www.ralfy.com presents Whisky Review 237 – Pig\’s Nose & Sheep Dip . . . silly names for decent quality whiskies.

BENRIACH AND GLENDRONACH LOOK BACK OVER A UNIQUE AWARD-WINNING YEAR

As 2011 draws to a close, the BenRiach Distillery Company Ltd – owners of BenRiach and GlenDronach – has been looking back on its most successful year ever.

Managing Director Billy Walker said: “We have been very fortunate to win a number of top awards this year which reflect the passion our people bring to the art of whisky creation.

“They are also testament to the huge amount of time and energy we dedicate to our wood management programme.”

Billy highlighted three awards of which he was especially proud this year.

First, at the 2011 Malt Maniacs Awards, the company won two gold, four silver and three bronze medals.

The GlenDronach 1972 bottling of cask 712 was the best overall whisky in the competition. 1972 cask # 712 was bottled earlier this year as part of the fourth batch of GlenDronach single cask bottlings. That meant that, for the second year running, a 1972 GlenDronach won best overall whisky; the previous year was a 1972 bottling from cask 700, a Taiwan exclusive.

Also at Malt Maniacs, of only eight gold medals up for grabs, GlenDronach won two while the recently-launched GlenDronach 21 year-old “Parliament” and the BenRiach 1976 cask # 6942 (from Batch #8) both won silver.

Second, Billy was also gratified by numerous excellent reviews in Jim Murray’s 2012 Whisky Bible.

“Jim made a number of very kind comments in his new book, but the highpoint was his singling out GlenDronach as the distillery with the most consistently impressive output throughout 2011.

“He very generously concluded by saying: “If there was a Whisky Bible Scotch Malt Whisky Distillery of the year, GlenDronach would be it.”

“That was very special.”

In the “Bible”, there were fantastic scores for two relatively new expressions – the BenRiach 12 year-old Sherry Matured and BenRiach 15 year-old Solstice.

The GlenDronach 1992 bottling of cask 161 (from Batch 4) gained 96 points and was voted ‘single malt – single cask of the year in the 16 – 21 year-old section’.

The GlenDronach 18 year-old went one better and achieved 96.5 points as did the BenRiach 1971 cask # 1947 (Batch #8) while the GlenDronach 1972 cask # 712 (Batch 4) achieved 95.5 points. BenRiach 1976 # 6942 (Batch #8) gained 95 points and there were stunning performances from three of the five GlenDronach single cask bottlings from Batch Five, released only last week, which also scored 95 plus.

And finally, Sales Director Alistair Walker looked back on a phenomenal IWSC this year at which BenRiach and GlenDronach won an unprecedented nine awards including two trophies.

“IWSC is the one every whisky producer wants to win. It’s the most prestigious competition of its kind in the world and carries huge weight and credibility through its reputation and history. As you might expect, we were ecstatic to do so well.”

Star of the IWSC show was the BenRiach 12 year-old sherry matured which won two trophies while the BenRiach 20 year-old also picked up a gold medal.

Said Alistair: “For a small independent distillery like BenRiach, to win two trophies for the same single malt was astounding – especially when you consider all the big multi-nationals which also participated.”

Our pictures show the GlenDronach 1972 cask # 712 and the BenRiach 1976 cask # 6942.

Coming soon – the BenRiach Solstice 17YO

The BenRiach Solstice 17 Years Old – Second Edition
Another exciting Solstice expression will be available world-wide in January 2012. As with the first edition, this is a peated BenRiach which has been finished in Tawny Port casks.

This expression is a unique mix of fruit and peat which marry with extraordinary precision in classic proportions. Subtle notes of dry roasted nuts, dried raisins, and candied fruit, clean and very enticing with the dominant peat flavours lingering on the palate.

 
Coming Soon – the BenRiach Septendecim 17YO

The BenRiach Septendecim 17YO
The BenRiach Septendecim is the latest addition to our Peated Range and will be available worldwide January 2012. With the Septendecim we have continued the trend of using Latin names for our Peated Expressions. It has been matured only in ex-bourbon casks.

This expression is bold and intense with a peaty heart that is united with a peaty heart that is united with honey-infused raisins, roasted nuts and a luxurious leather impression. A real heavyweight, which will impart a lasting impression on the palate. 

