A treasure trove of the world’s “Most desirable, valuable and collectible” single malt Scotch whiskies – Nik Keane, global director for Malt Whiskies at Diageo

Diageo’s Special Releases Series was begun in 2001 to satisfy enthusiasts’ demand for unusual, distinctive, usually older and often unrepeatable cask strength bottlings. Collectors, connoisseurs and enthusiasts alike eagerly anticipate this annual release of remaining older stocks and unusual expressions of a distillery’s character; a rare opportunity to experience and enjoy a treasure trove of priceless malts.

All malts subject to availability – please email lee.tomlinson@milroys.co.uk to register interest in a bottling, or call 020 7437 2385

DISTILLERY AGE AT BOTTLING YEAR DISTILLED UK RRSP % ABV ON BOTTLING VOLUME RELEASED (BOTTLES)
Brora *** 35 1977 £750 49.9 2,944*
Caol Ila Not declared Not stated £70 59.6 Limited number
Cardhu 21 1991 £160 54.2 6,000*
Convalmore *** 36 1977 £600 58.0 2,980*
Lagavulin 12 not stated £80 55.1 Limited number
Lagavulin 37 1976 £1,950 51.0 1,868*
Oban 21 not stated £225 58.5 2,860*
Port Ellen *** 34 1978 £1,500 55.0 2,958*
The Singleton of Dufftown 28 1985 £235 52.3 3,816*
Talisker 27 1985 £475 56.1 3,000**
* = individually numbered bottles
** = individually numbered cartons *** = closed distillery

Lagavulin 1976, 37 year old – Refill American and European Oak
The oldest expression of Lagavulin ever released by the distillers, and limited to fewer than 2,000 bottles. Georgie Crawford, distillery manager at Lagavulin, said: “Lagavulin is probably the most sought-after single malt whisky in production today – universally acknowledged as one of the unchallenged grands crus of Scotch Whisky. For many years we have been unable to supply sufficient mature spirit to meet worldwide demand. So bottlings of old Lagavulin are exceptionally rare, and this year’s 37 year old is the oldest that we have ever released. Its 12 year old younger brother makes a regular appearance in the Special Releases, and has always been received with huge enthusiasm.”

Tasting notes:
• Appearance: Rich amber with copper lights. Good beading.
• Nose: Modestly low key, setting the tone for a maestro’s ‘less is more’ performance. Yet still the aroma could only be that of Lagavulin: rich and complex, an artist’s oils wreathed in scented smoke. The top notes are elusive: is that menthol or beef consommé? Further in, though, there’s honeyed toffee with hints of lime zest, and a cigar-box made of resin-rich sandalwood. With water the aroma is joyously sweet and lightly oily.
• Body: Medium. Lightly coating.
• Palate: At natural strength, the taste is sensational, rounded and comforting. There’s a nice cooling mouthfeel, while the sweet-smoky start of charcoal and ripe tropical fruits is followed by gathering wood smoke leading to a palate-cleansing, black tea dryness. Along the way waves of honey, pine, treacle tart and roasting chestnuts interact. It’s really delicate with water, which pulls back the curtain of smoke to reveal a sweetly coating, softly warming and gingery character that is honeyed yet still refreshing.
• Finish: Initially sweet then drying, a little like a treacle tart made with burnt pastry, but it’s the lingering, all-pervading fragrant smoke that seeps into your very soul.
Summary: This outstanding mature Lagavulin is a perfectly balanced, calm and confident malt that is utterly wonderful and understated even at cask strength and becomes joyously delicate with water. Smoky flavours can fade with age, but they are undimmed in this elegant yet robust whisky.

Lagavulin 12 year old – Refill American Oak
A lively expression of Lagavulin released to accompany the blockbuster 1976 release.

Tasting notes:
• Appearance: Extremely pale green-gold.
• Nose: Soft, beguiling and cautious at first, when an appetising sharpness slowly crystallises into red berry fruit, then developing soft, savoury aromas and a delicious smoky sweetness. Savoury hints of charred baked potato skins cooked in a bonfire come first, then peat smoke and a box of spent matches come through. Later still, there are teasing, oily hints of sharp tropical fruit (lime pickle?). These aromas are altogether softer with water; less tense and underscored by youthful sweetness. There are smoky-fresh notes, then raisins and dried fruit, with distant wood smoke.
• Body: Light. Oily.
• Palate: Cooling at first, then salty, drying and dusty, with a good balance of sweetness and acidity. Beautifully cleansing, like a salad of tarragon and peppery rocket, then really appetizing, as if a char-grilled endive splashed with peppery olive oil. The charred notes then strengthen, into smoky wax. Sweeter with water and more accessible, as captivating notes of aniseed and fennel seeds give way to charred fruit scones and burnt jam tarts.
• Finish: Simultaneously sweet and savoury, dominated by pungent smoke and appetising aniseed. With growing warmth, it becomes oily near the end. With water it is sweet and abrupt with subdued smoke; pleasantly drying and piney.
Summary: An initially reserved member of the Lagavulin family, which grows much more at ease and expressive with water. As you might expect, this is a wonderfully appetising, invigorating and cleansing malt; soaring pine and pungent smoke invite you to pair it with lean, intense foods.

