Brace yourselves – it’s the 50th anniversary of ‘The Sound of Music’. Expect a sing-a-along at a venue near you soon! The perfect Mother’s Day gift perhaps? Alternatively we have the usual fine range of whiskies!

Also on the horizon is St Patrick’s Day. While we are fully aware that this usually entails the sampling of a glass or two of the Black Stuff, it would be amiss of us not to highlight the strong growth (not forgetting the long history) of the Irish whiskey category of late.

Elsewhere the whisky year is shaping up very nicely with a plethora of exciting new releases becoming available. Last month we had some very short lived Springbank, Highland Park and Glendronach. This month we have Arran, Tomatin, Benriach and Teeling, to name but a few.

NEW BENRIACHS & GLENLIVET

BENRIACH 15 Sauternes £48.95

Not one to shy away from a cask finish or two, this delicious Benriach has spent some of its time maturing in fine Sauternes casks.

BENRIACH 18 Albariza £71.95

Heavily peated and PX sherry finished. “Albariza” is the chalky white soil, regarded as the best for growing grapes for sherry production.

GLENLIVET Nadurra US Oak £46.50

Nadurra fans rejoice! Glenlivet continue to treat domestic markets with great value cask strength versions, while in travel retail it’s ‘only’ at 48%!

Small Batch Collection

DUE EARLY APRIL

CREATIONS BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY 23Y/O 54.3%

Grey stripe (Robust smoky embers)! (Composition: Cao Ila, Invergordon)

Nose: Smoke is present , fairly mellow and not attacking. Invergordon provides lots of vanilla and custard cream notes. Palate: Very sweet with lots of toffee, fudge and tablet once you get past the initial smokiness. Becomes fruitier with time, very mouth coating with earthy dunnage overtones. Finish: A salty lingering finish with smooth honeycomb.

SMALL BATCH 46%

NORTH BRITISH DISTILLERY 1985 29Y/O 46% Nose: Yoghurt covered raisins. Honeycomb and buttered pancakes. Palate: Dry oily cereal notes with lots of vanilla. Blanched almonds and some peach notes with soft brown sugar. Finish: Fruit syrup and cookie dough. Soft delicate finish with Jamaican rum notes.

STRATHMILL DISTILLERY 1995 19Y/O 46% Nose: Lots of marzipan, and very floral – apple blossom? Some lime notes and a touch of cardamon. Palate: Toasted fennel seeds, gooseberries and almost salty. Vanilla ice-cream and cocoa powder. Finish: Saltiness develops in the finish. Hay like with whiffs of shortbread and golden syrup.

SMALL BATCH CASK STRENGTH

AALT-A-BHAINNE DISTILLERY 1992 22Y/O 52.5% Nose: Custard creams; hints of fennel and allspice. Creme caramel. Some dusty notes with some strawberries coming through. Palate: Very creamy with growing ever changing fruit bursts; limes, satsumas, peaches and solid toffee. Finish: Develops an effervescent fruitiness mingling in a blanket of thick cream.

GLENALLACHIE-GLENLIVET DISTILLERY 1992 22Y/O 48% Nose: Vanilla; freshly cut grass; icing sugar and buttered gingerbread. Palate: French cakes, very creamy with pistachios, marzipan and lemon icing. Finish: Faint coconut notes; gentle grassiness and and some fresh herbs. A picnic whisky – very refreshing.

GLENDULLAN-GLENLIVET DISTILLERY 1996 18Y/O 55.6%

Nose: Very minty with lots of toffee. Hard boiled sweets and very floral and grassy. Palate: Less minty on the taste with tablet and shortbread coming to the front. Becoming more buttery. Lemon meringue pie and lashings of cream. Finish: Initially short and creamy before giving way to some quince and apple notes.