Day 7 – Kilchoman

Founded in 2005, Kilchoman was the first distillery to be built on Islay for 124 years, and is now the smallest and most westerly distillery in Scotland.

Located on Rockside farm on the west coast of Islay, Kilchoman is one of only six distilleries to carry out traditional floor malting’s, with around 30% of their production coming from the barley that is grown and malted at the distillery.

Producing 90 to 100,000 litres of alcohol per year, Kilchoman spirit is filled into a combination of fresh bourbon barrels from Buffalo Trace Distillery, Kentucky and fresh Oloroso sherry butts direct from Spain.

Since production started back in 2005 Kilchoman have released many exciting malts that have been released in very limited numbers.

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Kilchoman Winter 2010 Release
3 Year Old
Islay Single Malt Whisky

The 5th release from Kilchoman is the Winter 2010. A 3 year old single malt that has been matured in fresh bourbon barrels,. Very tasty indeed, one of our favourites at present.

List Price 45.00
Festival Price £41.00

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Kilchoman Single Cask 120 2007 Whisky Import Nederland
Islay Single Malt Whisky

A single cask release from Kilchoman, this time exclusively for Whisky Import Nederland. Aged for three years in a fresh bourbon barrel.

Cask number 363/06. 

List Price £140.00
Festival Price £125.00

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Kilchoman Single Cask 154 07
The Whisky Show 2010
Islay Single Malt Whisky

Matured in bourbon barrels, Kilchoman released this 3 year old single cask exclusively for The Whisky Show 2010. 

List Price £190.00
Festival Price £150.00

Abbey Whisky | Specialist supplier of rare, collectable and exclusive scotch malts. | Edinburgh, Lothian PO Box 23996, United Kingdom

Amrut lifts Grand Master title at prestigious awards

Amrut Fusion was named Grand Master of World Whisky at The Spirits Business Awards in London today (6 December, 2011). Already named one of seven Masters of World Whisky by the judging panel of the prestigious event, Amrut Fusion came out as the “best of the best” in the final stage of the competition.

Fusion – which brings together two barleys: Indian and Scottish, with the latter being peated – in a Single Malt was created by the innovative Indian distiller Amrut Distilleries. “It has been widely admired, but to gain this title among such strong contenders is particularly exciting,” said Ashok Chokalingam of Amrut Distilleries Ltd. “It is evident that Amrut Fusion is on the verge of becoming our flagship brand. It has won a major award every single year since its launch in 2009. And the good thing is that it is winning awards on both sides of the Atlantic,” he added.

The Masters of each of the categories of the awards organised by the top trade magazine, The Spirits Business, had been announced earlier in the year. The major players in the industry gathered at a glittering lunch in the trendy Cinnamon Kitchen, to hear the Grand Masters of each category revealed for the first time.

Chairman of the judges, Dominic Roskrow, editor of The Spirits Business said: “Amrut Fusion was in a particularly competitive World Whisky category. I’m delighted that in the first year of the World Whisky Masters, Fusion sets a very, very high standard for next year and the challenge to the rest of the new world is ‘beat this if you can’.”

The standards of the competition are tough, with the judges blind tasting the entries in strictly controlled conditions. Dominic Roskrow added: “I think I’d have been delighted with pretty much any of the Masters winning Grand Master, but Amrut is the one that is consistent with me. For seven or eight different expressions now, it has been scoring well over 90 – and not just with one judge but in lots of different tastings.”

Amrut Fusion was named World Whisky of the Year at the Malt Advocate Whisky Awards in February 2011. John Hansell, editor of Malt Advocate magazine, said: “Fusion shows balance, complexity, and surprising maturity for its age – these are the defining characteristics for what is the best Indian whisky we have ever tasted.”

In The Whisky Bible 2010, leading whisky expert, Jim Murray awarded Amrut Fusion Single Malt Whisky the title of World’s Third Best Whisky. Fusion was also named the Best Natural Cask Whisky in the Daily Drams Category at the Malt Maniacs Awards 2009.

This latest award marks another successful year for Amrut Distilleries, which is based in Bangalore. Last week, on 1 December, the Malt Maniacs, the group of international whisky experts, handed Amrut’s Portonova Single Malt the Best Cask Innovation title in their 2011 awards Portonova won the award for the best whisky “matured or finished in ‘special’ or unusual casks” in the Premium Category for bottles with a retail price between 50 and 150 euros.

