Early April Outturn Offerings 

Cask No. 53.207                     $170 

Cod wrapped in Parma ham

Islay

The smell of sweet peat smoke greeted the Panel; aromas of singed heather and a fresh sea breeze mixing with battered sausages and grilled cod wrapped in Parma ham. In the taste we have moved inside a beach hut sheltering from the rain; lamp oils with sandalwood fragrance are being lit, some are smoking pipes with aromatic tobacco, others cigars. With water the aromas are back outside; the salty sea breeze and over the white embers of the barbeque, glazed honey and mustard sausages as well as king prawns are waiting to be eaten. The taste is now sweet, fried honey bananas, fruit kebabs and grilled pineapple skewers.

Drinking tip: At a beach party

Colour: Harvest moon

Cask: Refill butt

Age: 20 years

Date distilled: July 1993

Alcohol: 58.7%

Flavour profile: Peated

USA allocation: 180 bottles 

Cask No. 1.180                       $115

Bitter-sweet complexity

Speyside, Spey

The nose presented interesting layers – firstly in the undergrowth – wood sap, tree bark, laurel, meadowsweet and shrubberies (by the Spey?); then IKEA flat-pack wooden furniture; next some fruity notes (apricot jam, lemon drizzle cake) – and last, intense, deep sweetness (toffee, honeycomb, tablet, chocolate caramels, sugar-coated almonds). With water, pot-pourri and liquorice joined in the fun. The palate was bitter-sweet and complex – lemon sorbet, blackcurrant and waxy laurel against tinned pear, honey, fudge and chocolate – all under-pinned by a pleasant pepper, chilli and nutmeg heat. The reduced palate found perfumed wood, pineapple, fruit loaf, chocolate and ginger. Whisky from John and George.

Drinking tip: Not typical of the make – but curious and complex enough to be drinkable and enjoyable.

Colour: Pine gold

Cask: First-fill barrel

Age: 11 years

Date distilled: June 2002

Alcohol: 56.4%

Flavour profile: Spicy & sweet

USA allocation: 120 bottles

Cask No. 35.104                     $205

Just Add Water and Watch it Grow!

Speyside, Lossie

At full strength the aromas were fully concentrated. The panel encountered a mixture of stewed black tea, thick toffee sauce, and charred orange peel. Scent was equalled by flavour as almond covered Dundee Cake was washed down with Camp Coffee. The addition of water failed to dilute any intensity on the nose as orange and honey still lingered. However then additional notes of Tropical Fruit Mix, and first-aid kits. To taste the panel experienced the unusual but delicious mixture of chocolate cake and Hoisin Sauce. The mouth-feel was wax filling as the finish offered well-aged fruit cake.

Drinking tip: At a pheasant shoot

Colour: Fools Gold

Cask: Refill hogshead

Age: 26 years

Date Distilled: May 1987

Alcohol: 45.9%

Flavour profile: Spicy & sweet

USA allocation: 64 bottles

Cask No. 46.27                       $125

Italian chestnut cake

Speyside, Lossie

This dram had plenty to say on the nose neat therefore give it time and you will be rewarded. Comments were; almonds, roasted cashew nuts, warm leather in the sun, chocolate and pear cake, Marsala wine, beeswax and crispy deep-fried aubergine slices coated in honey. Great mouth-feel accompanied by a noticeable Vermouth kick with flavours of banana, coconut and dried apricot. Water brought out more nutty aromas; walnuts, hazelnuts and chestnuts made into that Italian cake ‘Torta di Castagne’. The taste not too sweet, a moist texture and the delicate taste of a Cadbury fruit and nut bar without the chocolate.

Drinking tip: With a bowl of quality mixed fruit and nuts

Colour: Sauternes sweet wine

Cask: Refill butt

Age: 12 years

Date distilled: May 2002

Alcohol: 60.5%

Flavour profile: Spicy & dry

USA allocation: 150 bottles

Cask No. 55.23                       $170  

Chow mein on a workbench

Speyside, Findhorn

Despite cut grass, herbal notes, citrus, pineapple and water-melon, we could not describe the nose as clean – an almost grubby fascination kept drawing us back – we found toasted oak and pistachios, nutmeg, ghee, an engineer’s workbench, burnt eucalyptus and chow mein noodles. The palate was concentrated and intense (‘an espresso of a dram’) fizzy, mouth-watering and impressively textured – with hits of anise and fennel seeds, plus oily, nutty, peppery elements; sweetness appeared as liquorice allsorts, white chocolate and agave syrup (especially with water) but savoury undertones, even salty, seaside suggestions and medicinal intimations made it a slightly challenging but satisfying experience.

Drinking tip: Whether you have been renovating an old motorcycle or performing brain surgery – job well done and you deserve a dram of this.

