Dear Customer

Running into July – we are offering ten (10) new bottlings from the OLD MALT CASK label – one being a terribly talked about Talisker and another being our Charity bottling on behalf of the Gurkha Benevolent Fund (see https://www.whiskyintelligence.com/2011/07/douglas-laings-annual-charity-bottling-scotch-whisky-news/ ). There are three (3) under the PREMIER BARREL label plus an ancient CLAN DENNY Grain and a dark Sherried Caol Ila from OLD & RARE.

Tasting Notes for OLD MALT CASK:

OMC2062 TALISKER 10 YEAR OLD
Nose: Opens sweetly – moves to soft peat – barley & late smoke.
Palate: Sweet spices abound – now sweetly peated + malt and honey.
Finish: Mocha flavours feature + vanilla & now drier spiced tones (F)

OMC2063 LAPHROAIG 12 YEAR OLD
Nose: Sweetly fragrant with peated barley + late salt and citrus
Palate: Mouthcoatingly oily/ashy/tarry + late gristiness and honey
Finish: Butterscotch + demerara sugar + peat + late liquorice (F)

OMC2059 MACALLAN 18 YEAR OLD
Nose: Cclean & fresh carrying an attractively spiced toffee & honey style
Palate: Opens with a sweet, creamy quality + a barley sugar character
Finish: Remains smooth – softly spiced throughout before it tails drier (J)

OMC2051 BENRINNES SHERRY 19 YEAR OLD
Nose: Fresh & fragrant + warm, spiced, caramelised peaches + burnt oak
Palate: Mouth coating – sweetly spiced + a creamy butterscotch quality
Finish: Medium long – still sweet & fruity – with a lingering oak tang (J)

OMC2039 ALLT A’BHAINE – GURKHA BOTTLING 20 YEAR OLD
Nose: Fresh & herbal + a sweet (candy floss) and fruity (peaches) quality
Palate: Sweet, still fruity (now orange zest) carrying a barley sugar character
Finish: Remains fruity (now orange pith) – drier towards the end (J)

OMC2065 BOWMORE 21 YEAR OLD
Nose: Distinctly barley sugared + late sweet tar and camphor
Palate: Peated – with tar and cough drop style warming spices
Finish: Lightly oiled – still phenolic – with liquorice and smoke (F)

OMC2040 MACALLAN 21 YEAR OLD
Nose: Fresh & fragrant + a sweet citrus style + pineapple in syrup
Palate: Sweet + a (oriental?) spicy character – mellow + a lemon zeste quality
Finish: Long + a cedar wood tangy style – still sweet + ripe pear character (J)

OMC2058 ROSEBANK 21 YEAR OLD
Nose: Clean & fresh – carrying a honeyed quality + a fruity sweet style
Palate: Instantly fruity, sweet, spiced character runs to orange bitters
Finish: Long – still spicy with an oak tang + herbal quality – now running drier (J)

OMC2049 STRATHMILL 36 YEAR OLD
Nose: Fragrant with a flowery/honeyed style + a creamy sweet quality
Palate: Fresh, mellow & delicately spiced – carrying a fruit tang character
Finish: Remains light – attractively sweet – now with a cedar wood style (J)

OMC2060 TOMATIN 40 YEAR OLD
Nose: Softly spiced – lightly (lemon?) citric – honeyed and sugary.
Palate: Sweetly fruited – subtly oaked + more honey and now barley.
Finish: Carries a warming cough drop style with a late vanilla character. (F)

PREMIER BARREL Tasting Notes:

PBR0098 LAPHROAIG 11 YEAR OLD
Oh la la – what a La-Laphroaig! Briny, beachy and braw – with a proclamation of prestigiously peated panache, portraying a palpably prepossessing packet of phenols. Ppperfect! (F)

PBR0099 AUCHENTOSHAN 12 YEAR OLD
Auchentoshan! Auchentoshan! Auchentoshan! Triple distilled and worth repeating – yes, and repeating (again). Sample substantially sugary swirls of syrup with a halcyon herbal and honeyed heritage – plus a vestige of vanilla. (F)

PBR0097 DALMORE 12 YEAR OLD
A Dalmore – devoid of deficiency – to dally daily with! A fabulously focused fusillade of fructiferousness, barley and honey, multifariously made munificently manifest ….. saturated saliently by seriously significant sugar and spice. (F)

Tasting Note for CLAN DENNY Grain:

