Deanston 1994 Whiskies of Scotland 55.4% ABV | 50cl

Our own label “Whiskies of Scotland” Deanston 1994 55.4% picked up the BRONZE award in this year’s Scottish Field Whisky Challenge with an impressive 14.95 points out of 20 in the £40 – £80 price category. Bottled in 2013, this expression of Deanston is arguably the finest I had ever tasted from that particular distillery so decided that it merited entry into this year’s competition.

The Deanston was up against stiff competition too with Glenmorangie’s Companta 46% winning the category Gold with 16.15 points and the Glendronach 18 Year Old 46% taking the silver award with 15.4 points out of 20. All of the nosing and tasting is completely blind so you don’t even know which category a whisky is entered into, which makes it very fair to everyone.

Deanston 1994 55.4% 19 year old:

Official Tasting Note
Nose: Full and sweet, fruit salad, gentle oak notes, vanilla and coconut with hints of sherry. Traces of milky chocolate and cappuccino too. Palate: Rich and spicy, quite full and oily. Rich toffee, caramel, bananas, vanilla and milk chocolate and hints of sherry again.

My Tasting Note On The Day
Light and buttery. Kiwi and passion fruit, round and balanced. A little closed but intensely sweet and sugary with amazing balance and a blanket of honey.

Other Judges Comments
“Fairly shy aromas – honey and waxy lemons – with a sugary sweetness and hints of green apple”. “A powerhouse: lots of well integrated spice and aromatics wrapped in a fruity, gently sherried whisky cask”.

Slainte, Ronnie

Buy Now Price £46.67 ex VAT  £56.00 inc VAT

News from the Distillery Team:

The winter season is always a busy one for James and the team at The Distillery.  When we wrote to you in the summer, building work was on hold for our new warehouse number 5 whilst the Golden Eagles welcomed their young.  We are pleased to announce that they are now the parents of two new eaglets and building work is back full steam ahead!  The plans for our VIP Tasting room are well on track and our order for two new stills has been placed.  We are looking forward to taking delivery of these in 2016 and increasing our capacity in line with the projected demand in the future.

Brand new warehouse 6 is serving us well and is now home to our short term cask storage and cask finish whiskies.  It has provided us with just the flexibility we needed in this area and we are delighted with the progress we have made this year. For the time being, the winter weather seems to be slowly creeping up on us and this is the time of year that our Distillery team work on distilling our peated Single Malt, The Machrie Moor, just before the closure in January for our maintenance and cleaning work.  The smell of fruity peated whisky in the air on a crispy winter morning is quite something!

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Chivas 18 and Pininfarina Announce Second Year of Partnership

Chivas Regal 18, one of the world’s leading ultra-premium Scotch whiskies, is delighted to announce that it is reuniting with Pininfarina, the prestigious Italian design company, to create the limited edition Chivas 18 by Pininfarina Chapter 2. Following a hugely successful year in 2013, Chivas 18 and Pininfarina, two iconic brands of style, are continuing their partnership to deliver luxurious experiences to their customers through innovative design.

Both Chivas Regal and Pininfarina are renowned for their rich heritage in crafting rewarding and stimulating experiences in luxury. Pininfarina has been a crusader in Italian design and engineering since 1930, and Chivas Regal is the original luxury whisky blend, established in 1909.

Unique in the world of whisky, the Chivas 18 by Pininfarina Ice Drop is an elegantly contoured shape that embodies the Pininfarina design philosophy, marrying form and function. The Ice Drop celebrates the meeting of air and liquid to create our partnership symbol The Drop – an exquisite experience to be enjoyed in the world’s most iconic bars, and at home.

The Chivas 18 by Pininfarina Chapter 2 Ice PressThe limited edition Ice Press has been developed to enhance the whisky serving ritual in premium bars around the world. This exclusive tool creates a seamless Ice Drop and will first be gifted to a selection of the world’s most prestigious bars.The Chivas 18 by Pininfarina Chapter 2 Ice Drop MouldA piece of precision engineering crafted from high grade silicon, the Ice Drop Mould delivers two flawless Ice Drops with ease. The unique limited edition pack, 1,500 pieces, contains brushed aluminum tongs and a pair of Pininfarina designed ‘Drop’ glasses, enabling whisky connoisseurs to replicate and enjoy the Ice Drop ritual in the luxury of their own home. The Ice Drop Mould will be available to purchase for US$399.

