Experience a “Special Offer” this Month
From April 21st to April 30th only we are offering a special introductory rate of £25 per person for our daily 2.30pm Warehouse Experience. Limited spaces available. Phone 01764 656565 to book your place now. Click here for more details.
How exciting is this ! ? !
We’re hosting a Compass Box Whisky Dinner on Tuesday May 5th.
The Compass Box Whisky Company is a boutique whisky house that produces and bottles incredible award winning whiskies. After working as the International marketing director for Johnnie Walker, John Glaser started the Compass Box Whisky Company in 2000 and has been winning international awards for his innovated whiskies ever since.
Compass Box is one of my favourite whisky companies and we will be pouring 7 of their whiskies that have all scored 90 points and higher by the likes of Jim Murray and The Whisky Advocate. The Peat Monster won Blended Scotch Malt of the Year at the 2014 World Whisky Awards.
I know what you’re thinking these are blends right? Well they are but these aren’t just any blends these are the best and most innovated blends on the market! Designer casks, incredible Single Malts, aged Grain Whisky and Passion, tons of Passion all set these high above the rest.
On Tuesday May 5th, we will be pouring the following Compass Box whiskies:
Great King St. Artist’s Blend – Malt & Grain Blended Scotch Whisky
Asyla – Malt & Grain Blended Scotch Whisky
Oak Cross – a blend of Highland Single Malt casks
Spice Tree – Highland Single Malt Blend finished in designer casks with heavily toasted French oak heads
Peat Monster – a Blend of Peated Island and Speyside Single Malts
Hedonism – a blend of Old Cask Grain Whiskies
The Lost Blend – Single Malt Blend from Clynelish, Allt-A-Bhaine and Caol Ila casks
We’ve told you what we’re pouring but not what we’re pouring them with, you’ll just have to wait until the 5th when the boys create spectacular dishes to pair with them and J Wheelock of Authentic Wine & Spirits talks us through The Compass Box line up and history.
So grab one of our limited tickets and join us on Tuesday May 5th for another Whisky Pairing Dinner here at The Kitchen, our very talented kitchen team will once again be pairing 5 of these stunners with 5 incredible dishes.
As always there are only 25 tickets available and they sell out fast.
Be sure to plan for a safe ride home!
The cost for this event is only $80 including GST and gratuity and is open to only 25 people! click here to register
Fets Whisky Kitchen | 1230 Commercial Drive | Vancouver | British Columbia | V5L 3X4 | Canada
Israel’s first dedicated whisky distillery set up after visit to Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival
A love of drams and a nation’s thirst for the spirit has inspired an Israeli entrepreneur to develop plans to establish the first dedicated whisky distillery in his native country.
While thousands of visitors from all over the world prepare to descend on the malt whisky capital of the world for the 16th Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival from April 30 to May 4 this year, Rafi Dahan and his wife Dafna hope to be overseeing the start of construction on Israel’s first distillery to produce only whisky.
Israel’s home-produced Kosher whisky will be stored in wine casks in cellars underneath the Dead Sea and the water of life could begin to flow as early as 2020.
The couple got a taste for whisky a few years back after a Scottish member of their Synagogue introduced them to a selection of drams. Each Saturday he would bring along a different whisky to taste and the pair acquired a real love of whisky, it becoming their drink of choice.
As a real estate developer, Rafi (48) is always keen to seek out new ventures so researching the whisky industry and finding no producers in Israel, yet an increasing demand for the product, made him explore the possibility of going into production himself.
That led the couple on a journey to the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival two years ago.
Thanks to a late cancellation, they secured places at the festival’s prestigious whisky school, and found the programme excellent. They made the most of their trip to Speyside by attending a wide variety of whisky festival events and tasted more whiskies during those 10 days than they had in the course of a year!
The trip also made them determined to produce quality whisky. They have now visited40 distilleries all over the world, and have had negotiations with specialist suppliers from many different countries in order to equip their distillery.
Rafi says that he plans to supply the Israeli and Jewish markets initially, but with an ambition to produce good whisky, he hopes that his produce will one day be available to buy in Scotland.
