The Whisky Base Marketplace is now open for business!

We are happy and proud to announce a new addition to Whiskybase: the Whiskybase Marketplace! This is the place where you can find and buy the bottles you have been wanting for a long time. This is also the place where you can sell the bottles that you don’t want anymore.

On the Marketplace members can buy and sell bottles in a convenient and safe way. You can sell and buy bottles in two different ways:

– Fixed price, the seller decides what he wants to receive for his bottle
– Auction, the seller can set a minimum price and buyers can bid.

Here’s how it works

First you will have to make some changes to your existing profile to be able to buy and sell on the Marketplace. For example, you will have to connect your Paypal account to your profile.

When a bottle has been sold the buyer is asked to pay for the bottle and shipping.

The money is send to Whiskybase Marketplace and when the money is received the seller gets a notification that the bottle can be shipped.

The seller then packs up the bottle very securely and sends it to the buyer.

As a proof of sending the bottle the seller fills in the barcode and tracking link on Marketplace. Now the buyer can keep track of the parcel.

After the parcel has arrived and the buyer accepts the bottle the Marketplace will pay the seller.

Paypal
We use Paypal because it is very secure and fast. If Paypal is new for you, signing up is easy and takes only a few minutes. Whiskybase charges an 8% fee for every transaction made on Marketplace. This fee is used in part to cover Paypal transactions costs .

Wishlist
To make it easier to find your favourite whiskies we added the option to get notified when a bottle from your wishlist is offered for sale on Marketplace.

Enjoy the Marketplace!
The Whiskybase Team

Grouse Commonwealth Games Glenturret 1986 46.4% | 70cl

The Glenturret 1986. Presented in a gift box that tells the story behind the whisky and its connection to the Commonwealth Games.

As the official whisky provider to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, The Famous Grouse has released a limited-edition single malt to mark its sponsorship of this momentous sporting event.
This special bottling will see the release of just 1,800 bottles of Glenturret 1986 Cask Strength single malt whisky, making this a true collector’s edition.
The Glenturret single malt is one of the core ingredients of Scotland’s favourite whisky and is made at Glenturret Distillery, the home of The Famous Grouse Experience. Commenting on why he handpicked this particular single malt whisky Gordon Motion, the Master Blender, said:
“We are extremely proud to be the Official Whisky of Glasgow 2014 and wanted to mark this momentous occasion with what we do best – whisky.

When deliberating what to release it became apparent that Glenturret 1986 was the ideal choice and very timely. Glenturret is not only integral to The Famous Grouse blend but this particular batch was laid down to age in oak casks 28 years ago, the very year when the Commonwealth Games last visited the home of Scotch whisky.

This exceptional whisky gives off notes of fresh mango and passion fruit to nose with sweet honeycomb and ripe melon to taste.
So why not, pour a dram, raise a toast to Glasgow 2014 and be part of something famous.”
This deluxe 28 year old single malt whisky will be presented in a bespoke gift box that tells the story behind the whisky and its connection to the Commonwealth Games and will be available from our website for £159.
The whisky brand’s sponsorship of the Commonwealth Games builds on their strong sporting links, working with the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) as their official whisky partner for over 24 years. More recently it announced its sister brand, Ginger Grouse, as the Official Pint Partner of endurance race, Tough Mudder.

Price: £132.50 ex VAT
£159.00 inc VAT

Award-winning distillery releases last in sell-out trilogy 

Isle of Arran Distillers is well-known for its quality malts and occasionally eccentric products, reflecting its independent spirit. Now the award-winning distillery is about to release the final instalment of its popular Devil’s Punch Bowl trilogy.

Chapter III – the Fiendish Finale – is tipped to be the best yet of Arran’s popular limited edition malts.

It’s a multi-age blend matured in Oloroso Sherry Butts and French Oak Barrique casks which gives the spirit a devilishly unique, deep flavour.

Master distiller James MacTaggart delved into the darkest recesses of Arran’s warehouses to hand-pick each cask to find a spellbinding blend.

The result is a spirit that tastes of dark chocolate and dried fruits, with a hint of cinnamon, chocolate raisin and a rich layer of spice and toasted oak to finish.

Talking about his latest concoction, James said: “The Devil’s Punch Bowl malts are our most popular limited edition whiskies ever – the first two sold out in record time.

“Personally this is my favourite of the trilogy and it is a fantastic expression of the Arran Malt. The whisky is bottled without chill filtration at natural strength (53.4 ABV) and is unpeated making it approachable and enabling lots of flavours to be discovered.”