DEN0071 INVERGORDON 45 YEAR OLD
Lightly smoked initially – then the nose develops fabulously to an old fruit bowl of softly ripening pineapple, citrus, pears and apples – with a hint of sherbet. Palatewise – it is extremely sweet and heavy with macerated fruit (particularly pineapple) and vanilla custard. The finish is really long for a grain and carries soft mocha, spice and “fruit chews” flavour …. really good with an expresso! (F)

OLD & RARE Tasting Note:

OAR0134 CAOL ILA SHERRY MATURED 27 YEAR OLD
The nose opens with a rich, oily quality carrying a spicy, smoked fruit character with burnt orange peel and dark chocolate. The mouthfeel is oily and the palate remains spicy, lightly peated, then runs to soft ashes and sweet leather. The finish is long with the spicy character slowly fading to be overtaken by soft smoke. (J)

We hope you find something there for you and your customers. Meantime more great bottlings are promised as we continue our efforts – and of course we hope your sales are good and that we can be of assistance to you with these and more malts.

Best wishes

Fred H Laing
Managing Director

Visit Douglas Laing & Co. Ltd. at www.douglaslaing.com

A message from the UK…

We have a great new web video introducing a series of videos that we will have from the TED conference being held in Edinburgh which is sponsored by Dewars the whiskey brand.

TED brings together leaders in Technology, Entertainment and Design.

In this video signature graphic artist Hugh MacLeod – who will be creating unique pieces of art each day to reflect his thoughts from the conference, talks us through what to expect over the coming days. Please see an example of one of Hugh’s graphics below.

The video is available to view/download/embed/ via:

http://www.digitalnewsagency.com/stories/5712-hugh-mcloed-introduces-the-ted-convention

Please also be aware that Hugh will perform a live sketch from the conference on Thursday 14th July which will be streamed on:

 http://www.facebook.com/dewars

Glengoyne Marketing Director Iain Weir, WWT Corporate Relations Manager John Creedon and Glengoyne Distillery Manager Robbie Hughes toast the opening of Glengoyne’s new wetlands area.

Glengoyne Highland Single Malt will become the exclusive whisky partner of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) in time for the official opening of a brand new wetlands area onsite at the Distillery, which will help with processing distillery waste and make the area a haven for wildlife.

Glengoyne Distillery has invested £170k on the facility which deals with the effluent from the spirit stills called Spent Lees. This reduces waste by around 25% and deals with it in an environmentally friendly manner. The wetland plants were bedded in early May to acclimatise and have now begun processing waste liquid from whisky making.

As a further commitment to wetlands, the distillery has promised a minimum contribution of £5,000 to WWT in the first twelve months of the long term partnership, to be raised through contributions from sales of special bottles. Glengoyne will donate £3.00 on all personalised bottles and £4.50 on all standard bottles of the core range purchased online using a special code available to WWT members.

The agreement will also see other joint marketing and fundraising initiatives with the charity including limited edition bottlings, discount on WWT membership, on-pack promotions and joint events. The partnership kicked off in early June with a special Father’s Day promotion.

Robbie Hughes, Distillery Manager at Glengoyne said: “We are always looking at options for improving our waste management and wetlands seemed like the perfect solution. It allows us to reduce waste, cut down on waste transportation, be more environmentally friendly and will attract a huge range of wildlife to the area, which is already renowned for its geese.

“We are also investigating further environmental improvements including Anaerobic Digesters to generate gas for our boiler from another one of our effluent streams.”

WWT is a leading UK conservation organisation saving wetlands for wildlife and people across the world by creating, restoring and monitoring wetlands and the wildlife that depends on them. Wetlands are among the world’s most productive environments and support great biodiversity. They are, for example, havens for birds from storks to swans and ducks to divers.

John Creedon, WWT’s Corporate Relations Manager said “New wetlands like this quickly become home to moths and beetles and even water voles, which in turn start to support and attract birds and potentially larger mammals like otters. WWT were keen to link with Glengoyne because of their commitment to the environment and because the name ‘Glengoyne’ means “Glen of the Wild Geese” in Gaelic, and WWT’s Caerlaverock Wetland Centre in Dumfriesshire, within easy reach of the distillery, is the winter home of tens of thousands of barnacle geese from Svalbard.”

Glengoyne Distillery is situated just 30 minutes outside Glasgow, in the Trossachs National Park at the start of the West Highland Way and has been producing exceptional single malt whisky for nearly 200 years.

