The fall 2014 Whisky Extravaganza Schedule 

Chicago

Thursday, October 9, 2014

The Union League Club of Chicago 

Boston

Thursday, October 23, 2014

The Taj Boston 

Washington, DC

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

JW Marriott Hotel 

Seattle

Friday, November 14, 2014

The Rainier Club 

Los Angeles

Thursday, November 20, 2014

The Los Angeles Athletic Club 

Fort Lauderdale

Thursday, December 4, 2014

The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Ladies and Gentlemen are cordially invited to enjoy a connoisseur’s evening featuring rare & exceptional single malt, Scotch and unique whiskies from around the world. The evening includes unlimited tastings, epicurean food, a selection of premium imported cigars for our guests’ later enjoyment, souvenir snifter glass and much more. The Whisky Extravaganza brings the discerning enthusiast the opportunity to sample the participating whiskies in a sophisticated and elegant environment with genuine camaraderie and knowledgeable representatives from each participating distillery.
 
All events from 7:00pm-9:30pm. Registration begins at 7:00pm. 

Whisky intelligence readers are offered a 10% discount on tickets to the Extravaganza. Please use the promotional code “INTEL2014 ” 

You can purchase tickets directly from the link here, by visiting our website  www.thewhiskyextravaganza.com  or by calling 800.990.1991

Whisky Ramblings Via Video #94

Mark Dermul, Belgian Whiskyblogger, is a traveling man. Whenever you travel abroad, you need your passport. He travelled to Rome and took a bottle of Passport Blended Scotch. He tried it at the beautiful Piazza Navona in the Eternal City’s centre. 

http://youtu.be/H9vhfkAL8GI

ADI seeking proposals for conference presentations

We’re celebrating one rare craft through another

Hot off the (letter) press — be in with a chance to win this beautiful print, created to celebrate the release of the Single Barrel 25 Years.

To mark the release of The Balvenie Single Barrel Aged 25 Years, we have commissioned Mr Smith’s Letterpress Workshop – one of the few remaining traditional letterpress workshops in London, to create a limited edition A1 print that takes its inspiration from our new expression. You have the chance to win one of five unique prints, each mounted in a frame made from the staves of one of our retired casks and signed by our Malt Master, David Stewart.

Mr Smith’s Letterpress Workshop

For your chance to win one of these handcrafted prints, simply follow the link below, log into Warehouse 24 and answer our simple whisky related question. Best of luck!

Slainte mhath,

David Mair
The Balvenie Distillery Ambassador

ENTER NOW

INTERVIEW WITH Paul Currie, Founder, The Lakes Distillery

“The Lake District is a hugely popular tourist area, we aim to be a major attraction to the 15 million visitors who come each year. Distillery tours will start in an information area which will include a video, your expert entertaining guide will then take you through to the distillery to reveal the secrets of how malt whisky and gin are made. You will be taken through the warehouse, where whisky peacefully matures in casks, and on to the tasting room, where you can taste our products for yourself”. A wee statement from The Lakes to pen our chat.  Let’s get right into this…

Good morning Paul, a wee venture for me this trip to England! Thank you for the time for this interview, we hope it benefits the distillery for future interest. Can I ask, what made you head to the Lakes from Arran?   A; I was looking for a location that could offer the right environment for whisky production, plentiful water of the right quality, and a tourist area as it was always very much part of our plan to have a significant tourist business. The Lakes ticks all these boxes, and also offers us a great brand (The Lakes) which is well known around the world.

Can you tell me why you chose this location and its benefits?  A; Wonderful old buildings (a Victorian Model Farm) and a beautiful setting next to the famous river Derwent, close to Bassenthwaite Lake.

What is your overall aim for the new distillery?   A; We have great ambitions to produce the highest quality spirits and build these into significant global brands. We are on an artisan scale, but we are aiming high.

I hear you are keen on green! How will this affect the new distillery?  A; We are being as green as we can. We looked at putting in a biomass boiler for the distillery, but at our scale the cost was just too high, but we are using a biomass to heat the rest of our buildings. Our distillery design reuses heat wherever possible, and the water is recycled. 

Most of your malt whisky will be lightly peated, was this an attempt to emulate some Scotch whiskies?  A; We are very much producing a new malt, The Lakes Malt, so we aren’t trying to copy anything in particular. We do want to offer a whisky that has broad appeal, and we hope being lightly peated will achieve that. Also, I do like lightly peated whiskies!

