A message from Gordon Homer….

“Here’s something you didn’t expect…..

The Spirit of Islay Forum has returned!

We’re now on a free host ( kept the last Database back up ), there’s adverts but that’s wht it’s free! You can use your original Username and Password should you wish to return. If there are original postings with photos the photos won’t be shown.
 
Enjoy!

Gordon”

The new address is http://spiritofislay.myfreeforum.org 

Poker Run Features Ride through Scenic Countryside

Bardstown, KY – Take a scenic ride through the countryside on Saturday, September 17, 2011 when you join us for the Kentucky Bourbon Poker Run.

Registration for the Run is at 10AM at the Nelson County Judicial Center, 200 Nelson County Plaza. The 90-mile ride begins at 11 AM with three stops along the way. Water will be provided at each stop.

All participants will receive goodie bags, a t-shirt and a voucher for the festival food court. Cash and merchandise prizes will be given for the best poker hands, as well as many door prizes.

Registration is $25 per person. Proof of insurance is required at registration. For reservations call 800-638-4877 # 4 or 502-348-3623 # 4. Must be 21 to participate.

The Kentucky Bourbon Festival is a non-profit organization. Visit our website www.kybourbonfestival.com v.

Whisky Intelligence has added a new category called ‘Vignettes – Moments in Whisky’ which will feature whisky moments as experienced by the readership. If you have a whisky moment please feel free to submit your moment and we’ll do our best to publish it. Go on; you know you want to be famous…

The Chosen Few – Ronnie Routledge
Glenglassaugh 35 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

The first of a new range of distillery single cask releases, each bottling chosen by a different member of the team. This cask was chosen by Ronnie Routledge and is a fine example of Glenglassaugh aged in a sherry butt. This is a limited edition of 654 bottles, bottled at the distillery at cask strength, without the use of chill filtration and with no caramel added.
 
Age: 35 year old
Volume: 700 ml
Strength: 49.6% abv

Tasting Note

Colour: Amber Gold
Nose: A nose packed with sweet barley sugar, peaches, pineapple and plums – giving way to millk chocolate, Brazil buts, Oloroso sherry and toasty oak-spice.
Palate: Soft and juicy, bursting with pineapple and mango fruit puree. Ample sherry, cocoa beans and toasted rich oak notes.
Finish: Drying with gentle toasted oak, coconut and sherry.
 
Excl. VAT: £250.00  Incl VAT £300.00
BUY NOW
 
Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
phone: 0845 6066145

email: info@singlemaltsdirect.com

web: www.singlemaltsdirect.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BUFFALO TRACE DISTILLERY BOTTLES WHEAT AND RYE WHITE DOGS

Now Three White Dog Varieties Are Available

FRANKFORT, Franklin County, Ky (Aug., 2011) – Buffalo Trace Distillery has done it again with two new un-aged whiskies – White Dog Wheated Mash and White Dog Rye Mash. These two new additions are joining the existing White Dog Mash #1. These clear whiskeys are bottled at barrel fill proof and allow consumers to experience what whiskies taste like before barrel aging

The Wheated Mash White Dog from Buffalo Trace is distilled from corn, barley and wheat. The soft wheat offers less bite and ages gracefully to eventually become W.L. Weller and Pappy Van Winkle Bourbons. This whiskey goes into barrels at 114 proof, the same strength as this White Dog.

The Rye Mash White Dog is made from corn, barley, and rye grains. Rye tends to be more spicy and complex. When aged, this White Dog will become the critically acclaimed Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey. The proof of this clear whiskey is the same as if it were going into a barrel for aging – 125 proof.

The two new releases will join Buffalo Trace White Dog Mash #1, the same recipe used to make its flagship bourbon. The Distillery set the liquor industry aglow when it released its un-aged Mash #1 for sale a few years ago. Originally intended to be sold in the Buffalo Trace Gift Shop as a novelty item, until media outlets latched on to it, bartenders demanded it, and liquor stores asked for it. Now several other distilleries have jumped into the market, allowing consumers and bartenders even more products with which to experiment.

“We’ve been genuinely surprised how fast White Dog has grown in popularity,” said Kris Comstock, brand manager. “Hopefully bartenders and consumers will come up with some creative cocktails using the Wheat and Rye. If nothing else, you can see how these whiskeys taste before and after barrel aging.”

The three Buffalo Trace White Dog offerings will be available in 375ml bottles only and suggested retail pricing is $15.99 per bottle. All three White Dog offerings are packed in one case.

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 whiskey 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. 

WHISKEY FANS DESCEND ON BUSHMILLS FOR ‘WORLD WHISKEY GAMES’

Pairs of whiskey fans from around the world will this week descend on the Old Bushmills Distillery in Northern Ireland, in a bid to barrel-roll, beach-golf and whiskey-taste their way to be named the winners of the BUSHMILLS™ Irish Whiskey competition, ‘Make it 2 Bushmills’.

The competition offers two friends the chance to win two weeks working at the world-famous Old Bushmills Distillery, where they will make their own unique blend of BUSHMILLS Irish Whiskey, stay in luxury penthouse accommodation and get £5,000 spending money. Then, the winning friends will get VIP access to the ultimate BUSHMILLS party back in their home country.

