www.ralfy.com shows how time and water give two malts from one bottle with Whisky Review 479 – Bowmore 16yo @ (Signatory)

Kininvie – a long-overdue solo appearance

There was much excitement when William Grant launched Batch One from Kininvie to the Taiwanese market in the autumn of 2013, the first-ever release from this off-the-radar distillery. But now, UK whisky drinkers have something to get excited about: Batch Two, a 23-year-old Kininvie, is about to be launched in this country. Since it began distilling in 1990, virtually all of Kininvie’s output went into Grant’s blends and the tri-distillery blend Monkey Shoulder, but Kininvie itself stopped operating in late 2010, with William Grant seemingly reluctant to throw its weight behind a third single malt – understandable given that Glenfiddich and The Balvenie were doing very nicely, thanks very much.

So far, the only Kininvie we’ve seen here at TWE has been two bottlings, released under the Hazelwood banner (we still have some here), but William Grant is now ready to unveil Kininvie to a thirsty UK market – and the results are well worth it. TWE was invited to try three cask samples in addition to the two finished whiskies to get a good grounding of the whisky’s style:

1. 2006 (bourbon barrel): bags of sweet fruit and vanilla, with refreshing green-apple notes
2. 1990 (American oak hogshead): briney, cured-meat notes, lots of spice, tight and lean
3. 1990 (sherry butt): big, big flavours of Christmas cake and rancio, but not overblown

The first ‘complete’ whisky I tried was the 17 Year Old. Sadly, at the moment it’s limited to travel retail, but for the record, it offered clean, fresh aromas of apple and pear, with a sweet, creamy, mouth-filling palate delivering spicy cinnamon and clove notes. Thankfully, the best of the bunch was the one that is going to be available in the UK: the 23 Year Old.

Kininvie 23 Year Old, 42.6% abv. RRP £96.95 (35cl)

Nose: Rich and complex with stone fruit and notes of Seville orange. Very seductive and moreish. Spices start to come through over time.
Palate: This is 20:80 sherry cask/bourbon cask, but the sherry influence certainly makes its presence felt, with a big whack of dried fruit (raisins), along with Christmas spices. Some honeyed notes in there, too.
Finish: Superb. Lovely balance, as the fruit and spices gently dissipate.
Comment: This was the pick of the five by some distance. A very classy product indeed.

Like its Batch One counterpart, Batch Two will be sold in 35cl bottles – very dinky but rather charming, with 1,286 available in the UK. William Grant’s global marketing manager Kevin Abrook says: ‘Good things come in small packages, and we think we’ve got a super whisky here. We went for 35cl because we wanted to convey the sense of something precious.’

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Kininvie – a long-overdue solo appearance

Hands-on Whiskey Distilling Workshop for
Start-up Distillers
September 7 – 12

What better way to learn basic distillery operations than at this fun and informative, 5-day workshop at Michigan’s New Holland Brewing & Distilling. You will learn the fundamentals of grain-to-bottle whiskey production and business concerns in starting a distilled spirits plant. You’ll also learn all about licensing, still design, record keeping, package design, formula and label approval, and marketing spirits. Click here to register.

This week Joe Ellis and special guest Matt Bowdler review the hugely sought after Balvenie Tun 1401 Batch 5! 

http://youtu.be/AnfHc73ents 

http://Twitter.com/whiskytube

New Body launched to represent all craft distillers in Scotland

Bringing together new or emerging Scottish distilleries and Scottish academics, the Scottish Craft Distillers Association (SCDA) is hoping to emulate the success that the craft distilling industry has had over the past few years around the world, and promote the new products and processes that are being developed by its members.

The formation of the SCDA came about after members of Interface Food & Drink’s Craft Distillers Common Interest Group (CIG) felt they required a Body to represent their collective needs and, as a result, Interface Food & Drink (IFD), in association with Strathearn Distilleries and the International Centre for Brewing & Distilling, formed the Association.

The SCDA currently boasts more than 30 members, three of which are already producing spirits, and it is hoped that each month a different member of the group will start producing. Read more.

EXOTIC TASTE OF THE GLENLIVET IS A WINNER FOR THE FIRST TIME THOUSANDS VOTE TO SELECT THE NEXT THE GLENLIVET SINGLE MALT  

Johannesburg, South Africa. – The global whisky community have spoken. The votes have been counted. The results are in and the winner has made its way to South Africa.