Talisker 1985, 27 year old – Refill American Oak
From the Isle of Skye, 3,000 individually numbered bottles of the much loved Talisker are being released and sure to be in strong demand.

Tasting notes:
• Appearance: Rich, clear amber with notes of antique gold.
• Nose: Absolutely classic Talisker. First soft and sweet, with shortcrust pastry and rich warm dark chocolate. Next, after the faintest mention of raspberry juice, comes waft upon waft of warming, homely smoke. Through this rises the buttery, oaty aroma of home-made chocolate chip cookies, offset by sharp mixed-berry jam and ripe red apples. There are late top notes of beeswax and polish on new shoes fresh from the box. Water makes it all sweetly smoky and liberates mysterious volcanic fumes.
• Body: Medium. Oily.
• Palate: Cool, salty and sweet; then warming and spicy, with notes of ginger and clove. Growing rich and malty, with helpings of plum pudding and fruitcake. Then resin-rich, dense, fragrant pine-wood smoke. Soft, smooth and bitter-sweet with water, with gently pervasive smoke.
• Finish: Long and silky-smooth, with more of that drying, unctuous and soft dark chocolate, and chewy, with ripe plums. Late warmth, cigar-box cedar and coal smoke.
Summary: A supreme Talisker; wonderfully classic in style and as sophisticated as its peers but with an extra ‘chilled’ self-assurance and even an edge of darkness. A malt that lives life to the full and doesn’t take itself too seriously: it’s also ever-so-slightly edgy, with suggestions of a volcanic heritage.

Cardhu 1991, 21 year old – Ex-bourbon American Oak
From Speyside comes an unusually mature Cardhu, with under 6,000 individually numbered bottles released. This will make an interesting comparison to the Cardhu 22 year old released in 2005.

Tasting notes:
• Appearance: Old gold; richer amber depths. Good beading.
• Nose: Mild and at first quite shy. An early creamy, fruity note of vanilla and boiled sweets (bubble gum!) is faintly underscored by a rich, floral perfume with a cleansing edge. The creamy fruitiness persists as dried figs, rum-and-raisin ice cream, red apple skins and beeswax. Later a malty, biscuity base layer is revealed, as the cleansing edge becomes a sharply defined top layer. Overall, it’s a richer vanilla custard and fruit trifle creaminess that emerges. Water opens things out, raising both fruit and floral scents slightly, the boiled sweets now mandarin-flavoured.
• Body: Fine and light.
• Palate: At natural strength, smooth and savoury, with light acidity. Clean, refined, pleasantly drying and delicate. Then wonderfully aromatic with notes of black cherry; growing spicy, warming and elegant, with nutty, dark chocolate offset by buttery shortbread. It’s even softer with a drop of water. Now the taste starts cooler and sweeter; still savoury (mint on a fresh fruit salad) but also newly spicy across the tongue.
• Finish: Long, aromatic and warming; smooth vanilla balanced by juicy tangerine and faint orange oil with spicy cedar, late silky-smooth dryness and a wisp of smoke.
Summary: Clean and precisely structured; delicate and feminine on the nose, yet also robust, assured and unusually spicy. A beautifully balanced malt in which lusciously rich and indulgent vanilla notes are complemented by elegantly aromatic and refined tannins in the palate and finish.

The Singleton of Dufftown 1985, 28 year old – Refill American Oak
The first release of a limited cask strength edition of The Singleton, with only 3,840 individually numbered bottles available.