Do you have any plans for various finishes, ie; sherry, port, wine etc?  A; Not necessarily finishes, but we are planning to be very innovative in our wood policy. Being south of the border, we don’t have to use only oak, so we can experiment with other woods – for example maple, chestnut and maybe birch. We will though mainly be using oak, including bourbon, sherry and quite a lot of new wood. 

Where do you see your main markets for The One and your new malt (when available)?  A; We very much have global aspirations for all of our brands, and by next year we plan to be selling in Europe, North America, and Asia. 

Will you be marketing special brands? own label, or allowing cask purchasing?  A; That is not our plan at present, but our customers can secure their own very special stock through our Founders’ and Connoisseurs’ Clubs 

Technical time; where did you get the stills from and the other equipment?  A; The stills are from McMillans, who have produced beautiful stills for us. The rest of the plant is from Musk, who supply the very best brewers in the UK, and are based near Burton on Trent. The quality of their plant is fantastic.

What made you select them?  A; We wanted the very best in all our plant – no corners have been cut – so we went to the best manufacturers.

What is the annual output to be?  A; We will start producing ca 150k lpa per year.

Do you intend to be a major player in the coming years, or retain a small manageable output?  A; We will continue to produce ca 150k lpa, which as most of this will be destined for our Lakes Malt (some will in the future go into The ONE) is quite a high volume. So not the biggest, but we hope to be more than a minor player!

The quality of the casks is very important to any distillery, can you tell me who selects yours and where they originate?  A; We are working closely with Speyside Cooperage for most of our casks, but are also sourcing some direct (for example, some sherry casks from Spain).

To the drams, your first dram will be The ONE – a British Isles Blended Whisky, who created this? And how has it been received? (note, I will be taking a bottle home, so we shall put you to the test with a group from Sweden shortly)  A; The idea of creating the first British whisky was mine, but the brand name The ONE was the inspiration of our brilliant design agency, Hedley McEwan (who are based in Newcastle). The blend was put together by our team, in particular with Chris Anderson (our Master Distiller) and one of our directors Alan Rutherford (previously Diageo’s Production Director).

You have installed a good team, Alan Rutherford, a former production director at Diageo – which distillery?  A; He was responsible for all of Diageo’s scotch whisky distilleries – so a lot! Your master distiller, Chris Anderson will be crossing the border from Scotland, where did he arrive from?  A; Chris has been making whisky for most of his life. Originally from Islay, he managed all of Dewars’ distilleries – with his expertise, The Lakes Malt will be something very special.

How many staff do you have on a daily basis?  A; We will have more than 40 employees, including those for our bistro, tours and shop. 

Can you tell me more about the Founders’ Club?  A; We are setting aside the first 100 casks to be produced at The Lakes Distillery, and Founders’ Club members will receive a bottle each year for 10 years as a collectible set. As we expect many to leave the bottles unopened, two miniatures are also sent each year so the maturing spirit can be tasted. This is truly an opportunity to be a part of whisky history – to have bottlings taken from the first ever Lakes Malt to be produced. 

Finally, what dram do you settle down with at the end of the day?  A; I really do love The ONE, so I know it is the obvious answer, but it is true! I can’t wait to try our Lakes Malt in the future. Also, I do like to try the many world whiskies that have emerged over the last years – there are some really great whiskies coming out of, for example, Australia and Sweden.
Paul, many thanks, it has been a pleasure! I shall return north with my bottle and share this with guests from Sweden and Finland coming for whisky tours soon. We also have a wing of our Angels Club in Perth, so we shall be the first to sample this. Please keep me informed of news, events and progress, we do have very interested club members!   Paul’s note; You can see more at http://www.lakesdistillery.com/

Paul McLean is co owner of

www.angelswhiskyclub.com

www.whiskytourscotland.com

www.mcleanscotland.com

Eight Edition of annual ultra-premium release will feature rare 13-year-old cask strength wheat whiskey, continue support of ALS research and treatment.

BARDSTOWN, KY— Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc., the country’s largest independent family-owned and operated spirits producer and marketer, announces the 2014 limited edition release of Parker’s Heritage Collection. Heaven Hill, who holds the world’s second largest inventory of aging American Whiskey, will be shipping the rarity into selected markets across the country beginning in mid-September and it will hit retail shelves in September and October. The annual release of the Parker’s Heritage Collection bottling, of which this represents the eigth in the series, is always highly anticipated by whiskey lovers worldwide and the bottlings are some of the most lauded and coveted releases of the year. 