Portonova, which was released for sale this month, is an unpeated Amrut Single Malt which was matured initially in a combination of new American oak and ex-Bourbon barrels. Then it was transferred to once-used Port pipes imported specially from Portugal before being put back into ex-Bourbon casks. Jim Murray, author of the Whisky Bible 2012, describes Portonova as “outrageous”. He adds: “I have never come across such a flavour profile before anywhere in the world. But my word: what a statement this makes… unique.” Dominic Roskrow described it as “astounding” and a “Pink Floyd show of a whisky: vibrant, colourful, complex, and nearly too much.”

Amrut Distilleries was named a Distiller of the Year in the Icons of Whisky 2011 and was crowned in the Rest of the World category of the awards organised by Whisky Magazine in the spring.

NOTES

Amrut Distilleries

Amrut Single Malt Whisky from India was launched officially in Glasgow in 2004. Since then its reputation has grown, with its range of innovative whiskies using Indian barley from the Punjab distilled in the tropical garden city of Bangalore at 3000ft.

Amrut Distilleries was named a Distiller of the Year in the Icons of Whisky 2011 and was crowned in the Rest of the World category by the independent judges of the prestigious awards, which are organised by Whisky Magazine. The award was made to Amrut “for raising the profile of Indian whisky across the globe and its innovations in the production process”. The Rest of the World title meant the Bangalore distillery was also one of the four contenders for the Icons of Whisky Distiller of the Year title.

In February 2011, Fusion was named World Whisky of the Year at the Malt Advocate Whisky Awards. In a new category created to recognise “the wonderful whiskies” being produced in countries like Japan, India, Sweden, England, outside the major distilling nations, John Hansell, editor of Malt Advocate magazine, explained the choice of winner. “India’s Amrut distillery changed the way many think of Indian whisky. … Amrut is making whisky, and it’s very good.” Hansell continued: “Amrut finally began exporting their whisky to the US in 2010. We’ve tasted our way through the various expressions (peated, sherried, cask strength, etc.) and we enjoyed them all, but the one that really impressed us was Amrut Fusion. Fusion shows balance, complexity, and surprising maturity for its age – these are the defining characteristics for what is the best Indian whisky we have ever tasted. Combining Indian malt and peated Scottish malt, this whisky shows a sweet side, but is never cloying, with rich caramel, vanilla custard, and fruit cocktail in light syrup, balanced by vibrant – almost floral – dried peat smoke, delicate white pepper, and a hint of tropical fruit. We look forward to more great whiskies from Amrut.”

In The Whisky Bible 2010, leading whisky expert, Jim Murray awarded Amrut Fusion Single Malt Whisky the title of World’s Third Best Whisky. Murray said Fusion “has to be one of the great whiskies found anywhere in the word this year”. Admitting his No 3 choice could come as a surprise to some people, he said: “The fact that it is Indian? Irrelevant, from distillation to maturation this is a genius whisky from whichever continent.”

Fusion – which brings together two barleys: Indian and Scottish, with the latter being peated – was named the Best Natural Cask Whisky in the Daily Drams Category at the Malt Maniacs Awards 2009. It picked up the award for the best whisky matured exclusively in “untreated”, regular cask(s) in the category for whiskies with an average street price of up to 50 euros. It was also awarded a silver medal.

One of the Amrut Single Malt Whisky bottlings by Blackadder International won “The Best Daily Dram” category of Malt Maniacs 2008 Awards. All the Amrut brands entered into the same competition won silver and bronze medals.

Amrut Peated Malt Cask Strength Whisky won Silver and Amrut Single Malt Cask Strength Whisky Bronze at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in 2008.

Amrut is now sold widely in Europe (UK, Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Spain), Canada, South Africa, Australia and the United States.

The Spirits Business www.thespiritsbusiness.com

Day 6 – Springbank

Springbank Distillery situated near the Mull of Kintyre in Argyll, Scotland, was founded in 1828 on the site of Archibald Mitchell’s illicit still. It is one of the last surviving producers of Campbeltown single malt whisky, and is the oldest independent family owned distillery in Scotland.

Owned by J & A Mitchell & Co Ltd, Springbank is a very traditional distillery carrying out the full production process on the one site. Traditional floor malting, maturation and bottling are all done at the distillery in Campbeltown. It is also the only distillery in Scotland to produce three different styles of single malt whisky, Hazelburn, Springbank and Longrow using three different production methods.

