Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

For those of you who have contacted us for a place at the upcoming Ardbeg tasting here at Vinopolis; if you have not heard from us today, then unfortunately your name was not selected in our lottery draw.

If it makes you feel any better (which it probably won’t), we had well over 300 applicants for only 40 places at the event.

Rest assured however that we do have plenty of other exciting events lined up for the rest of the year, so keep your eyes peeled for future newsletters!

Sláinte,

The Team

Exclusive Member Offer – Celebrate Father’s Day with The Glenlivet

The Glenlivet 21 Yr Old is the perfect way to celebrate any special occasion so we’ve put together an exclusive Taste The Glenlivet member offer for Father’s day.

Buy a bottle of The Glenlivet 21 Year Old from The Whisky Exchange before Sunday 19th June 2011 quoting the code TGL21 at checkout and you will receive a complimentary copy of Ian Buxton’s best selling whisky guide ‘101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die’.

The first 200 orders placed will also include a pair of The Glenlivet premium tasting glasses* from which you can enjoy your favourite dram.

Amongst some great company ‘101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die’ describes The Glenlivet 21 Year Old as ‘a real stamp of quality and drinking satisfaction’. It was written by whisky expert Ian Buxton who features on our Video Tasting Guide.

Order before 16/06/2011 to guarantee delivery in time for Father’s Day.

Order here…

The single malt that started it all.

Society Cask Ends Sale: Only a few parcels left!

Cask End Parcels are dwindling fast – we expect to sell-out today or tomorrow.  Top-up NOW to avoid disappointment. 

Cask Ends Parcel A: Ex-sherry casks
£95.oo inc free p&p 

Cask Ends Parcel B: Ex-bourbon casks
£95.00 inc. free p&p

Cask Ends Parcel C: Ex-sherry & bourbon casks
£95.00 inc. free p&p

Additional Bottle Offer: Buy 2.78 for only £49.00 instead of £69.10 when you buy ANY Cask Ends Parcel

2.78 Kissed up by sweet promises
Speyside Spey
The nose had some seconds of spikiness, with pine resin and potato schnapps, but quickly settled to delicate aromatics of plum blossom, cherry wood shavings, lilac and candied angelica; then lovely sweet promises kissed up – vanilla, honeycomb, Ferrero Rocher

Society Tastings & Events (43 Society tastings online)

Dunfermline Preview Tasting – Garvock House Hotel
Guildford Preview Tasting – Manor House Hotel, Thu 26 May
York Preview Tasting – Bedern Hall, Fri 27 May
Liverpool Preview Tasting – Malmaison, Fri 27 May
Cardiff Preview Tasting – Novotel, Fri 27 May
Champions League Final – Queen Street, Fri 27 May
New Outturn Open Tasting – London, Sat 4 June
New Outturn Tasting – The Vaults, Sun 5 June
‘Classic’ Malt Tasting – Queen Street, Sat 11 June

Society Whisky Tastings

Whatever and wherever our tasting or event, the main focus is to give members an informal, enjoyable and relaxed night out..with a taste of the single cask good stuff!

Events range from step by step instruction in how to get the most from tasting single cask, single malt whisky to more adventurous couplings of whisky with food.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society,
The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ
Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm).

Visit the Society at http://www.smws.co.uk/memberships for your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers. 

Born in the USA

Isle of Skye continues to surge in popularity in the States. We decided to find out the ‘secret to success’ from Lynn Kohl at our US Importer, ImpEx:

“It’s the blend that thinks it’s a single malt”. With a greater percentage of single malt and the added ageing in bourbon barrels, both the seasoned “Maltheads” and perhaps more importantly, the new Scotch drinker, have become aware that this fine blend is not only an affordable everyday dram but also has a richness that far surpasses their old familiar choices. Having grown-up, (now also growing beyond beers), those consumers aged 20-30’s are moving on. They do not want their father’s drink. Isle of Skye is a unique Scotch Blend and they are now claiming ownership of that uniqueness.

The success of Ian Macleod’s Isle of Skye 8 Year Old has undoubtedly whetted the appetite of the U.S. market and consumers are demanding more expressions. We at ImpEx Beverages Inc. will be introducing the Isle of Skye 12 Year Old in the Fall of 2011. To assist in promoting the new Isle of Skye 12 Year Old, ImpEx is launching the “Pub It Up” campaign which highlights our new, younger fan’s love of sports, whisky and gathering places — their local pubs and sports bars.