This year, for the first time, Heaven Hill will be using an American Straight Whiskey style other than Bourbon for the Parker’s Heritage Collection release. The 2014 edition will feature 13-year-old straight wheat whiskey, bottled at cask strength and non-chill filtered. The barrels used for this year’s offering were from the very first run of what later would become Bernheim Original Straight Wheat Whiskey. With a minimum of 51% soft winter wheat in the mashbill or grain recipe, Bernheim is the only straight wheat whiskey produced by a major American distiller and has been available since 2005. For this reason, this year’s Parker’s Heritage Collection release has been dubbed “Original Batch Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey”. 

The release will be comprised of two small batch dumps, the first of which will be bottled at a robust 127.4° proof or 63.7% alcohol by volume. The cask strength and lack of chill filtering mean the whiskey is bottled much as it came out of the barrel after 13 years of aging on the top floors of Rickhouse Y on the Heaven Hill property in Bardstown. Heaven Hill announced in June that they were repackaging the Bernheim Original Wheat Whiskey to add a 7 year age statement, but the additional 6 years of maturation gives the Parker’s Heritage Collection Original Batch Wheat Whiskey even greater complexity and depth. The soft, biscuity profile of Bernheim is tempered with additional oak and char notes, and the finish is long and spicy. 

Heaven Hill Master Distiller Emeritus Parker Beam, for whom the acclaimed series is named, was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (also called ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease) several years ago. Last year’s edition of Parker’s Heritage Collection, called the “Promise of Hope” release, raised over $300,000 for the ALS Association’s Parker Beam Promise of Hope Fund through a $20 per bottle contribution made by Heaven Hill. Heaven Hill will continue with this cause-related campaign, and will contribute $5 from the average national retail cost of $89.99 for every 750ml bottle sold of this year’s “Original Batch” release to ALS research and treatment. With every past edition of Parker’s Heritage Collection selling out of Heaven Hill’s warehouses, the company expects to generate an additional $65,000 to battle ALS through this year’s edition, which is not as broad a release as last year’s “Promise of Hope” bottling. 

This year’s release of Parker’s Heritage Collection promises to be a worthy successor to the previous seven releases, which, having won multiple awards from Whisky Advocate magazine, Whisky Magazine and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, stand as some of the most critically lauded American Whiskeys in recent memory. Past bottlings have won awards ranging from “Best North American Whiskey” to “American Whiskey of the Year” to “Best of Show, Brown Spirits.” As a result, the Parker’s Heritage Collection releases have become some of the most anticipated and sought after bottlings of every new year. 

Packaged in the same upscale 750ml bottle as the previous six editions but with a buff colored label, the Parker’s Heritage Collection Original Batch Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey bottling reflects the care and craftsmanship of its contents. Available in a three bottle case, it will be featured on the shelves and back bars of the nation’s finest spirits retailers and on-premise operators starting in September. With the ever increasing interest in American Whiskeys, especially ultra-premium bottlings, consumers will have to act quickly to secure a sample of the rarity. 

“American Whiskey connoisseurs have every year come to eagerly anticipate the announcement and introduction of the new Parker’s Heritage Collection release”, noted Susan Wahl, Senior Brand Manager for Whiskeys at Heaven Hill Distilleries. “With the additional interest of an extra aged wheat whiskey, the cause-related contributions to ALS treatment and all the attention the Ice Bucket Challenge has focused on it, we anticipate this year’s Parker’s Heritage Collection Original Batch Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey to be another highly regarded release.” 

Founded in 1934, Bardstown, KY-based Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. (www.heavenhill.com) is the nation’s largest independent, family-owned and operated spirits producer and marketer and the world’s second-largest holder of Kentucky Bourbon. Heaven Hill’s diversified portfolio of brands includes Evan Williams Bourbon; Larceny , Elijah Craig and Henry McKenna Bourbons, Burnett’s Vodkas and Gin; Admiral Nelson’s and Blackheart Rums; HPNOTIQ Liqueur; The Christian Brothers Brandies; PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur; Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur; Lunazul Tequila; Cinerator Hot Cinnamon Flavored Whiskey and Rittenhouse Rye Whisky. Heaven Hill reminds you to “Think Wisely. Drink Wisely.”