Lightly peated and distilled two and a half times, Springbank is the most popular variety out of the three produced at the distillery, and is touted by some as being the very best whisky produced in Scotland.

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Adelphi Springbank 35 Year Old
Campbeltown Single Malt Whisky

Of all malts, Springbank takes great age best. This is a refill butt and has given the whisky a good mahogany hue – not as dark as some we have seen, but indicating that the whisky may not have been dominated by wood.

An extraordinary whisky, to be savoured with dark chocolate, espresso coffee and Robusto Havana!

List Price £350.00
Festival Price £325.00

 Springbank, Amontillado Cask
Christmas 2006 – Private Bottling
Campbeltown Single Malt Whisky

Private bottling, exclusively for the shareholders, Directors and staff of J. and A. Mitchell and Co. (Group) Ltd.
Amontillado wood finish release of 66 bottles given to the Springbank staff and directors, Christmas 2006.

List Price £499.00
Festival Price £450.00

Springbank Open Championship 2000
Campbeltown Single Malt Whisky

Distilled and bottled in Scotland for Vincent Fusaro proprietor of the renowned Luvians bottle shop in Cupar, Fife to commemorate the famous golf tournament held in the millennium year at St Andrews, the home of golf.

List Price £250.00
Festival Price £200.00

Abbey Whisky | Specialist supplier of rare, collectable and exclusive scotch malts. | Edinburgh, Lothian PO Box 23996, United Kingdom

Christmas & whisky: how to make the perfect Christmas cake

One of things I enjoy most at Christmas is sampling the delightful festive food that is on offer, especially Christmas cake.  Many of you will know that rich fruit cake, compliments many of the whiskies I make, so I set about finding out how to create the perfect Christmas cake. 

Now I’m first to admit that I’m not a brilliant baker so in my mind there was only one woman for this job and that was Bernadette from our I.T department.  She makes the most wonderful cakes and if I’m honest I find myself ‘breaking’ my computer quite a bit so that I have an excuse to pop along to the I.T department to see what goodies are on offer.

Bernadette agreed to share her top secret recipe with me and I’ve posted the details below.  She asked me to remind you all that you need to make your cake now to give it time to rest and also to allow you time to add a little extra bit of Whyte & Mackay into it!

Hope you all enjoy it.

Bernie’s Christmas Cake

Ingredients

    •    350g SR Flour – you can use plain flour to give a denser cake but I prefer Self Raising
    •    2 teaspoon of mixed spice
    •    100g ground almonds
    •    4 eggs
    •    75ml milk
    •    75 ml Whyte and Mackay Special
    •    225g butter
    •    225g caster sugar
    •    1kg bag mixed fruit
    •    Small tub glace cherries – halved

Preparation

    •    Preheat oven to 150 Centigrade, 300 Fahrenheit, gas mark 2
    •    Grease and line 23cm round cake tin (or 20.5cm square)
 
Method

    •    Sieve the dry ingredients together into a small bowl
    •    In another bowl or jug beat the eggs with the milk and Whyte and Mackay special
    •    In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg mix and flour mix in four batches alternating between the two
    •    Add the fruit and mix well.
    •    Place into your prepared tin and bake for 3.5 to 4 hours.
    •    Protect the cake whilst baking by fastening a double band of brown paper 2 inches higher than the tin around the outside and cover the top with paper after 2 hours – standing the paper on the paper collar NOT the cake!

How to make the cake extra special

After it has cooked but still warm make up a quantity of whisky syrup and brush over all the cake – especially necessary if you think it has over-baked a little.  Leave to go cold.

You can feed the cake with more Whyte and Mackay Special during this time by unwrapping carefully, make small holes in the top and base of the cake with a cocktail stick or small skewer, then spoon over a few teaspoons of. Whyte and Mackay Special

Whisky Syrup

    •    3 tablespoons of sugar
    •    3 tablespoons of water
    •    3 tablespoons of Whyte and Mackay Special
    •    Place water and sugar in a pan, bring to the boil and boil for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat and add the whisky – use whilst still warm.

Decorating the cake

Decorate the cake with marzipan and royal icing applying the marzipan 1 week before the icing but if you are running short on time you can get away with a day or 2 if you use the white marzipan.

