Because we know that you appreciate fine spirits – we would like to invite you to become part of our exclusive online community of Balblair Highland Single Malt Whisky connoisseurs.

As an online member of The Gathering Place you will receive perfectly timed news about the distillery and our Vintages. You can also:

*purchase exclusive single cask bottlings, only available to members
*watch expert tasting videos for our Vintages – conducted by distillery manager, John Macdonald
*be the first to read exclusive guest blogs
*enter our draw to win a bespoke Balblair silk tie, handmade in Scotland

You will also have the opportunity to build up your very own online ‘Vintage Cabinet’ – a useful record of your personal tasting notes on the Balblair Vintage whiskies you’ve tried. You can discuss and share your views with other members, and share with friends on Facebook.

We hope you decide to join us and the other Balblair connoisseurs in The Gathering Place. See you soon.

Join us in The Gathering Place

Balblair Highland Single Malt Whisky, International Beverage, Moffat Mills, Towers Road, Airdrie, Scotland, UK ML6 8PL

Greetings Fellow WhiskeyLover!!

Hot off the press!

We’ve just published an interview that FWL Contributing Editor Ian Buxton conducted with Bruichladdich Managing Director Mark Reynier, on the sale of his distillery to the French Remy, and the future for the once fiercely independent “progressive Hebridean distillers.

You can check out this fascinating must-read article here.

I hope you are enjoying these last days of summer…see you in September!

Doug Stone
Founder
ForWhiskeyLovers.com

Along with the wardrobes featured, Sex and the City’s favorite cocktail—The Cosmopolitan—quickly became a 90’s style icon. Today, from glassware to spirits, cocktails still come in and out of style, and below a cocktail to compliment fall fashion trends from 2012. Enjoy!

Maker’s Mod Manhattan:

· 1 ½ parts Maker’s Mark® Bourbon

· ½ part sweet vermouth

· 1 teaspoon maraschino cherry juice

· 1 maraschino cherry

Shake all together for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled Manhattan glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry (served up, no ice)

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. Simply use the “Submit a press release’ link at the top of the home page. Go on, you know you want to be famous!

Beam sends Irish Graduates to US to promote Irish Whiskey

Deerfield, Illinois (August 2012)… Beam Inc, owners of the multi-award winning Kilbeggan and Cooley Irish Whiskey Distilleries, has hired five Irish graduates to promote its Irish whiskey brands in the US. The graduates were selected through the IBEC Export Orientation Programme (EOP).

The graduates, Emily Duffy (Limerick), Joanne Ryan (Waterford), Ruth Dunne, Michael Egan and Jennifer Graham (Dublin), will each be based in one of following five US cities; New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

At the start of August the graduates will attend an intensive 10 day induction course at the newly established Kilbeggan Institute of Irish Whiskey Excellence at the Kilbeggan Distillery in Co Westmeath.

At Kilbeggan the graduates will be fully immersed in the whiskey making process and will be tutored on how to market Irish whiskey to an overseas audience. They will work with the Kilbeggan distilling team on every aspect of whiskey production from distillation to maturation ensuring that they obtain a 360 degree understanding of the products they will be promoting. In addition they will also receive presentation training from UK specialist firm Sustrain UK and will receive whiskey master class training from Beam’s Irish Whiskey Global Brand Ambassador John Cashman.

Beam’s Senior Global Marketing Manager for Irish Whiskey, Stephen Teeling, commented, “These talented graduates will benefit greatly from being exposed to international best practice in export orientated marketing. They will be supported by Beam’s US marketing and distribution infrastructure as they promote our portfolio of Irish whiskeys in five major cities in the US.

This programme has huge potential not only for the growth of our business but also for producing highly skilled people who possess the talent and ability to successfully market Irish products overseas. There is scope to roll this programme out across Europe and in other international markets.”

About Cooley Distillery

Cooley Distillery is the award winning Irish whiskey distillery. Established in 1987, Cooley takes its name from the location of its distillery, situated at the foothills of the Cooley Mountains, in Co. Louth. Cooley has an award winning portfolio of Irish whiskeys including Kilbeggan Irish whiskey, Tyrconnell Single Malt, Connemara Peated Single Malt and Greenore Single Grain Irish whiskey. To learn more about Cooley Distillery visit www.cooleywhiskey.com

About Beam Inc.

As one of the world’s leading premium spirits companies, Beam is Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World. Consumers from all corners of the globe call for the company’s brands, including Jim Beam Bourbon, Maker’s Mark Bourbon, Sauza Tequila, Pinnacle Vodka, Canadian Club Whisky, Courvoisier Cognac, Teacher’s Scotch Whisky, Cruzan Rum, Hornitos Tequila, Knob Creek Bourbon, Laphroaig Scotch Whisky, Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey, EFFEN Vodka, Pucker Flavored Vodka, Larios Gin, Whisky DYC, DeKuyper Cordials, and Skinnygirl Cocktails. Beam is focused on delivering superior performance with its unique combination of scale with agility and a strategy of Creating Famous Brands, Building Winning Markets and Fueling Our Growth. Beam and its 3,200 passionate associates worldwide generated 2011 sales of $2.8 billion, volume of 34 million 9-liter cases and some of the industry’s fastest growing innovations.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, Beam is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BEAM and is included in the S&P 500 Index and the MSCI World Index. For more information on Beam, its brands, and its commitment to social responsibility, please visit www.beamglobal.com and www.drinksmart.com.

EOP IBEC Graduate Programme explained

The Export Orientation Programme assists sponsor companies in strengthening their international marketing and export capacity. Highly qualified graduates are drawn from a carefully vetted shortlist and are available for recruitment in a sector relevant to their experience and qualifications. The selected candidates spend a placement working on behalf of the company either from their base in Ireland or in the relevant market around the world.