“Chivas 18 has a deep understanding of design and a proven history of working with iconic visionaries. Pininfarina is a brand that is revered globally for its expertise in the world of design, however this year we have moved the partnership even further. In creating the Chivas 18 by Pininfarina Chapter 2, we were careful to create a limited edition that is as usable as it is enjoyable. Chapter 2 epitomises Chivas Regal’s enduring commitment to excellence while marrying Pininfarina’s combination of innovative and seductive design; a celebration of form and function” explains Global Brand Director, Richard Black.Commenting on the launch of Chivas 18 by Pininfarina Chapter 2, Creative Director of Pininfarina, Paolo Trevisan said: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with Chivas 18. Both brands are united in our vision to create unique and unparalleled experiences. Over the past two years Chivas 18 has provided the team with fantastic support and we are very much looking forward to continuing this incredible journey and sharing what we believe is the perfect embodiment of our design philosophy combined with the unique heritage and ethos of Chivas 18.”

To mark the second year of the prestigious collaboration Chivas 18 by Pininfarina Chapter 2, Global Brand Ambassador Max Warner has fittingly crafted a series of cocktails, which not only combine influences from Scotland and Italy but also showcase how ice, the one ingredient universal to almost every cocktail, can be harnessed in an array of different ways.

Velvet Old Fashioned

50ml Chivas 1810ml Pedro Ximenez Sherry2 dashes Angostura bittersGarnish orange zestPour all ingredients into a mixing glass, stir and pour over the Ice Drop.The Pedro Ximenez sherry works to enhance the dried fruit and chocolate notes in the whisky

Midnight Dram

50ml Chivas 185ml sugar syrup 1:1 (sugar, water)3 dashes chocolate bittersPour all ingredients into a mixing glass, stir and pour over the Ice Drop. Chocolate bitters work in harmony with the dark chocolate flavour components in the whisky The 8550ml Chivas 1820ml soda waterGarnish with a metal stirrer and a lemon twist Pour whisky into glass, add Ice Drop and pour soda.The effervescence of the soda water helps to release the complex, multilayered flavours of the whisky

Chivas on The Drop

50ml Chivas 18Place Ice Drop in rocks glass and gently pour whisky over the drop into the glass, cooling the liquid as it falls.Chivas Regal 18 Year Old is a uniquely rich and multilayered blend that includes over twenty of Scotland’s rarest single malt Scotch whiskies, aged for a minimum of 18 years.

Notes

About Chivas Regal

Chivas Regal is a truly global brand, selling 4.9 million 9L cases annually in more than 150 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific and Americas. The Chivas Regal range is the epitome of style, substance and exclusivity and includes Chivas Regal 12, 18 and 25 Year Old. www.chivas.comAbout Chivas BrothersChivas Brothers is the Scotch whisky and premium gin business of Pernod Ricard – the world’s co-leader in wine and spirits. Chivas Brothers is the global leader in luxury Scotch whisky and premium gin. Its portfolio includes Chivas Regal, Ballantine’s, Beefeater gin, The Glenlivet, Royal Salute, Aberlour, Plymouth gin, Longmorn, Scapa, 100 Pipers, Clan Campbell, Something Special and Passport. www.chivasbrothers.com

About Pininfarina

Pininfarina Extra: With a history dating back to 1930, Pininfarina is based on values of creativity, experience and innovation without forgetting tradition. It combines avant-garde style and technical solutions aimed at functionality.If Pininfarina is known worldwide for car design, Pininfarina Extra (a Company specialized in product and interior design, architecture, nautics and aeronautics) expresses its design philosophy in all areas of life where beauty combines with elegance, essentiality and comfort. Founded in 1986 and led by Paolo Pininfarina, President and MD, Pininfarina Extra is located in Cambiano (Turin).Its partners include leading Companies such as Acer, Alenia Aeronautica, Coca-Cola, Jacuzzi, Juventus, Lavazza, Snaidero and Unilever. Its most recent projects include: the Keating Hotel by Pininfarina in San Diego, the interiors of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (Alenia Aeronautica), the Coca-Cola Freestyle drinks machine, the interiors of the Juventus Stadium, the Snaidero Ola 20 kitchen, the LED TV Acer AT58, and the Primatist B62’ yacht. www.pininfarina.com

A unique afternoon of Whisky Tasting hosted by two generations of Robbie’s Drams Managers. Tickets Event Only

ONLY A FEW SPACES LEFT!