GLENROTHES-GLENLIVET DISTILLERY 1990 24Y/O 55.7% (SHERRYWOOD) Nose: Huge sherry; very meaty with liqueur chocolates. Roasting pan juices with figs and poached pears. Palate: More massive sherry – grab a knife and fork for this. Lots of marzipan, quite creamy like a sherry trifle and then more meatiness grows. Finish: Huge sherry tussles with dried oranges, soft black pepper and a little rubber. One for the hardcore sherry fans.

MILTONDUFF-GLENLIVET DISTILLERY 1994 20Y/O 51.5% Nose: Bakewell tart, clotted cream and soft ginger notes. Fresh runny honey with cashew nuts and lemongrass. Palate: Bitter lemon, with lime and growing creaminess. A touch of cinnamon and white pepper mashed over ripe bananas and chocolate bourbon biscuits. Finish: Soft dry chocolate notes becoming creamier with hints of lime zest

SINGLE CASKS AT CASK STRENGTH

ARRAN DISTILLERY 1996 18Y/O 50.9% Nose: Juicy red fruits, hints of cough syrup and stewed apples and soft oily rag notes. Palate: Very fruity with lots of toffee, lemon drizzle cake and a very faint trace of smoke. Finish: A thick chewy finish, green apple skins and orange bitters. Slightly drying leaving you wanting more.

NORTH PORT (BRECHIN) DISTILLERY 1977 38Y/O 48.4% Nose: A real fruit bomb, kiwi fruits, limes, pears in syrup and melted white chocolate. Palate: Very syrupy with soft woody notes. More waxy fruit notes with dried spices and lemon sherbet. Finish: Very syrupy and a little flinty. Toffee bananas with more kiwis, lychees and watermelon.

ROYAL BRACKLA DISTILLERY 1984 30Y/O 54.1% Nose: Rich and oily with sweet fruits;honey; liqourice and hints of butterscotch. Palate: Soft oakiness, orange liqueur and a faint hint of spice. Quite full bodied with chocolate and runny toffee. Finish: Spiced apples, sweet vermouth and lightly smoked almonds.

TEANINICH DISTILLERY 1983 32Y/O 47.5% Nose: Sweet floral notes, juicy raisins; white chocolate buttons and faint tangerine notes. Palate: More orangey notes emerge along with some distant perfumed smoke, green tea; basil and oregano. Finish: Fruit syrup, barley sugar and Victoria sponge cake.

Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop & Tasting Room
26 Chiltern Street
London
W1U 7QF

Tel: 020 7935 6999

www.ralfy.com explores conscious-moments with the valuable assistance of Whisky Review 527 – Glengoyne 21yo @ 43%vol and consciousness.

The Benefits of Adding Water Your Dram

One of the most frequently asked questions that I encounter from curious and eager enthusiasts who are just commencing their discovery of whisky is whether to add water to their dram and if so how much?

For some reason this question is quite contentious in the whisky world and evokes strong emotions on both sides of the debate.  I have frequently noticed that the strongest emotions come from the group representing “No Water in Whisky!” who are quite militant in their belief, flawed as it is.

Now if you have any kind of background in law enforcement, or even as a school crossing guard, you will recognize my last comment as some form of a ‘clue’ about which side of the debate I’m on. I have yet to hear one unbiased argument for not adding water to your whisky sample when making an initial assessment.

This small epistle is not a guide on how to nose and taste whisky but is a simple inventory of the advantages of adding water to your sample. The initial amount of water added is up to you and after your initial assessment you may decide in the future that this particular whisky is best taken neat. You may also conclude that it is best enjoyed with a large measure of water. Experience will help determine how much your sample requires but start off with small measures; you are aiming at reducing the nose ‘prickle’ so that you can appreciate the underling aromas. Professional noser’s dilute to 20% but they nose many, many samples in the course of their work and most enthusiasts find that 35% is a suitable level but once again your experience will be your best guide.

You should also understand the difference between making an initial assessment and simply enjoying you dram in a social setting. In the latter case some people actually add lemonade or cola to their whisky but we will pretend that this doesn’t actually occur; some subjects are best not discussed in too great a detail.

