syrup, treacle and Nicaraguan rum transported us to the East Indies via Islay; molasses, dates, raisins and prunes with a dusting of Jamaican spices chocolate

October Recommendations:
Pair Offer: 95.12 & 3.168 for only £90 (save £11)
Trio Offer: 125.40, 35.42 & 123.5 for only £136 (save £18.40)

New Distillery 127
Bottles 127.1 & 127.3 will be available to buy over the telephone on
Fri 1 Oct from 10am  – one bottle per member.
Call: 0131 555 229 (Mon-Fri, 9am-4.45pm)

October Outturn browse all bottlings (70 different bottlings) and join the Scotch Malt Whisky Society at www.smws.co.uk

SMWS Whisky Tasting & Events

Steak & Chips Tasting – The Vaults, Mon 11 Oct
Chocolate Afternoon Tea – Queen Street, Sat 16 Oct
Thinking Chocolate Presents… – Queen Street, Sun 17 Oct
Chocolate Indulgence Dinner – Mon 18 Oct
Chocolate Ecstasy – Queen Street, Fri 22 Oct
Sherried Whisky with Willie Phillips – The Vaults, Tue 26 Oct
Oxford Preview Tasting – Thu 28 October, Malmaison Oxford
Sheffield Preview Tasting – Fri 29 Oct, Leopold Hotel
Melrose Preview Tasting – Fri 29 Oct, Townhouse Hotel
Chester-le-Street Halloween Tasting – Fri 29 Oct, The Cricket Club
Pan-Asian Curry Experience – London, Sat 30 Oct
Penderyn Distillery Experience – London, Sun 31 Oct

October 3rd (Sunday) 4:00 p.m. Single Malt Tasting

$50 per person. Reservations are accepted but not required. 402.553.9501 or monique@dundeedell.com

October 4th (Monday) 7:00 p.m. Tullibardine Tasting

Join us as we attempt to re-create the Tulllibardine Distillery visit with Manager James Robertson. One of our all-around favorite tours on the 2010 trip, and a wonderful whisky, particularly well-suited to finishes… Call or email Monique with reservations.

$50 per person. Reservations are accepted but not required. 402.553.9501 or monique@dundeedell.com

October 7th (Thursday) 7:00 p.m. Single Malt Tasting

$50 per person. Reservations are accepted but not required. 402.553.9501 or monique@dundeedell.com

Visit The Dundee Dell at http://www.dundeedell.com/

From LFW;

As part of the ongoing improvements to (the award winning) LFW.co.uk we have secured web access to the missing Scotch Whisky Reviews; those published by Marcin Miller and Dave Broom. Over the next few weeks we will put a new edition online here. Please be aware these are old editions and that subscriptions are no longer available, and that you used to have to pay £2.95 for each one! Thanks to Marcin for releasing them to us, enjoy the first – Edition 25.

https://www.lfw.co.uk/whisky_review/scotch_whisky_review.html

Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks company, will today (Sept 28th) open the doors of our new £40 million distillery in Speyside, Scotland for the first time.

The Roseisle distillery is the first malt distillery of scale to be opened in Scotland in over 30 years and has been built in response to the high demand for Scotch whisky brands such as Johnnie Walker and Buchanan’s around the world.

The award-winning distillery will be formally opened by Diageo Chief Executive Paul Walsh on 11 October, but was opened today to allow a select number of media from around the world a glimpse of its stunning design, which combines centuries of accumulated distilling knowledge and expertise with cutting-edge design and technology, to produce quality spirit for Diageo’s brands.

The £40 million investment in Roseisle is part of a capital investment programme in Scotland which has totalled £600 million over the past six fiscal years and has focused on building high quality capacity to meet growing international demand for Diageo’s iconic brands.

Paul Walsh emphasized that the distillery clearly demonstrates Diageo’s commitment to the future of Scotland and Scotch.

