www.ralfy.com presents …Whisky Review 206 – Spirit of Unity… enjoy!

The Clan MacLeod’s Annual Meeting ~ San Francisco.  This event is being held at The San Francisco Airport DoubleTree Hotel, 835 Airport Blvd., Burlingame, California 94010 Tel: 1-650-344-5500.

Here is the link: http://www.clanmacleodusa.org/2011%20San%20Francisco%20AGM%20Welcome%20page.htm

On Friday, June 17th Chris Uhde, the District Sales Manager for ImpEx Beverages will be conducting the tasting.  He is also the Scotch Expert for the United Scottish Society of Southern California.

The following are the malts we will be pouring:

Ian MacLeod’s Isle of Skye
Smokehead
Chieftain’s ~ Teaninich 28 yrs cask # 7704 cask strength
Chieftain’s ~ Mortlach 15 yrs cask # 7281 “Sherry” cask strength

In addition to the above Ian MacLeod malts, he will also be pouring Kilchoman Spring 2011 Release.

BUFFALO TRACE DISTILLERY RELEASES
ONE-OF-A-KIND MILLENNIUM BARREL BOTTLING
Distillery Hopes to Raise $200,000 for Charity

FRANKFORT, Franklin County, Ky (June, 2011) – It was Dec. 31st, 1999, and the new century was dawning as the  employees at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, KY gathered around to watch the  last barrel of the twentieth century roll into Warehouse V, the world’s only bonded single barrel aging warehouse.

      Now nearly 12 years later, this Buffalo Trace Millennium Barrel bourbon has filled 174 beautifully handwritten and individually numbered bottles.  Each Millennium Barrel bottle has been packaged in a numbered hardwood showcase box that includes a piece of this historic barrel’s charred oak stave and a brochure explaining the significance of this collector’s edition.

      Endeavoring to do something special with this milestone barrel, the company will offer all 174 bottles to charitable organizations across the country free of charge to auction off and raise money for their worthwhile causes.

       This commemorative bottling of the Buffalo Trace Millennium Barrel will not be available in stores. Bottles will only available to non-profit organizations wishing to raise funds for their charity. To be considered, organizations must submit an official U.S. non-profit tax ID number and auction the bottle within the 2011 calendar year. Applications will be taken online only, at www.buffalotacemillennium.com. Recipients of these bottles shall be notified by email on August 1st. Bottles will be shipped free of charge in August and recipients will have until Dec. 31, 2011 to auction the bottle.

      “This was special barrel of barrel of whiskey and we want to do something with the bottles to help those in need,” said Kris Comstock, Buffalo Trace Brand Manager. “We really hope whiskey enthusiasts and collectors will help some deserving non-profit groups raise serious money. These 174 bottles are beautiful and the bourbon tastes amazing. Our goal is to raise $200,000 for charity!”

      Non-profit organizations can submit their request for a bottle online beginning today. The cutoff date to submit an online application is July 26th.

About Buffalo Trace Distillery

Buffalo Trace Distillery is a family-owned company based in Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky. The distillery’s rich distilling tradition dates back to 1787 and includes such legends as E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee.  Buffalo Trace Distillery is a fully operational distillery producing bourbon, rye and vodka on site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Distillery has won seven distillery titles since 2000 from such notable publications as Whisky Magazine, Malt Advocate Magazine and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. It was named Whisky Magazine 2010 World Icons of Whisky “Whisky Visitor Attraction of the Year.” Buffalo Trace Distillery has also garnered more than 200 awards for its wide range of premium whiskies. To learn more about Buffalo Trace Distillery visit www.buffalotrace.com.

The whisky festival is now over for another year and once again it was a roaring success. Despite the weather’s best efforts, everyone who attended had a wonderful time!

We’ve now updated the festival section of our website, where you can find all our video highlights and best bits. Those of you who made it along can relive your favourite moments, while those of you who couldn’t join us can enjoy the festival experience from the comfort of your own home.

As a Diurach you can enjoy exclusive access to our footage, where you’ll be taken on the same tasting journey with Willie T and I, that everyone else was able to experience on the day. The only thing you won’t experience will be the howling winds! Be sure to watch all the way to the end of the video to see what I mean! Click here to enjoy all the content (and remember to print your own tasting mat  here  and join in!)

We hope all of you enjoy experiencing the festival as much as we enjoyed hosting it!

Slainte

Willie Cochrane
Jura Distillery Manager

P.S. If you have friends or family who also share your passion for Jura whisky and might like to become Diurachs send them to www.isleofjura.com where they’ll discover more about our mystical isle.

This Tuesday (June 7, 2011 – apologies for the delay in publication -WI) the second edition of the popular Scotch single malt whisky app for the iPhone and iPod touch was released into Apple’s App Store. Since 2009, the iMalt app has been the whisky lovers’ preffered app for keeping track of whisky collections and tasting notes. This new version takes the iMalt app online.