The new bottling is a limited edition with just 6,660 bottles available worldwide – so stocks are limited and it’s expected to sell-out fast.

Euan Mitchell, managing director at Arran Distillers, added: “Over the years we’ve really developed a sense of identity for the Arran Malt and the Devil’s Punch Bowl Chapter III encompasses everything that’s great about our spirited and independent outlook.

“We were blown away by the response to our first two editions and I’m sure the finale will be met with similar enthusiasm from customers in the UK and overseas.”

The Devil’s Punch Bowl – Fiendish Finale – will hit shelves at the beginning of August priced at £76.99 for 70ml.

The whisky will be available in the UK via specialist whisky shops and online at www.arranwhisky.com.

About Isle of Arran Distillers:  

http://www.arranwhisky.com/

Accolades for Isle of Arran Distillery include Winner for: Best New Exporter (2004), Queen’s Award for International Trade (2005), Scottish Distiller of the Year (2007) and Scottish Drinks Producer of the Year (2007).

Product awards include: Best Whisky Liqueur (2007), ‘Best Single Malt Scotch 12 Years & Under’ for The Arran Malt Amarone Cask Finish (2008) ‘Best Single Malt Scotch 11-15 Years’ for The Arran Malt Sherry Single Cask 1998 (2010) and ‘Best Single Malt Scotch 11-15 Years’ for the Icons of Arran Peacock (2011).

‘Double Gold Award’ for Arran’s 14 Year Old Single Malt and ‘Gold Award’ for Arran’s 10 Year Old Single Malt at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (2012). Double Gold in FiftyBest.com awards (2012). Double Gold Medal for the 12 year-old Cask Strength in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (2013).

Double Gold for both the 10 year-old and 12 year-old Cask Strength at the China Wine & Spirits Best Value Awards 2014.

GlenDronach Grandeur 24 year old

The Glendronach Grandeur 24 year old has been matured exclusively in Oloroso sherry butts and is one of only 569 bottles which have been bottled at a natural cask strength of 48.9% volume. The brand new Batch 5 release is the second 24 year old Grandeur released by Glendronach. Stock is very limited on this item and all orders will be treated strictly on a first come first served basis.

Click here to buy – £385

Glenfiddich Excellence 26 year old

A rare and aged single malt Scotch whisky that has spent 26 long years carefully maturing in American Oak ex-bourbon casks. This expression was created to honour Glenfiddich’s line of continuous family ownership since William Grant founded the distillery in 1887.

Nose: A mild nose, with light fresh fruits: pineapple, blood orange, tinned peach a hint of candlewax and the interior of a new car’ after a while. Palate: The taste is fresh, sweet and citric – reminiscent of lemon sherbet sweets and Schweppes Bitter Lemon. Finish: A short to medium finish and a lingering spiciness. A drop of water flattens the aroma but introduces almonds to the taste. Tasting notes by Charlie Maclean Bottled at 43% volume. Housed in a splendid gift box.

Click here to buy £350

Tincup – Colorado whiskey from Indiana

American whiskey is booming. From the rye explosion (an explosion in popularity, rather than an actual detonation) a few years back to the huge number of craft distilleries appearing all over the USA, American whiskey of all types is doing very well. Hand in hand with that growth comes the crowning of the elders of this new wave – the distillers who helped kick-start things and are now held up as examples of how things should be done. 

Sitting between the big-distillery old guard and the new-wave ‘kids’ is Jess Graber of Stranahan’s. Founded in 2004 after volunteer firefighter Jess met brewer George Stranahan while fighting a blaze at Stranahan’s barn, it is one of the earlier craft-whiskey distilleries and the first to appear in Colorado. Their whiskey became really popular and they rattled through stocks particularly quickly, having to reduce allocations around the USA and beyond. Eventually they had to stop selling it outside of their home state – even we’ve not been able to get Stranahan’s since 2009. Fortunately they’ve got things back under control and we hope to see their whiskey flowing around the world again soon.

But Stranahan’s isn’t the only whiskey taking up Jess Graber’s time. He is also the name behind a new whiskey: Tincup. Jess has selected mature whisky from MGPI, a large producer currently making some of the best rye and bourbon in the USA, and created a whiskey to his specification, without the lead time of distilling and maturing it himself. In the USA, they call this ‘sourced whiskey’ – basically the same as an independent bottler or blender in Scotland.