BUSHMILLS Irish Whiskey Master Distiller Colum Egan said: “I can’t wait to welcome the eleven pairs of Make it 2 Bushmills finalists to the three-day global final, Bushcamp.

It’s going to be like the world whiskey games! We’ve got a few great challenges lined-up to test the finalists’ friendships, teamwork and creativity, like barrel-rolling and golfing on the beach.

“BUSHMILLS Irish Whiskey is hand-crafted in small batches at the Old Bushmills Distillery, so we’ll have a whiskey-tasting challenge that will make the most of our exceptionally smooth blends and malts, too.”

The pairs of finalists representing eleven countries were elected by public vote on Facebook. They are:

· Johan Lolos and Mathias Gilles, Students from Belgium

· Marin Aganderov and Kiril Todorov, Students from Bulgaria

· Ondřej Šimeček and Jiří Tlach, a Hospitality Product Manager and an Insurance Officer from Czech Republic

· Andreas Andricopoulos and Martin Georg Kosman, Bartenders from Germany

· Keeley Sutcliffe and Tom Lawrence, a School Supervisor and a Telesales Manager from Great Britain

· Richard Beatty and Michael Weijzig, an IT Consultant and a Social Worker from the Netherlands

· Richard Roberts and Carol Roberts, a Customer Service Assistant and a Care Worker from Northern Ireland

· Peter Majernik and Vladimir Majernik, a Hotel Concierge and a Hotel Porter from the Republic of Ireland

· Nikolay Fedoseev and Ilya Rybalsky, a Graphic Designer and a Chemical Engineer from Russia

· Sean Tickner and Jonathan Oliff, an Orthotist / Prosthetist and a Brand Strategist and Marketing Consultant from South Africa

· Curt Neeb and Paul Kowalski, an Inventory Specialist and a Graphic Designer from the USA.

Bushcamp will be judged by the BUSHMILLS Master Distiller Colum Egan and some famous fans of BUSHMILLS, including Kevin Baird of Two Door Cinema Club, Jonathan Galkin of DFA Records and Rob Allanson of Whisky Magazine.

It will take place from Tuesday to Thursday (16th – 18th August) at the Old Bushmills Distillery, in Bushmills village and the surrounding area, with the winning pair of friends being announced on Wednesday evening.

Fans of BUSHMILLS can follow all of the action on the BUSHMILLS Facebook page, facebook.com/bushmills1608 or by following @BushmillsGlobal on Twitter.

Old Bushmills Distillery worker Darren Smyth prepares the Make it 2 Bushmills trophies in preparation for Bushcamp, which will this week see whiskey fans descend on Bushmills for the ‘World Whiskey Games’.

Colum Egan Biography
Colum Egan is Master Distiller at the Old Bushmills Distillery in County Antrim, where BUSHMILLS Irish Whiskey is hand crafted in small batches for an exceptionally smooth taste. Since 2002, Colum has been responsible for all the critical stages of whiskey production, all of them carried out at the distillery itself. That’s very handy when your job is to ensure that the production of the whiskies is done to perfection – as Colum likes it to be. Colum lives in the little coastal town of Ballycastle with his wife and two sons and says that he has found his dream job.

Kevin Baird Biography
Kevin is the bass player and vocalist in Northern Ireland indie rock band Two Door Cinema Club. Their debut album Tourist History has gone Gold in the UK, selling over 100,000 copies and recently they’ve made a splash by picking up both the Choice Music Prize for Irish Album of the Year and the award for Best New Band at the 2011 mtvU Woodie Awards. Kevin is a big BUSHMILLS fan and is looking forward to meeting some others at Bushcamp.

Jonathan Galkin Biography
Jonathan Galkin is the co-founder and head of operations for DFA Records worldwide, an independent record label that he launched in 2001.

Rob Allanson Biography
As the Editor of renowned Whisky Magazine, Rob a vast knowledge of all things whisky, from the science to the romance. He travels to distilleries and major whisky conventions around the world, reporting on the latest news in the industry on his blog and in the magazine, which is published worldwide eight times per year. In his spare time, Rob is a keen biker, charity advocate, husband and dad.

About BUSHMILLS
BUSHMILLS Irish Whiskey is hand crafted in small batches at Ireland’s oldest working distillery in Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. The brand portfolio includes six exceptionally smooth and multi-award winning whiskeys: BUSHMILLS Original, BLACK BUSH, BUSHMILLS 10 Year Old Single Malt, BUSHMILLS 16 Year Old Single Malt and BUSHMILLS Malt 21 Year Old Single Malt and BUSHMILLS 1608. BUSHMILLS is the only distillery in Ireland to make triple-distilled Malt Whiskey.

Bruichladdich Octomore 4_167 5yo OB 62.5%Abv.

LFW tasting note soon…

Official tasting note:

Original Cask: 100% Bourbon

Colour Primrose/Chartreuse

Body The body is lean and muscular with the smouldering heat of a heath fire just being held in check by the strength of the oak. This is a spiritual soul, unconfined, independent and masters less – Hallelujah!

