A Trip to the Other Side of the World
 
The Devastation of Christchurch
I was due to go to Christchurch last weekend to be part of Dramfest, which was planned to be the final stage of a short trip to Asia and Australasia but due to the earthquake the event was cancelled. I know that Michael and his team at Whisky Galore had been working hard to organise the event and it must be a great disappointment that it had to be cancelled at the last minute. However the good news is that although the event was cancelled and their shop was wrecked all of the staff and their families are well and survived the disaster.

Hopefully Michael can get the business up and running again soon and I know that I speak for everyone in passing on my best wishes for the future.

Whisky Live Japan
This was my first visit to Japan and I was very impressed by the politeness of the local population as well as the knowledge of whisky that all the consumers had. The show was extremely well planned and  managed and the attendance was high which made the events pass very quickly.  Each day started with a parade of kilted Scotsmen, led by the “punk piper”, going from ground level in a shopping plaza area down to the exhibition area and was a great way to generate interest in the event and was a fitting daily start.

As usual there was a lot of interest in Glenglassaugh as many people had not heard of us but those attending proved to be extremely knowledgeable about Scotch Whisky and enthusiastic to learn more about Glenglassaugh. The whiskies again received acclaim from everyone who tried them and the Spirit Drinks also proved to be extremely popular with “Peated” and “Fledging XB” the most requested.

The show ended on Sunday evening with a communal rendition of “Auld Lang Syne” led by the same kilted Scots on the main stage and I am just pleased that my voice was drowned out by those that can actually sing.

"A rose by any other name"

A New Point of View
Had a few flights with Quantas while I was abroad last week and discovered their new innovation of mounting a camera in the tail wing which allows you to view what is happening outside including taxi, take-off, flight and landing. It leads to fascinating viewing, especially watching a night landing at Sydney but I am now sure how I would have felt if something had gone wrong on landing and I was sitting watching it.

Question. What Does John Know ? Answer. A Good Whisky.
Another accolade for Glenglassaugh with our 40 year old being chosen as one of “The Top Ten New Whiskies in 2010” http://www.whatdoesjohnknow.com/

Munich
While I was in Japan, Graham was in Munich for the Whisky Fair and led a whisky tasting, which due to the lights making the power-point presentation difficult to read, was carried out in the dark. Is this yet another innovation from Glenglassaugh?

The Changing Faces at Glenglassaugh
Neil McGarvey who has been part of the team here at Glenglassaugh since 2008, and was living on the site while it was still owned by Highland Distillers, has decided to move on and leaves us on Friday to take up a position with a local engineering company.

He is being replaced by Mhairi Macdonald, who many of you will remember was previously working with us on a temporary basis in the sales and marketing role. Mhairi is now joining us on a permanent basis and her knowledge and experience in all areas of the business will prove extremely useful and I am really pleased that she was available and agreed to rejoin the team.

Coming Soon
We are about to release the 4th and final bottling from the Manager’s Legacy series, the oldest one yet, and more information will be forthcoming later this week in a subsequent blog.

At the same time I hope to be able to provide information on the opportunity to purchase a special release of Octave casks.

Slange

Stuart