Through the unique EOP Accreditation Process, sponsor companies can be sure that the candidates they engage will be highly trained in all areas of export market development and will have access to industry experts throughout the duration of their placement. This allows the company to build up a valuable portfolio of practical information throughout the EOP process.

Through the EOP MSc Accreditation process, companies may also develop a suite of unique market relevant documents will which assist in their strategic development and provide unparalleled return on investment in the EOP process, EOP sponsor companies have found the process invaluable in the creation of new revenue streams and knowledge workers . With in excess of 88% retention rates post placement. EOP is the programme of choice for Ireland’s leading export companies with almost 28 years experience.

Speyburn 11yo 1995/2007 (59%, A. D. Rattray, Bourbon, C#422, 287 Bts.)

From Dewar Rattray’s (now A. D Rattray) Cask Collection; single casks bottled at cask strength without chill filtration or the addition of any colour. On the nose it’s quite strong and meaty, non perfumed candle wax, clove and some nutmeg, coffee grounds; all very nice. With water there is some small shift but nothing of note; it holds together well. The undiluted taste is still strong however there is lots from the nose; the meatiness, candle waxiness, heather, the clove and nutmeg and some warm honey (Manuka is very fashionable these days so we’ll go with that name) along with cold dark tea (unsweetened) and some dried apricots. The diluted taste brings out more of the honey and coffee grounds but remains pretty much true to the undiluted sample and still very nice. Lots of good solid notes that have banished the heather some what. The finish is a little dry with some nice malt moments and then becomes a lot drier with some aspartame (artificial sweetener) along with the clove and nutmeg

WI scored this 82 points prior to the existence of Whisky Intelligence but now feel it deserves a higher score. Such is the publishers prerogative…   

$116

Score 86

Please visit A.D. Rattray at www.dewarrattray.com Part 3 of 4 featruring the whiskeis of A.D. Dewar Rattray this week.

A word from Sam Filmus at Impex Beverages;

“As for future releases, we’re bringing in two Premium casks, one Bourbon and one Sherry, both 15+ years old (already bottled), Machrie Moor (Arran Peated 3rd edition), Arran 12yr cask Strength Sherry matured, and Arran 10yr in a gift box. (See picture). These will be brought in toward the holiday season.” (The Devil’s Punch Bowl should be in stores shortly).

www.ralfy.com takes you to Africa for a rare thing which Whisky Review 299 – Three Ships 10yo African Malt Whisky

Loch Fyne Whiskies Stocks A Wee One, ‘Miniature Collectors: New Springbank 15yo label’

Best regards,
Loch Fyne Whiskies
david@lfw.co.uk

BUFFALO TRACE DISTILLERY ANNOUNCES SMALL BARREL EXPERIMENTS ARE FAILURES

Apparently, Size Does Matter!

FRANKFORT, Franklin County, Ky (Aug. 2012) Sometimes, not all experiments are successful. Buffalo Trace Distillery learned this the hard way with its small barrel experiments started in 2006.

Using 5, 10, and 15 gallon barrels, the company filled each small barrel with the same mash bill (Buffalo Trace Rye Bourbon Mash #1) around the same time, and aged them side by side in a warehouse for six years.

The results were less than stellar. Even though the barrels did age quickly, and picked up the deep color and smokiness from the char and wood, each bourbon yielded less wood sugars than typical from a 53 gallon barrel, resulting in no depth of flavor.

While Buffalo Trace is NOT releasing these experiments, the Distillery did feel it was important to release their findings. The company hopes others can learn from such an experiment, just as they have.

“As expected, the smaller 5 gallon barrel aged bourbon faster than the 15 gallon version. However, it’s as if they all bypassed a step in the aging process and just never gained that depth of flavor that we expect from our bourbons. Even though these small barrels did not meet our expectations, we feel it’s important to explore and understand the differences between the use of various barrel sizes,” said Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley.

Each of the three small barrel bourbons were tasted annually to check on their maturation progress, then left alone to continue aging, hoping the taste would get better with time. Finally, after six years, the team at Buffalo Trace concluded the barrels were not going to taste any better and decided to chalk up the experiment to a lesson learned.

“These barrels were just so smoky and dark, we just confirmed the taste was not going to improve. The largest of the three barrels, the 15 gallon, tasted the best, but it still wasn’t what we would deem as meeting our quality standards. But instead of just sweeping this experiment under the rug and not talking about it, we felt it was important to share what we learned, especially in light of the debate about usage of small barrels. It’s one experiment we are not likely to repeat,” said Wheatley.

These small barrel experiments are part of the more than 1,500 experimental barrels of whiskey aging in the warehouses of Buffalo Trace Distillery. Each of these barrels has unique characteristics that differentiate it from all others. Some examples of these experiments include unique mash bills, type of wood and barrel toasts. In order to further increase the scope, flexibility and range of the experimental program, an entire micro distillery, named The Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. “OFC” Micro Distillery, complete with cookers, fermenting tanks and a state-of-the-art micro still has been constructed within Buffalo Trace Distillery.

About Buffalo Trace Distillery

Buffalo Trace Distillery is a family-owned company based in Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky. The Distillery’s rich distilling tradition dates back to 1787 and includes such legends as E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee. Buffalo Trace Distillery is a fully operational Distillery producing bourbon, rye and vodka on site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Distillery has won seven distillery titles since 2000 from such notable publications as Whisky Magazine, Whisky Advocate Magazine and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. It was named Whisky Magazine 2010 World Icons of Whisky “Whisky Visitor Attraction of the Year.” Buffalo Trace Distillery has also garnered more than 200 awards for its wide range of premium whiskies. To learn more about Buffalo Trace Distillery visit www.buffalotracedistillery.com