With the all new iTasteNote Cloud Service for the iMalt app it is now possible to share your tasting notes and ratings with thousands of single malt enthusiasts. A long with the classification system this makes the iMalt app an even better tool for finding your whiskies.

By subscribing to the iTasteNote Cloud Service you will also receive regular updates in the form of regions, distilleries and single malt whiskies. The first update consists of 150 single malts from Knockando, Balvenie, Mackmyra, Royal Brackla, Brora, Loch Lemond, Rosebank, Port Ellen, Amrut and Glendullan. But that is only the beginning. The vision is to create the most complete database of single malt whiskies from all over the world.

The iTasteNote Cloud Service does also provide online backup and it enables synchronization of data between your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

The iTasteNote Cloud Service is offered as an in-app-purchase and costs $9.99 / 7.99 € for 90 days. You do not need to subscribe to see the iTasteNote rating of each whisky.

You can find more information about the iMalt app on http://www.imaltwhiskyapp.com

AUCHENTOSHAN LAUNCHES VALINCH

For years, lovers of the triple distilled spirit asked Auchentoshan to create a non chill-filtered, cask strength edition of their acclaimed Auchentoshan Classic.  Valinch was born, the valinch being the name of the pipette used to draw whisky straight from the cask. An appropriate name for a whisky with all the depth of taste, flavour and texture associated with sampling whisky at source.

Official tasting notes

Color
Pale straw

Nose
Crème brûlée

Palate
Sweet and creamy, then invigorating
full bodied orange zest

Finish
Sweet, crisp and lingering

An unadulterated small batch release, bottled at 57,5% ABV, available now.

Mark Dermul
A Toshan Man
www.markdermul.be/toshanman

It’s a busy summer at Balblair Distillery in the Scottish Highlands. Not only are they making whisky, but the distillery is also a movie set this week, the site of a wedding next month, and two days after the wedding…construction starts on the distillery’s first-ever visitors center. Distillery manager John MacDonald tells us about his hectic summer in this week’s episode. In the news…plenty of new whiskies, including two charity bottlings, and dueling boycotts over the conflict in the Middle East.

Visit WhiskyCast at www.whiskycast.com 

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

For June, we have a truly special event lined up. In light of the horrific events that devastated a proud and noble nation on the 11th March, we felt it only right to do what we do best and put on a tasting in aid of the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal. For this, we’ve teamed up with one of the most famous oriental distillers, Suntory, and their distributor in the UK – Cellar Trends, to put on an evening of Japanese delight. We are honoured indeed to have with us the maestro himself, Master Blender Dr. Koichi Inatomi, over here from Japan to take us through an all-star range of drams from their stable.

 
Suntory Charity Tasting Evening
for the Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami Appeal,
with Dr. Koichi Inatomi
Monday 20th June, 7:00pm
 
Many of you will be aware of the exploits, accolades and acclaimed awards being scooped up by Japanese whiskies in recent competitions, but for those of you who are not, or may be a touch apprehensive about the concept, here is a little background; although whisk(e)y production is something most closely associated with Scotland, Ireland and America, the Japanese have been distilling and maturing ‘the nectar’ in the same way as the Scots from as far back as 1923. And, as with so many other practices in Japan, they are obsessed with perfection and quality. The whiskies they produce are no exception.

If the idea alone of a Japanese whisky tasting wasn’t enough to get you salivating, however, everyone who attends this tasting will automatically be entered into a raffle to win a bottle of the Hibiki 30yo, which will be announced at the end of the evening. Yes, you did read that correctly! One lucky attendee will walk home with a bottle of this stunning whisky, which has regularly won ‘Best Blended Whisky in the World’ at the International Spirits Challenge! Further to this, Dr. Inatomi himself has offered up not one but two Single Cask bottles from his own personal collection – a Yamazaki 1993 Heavily Peated and a Hakushu 1993 Sherry Bodega, both long since sold out and now highly sought after, and signed by Dr. Inatomi to be auctioned off as a pair to the highest bidder. This really is a shaping up to be the tasting event of the year! The line-up, in no particular order, will be:

Hibiki 12yo ‘Highball’
Yamazaki 12yo
Yamazaki 18yo
Yamazaki Puncheon
Yamazaki 1984 Sherry Cask
Hakushu 12yo
Hakushu Heavily Peated

The Whisky Exchange will not be charging for tickets. We are, however, asking for a minimum donation of £50 in order to attend, though of course any additional contributions you may wish to make to the appeal are more than welcome. Additional raffle tickets for the Hibiki 30yo will also be available for a £20 donation. So remember to bring lots of cash, it’s for a good cause after all!

We will be releasing places for this incredible evening from 3:00pm, Monday 13th June. From that time (not a minute earlier!), you will be able to call us on +44 (0)207 403 8688 to make your donation and guarantee yourself a place at this tasting. As with all tasting events at TWE Vinopolis, places are limited to 2 per booking.
 