In your initial assessment of a whisky, you are doing yourself a disservice if you do not at some point add a small amount of water to your sample. This simple act of adding a little bit of water will have the effect of opening up the whisky to reveal hidden aromas in both the nose and taste which may be pleasant or in some cases, not so pleasant. The discovery of off notes and flaws is just as important as discovering unique and wonderful highlights hidden in the whisky. The addition of water, in varying amounts, reveals another dimension of whisky that would other wise not be viewed and experience will help you determine the amount to add to each sample.

However if you never add water you will simple miss these important aspects of whisky assessment.

I have attended and organized numerous whisky tastings over the years and have seen a myriad of approaches to sampling and assessing whisky from shaking the whisky to the other extreme of dribbling water down the inside of the glass so as not to disturb the spirit and bruise it. While each presenter has had their own unique approach and methods they all have one point that they agree on; the addition of a little water opens up the sample to reveal hidden pleasures.

The water should be room temperature and never chilled and the addition of ice, for assessment purposes, is completely forbidden. Ice dramatically chills the whisky, closes down the nose of the sample and chills the mouth reducing the ability to taste. The water should be of the still variety and not carbonated. With experience you will find the best still water for the task. In some locations plain local tap water will suffice along as it is not chlorinated.

I have heard of many silly excuses for not adding water from ‘it’s not manly’ which is too stupid to comment on further to ‘it’s the natural state’ of the whisky, this also is quite spurious as the Alcohol by Volume in the bottle is often mandated by local taxation rates. As an example the standard official bottling of Laphroaig 10 is bottled at 40% ABV in Canada and 43% in the United States of America*. Which is ‘natural’? Local laws and marketing are now determining the natural state? Further one could argue that the ‘natural’ state for a whisky is not how it is poured from the bottle but rather how it is taken from the cask or even straight off the still however in the later case it is not legally whisky.

I can respect an individuals choice whether to add water or not but I have to wonder about their trying to prevent people from adding water under any circumstances. In any case you earned the money to purchase the bottle of whisky and it’s your choice whether to add water or not but if you don’t, you’re missing a large part of the whisky experience. Go on, try it, your hair won’t fall out if you do….

The above article was published in 2007* by the Malt Maniacs & written by Lawrence Graham.

The author can be seen in this photo hypocritically enjoying an un-watered Hibiki 12yo.

THE MACALLAN LALIQUE-50 YEAR IS THE STAR

OF BONHAMS EDINBURGH WHISKY SALE

The Macallan Lalique-50 year old from the Six Pillars Collection was the star lot of Bonhams Edinburgh Whisky sale earlier today. Originally estimated at £13,000-15,000, it sold above estimate for a healthy £21,250.

One of the most sought after of whiskies at auction, it was the first of the Six Pillars Collection – a six-phase collaboration between these two premium producers which reached its fifth pillar in 2014. Distilled and bottled by The Macallan Distillers Ltd, it comes in a limited edition Lalique crystal decanter numbered 25 of 470.

Sold for £17,500, The Glenfiddich-50 year old is regarded as one of the finest single malts and is one of the ten most expensive whiskies in the world. Bottled on the 26 July 1991 by William Grant & Sons, The Glenfiddich Distillery, the bottle of The Glendiffich-50 year old (numbered 465) comes with its own wooden presentation case and a certificate of authenticity. The whisky was distilled in casks filled in 1937 and 1939.

Selling for £15,000 was the Macallan Millennium Decanter-50 year old 1949. Distilled in January 1949 and bottled in 1999, the decanter is made from hand blown Caithness Glass.

The sale performed well overall, selling 88% by lot and 91% by value, for a total of £219,000.

NOTES

Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world’s largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. Today, the auction house offers more sales than any of its rivals. The main salerooms are in London, New York and Hong Kong. Sales are also held in the UK in Knightsbridge, Oxford and Edinburgh; in the US, in San Francisco and Los Angeles; in Europe, in Paris and Stuttgart and in Sydney, Australia. Bonhams also has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas. For a full listing of forthcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, please visit bonhams.com.