For more information on Glengoyne visit: www.glengoyne.com

For more information on WWT visit www.wwt.org.uk  

Only the slowest distillation process, untainted by peat smoke, creates Glengoyne THE REAL TASTE OF MALT.

Learning Manager at WWT Caerlaverock , Dumfriesshire Brian Morrell and Glengoyne Distillery Manager Robbie Hughes toast the opening of Glengoyne’s new wetlands area.

Glengoyne Distillery Manager Robbie Hughes and Learning Manager at WWT Caerlaverock , Dumfriesshire Brian Morrell toast the opening of Glengoyne’s new wetlands area.

Glengoyne Distillery Manager Robbie Hughes, Learning Manager at WWT Caerlaverock , Dumfriesshire Brian Morrell, Glengoyne Marketing Director Iain Weir and WWT Corporate Relations Manager John Creedon demonstrate the type of wildlife the new wetlands will attract with a giant Barnacle Goose.

Notes:

Glengoyne’s multi award-winning Single Malts are distilled at a slower rate than any other Scotch whisky using air-dried barley, untainted by peat smoke creating ‘The Real Taste of Malt.’

Glengoyne is a subtle, complex whisky in which all of the delicate flavours freely express themselves. Glengoyne 10 Years Old has a nose of toffee and a sweet, malty finish.

Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) www.wwt.org.uk

WWT saves wetlands worldwide – a critical habitat which is disappearing at an alarming rate. We act to identify and save severely threatened wildlife, such as the Madagascar pochard, which has been given a more secure future thanks to our decades of experience in conservation breeding.

Our researchers have been monitoring wildlife in the UK for more than 60 years, observing changes and finding solutions.

We put people at the heart of all our work, because conservation needs support to succeed.

And we share what we learn with experts around the world and with our 200,000+ members, the 60,000 school children who come on an educational visit to our nine wetland visitor centres in the UK, and the million people who visit us each year to enjoy a wetland experience.

We manage over 2,600 hectares of wetlands across the UK which between them support over 200,000 waterbirds and other wildlife.

WWT members enjoy free access to all nine visitor centres and are kept up to date with developments through an award-winning quarterly magazine, Waterlife.

Yamazaki 1984 Single Malt Whisky.

Gold Medal Winner and “Supreme Champion Spirit” at the International Spirits Challenge 2010 and the  “Best Single Malt Whisky in the World” at the 2011 World Whisky Awards.

After being announced as the Gold Medal Winner within the “Whiskies” category, this extraordinary single malt went on to become the Supreme Champion Spirit, an accolade given to one single product among all Gold Medal Winners of every category. As the finest of some 1,000 brands entered into the ISC this year, the Yamazaki 1984 was cited for its “depth of flavour and maturation, together with the remarkable syrupiness of its texture. It is absolutely outstanding in every respect.”

Yamazaki is the most-popular single malt whisky in Japan and is enjoyed by whisky connoisseurs the world over. Yamazaki was ranked the world’s eighth bestselling single malt whisky in terms of cases sold in 2009 and is currently exported to around 25 countries, including the United States.

Only 200 bottles were released in Europe and only 300 released in the USA, so very rare indeed! Expensive…..? Very! Worth it…..? Absolutely Yes!

Visit the Highlander Inn at www.whiskyinn.com

Hello Fellow Scotch Lovers –

As you know, my goal with these emails is to offer you exciting whiskies at great prices, or access to limited production whiskies. This weeks its all about an extremely limited production whisky: Glenmorangie Pride 1981.

The culmination of 28 years of passion, patience and artistry, Pride 1981 is the most luxurious and longest ever extra-matured Glenmorangie. When the original whisky was distilled in 1981, it was selected to mature in the finest oak casks with the intention of creating an exquisite 18 Year Old whisky.

However, in 1999, Dr. Bill Lumsden, Master Distiller, acquired an extremely limited number of Sauternes barriques from the Chateau d’Yquem vineyard. He saw the perfect opportunity to create an even more outstanding single malt scotch whisky: the ultimate expression of the art of extra maturation.

Glenmorangie Pride 1981 is 28 year old whisky that is matured in the finest oak casks for 18 years before being aged exclusively in Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes casks for a further ten years – the longest period any current Glenmorangie whisky has undergone extra maturation. It is then bottled at cask strength (56.7% ABV)

The whisky comes in an exquisite Baccarat crystal decanter designed by renowned glassware artist Laurence Brabant. Each decanter is individually numbered and personally signed by Dr. Bill Lumsden, and is housed inside an elegantly-crafted wooden coffret designed by emerging Dutch designer Wouter Scheublin.