That’s right! The long awaited The Glenlivet Guardian Chapter limited edition single Scottish malt is here after thousands of whisky lovers across 37 countries (including South Africa) voted to select the Guardian Chapter Limited Edition crafted just the way they like it. The winning selection is the “Exotic expression” as the distillery reached out to its loyal followers. 

After votes were counted, this first crowd-sourced The Glenlivet single malt was bottled and distributed in limited quantities to countries around the globe.

The search to find a winning expression began in September 2013. Three expressions (called Exotic, Classic and Revival) were handpicked for a global tasting tour where admirers sampled and voted for their favourite.  The expressions were selected to challenge drinkers, provoking debate over which would become the first single malt in the distillery’s 190-year history they could influence the taste of.   

A series of special evenings in London, New York and Mumbai were staged.  Labelled the ‘Expression Sessions’, they were designed to stimulate the senses with a carefully blended mix of speakers, covering topics inspired by each whisky expression. South Africans got their opportunity to taste the 3 variants at the annual FNB Whiskey Live Festival last year.

The winning “exotic” single malt was created using a subtle mixture of casks including Hogsheads and American oak barrels with the addition of a proportion of whisky from Spanish ex-sherry butts to provide a rich, exotic twist.  The resulting “The Guardians’ Chapter” bottling will display the signature fruitiness of The Glenlivet and a delightful addition of rich, warm spicy notes. Rich and indulgent on the nose, it will captivate with an aroma of moist fruitcake and sweet, candied apple, balanced with the tang of orange marmalade.   The taste will be an alluring combination of juicy raisins with an undertone of dark chocolate orange zestiness, well-balanced with the subtle warmth of spice complimenting a delightful long and slightly dry finish.

Mandla Holomisa, brand manager for Glenlivet SA, says: “We at Glenlivet feel very proud to have been part of a global challenge that has given us this limited edition single malt blend, as desired by our whisky lovers. We are pleased with the enthusiastic response we’ve received, especially in South Africa.”

Notes to the Editor

The Glenlivet was the first licensed distillery in the Livet valley and offers a variety of expressions, all boasting its signature smoothness and floral, fruity profile. The Glenlivet has been the biggest contributor to volume growth in the single malt category over the last five years, adding more than any other Single Malt brand*.

RSP for The Glenlivet Exotic: R1200.00

Follow The Glenlivet on Twitter via the handle @theglenlivetsa

Facebook application: http://www.facebook.com/TheGlenlivetSA

The Glenlivet Single Malt Whisky is part of Pernod Ricard.

Enjoy responsibly, not for sale to persons under the age of 18.

AUGUST EVENTS

Beer & Whisky Tasting, 19 Greville St, London – Tue 12 Aug
A unique chance to pair London Fields beers with Society whiskies presented by an expert in both fields: London Fields Brewer and Society Whisky Ambassador Tom Palmer…

Highland Whisky Tasting, The Vaults, Edinburgh – Fri 15 Aug
New Members Tasting, 19 Greville St, London – Wed 20 Aug
Aberdeen Members Tasting, Caledonian Thistle, Aberdeen – Thu 21 Aug
Tunbridge Wells Members Tasting, Hotel du Vin, Tunbridge Wells – Fri 22 Aug
Outturn Preview Tasting, The Vaults, Edinburgh – Fri 29 Aug
Ducks Members Tasting, Duck’s, Aberlady – Fri 29 Aug

At the Illusionist’s Table, 28 Queen St, Edinburgh – Fri 1 – Fri 22 Aug
Objects Float. Whisky Materialises. Dreams are revealed. Acclaimed Illusionist Scott Smith hosts an intimate evening of fine dining, whisky tasting and breathtaking illusion…

Browse all events

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

The Science and Commerce of Whisky – a book review

While there are numerous books about whisky, there are surprisingly few about how to make it, and even fewer about how the whisky industry itself looks at whisky as a thing to be sold. There are books of tasting notes, history and even romantic looks at the world of whisky, some of which we’ve covered in the past in our Classic Book Reviews series,  but there are only a handful of more academic looks into whisky production and marketing – the last major work was the expensive and now hard to find Whisky: Technology, Production and Marketing from a decade ago. With the world lacking an up-to-date guide for the academic world (and interested whisky fans), a new book was needed. Step forward Ian Buxton and Paul S Hughes, and their 2014 book – The Science and Commerce of Whisky.