Rafi says: “I ordered a report into the Israeli Alcohol Market and I was shocked to discover that whisky market has increased by 7% every year since 2008, yet vodka and other spirits are going down. The whisky market in Israel per year is worth approximately $200 million and everything is 100% import.
“I asked myself how come nobody has opened a distillery in Israel? My thoughts are you have to be old enough to love whisky, you have to be wealthy – no bank will finance this business plan – and you have to be crazy on whisky, as well as having the dream.
“This will be the first and only whisky distillery in Israel. We decided that the whisky will produce will be Kosher Whisky, the process to be supervised by Rabbi and the maturation will be in Kosher wine casks.
“Everybody that knows of our plans thinks it’s really exciting. The construction plans are ready and I would like construction to begin by April. The equipment will arrive during 12 month from starting construction.”
The site will include a distillery, offices, visitor centre, distillery shop and coffee shop along with maturation building and gardens, but the name of the distillery and its product is being kept under wraps meantime.
With more than 350 events, the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival includes a range of specialist tours, tastings and experiences that prove popular with whisky enthusiasts, as well as crafts, walks, music, folklore tours and dinners all set within the Speyside region.
Tickets for all events in the 2015 Festival programme can be bought via the website – www.spiritofspeyside.com The Festival is also active on social media – facebook.com/WhiskyFestival and @spirit_speyside on Twitter.
Photo: Rafi and Dafna Dahan hatched plans to set up Israel’s first distillery dedicated to the production of whisky after visiting the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.
Notes
Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival runs from Thursday, April 30-Monday, May 4 2015. Check out www.spiritofspeyside.com for up-to-date news and follow the Festival at www.facebook.com/WhiskyFestival or www.twitter.com/spirit_speyside
The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is committed to promoting responsible drinking. Visitors travelling to and from festival events can take advantage of a range of transport options. Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival has received funding from Highlands and Islands Enterprise and is also financially supported by many other private and public partners.
EventScotland: EventScotland is working to make Scotland the perfect stage for events. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors. For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit www.eventscotland.org. Follow EventScotland on Twitter @EventScotNews. EventScotland is part of VisitScotland, the national tourism organisation which markets Scotland as a tourism destination across the world, gives support to the tourism industry and brings sustainable tourism growth to Scotland.
Masterclasses!!!
As always, we have some very relaxed master classes at Maltstock. It’s with great pleasure that we can announce the first names now.
Patrick van Zuidam (Zuidam) We are very excited that Patrick is finally able to come to Maltstock. This man runs the best Distillery in the Netherlands. His Millstone whiskies are winning awardsall over the globe There isn’t much he doesn’t know about whisky. This is your change to ask really nerdy questions, and get an answer!
Jan Beckers (Douglas Laing & Co) After his first apperance last year Jan Beckers definitely wanted to return. He’ll bring some new exciting Douglas Laing bottles. Always a relaxed treat!
Stephen Marshall (John Dewar & Sons Ltd) Last year he brought a robot, only god knows what he’ll bring this year. What we do know is that the Dewars Single Malt portfolio are getting some well deserved positive attention.
We expect that you can book your Masterclasses in July. Of course only people with a Maltstock ticket can book Masterclasses. So if you haven’t done so, don’t wait any longer. You will feel more relaxed with a Maltstock ticket.
TICKETS ARE GOING FAST
ALL CABIN TICKETS ARE SOLD OUT
Tickets are going fast!
We already have sold more than 2\3 of all available tickets.
Cabins
The cabins were a great success last year! This year, we sold them out within weeks.
Buy your ticket at our ticketshop
Be sure you buy your tickets soon, so you can look forward to going to Maltstock in a very relaxed way..
Not Spotify but spoticar
Spot our Promo car
We are going to Speyside in a couple of days. Spot our fantastic Promo Car sponsored by www.passionforwhisky.com
Stefan, very relaxed, thank you!!
Leiden Whisky festival
We went to Leiden to visit Whisky festival Leiden organised by whiskysite.nl Jack and the organisation, you have a very relaxed festival, we enjoyed it very much. Thank you, and see you next year!!