Our love affair with Brooklyn

We’ve always admired the Brooklyn way of life. They’re creators, just like us, and on every corner there’s a new artisanal wonder working its way to the top of the independent foodie-chain. So we thought we’d ask the innovators of Brooklyn to help us create our first co-created whisky, and we named it, Jura Brooklyn.

We hand-selected some of our favourite Brooklyn artisans – ones renowned for taking risks, innovating and for adding to the unconventional community that the area’s so famous for.

Our Collaborators

When on the collaborator hunt, we were immediately drawn to Fine and Raw Chocolate. Their mission is to save the world through silliness and damn good chocolate and they do it with all the best ingredients possible.

We then approached The Bedford Cheese Shop – one of the finest cheese mongers in the world and a Brooklyn institution! Despite their success, they have never lost their sense of community and their love for everything cheesy – we HAD to get them on board, for their love of potent flavours alone.

But we couldn’t gather together 12 of the finest crafters and creators in Brooklyn without approaching The Brooklyn Brewery – one of the area’s most renowned havens that is now seen in pubs and shops around the world. With good beer at their heart and an immersive brewery in Williamsburg that opens to hoards of fans eager to get a taste of the good stuff and a sneak peek inside the brewery every week, they were pivotal to the creation of this fine single malt.

So on a fine Brooklyn day, we gathered our crew of odd-balls and off-the-wall creators and we presented them with 6 cask samples, each reflecting the unique flavours of Brooklyn’s heritage. Once everybody had their say, we created 3 marriages to be whittled down to one. Creating a whisky by Brooklyn, for Brooklyn!

And the logo changed too… while traditional Jura features the stag, the Brooklyn version needed an equivalent. And what animal exists in as much abundance in Brooklyn as deer do in Jura? Pigeons, of course! And alas, the pigeon stag was born.

The Delicious Result

With a melting pot of Brooklynites and a bucket load of experience, passion and craft, we created a whisky that not only sold out in 3 days, but that had a launch event where people were fighting to get on the guest-list. With 16 private tastings executed by our Master Distiller, Willie Tait, and featuring all of our collaborators, we welcomed the likes of Vogue, Esquire, The New York Times and 1900 more to try our masterpiece.

Now the rest, as they say, is history.

Come and order a bottle of Jura Brooklyn before everyone else does.

MCLEANSCOTLAND sell out a Scottish whisky tour in ONE MINUTE!

MCLEANSCOTLAND designed a whisky tour with Mika Jansson of the Malt Whisky Association of Finland, for June 2015. Starting and ending in Helsinki via Aberdeen, the 5 day/night tour includes Glen Moray, Glenmorangie, Clynelish , Old Pulteney, Scapa and Highland Park, Tomatin and Old Meldrum distillery visits. Not to mention a couple of whisky independents, sightseeing in Caithness, Moray, Aberdeenshire and Orkney.  Working once again with the MWAF this tour was offered after the initial announcement for the Orkney and Highlands trip for summer 2015, taking in bookings on Friday afternoon at 4.30 PM.

“A total of 14 emails  arrived with that precise timestamp, so the trip was completely sold within a minute, we had a total of 18 bookings for the tour – amazing! What can I say – the reputation of mcleanscotland’s previously arranged, most excellent tours have certainly played a big part here, as well as Paul visiting us here in Finland. Looking forward to a magnificent summer adventure!!”  Mika Jansson. 

We all look forward to this exciting whisky tour for 2015, Paul and Liz, MCLEANSCOTLAND 

http://www.mcleanscotland.com/   http://www.whiskytourscotland.com/

Scotland – Single Malt Scotch

• Highland Park 30 year old, Isle of Orkney Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 1 available ($899.99)

• 1970 Macallan 42 Year Old Gordon & MacPhail Speymalt Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 4 available ($999.00)

K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com/
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

Just Whisky’s 10th auction is in full swing, and at with a day to go we’d love you to come and check out the lots on offer. Aberlour, Ardbeg, Balvenie, Caol Ila, Dalmore, Edradour, Fettercairn, Glenrothes, Hillside, Lagavulin, Macallan, Port Ellen, Royal Brackla, Saint Magdalene, Talisker and many many more, we’ve got it all this month with over 550 lots.

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The Just Whisky Team.
http://www.just-whisky.co.uk/