Glendronach 2003 Whisky Shop Exclusive

Winner of the prestigious Liquid Gold award in the latest Jim Murray Whisky Bible – scoring 94.5 points: Limited to only 625 bottles this Glendronach 11 year old has been matured in a Pedro Ximenez Sherry Puncheon. It was distilled in January 2003 and bottled in November 2014 from cask number 3568.

Jim Murray: A little maple syrup and butterscotch tries to equal the spices; helped by a superb, entirely sulphur free butt, this malt is as clean as it rich as it is memorable as it is excellent. 53.3%. 625 bottles.

Find out the full review by clicking here:

£60 Click to buy

Glenfarclas 1994 Whisky Shop Exclusive

Winner of the coveted Liquid Gold award in the 2016 Jim Murray Whisky Bible – scoring an impressive 95.5 points: Bottled exclusively for The Whisky Shop and limited to only 1200 bottles. Bottled at 43% volume.

Jim Murray: Very close in character and quality to the distillery’s latest official 1994 release. Which means it’s not far off God’s gift to present day sherried malt whisky…

Find out more about this award winning whisky and how to order some bottles by clicking here:

£84 Click here to buy

This week Joe Ellis reviews The Macallan Rare Cask.

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 ONE OF THE SCARCEST WHISKIES IN THE WORLD AT BONHAMS CHRISTMAS WHISKY SALE IN EDINBURGH

The Royal Brackla 60 year-old 1924, estimated at £3,500-4,500

Bonhams Annual Christmas rare and fine whisky sale in Edinburgh on Wednesday 9 December features one of the scarcest whiskies in the world – a bottle of The Royal Brackla 60 year-old 1924 estimated at £3,500-4,500.

The Royal Brackla 60 year-old 1924 was never officially released by the distillery and its appearance on the market has a fascinating history.  In 1985, over-production within the industry led to Royal Brackla’s closure. In 1991, its owner, United Distillers, decided to re-open the distillery. To mark the occasion, casks, which had been found in 1984 lying undisturbed in one of the warehouses and subsequently bottled at James Buchanan & Co., were released from bond.

This special issue of 62 bottles of very rare 60 year old Royal Brackla was presented to local dignitaries who attended the re-opening ceremony and to the workforce whose hard work had ensured the distillery was ready to resume production on time.

Leading the sale in value is a single lot of the Bowmore Trilogy. The three bottles – Black Bowmore-42 year old-1964, released in 2007; White Bowmore-43 year old-1964 released in 2008 and Gold Bowmore-44 year old-1964 released in 2009 – are much sought after by whisky connoisseurs and collectors. The Bowmore Trilogy is estimated at £12,000-14,000.

Other bottles in the sale include The Macallan Select Reserve-52 year old-1946 estimated at £5,000-6,000 and Dalmore-50 year old-1926 with an estimate of £4,000-5,000.

Bonhams Whisky Specialist Martin Green said, “This is a particularly strong sale and I’d happily settle in front of the Christmas fire with a glass from any of the bottles we have on offer.  If I had to pick a favourite, however, I’d go for the Royal Brackla 60 year-old for its incredible rarity. I’ve never been lucky enough to try it so this would be the perfect opportunity.”

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 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.

We are proud to announce that Whisky Intelligence (and editor Lawrence Graham) has once again been nominated in category of “Rest of the World” World Whisky Ambassador of the Year  in the prestigious Icons of Whisky competition hosted annually by Whisky Magazine.

The competition is currently accepting votes and you can do so by registering here http://www.iconsofwhisky.com/vote/ with the closing date on Thursday, 26 November (You have 2 days left to vote!)

It will take about 2 minutes of your time; we thank you for supporting Whisky Intelligence!

Secure the ultimate Christmas gift for the whiskey lover in your life with an exclusive membership to the Boann Cask Society and Boann Cask Collection 

Ireland’s newest craft distillery offers two unique opportunities to become part of the revival of Irish whiskey, the Irish whiskey Renaissance 

Looking for the perfect present for the whiskey lover in your life? Why not consider gifting them with exclusive membership to the Boann Cask Society and Boann Cask Collection, which will allow members to become part of history in the making of Ireland’s newest and most innovative craft distillery.