Agenda:
25\26-04-2015, Limburg http://www.festival.whiskyfair.de/
27-04-2015, Glasgow
28-04-2015, Fiddlers in Drumnadrochit
29-04-2015, Dornoch Castle, Dornoch
30\04-05-2015, Speyside http://www.spiritofspeyside.com/
25\27-09-2015, Nijmegen http://www.maltstock.com
NEW ARRIVALS
Canada – Whisky
BACK IN STOCK
United States – Bourbon and Rye
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
It’s been just over a month since we reopened the Milroy’s doors following the change of ownership and our extensive refurbishment. Now we finally have the time we thought we’d give you all an update on how we are doing and let you know about the changes and exciting new products we have in store.
What’s New In Store
Bars – two of them actually – for those of you who haven’t managed to pop in yet we now have a stunning coppertop whisky bar on the ground floor, allowing you to sip a dram (35ml measures – 25ml just isn’t enough!) whilst perusing the shelves and then receiving 10% off the bottle you’ve just enjoyed.
The second bar is located in the basement, previously this was our tasting room. We’ve now added a concrete bar and opened up what we like to call the Barrel Room, a small 10 seater vault, previously our whisky cellar. Downstairs is a little different, the focus here is cocktails expertly made by Natalino and Simo, open from 6pm Tuesday-Thursday and 5pm Friday & Saturday, or you could of course stick to whisky (or even try our own beer!).
Web Store
As you will know we haven’t yet got a working web store up and running, much to the frustration of both ourselves and of course you our customers. For those of you out there who are in I.T. and I’m sure there are a few, you’ll know designing a top quality (working!) web store isn’t something done overnight, and as we are now a totally new company keeping the old web store wasn’t an option. The good news though is we aren’t far off – we hope to have a transactional web store up and running by mid-May.
The second piece of good news is you can still buy online, kind of, in the interim we will make sure we update you on new stock as and when it arrives, so simply email back to the newsletter or give us a call and we can send out the stock to you. If there is anything you are looking for just let us know and we’ll be happy to help.
New Stock: Samaroli
A name synonymous with quality whisky, established almost 50 years ago Samaroli is amongst the most famous independent bottlers in the world of whisky. Some of the older Samaroli bottles now command a high price, and having tried the 2014 releases we can honestly say nothing has changed in terms of quality. Silvano Samaroli at the time of starting his bottling company in 1968 was the first to do so outside of the UK.
Samaroli’s ethos remains the same as ever, bottling whiskies when they feel the time is right, and the flavour represents what they feel a whisky should be. Everything is done in small batches and their total yearly output is a mere 14,000 bottles worldwide, as such we only have a very small number of each.
Jura 1997, 17 Year Old, 43%
This tasty 17 year old Jura is big on the coastal flavour profile. Seaweed resting in a quiet harbour, petunias and lashings of sea salt make for an amazing dram! £91.75
Ferry To Islay, 55.1%
A blended malt of Bunnahabhain, Caol Ila and Laphroaig. This is typical Islay oozing in peat with a surprising minty subtlety. £179.95
Have you ever dreamed of sun-drenched beaches and long, lazy days
drinking the finest whiskies available to humanity?
Well you need dream no longer!
We are going to Islay for the Islay Festival (Fèis Ìle) from the 23rd to the 30th May. We would love for some (more) of you to join us. For those that have never been, Islay IS as fantastic as you may have heard. It IS the promised land for whisky-lovers.
2015 is particularly special for the island, with the bicentenaries for both Ardbeg and Laphroaig so even more reason to be there…
We still have places available in both Finlaggan House and on the tall ship Irene and prices start at £500 for the 3-night trip based at the house. We have one place remaining for a full week trip at the house.
So what do you get for your hard-earned moolah?
Well if you’re based in the house, you get your bed, breakfast and home cooked dinner courtesy of Amanda, plus travel around the island. You get the benefit of our years of experience on the island and we never travel empty-handed… You also get exclusive first refusal on our special events, such as our tall ship tastings.
Talking of the tall ship, we also have places available on the historic sailing ketch, Irene, for those wanting to get their sea-legs moving. You get a similar service on the Irene, with your morning and evening meals taken care of plus your transportation around the island.