You will need about 500g of marzipan – best to buy the white rather than the yellow.  Reserve 1/3 for the top of the cake and roll out the rest to cover the side.

Warm some apricot jam and brush the cake with it before applying the marzipan – this helps it stick to the cake.

How to make Royal icing

    •    5 egg whites
    •    2 teaspoons glycerine
    •    1kg sieved icing sugar
    •    Lightly beat the egg whites and glycerine together; add half of the icing sugar and mix well. Add the rest of the icing sugar a little at a time.
    •    For a nice and easy finish just spread this onto the cake and using your knife pull into soft peaks.

Although this still is very much a Netherlands, Belgium (Flanders) happening it may be nice to share again, for the 2nd time. Coming next is an International version of The Whisk(e)y Design Awards !

Starting in September 2011 forum members where asked to submit their nominees with the best designed Whisk(e)y bottle and optionally packaging . On November 13, two polls where placed on the forum containing the selected contestants for the two categories of the “Het Whisky forum Design Awards 2011″ (the, Dutch=het).

This time we started using two categories to differentiate bottles of € 250,- (appx. $ 335,-) and less and those more expensive than € 250,-

Forum members where allowed to vote for one bottle in each category.

In the category above € 250,- We had 4 finalists: Glenmorangie Pride 1981, The Glenlivet 70 Year Old, Gordon & MacPhail, The Macallan 60yo Lalique Curiously Small Stills decanter and Yamazaki 50 Years Old, 2011 release.

Long time we saw a head to head strugle between the first three mentioned. Surprisingly after an exciting battle between these three, the Yamazaki 50 Years Old, with its minimal-design made a spurt and eventually won this years contest with just one vote. Number 2 was the Glenmorangie Pride 1981 and the number three The Glenlivet 70 Year Old, Gordon & MacPhail.

In the category € 250,- and below, it was a very different story.

Right from the beginning the Highland Park Earl Haakon gained most votes and easily won the battle leaving the numbers two and three, “The Laddie 10″, Bruichladdich 10yo and GlenDronach octarine 8yo, behind with a shared second place.

An also shared third place went to Nikka Taketsuru 12 year old Pure Malt and to Mackinlay’s Replica Highland malt.

For photo’s, details and the full background see “Het Whisky forum”, Dutch-language only, but the photo’s and polls speak for themselves.

http://www.hetwhiskyforum.nl/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2211#p24835

Starting today we opened a new website for a global version of The International Whisk(e)y Design Awards! See: WhiskyDesignAward: http://www.whiskydesignaward.com/

The nights have been drawing in and the temperature is dropping here on the island and this can only mean one thing – Christmas is nearly upon us! The decorations are up and everyone at the distillery is getting into the festive spirit.

If you’re looking for the perfect gift, you can never go wrong with a bottle of Jura. We’ve got something to suit every person and every palate. Click here to have nosey at our full range of single malts and see what takes your fancy.

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.

QUEUES ROUND THE BLOCK AS ALDI 40 YEAR OLD WHISKY DRAWS A CROWD

British shoppers have been queuing outside Aldi stores in an attempt to secure a high quality 40 year old single malt whisky for the bargain price of just £49.99.

The first supermarket ever to sell a 40 year old single malt, discounter Aldi today released 3,000 bottles of the whisky throughout its 450 UK stores. With such a limited run of a high end whisky retailing for less than £50, Aldi stores across the UK saw shoppers queuing from 5am, with the product selling out in record time.

Aldi’s Spirits Buyer said: “From the moment the news broke that we were launching a 40 year old single malt whisky, we’ve seen huge demand and excitement from our customers, so it’s been no surprise that it sold out within minutes. Our shoppers appreciate great quality products at great prices.

“We look forward to rewarding our customers in the future and will continue to offer great value premium products.”

The Speyside Single Malt comes from one of Scotland’s finest distilleries and has been matured in European Oak Sherry casks, resulting in a very intense and rich flavour. The beautiful decanter is presented in a stylish gift box.

With an aroma of dark chocolate and dried figs, the sweet taste gives off a marmalade zestiness, and the dry oak tannins fade into a lingering sweet and mellow finish.

Glenbridge 40 Year Old Single Malt Whisky – £49.99, 70cl, 40% ABV

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