A Drop o’ cheer is a special Christmas Whisky tasting event hosted by Robbie’s Drams of Ayr. This will feature 6 whiskies of different styles from across Scotland, in an informal but informative style. Explaining the history of Scotland’s National drink, its production, the heritage of each whisky being tasted and what influences result in the wonderful array of flavours exhibited. This event is part of a special Christmas in Ayr Switch On Weekend. Sunday 16th November 3pm-5pm Loudoun Hall Ayr Price: £20 per person

Tickets available in-store only.

New Octomore from Bruichladdich – the peatiest whisky of all time

Bruichladdich may have reduced their myriad number of bottlings in recent years, but they still know how to grab a headline or two. The progressive Hebridean distillers have just unveiled two latest additions to the range, one of which is the most heavily peated whisky of all time.

The first, 2008 Port Charlotte, uses Islay barley from six farms, and is matured in a mixture of US and European oak. The second, Octomore 2009 Edition 06.3, uses barley from Octomore Farm and is cut with Octomore spring water, so they could have called it Octomore³. Its peating level is 258ppm (parts per million) – as a reference point, Laphroaig and Ardbeg usually come in at between 40-60ppm (with the odd exception, like the 100ppm Supernova).

Port Charlotte 2008 Islay Barley, 50%, £54.95

Nose: Subtle smoke at first, then clean, crisp notes of pears and apples, plus grainy cereal. Very elegant and fresh – this has a definite spring in its step.
Palate: Very fruity on the palate, with fresh apple and melon, ably supported by oaty, biscuit notes. Peat is more apparent than on the nose, but is still restrained, and doesn’t dominate. Don’t add water – this dram doesn’t need it, and holds up far better without it.
Finish: Fresh and fruity, with a wisp of smoke and barley adding complexity.
Now on to the big boy. Peating levels can be a touch misleading, as we investigate here, but there’s no getting away from it: at a whopping 258ppm, the 2009 Octomore is the most heavily peated whisky of all time. Proceed with caution.

Octomore 2009 Edition 06.3 Islay Barley, 64%, £145

Nose: Deep breath… I’m expecting a peaty riot, but instead there’s a deliciously rich waft of barley, a touch of Germolene and then an aromatic fruitiness takes hold.
Palate: Big, big flavours! Chewy malt, honeycomb, stewed fruit and fresh cherries. Then sweet spice from the oak (cinnamon and nutmeg), but there’s nothing here that takes away from the vivacity and vibrancy of this whisky – it is bursting with life.
Finish: Layers of peat, fruit, spice and perfume go on and on. Quite something.
Comment: It is staggering that a 64% abv whisky can be drunk without water, but it’s true in this case. In fact, a small drop helps, but just a touch – to drown this dram would be criminal.

I was expecting a blast of peat, sure, but did I expect a whisky of such depth and complexity? No. It’s always good to be pleasantly surprised. It’s also reassuring that the folks at Bruichladdich have ensured that rather than just cranking up the peating levels for its own sake (for peat’s sake? I’ll get my coat), they’ve made a whisky that delivers a swathe of rich flavour, too.

Both of these whiskies are available on The Whisky Exchange website now, and they’re really rather good.

Give in to the attraction of the wonderful whiskies in November’s Outturn!

For full tasting notes of November’s releases please visit http://www.smws.ca/ but for now let our brief bottle notes pull you in:

Cask No. 1.176 Zesty ginger lime cooler $185.90
16 years old; refill hogshead; 55.4% Spicy & sweet
Initially fresh green saplings, apricots and peaches followed by old-fashioned rose water perfume. The taste neat has flavours of Weetabix cereal, red apples and the freshness of a ‘Zesty Ginger-Lime Cooler.’ With water, preparing a fruit punch and enjoying a minty grapefruit sorbet.

Cask No. 64.53 Retro and kitsch $161.90
12 years old; 1st fill barrel; 57.2% Young & spritely
Like stepping back to granny’s home. Kahlua, homemade lemonade and Pledge. Stewed apple and coffee chocolates. Lip tingling clip around the ear with root ginger. Grapefruit with a sugar crust, Jamaica loaf. Grandfather’s old vinyl records and warm leather car seats completed the picture.