Read all the Isle of Skye Blended Scotch Whisky NEWS at www.isleofskyewhisky.com/news/

Old Parr 12yo (40%, OB, +/-2010)

Launched in 1909 with top markets in Japan, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. The variants are Grand Old Parr (12 year old), Old Parr (15 year old) and Old Parr Superior (18 year old). Old Parr is well known as a traditional blended Scotch whisky with its unique bottle design. Thomas Parr (known as “Old Par”) was apparently Britain’s oldest man. He lived for 152 years and at the age of 122 he married for the second time. He is buried in Westminster Abbey, London. (From Diageo)

On the nose it’s slightly restrained at first but still pleasant, very much middle of the road if one is stumped for a collection of descriptors then simply saying ‘whisky’ would put you in the ball park. Some further time in the glass reveals (some what begrudgingly) some toffee notes and some hints of oak spice. Some further time in the glass brings out some citrus and quite possibly a little bit of peat smoke. All slightly elusive but still pleasant. The taste is really very nice and again not over whelming in any one area; very much middle of the road with some good sweetness, a little dark chocolate, a little malt dust and some more of the oak spice. Any weight come in the form of Bovril (just a tinge) and some Ovalteen. The finish is malty and honeyed, very mouth filling but does not stray from the script as previously described. It’s actually quite long but the dark chocolate bitterness gives way to a slightly less appealing bitterness after a minute or so but then the toffee re-emerges so all is forgiven. After a few minutes some good malt shows up…

Quite a pleasant dram and nice to try after seeing it in books for so many years.

Only $28

Score 81 points.

BROWN-FORMAN UNVEILS “TRIPLE CROWN OF COCKTAILS”

Woodford Reserve® and Early Times featured in signature drinks of Kentucky Derby®, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes

Louisville, KY – Brown-Forman Corporation has unveiled the Triple Crown of cocktails for the 2011 racing season. Woodford Reserve® bourbon and Early Times Kentucky Whisky are both featured as main ingredients of the signature cocktails of all three Triple Crown races.

The Early Times Mint Julep

Official Cocktail of the Kentucky Derby

The mint julep is the Official Drink of the Kentucky Derby and the Early Times Mint Julep has been the Official Drink of the Kentucky Derby for the past 24 years. Over 120,000 Early Times Mint Juleps are served at Churchill Downs® during Derby week.

 2 ounces Early Times Kentucky Whisky

1 Tablespoon Simple Syrup

Mint Sprigs

Crushed Ice

Muddle a few mint leaves in the bottom of your mint julep cup, then fill with crushed ice.  Add one tablespoon of simple syrup and two ounces Early Times Kentucky Whisky.  Stir gently until glass frosts.  Garnish with a fresh mint sprig, sip and enjoy.

The Black-Eyed Susan

Official Cocktail of the Preakness

The Preakness Stakes is held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland and marks the second leg of the Triple Crown. The Black-Eyed Susan serves as the Official Drink of the Preakness and Early Times Kentucky Whisky is a key ingredient to this signature cocktail.

1 ¼ ounces Early Times Kentucky Whisky

¾ ounces vodka

3 ounces sweet and sour mix

2 ounces orange juice

Garnish with an orange slice and cherry.

Woodford Reserve Belmont Jewel

Official Cocktail of the Belmont Stakes

The third and final leg of the Triple Crown is the Belmont Stakes, held every June at Belmont Park® in Elmont, NY. Woodford Reserve is the Official Bourbon of the Belmont Stakes and is the main ingredient for the Official Cocktail, the Belmont Jewel.

1 ½ oz. Woodford Reserve

2 oz.  Lemonade

1 oz.  Pomegranate juice

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain over ice into a rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge or cherry.

About Brown-Forman

For over 140 years, Brown-Forman Corporation has enriched the experience of life by responsibly building fine quality beverage alcohol brands, including Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Southern Comfort, Finlandia, Canadian Mist, Early Times Kentucky Whisky, Fetzer, Korbel, Gentleman Jack, el Jimador, Tequila Herradura, Sonoma-Cutrer, Chambord and Woodford Reserve. Brown-Forman’s brands are supported by nearly 4,000 employees and sold in approximately 135 countries worldwide. For more information about the company, please visit http://www.brown-forman.com/.

Berry Brothers & Rudd
The Britons Protection, Manchester 
Friday June 17th 2011, 7.30pm 
 
£22.00 / ticket       

Berry Brothers and Rudd have long been associated with fine wine and their shop in St. James’, London is a real experience and akin to stepping back in time to Dickensian Britain. For some years now they have also been developing a formidable reputation for bottling fine whiskies. These normally take the form of single cask, single malt and bottled at no less than 46% ABV. Join us on this fantastic evening when Eddie Ludlow will be showing off some of the latest and greatest additions from this most incredible independent bottler. Due to the sheer breadth of what they bottle, this tasting really is suitable for all tastes and we believe your breath will be taken away by the quality on offer!

