New whisky arrivals at Miner’s Delight Inn

The Two-bit Cowboy Saloon in Miner’s Delight Inn Bed & Breakfast recently added two new single malt Scotch whiskies to its recycled snow fence backbar.

Isle of Jura 21 years old, 200th Anniversary of the Jura Distillery Edition. $14.50 a nip, and $145 a bottle.

Laphroaig Cáirdeas, Ileach Edition. $7 a nip, and $70 a bottle.

Miner’s Delight Inn Bed & Breakfast
Barbara & Bob Townsend
290 Atlantic City Road, Atlantic City, Wyo. 82520
(307) 332-0248    
bandb@minersdelightinn.com
www.minersdelightinn.com

SUNTORY RELEASES REMARKABLE BOURBON BARREL EXPRESSIONS

London, August 1, 2011 – Two remarkable expressions of limited edition Yamazaki and Hakushu single malts, aged in Bourbon barrels, will be released in September. Only 3,000 bottles of each expression are available in Europe.

The Yamazaki and Hakushu share similar presentation, but differing flavour profiles. Both are non-aged (vatted 10-15 year malts) non-chill filtered and bottled at an ABV 48.2 %, priced at £69.50 per 70 cl bottle.

The meticulous attention to detail which characterises Suntory whisky is apparent at every stage of production from preparation of the spirit in the distilleries of Yamazaki and Hakushu to maturation in   different temperature zones.

When used to age Yamazaki and Hakushu, the 180-litre  white oak casks – smaller than most whisky barrels – impart elegant aromas and sweet vanilla flavours.

Yamazaki Bourbon barrel is stored in cellars in the Yamazaki and Oumi regions where nature is in rhythm with the seasons. The result is distinctively Japanese
whisky with an uncommon aroma and a smooth,lingering sweet flavour.

Hakushu is aged deep in the Hakushu forest, 700 metres above sea level in the shadow of Mt Kaikomagatake in the southern alps. The cool climate imparts a mild, refreshing taste and crisp, citrus aromas with a distinctive vanilla flavour.    

Art of whisky/4

Kazuyuki Takayama, Suntory Marketing Manager for Europe, says: “These single malts  express the art of Japanese whisky in ways which are intriguing and beguiling.  These 180-litre casks are most susceptible to the surrounding atmosphere and produce whiskies which are distinctive to the region where they are aged”.

The tasting profiles are:

Yamazaki single malt Bourbon barrel
Colour: dark amber. Aroma: vanilla, honey, caramel.
Taste: robust, woody
Finish: slightly sweet, pleasantly lingering

Hakushu single malt Bourbon barrel
Colour: gold. Aroma: tropical fruits, citrus, vanilla
Taste: light, smooth.
Finish: refreshing, clean

Suntory whiskies are distributed in the UK by Cellar Trends. For all sales enquiries contact Cellar Trends, Tel: 01283 217703 www.cellartrends.co.uk

BenRiach Distillery

BENRIACH WINS TWO TROPHIES AT 2011 INTERNATIONAL WINE & SPIRITS COMPETITION

THE BENRIACH Distillery Company, owners of GlenDronach and BenRiach, has won an amazing two product trophies at this year’s International Wine & Spirits Competition – both for its BenRiach 12 year-old sherry-matured single malt Scotch whisky.

This is the first time in the company’s seven-year history that it has been awarded a trophy by the IWSC.

The BenRiach 12 year-old sherry-matured won the following IWSC trophies:

The IWSC Single Malt Scotch whisky (15 years and under) Trophy

The IWSC Single Malt Scotch whisky (Special Edition) Trophy

and was also awarded the following medal:

Gold Medal / Best in Class (category – Scotch whisky, Single Malt, Speyside, Cask Finish, 12 – 13YO)

In total, the Edinburgh-headquartered company collected an impressive nine awards this year – two trophies, and various medals – one gold ‘Best in Class’, one gold, four silver and one bronze.

The awards were announced yesterday (July 27) at a ceremony in London.

The company’s full list of awards is:

The IWSC Single Malt Scotch whisky (15 years and under) Trophy – BENRIACH 12YO SHERRY MATURED

The IWSC Single Malt Scotch whisky (Special Edition) Trophy – BENRIACH 12YO SHERRY MATURED

Gold Medal / Best in Class – BENRIACH 12YO SHERRY MATURED

Gold Medal – BENRIACH 20YO

Silver Medal – BENRIACH ‘HEART OF SPEYSIDE’

Silver Medal – GLENDRONACH 18YO

Silver Medal – GLENDRONACH 12YO

Silver Medal – GLENRONACH ‘GRANDEUR’ 31YO

Bronze Medal – BENRIACH ‘HORIZONS’ 12YO TRIPLE DISTILLED

Founded in 1969, the IWSC is the most prestigious competition of its kind in the world. IWSC medals and trophies are the most highly regarded in the trade, representing the best of the best in the world of wines and spirits. The IWSC is judged by a panel selected from 300 fully-qualified, experienced industry judges. Noted for its intense and unrivalled judging process, the IWSC is proud to be the only competition of its kind that conducts a full blind tasting with extensive technical analysis.

