BUY TICKETS

www.ralfy.com revisits and “auld acquaintance” with Whisky Review 461 – Highland Park 12yo Malt (re-reviewed 2014)

• 1990 Glenfarclas K&L Exclusive Single Malt Whisky 750ml (Pre-Arrival) ($149.99)
  We’ve always loved Glenfarclas. As you may or may not know, this distillery is one of the last independently owned in all of Scotland. It’s owners are the Grant family. It also happens to be on most knowledgeable peoples’ list of top distilleries and has consistently provided us with excellent sherried speyside offerings at incredible prices. We’ve had success finding single casks in their vast warehouse system, but found that current market conditions have made purchasing a single cask from the Grants rather cost prohibitive. Negotiating the price down on those casks is also out of the question as wholesalers worldwide are privy to the price structure and the Grants are very loyal and fair. With that option off the table we decided to get creative. Those single casks have a set price list, but picking multiple casks for one bottling afforded us some flexibility. We knew we were onto the next crazy value, but we never imagined how versatile a multicask bottling could be. So, into the warehouse we went. George bragged about the quality of the 1990 vintage, but we had no idea how special they were until we were standing in front of the barrels. These casks are from a sequential lot of first fill oloroso sherry butts at 24 years old. Without a doubt, ‘Farclas fans will be pleased, but this bottling is approachable enough for even the most novice whisky lover to appreciate. ETA 12/1/14

• Glenfarclas “The Faultline Casks” K&L Exclusive First Fill Oloroso Sherry Casks Single Malt Whisky 750ml (Pre-Arrival) ($99.99)
  When George Grant offered us the opportunity to take multiple casks for a special exclusive bottling, we were over the moon. The creative juices began flowing. We talked about doing an ultra-aged expression, but we didn’t feel we could match the outrageous cask from the 1970 vintage, which we’d acquired a couple of years back. Instead, we decided to focus on a NAS (no age statement) mixture of casks from earlier vintages. The goal was to create a high proof, heavily sherried ‘Farclas that we could sell for around $100. After tasting multiple vintages from 8-15 years of age, we settled on three of our favorite casks in the 9-10 year range. At no other distillery is vintage so important and the importance of their vessel was clear when tasting these younger expressions. We’ve ended up with a mixture of young casks that surpasse even our own high expectations. This is full fledged and powerful, yet tempered by the strong influence of that special wine of Andalucía. If you love Sherry, if you love high proof single malt, if you love powerful flavors and massively textural whisky, than this bottling is for you. Even better, if you love not spending a ton for a bespoke offering from one of the world’s best distilleries, don’t wait to order. We’ll have more than the standard single barrel, but this bottling is still highly limited. Expect this to arrive in time for the Holidays, hopefully by early December.

The second limited edition of Kilchoman Loch Gorm Single Malt Whisky is now available

This is the second edition of Kilchoman Loch Gorm Single Malt. The first, which was released in April last year, was awarded the prestigious 2013 IWSC Gold (2013 edition).  Each release is differentiated by the distillation and bottling dates on the front of the bottle and carton.

Fully matured from filling to bottling at 46% ABV in fresh Oloroso sherry butts, Loch Gorm adds a new dimension to Kilchoman’s portfolio, bringing a depth of character and colour to the Islay Single Malt. The Loch Gorm range is the only all sherry cask-matured expression from Kilchoman.

This range is named after the famously peaty loch in front of the distillery; Kilchoman draws the water for Loch Gorm from the burn that runs into the loch. 

Anthony Wills, Managing Director of Kilchoman, said: “’Our sherry cask matured releases have proved very popular and this is the third and most mature to date so we anticipate this latest offering to be very well received.  Loch Gorm shows wonderful balance between the peat smoke and spicy rich flavours, typical of sherry cask maturation, producing a unique flavour which characterises Kilchoman whiskies.”

Founded in 2005, Kilchoman is one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland and the first distillery to be built on Islay for 125 years. A working farm distillery, it is one of only a handful of distilleries still practising floor malting. Kilchoman also grows a portion of its barley at the distillery, and completes all parts of the production process, from barley to bottling on the island. 

Tasting Notes: Kilchoman Loch Gorm Single Islay Malt Scotch Whisky 

Nose:  mixed preserved fruit, particularly lemon and rich peat smoke

Palate:  dry cereal flavour develops into honey and biscuit with lingering peat

Finish:  rich, sweet and smoky

We have received word from the chaps over at Just Whisky Auction that their best auction yet goes live today and from what we’ve seen it looks to be a corker. With their usual selection of rare old whisky plus brand new bottles from this year’s Feis Ile it looks like they continue to go from strength to strength while they continue to provide top class bottles and service.