Tasting notes:
• Appearance: Deep antique gold. Good beading
• Nose: Grand and mild; compact yet detailed, with ripe apple and pear fruit or perhaps beeswax and heather pollen, and scents of moorland herbs. Quite autumnal, with faint smoke and a savoury cereal note, and like an old dusty library carrying scents of wax and worn leather. Later, orange oil underscores the complex floral notes. In time some vanilla develops, becoming intense buttercream. Water lightens it considerably and brings out the malty, cereal character (like being in a grain loft), with leafy strawberries, more waxiness and the merest trace of smoke.
• Body: Oily, dense.
• Palate: At natural strength, this malt has a big, oily feel; sweet and reminiscent of a wholewheat breakfast cereal coated with honey. The initial effect is warming, with an instantly appetising astringency. Below this lie minty and faintly smoky notes and rich chewy liquorice with a digestive biscuit sweetness. It’s all sweeter and less oily with water; losing that piercing aromatic dryness and with the cereal note dimmed, it’s altogether gentler and more approachable.
• Finish: Invigorating, warming and gloriously astringent at the end, with notes of pine and cedar to leave the palate tingling over a lingering last wisp of smoke.
Summary: A wonderfully appetising, full flavoured and mature malt, made subtle by long ageing, yet retaining its malty/nutty distillery character. Beautifully structured and paced, it is at once fresh and alive on the palate, yet also evocative of the past; complex and exciting, intricate and intriguing.

Convalmore 1997, 36 year old – Refill European Oak
From the Dufftown distillery mothballed in 1985 this Convalmore is exceedingly rare, and released this year with greater age than when previously offered in 2005. Available in fewer bottles on this occasion also, at only 3,000.

Tasting notes:
• Appearance: Vibrant amber or faded polished mahogany. Medium beaded and very viscous.
• Nose: Mild and profound, opening scented with eucalyptus oil and a trace of leather infusing a soft pillow of marshmallow and creamy toffee. Through this runs a rich vein of clean, tropical fruit sharpness, underscored by soft, crumbly, malty notes with a wisp of smoke. In time, the appetising fruit retreats into a rich, creamy shell. A little water brings up the soft toffee creaminess and a little mint, as the fruity complex becomes fresher.
• Body: Lightly oily. Smooth.
• Palate: Big and oily in texture; gently warming and extremely soft and comforting, like a whisky syrup! The taste is immediately sweet yet, with a note of aniseed, not cloying. Successive waves of pepper, salt and smoke follow, revealing a mouth-drying nature. With water, the texture remains big, thick and tongue-coating; the taste is sweeter, cooler and minty; slightly dusty, too, with hints of shortbread and scented smoke.
• Finish: Superbly balanced, with an unusual aftertaste of perfumed smoke. There’s still sweetness but it’s in essence drying, with notable cedar-rich hints of cigar box.
Summary: A subtle, big whisky with an astonishing rich velvet texture that wears its age lightly yet has developed a wonderful complexity. The young-seeming, sweet and succulent nose leads, via the smooth, comforting palate, to a drying conclusion of marked aromatic complexity, masterminded by long years of maturation.

Oban 21 year old – Rejuvenated American Oak and second fill ex-bodega casks
For lovers of West Coast single malts, this 21 year old Oban has been finished in rejuvenated American Oak and a second fill in ex-Bodega casks.

Tasting notes
• Appearance: Polished beech-wood; richer and deeper in sunlight. Moderate beading.
• Nose: Full, accessible and oily, with rich caramel notes embracing sweet, ripe apples set in burnt pastry yet also with fresh and cleansing maritime notes; fragrant dried seaweed, hot sand dunes. Then darker, linseed-oil-rich aromas like those found at a furniture restorer’s lead to a briefly salty, then spicy, aromatic conclusion. It’s more complex and sweetly rounded with water, with lighter caramel, more ripe autumn fruit, and a trace of smoke, delivering a pleasurable, moreish malt.
• Body: Rich.
• Palate: Warming overall, the dense, oily texture beautifully coating and liqueur-like. The taste is first sweet, with fruity vanilla toffee, then salty, with pistachio shells, and burnt pastry. Becomes sweeter and less salty: less the old sea-dog! Mouth-cleansing, cool and fresh, and drying. Water emphasises the cooling, sweet and salty notes; rich dark chocolate and minty smoke.
• Finish: Lengthy and drying, starting sweet and savoury with raspberry juice, dark smooth chocolate, ginger and clove, yet with an attractive salty, oily aftertaste, all brine and smooth olive oil.
Summary: Oban, and then some. A beautifully paced, confident and assured malt; complex and contradictory, yet always rewarding. Rich and sweet then briny and spicy, at once conveying the freshness of walks along the coast and through apple orchards early on a crisp, autumn morning.

Caol Ila – Unpeated ‘Stitchell Reserve’ – Refill American Oak, rejuvenated American Oak and ex-bodega European Oak
So named in honour of the long-serving distillery manager Billy Stitchell, due to retire this year:
“Refill American Oak, rejuvenated American Oak and ex-bodega European Oak have all played a role in creating this special Caol Ila,” explains Billy. “It has a firm, clean and fresh style, finishing with aromatic, spicy and drying notes.”