Ian is not entirely unknown to us, prolific writer and frequent guest at the Whisky Show as he is. He is also responsible for the reprinting of one of the books in the aforementioned Classic Book Reviews series – Whisky by Aeneas MacDonald. Ian’s background in whisky marketing, and his more recent consulting and writing work, made him the ideal person for the Royal Society of Chemistry to approach to put together a new, more technical book about whisky production, other than for one thing – Ian is not a technical guy. Fortunately, he knows Paul Hughes, Professor of Brewing and Distilling at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, head of the most prestigious brewing and distilling course in the UK.

Splitting the book up between them, Ian has taken on the historical and commerce related chapters, while Paul has explored the science of whisky production, producing a work with three quite distinct sections.

Ian’s opening historical chapters are an excellent overview of the history of whisky around the world. Starting from the alchemists of the 13th century, he continues through the development of Japanese and American spirit, as well as the explosion of world whisky. Scotland is split out into a separate chapter and the history of scotch whisky is given a detailed examination. The chapter moves forward through time, describing the development of the modern whisky industry from its mythical Friar-Jon-Cor-based beginnings to its modern incarnation, and is both a comprehensive summary and an excellent jumping off point for further research.

At this point the subject matter of the book moves squarely into a realm that I’m very out of practise with – chemistry. The central third of the book is given over to Paul Hughes, and requires at least A-Level knowledge of the subject to get the most out of it. It can be a bit overwhelming for us out-of-practise science geeks, but I generally followed what was going on, and a nearby encyclopedia or internet connection can fill in many of the gaps. Covering the whole whisky production process from crop to cask, there were a few areas where I felt it was a little lighter in detail, especially spirit condensation and, strangely, distillation itself. However, there’s enough here to keep a brewing and distilling student happy, let alone an interested drinker, and I suspect the focus is on the Heriot Watt Brewing and Distilling course’s syllabus.

The final third of the book deals with the commercial side of whisky, covering subjects as diverse as counterfeiting, tax and packaging, as well as general brand development and marketing, complete with case-studies. The last two chapters expand that thinking into the world whisky market, with case studies looking at Teerenpeli in Finland and Kavalan in Taiwan, as well as showing how it all fits together into a global whole. For someone working in the whisky industry, much of this is quite well known, but for those looking in from the outside with a romantic view of how and why whisky is made, it might be a bit of a shock.

All in all, this is one for the students and geeks. It’s an academic textbook that covers large amounts of ground – historic, economic and scientific – and does so in some depth. For those areas where there isn’t enough detail there is an extensive bibliography, and even a useful chapter on whisky literature, in case you are looking for jumping off points for further reading. A scary book in parts, but also approachable – very much a game of two enjoyable and informative halves.

The Science and Commerce of Whisky is now available from The Whisky Exchange, priced £27.99.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – The Science and Commerce of Whisky – a book review

New arrivals…

Aberfeldy 1995 G&M Cask Strength 55.8% | 70cl

Bottled at natural cask strength and colour directly from oak casks without chill filtering, the highly individual label on each bottle indicates the cask number and the bottling date, along with the distillation year and strength.

Tasting Notes

AROMA without water
Subtle Sherry influences with stewed apple, toasted malt and floral notes.

TASTE without water
On the palate, chilli spice initially with ripe banana, lemon and red apple. A lingering charred oak edge lingers.

AROMA with water
Hints of toasted malt and menthol with a defined citrus edge, lemon and lime.

TASTE with water
Cracked black pepper, followed by grapefruit, lime and ginger flavours.

Tasting notes from Gordon & MacPhail.

Price: £49.16 ex VAT
£58.99 inc VAT

Highland Park 2005 G&M Cask Strength 59.1% | 70cl

Bottled at natural cask strength and colour directly from oak casks without chill filtering, the highly individual label on each bottle indicates the cask number and the bottling date, along with the distillation year and strength.

Tasting notes.

AROMA without water
Aromas of red apples and pears with vanilla syrup. Morning dew and juniper add a floral note, delicately encased in a subtle smoke.

TASTE without water
A touch of chilli to start balanced with the sweetness of sherbet and candied oranges. Peaches and strawberries in sugar syrup with hints of milk chocolate add to the mix. Flavours of pear skin to finish with a delicate touch of smoke.

AROMA with water
Green apples and cream soda aromas with a hint of log fire smoke. Morning dew along with heather honey and a zing of lemon endures.

TASTE with water
The taste of chilli builds to the heat of white pepper. Fruity flavours such as red apples, kiwi and ripe bananas are balanced with a salty pistachio edge. Royal icing and aniseed add to the sweetness.

Tasting notes from Gordon & MaCphail.

Price: £38.33 ex VAT
£46.00 inc VAT