Located in the heart of the Boyne Valley and opening in 2016, the Boann Distillery will create the finest whiskeys from specially designed nano-copper pot stills in its state of the art distillery in Drogheda, Co Louth.

The Cooney family, creators of the Boann Distillery, are excited about the distillery nearing completion and are keen for whiskey lovers to play a role in the renaissance of Irish Whiskey. The distillery will honour the timeless tradition of Ireland’s master distillers by creating the finest Irish Malt and Pot Still Whiskeys for discerning drinkers and collectors around the world. From milling to mashing, distilling, maturing and bottling, every drop of Boann malt and pot still whiskey is crafted within the quietude of the unique family distillery.

Boann Distillery Head Distiller, Ainé O’Hora, learnt her trade from the internationally renowned Master Distiller, John McDougall. He is the only man alive to have distilled all five types of Scotch whiskey and Irish whiskey. Their shared passion and wealth of knowledge means every detail of Boann Distillery has been meticulously considered. 

The Boann Cask Collection price is €650 for 10 bottles over 10 years. 

Boann Cask Society prices start at €5,800  + Excise Duty + VAT. This is a lifestyle investment for your generation and the next.

Speaking about the Boann Cask Society, Ainé O’Hora, Head Distiller, at Boann Distillery said:

“Anyone who loves and appreciates the craft of whiskey will understand what a wonderful and unique opportunity the Boann Cask Society presents. It truly is the ultimate gift for whiskey lovers. We are very excited to welcome our 500 Cask Society Members and look forward to a long and rewarding journey with them.  I’m so proud to be involved with such a beautiful product and I’m excited to share that experience with our members.” 

Benefits of becoming a member of the Boann Cask Society

• As a Boann Cask Society Member, you will own one of the first five hundred whiskey casks, complete with certificate of authenticity and named cask.
• You can fill your own cask at the distillery and bottle it once it has matured.
• You can choose Irish Malt or Irish Pot Still Whiskey and decide which barrel to mature it in – Bourbon, Sherry, Port, with a choice of finishes. John or Ainé will be available to meet with you for guidance on the finishes.
• You can enjoy personal tastings of your whiskey cask with our Head Distiller. Alternatively, Boann Distillery will send you a taster every year, on your cask’s birthday.
• You will receive an exclusive Boann Cask Society loyalty card, which offers a 10% discount on all purchases at the distillery plus priority booking of events.
• You will be rewarded with a limited edition Boann Distillery Tasting Book to record your whiskey adventure.
• You will receive a special invitation to the Boann Cask Society Party, held once a year.
• You will have your cask stored safely for you, for a minimum of three years in the Boann Cellar.
• You will experience a once in a liftetime hands on experience through the distilling, filling, maturation, ageing, blending, bottling, appreciation and enjoyment of the wonderful world of whiskey.

Boann Cask prices start at €5,800  + Excise Duty + VAT. This is a lifestyle investment for your generation and the next. 

Benefits of becoming a member of the Boann Cask Collection 

• As a Boann Cask Collection Member you will own exclusive bottlings from our distillers choice casks, hand picked as they mature in our cellar and selected by our Master Distiller, as the best expressions of our signature style.

• This offer is a 10 bottle, 10 year plan in which you will receive a bottle of the maturing malt whiskey from one year spirit, two year spirit, three year old whiskey, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten year old whiskey, building a unique and covetable vertical collection of our special whiskeys, all with a unique limited edition label. 

The Boann Cask Collection price is €650 for 10 bottles over 10 years.  

About the Boann Distillery

The Boann Distillery and Visitor Centre, a state-of -the-art distillery in the heart of the Boyne Valley, is due to open in 2016.

The Drogheda based facility will include a whiskey distillery ,craft brewery and taproom , an architecturally designed visitor centre which will host distillery and brewery tours, 120 seater restaurant , whiskey snug , private event space, a gift shop and a botanical rooftop garden.

With plans to produce craft whiskey, gin and an innovative range of craft beers for the domestic and export markets, craft beer production is already underway in the 50,000sq ft building located in the lush Boyne Valley countryside.

The Boann Distillery and Boyne Brewhouse is the brainchild of the Cooney family, who have a long history in the Irish drinks industry. Nearly 40 years ago, Pat Cooney and his late brother bought a bottling company in Tipperary called M & J Gleeson. The company started manufacturing soft drinks around 1978 and in 1986, established the Tipperary Water brand. Over the following years, the company made a number of acquisitions, including Finches soft drinks and the Gilbeys wine portfolio. In 2012, Pat Cooney sold part of the Gleeson Group to C&C and retained the Cream Liqueur and Cider facilities.