Tasting Notes:
• Appearance: Clear, olive gold. Light beading.
• Nose: At full strength, immediately clean, aromatic and fresh: like inhaling Friar’s Balsam. After this first blast, more reticent; softly sweet, then a vivid freshness like that of crisp green fruit or lemon zest. Water raises a fruity, nutty honeyed sweetness and a faint note of treacle, with perhaps just a hazy hint of smoke.
• Body: Light to medium. Oily, yet firm.
• Palate: Drinks well straight; has an intense and in your face style, with a most appealing smooth, lightly oily texture. Firm, clean and fresh throughout. Intense and mouth-filling, with a great initial surge of sweet spiciness unaccompanied by the usual signature phenols of peated Caol Ila or indeed, much fruit. Becoming honey-nutty (nut brittle, with a dark edge of treacle bitterness) then finally, warming and drying. A good splash of water develops these flavours; it’s tongue-coating and appetisingly bitter-sweet now, leaving a spicy dryness as the tide of flavour ebbs.
• Finish: Aromatic, spicy and drying; a balancing bitter edge embraces more of the soft nutty, biscuity notes, always maintaining that essential freshness overall.
Summary: A smooth-talking, easy-drinking powerhouse. A powerfully, punchy, warming and sweet-spicy whisky with a mighty vitality and a smooth texture: the clean, fresh bitter-sweet nutty flavours give it a character all of its own and it’s a perfect testament to a remarkable whisky making dynasty.

Port Ellen 1978, 34 year old – Refill American Oak and refill European Oak
An immensely rare bottling from a long closed distillery; the 13th and oldest release from the original distillers. Available in only 3,000 individually numbered bottles.

 Tasting notes:
• Appearance: A clear amber, like antique gold in sunlight. Dense beading, suggesting rich texture.
• Nose: Cautious and clean at first, with hints of dark toffee wrapped in wood smoke, then cooling oil of eucalyptus and a trace of bruised apple fruit. The wood smoke parts to reveal a savoury, meaty scent, then sweet honey, toasted cereals and a whole artist’s studio of oils. With water, it starts smoky (like vegetables on a barbecue) the underlying oiliness now punctuated by hints of lime.
• Body: Light, oily, smooth.
• Palate: Stunning. Caution is thrown to the winds as sweet and intense smoke races across the palate chased by fresh lemons, lemon zest and butter. This rich, fruity smoky-sweetness becomes tongue-coating, smooth dark chocolate enveloped in exquisite wood smoke. It drinks very well straight and when the attack slows, there’s yet more honey, lemon and a sprinkling of sea salt. If water is added it is smooth, lightly oily, much sweeter now and more accessible: still some salt, with a new spicy tingle.
• Finish: Long, coating, intense and sustained, all pervading scented smoke, hints of mint and bergamot, then finally dense and savoury, with an aftertaste suggesting cloves.
Summary: A phenomenal, mighty and utterly compelling Port Ellen with astonishing complexity and huge character. The refined nose gives no clue to the vivid, immediate onrush of astonishing flavours; a fine interplay of clean citrus, alluring smoke and salt with honeyed sweetness.

Brora 1977, 35 year old – Refill American Oak and European Oak
Similarly rare and desirable, this Highland East Coast single malt is from casks filled in 1977, also available in 3,000 individually numbered bottles. Both Port Ellen and Brora are ideal for dedicated connoisseurs.
Nick Morgan, Diageo’s head of whisky outreach, commented:
“Stocks of Brora and Port Ellen are inexorably diminishing. Each year’s limited-edition bottling releases one more fragment of whisky history that is unique, and can’t ever be replaced. This puts Port Ellen and Brora in a different category from most other very old single malts – mainly from operating distilleries – that are on the market, often at very high prices. On top of that, Port Ellen and Brora are not merely rare, old and in great demand – they are judged by most qualified commentators to be of outstanding quality, and this year’s edition will be no exception.
“Indeed, many would accept that Port Ellen and Brora are among the world’s rarest Single Malt Whiskies still being released.”