Colour: Vintage champagne

Cask: Refill hogshead

Age: 20 years

Date distilled: February 1994

Alcohol: 55.1%

Flavour profile: Spicy & sweet

USA allocation: 84 bottles

www.smwsa.com

Going for Gold at San Francisco 

Tomatin Distillery has won a record number of Gold Medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition for its range of single malt Scotch Whiskies, with one Double Gold and four Gold medals.

The San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the largest, most influential international spirits competition in America, is judged by a prestigious panel of nationally recognized spirits experts. Judging is based on a blind, consensual procedure, ensuring competitive integrity as it remains the nation’s most respected spirits competition.

This year’s shining star is one of the distillery’s latest additions to the range, the 1988 vintage batch release, which scooped a Double Gold medal. Matured in a combination of Bourbon barrels and Port casks, this edition is limited to just 2500 bottles per annum and was introduced to the range in April 2014.

Launched at the same time as the 1988 was the 14 Year Old, also matured using Bourbon and Port casks. This, along with the distillery’s 12 and 18 Year Old expressions, all won Gold medals in this year’s competition.

Cù Bòcan Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky is a lightly peated single malt also produced at the Tomatin Distillery – production switches to peated malt for just one week per year. The standard edition, using peated whisky matured in Bourbon, Sherry and Virgin Oak casks, also won a Gold medal at this year’s awards.

Stephen Bremner, Sales Director, commented on the win: “These latest medals are testament to our commitment to producing a world-class product here at the Tomatin Distillery. Our wood policy is second to none; we produce a high quality spirit which develops into great whisky through maturation in the right casks. The result is a varied range of whiskies providing whisky consumers with a choice of flavours and styles.”

Notes

• Award information and results are available here: http://sfspiritscomp.com/results/overview
• The Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd is a producer and blender of Scotch whisky, boasting a strong core range of single malt whiskies along with a range of popular blends.
• Website: http://www.tomatin.com/   Download our Press Kit from the Contact Us page Facebook: www.facebook.com/Tomatin1897     Twitter: www.twitter.com/Tomatin1897
• The distillery was established in 1897, and while historically the whisky produced was primarily sold for use in other brands of blended whisky, the company is now very focussed on growing the Tomatin single malt brand in its own right.
• The company’s most popular blends are The Antiquary, The Talisman and Big ‘T’.
• The distillery is owned by Japanese company Takara Shuzo: http://www.takarashuzo.co.jp/english/index.htm
• Images are available on request.

Please join the award winning Victoria Gaelic Choir on April 18^th for an evening’s enjoyment of the finest Scottish presented by the very knowledgeable members of the Pacific Whisky Society. The tariff for the evening is a reasonable $50.00 per person and the tasting includes appetizers plus Scottish singing by the Choir members. The Pacific Whisky Society will be presenting whiskies from Aberlour, an Cnoc, Ballantine’s, BenRiach, GlenDronach and Laphroaig distilleries (the final line–up has yet to be finalized).

The tasting will be held at the famed The English Inn at 429 Lampson St, Victoria, BC V9A 5Y9 and tickets are available by email guthnaneilean@gmail.com

The evening will start at 7PM.

French Oak is back!

The wait is finally over, click below to get your bottle of the world’s best single malt whisky.

Please note that once the current available stock is sold, the shop will flick over to a pre-order system where you can pre-purchase from our next batch. All pre-orders will receive an email within 10 days confirming the delivery date.

SHOP NOW

Glenmorangie and Ardbeg expressions praised at prestigious whisky awards

We hope you have had/are having a fantastic Easter! There are only a few days now to one of our most exciting events of the year! The London Whisky Weekender returns to East London and The Oval Space on April 11th and 12th. We thought we would just run you through a few of the very special tastings we have lined up for this year’s events – just in case you were wavering, or if you’re already coming!

Meet the Maker – Phil Brandon Rock Town Distilling, £10 Saturday 12pm Ever wanted to know how craft Bourbon or Rye is created? Fancy tasting some amazing stuff with the man who made it? Well now’s your chance! Phil Brandon, now an award-winning distiller, is here in the UK to talk to YOU about his whiskey and his attitude to making it. An amazing opportunity that might not come around again.

Skye Diving – Colin Dunn, Diageo £20 Saturday 1.30pm The living legend that is Colin Dunn takes you through a sextet of whiskies from this most extraordinary distillery. A peaty puzzle wrapped in a malty mystery embalmed in a peppery poser. Talisker has it all – and so does this tasting as Colin takes you through the core range up to, and including, the amazing 30 Year Old…

Meet the Maker – Kent Fleischmann, Dry Fly Distilling, £10 Saturday 5pm A second opportunity to meet and be entertained by an award-winning US craft distiller on one day? You betcha! Kent is regarded by many to be a trail blazer for the US craft distilling movement. His attitude is one of fun and innovation and it shows through in his whiskies. Come and find out for yourselves what all the fuss is about.

