BenRiach 23yo 1986/09 (56.1%, OB, Binny’s/PLOWED, Peated/Pedro Ximinez Finish, 314 Bts., C#3182)

A single cask bottled for Binny’s Chicago and selected by the PLOWED Society from a peated hogs head and finished in Pedro Ximinez casks. The nose is of peat smoke and a myriad of deep rich dark fruit and Christmas cake along with some hints of diesel and coal smoke. All in all a very good combination. Also sherry, hints of nutmeg and raisins. The taste is peated, woody (& hints of char) and once again the fruit is much in evidence however there is some dryness and this over takes the other characteristics some what but this does not detract. This is very good. The finish is warming, syrupy and dark raisiny sweet along with some super dry oaky moments with a back ground of white chocolate. It is quite long and consistent.

Very well balanced and a good combination of peat smoke and the Pedro Ximinez sherry and great depth.  The BenRiach character has vanished however but no matter as this is very nice.

US$170 at www.binnys.com

Score 85 points

A note from Gerry Tosh:

I wrote in November of last year from deepest darkest Canada in some bar Cadet Wheelock led me astray in (shame on you Wheelock) about Earl Magnus, a high-strength, limited edition Highland Park which followed hot on the footsteps of Hjarta. Earl Magnus was the first of a trilogy; it sold out very quickly and has recently been awarded Gold Best in Class at the International Wine & Spirits Competition.

It is my great privilege to introduce to you the second in the series; Saint Magnus is a vatting bottled at 55% abv. The whisky has been largely matured in Spanish oak casks, of which approximately 20% were first-fill. The youngest whisky in the vatting dates from 1998.

Saint Magnus is one of six saintly Norsemen born in the 11th and 12th centuries when the Orkney Islands belonged to Norway. Saint Magnus was murdered by his treacherous cousin Haakon and was canonized only 20 years later. His influence spread far and wide; more than 20 churches have been dedicated to Saint Magnus. The forename became popular in Orkney, most notably in the case of Magnus Eunson, our man forever associated with the founding of Highland Park distillery in 1798.
 
  
The whisky has been created by my mate Max MacFarlane, Whisky Maker extraordinaire, and is bottled at 55%. These are his thoughts on the tasting notes for Saint Magnus:

Appearance: Copper toned honey, clear and bright.

Nose: At natural strength there is terrific intensity with classic dried fruits and honey sweetness. Thereafter glorious notes of cinnamon, dried apple and hints of exotic fruits emerge, followed by a whiff of aromatic smoke.

Palate: Immediately intense and rich, the whisky lingers on the palate emphasizing the perfect balance between sweetness and aromatic smoke.

Finish: Long and gently smoky.

Saint Magnus is available at £85 per bottle and is limited to 11,994 bottles.

 For information on The Best Spirit in the World visit www.highlandpark.co.uk

Yours sincerly
Gerry Tosh
Head of Brand Education Whisky Ambassador of the Year

Binny’s Algonquin Location

SCOTCH TASTING OPEN HOUSE

Saturday, September 11, 1:00-4:00pm

Taste over a dozen different Scotches and get a look at the many different styles of Scotch Whisky. 

Call (847)458-2470 for more information or visit Binny’s at www.binnys.com

Ballechin #5 (peated Edradour) OB 46%alc.

LFW comments;

The Festival of Ballechin, here at Loch Fyne Whiskies, celebrates the arrival of a new bottling and we are clearing up after the arrival of the latest of Andrew Symington & Edradour’s ‘Discovery Series’. Much-peated Ballechin #5 is hewn from a Marsala cask offered at 46%, unchillfiltered and, as it says on the tube, is “natural colour” – unlike the colour of the tube, which is not natural.

Contrasting with #4 (from Oloroso sherry wood) the sweet, fortified, Italian wine cask has not contributed much to the whisky; it’s primarily peaty, not so much neat on the nose but when tasted and nosed with water it’s very peaty. There are distinct fruit notes (as cherry Tunes® – menthol sweets) and other esters with water added. Overall it’s sweet peat and will be another big seller in the shop – after the application of a petit gout…

On the flavour map it’s in D10:
on the smoky side of Light and Smoky

Added to LFW.CO.UK 9-SEPTEMBER-2010

Price excluding VAT: £50.64
£59.50 Including VAT at 17.5%

Visit Loch Fyne Whiskeis at www.lfw.co.uk

Ballechin #5 (peated Edradour) OB 46%alc.