 Tasting notes:
• Appearance: Yellow gold or polished brass. Lightly oily.
• Nose: Initially clean, fresh and bracing; then warming, developing depth and richness. Creamy top notes of warm scented wax or vanilla-custard float above a herbal note (basil?) and a sharper, cereal base, all suffused with just a thread of smoke. The nutty, waxy notes sweeten into honeycomb and toasted coconut. The sea appears very late, as a fresh sea breeze. Adding a little water softens the impact and brings up the scented wax, with honey and lemongrass subduing the more subtle vanilla aromas.
• Body: Light and softly coating.
• Palate: Good texture and a surprising taste: much sweeter than you expect from the nose, and much more smoky, with a most attractive tongue-coating smoothness. A leafy hint of fresh picked strawberry introduces lemon zest and candied peel to set the tongue tingling. Then damp beach notes of wood, sand and sea air round off a beautifully balanced palate. With water added this is a very easy-drinking, rewarding dram: fuller in texture than when at full strength, it is also less sweet, becoming mouth drying, cleansing and softly smoky.
• Finish: Coating, chewy and softly drying, with minty chocolate (after-dinner mints). Wood smoke lingers in the complex, fresh and spicy conclusion.
Summary: A Brora classic: a mature, sweetly pleasing, tongue-coating, softly smoky malt that rewards deep study, evoking a tranquil beach scene rather than the drama of the high seas. Fans of Brora will not be disappointed by this superb, comforting, old-fashioned whisky.

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Classic Book Reviews: Scotch by Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart

By Tim F

Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart was a very interesting man.  His book, Scotch: The Whisky of Scotland in Fact and Story, appeared in 1951 when its author was in his sixties and approaching the twilight of a fascinating life. Lockhart had … Continue reading >>

New Release & New Edition!

Glenglassaugh 30 Year Old

Glenglassaugh Evolution

Glenglassaugh 30 Year Old Whisky

Glenglassaugh 30 Year Old is an exceptionally fine example of this rare Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Located on the Banffshire coast near the fishing village of Portsoy, Glenglassaugh was considered by whisky writer Alfred Barnard “too well known to need any praise.”

Glenglassaugh is a rare and enduring Highland malt that has been crafted by the elements and rediscovered for a few.

Glenglassaugh Evolution

Evolution is an exclusive and very limited one-off series from single variety oak cask styles. Bottled at 50% strength, natural colour and without the use of chill-filtration.

This expression was matured in first fill ex-George Dickel Tennessee Whisky barrels and shows great depth of character and finesse, a harmonious combination of whisky and oak.

Cù Bòcan has stalked residents of the remote Highland village of Tomatin for centuries, his legend embellished by the hellhound’s increasingly fractious behaviour.

Sightings are rare, once in a generation, always terrifying. A distillery worker, out walking late, was once relentlessly pursued by an imposing black beast, steam spiralling from flared nostrils, teeth bared.

Compelled beyond all natural reason to feel the hound’s dense fur he stopped and reached out, hand trembling, only to see the ghostly spectre – Cù Bòcan – dissolve before his eyes leaving nothing but a vacuum of deathly silence and an inky blue cloud of smoke, soon spirited away across the peat moorland…

THE WHISKY

Cask Type:

Matured in a combination of Virgin Oak, Bourbon and Sherry casks.

Strength:

46% alc./vol.

Availability:

September 2013

Distribution:

Worldwide

Price:

RRP £43.99 per 70cl bottle

This whisky is described as “light smoke intertwined with rich citrus and exotic spices”.

AROMA

Coconuts and cream with some botanic notes, parsley and coriander. The smoke emerges after a minute followed by a mix of lime, grapefruit and tangerines with rich almond and aniseed.

PALATE

Initially feather light, followed by a honeyed smoke. The rich spice of cloves, cinnamon and star anise create an enigmatic elegance.

FINISH

Light with a hint of sweet smoke.

NOTES

• LAUNCH DATE: 3rd September 2013

• LAUNCH DETAILS: The launch will be announced online via the company’s Twitter account – a link to www.cu-bocan.com will be published where all the details of the whisky and its story will be revealed. A selection of whisky bloggers and writers received teaser samples with no details of the whisky contents or brand, just instructions to log on to Twitter at 7pm on 3rd September.

• The Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd is a producer and blender of Scotch whisky, boasting a strong core range of single malt whiskies along with a range of popular blends.

• Website: www.tomatin.com  / www.cu-bocan.com Facebook: facebook.com/cubocan facebook.com/Tomatin1897

Faced with 14 equally fabulous bottlings, where do you start? Simple. Head first for the flavour profile you’re naturally drawn to, then pick from the whiskies listed there…

Sweet, Fruity & Mellow
76.105 A continuous snowfall of curiosities £76

7.91 Beguiling and bewitching £80.50

26.94 Bubble Bath & Champagne £90.50

Spicy and Sweet
36.63 There is chilli in the fruit pie £49.20

35.95 Invigorating and Stimulating £80.50

63.28 Cherry Blossom Painting £87.20

72.35 Pink Grapefruit Granita £110.30

Deep, Rich & Fruity
66.44 New balls please! Exclusive to offers

30.77 This is nuts! £54.50

Old and dignified
85.27 Refreshing Elderflower Fizz £116.40

Juicy, Oak & Vanilla
73.59 Beautiful landscapes unfold £48.10

Lightly Peated
3.209 Out of the ordinary £80.50

Peated
53.194 A Calmac ferry dram £62.40

Something Different
G10.5 A ‘Schweppervescence’ moment £68.50

Browse all bottlings

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.