BELTRAMO’S

1540 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, Ca. 94025

Phone (650) 325-2806, (888) 710-9463, Fax (650) 323-8450

Store Hours: Mon-Fri 10 to 7:30 Sat 9:30 to 7:30 Sun 10 to 6:30

World Drinks Awards presented during lunch. Lunch only tickets available at £75 each.

Whisky Magazine Awards dinner tickets available at £145 for conference delegates. Dinner only tickets at £160.

BOOK NOW

Brace yourselves – it’s the 50th anniversary of ‘The Sound of Music’. Expect a sing-a-along at a venue near you soon! The perfect Mother’s Day gift perhaps? Alternatively we have the usual fine range of whiskies!

Also on the horizon is St Patrick’s Day. While we are fully aware that this usually entails the sampling of a glass or two of the Black Stuff, it would be amiss of us not to highlight the strong growth (not forgetting the long history) of the Irish whiskey category of late.

Elsewhere the whisky year is shaping up very nicely with a plethora of exciting new releases becoming available. Last month we had some very short lived Springbank, Highland Park and Glendronach. This month we have the DOUGLAS LAING SELECTION

DOUBLE BARREL Highland & Islay £41.50

Definitely a ‘discussion’ whisky. Try to determine which distilleries went into this blended malt. Not that we know (or that Douglas Laing will tell!)

MILTONDUFF 1992 Old Particular £82.95

One of our favourite lesser known distilleries. This 22 year old cask strength sherry monster is superb and quite simply excellent value in today’s market.

MACALLAN 1993 Old Particular £199.95

It would be fascinating to compare how this single cask independent version compares with an official Macallan. Regardless we think it’s excellent stuff!

NEXT WEEK’S EVENTS

Mother’s Day Brunch > The Vaults, Leith – Sun 15 Mar

Complimentary dram for Mothers who order brunch!

Free Live Music > The Vaults, Leith – Wed 18 Mar

Being the day after St. Patrick’s, we’ve invited back Gillywolfe.

Irish Whiskey Tasting > The Vaults, Leith – Thu 19 Mar

Contrast and compare Society and proprietary Irish bottlings.

Sheffield Preview Tasting >  Leopold Hotel, Sheffield – Fri 20 Mar

Society Ambassador, Les Harrow introduces a preview of truly remarkable drams

Scotland v Ireland Tasting Lunch > 28 Queen St, Edinburgh – Sat 21 Mar

3 drams and 3 substantial courses: perfect warm up session for the game

Whisky & Beer Theme Night > The Vaults, Leith – Tue 31 Mar

As part of our Spritzich Whisky & Beer celebrations join us for a night focused on beer & whisky pairing

Browse All Tastings >

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

Hello to old friends and new, We hope that the year 2015 is treating you well! We have lots to tell you about in this update, busy and exciting times at the Trace including:

– The completion and opening of Warehouse X – our new experimental warehouse

– Latest awards – Upcoming events at the Distillery – Our Visitor Center expansion

– Our ever expanding distillery

– Our first coffee table book

– Employee anniversary celebrations

Warehouse X We completed construction of our experimental warehouse at the beginning of last year and rolled in the first set of barrels this past summer, beginning the first batch of experiments. The warehouse is comprised of four independently operating chambers that will allow specific variables to be tested, in order to determine their effect on aging barrels, along with a barrel breezeway with an open air rick that will allow a small number of barrels to age while being exposed to the natural elements. The very first experiment that just began this past summer is focusing on the effect of natural light over the next few years. Now that we’re more than six months in, we’ve pulled some samples and have some interesting results so far.  These next couple of years will be very enlightening! If you would like more information about Warehouse X you can find it at www.experimentalwarehouse.com.