The whiskies will be available to purchase on the night.

As always each tasting is designed to be fun and enjoyable for all levels of whisky drinker, and is not a lecture. You will almost certainly learn something new every time, but if you don’t walk out with a smile on your face then there we have done something wrong!

If you would like to purchase tickets for this event as a gift, please email us at info@thewhiskylounge.com upon completion of your order. We can then email you a PDF with a gift voucher for you to print and pop into a card of your choice!

(You will not be sent a ticket through the post. Your details will be added to the event register and all you need to do is print the payment confirmation page and bring it with you to the event).

Visit The Whisky Lougne at www.thewhiskylounge.com

The Claymore Times

~ All The News That’s Fit To Drink ~

Greetings Malt Lovers,

The room went deadly quiet when Michael Urquhart of Gordon & MacPhail brought out the 70 year old Glenlivet and gave everyone in the masters class a sample to try, you could have heard a pin drop. An unbelievable night at the Spirit of Toronto and one I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.

Here’s some of the whiskies you had a chance to sample from our table which are all available at the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) but because of their rarity you may have to order from your local LCBO store.

And some photos from last week Spirit of Toronto that were taken on the night.

Coming soon a 15yo Mortlach, I’ll keep you posted.
                  
Regards,

Bill Somerville
Global Operations Director
Claymore Imports Inc.

www.ralfy.com has a new review called   … whisky review 201 – Glenfarclas 15yo

… hooray !

Owensboro Distilling Fixture Re-Named The Glenmore Distillery

OWENSBORO, kENTUCKY (May 20, 2011) – The former Barton Brands Ltd. is now officially The Glenmore Distillery again. Known by locals for years as “Glenmore,” the iconic distillery on East Fourth Street is going back to its roots by reclaiming the Glenmore name.

Purchased by The Sazerac Company in 2009, The Glenmore Distillery employs 173 people working two shifts a day bottling such iconic distilled spirits brands as Mr. Boston, Fleischmann, Firefly Ready-To-Drink Cocktails, 99 Brand, Chi-Chi’s and many more. 

Since the Sazerac purchase two years ago, the company has spent $2 million dollars in capital investments for the facility, including new machinery and storage tanks. In addition, the company has moved over the bottling of several brands from other facilities to take advantage of Glenmore’s modern bottling facility, resulting in the addition of a second shift. The Distillery is responsible for an economic impact of $17.8 million to the Owensboro area.

“We are committed to staying in the city of Owensboro, as evidenced by our investment of additional monies to add new jobs and bring more business to the community,” said Mark Brown, president and CEO of Sazerac Company.  “In fact, we are even discussing a long term plan to add tours of The Glenmore Distillery in the future, which will bring in even more revenue in the community through tourism dollars.  This site, linked with our tour operations at our distilleries in Bardstown (Barton 1792 Distillery) and Frankfort, Ky. (Buffalo Trace Distillery) will make quite an interesting bourbon trek for bourbon fans and historians.”

“We’re excited to be called ‘The Glenmore Distillery’ again, since in our hearts that’s what we always thought of ourselves as,” said Don Kelley, vice president, plant manager for The Glenmore Distillery.  “But we’re even more excited by the investments already made and the future plans for our plant. We plan to remain a vital part of the Owensboro community for many years to come.”
 
About The Glenmore Distillery

The Glenmore Distillery has been a fixture in the Owensboro Community since the late 1800s. Originally called the Monarch Distillery, James Thompson re-named it The Glenmore Distillery after the Glenmore Castle near his birthplace in County Derry, Northern Ireland. During Prohibition, The Glenmore Distillery was fortunate enough to be one of four distilleries in the country allowed to operate on a limited scale for medicinal necessity.

Surviving tragedies such as flood and fire, the distillery went on to fill its two millionth barrel of whiskey in 1946. In 1973 it was producing 540 barrels a day.  Although distilling operations ceased in 1973, bottling and warehousing continued at The Glenmore Distillery.

In March of 2009 the Sazerac Company purchased the distillery and reprised the name The Glenmore Distillery. The Distillery boasts one of the largest and most modern bottling facilities in the country and continues to be a sizable employer in the city of Owensboro, Ky. For more information visit www.sazerac.com.