BenRiach’s Sales Director Alistair Walker said: “We are delighted to have won these nine different awards – particularly the two trophies. It’s a major achievement for a small independent to make the UK producer shortlist and to win any of the top awards when you consider all of the big multi-nationals which are also participating. Especially pleasing is the fact that there were only six trophies for whisky up for grabs, and we managed to win two of them with the same expression – that is quite special.

“These awards are a tribute to our people at BenRiach and GlenDronach distilleries who lovingly craft the singular taste of our whiskies. It’s also testament to the time and energy we have dedicated towards our wood management programme – with our trophy-winning whisky having been created by combining BenRiach from both Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks.

He added: “There are a lot of wine & spirits competitions out there today, but the IWSC still carries a lot of weight in terms of its reputation and history. It has serious credibility, and as such I cannot stress just how delighted we are to receive these trophies and gold medals from the IWSC.

“We actually released the BenRiach 12 year-old sherry-matured as an exclusive for the Taiwanese market a few years back, and only recently started rolling it out into additional markets. I have a feeling some of our local customers will be pushing for a UK release on the back of these awards!”

Tasting notes for the BenRiach 12YO Sherry Matured (46% vol)

Nose: Mocha, dark chocolate, sultanas and rich spices.
Colour: Deep gold-bronze.
Taste: The combination of Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks gives a wonderful balance of mocha and dark chocolate interwoven with figs, sultanas, vanilla, fruits and rich spices.

We hope you are having a good summer – despite the weather for those here in the UK!

We just wanted to update you on our latest Festival News and our 2011 Famous Pubs Campaign.

If it is ok with you, we may be in touch in the future with further great offers and exclusive content. If you would prefer not to hear from us, please unsubscribe from this email.

GLASVEGAS TO HEADLINE AT THE FAMOUS GROUSE FESTIVAL

With only a couple of weeks to go until our festival we are thrilled to announce that NME Award winning band Glasvegas will be joining the line-up. Glasvegas will headline on Saturday (13 August) with Donnie Munro headlining on the opening Friday night (12 August). The Glasgow band has supported some of the biggest names in music including Oasis, Kings of Leon, U2 and Coldplay.

Ticket sales are going well and with the announcement of Glasvegas we are expecting tickets to sell out, so if you’re hoping to come along we urge you to get your tickets now – we’d hate you to miss out!

Read the full story and to find out how to buy tickets for the Festival

KNOW A FAMOUS PUB? THEN GET VOTING IN FAMOUS PUBS CAMPAIGN

and be in with a chance to win a trip for two to the Scottish Highlands

We have just launched a campaign to find pubs throughout the UK that are famous for a reason, just like The Famous Grouse. You may remember last year’s campaign was a huge success, finding some fantastic pubs with great stories to tell and this year we want more.

We are asking landlords and pub goers from around the UK to share with us and the nation what makes their pub famous. It could be a quirky history, a famous punter, a local legend or a fascinating fact. Everyone who nominates will be entered into a prize draw to win a trip for two to the Scottish Highlands with a tour of The Famous Grouse Experience.

Read the full story and find out how to nominate your local

Yours famously,
The Famous Grouse Team

TWE Whisky Show Masterclass: Exotic Fruit with Dave Broom

Another week and another masterclass has been announced for The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show in October. It’s a slightly different look at a whisky tasting to normal, instead matching up flavours between the different bottlings, looking for the taste of exotic fruits. The line-up features some incredible hard to find whiskies from Bowmore, Benriach, Laphroaig  …(please click on the link below to read the remainder of the article) …

THE LINK

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.

As the U.S. faces another debt crisis, this week marks the anniversary of a key event in another U.S. debt crisis…the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. On August 1, 1794, 7,000 Americans gathered at Braddock’s Field in Western Pennsylvania to protest President Washington’s tax on whiskey production. The protest led to a declaration of insurrection, and Washington led an army into the area to quash the rebellion. Dr. Dennis Pogue of Mount Vernon explains the history of the Whiskey Rebellion in this episode. In the news, Glen Moray has its first new single malt release under new ownership, Crown Royal lends its name to NASCAR’s Brickyard 400, and much more!