This is an extremely rare, limited edition bottling with only 1,000 bottles available worldwide; 100 of which will are available in the US (and only a few in the hands of Nicky The Neck). The ForScotchLovers price for a bottle of Glenmorangie Pride 1981 is $3,600 for a 1-Liter bottle, so if you want one, get it NOW!  Availability of this spectaular whisky is EXTREMELY limited…and once it is gone, it’s gone.

At $3,600 for a bottle, and with less than 100 bottles in the U.S., Glenmorangie Pride 1981 clearly isn’t for everyone. But for the lucky few with the means, and the smarts to act fast, this whisky will be prized and enjoyed for many tears to come.

Doug Stone
Founder
www.ForScotchLovers.com

GLENMORANGIE PRIDE 1981

I’m on Google+ and there’s whisky chat there already! Are you on it?

The social media team have signed me up for Google+ and you can find me talking whisky via the link. or http://www.gplus.to/richardpaterson

I would loved to have had http://www.gplus.to/whisky as my name instead of Richard Paterson but it looks like I was beaten to it by this little pooch!

But I want to know if you are on there, talking all things drams…

It’s great to see that there’s already been some whisky chat on Google+ by the likes of Gal Granov, Blair Bowman, Whisky2.0, Scotch Hobbyist, Sjoerd de Haan-kramer, Scotch Hobbyist, Armin Grewe and many others, but let’s see who else is on there – let’s build a list of all the whisky fans on Google+.

If you are on it, leave your details below so I can add you to whisky drinking circles – and also let me know what country you’re from in case I do circles by country. What we’ll do is by the end of the week (hopefully) is publish a full list of all whisky fans on Google+ so we can all chat (and dram) together!

och, another crammed packed tour; Three day express whisky tour – taken by Paul and Tim (Angels Whisky Club Moscow Ambassador). 3 days, 6 distilleries, 1 art studio, Duncan Taylor, Rosslyn Chapel, McTears and a Police station.

Thursday; met Tim at 08.30 Edinburgh airport. Immediately drove to Glasgow where we had an appointment with Stephen at McTears auction house. Er well, we got lost, my fault! Junction 23 on the motorway was closed off, we drove around a while looking for a way off, ended up at Junc 25, stopped at a police station and asked how to find McTears? as Junc 23 closed. We were no far away actually, there in 5 minutes. So in we go, looking around the new layout of whisky room and taking a closer look at many auction offerings for later in the month (Paul’s amongst them). We then headed off north to Loch Lomond distillery, where Gavin Durnin (Sales Director) took us around. This distillery is closed to the public. An unusual place this, it has grain and malt in one distillery, the stills use towers/columns for 4 stills and is really unusual, the SWA call them Lomond towers but we were assured they are not. A really good tour here of everywhere, distillery, cooperage, warehouse etc with a cup of tea!!! After this superb tour we had (I wont say enjoyed) a Big Mac each, eeek. Drove to the A9 and headed north. We were trying for Cardhu but ran oot of time. So at Findhorn (aye, that far north) we ate a hearty meal, then paid a visit to artist Jonathan Wheeler, where Tim enjoyed the artwork so much he bought some! Retreating to Banff now and our hotel, a pint of cider and bed to watch telly, knackered!

Friday; an early start again, first call Glenglassaugh. Tim has a cask here (so do other recent tour groups we have taken here) so we had to see it, in fact, taste it to see how it’s coming along. Graeme Morrison took us into the cask house, Graeme is now Maturation Manager and a grand man he is. A quick chat with Stuart and we departed to Sandend for a few quick pix, before heading to Duncan Taylor, Huntly, where Tim took samples for casks he is considering. I seem to be almost a local here, called in so many times recently. We then flew off to Cragganmore for a tour, a really lovely lass Claire showed us round, a typical Diageo place but nevertheless a decent tour here. Then another closed to the public distillery; Tomintoul, where Tom took us round, excellent! Really enjoyed this tour, many thanks to Tom, with a great look around and tasting, perfect! We headed into the village for some grub and a look at the worlds largest whisky bottle! Oh and a brief call in a Glenlivet. Then drove through thunder and typhoon like rain all the way to Perth. Checked Tim into the hotel and went home myself. Liz came through and we three went for a superb meal at Kerachers restaurant. Tim went back to his hotel, Liz and myself to my hoose for a few drinks and relaxing.