Spot the SMWS bottles in this You Tube video

An update from John Campbell, manager of Laphroaig Distillery 

It’s not long before I’ll be crossing the Atlantic for our live broadcast from New York!

I hope you are all planning to join us for Laphroaig Live 2013, we’ll be live online on Thursday 26th September at 8pm EST – you can check what time the show will begin in your country here.

The Laphroaig Live website contains a profile of each of this year’s four panellists (hopefully you will know me at the very least!) and a downloadable version of the tasting mat that we will be using in the show.

I know that some of you like to join in the tastings from home with friends, here’s a reminder of the whiskies that we will be sampling live:

• Laphroaig Quarter Cask
• Laphroaig QA Cask
• Laphroaig Cairdeas 2013
• Maker’s 46

As always, we all welcome questions and comments from Friends of Laphroaig and will try and respond to as many of you as we can during the show. If you do have a burning Laphroaig related question, this is the time to ask! You may even get something special for your question.

We couldn’t visit the home of the cocktail without experiencing the huge renaissance of Laphroaig being used in the latest creations. Our bartender will be creating some of these exciting cocktails and the panel will get a chance to experience tasting Laphroaig in a very different way. You can join us by downloading the cocktail recipes, which includes the Smoking Gun, Penicillin and the Honey Badger, from www.laphroaig.com/live and create them at home to enjoy along with us.

I hope as many of you as possible can watch online in a couple of weeks at www.laphroaig.com/live, and please do add your questions and comments on Facebook and Twitter.

Slàinte,

John Campbell
Distillery Manager, Laphroaig

Visit http://www.laphroaig.com/ to join the Friends of Laphroaig; it’s free!

GlenDronach & Glenglassaugh Whisky Tasting – Thursday 3rd October 2013

In October we are in for a real treat as Stewart Buchanan will be coming along to take us through a tasting of the fabulous sherried whiskies produced at GlenDronach distillery.  Not only that, as an added bonus, there will be a guest appearance of two whiskies from Glenglassaugh distillery – the latest acquisition by the independent consortium who own BenRiach and GlenDronach.

The line up for the evening is really impressive – with the GlenDronachs including a good range of ages plus a port finish and a pre-release sample of the Cask Strength Batch 3.  From Glenglassaugh the Evolution and the new 30 year old are being featured so this is a great chance to try whisky of two different ages from a distillery that you may not have come across before.

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

Name GlenDronach & Glenglassaugh Whisky Tasting
Date Thursday 3rd October 2013

Time 7pm for 7.30pm
Venue Stanton House Hotel, Stanton Fitzwarren SN6 7SD

Details Tickets are £13.50 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 these tastings usually sell out within hours it is best to book ASAP. To buy tickets just log on to www.whiskyandwines.com and place an order for the number you require.

Admission to the tasting is by ticket only, and the whiskies tasted will be available to purchase on the night so come prepared.

N.B. We have negotiated special rates at the hotel for anyone who wants to stay overnight after the tasting – click here for further details.

Whisky Live Paris 2013 – The 10th Edition

WHISKY

For our tenth anniversary, Whisky Live & Fine Spirits has brought together an exceptional group of exhibitors: more than 150 brands and distilleries will be attending with their well-established classics, as well as a considerable number of their very latest bottlings, some of them on public tasting for the very first time.

The Maubert area of the Maison de la Mutualité will be devoted to the Great Nations of Whisky: essential blends and single malts of Scotland, all grouped by region; emblematic Irish whiskeys from some of the most currently active distilleries; American bourbons and ryes, not only from the Kentucky heartland, but also from many of the other “emerging” states. And, of course, a large selection of whiskies from the land of the Rising Sun, without a doubt equally entitled to membership of this elite club. With over 700m2, there will be much for you to discover and to rediscover: not only from some of the oldest and best-known distilleries of these four countries, but also from numerous virtually unknown brands and micro-distilleries.

But we won’t be stopping there, or forgetting the rest of the globe. The art of distillation has long since crossed the borders of Scotland, Ireland and the US, and some countries are now more than capable of competing with their illustrious elders! The Saint Victor area will be the scene on which the emerging nations will be on show: Australia, New Zealand, Wales, India, Italy, Sweden, Taiwan and – of course! – France. A veritable world tour designed to both open your eyes and tantalise your tastebuds!