Visit WhiskyCast at www.whiskycast.com 

FORTUNE BRANDS NAMES BOARDS OF DIRECTORS FOR INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES FOLLOWING PLANNED SEPARATION

Deerfield, Illinois, July 27, 2011 – Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE: FO) today announced the Boards of Directors for Beam Inc. and Fortune Brands Home & Security, the standalone public companies to result from the planned separation of its businesses. In connection with the anticipated completion of the plan, Bruce Carbonari, chairman and chief executive officer of Fortune Brands, has decided to retire from the company at year end.

Upon completion of the proposed spin-off of Fortune Brands Home & Security, David Mackay, a current director of Fortune Brands and the former chief executive officer of Kellogg Company, will serve as non-executive chairman of the board of Beam Inc., the new name for Fortune Brands. Mackay has been a director of Fortune Brands since 2006.

David Thomas, the lead director of Fortune Brands and the former chairman and chief executive officer of IMS Health Incorporated, will be the non-executive chairman of the board of Fortune Brands Home & Security, the spin-off company. Thomas has served on the board of Fortune Brands since 2000 and as lead director since 2007.

Matt Shattock will be CEO of Beam and Chris Klein will be CEO of Fortune Brands Home & Security. Fortune Brands is targeting completion of the separation plan early in the fourth quarter.

“I’m very pleased that we’ve established such strong boards of directors for each of our ongoing businesses,” Carbonari said. “These boards are composed of directors with deep and relevant experience, commitment to strong corporate governance, and a track record of promoting the interests of shareholders. David Mackay and David Thomas will be outstanding chairmen, and I couldn’t have more confidence in the extremely talented executive leadership already in place at each company.

“I see the anticipated separation of our businesses as a monumental achievement for our leadership team and the perfect time personally to move on to new challenges,” Carbonari added. “These two companies will have strong leadership, governance and continuity, and I’ll look forward to participating in their future success as a proud and confident shareholder. Once we complete the separation plan, I’ll play an advisory role for a brief transition period, and then I’ll be eager to take some time before determining the next phase in my career.”

“Fortune Brands has benefited tremendously from Bruce’s leadership and unparalleled commitment to the interests of shareholders, and the board respects his decision to seek new challenges after completing such a major milestone for the company,” said David Thomas, lead director of the Fortune Brands board. “As CEO, Bruce guided Fortune Brands during a period in which its three businesses strengthened their competitive positions and emerged from the economic downturn outperforming the competition. In order to maximize long-term value for shareholders, he then went on to lead the final development and implementation of the plan to separate Fortune Brands’ businesses, which will result in two strong, independent companies with outstanding future prospects.”

Structure of Boards for Beam and Fortune Brands Home & Security

Nine current directors of Fortune Brands will serve on one or both of the new boards.

The members of the board of Beam will be:

•David Mackay (non-executive chairman), former chief executive officer, Kellogg Company; current Fortune Brands director
•Richard Goldstein, former chairman & chief executive officer, International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc.; current Fortune Brands director
•Ann Fritz Hackett, president, Horizon Consulting Group; current Fortune Brands director
•Pierre Leroy, former president, Worldwide Construction & Forestry Division and Global Parts Division, Deere & Company; current Fortune Brands director
•Matt Shattock, president & chief executive officer, Beam Inc.
•Anne Tatlock, former chairman & chief executive officer, Fiduciary Trust Company International; current Fortune Brands director
•Peter Wilson, former chairman, Gallaher Group Plc; current Fortune Brands director

The members of the board of Fortune Brands Home & Security will be:

•David Thomas (non-executive chairman), former chairman, IMS Health Incorporated; current Fortune Brands lead director
•Richard Goldstein, former chairman & chief executive officer, International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc.; current Fortune Brands director
•Ann Fritz Hackett, president, Horizon Consulting Group; current Fortune Brands director
•Chris Klein, president & chief executive officer, Fortune Brands Home & Security
•David Mackay, former chief executive officer, Kellogg Company; current Fortune Brands director
•Ron Waters, former president & chief executive officer, LoJack Corporation; current Fortune Brands director
•Norm Wesley, former chairman & chief executive officer, Fortune Brands; current Fortune Brands director

Each board expects to add at least one additional member following the separation of the businesses.

Carbonari has held key leadership positions at Fortune Brands for the past 21 years. He became president and chief operating officer of Fortune Brands in December 2006, chief executive officer in January 2008, and chairman and chief executive officer in October 2008. Earlier in his career, Carbonari oversaw the growth of Moen during the 1990s as it became the number one faucet brand in North America; in the early 2000s, Carbonari led the Home & Hardware group (now known as Fortune Brands Home & Security) as it more than doubled sales to nearly $5 billion. More recently, Carbonari guided the evolution of the company’s Beam spirits business into the global outperformer that it is today.