Saturday; oh did I enjoy my bed this morning!!! A lie in as I met Tim at 09.00, sent some whisky away via the post office before heading to Rosslyn Chapel, very nice! Then to Glenkinchie distillery. No the best tour to be honest. Then into the city and a visit to the Vintners Rooms where they have over 1300 whisky bottles. Finally to South Queensferry for a meal and check Tim into his hotel (pre next day flight). A short tour but crammed, drove home to Perth tired and knackered, had a cup o tea, saw some telly and hit me bed!

Tomintoul Stills

Tour designed, driven and guided by Paul McLean www.mcleanscotland.com and www.angelswhiskyclub.com

Bluffer’s Guide to Whisky (£10 / ticket)
The Red Lion, Crown Passage, London SW1
Monday August 22nd 2011, 7.30pm

For those who ‘always wanted to know about whisky, but were afraid to ask’…

We recognize that not everyone knows their Peat from their Pot Stills or their Glenlivet from their Glenmorangie, so this series has been put together with these poor, misguided individuals in mind!
Six whiskies from the various whisky-making regions of Scotland in a tasting designed to get the learning juices flowing.

Want to impress your Dad/Grandad? Want to know your blends from your malts? Want to know more and taste more? Then this is the event for you! Eddie Ludlow, founder and Whisky Evangelist of The Whisky Lounge guides you along the start of your journey towards Whisky Valhalla. Life will never be the same again. Ever.

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!

The Red Lion, Crown Passage, London SW1

… test out those taste-buds with Whisky Review 209 (4/7) – Whisky Masterclass (Tasting) .. with compliments from Ralfy!

Visit Ralfy at www.ralfy.com

Dear Customer

This month we have eight (8) new PROVENANCE releases:

PRV0712 MORTLACH SHERRY FINISHED 8 YEAR OLD
Opens with a sweetly spiced character running to a warming, coffee & chocolate praline quality. The palate is spicy and carries a dried raisin sweetness, reminiscent of old fortified wines. The finish is long, still spicy with a soft anise style. (J)

PRV0689 FETTERCAIRN 10 YEAR OLD
Opens with a fresh hay like and fruity (peaches) character on the nose and develops to a green malt quality. The palate is sweet and carries a strawberry jam,macerated fruit, and elderflower style. The finish is short but sweet and remains pleasingly fresh & light. (J)

PRV0713 CRAGGANMORE 11 YEAR OLD
The sweet nose carries a fresh vanilla’d character with a creamy, home baked quality. The palate is still sweet, now spicier plus a rich malty character. The finish is medium long, barley sugared and runs drier towards the end. (J)

PRV0668 ROYAL BRACKLA 11 YEAR OLD
Fresh and clean on the nose, runs to a sweet fruity style –just like opening a bag of wine gums! Still sweet on the palate, now honeyed, and carries to a gristy quality. The finish is round and mellow with a ripe pear style. (J)

PRV0705 ARRAN 12 YEAR OLD
On the nose – detect its full malty goodness with citrus and even some crème caramel tones! The palate has a smooth entry into barley, oak, Scottish tablet and clove studded orange –which all runs into a finish full of liquorice, vanilla, oak and more barley all being apparent. (F)

PRV0655 GLEN GRANT 12 YEAR OLD
Opens fresh and sweet on the nose – running to an alcoholic fruit salad style – plus a home baked biscuit quality. The palate is full and round, sweetly spiced, still fruity, carrying a grist and honey style. The finish is long, with an attractive butterscotch character running to a toffee sponge finale. (J)

PRV0706 GLEN ORD 12 YEAR OLD
The fresh and sweetly fruited nose runs to an attractively light, grassy character. The palate replicates the nose with poached pears in a spicy vanilla syrup style. The finish remains fruity now with orange pith and a spicy tang. (J)

PRV0716 MACALLAN 13 YEAR OLD
The nose is fresh & clean, carrying a freshly ground malt character plus some golden syrup. The palate opens sweetly and runs to a fruit jelly and vanilla’d (custard style) quality. The finish remains fruitily sweet throughout, now with a tangy citric character. (J)

We hope you will appreciate these latest releases!

Best regards,

Fred Laing
Managing Director

Visit Douglas Laing & Co. Ltd. at www.douglaslaing.com