Finally, how could we mention whisky without making specific reference to the independent bottlers of the category. Largely responsible for the current popularity of single malt, they will be very much the guests of honour in a special area all of their own: Gordon & MacPhail, Berry Bros & Rudd, Douglas Laing etc. All the greatest names of independent bottlings will be there, alongside La Maison du Whisky, coorganiser of Whisky Live Paris with Whisky Magazine & Fine Spirits. As for Compass Box and Signatory Vintage, you will be able to find them in a specially designed space, with a tailored experience conceived to help you see them in an altogether new light. To find out more, click here!

Whisky Live is an international event, now well established in all four corners of the planet – from Shanghai to New York, Glasgow to Johannesburg – and happenings all throughout the year. Since 2003 France hosts this event each year in September: Whisky Live Paris has rapidly become one of the biggest whisky and spirits shows in the world and is now considered to be something of a right of passage, as much for amateurs as for professionals..

INTRODUCING THE GLEN GRANT® FIVE DECADES SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY

Master Distiller Dennis Malcolm celebrates his 50 years at Glen Grant with a limited edition whisky comprised of his best vintages from his five decades at the legendary distillery

NEW YORK CITY (September 2013) – Stepping into the Glen Grant® distillery, one is overcome with the feeling of entering a whisky cathedral.  The tallest pot stills in the world rise up in a line like organ pipes. Decades-old wooden barrels line the maturation warehouses like pews. And at the center of it all is Dennis Malcolm, perhaps the most experienced Master Distiller in Scotland, Father of the Scotch Religion and champion of whisky as it should be. As the category has blossomed, even the finer single malts have been drawn into whisky purgatory, engaged in a seemingly endless battle to over-peat and out-darken each rival expression: gimmicks that are meant to catch eyes, not taste buds. Malcolm is determined to bring crafters and connoisseurs alike back into the light by producing Scotch in its most original form: a classical and easily drinkable spirit with a beautifully light appearance.

Dennis Malcolm has spent 50 years chasing this goal, in the distillery in which he cut his teeth as an apprentice cooper at age 15. In celebration, the Master Distiller of the Glen Grant Speyside Distillery brings to you his Glen Grant Five Decades Limited Edition Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Whisky disciples rejoice! Five Decades is a single malt specially crafted to pay homage to his five decades of experience with Glen Grant; this ‘Unique Selection of the Finest Vintages’ is the marriage of the most valuable Glen Grant casks from the past 50 years, carefully hand-selected to deliver the distinctive smooth, fruity and rich taste experience for which Glen Grant is renowned. Dennis has hand-selected his favorite casks, which he personally laid down over the last Five Decades (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s). By marrying together these slowly aged casks, each of which has reached its peak of maturity, he has created a rich yet mellow Single Malt with unusual depth and complexity.

The Glen Grant Distillery was established in 1840 in the town of Rothes, and is now the proud proprietor of an entirely Barley-to-Bottle process: all whisky, including the Five Decades, is bottled at the distillery, meaning local Speyside water is used in distillation and hands are locally sourced. In addition, Glen Grant boasts some of the tallest, most slender pot stills in Scotland, which are perhaps most key to the Glen Grant Five Decades’ signature light appearance. The process is a product of gravity: to double distill the whisky, the fermented solution must be boiled to reduce volume by evaporation. With shorter stills, the vapor somewhat counterproductively falls back into the liquid, whereas a taller still allows the vapor to rise and escape- thus the pristine appearance of the single malt. Each still has a ‘purifier’ that further refines the character of the spirit making it refreshingly light and easy to drink.

“We believe in- nay, swear by- producing Scotch in its most pure, most classic form at the Glen Grant Distillery,” says Dennis Malcolm. “Glen Grant Five Decades is the embodiment of our devotion, being a culmination of each of the best vintages from every decade I have spent in this beloved hall of whisky excellence.”

The Glen Grant Five Decades is characterized by an appearance of light golden barley, and a bouquet melding vanilla, honey and Oloroso sherry. Once on the tongue, the Five Decades instills tastes of honey and orange blossom, with intensely creamy sweet toffee and raisin fruit. The finish is smooth and lingering, with continued notes of fruit.

The Glen Grant Five Decades Limited Edition Single Malt Whisky will be available for purchase in September 2013, and available nationwide at liquor stores for $150.00

For more information go to:

www.camparigroup.com
www.glengrant.com

Notes

About Glen Grant

Glen Grant became part of the Gruppo Campari portfolio in 2006. The brand is currently the world’s number 5 selling Single Malt Whisky and is an Italian icon and market leader. The Glen Grant range includes the refined Major’s Reserve, 10 Year Old, 16 Year Old, 1992 Cellar Reserve and the 170th Anniversary Limited Edition. Glen Grant was founded 170 years ago in Speyside, Scotland by former smuggling brothers John and James Grant.  The unique and seductively smooth taste for which Glen Grant is renowned is the result of the innovative tall slender stills and special purifiers James ‘The Major’ Grant, son of founding brother James Grant, introduced over a century ago and that are still used to this day.  