Latest Awards We have continued to be honored with awards for our whiskeys. Some recent highlights: The Distillery was named “Distiller of the Year” at the International Wine and Spirits Competition, “Brand Innovator of the Year” by Whisky Magazine at its Icons of Whisky America Awards, and our William Larue Weller Bourbon and Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old Whiskey won second and third finest whiskies in the world, respectively, by the esteemed Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.   To see all of the awards the Distillery has won, click here.

Community events We’ve recently wrapped up some exciting dinner events at the Trace including our Legendary Craftsmen Dinner Series and our Buffalo Love dinner.   Later this month, on March 28, we will have our most favorite community event – the annual Easter Egg Hunt which sees almost 1,500 happy, smiling faces looking for Easter eggs and on May 1 will be our Oaks Day Festival.   We host several community events at the Distillery throughout the year. To learn more about upcoming events, check out our 2015 Events Stampede on our website at http://buffalotracedistillery.com/events.

Visitor Center One of the most enjoyable aspects of our work at the distillery is the number of folks coming to visit us, especially since we love showing visitors around the Trace.  Last year we entertained over 100,000 guests!  Unfortunately, our visitor center started to get a little overcrowded so we are expanding upstairs! Our visitor center is housed in a beautiful building constructed in 1881 and it has a lovely second floor still in its original condition, so we are adding 5,500 square feet of visitor center space right above the current footprint to include an additional tasting area and meeting and event space. The expansion is expected to be complete by June 2015.

Expansion! In response to the growing demand for fine Kentucky bourbon whiskey the distillery continues to expand.  We have been very fortunate to acquire an additional 233 acres of land adjacent to the distillery on which we will be able to accommodate new barrel storage warehouses as needed.  We are also using the land to plant corn and other grains as we are planning to have our own “farm to table” bourbon in just a few years’ time!   Even more significantly, we have been able to buy back warehouses R, S, T and U which had been sold off and converted into office buildings during the great industry crash in the 1970s and 80s.  We have converted them back into barrel warehouses and are already filling them with barrels!!   In total, the distillery now covers 376 acres and has 125 buildings, spanning four centuries of construction – 1700s, 1800s, 1900s and 2000s.   Also, rest assured, we are making lots more whiskey as we try to catch up to the demand but aging cannot be rushed, so thank you for your patience during this period of shortages on our brands.

Coffee Table Book For the past few years, we have been working with the very talented photographer David Toczko of Lone Dakota Photography on a coffee table book featuring more than 200 color photos of Buffalo Trace Distillery. This beautiful book is now on sale in our Visitor Center as well as online at http://buffalotracegiftshop.com/. David did a spectacular job of capturing the distillery in all its glory and we are very appreciative of the work and effort that he put forth on the project.

Anniversaries Long service, tenure and experience are critical to a distillery’s success.  We recently celebrated two of our finest team members for their contributions to the Trace. We recognized our Jimmy Hall, process technician, who monitors our stills and has now worked at the Trace for 51 years, and our Warehouse Operations Manager, Leonard Riddle who has worked here 50 years! We appreciate all of their hard work!

Future Updates Hopefully, the updates are helpful and not too intrusive, we are certainly glad to be able to be back in touch on a regular basis now! Look for upcoming updates about our botanical gardens, Visitor Center expansion, tours, whiskey experiments underway as well as the conclusion of the Single Oak Project.   If we can be of any help at all with questions, needs, wants please just reply to this e-mail and it will be personally answered.  If there are topics you would like to hear about from us, please do let us know that too.   In closing, and on behalf of all the 425 folks at the Trace, thank you for your support of our whiskeys, it is very much appreciated.   Cheers,   Mark and Kristie, Mark Brown The Buffalo Trace Distillery Direct: (502) 696-5978 E-Mail: MBrown@BuffaloTrace.com www.buffalotracedistillery.com www.greatbourbon.com   Kristie Wooldridge The Buffalo Trace Distillery Direct: (502) 783-5652 E-Mail: kwooldridge@buffalotrace.com