Rather than following the path of many sourced whiskies, where they simply pick a ready-made whiskey from a menu, Jess has selected spirit made to a number of different recipes and blended them to create something different. From our investigations online, it looks like he combines a whiskey made with a very high rye recipe (60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley) with one made with a lower but still quite high rye recipe (75% corn, 21% rye, 4% malted barley) in a 3:2 ratio, to produce something big and spicy, but still sweet and easy drinking. 

Tincup American Whiskey, 40% ABV, £32.25

Nose: Big spice and fruit – apple with cinnamon, clove and toasted, spiced brioche. Rich toffee and caramel, Ginger Nut biscuits and sweet oatcakes with honey.

Palate: Quite light with sweet grain, cinnamon spice and a trio of apple notes – ripe, skin and Jolly Ranchers. Toffee follows, with spicy rye and toasted fruit loaf.

Finish: Cinnamon toast, tannic raisins and soft caramel sweetness.

There’s definitely a bit of marketing involved here, with a big emphasis on Colorado (they bottle it at Stranahan’s in Denver, cutting it to bottling strength with local water, so it’s not a completely spurious claim) and a beautiful tin-cup-topped bottle put together by top designers Stranger and Stranger, but fortunately the spirit lives up to it.

Around the office it’s already been a bit of a hit in Old Fashioneds, with the slightly drier take on bourbon working well with sugar and bitters, as well as in Manhattans, where the rye spice helps it stand up to a slug of Antica Formula or Cocchi Vermouth di Torino.

While people are understandably sniffy about some of the sourced whiskies that have appeared on the market in recent years, hiding behind brand and concealing their nature, Jess Graber has been upfront about Tincup. The company website may not delve into the nature of the spirit, but Jess himself has been telling anyone who asks about his new whiskey: he’s sourced spirit from a great producer, used his expertise as a blender to make something uniquely his, and put it out into the world with his face all over the company website. Good work, Jess.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Tincup – Colorado whiskey from Indiana

Highland Queen 1561 30 Year Old Blended Whisky 40% ABV | 70cl Save £20.00 (RRP £120.00)

Highland Queen 1561 has been produced using traditional cask maturation, where the malt and grain whiskies are blended together and then recasked into barrels for further maturation for a period of at least six months. This allows the whiskies to marry together perfectly to give us an incredibly smooth blended whisky. This is a superb example of a vintage, traditionally produced super premium Scotch whisky. “The result we leave, with confidence to your judgement”

Tasting notes

The sweetness from the sherry cask comes through on the nose, together with notes of butterscotch, leather and spices. We can also detect hints of cinnamon and apple. In the mouth the whisky is exceptionally smooth and elegant, there are hints of smoke and an underlying flavor of cinnamon apple crumble. The finish is long and elegant.

Price: £83.33 ex VAT
£100.00 inc VAT

WHISKY AUCTIONEER’S CURRENT AUCTION DRAWING TO A CLOSE

Whisky Auctioneer’s current auction will finish from 19:00 Monday 4th August (tonight!). It’s absolutely FREE to register and start bidding. Head over to http://www.whiskyauctioneer.com/ to take a look at the current lots. 

There are many interesting whiskies on offer in the July auction, including these two pieces of liquid history; Springbank 1966 Local Barley, Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year Old and Macallan 1966 Speymalt from Gordon and Macphail. 

There are many other stunning lots in this auction including the famous Macallan Sir Peter Blake artwork, shown below. This is a stunning combination of art and whisky by Macallan in collaboration with Sir Peter Blake. 

 The auction will end Monday 4^th August, 2014!

From 19:00, activity on any item will prolong the entire auction by a further five minutes; the auction will end when there has been no activity on any item for five minutes.

International Shipping 

Whisky Auctioneer has a successful record in shipping whiskies internationally, including to the USA. To find out more information on our very competitive shipping charges, take a look at the delivery page: 

http://www.whiskyauctioneer.com/shipping  

Future Auctions

Entries for future auctions are always invited. Whisky Auctioneer makes selling whisky online easy!

With a low sellers’ commission rate of 5% and competitive listing and reserve fees, there is no better place to sell your bottle(s) or collection. 

We are currently accepting entries for our extended August auction, which starts August 22^nd and finishes on September 8^th. 

Entries to this auction are required no later than the 13^th of August. 

Happy Bidding!

SIXTH GOLD IN A ROW FOR BAIN’S CAPE MOUNTAIN WHISKY AT IWSC

The proudly South African single grain whisky, Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky, continues to reaffirm its exceptionally smooth and unique taste with its sixth consecutive gold medal from the 2014 International Wine and Spirits Competition held in London recently.

