Many of you already know that this will take place on a TUESDAY as the First Friday falls on the first of the month and we cannot do it that day. Please note that half the seats are already sold for this event, with priority going to members. 

IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY BOOKED, CONTACT US VERY SOON, as the event always sells out. 

Here are the details for the event:

Date:              Tuesday August 5^th, 2014

Time:              6:30pm to 8:00pm

                        Please note we will start promptly right at 6:30; doors open 6:15pm

Location:       The Strath Ale Wine & Spirit Merchants, 919 Douglas Street, Victoria

                                    The event will be in the Maple Room, above the Sticky Wicket Pub, entrance on Courtenay Street

Price:              $35 each for Members & Partners, $45 for Non-Members/Guests   

REGISTRATION:   

1. Space is strictly limited, so you must register in advance. 

Guests are welcome, but we now have to restrict it to one guest per member. 

Members will always have priority. 

1. 2.    To secure your place you need to pre-pay

Please email, drop into the store or phone with credit card details (we do not keep card details on file)

Email: whisky@strathconahotel.com         Phone: 250-370-9463 

1. If your seat(s) are paid for by phone you will receive an email confirmation from me  and this is your virtual Ticket.  If you pay in person in the store you will receive a receipt. 

Thank you to the many members who have already registered and paid. 

We are also accepting bookings already for September, when First Friday falls on September 5^th, 2014 

IMPORTANT: 

Please remember these are cask strength whiskies, so you should not be driving home after the tasting. 

Slainté! 

Colin Southcombe
General Manager
The Strath Ale Wine & Spirit Merchants
919 Douglas Street, Victoria BC, V8W 2C2
Tel: 250-370-9463
Email: whisky@strathconahotel.com

Summer Whisky Sale

Summer is here and there’s even been some sunlight to prove it! The World Cup is over and England is still waiting for that trophy, forty-eight years and counting. At least it’s only a one year wait since we won Wimbledon! So what better way to cheer everyone up than with a good old whisky sale?

We’ve taken a much broader approach than with our previous offers. Not only have we chosen the weird and wonderful (Swedish single malt or Pineau des Charentes anyone?), we have even thrown in some high-profile whiskies such as Talisker 10 Year Old and the Macallan Gold. Why? Because we’re nice like that!

You can find the entire sale right here

Our mailing address is:
Milroy’s of Soho
3 Greek Street
London, England W1D 4NX
United Kingdom

www.ralfy.com opts for the 12yo over the 10yo with Whisky Review 474 – Jura malt whisky 12yo @ 40%

Chivas Regal Announces the First Chivas Master

Bottle Your Own

When visiting the Distillery at the end of May, their Royal Highnesses the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge (or the Earl & Countess of Strathearn as they are known locally) took on the great honour of bottling the very first “Bottle Your own” bottle from a Cask named after them. It’s a limited edition – so don’t worry if you can’t make it along in person, you can order online and we’ll bottle it for you.

JULY TOP-UP: COMFORTING, BROODING OR GRACEFUL?

What sensory adventure do you want to go on today? Find comfort in home baking, brood over a smoky bonfire or balance gracefully between juicy flavours… from the lightest to the heaviest, we have a bottling to delight every palate. But hurry: these three are brand new today and available exclusively online, so we don’t expect them to last long!

3 WEB EXCLUSIVES – NEW!

Light & delicate

50.58 A seesaw of spring cleaning and scones!

CLOSED DISTILLERY & LOW OUTTURN – ONLY 90 BOTTLES!

24yo; Refill ex-bourbon barrel

BUY £99.60

Juicy, oak & vanilla

95.15 A graceful tight rope walker

23yo; Refill ex-bourbon barrel

BUY £87.20

Heavily peated

66.53 A study in black

FIRST FILL SAUTERNES CASK!

9yo; Highland Eastern

BUY £48.40

Browse July Outturn

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 here for membership information This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video

Whisky Ramblings Via Video #90

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, once visited the Dalwhinnie distillery, during his first outing in Scotland. Their 15 Year Old, the Gentle Spirit, is the representative of the Highland style in the original Classic Malts line-up. Mark finds out if it lives up to its nickname ‘The Gentle Spirit’. 

http://youtu.be/of0UIpNZyzE

The Dalriada Group is a Partnership between Liz Gillespie and Paul McLean based in Perth Scotland and have three different companies within the group: McLean Scotland, Daley Irish Tours and Angels whisky club. They go that extra mile, so you don’t have to! Why the name Dalriada?  It was the Irish who first came to Scotland with the name Scotti. The rest they say, is history (which you can read here . There is also another reason: Paul, Paul’s father and his fathers line are all Scottish, mainly from the Oban area (which was in the Kingdom of Dalriada). The name Maclean – so history says – can link back to the kings of Dalriada.  That’s one link, the other is Paul’s mum. She and her family are originally from Kilkenny in the Republic of Ireland. Yet more links: the Daly coat of arms features a Lion, as does the Scottish Royal flag. Paul’s mum lives in Portrush Street. Then there is Gillespie – We need go no further!  