About Campari America

Campari America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Davide Campari-Milano S.p.A. (Reuters CPRI.MI – Bloomberg CPR IM).  At the heart of Campari America are two legends in the American spirits industry.  The first, Skyy Spirits, was founded in San Francisco back in 1992 by the entrepreneur who invented iconic SKYY Vodka.  The second is the world-famous Wild Turkey Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, where they have been making the world’s finest whiskies since the 1800’s.  Both companies were purchased by Davide Campari-Milano and together they form Campari America, which has built a portfolio unrivaled in its quality, innovation and style, making it a top choice among distributors, retailers and consumers.  Campari America manages Gruppo Campari’s portfolio in the US with such leading brands as SKYY® Vodka, SKYY Infusions®, Campari®, Wild Turkey® Straight Kentucky Bourbon, American Honey®, Russell’s Reserve®, Glen Grant® Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Cabo Wabo® Tequila, Espolón® Tequila, Appleton® Estate Rum, Wray & Nephew® Rum, Coruba® Rum, Ouzo 12®, X-Rated® Fusion Liqueur®, Frangelico®, Cynar®, Carolans Irish Cream®, Irish Mist® Liqueur, Sagatiba® Cachaça and Jean-Marc XO Vodka®.  Campari America is also the exclusive US distributor of Bowmore® Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Auchentoshan® Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Glen Garioch® Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, McClelland’s® Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Flor de Caña® Rum, Midori® Melon Liqueur, Hibiki® Whisky, Hakushu® Single Malt Whisky, and The Yamazaki® Single Malt Whisky. 

Campari America is headquartered in San Francisco, California.  More information on the company can be found at http://www.campariamerica.com/, www.facebook.com/campariamerica, Twitter: @CampariAmerica and http://www.camparigroup.com/.  Please enjoy Campari America brands responsibly and in moderation.

Introducing, The Glen Grant Five Decades 

Five Decades of Excellence

Glen Grant Five Decades is a single malt specially crafted by Dennis Malcolm to celebrate and pay homage to his five decades of experience with Glen Grant. Dennis has hand-selected his favorite casks, which he personally laid down over the last Five Decades (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s). By marrying together these slowly aged casks, each of which has reached its peak of maturity, he has created a rich yet mellow Single Malt with unusual depth and complexity. This whisky is carefully hand-selected to deliver the distinctive smooth, fruity and rich taste experience for which Glen Grant is renowned. 

Scotch Whisky as it Should Be

As the scotch category has burgeoned, rival spirits have attempted to differentiate themselves through excessively peaty flavors and exagerated “dark” editions – all gimmicks meant to catch eyes, not taste buds. Glen Grant’s Dennis Malcolm, probably the most experienced master distiller in Scotland, cut his teeth as an apprentice cooper in the distillery in which he is now leading the effort to re-introduce Scotch in its purest form: a beautifully light and excessibly drinkable whisky. As the only Speyside Distillery to bottle every whisky on site, Glen Grant is a fitting face to the scotch category, producing scotch whisky as it should be.

Glen Grant is as famous for innovation as it is for its scotch. The founder, James Grant, was the first to install electric lighting in a distillery, and established the distilleries signature pot stills – some of the tallest in Scotland. These taller stills help achieve the delicacy signature to Glen Grant’s scotches; during distillation, vapors from the fermented solution rise, and taller stills allow the vapor to escape, resulting in a unique light color and easy taste. It is safe to say that the scotch category continues to benefit from this historic distilleries’ progressive, yet respectfully traditional outlook on whisky distillation.

Tasting Notes

Appearance: Light golden barley

Bouquet: A rich and smooth marriage of vanilla, honey and oroloso sherry

Palate: Mouth-feel of orange blossom and honey, intensely creamy, with sweet toffee and mellow raisin fruit

Finish: Smooth and fruity lingering aftertaste

Proof

The Glen Grant Five Decades Single Malt Whisky is bottled at 46% ABV (92 Proof)

Pricing and Distribution

The Glen Grant Five Decades Single Malt Whisky will be available in the United States for purchase in September 2013 at approximately $250.00 for 750ml.

Web

For more info, please refer to http://www.glengrant.com/int/en/limited-edition/v-decades/