Lauded for its “Big, strong fragrant nose with vanilla and orange, caramel toffee and spicy oak” flavours by the international panel of judges, the “sound, full flavoured finish” echo’s the reason why whisky experts and consumers from around the world have been praising this multi-award winning whisky since its launch in 2009.

Inspired by the Cape Mountains and its natural beauty, Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky is South Africa’s first single grain whisky and is crafted at the James Sedgwick’s Distillery situated in one of South Africa’s most picturesque regions near the Bainskloof Pass. The whisky is inspired by the areas’ magnificent peaks, cool, sparkling streams, wooded valleys and a wealth of indigenous fynbos.

Only the finest South African grain is used together with water that flows over 850 million year old sandstone and indigenous fynbos, setting Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky apart from any other whisky produced in the world. The whisky is quite uniquely double-matured – first for three years in casks previously used for Bourbon, before being revatted into a fresh set of casks for a further maturation period that result in its exceptionally smooth and unique taste.

Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky is available nationwide from leading liquor outlets for around R215.

IWSC GOLD FOR THREE SHIPS 10 YEAR OLD SINGLE MALT 

You will be hard-pressed to still find a bottle of the Three Ships 10 Year Old Single Malt, released in limited-quantities in October 2012. But if you were one of the lucky few to add a bottle to your collection, then the latest gold award achieved at the 2014 International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC) held in London recently, certainly adds to its rarity.

The international panel of judges praised the proudly South African single malt, for its “Rich, full malty nose with bakery dough and ripe stone fruit. Some apricot and pear. Gracious entry with slow spread of flavours. Malt dried fruit and some very pleasant vanilla notes. Little wisp of attractive smoke. Firm, light and clean with beautiful balance. Full fruited finish with some mature notes beginning to show.”

Launched in 2003, as a limited release, the Three Ships 10 Year Old is South Africa’s first single malt whisky. Since then three additions were released in 2010, 2011 and 2012, commemorating the epic voyages of Bartholomew Diaz, Vasco da Gama and Jan van Riebeeck in a special collectors’ series.

The whisky is crafted at the James Sedgwick’s Distillery in Wellington, by master distiller Andy Watts, from the finest malted barley and aged for a minimum of 10 years in specially selected American oak casks of varying ages. The older, smaller casks, contributed to the exceptional smoothness of the whisky whilst the younger American Oak casks brought fruit and oak flavours to the fore.

BUFFALO TRACE DISTILLERY SPIRITS RECOGNIZED

AS “OUTSTANDING” IN

INTERNATIONAL WINE & SPIRITS COMPETITION

FRANKFORT, Franklin County, Ky (July 30, 2014) – Buffalo Trace Distillery is continuing its tradition of being the world’s most award-winning Distillery with several new honors from the 2014 International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWSC). All 12 Buffalo Trace spirits entered into the competition received high honors, including its new Wheatley Vodka that is available exclusively at the Buffalo Trace Distillery Visitor’s Center.

The following results were released in London, England on July 23:

Gold Outstanding Medal was awarded to:

• Eagle Rare Single Barrel Bourbon

Gold Medals were awarded to:

• Buffalo Trace Bourbon
• Eagle Rare 17 Year Old Bourbon
• Col. E. H. Taylor Small Batch Bourbon
• Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Bourbon
• Benchmark Bourbon

Silver Outstanding Medals were awarded to:

• Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon
• Col. E. H. Taylor Single Barrel Bourbon
• Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20 Year Old Bourbon
• William Larue Weller 12 Year Old Bourbon

Silver Medal was awarded to:

• Stagg Jr. Bourbon

The “Gold Outstanding” and “Silver Outstanding” medals are awarded based upon the highest scores within each of those respective categories.

“To be able to present such a variety and fare so well with each entry, it’s an honor.” Buffalo Trace Distillery’s Master Distiller, Harlen Wheatley, said. “We are proud and very humbled by these results.”

The International Wine and Spirit Competition was founded in 1969 and is the premier competition of its kind in the world. Its aim is to promote the quality and excellence of the world’s best wines, spirits and liqueurs.

All entries are first blind tasted in groups divided by variety, region and vintage as necessary, by professional expert judges (by glass, not bottle) and then the top products are sent for detailed (chemical and microbiological) analysis. This analysis is crucial as in some instances the results of this analysis may lead to marks being deducted or even outright rejection.

Learn more at www.iwsc.net.

About Buffalo Trace Distillery

Buffalo Trace Distillery is an American family-owned company based in Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky. The Distillery’s rich tradition dates back to 1786 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 a National Historic Landmark as well as 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