MCLEANSCOTLAND 2013 was very busy with whisky tours, 2014 to date is busier again. With guests arriving from far flung quarters of the world, their reputation seems to be growing. Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Beam Global, several distilleries have all engaged them to undertake tours. Looking forward to 2015, the order book is already growing, one name that may be recognised; Ingvar Ronde, of Malt Whisky Yearbook will be touring Scotland with MCLEANSCOTLAND with friends.  Paul and Ingvar met January 2014 over in Helsinki at a whisky festival. Many guests arrive in Scotland from Finland, as do guests from all over Scandinavia, Russia, USA, Canada, Netherlands, Europe wide and mid/far East. Also on the books, a whisky tour from South Africa for 2015.  Paul McLean sends many wee stories and articles into Whisky Intelligence.  Paul is also the only Scottish Drambassador for Transcendental dram in USA.  The company also offer fishing tours, golf, general sightseeing, wedding renewals, exclusive luxury tours, family gatherings and tours. With self drive or fully driver guided – they have excellent tours with excellent results, read them yourself.  They work 24/7 all year round. Many of their guests are also members of angels whisky club.

ANGELS WHISKY CLUB has been conceived and born out of their serious passion for whisky and all things whisky-related, which meant they just had to spread the word and help others enjoy the world of whisky as they do, with a world renowned whisky connoisseur installed as  Patron. TOTALLY FREE FOREVER!  The club sends newsletters monthly to members, has features online and has many “big interviews” many of which appear in Whisky Intelligence. With stories and tasting reports from many members particularly from Canada.  There is also an angels whisky club facebook in Germany. With so many contacts in the whisky industry, it is not hard to understand how the club came about, nor how closely they work with MCLEANSCOTLAND.  You can even buy whisky from angels, bottles, rare bottles and casks.  www.angelswhiskyclub.com

DALEY IRISH TOURS IRELAND – they work all over Ireland taking you to every corner, nook and crannie. Designing  bespoke tours for whiskey, golf, historic sightseeing, family gatherings, sailing, city and country tours, stay in an Irish castle! If you wish to come to Ireland, let them know, they will take care of everything for you.  Daley offer self drive, driver guided, train tours and group tours.  Dram-atic! Dram-tastic! Dram good!   Bespoke whiskey tours. Your spiritual advisors. Ireland has proved busy for Daley, working with the very best coach/driver company McCombs, you are sure to have a superb trip. They know many people and places to visit, it does help when there is family all over the country for tips and contacts. www.daleyirishtours.com

“Liz, We had a great trip. Mark was great, he took us to the stuff we wanted to see, castles for me and shopping, such as Waterford Crystal and the pottery place near Sligo for Mom. For the amount of days we had there in Ireland we packed in quite a lot of site seeing. We thank you again for all you have done for us. We will be headed back over to London for the next convention in April of 2015, I don’t know yet where we want to go or what we want to do but I will shoot y’all an email to see if you can help. Thanks, y’all are wonderful”. Kelly

Contact is easy – www.mcleanscotland.com  facebook; McLean whisky tours 

MCLEANSCOTLAND tour to Islay – June 2014

We took a group from USA, German and South African ladies on a 12 day tour of Scotland. The first part of the tour was to Islay. After a shopping and tea/coffee break at Inveraray – Loch Fyne whisky… shop, we caught the 1pm ferry to Islay, arriving at the hotel in Bowmore, where we all took refreshments – the liquid gold. Both Mark (driver) and Paul (MS) lingered at the bar to enjoy a dram or three followed by a large cool beer. With a superb selection of local whiskies including many Port Ellen bottles, it was enjoyable to say the least.

Heather at Ardbeg

Day 2; we travelled south to Port Ellen and our first distillery; Lagavulin, where the whole group took the tour and tasted the results. The single malt whiskies from Lagavulin, such as the legendary Lagavulin 16 Year Old, are amongst the world’s smokiest enveloping the palate. One of the trio of Ìleach distilleries gracing the isle’s South-Easterly shore, each sharing a characteristic peat smoke as well as being Scotland’s most pungent and perhaps most revered. In 1816, the Lagavulin whisky distillery was founded by John Johnston. Today, a great tour can be taken with some superb peaty drams at the end … we did! Our guide was Rachel, who worked wonders with our group – many thanks Rachel. After many photos we headed a mile or so along the road to Ardbeg for a second tour. Those lucky few who indulged in our special tour had an excellent tour – followed by an even better private tasting, courtesy of Heather. With 5 special drams on offer, especially from the oversized bottle, our wee group really enjoyed this tasting, some left a wee bit wobbly. Ardbeg was established by the MacDougall family in 1815, the same year as Laphroaig came into official existence a few miles along the road, although it seems that illicit distilling had already been taking place on the site for over twenty years, with Alexander Stewart having founded a distillery there in 1794. In 1997 Ardbeg was taken over by Glenmorangie plc. An initial release of aged stocks bottled as a 17 year-old in newly-designed packaging proved an instant runaway success, and has been followed by a string of highly successful official bottlings. Vintage releases of Ardbeg from the period before 1977 when the distillery’s floor maltings were removed (a dreadful error by Hiram Walker) are extremely highly sought-after. We know where we can get a couple! With some of our group up at Kildalton Kirk and cross – Mark does wonders driving the coach – we were reunited and made our way back to Bowmore, stopping to see peat cutting en route. Guess what? More drams/beers were enjoyed upon arrival.

