January Outturn Update: Five Favourites

With January’s Outturn release well under-way, here’s the top five member favourites from the list…

1) 29.110 Wild West cowgirl dressed in leather

2) 23.72 A big, eye-watering slap

3) 71.34 Rabbit, ginger & treacle tart

4) 105.16 Mulled cider & beef goulash

5) 73.46 Cockle-warming citric crush

January’s HEALTHY Offers

Our recommendations from January’s Outturn:

Pick-me up Pair
71.34 & 125.57 for only £89
Speyside Lossie & Highland Northern

Regional Trio: Three times daily
125.57, 1.162 & 23.72 for only £147
Highland, Speyside & Islay

Case Offer: Round ‘Em Up!
125.57, 71.34, 1.162, 23.72, 50.48 & 66.32 only £289
Lowland, Highland, Speyside & Islay

January Outturn
Browse all bottlings
(60 single casks online)

Society Burns Tastings & Events
Celebrate the Bard’s Birthday with our programme of Burns tastings and events. What’s more, join us at our Burns Suppers at The Vaults, London or The Dining Room at 28 Queen Street and save £10 on guest tickets.

Traditional Burns Supper – The Vaults, Wed 25 Jan*
London Burns Night – The Crypt, Wed 25 Jan*
Newcastle Alternative Burns – County Hotel by Thistle, Thu 26 Jan
Glasgow Alternative Burns Tasting – Radisson Blu, Fri 27 Jan

*Member and guest tickets the same price (save £10 on guest tickets)

Society Private Burns Celebrations
Book your own authentic celebration of the written Scottish word, the finest fare and our golden nectar in honour of the Bard.

Private Burns Celebrations

2012 Independent Bottler of the Year www.whiskymag.com/awards/ibc/2011/

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.

Morrison Bowmore Whisky Tasting – Thursday 16th February

The Morrison Bowmore whisky tasting on 15th February sold out very quickly so to give those who missed out a chance to attend we are running a second tasting on Thursday 16th February. See below for full details but there are only a few tickets available as first refusal was given to those on the reserves list so you’ll have to be quick if you want to come along and get a taste of 6 great drams from three great distilleries.

See below for all the details and if you have any queries just contact us.

Sláinte!
Fran and Ken
Arkwrights Whisky and Wines
www.whiskyandwines.com

UPCOMING EVENT

AUCHENTOSHAN, BOWMORE & GLEN GARIOCH WHISKY TASTING

Date Thursday 16th February 2012

Time 7.00 for 7.30pm

Venue Stanton House Hotel, Stanton Fitzwarren

Details This tasting with Phil Nickson of Morrison Bowmore is a great chance to compare and contrast three very different styles of single malts. The Auchentoshan provides a taste of how triple distillation can produce a delicate yet robust whisky, Glen Garioch will let you sample a Highland style malt from one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland and, even if you have shied away from peated whiskies in the past, the smoky yet perfumed Bowmore may help change your mind as it is a great introduction to peaty whisky.

Tickets are £12.50 per person, and this also entitles you to a discount of £3 against a bottle of one of the featured whiskies if bought or ordered on the night of the tasting. Tickets are very strictly limited, and allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and as they always sell very quickly it is best to book ASAP. To buy them just log on to www.whiskyandwines.com and place an order for the number you require, or telephone us on (01793) 765071, or call in and see us at Arkwrights, The Dormers, Highworth, Wiltshire.

Admission to the tasting is by ticket only, and most, if not all, of the whiskies tasted will be available to purchase on the night so come prepared.

Happy New Year all!

We hope you had a fantastic festive season and the Father Dramness brought you something to warm the cockles!

2012 is set to be a big year for us at The Whisky Lounge with more tastings rolling out in more cities and venues than ever before. Plus a festival nearly once a month – it’s all go down here at TWL HQ. As January can often be a month of retreating to the warmth of our living rooms and settees in some kind of hibernation, we thought we’d fire you all an email to remind/inform of our events coming up before the end of the month, plus some Newcastle Festival news.

Hopefully one of these events, some tasty drams and some good company will lift those spirits.

BURNS’ NIGHT WHISKY TASTINGS

Our Burns’ night whisky celebrations are always well-received and attended and, in fact, the Manchester and Newcastle incarnations are now sold out. Sorry to those who wanted to come along – you’ll have to be quicker next time! Or we’ll have to do more!