Under the separation plan, the company intends to complete the sale of its golf business by the end of July to a group led by Fila Korea and Mirae Asset Private Equity, and is preparing for the spin-off to shareholders of Fortune Brands Home & Security. Completion of the separation remains subject to completion of detailed separation plans, customary regulatory approvals and final Board approval.

* * *

About Fortune Brands

Fortune Brands, Inc. is a leading consumer brands company. Its operating companies have premier brands and leading market positions in distilled spirits, home and security, and golf products. The major spirits brands of Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. include Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark bourbon, Sauza tequila, Canadian Club whisky, Courvoisier cognac, Cruzan rum, Teacher’s and Laphroaig Scotch, EFFEN vodka, Skinnygirl margarita and DeKuyper cordials. The brands of Fortune Brands Home & Security LLC include Moen faucets, Aristokraft, Omega, Diamond and Kitchen Craft cabinetry, Therma-Tru door systems, Simonton windows, Master Lock security products and Waterloo storage and organization products. Acushnet Company’s golf brands include Titleist and FootJoy. Fortune Brands, headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FO and is included in the S&P 500 Index and the MSCI World Index.

To receive company news releases by e-mail, please visit www.fortunebrands.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements relating to future events, which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the company does not assume any obligation to update, amend or clarify them to reflect events, new information or circumstances occurring after the date of this release. In addition to final Board authorization, the potential separation of Fortune Brands’ companies will also be subject to the receipt of a number of customary regulatory approvals and/or rulings, the execution of intercompany agreements and finalization of other related matters. There can be no assurance that any of the proposed transactions will be completed as anticipated or at all.

SOUTH AFRICAN SINGLE MALT WRAPPED IN GOLD

The limited edition single malt produced by Three Ships is making waves across the world. Shortly after receiving gold at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles held in Luxembourg, the Three Ships 10 year old single malt took gold at the 2011 International Wine and Spirits Competition.

According to master distiller Andy Watts these awards indicate the giant leaps Three Ships continues to make in the world of whisky.

“The whisky industry in South Africa, as opposed to the established producers like Scotland, is still in its relative infancy. However we are constantly developing our range to underscore the country’s ability to produce world-class whiskies. Receiving recognition from these international competitions, judged by some of the world’s leading experts, is humbling and a sign that we are moving in the right direction.”

“And our single malt is definitely an example of how we have progressed. It has spent the full 10 years in American oak casks of varying ages with the older small wood contributinged to the exceptional smoothness and imparting a slight sweetness. With only 8 000 bottles launched last year in October, it might not be that easy to find a bottle but if you’re lucky enough, then make sure it becomes part of your whisky collection.”

The whisky is full-bodied and well-rounded with a hint of peat and estery notes that add a slightly sweet fragrance hinting of dried fruit and fudge.

The Three Ships range of whiskies is produced at The James Sedgwick Distillery, situated in Wellington under the shadow of the Cape’s Drakenstein Mountains. The distillery was established in 1886 and over the past two decades has undergone several upgrades transforming it into a state-of-the-art distillery. The Three Ships range of whiskies consists of Three Ships Select, Three Ships 5-year-old Premium Select, Three Ships Bourbon Cask Finish and the Three Ships 10-year-old Single Malt Whisky.

Andy Watts

July Pay-Weekend Trio: Top-up on your sunshine!
Hopefully something to get you hot under the collar – this exclusive online only Pay-Weekend Trio for only £149 (save £37 to £76)

What makes it exclusive – the bottles in the parcels. We’ve hand-picked SIX sensational single casks that (up-until-now) were listed in our online shop. Three of these bottles will make up YOUR parcel but we can’t tell you which ones – it’s a lucky dip.

But looking at the selection of bottles up for grabs, everyone is a winner! Your Pay-Weekend Trio may include:

1) 9.55 – Gourmet Ice Cream at the Movies – £61.50
2) 31.22 – An island road workers dram – £60.10
3) 50.41 – Winter Fireworks – £64.50
4) 125.40 – A Quaich tart – £71.20
5) 26.71 – The Great Outdoors – £74.40
6) 39.76 – Delish! – £80.20

Some juicy savings! There’s only 52 of these very exclusive parcels, and it’s first-come-first-served so order NOW….

Pay-Weekend Parcel

August Previews: Buy 50.44, 73.43 & 93.45 for £132.20 (save£15)
August Outturn goes on-sale Fri 5 Aug, here’s a sneaky preview…
50.44 A pleasant little charmer
73.43 Meadow flowers and herbs de Provence
93.45 An unusual sweetie shop

Browse all bottlings
(64 single casks online)

*Bottles in our Pay-Weekend Trio will be picked randomly and fairly – we cannot allocate select bottles to members. No parcel will contain two bottles the same. GOOD LUCK!

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.