It has always been a Cooney family dream to lead a renaissance of Irish whiskey from their homeland of Drogheda and the dream has now become a reality with the opening of the new Boann Distillery and Boyne Brewhouse. Together with Cream Liqueur and Cider they hope to cover the four pillars of the Irish Drinks Industry. Pat, his wife Marie and four of their children are involved in running the business.

It’s here! For once in our lifetime a whisky that takes home the title “whisky of the year” is in stock, affordable, and available for anyone looking to try it! As if those aspects weren’t refreshing enough, Jim Murray’s award for 2016 also looks to shine a light on Canadian whisky–an underappreciated genre that perhaps gets lost in the madness of the current single malt and Bourbon shuffle.

Speaking about the award, Murray said: “Last year people were shocked when I gave Yamazaki the award – until they tasted it. Then they saw it was not the affront to Scotch they first thought and something truly extraordinary.This year, doubtless there will be many more eyebrows raised because rarely is Canada mentioned when it come to the world’s top whiskies. But, again, I have no doubt people finding the bottling I tasted will be blown away with this whisky’s uncompromising and unique beauty. It certainly puts the rye into Canadian rye.”

Your eyes do not deceive you! The 2016 whisky of the year is here, in stock, and it’s only twenty five bucks.

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye Whiskey 750ml ($25.99)

NOTE: CARDBOARD CROWN ROYAL BOXES ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR SHIPPING ORDERS. ONLY THE BOTTLE ITSELF WILL SHIP. Rated whisky of the year by Jim Murray for 2016, the inexpensive. under-the-radar delight from Crown Royal is sure to catch a number of whisky aficionados off guard. Giving it 97.5 out of 100 points, Murray writes: “Rye, that most eloquent of grains, not just turning up to charm and enthrall, but to also take us through a routine which reaches new heights of beauty and complexity. To say this is a masterpiece is barely doing it justice. I have no doubt people finding the bottling I tasted will be blown away with this whisky’s uncompromising and unique beauty.”

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

The Japanese Whisky Gift Box Set

We know how important gifts are to our customers – especially at Christmas. This year we have developed a range of beautiful gift boxes containing some of your, and our, favourite whiskies. Whether you’re looking for traditional single malt for your Dad, or a fashionable Japanese whisky set – we’ve got it covered. The Yamazaki Distiller’s Reserve is a wonderful balanced whisky. Full of soft, fresh fruits and Mizunara (Japanese Oak) aromas, this is a classic example of Japan’s number one whisky. Accompanied by The ice sphere mould to make the perfect ice ball and a stylish whisky tumbler.

£85 Click to buy

THE LOCH FYNE 1745 GIFT SET

The Loch Fyne 1745 is named after the historic year in which the whisky’s home town, Inveraray, was founded. Inspired by its west coast location and the many tourists who pass through the town on the way to Islay. The Living Cask 1745 is a unique marriage of well aged single malts all from Islay distilleries and is fast building a reputation for its incredible flavours. This gift box also comes with a couple of award winning Glencairn whisky glasses – perfect for appreciating the finest malts.

£92 Click to buy

GLENFARCLAS 2000 GIFT BOX SET

This single malt Scotch whisky was specially selected for The Whisky Shop, and is an utter delight from start to finish – a juicy, fruity, playful, classic Speyside whisky. There is enough Glenfarclas character here for fans of the distillery to love it. But this is also a great way to start your exploration in to the distillery if you are not yet familiar with it. A great malt. Accompanied by two award winning Glencairn whisky glasses and housed in a luxurious presentation box.

£80 Click to buy

HAUF AN’ A HAUF Gift Box Set

This gift pack brings back a bit of Glasgow nostalgia. It pairs a whisky from Glasgow’s closest distillery, Auchentoshan 12yo single malt, with a premium beer that has been brewed in Glasgow, Tennents beer aged with whisky oak – a great Glasgow combination.

Pack Includes a 5cl miniature of Auchentoshan 12 year old, one bottle of Tennents whisky beer, a Tennent’s beer glass and a malt blender’s whisky glass. Bring on the nostalgia!