However, we do still have a few tickets tickets for the following..

Thursday 26th January, 7pm – The Red Lion, Crown Passage, London, £25 a ticket
Come and join Eddie for a night of whisky and haggis. We will be tasting through our recently released single cask single malts so a real treat for you cask strength, unfettered fans… Click here to book now.

WHISKY LOUNGE HQ TASTING

Friday 27th January, 7pm – Unit 3, 61a Osbaldwick Lane, York, £10 a ticket

Now this is a new one for everyone! if you’re one of our home town crew (or even passing through) you are in luck. We’ll be revealing our new Headquarters in Osbaldwick, York and tasting through our new range of Whisky Lounge bottlings for only £10! And get this… if you order a bottle or two of the said liquid, we’ll give you your £10 back!

With Joe the newest member of the team acting as host, it should be a cracking night and I might even come along if I get back from London in time…

Click here to book this little beauty.

NEWCASTLE WHISKY FEST 2012

Civic centre, Newcastle upon Tyne

Saturday 11th February, 12-5pm

£25 a ticket

Tickets for our 4th festival in Newcastle have been on sale for quite a while now and have been selling like hot cakes! We still have some tickets left, but we are not going to be filling the venue as per last year as we want you to enjoy the event as much as possible and without having to fight through hordes! If you haven’t got your tickets yet, I would recommend you get booking asap.

Click here to get booking or see further details on this ‘must-do’ event!

JOE’S WHISKY REVIEW

I thought it was high time we started to give you even more to read and enjoy. We have therefore created a new whisky review section on the brand new website. This is being written by our first employee Joe Clark, formally of the Whisky Shop here in York. Don’t ask me how he has managed to manoeuvre his way into a paid position where he gets to sample fine whiskies on our time! Oh well, he’s a nice lad and you’ll no doubt be seeing him soon.
If you would like to read his very first reviews (of our very own bottlings!) and follow his progress, head on over to his new page here.

MEMBERSHIP AND BOTTLINGS

Just a quick reminder that should you be stuck for a pressie for that special whisky-drinker/nerd/nut in your life, that we have your problem sorted! The new Whisky Lounge Membership is what you need! Discounts, benefits and much more to be announced are to be had, and – for a limited period – you get one of our 20cl Single Cask bottlings, all for only £50. Not to mention the sexy black card you get automatically as a member. If you’re interested in this and/or the new bottlings we did just before Xmas, please click here.

LIVERPOOL & BRIGHTON

We are working hard to bring events to all you guys in the above areas – please bear with us and watch this space – announcements should be made soon…

That’s enough for now – read, digest and come and see us soon.

Slainte!
Eddie

Eddie Ludlow
Whisky Evangelist

thewhiskylounge
IWSC Spirit Panel Judge 2009-present
www.thewhiskylounge.com
eddie@thewhiskylounge.com

BENRIACH LAUNCHES NEW 17 YO RICHLY- PEATED SEPTENDECIM

BenRiach’s Septendecim, its newest addition to its celebrated peated range, will be available worldwide later this month, the distillery announced today (19 January 2012).

The new 17 year-old has been matured only in ex-bourbon casks and continues BenRiach’s quirky trend of using Latin names – such as Authenticus, Curiositas and Heredotus Fumosus – for its richly-peated expressions.

The tasting notes confirm Septendecim – Latin for “seventeen” – is a magnificent, multi-layered malt with fantastic length.

The colour is rich summer gold with a freshly harvested barley impression.

On the nose, it’s full of energy and vibrancy – a complex mix of fresh peaty aromas constructed around a central core of apples and toasted nuts dowsed in wild mountain honey.

And on the palate, it gives sweet concentrated peat flavours which dominate from the start. Bold and intense, the peaty heart is united with honey-infused raisins, roasted nuts and a luxurious leather impression.

Sales Director Alistair Walker said: “Septendecim is a real robust heavyweight, full-bodied and beautifully balanced with enormous impact. It’s another fine example of our distillery going back to its nineteenth-century roots – a time when, unlike today, the majority of Speyside distilleries were producing peated whiskies.”

Peated malt whisky production only represents approximately six weeks’ worth of the annual production at BenRiach, but the peated whiskies have become an important part of the distillery’s product portfolio as they offer something unexpected from the Speyside region.