As an added incentive, and for those coming for the ‘early’ part of the week or the full week, we have secured tickets for Jim McEwan’s famous ‘Jim’s Class’ during Bruichladdich’s Open Day on Sunday 24th. Jim is pure Islay, a friend of TWL and one of the best whisky ‘performers’ we have ever witnessed. Tickets for this have been sold out for weeks now but we have enough to cover everyone who stays with us. Along with all of the other distillery tastings, there is an additional cost (£40 in this case), but this is potentially a once in a lifetime opportunity!
The only other thing you need to do is make your way to the island. We’ll do the rest.
We are currently working on the rest of the daily program with some really exciting stuff to announce soon.
If you’re considering coming along and would like to talk through options over the phone, please feel free to call us on 01904 410841(9am-6pm) or email info@thewhiskylounge.com.
If you’re ready to book, then click HERE to be taken straight to the booking page.
We hope you can make what is set to be an amazing trip!
Slainte,
Eddie, Amanda and Joe
The Whisky Lounge Team.
Two more wins at the World Whiskies Awards
The prestigious World Whiskies Awards has recognised Tamdhu as a whisky that’s got it all in terms of taste and design with two major awards for its 10 Year Old Speyside Single Malt: Best Speyside Single Malt 12 Years & Under and Best Re-launch/Redesign for its iconic bottle.
The awards were announced at the World Drinks Awards reception in London, on Wednesday 19th March 2015.
A host of leading distillers from the whisky industry as well as journalists, specialist drinks retailers, bartenders/mixologists and hoteliers made up the judging panel that awarded Tamdhu. Each entry was blind tasted and marked to an agreed system. As well as nose, palate and finish the judges looked for balance, character, complexity, quality and functionality.
The design judging was conducted by a panel of leading international design experts. Judges assessed entries purely on the quality of the design and innovative use of materials and production techniques. All entries were scored against clearly defined criteria including, breakthrough in category, confidence, craft skills, insight and inspiration.
Commenting on the awards, Iain Weir, Marketing Director for Ian Macleod Distillers (owners of Tamdhu), said, “We are ecstatic to have won two awards for our Tamdhu 10 Year Old at the World Whiskies Awards. The iconic design and quality of Tamdhu has received wide recognition since it was re-launched in May 2013 so we are delighted to have been presented these awards.
“Tamdhu is matured in only the finest sherry casks, many of which are first fill and teeming with flavor. Patience is then required to allow the casks to do their work, giving Tamdhu its wondrous natural colour and unique quality.”
“Its quality is further defined by the hint of peat in our malted barley and the water which is drawn directly from the Tamdhu spring.”
The World Whiskies Awards have been held by Whisky Magazine every year since 2007 recognising whiskies from across Europe, the US and Asia.
Tamdhu is owned by one of Scotland’s leading, independent, family-owned distillers, Ian Macleod Distillers. Tamdhu was born on the banks of the River Spey in 1897 – an era when anything seemed possible. When obstacles were there to be overcome, an age of the CAN-DHU-SPIRIT
The Angel’s Share – The Glenlivet Master Tasting
May 7, 2015
Please join us for a ‘Master Tasting’ that will showcase “the single malt that started it all” – The Glenlivet. Guests will be guided through a spectacular selection of handpicked whisky by the brand ambassador to The Glenlivet – Keith Trusler. This awe-inspiring selection will be complemented by sweeping views of the inner harbor – set high atop of the city, in the Penthouse City Club Lounge at The Parkside Hotel. Mingle and savor this amazing selection of whisky; plus, an assortment of desserts as the sun slowly sets over the inner harbor. Lush jazz notes from the talented Kristina Helene will fill the air and whisk you into the evening. All of the proceeds from our guests – the true angels of this event – will assist the C.A.R.E. Team as we strive to deliver urgent access to surgical services for those who cannot afford it.
$50.00 per person
CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR TICKETS
Mr. Keith Trusler
Michel Couvreur Pale Single Single 45%
(Burgundy – French whisky)
Wholesale $128.00/btle – Retail $143.99/btle
6 x 700 ml | +514620
ONLY 3 cs – can be reordered
Michel Couvreur Candid 49%
Wholesale $137.00/btle – Retail $154.99/btle
6 x 700 ml | +775080
ONLY 3 cs – can be reordered
Yannick Treffot
[p] 778-870-4649