There are so many top quality bottles on offer this month it’s hard to single any one out, but we’ll try! It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Macallan Robert Burns Bottling up at auction so it’ll be interesting to see how much it fetches. With much more common bottles from the Macallan soaring in price of late, this ultra-low volume (1 of 250 worldwide) is one to watch.

Next up and from the same neck of the woods is a very seldom seen 1957 Macallan-Glenlivet Gordon MacPhail bottle. This is the desirable version with the flora screen print.

With Feis Ile drawing to a close it was inevitable some of the special releases would find their way to auction and it happens to be Just Whisky Auction who benefits from the first bottles trickling in for lucky customers to place bids on. Highlights include a smattering of Bowmore Feis Ile 2014 bottles, the Bruichladdich Octomore 1695 Discovery, the Lagavulin Feis Ile 2014, Bunnahabhain Drám An Stiúreadair and no doubt plenty more.

In other Islay related news, Ardbeg Day was celebrated on the 31^st May with a football related launch of their less peaty (shock!) whisky – Auriverdes. Following on from last month’s controversy with the sale of a Gold Auriverdes for nearly £2,600! comes the first standard Auriverdes bottles to hit UK auctions.

We’ll let you check out the bottles yourself, and we’re told bidding goes live at 6pm while the auction runs until the 15^th June at 8pm.

The auction can be viewed at http://www.just-whisky.co.uk/

Don’t forget you can also take advantage of Just Whisky’s low 5% sellers fee until further notice. With selections like the bottles this month, a low sellers fee, it makes a great place to sell whisky. Also if you find yourself with a spare 5 minutes, you can check out their new Whisky Blog.

Johnnie Walker Private Collection 2014 limited edition

This 2014 Johnnie Walker Private Collection edition is a tribute to one of Johnnie Walkers signature flavours –– Smoke.

A bold 46.8% ABV blend of incredibly rare, smoky whiskies from 3 regions of Scotland, each possessing their own, unique smoky style: Highland, Island & Islay.

Highland –Subtle sophisticated smoke, contains extra layers of complexity through sweet and vibrant notes.

Island – Maritime character, fresh, oily, sea-salt, smoke.

Islay – Bold smoke – dry, medicinal and phenolic.

These blends are married with a worthy body carrier: the fruits of the J.W. & Sons innovative ‘Calculus’ experiment, an in-house spin on the finishing process started in the 1980’s. Only 8,888 numbered bottles available worldwide

Simply click here to reserve one of these rare expressions – £500

Cadenhead’s Small Batch Collection
Caol Ila 22 Year Old 52.2%
One Week Special on a Federal wine Exclusive

The William Cadenhead Company has claim to being Scotland’s oldest independent bottler, making fine handcrafted spirits since 1842. They have been owned for the last forty years by the family that owns the famous Springbank Distillery. Cadenhead made a brief appearance in the American market in the ‘90s but we haven’t been able find it since.

Caol Ila is the largest of all the Islay distilleries. Malt lovers prize Caol Ilas because because they have a softer, subtler smoke than many others on the island.

Aged for 22 years, this cask strength bottling is one of the oldest Caol Ilas we have been offered in quite some time. It’s is a wonderful peaty whisky for the warmer months (or the colder ones!) as it shows very little oak but has very nice depth. Like other Cadenheads it is all natural, not chill-filtered and with no caramel coloring.

We took all we could. There is no more at Cadenhead. We have only 18 bottles of this rare old malt. Our sale will go for only a week or until they are sold, whichever comes first. 

Cadenhead Caol Ila  22 Y.O. 52.2%

Nose: Fruity and malty, dark fruits, black currants followed by rhubarb and custard.
Palette: Toffee, hints of peat /smoke, peanut butter, oily, mellow and soft smoke.
Finish: Dry Finish

Regularly 199.99 — On Sale 169.99  –  one week only

Joe Howell

Federal Wine & Spirits

Phone: 617-367-8605

Web: http://www.federalwine.com

This week Joe Ellis breaks his own rule and posts a video on a day other than Wednesday! Today he has reviewed the brand new Ardbeg Auriverdes. 

http://youtu.be/teSuVoSMrM4 

http://Facebook.com/whiskytube 

http://Twitter.com/whiskytube

Highland Park 12 – Malt of the Month

We do lots of special offers over on The Whisky Exchange website, and every month we choose a new Malt of the Month to do a great deal on. While we’ve been doing this quietly for a while, we’ve decided to make a bit more of a song and dance about it, and are kicking off with a great whisky – Highland Park 12 year old.

Malt of the Month isn’t about rare and hard-to-find whiskies, but instead the fantastic drams that we sometimes overlook. Highland Park 12, upsettingly, often falls into that category.