Septendecim is non chill-filtered and bottled at natural colour, with a strength of 46% vol. Unlike the recently-launched BenRiach Solstice, the Septendecim is not a limited release and should be continually available for years to come.

Picture shows Septendecim and its packaging.

For more information – info@benriachdistillery.co.uk

MILROYS OF SOHO JANUARY 2012 NEWSLETTER

Well Happy New Year – and what a year! It’s great to see so many distilleries keen to experiment and reach for higher quality. Our customers are also becoming more knowledgeable and certainly more demanding. We kept on increasing our range in 2011, we now stock more whiskies than ever. Christmas was particularly good fun: tasting whiskies with our regulars, meeting bloggers and our overseas friends whom we normally only meet via email. Now it is 2012, we have a massive January sale and plenty of tastings and events to invite you to.

So which were our favourite whiskies of 2011 and what can the canny enthusiast buy at a snip during the Milroy’s of Soho Green Spot Sale?

A Taste from the Past – Grant’s Stand Fast 1977

Good evening all,

The last bottle of Stand Fast I tasted about a year ago was pretty delicious, so you can imagine how delighted I was when I came across this slightly later version of the same blend.

Historically speaking, this bottle is also interesting as it was the last time the Grant clan motto ‘Stand Fast’…

…(Please click on the link to read the remainder of the article)…

THE LINK

Ludo

Ralfy from www.ralfy.com tackles a series of Blended Whiskies with an indroductory …. Whisky Review #244 – 5 recommended Blended Scotch Whiskies.

Because it’s not just about single malts!

When it gets cold or really, really cold take a tip from the Japanese – make yourself a Hibiki Shokan or a Yamazaki Daikan cocktail

London January 2012: It’s a quick and delicious way to warm up. With 24 seasons in their year the Japanese have a cocktail answer for most situations. Shokan means “Small cold” and Daikan means “Major cold” in Japanese parlance. Here’s how they dispel the cold with these two tasty solutions.

Hibiki Shokan – the start of the cold season (6 January)

If your taste is for a blended whisky this is the winter warmer for you

Recipe:

40ml Hibiki 17 Year Old blended whisky

20ml Cherry Marnier

Vanilla pod (opened)

Pour ingredients over ice in a mixing glass

Add vanilla pod, orange zest and stir 30 times then strain over cracked ice in a rocks glass

Garnish with orange zest

Yamazaki Daikan – height of the cold season (21 January)

If your preference is for single malt whisky, try this on for central heating

Recipe:

40ml Yamazaki 12 year old single malt whisky

25ml Absinthe infusion (infusion of absinthe, cinnamon, vanilla pod, anis, cherry marnier, lemon zest and fresh cherries)

2 drops cherry bitters

Stir all ingredients over ice 30 times in mixing glass

Strain over cracked ice in balloon or chunky whisky glass

Both cocktails are from a range of 24 seasonal cocktail recipes created by Zoran Peric, Suntory Brand Ambassador, to bring that inner glow in a month of cold and snow.

Suntory Japanese whiskies are world beaters having won more than 60 international awards since 2003 and whisky lovers have taken to them. There is something about their subtle aromas and delicate flavours which appeals to the palate whether taken neat, over ice or in cocktails.

Yamazaki 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky and Hibiki 17 Year Old Blended Whisky are firm favourites in Japan and here in Europe. Enjoy them and the warm glow that comes with the Yamazaki Daikan and Hibiki Shokan cocktails.

Note: Pronouncing Suntory names

Yamazaki – (Ya-ma-zarkee)

Hakushu – (Ha-koo-shoe)

Hibiki – (Hi-bi-kee)

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

Yamazaki 12 year old £42

Hibiki 17 year old £70

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

When spring is on the horizon the Japanese have a cocktail for it – their choice is a Risshun or a Usui

London January 2012: Every season the Japanese have a wonderful reason to celebrate, with an appropriate cocktail. They have 24 seasons in their calendar, and 24 taste sensations to look forward to each year. As spring looms nearer, they will hasten it in with a Risshun or a Usui cocktail, both delicious examples of the art of Japanese whisky.

Yamazaki Risshun – Spring will soon be in the air (4 February)
Time to mix a celebratory seasonal toast

Recipe:
35mlml Yamazaki 12 year old single malt whisky
25ml Ume honey blended with umeshu (Japanese plum liqueur)
Finely shaved ginger
Build in an Old-fashioned glass over ice
Here’s to Spring!