He commented: “Economic growth and consumer demographics present a great opportunity for the Scotch whisky industry and for Diageo’s outstanding brands, especially in the developing markets. The construction of Roseisle will allow Diageo to supply the growth in demand of its premium international Scotch brands as well as spotlights our firm commitment to both the growth of the category and the Scottish economy.”

Bryan Donaghey, Managing Director of Diageo Scotland, added: “The Roseisle malt whisky distillery represents one of Diageo’s biggest investments into the Scotch whisky category and forms part of our £100 million three year investment programme in the development of Scotch.  This official opening is a true celebration of the fantastic expertise and knowledge that we have in our business.”

Roseisle has been built at a time when the global Scotch whisky market remains buoyant with the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) reporting exports to have risen by 3% in value to £3.13bn, contributing £99 every second to the UK trade balance in 2009. Over the same period, export volumes increased by 4% worldwide, with the equivalent of 1.1bn 70cl bottles of Scotch whisky shipped. The SWA reported that Scotch whisky enjoyed continuing success in Brazil (+44%), Mexico (+25%) and Taiwan (+14%), each a significant developing market in 2009.

Roseisle has been designed to build on best practice from Diageo’s other 27 malt distilleries and it’s grain distilleries[1] to improve efficiency and performance, building on centuries of distilling experience and knowledge. The distillery has already won two awards in the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Scotland 2010 Awards – Sustainability Project of the Year and the overall Project of the Year. It also features 14 copper stills crafted by Diageo’s coppermiths at Abercrombies, Alloa and has a production capacity of 10 million litres of spirit per annum. The liquid produced at Roseisle will be used in Diageo Scotch whisky blends from 2012.

Roseisle has also been constructed using a combination of modern environmental technologies and traditional distilling techniques, making it one of the most environmentally sustainable Scotch whisky distilleries. The majority of the by-products will be recycled on site in a bioenergy facility, helping the distillery to generate most of its own energy and reduce potential CO2 emissions by approximately 13,000 tonnes (equivalent to 10,000 family cars) through direct savings on fuel use for steam raising.

The 3,000m² distillery was constructed on time and on budget, with work starting on site in October 2007 and completed in Spring 2009. Diageo worked closely with its partners for the development of the distillery. Austin-Smith:Lord (ASL) were the architects commissioned for this project. The lead designer and structural engineers were AECOM and Rok were the main contractors.  The £14 million bioenergy facility was developed in conjunction with Dalkia.

[1] Diageo fully owns the grain distillery at Cameronbridge and has a 50% share in the North British grain distillery in Edinburgh

ROSEISLE DISTILLERY – FACT SHEET
 Roseisle represents one of Diageo’s biggest investments in the category – utilising years of collaborative knowledge from the full portfolio of Scotch whisky distilleries.
 The distillery is Scotland’s first major new distillery for over 30 years and demonstrates the importance of creating production capacity for the long-term, in particular to meet growing demand from developing markets in Asia and in Latin America.
 Construction work commenced in October 2007 and the 3,000m² distillery was completed within budget and on time in spring 2009.
 Costing £40 million, the distillery is part of a £100 million investment programme by Diageo in the Scotch whisky category.
 The new distillery created 25 new jobs – a combination of operational and support roles.
PRODUCTION, SCALE AND FEATURES
 The production from the new distillery will be used in a number of our blended Scotch whiskies. Over 90% of our volumes from Scotland are exported to a significant number of global markets.
 Roseisle Distillery will produce around 10million litres of spirit per annum.
 The stillhouse features 14 copper stills crafted by Diageo’s coppermiths at Abercrombie, Alloa. Mashing takes place in two mash tuns and fermentation in 14 stainless steel wash backs.
 The design of the new distillery features traditional production methods, including best practice found at Diageo’s 27 existing malt distilleries, and innovative new techniques.
 The spirit produced must mature for a legal minimum of three years so the first mature spirit from the new distillery will be available from 2012.
A SUSTAINABLE DISTILLERY
 The distillery features cutting edge green technology with the majority of the by-products recycled on site.
 Potential CO2 emissions at the distillery will be reduced by approximately 13,000 tonnes (equivalent to 10,000 family cars) through direct savings on fuel use for steam raising.
 Renewable energy will be generated from liquid and solid by-products – a mixture of barley husks, yeast and water – produced during distillation and dust and rootlets from the maltings germination process. This is separated into liquid, producing energy in the form of biogas through anaerobic digestion, and dried solids which form a biomass fuel source.