Sláinte,

The Team

DADS WOULD BE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED TO GET YAMAZAKI SINGLE MALT WHISKY ON FATHERS’ DAY

London, June, 2011 – International award winning Yamazaki Single Malt Whiskies from Suntory have a habit of creating pleasant surprises with their smoothness, flavours and consistently high quality. They would certainly surprise most dads who are given a bottle on Father’s Day.

Yamazaki whiskies are among the most honoured single malt whiskies in the world with fifteen gold, silver and trophy awards won since 2003. Whisky experts like Dave Broom and Neil Ridley have long recognised the excellence of Japanese whisky and as whisky judges have singled out Suntory whiskies like Yamazaki for top honours.

With intriguing flavours and a smoothness true whisky lovers can appreciate, Yamazaki will open new horizons for dads who know and like their whiskies and help make this a memorable Father’s Day.

Yamazaki 12 year old is Japan’s leading single malt whisky, much prized for its delicate and elegant taste. The nose of green apple, pine, cedar, honey and orange peel becomes spiced wood, orange marmalade and honey on the palate. The finish has a lingering woody character. This whisky won a Gold Award at the recent San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2011.

Topping this is the Double Gold Award and the title Best Other Whisky (non Scotch) in the World won by the Yamazaki 18 year old single malt whisky. The premium Yamazaki 18 year old is all richness and depth. The nose of sherry, raisins, maraschino cherries and coffee cream chocolate rewards the palate with dark chocolate, rum, raison toffee and dark coffee beans. As you might expect, the finish is long, rich and dark. 
    
While the inspiration was Scotland, Yamazaki single malt whiskies have developed their own unique style and position within the world of whiskies over the years.

Long maturation in wood such as the local Japanese oak called Mizunara – it imparts aromas of incense – and American oak help to create complex aromas and tastes much sought after by whisky connoisseurs.

Yamazaki is a whisky with a long heritage which dates back to the 1920s when Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii built Japan’s first and now oldest distillery. Using copper pot stills the Yamazaki distillery was the first of
its kind outside Europe. The distillery is situated in the green and wooded Vale of Yamazaki on the outskirts of Kyoto in a calm and natural environment with an exceptional source of pure water.

Yamazaki is the most popular malt whisky in Japan and is now increasingly appreciated in Europe and the USA as reflected in its international honours.

Yamazaki single malt whiskies are available from:  Selfridges, Harvey Nicols, The Whisky Exchange, independent specialist retailers and drinkon.com priced from:

Yamazaki 12 year old – £42

Yamazaki 18 year old – £105.00

The Yamazaki range of single malt whiskies from Suntory is distributed in the UK by Cellar Trends. For all sales enquiries contact: sales@cellartrends.co.uk

EARLY TIMES SEARCHING FOR ARTWORK FOR COMMEMORATIVE BOTTLE

Consumers have chance to submit artwork to be featured on 2012 Kentucky Derby® bottle

Louisville, Ky – For the past 24 years, the Early Times Mint Julep has proudly served as the “Official Drink of the Kentucky Derby” with a commemorative artwork bottle released for the past 13 years.  Early Times is now looking for the next artist whose work will grace the 2012 Early Times Mint Julep bottle with the “Early Times Mint Julep Bottle Artist Search” contest.

2011 marked the first year Early Times held a nationwide contest where artists were able to submit their original artwork for consideration to be featured on the bottle. After receiving dozens of entries from across the country, Marita Walizer of Oklahoma City, OK was chosen as the winner for her artwork entitled “Derby Cheers”.

Early Times is once again giving consumers the opportunity to submit their own, original artwork for the chance to be featured on the 2012 Kentucky Derby bottle. Consumers can log on to www.earlytimes.com/etmjartistsearch to submit their “Kentucky Derby Day” artwork, as well as to see official rules and contest details.  The winner will win a VIP trip for two to the 2012 Kentucky Derby, $5,000 in cash, along with having their artwork featured on the 2012 Early Times Mint Julep bottle.

“Last year was the first year we held a public contest for the bottle artwork and it was a huge success,” said Therese McGuire, Early Times brand manager. “We were extremely impressed by the quality of artwork submitted and were thrilled to have Marita’s painting featured on the bottle.”

All entries must be received by June 28, 2011 to be considered. Entrants will be judged on the originality, creativity and overall quality of the artwork. 

About Early Times Kentucky Whisky:

Early Times Kentucky Whisky, is enjoyed in 28 countries around the world and the Early Times Mint Julep is the “Official Drink of the Kentucky Derby™.” For more information visit www.earlytimes.com. 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, 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/.

About Churchill Downs®:

Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875.  Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will conduct the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 7, 2011. The track’s 2011 Spring Meet is scheduled for April 30-July 4.  Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships a record seven times and the event will return to the track for its next renewal on Nov. 4-5. Information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.

Churchill Downs®, Kentucky Derby® and the Twin Spires design are registered trademarks of Churchill Downs Incorporated.