Hakushu Usui – In warmer weather a little rain will fall (19 February)

As winter begins to fade the spirits rise with the help of a Hakushu cocktail

Recipe:
30ml Hakushu 12 year old single malt whisky
6ml Violet cordial
2 sprays rose water
2 sprays orange blossom water

Both cocktails are from a range of 24 seasonal cocktail recipes created by Zoran Peric, Suntory Brand Ambassador, to raise the spirits with spring on the horizon.

Suntory Japanese whiskies are world beaters having won more than 60 international awards since 2003 and whisky lovers have taken to them. There is something about their subtle aromas and delicate flavours which appeals to the palate whether taken neat, over ice or in cocktails.

Yamazaki and Hakushu 12 Year Old Single Malt Whiskies are firm favourites in Japan and here in Europe. Enjoy them and the warm glow that comes with the Yamazaki Risshun and Hakushu Usui cocktails.

Note: Pronouncing Suntory names
Yamazaki – (Ya-ma-zarkee)
Hakushu – (Ha-koo-shoe)
Hibiki – (Hi-bi-kee)

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

Yamazaki 12 year old £42
Hakushu 12 year old £49.95

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

Celebrating Canada’s Best Whiskies

January 19, 2012. Victoria B.C. – Canada’s top whiskies of 2011 were announced today at the annual Canadian Whisky Awards, a gala celebration at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia.
The Canadian Whisky Awards reward the very best tasting Canadian whiskies, and recognize outstanding contributions made by highly successful individual whiskies and producers in generating favourable attention for Canadian whisky. Winners are chosen by a panel of seven judges following extensive blind tastings. Among the judges are some of Canada’s top whisky writers and bloggers.

Whisky makers nominate their very best whiskies creating a strong competitive field. Among these, gold medals were awarded to five entries, and silver medals to another twelve. Eight whiskies were recognized with bronze. Awards of Excellence were also presented. Here are the details:

Kittling Ridge Estate Wines and Spirits took home the award for Canadian Whisky of the Year with their 2011 release, Forty Creek John’s Private Cask No. 1. The whisky also won Connoisseur Whisky of the Year – Domestic earning the overall highest score for whiskies available only in Canada, and Best New Whisky of the Year as the highest scoring new release. Kittling Ridge also won Whisky Value of the Year for the Canadian market with it’s Canada Gold whisky.

Gold medals for Canada’s top whiskies went to several perennial favourites and one surprising newcomer. Gibson’s Finest Rare 18 year old, a scrumptious creamy, long-aged whisky with both elegance and power is a limited production whisky, available in Canada only and a strong favourite of Canadian whisky lovers. Wiser’s Small Batch, a rich, spicy and mouth filling delicacy was highly praised by the jury. Its upscale stable mate, Wiser’s Legacy, a pot-distilled rye just bursting with rye spices also took home gold, as did Forty Creek: John’s Private Cask No. 1.

The pleasant surprise of the evening came when Masterson’s Rye was announced as a gold medalist. Huh? Yes. Masterson’s is a whisky distilled in Calgary Alberta by Alberta Distillers Limited for a Sonoma, California-based purveyor of fine spirits, called 35 Maple Street. Released in the summer of 2012, Masterson’s has quickly gathered strength among American rye whisky lovers. As the highest scoring whisky available in the export market only – it is not yet available in Canada – Masterson’s was voted Connoisseur Whisky of the Year – Export. The company has promised to release Masterson’s in Canada in 2012.

Wiser’s Legacy, available in both Canada and the U.S. got the nod for Connoisseur Whisky of the Year – Multiple Markets. Wiser’s Legacy with its assertive rye flavour profile has quickly become a favourite of connoisseurs.
Awards of Excellence went to Alberta Springs 10 year old as the Sippin’ Whisky of the Year – Canada Only, Canadian Mist Black Diamond as Sippin’ Whisky of the year – Export Only, and Wiser’s Small Batch for Sippin’ Whisky of the Year – Multiple Markets. Canada Gold took Whisky Value of the Year – Canada Only, while Canadian Mist was acknowledged as Whisky Value of the Year – Multiple Markets.