Consistently one of the best-value single malts on the market, Highland Park 12 combines the maritime climate of Orkney with the island peat’s heathery smoke and lots of fruity flavour.

Highland Park 12 year old, 40%. £27.95 this month, usually £30.95.

Nose: Salted lemons, a whiff of charcoal smoke, crunchy green apples, tropical fruit chews, unripe mango, beeswax, honey, dusty wood and fruity dark chocolate – maybe chocolate limes? It develops in the glass, picking up more fruit and slowly losing some of the citrus notes.

Palate: It starts with syrup sweetness, quickly moving on to sour and creamy wood, with more tropical chews, pineapple and smoked orange rind.

Finish: Smoky wood, malt syrup, green pine cones and woody spice.

Comment: While the older and more expensive Highland Parks have often become legendary, this shows that even at the other end of the scale, they know what they’re doing.

While the Highland Park 18 year old is the big award winner in their lineup – with 95+ point entries in The Whisky Bible, and The Spirits Journal having to create a Hall of Fame so that the HP18 could be retired from entering (and winning) their awards every year – but the 12 year old props up the range: a perfect everyday dram for those who know the distillery, and a great place to start if you don’t.

A cracker, and £3 off for the whole of June. Grab a bottle over on the Whisky Exchange website.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Highland Park 12 – Malt of the Month

DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE OFFICIALLY RE-OPEN
SCOTLAND’S OLDEST DISTILLERY

Glenturret Distillery, Scotland’s oldest and most visited whisky distillery and home to The Famous Grouse Experience, welcomed The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge today (Thursday 29 May).

The Earl and Countess of Strathearn, as they are known in Scotland, officially opened the new-look five star visitor attraction which recently announced the completion of a £250,000 investment in its key visitor areas and café.

They enjoyed a private tour of the distillery, complete with a nosing and tasting of The Famous Grouse range, before becoming the first people to “Bottle your own” Glenturret whisky.  

Following this, the Royal couple attended the Civic Reception hosted by the Provost of Perth and Kinross, Liz Grant. In attendance were local people from the Perthshire area, invited as recognition for their work in the community.

A local pie created especially for the Royal visit was part of the menu and served to the guests. The Strathearn Pie, produced by Perthshire based company Wilde Thyme, was made with slow cooked local beef and onions sautéed in Glenturret whisky. 

Stuart Cassells, General Manager, The Famous Grouse Experience, commented:

“It was an absolute pleasure to welcome The Earl and Countess of Strathearn to The Famous Grouse Experience. With such strong links to this area through their Scottish titles, we couldn’t think of anyone more perfectly placed to open our new-look visitor areas. All the staff here at the Experience won’t be forgetting this day anytime soon!” 

Nestled at the foothills of the Highlands near the scenic town of Crieff, Glenturret Distillery is the spiritual home of The Famous Grouse Blended Scotch whisky.

Originally established as a single malt distillery in 1775, today The Famous Grouse Experience welcomes an average of 120,000 visitors every year.

Like all visitors, the Royal couple were shown how a single malt is made in the traditional way by Stillman, Ian Renwick. They were also shown how some of the Glenturret single malt is then blended along with other grain and malt whiskies to create The Famous Grouse, which has been Scotland’s favourite whisky for over 30 years, and is one of the world’s top 5 Scotch whiskies.

The Famous Grouse Scotch whisky holds a Royal Warrant, which was first appointed in January 1984.

NOTES

About The Famous Grouse (www.thefamousgrouse.com)

• The Famous Grouse is the no. 1 whisky in Scotland and no. 4 standard blended whisky worldwide (IWSR data 2012).
• The Famous Grouse has been the best-selling whisky in Scotland since 1980.
• The Famous Grouse is exported to over 100 countries.
• Created in 1896 by founder Matthew Gloag, it was originally called The Grouse Brand.
• The brand became so popular that on August 12^th 1905 it was renamed The Famous Grouse.

• The Famous Grouse is owned by Edrington, the leading independent supplier of premium spirits which also includes The Macallan, Highland Park, Cutty Sark, Snow Leopard vodka and Brugal Rum.

About The Famous Grouse Experience

• The Famous Grouse Experience is located at Scotland’s oldest working distillery – Glenturret. Originally established as a single malt distillery in 1775, today The Famous Grouse Experience is the most visited distillery in Scotland (receiving an average of 100,000 visitors a year).

• The distillery offers the opportunity to learn about how a single malt is made in the traditional way, as well as learning about where some of the Glenturret single malt ends up – in the blending of The Famous Grouse.

• Opening Hours 9am – 6pm.  First Tour 9.30am & Last Tour 4.30pm. Tours from £9.95. Children under 12 go free. For more information please visit via this link