Cask No. 39.92 Dessert wine and smoking jacket $231.90
23 years old; refill hogshead; 49.5% Sweet, fruity & mellow
To start on the nose, honey-covered toast, chocolate and coconut. To taste, crispy bacon, pancakes and maple syrup. With water, pork chops followed by Eton Mess on the nose. To taste, darkly roasted coffee, ginger cake and brown sugar.

Cask No. 9.82 Breathe in long! $251.90
25 years old; refill butt; 52.1% Old & dignified
The aroma is like a meditative walk through a summer garden with the taste of melting chocolate and honey dripping from a wooden spoon. A tiny drop of water adds rich vanilla custard sauce and an overall great balance of sweet and spicy flavours – Soporific!

Cask No. 4.183 Something for everyone $157.90
13 years old; 1st fill barrel; 62.1% Lightly peated
Multi-faceted nose; apple flan, heather honey, Miso soup, briny, smoky, ashy and exotic cedar. The taste is an intriguing balance of sweet and savoury; treacle tart, peanuts and balsamic tahini salad dressing. Water adds maritime notes and in the flavour garlic Indian Naan bread.

Cask No. 93.57 Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of this! $225.90
21 years old; refill sherry butt; 58.3% Oily & coastal
The nose provides appeal from sherry-soaked Chrismas cake and balsamic-glazed pears – also toffee, tobacco, burlap and smoke, evocative of old sailing ships. The palate has cinnamon, nutmeg, iced gingerbread, toffee apples, sweet sherry, honey-glazed ribs, vanilla, wood, leather and ash.

Cask No. 127.39 Intensely tasty $156.90
11 years old; refill sherry butt; 66.7% Heavily peated
The nose has tobacco leaf, dried fish, smoke, Germolene antiseptic, soap in a coal scuttle, dark honey, bacon and caraway-flavoured rye bread. The palate suggests sea shells, oily mackerel, treacle, liquorice, Tabasco, toasted sesame seeds with honey and deep-fried Mars Bars. Wowee!

www.smws.ca

Introducing The 1824 Masters Series

They say all good things come in threes, and today we’re rather excited to introduce not one, not two but three stunning new whiskies, Rare Cask, Reflexion and No.6. The three whiskies, together with The Macallan M, complete the incredible 1824 Masters Series.

Our whisky maker Bob Dalgarno has expertly crafted each of the whiskies to create the Series which truly honours the beautiful spectrum of natural colour in our unique single malt, bringing to life the interaction of our peerless spirit and exceptional oak casks. Sitting above the innovative 1824 Series, The 1824 Masters Series will take whisky lovers on a journey through increasingly dark and complex single malts beginning with Rare Cask followed by Reflexion then No.6 and finally to the pinnacle of the entire Series, M.

Reflexion and No.6 will be available worldwide, whilst Rare Cask will initially be available exclusively in the USA and China from specialist whisky retailers and selected bars. Explore the range at The Macallan.com

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN PREVIEWS: TOO EXCITED TO WAIT

It’s just like seeing the presents under the tree on Christmas eve: we’ve been hopping up and down in anticipation of our biggest Outturn ever! We just couldn’t wait until Friday to show you so here’s a sneaky peek under the wrapping paper at the first few bottlings from our bumper Christmas countdown list…

Light & delicate

44.62 Soft Sweet and Smooth £92.40

73.68 Summer landscape with woods £92.40

Spicy & sweet

35.105 Santa’s Christmas stocking £57.10

Juicy, oak & vanilla

121.74 A box of chocs £48.10

Peated

3.231 This little piggy went to market £98.60

Browse New 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

LIMITED EDITION JOHNNIE WALKER® GOLD LABEL RESERVE™ EXCLUSIVE TRAVELLERS’ EDITION LAUNCHED IN TRAVEL RETAIL

Featuring a Striking Golden Map of the World, this exclusive Limited Edition bottle design has been created for the gifting market

Diageo Global Travel, 5^th November 2014; JOHNNIE WALKER®, makers of the world’s number one best-selling Blended Scotch Whisky¹, today launched a limited edition bottle design exclusive to travel retail – the JOHNNIE WALKER® GOLD LABEL RESERVE™ EXCLUSIVE TRAVELLERS’ EDITION.