Maltstock – Newsletter 1

Early bird discount & Maltstock all inclusive
  
Whisky friends,

Boy time flies! Already three weeks have passed since Maltstock 2010. What a fantastic Maltstock weekend it was again. Everybody had a very relaxing and enjoyable time.

We would like to thank everybody who helped making this weekend such a terrific event. A big thank you to all our volunteers, to the industry people, to our sponsors and of course to all of you who were present this year: thank you all!!

Already we’ve seen many pictures on Facebook, thanks! There are also some on our website, as well as movies and reviews. We will be adding more over the next few weeks.

Survey
We really would love to have your feedback so we can further improve Maltstock (and smile reading how everybody enjoyed themselves ;-). We have put a short survey on our website and we would appreciate it if you take a few minutes to let us know what you think. There are two survey’s: one is for the people present at Maltstock 2010. the other (very short) one is for those of you who sadly couldn’t attend. We would love to find out why and how we can improve.

Guest survey: click here http://www.maltstock.com/index.php?option=com_jextsurvey&Itemid=50

Non-guest survey: click here http://www.maltstock.com/index.php?option=com_jextsurvey&Itemid=54

Or go to the Maltstock website. there’s a link to both survey’s in the menu.

MALTSTOCK 2011
Yes we will back! Maltstock III will be 9-11 September 2011. So put these dates in your agenda. Or even better, got to our webshop and get your Maltstock 2011 tickets.

Early bird discount
If you buy your Maltstock tickets before the end of this year (31 December 2010) we’ll give you a 10% discount! Click here to go to the Maltstock webshop. http://www.maltstock.com/nieuwste/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=2&vmcchk=1&Itemid=2

Maltstock all inclusive
For the third edition we have decided to make Maltstock an all inclusive weekend. With the exception of the whiskies from the whisky collectors and the raffle, everything during the Maltstock weekend is included! So not just diner, BBQ, accommodation, Scottish breakfast, but also lunch, beers, soft drinks and water. Of course there will also be free masterclasses again, a campfire and a whisky quiz. And as always there will be many whiskies to share and enjoy without paying extra for them.

Maltstock III, 9-11 September 2011
Overasselt, just south of Nijmegen, the Netherlands
Tickets available now for just 175,- all inclusive. And a 10% discount if you book before 31 December 2010.

We hope to see you all again at Maltstock III, and at the many great whisky festivals until  Maltstock. The Maltstock team is in Paris this weekend and at the Pot Still in Amersdfoort next weekend.

Slainte!

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

www.maltstock.com
the relaxed whisky weekend

From the Dram Good bookshop…

As loyal readers you will notice something different about Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible for 2011…

Not only have we added an additional 24 pages – taking the whisky count to well over 4,500 – we are also proud to share with you an all new Whisky Bible cover design.
 
Created to widen the appeal of the ‘Bible’ to a much broader whisky loving audience, we feel the design better reflects Jim’s pithy*, jargon-free style of writing: the very thing that makes Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible the most trusted guide to Whisky by you and many thousands of others…

To celebrate the launch of the 2011 edition we have set up a special per-order discount of 15% which is redeemable against a personally dedicated and signed book by Jim, when you become a follower of Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible on Facebook. Click here** for the exclusive discount code before you place your order at The Dram Good Book Shop; http://www.ekmpowershop7.com/ekmps/shops/dramgoodbooks/index.asp

*According to http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pithy ‘pithy’ means (2): having substance and point : tersely cogent.

You’ll have to look up ‘cogent’ for yourself.

** WI could not find the discount code on the FB page however perhaps you’ll have more luck. Not matter discount or no discount the WB is always good value.