Nose / Palate Your expectations are about to be rewarded as a heat haze of peat smoke, bog myrtle, heather, wild thyme and juniper all harmonise to lift the awaiting senses into a state of total joy. Next, a beautiful note of yellow riverside flowers – primrose, buttercup and wild Lilies can be detected then the wind changes and now the aromatics are of warm barley fields just before harvest, plus the sweet vanilla notes from the Bourbon soaked oak. Then, as time slips by little aromas of soft green citrus fruits, lemon zest and clover honey all slipstream on a cooling marine sea breeze arrive. It’s a hedonistic aromatic experience. After some aeration and interaction the notes all rise as one, completely blowing your mind. It’s only when you taste the spirit that you wonder how a spirit so heavily peated can provide such harmonisation of aromas and flavours at such a young age. The answer is slow distillation, the tightest middle cut ever and maturation in fresh American oak casks next to the Atlantic Ocean. So you’re not just tasting peat, peat and more peat. This is a strong flavoursome handsome proud young son of the Stills with a warm open Gaelic heart, unconfined by Phenolic overload, untainted by additives, not stripped of its pride by chill-filtration and made by real people with passion and almost rare skills. Discerning followers of this Islands’ malt whiskies deserve nothing less.

Finish The finish is long and mellow and will end on a beautiful sunset of smoke and fruit syrup. Its 100% Islay DNA and I am delighted you have been introduced to the latest addition to the Bruichladdich family.

Price excluding VAT: £68.75
£82.50 Including VAT at 20%

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

Outturn Update: August Top 5

With the bottles from our August Outturn being scooped-up fast, here are the Top 5 member favourites. We’re pleased to see our single cask grain whisky G5.2 on there – it’s an outstanding grain dram from a new toasted oak hogshead, we’ve never came across one like it!

1) 3.177 The gentle giant
2) 4.154 Edinburgh rock and bath salts
3) 23.68 Smoky Pavlova
4) 50.44 A pleasant little charmer
5) G5.2 Strumming the strings of the soul

Try our August Recommendations:
PAIR OFFER: Buy 4.154 & 3.177 for only £84.90 (save £10)
4.154 Edinburgh rock and bath salts
3.177 The gentle giant

TRIO OFFER: Buy 50.44, 73.43 & 93.45 for £132.20 (save £15)
50.44 A pleasant little charmer
73.43 Meadow flowers and herbs de Provence
93.45 An unusual sweetie shop

CASE: Take the Aug PAIR, TRIO and ADD 28.23 for £274.50 (save £30)
28.23 Attention grabbing spicy wood

Browse all bottlings (60 single casks online)

Society Tastings & Events (51 Society tastings online)
New Members’ Tasting – London, Thu 18 Aug
Winchester Preview Tasting – Royal Hotel, Fri 19 Aug
Chester Preview Tasting – New Blossoms Hotel, Fri 19 Aug
Durham Preview Tasting – Oldfields Restaurant, Fri 19 Aug
Aberdeen Preview Tasting – Caledonian Thistle Hotel, Thu 25 Aug
Sept Preview Tasting with Cheese – 28 Queen Street, Tue 30 Aug
Sept Preview Tasting for Meat-Lovers – 28 Queen Street, Wed 31 Aug

More Society tastings

Edinburgh Festival Fever is HERE
Celebrate the Edinburgh Festival at the Society with our programme of Tutored Tastings – three specially selected Society drams and a bit of chat for only £12! Dates available:

Thu 11 Aug at 28 Queen Street
Fri 12 Aug at The Vaults
Sat 13 Aug at 28 Queen Street
Thu 18 Aug at 28 Queen Street
Fri 19 Aug at The Vaults
Sat 20 Aug at 28 Queen Street
Thu 25 Aug at 28 Queen Street
Fri 26 Aug at The Vaults
Sat 27 Aug at 28 Queen Street

Plus get you hands on last few tickets to our Festival Tasting with John Campbell

Win Tickets to Whisky Live in Glasgow:
Sat 3 Sept
The nice folks at Whisky Live have kindly given us a PAIR of complementary tickets to this year’s Whisky Live in Glasgow. You could be in with a chance of winning the tickets by simply emailing us with your name and contact details. Competition ends Fri 19 August

Enjoy Full Day access to the show along with tickets to one of the master classes being held. CAN’T WAIT? – We’ve also secured an exclusive 10% discount for SMWS members just use promo code’SMWS10′ on their website. More Whisky Live

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. 

New Warehouses

Hello everyone,

This week, I have a behind-the-scenes story I would like to share regarding the significant restoration work which has been going on in Dufftown for over a year now. Following exceptional heavy snow falls in early 2010, a number of major warehouses were severely damaged, resulting in over 230,000 casks needing to be re-homed.

Commenting……(please click on the link below to read the remainder of the article)…

http://blog.grantswhisky.com/2011/08/new-warehouses/

Kind regards,

Ludo

Bruichladdich are up to something…shocking…

http://green.autoblog.com/2011/08/10/nissan-leaf-powered-by-single-malt-scotch/