The Awards also recognized Canadian Whisky Innovations. In a hotly contested competition, the judges eventually settled on White Owl Whisky from Alberta’s Highwood Distillers. Introduced in Alberta in 2010, White Owl really took the Canadian cocktail scene by storm the following year, bringing whisky flavour to a whole new demographic and generating new interest in Canadian whisky. White Owl is made by filtering long-aged Canadian rye whisky until it is as clear as vodka, making it an ideal mixer for bartenders wanting to give their fancy cocktails a rye flavour boost.

Canadian Club took home an Award of Excellence for Canadian Whisky Profile. This award recognizes the whisky or producer that in the opinion of the judges has contributed the most to raising the profile of Canadian whisky. Highlighting the role of Canadian Club during Prohibition, the brand supplemented its prominence on the HBO series, Boardwalk Empire, with a strong social media campaign, putting the words “Canadian whisky” (and its flavours) on the tip of many a new tongue.

The Award of Excellence for Line Extension was again, hard fought with Brown-Forman emerging as the victor with its Collingwood whisky. Collingwood was one of the most successful new launches of 2011 bringing the Canadian Mist line to the connoisseur’s whisky shelf. Collingwood’s unique flavours are attributed to leaving the mingled component spirits to rest in a huge “marrying vat,” with staves of toasted maple wood.

The organizers would like to thank the Victoria Whisky Festival for hosting the awards. More information about the Canadian Whisky Awards is available at www.canadianwhisky.org

The medalists:

Gold

Gibson’s Finest Rare 18 year old
Wiser’s Small Batch
Wiser’s Legacy
Forty Creek: John’s Private Cask No. 1
Masterson’s Rye

Silver:
Canadian Club Sherry Cask
Forty Creek Barrel Select
Alberta Springs 10 year old
Royal Canadian Small Batch
Pendleton 1910
Canadian Mist Black Diamond
Forty Creek Confederation Oak
Gibson’s Finest 12 year old
Canadian Club Reserve 10 year old
Forty Creek Double Barrel Reserve
Caribou Crossing Single Barrel
Wiser’s 18

Bronze
Pendleton
Gibson’s Finest Sterling
Collingwood
Canada Gold
Centennial Limited Edition
Canadian Mist
Canadian Club Classic 12
White Owl

Notes:

About the Canadian Whisky Awards
The Canadian Whisky Awards are presented annually to recognize the very best Canadian whiskies and to encourage distillers to maintain the highest standards for making whisky. Only whiskies distilled and matured in Canada are eligible to compete. A panel of independent whisky writers, bloggers, and broadcasters selects the winners after tasting each whisky blind. The Awards are fully and fiercely independent of the Canadian whisky industry and operate on a not-for-profit basis.

About the judges

• Chairman of the Judges, Davin de Kergommeaux publishes the Canadian whisky website canadianwhisky.org. His book, Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert will be released in May 2012 by McClelland & Stewart.

• Jason Debly is a Fredericton New Brunswick-based whisky blogger who publishes Jason’s Scotch Whisky Reviews, jason-scotchreviews.blogspot.com “If the whisky tastes good or bad,” he tells us, “you will know, in no uncertain terms.”

• André Girard is co-president of the Quebec City Whisky Club and co-founder of Quebecwhisky.com, an ever growing French-language independent database with tasting notes for nearly 1000 whiskies.

• Mark Gillespie is a professional broadcast journalist in the U.S. and is the host and executive producer of Whisky Cast, the Cask-Strength Conversation, heard weekly at whiskycast.com. Mark is a Malt Maniac and long-time supporter of Canadian whisky.

• Based in Southwestern Ontario, Kris Shoemaker is a whisky fan with a nose for Canadian whisky. While his website, Daily Dramaddicts, dailydramaddicts.blogspot.com, is taking a backseat to impending fatherhood, he continues to comment regularly about Canadian whisky on Twitter.

• Edmonton, Alberta’s Chip Dykstra, aka Arctic Wolf, aka The Rum Howler, collects a wide range of spirits and reviews them on his Rum Howler blog, therumhowlerblog.wordpress.com.

Lawrence Graham is a Malt Maniac, organizer of the always sold-out Victoria Whisky Festival and publishes the highly popular website Whisky Intelligence, www.whiskyintelligence.com

The awards are hosted by, but independent from the Victoria Whisky Festival, www.victoriawhiskyfestival.com

Contact: Davin de Kergommeaux (613) 563-0254
davindek@gmail.com