Vintage Single Malt Whisky – Scotch Whisky Auctions Team £40 Saturday 6.30pm For those who like their single malts old fashioned and hard to find. We have talked the guys at Scotch Whisky Auctions into bringing a handful of trinkets from their collection for your delication. To try any of these whiskies is a priviledge – to try them all in one amazing sesson is a dream come true.

Six of the Best – Colin Dunn & Eddie Ludlow £20 Sunday 1pm Colin and Eddie separately are entertaining and, some might say, enlightening. However, when they are together ‘it was murder’! (look it up kids!) Two people who don’t take themselves too seriously, presenting to you six of their current favourite whiskies. Expect fireworks both on the stage and in your glass as the enjoyment level of your day is turned up to 11…

Blending Workshop – Joe Clark, TWL £10 Sunday 3.30pm We have always championed the ‘humble’ blend – good whisky is good whisky, right? Blended whisky is literally the bedrock of the whisky industry and can – at its best – compete with any single malt. This class is designed to show you how challenging, but rewarding, blending whisky is. Joe Clark, newly published author and key member of team Whisky Lounge, shares industry secrets and challenges you to make your own blend worthy of being bottled – for you to take home! Sound good? Well the only way to get involved is to be there this weekend and to have an entrance ticket for the relevant session.

Advanced Tickets for Saturday are £35 per session, and £30 for the Sunday and include sampling of all whiskies apart from any ‘Under the Counter’ drams or masterclasses.  The sessions are; 11am-3pm Saturday 11th April 4pm-8pm Saturday 11th April 12pm-5pm Sunday 12th April You can buy tickets and get more information by clicking HERE. Tickets for the special classes can be booked on the same page. It’s going to be a great weekend and we hope to see many of you there.  For those of you unable to make it for whatever reason, don’t forget to checkout the website for an event near YOU!

Slainte, Eddie, Amanda and Joe The Whisky Lounge Team.

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.

The Whisky Extravaganza has kindly offered Whisky Intelligence readers a 10% discount on tickets to the Extravaganza.

Please the promotional code “EXTD2015″.  You man purchase tickets directly from the link here and by visiting www.thewhiskyextravaganza.com or by calling 800.990.1991.

All events from 6:30pm-9:00pm. Registration begins at 6:30pm.

Houston – Wednesday, April 29, 2015

The Royal Sonesta Houston

2222 West Loop South

Houston, TX 77027

Dallas – Friday, May 1, 2015

The Intercontinental Dallas

15201 Dallas Parkway

Dallas, TX 75001

Denver – Wednesday, May 6, 2015

The Brown Palace Hotel

321 17th Street

Denver, CO 80202

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

New Society Bottling READY FOR PURCHASE!

I have a nice Easter surprise for you all….the new Society bottling has been bottled and is now ready for purchase!!

The new release is a Longrow 13 year old and for the first 7 years, this whisky was matured in a Fresh Bourbon Barrel with the final 6 years being spent in a Fresh Chardonnay Hogshead. It was distilled in October 2001 and bottled on Monday this week (30th March). It has been bottled at a cask strength of 56.7% and is limited to 366 bottles.

The cost of this bottling is £60.00 and similar to the last few releases, will be limited to one bottle per member. If we have any bottles left after a 2 month period then it will be possible to purchase another.

I can truthfully say that this whisky is divine!! When deciding on the next Society bottling, we tasted 4 different Longrow casks in the office and this was a firm favourite amongst us!  I promise I’m not being biased when I say this could be my favourite Longrow ever! The tasting notes are as follows:

Nose:  Fresh green apples and gooseberries to the fore, with hints of lemon grass and a subtle peat influence. There are also maritime notes combined well with a smoked applewood aroma.

Palate:  A very smooth, creamy dram with notes of pine wood, vanilla and banana. Peat is also present which complements the sweet, saltiness of this whisky.

Finish:  A long and chewy finish with an intense vanilla butter cream ending. A classic Longrow whisky, oily with the peat rolling back after each sip.

If you would like to reserve a bottle then please email me ASAP as it will be based on a first come first served basis. My inbox usually goes a little crazy after a new release so please don’t panic if I don’t get back to you straight away – I will email back as soon as I can. If you get in touch within the first few days of this email being sent, the chances are that you will be able to get a bottle.

We have welcomed over 100 new members to the Springbank Society over the past few months and we are delighted to have you all on board!

For those who are not sure how the Society bottles work then it’s fairly simple. We release 2 bottlings per year and in the past there have been no set months for releases but we’re keen to make this more uniform so from now on we will release one each Spring (March/April) and one each Autumn (September/October).