Inspired by the spirit of travel and celebrating shoppers’ own journeys across continents, this limited edition bottle design in a striking gold-coloured, metallic coating has been embossed with a travel-inspired image of the world map.

This limited edition bottle design is aimed at the festive gift market in travel retail. The smooth, award-winning² taste of JOHNNIE WALKER GOLD LABEL RESERVE super-premium Scotch Whisky transforms any celebratory moment into something extraordinary.

The striking metallic bottle coating serves to emphasise the super-premium, golden cues of the liquid: the gold-standard craft and ‘golden whiskies’ that went into creating this blend, and the special moments that this whisky is made to celebrate.

JOHNNIE WALKER GOLD LABEL RESERVE EXCLUSIVE TRAVELLERS’ EDITION will be available for a limited time only from travel retail outlets worldwide where JOHNNIE WALKER GOLD LABEL RESERVE is already stocked. It will be available in time for key festive occasions such as Christmas, New Year’s Day and Chinese New Year in February. The RRSP for 1ltr will be USD68, £48, €58 or AUD88.

Peter Fairbrother, Marketing Director of Diageo Global Travel and Middle East (GTME), said: “We have created this Limited Edition bottle design exclusively for our Travel Retail partners in the run up to the key festive gifting moments. JOHNNIE WALKER GOLD LABEL RESERVE EXCLUSIVE TRAVELLERS’ EDITION serves to highlight our commitment to provide differentiated premium products for the travel retail channel and we are positive that the luxurious world map design captures the imagination of travellers seeking gifts that celebrate journeys.”

JOHNNIE WALKER Master Blender, and creator of this celebration blend, Jim Beveridge suggests the perfect serve to show off the versatility of JOHNNIE WALKER GOLD LABEL RESERVE: “A whisky as special as this is designed to be shared, so I would suggest savouring JOHNNIE WALKER GOLD LABEL RESERVE in a tall glass with crushed ice and a slice of orange, to really bring out each layer of flavour. JOHNNIE WALKER GOLD LABEL RESERVE EXCLUSIVE TRAVELLERS’ EDITION is perfect to toast the occasion and transform the moment into something spectacularly memorable.”

Notes:

¹IWSR, 2013

²Awards:

2014 – Gold

Scotch Whisky – Deluxe Blend – 2014

International Wine & Spirit Competition

2013 – Silver

Scotch Whisky – Deluxe Blend – 2013

International Wine & Spirit Competition

JOHNNIE WALKER GOLD LABEL RESERVE has an ABV of 40%.

TASTING NOTES

On the nose JOHNNIE WALKER GOLD LABEL RESERVE is soft and buttery, carrying aromas of fresh botanicals and smooth caramel. On the tongue, sweet honeyed and floral flavours carry a smooth and creamy character. Then, the signature JOHNNIE WALKER smokiness brings all the golden flavours together in one sensationally long, lingering finish.

ABOUT THE JOHNNIE WALKER® GOLD LABEL RESERVE™ LIMITED EDITION SERIES

The JOHNNIE WALKER GOLD LABEL RESERVE LIMITED EDITION series features limited edition bottle designs, released annually to celebrate different occasions or themes. They are distinctive from the standard edition bottle, with a gold-colour coating that celebrates the golden quality of the award-winning super-premium Blended Scotch Whisky inside. The 2014 bottle is exclusive to travel retail: its design celebrates the spirit of global travel.

ABOUT DIAGEO

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands across spirits, beer and wine categories.  These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Buchanan’s, Windsor and Bushmills whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is a global company, and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world.  The company is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO).  For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at http://www.diageo.com/.  Visit Diageo’s global responsible drinking resource, http://www.drinkiq.com/, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.

The JOHNNIE WALKER and GOLD LABEL RESERVE words, the Striding Figure device and associated logos are trademarks © John Walker & Sons 2014.

Please Drink Responsibly. Visit www.DrinkiQ.com

Wednesday November 12th, 2014

Join us for

Free Duncan Taylor Tasting

Try a Single Malt Scotch Whiskies from a variety of regions

Wednesday
Nov.12, 2014
From 4pm to 7pm

The Whisky Shop
360 Sutter St
San Francisco, CA 94109