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

The Douglas Laing Single Malt Scotch Whisky Tasting  from 6 to 8 pm

Further details to follow…

Visit the Brandy Library at www.brandylibrary.com

Last chance to win two £500 bottles of 40 year old whisky

From Richard Paterson;

Hectic day (hectic month) so I’ll be quick. To help celebrate my 40th anniversary as a Master Blender at Whyte & Mackay, we are giving away two bottles of 40 year old – one via the internet and one in Glasgow – this weekend. Here’s what you need to do:

To win in Glasgow, come along to Whisky Live and find the Whyte & Mackay stall at around 1.45pm. If you are dressed like me – some marketing wag dubbed it a ‘tache mob’ – or looking like me you’ll get a free dram of the 40 year old and the best lookalike will win a bottle.

If you can’t make Glasgow, post a pic of yourself impersonating me and send a link – put it in the comments below or place it on our Facebook page – and again, the best one will win a bottle of 40 year old. Closing date is midnight Sunday, UK time.

We might do some runner-up prizes as well… good luck everyone and have fun!

The 'tache' below 'the nose'

It’s time for a brand new guide to the finest whisky in the world…

101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die by Ian Buxton

£12.99 HB / 2 Sept 2010 (UK) / $19.95 / 1 Nov 2010 (USA & Canada)
 224 colour illustrated pp / 9780755360833

‘Buxton’s selection introduced me to some unexpected delights. Taste them all and you’ll live for ever!’
Charles MacLean, Master of the Quaich.

‘Brilliant! Every whisky lover can learn something from this irreverent and stimulating read’
Jason Craig, Brand Controller, Cutty Sark

’I just couldn’t put it down…one of the best whisky books in recent years’
Ingvar Ronde, Editor, The Malt Whisky Yearbook

• With annual business in excess of £2billion, whisky is one of the UK’s leading exports.
• This book has been written with international whisky lover in mind and is as relevant in the US, India or New Zealand as it is in Ian’s native Scotland.
• Contemporary design and package gives this book a broader and younger appeal than other whisky titles currently on the market.
• Ian Buxton has been working in the whisky industry for more than 20 years.
• He lives in a discontinued distillery in Perthshire.
• This is his desert island list of whiskies.

For more information or to interview Ian – contact:

Bob McDevitt / bob.mcdevitt@hachettescotland.co.uk / 07876 508 716

Sláinte!

Two-bit Cowboy Saloon

Single Malt Scotch Whisky Tastings:

Second Saturday Scotch Sipping at Six

2nd Saturday    every month    6 – 9 p.m.    no reservation required

Enjoy light hors d’oeuvres to cleanse your palate between 5 half-ounce samples of single malt Scotch whisky: $20. (Cash bar for non-whisky drinkers)

 ►  Enjoy 3 featured single malts, including a Malt of the Month *

 ►  Roll a die and choose a single malt from one of the six Scotch regions

 ►  Pick your connoisseur’s choice from our single malt Scotch whisky menu

Featured malts:

* 10% off bottles of the Malt of the Month

September 11, 2010

Glenrothes Select Reserve *

Dalmore 12 yo

Isle of Jura Prophecy

October 9, 2010

Benromach 10 yo *

Speyburn 10 yo

Edradour Caledonia 12 yo

November 13, 2010

Old Pulteney 12 yo *

Ardmore Traditional Cask

GlenDronach 12 yo

December 11, 2010

New Beginnings:

This tasting will include three young, limited release whiskies from privately held distilleries: One’s a new distillery (Kilchoman Summer 2010 Release *), one’s a newly reopened distillery that sat silent for more than a century (Kilkerran 2009 Work in Progress), and  one’s a reopened distillery that had been mothballed for the better part of a decade (Bruichladdich 2001 Resurrection Dram)

January 8, 2011

Balvenie 12 yo DoubleWood *

Glenfiddich 15 yo

Deanston 12 yo un-chill filtered.

Visit the Miner’s Delight Inn at http://www.minersdelightinn.com/

Ralfy heads south of the Scottish-English border to review St. Georges English Whisky (Chapter 6) in review number 147(!) from the comfort of his studio.

How times flies when you’re nosing whisky. Visit Ralfy at www.ralfy.com