Day 3; leaving Islay and lunching at Kilmartin Glen, before our arrival in Oban, some more excellent whiskies taken here – all in our job; research & development mind.

IRISH DISTILLERS UNVEILS MIDLETON VERY RARE 2014 

Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard has unveiled the 2014 edition of its prestigious Midleton Very Rare whiskey, the first to be hand selected by Master Distiller, Brian Nation, following his appointment in 2013. 

For every Midleton Very Rare release, the signature of the Master Distiller is included on the label to provide the ultimate guarantee of quality. Midleton Very Rare 2014 is the first to bear Nation’s signature on its label, continuing the tradition established by former Master Distiller Barry Crockett when he created the first Midleton Very Rare whiskey in 1984. 

Available from this month in specialist retailers, Midleton Very Rare 2014 is blended from only the finest Single Pot Still and grain whiskeys, which have been matured in specially-selected, ex-Bourbon American oak casks that have been lightly charred on the inside to impart a complex and elegant taste profile. The components of this exclusive blend have been aged for up to 22 years, making it a real collectors’ item. 

Anna Malmhake, Chairman and CEO at Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard, says: “It’s always exciting for us to release a new Midleton Very Rare expression as it really shows the outstanding quality that the Irish whiskey category has to offer, but this 2014 release is extra special as it heralds a new era for us as Brian Nation takes the reins from Barry Crockett at our Midleton Distillery. 

“Midleton Very Rare is a whiskey with real provenance, produced at the distillery in Midleton using only the finest ingredients and is rightfully regarded as the pinnacle of Irish whiskeys by collectors and connoisseurs worldwide, who cherish the nuances of each release. As Brian carries on the Midleton Very Rare legacy, we look forward to more discerning drinkers around the world discovering the quality and provenance that Irish whiskeys have to offer.” 

Master Distiller Brian Nation, added: “It is a real honour for me to continue the Midleton Very Rare legacy and to have my name on the label, where Barry’s signature once was. I’m very proud of the 2014 edition, as it offers real complexity with a full taste of sweet spice, vanilla, and cinnamon, which lingers before slowly giving way to notes of barley. I am confident that it will provide whiskey fans around the world with the interesting and enjoyable tasting experience that they have come to expect from Midleton Very Rare over the years – and I look forward to hearing what Barry thinks of it too!” 

NOTES 

Midleton Very Rare 2014 Tasting Notes  

Aroma

Rich, with vanilla sweetness on a layer of oak char from the influence of American white oak ex-Bourbon barrels. A soft floral note introduces the sweet spice of cinnamon, green pepper, and garden mint. Beautifully rounded with hints of green apple and banana. 

Taste

Full, with the sweet spice of vanilla, cinnamon, and liquorice and the flinty note of barley grains. Ripe fruit combines with the charred oak, adding to the complexity. 

Finish

Sweet spicy flavours that linger, fading slowly to leave the last word with the barley. 

Age Range

15-22 years 

Midleton Very Rare Award Wins

2014 Beverage Testing Institute – Midleton Very Rare 2013 – 92/100 ‘Exceptional’

2014 Ultimate Spirits Challenge – Midleton Very Rare 2013 – 93/100 ‘Excellent’

2013 The Irish Whiskey Masters – Midleton Very Rare 2012 – Master

2013 International Spirits Challenge – Midleton Very Rare 2012 – Gold Best in Class 

About Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard

Irish Distillers Group was formed in 1966, when a merger took place between Irish whiskey distillers, John Power & Son, John Jameson & Son and the Cork Distillery Company. In an attempt to reverse the decline in Irish whiskey sales, the board of directors decided to close the existing distilleries in Cork and Dublin, and to consolidate production at a new purpose-built facility.
 
A site alongside the existing distillery in Midleton, Co. Cork was chosen as the location for the new distillery, as there was no room for expansion in Dublin. Both the Old Jameson Distillery and the Old Midleton Distillery currently operate as visitor centres attracting over 330,000 visitors annually. Following an early unsolicited takeover offer and one of the most protracted battles in Irish corporate history made by GrandMet, Allied-Lyons and Guinness, Irish Distillers was taken over by Pernod Ricard in June 1988 with the support of the management and employees.  

Irish whiskey brands within the Irish Distillers’ portfolio include Jameson, Paddy and Powers, with Single Pot Still brands, Green Spot, Yellow Spot, Redbreast and the much-revered Midleton, which includes prestigious expressions such as Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy and Midleton Very Rare.