When we release a new bottling, I will email you with all the details and if you would like to order a bottle (there is no obligation to do so) then you should email me back with your request and also include where you would like the bottle to be delivered to and how you would like to pay.

There are a couple of different options for delivery. You can either have the bottle sent to your home address or have it sent to one of our Cadenhead Shops for collection.

Excluding the USA (due to strict import laws), we are able to ship bottles worldwide so if you would like to know the shipping costs for 1-6 bottles to your country then please email me and I will send you over the details. Our prices include all taxes and costs on our side but does not cover any entry fees or taxes which may incur when the whisky reaches it’s destination country.

As mentioned above, we can also ship your Society bottles to the following Cadenhead Shops for collection:

• Edinburgh (UK)
• London (UK)
• Cologne (Germany)
• Berlin (Germany)
• Salzburg (Austria)
• Odense (Denmark)

If you would like your bottle delivered to any of the Cadenhead shops mentioned then PLEASE state this when ordering your bottle.

If you order your bottle to be delivered to any of our UK Cadenhead stores then payment for the bottle will be organised through me plus a £2.00 packaging fee and we will send it out with their next order (this is usually once weekly).

If you order your bottle to be delivered to any of our European stores then you will pay for the bottle when you collect it from the stated shop. The European shops usually get orders every 2-3 months so if you would like it sent there then please let me know and I can arrange it for the next shipment. Please allow a bit of time for the delivery and as soon as I have a shipping date then I will let you know. Can I kindly ask that you wait until you have heard from me before phoning the shops to ask if they have arrived.

In addition to the two options above and for any of our members living in Canada, one of our stockists in Calgary, Kensington Wine Market, are able to import Society bottles so if you would like to have your bottle sent to them for collection then please let me know this and we can get it arranged.

Campbeltown Malts Festival Update

We are still working away behind the scenes to get all events confirmed for the Campbeltown Malts Festival and we’re getting increasingly excited about the festivities – less than 7 weeks to go now!! I will hopefully have more information to share with you next week regarding Glen Scotia’s Open Day on Wednesday 20th May, Thursday evening events at Springbank Open Day on Thursday 21st May and events taking place on Friday 22nd May. For the tastings which have already been announced, we still have space on the following:

Less than 5 places available on:

• Thursday 21st @ 2.30pm – Distillery Manager’s Warehouse Tasting with Gavin McLachlan (£25 per person)

• Friday 22nd @ 12pm – Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting with Mark Watt (£25 per person)

• Friday 22nd @ 3pm – Cadenhead Warehouse Tasting with Mark Watt (£25 per person)

Few places left on:

• Thursday 21st @ 12pm – Kilkerran Masterclass with Jenny Karlsson (£25 per person)

Jenny will share some never ever tasted Kilkerran whisky with the lucky people attending her Open Day tasting. Cask samples starting from year 2004 will be opened and enjoyed at its natural strength. Just because we can!

• Thursday 21st @ 1.30pm – Springbank Masterclass with Ranald Watson & guests (£25 per person)

An opportunity to try some of the Springbank Distillers team’s favourite cask samples – some might be released, some might not, some might be old, some might be young – but they’re all brilliant drams. Also get the chance to ask anything you’ve ever wanted to know about Springbank and its whiskies.

• Thursday 21st @ 3pm – Cadenhead Masterclass with Mark Watt & Martin Mccallum (£25 per person)

A selection of current and future bottlings from Cadenheads including the now annual sample straight from the cask! What will this years special cask be? Nobody knows……

If you would like to book a spot on any of the above then please let me know and I can get this organised for you.

I think that should be all for now folks so have a great Easter Weekend and I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Sláinte,

Mairi

Mairi Paterson

For the Springbank Society

To join the Springbank Society please contact them at

society@springbankwhisky.com

KILCHOMAN LOCH GORM 2015 Release 46%

Just released and in stock now.
£62
Click here for more information

• Nikka 17 Year Old Taketsuru Pure Malt Japanese Whisky 750ml ($139.99) Named for Nikka’s founding father Masataka Taketsuru, the 17 year old has long been coveted by the American market, which could only read the bombastic tasting notes from international travelers and whisky fans living abroad. The Nikka 17 is one of the most celebrated of the available portfolio and really brings the goods flavorwise — round and soft with dried fruits and an earthy, meaty flavor on the profile, this is not only of the best Nikka whiskies we’ve ever carried, but one of the best Japanese whiskies period.

• 1961 Bowmore 50 Year Old Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 1 available ($24,999.99) The massively rare Bowmore 50 year old comes from some of the last stocks from Bowmore’s 1960s distillation. One of 200 bottles released over the course or 3 years. Only 50 bottles for the entire US will every be released. This whisky comes from two bourbon hoggies filled in December of 1961 and warehoused entirely in Bowmore’s famous No.1 Vault. Only one bottle will be available through K&L.

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