£25 Click to buy

Haig Club

Diageo have partnered with David Beckham and Simon Fuller, to create one of the most trendy and popular whiskies of 2015.

The liquid has been crafted using a unique process that combines grain whisky from three cask types. This creates a fresh, clean style and an ultra-smooth taste – perfect for drinking either neat, with ice or in cocktails.

It is presented in a square blue flask, with the name embossed in the glass and a copper stopper – if you are going for cool this Christamas this is a must buy. Now available at our best ever price!

£35 Click to buy

Christmas is fast approaching and as the Scottish winter evenings draw in, that tantalising first dram of Wolfburn’s inaugural whisky is getting ever closer!

It has been a busy couple of months since the last edition of the Laydown. We’ve built a major new warehouse, which will provide maturation space until the end of 2018. The bottling plant has been installed and tested – everything is working like a charm. Our first labels and cartons have been printed (you can see the pics on Wolfburn’s Facebook and Twitter pages). And nestling inside the distillery are several thousand empty bottles, waiting for the magic moment when filling commences.

In this edition of the Laydown: Test your knowledge and win! A small test of your whisky-making knowledge – with prizes of Wolfburn spirit samples for the winners. Next, if you enjoy sampling whisky (and who doesn’t?) then here’s a list of the shows and exhibitions you’ll find us at over the coming weeks. And finally: A Day in the Life of Iain Kerr, Wolfburn’s stalwart and always smiling production operator.

Slàinte

The Wolfburn Team

The Glenturret Sherry Edition

The Glenturret Sherry Edition, part of the new Glenturret Core Range, has been matured in both Spanish & American oak sherry seasoned casks and delivers a sweet spiciness with a soft oak background. Want to know more?  Here’s Lucy with her Sherry Edition tasting video. Enjoy!

Available to buy online and in store now!

INTRODUCING THE ARDMORE PORT WOOD FINISH

The Ardmore Single Malt Scotch Whisky, distributed by Maxxium UK, has launched The Ardmore Port Wood Finish.

The new expression is distilled with the same traditional methods used at the distillery since 1898, before being double-cask matured for 12 years in traditional American white oak ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in European half port pipes.

The release of The Ardmore Port Wood Finish follows the success of The Ardmore Legacy, which replaced Ardmore Traditional Cask as the distillery’s core expression. A lightly peated, sweet dram, The Ardmore Legacy offers the ideal introduction to peated single malts.

The newest member of this emerging portfolio, The Ardmore Port Wood Finish is a unique expression with a touch of sweetness. Ruby gold in colour this single malt is full of spiced fruits with a subtle smoky finish.

Peter Sandstrom, Marketing Director, Maxxium UK said: “Following the success of The Ardmore Legacy, which has established its status in the peated single malt category, the launch of The Ardmore Port Wood Finish further cements the quality and taste of the brand’s portfolio.

“The Ardmore Port Wood Finish is an excellent whisky made using the same traditional distilling methods for over 100 years. It is a unique and premium expression – with notes of sweet red apple and honey with the subtlest hint of charcoal smoke and a smooth, long, lingering finish culminating in the trademark Ardmore dryness – it is a whisky that offers a taste that sets it apart.”

The Ardmore Port Wood Finish is bottled at 46% ABV and is available from specialist whisky retailers at the RRP of £49.99.

The Ardmore Port Wood Finish

Colour: Ruby Gold

Nose: Initial nose of strawberries and summer fruits with a hint of pepper. Notes of burnt orange and cinnamon spice underlie. With water, the rich fruit aromas of red apple and cranberry intensify accompanied by sweet honey and subtle spiced wood notes

Palate: Sweet red apple and honey with the subtle hint of charcoal smoke

Finish: Initially smooth with a long lingering finish culminating in the trademark Ardmore dryness

 46% ABV. Non-chill filtered.

Notes

• Founded in 1898 by Wm. Teacher & Sons, The Ardmore distillery continues to uphold traditional distilling methods and uses only the aromatic smoke from natural, Highland peat fires to dry its malted barley.
• The Ardmore distillery stands proudly on the fringes of the Highlands, draws its water from the nearby hills and sits beside a railway line that was once at the heart of the industrial revolution at Kennethmont, Scotland.
• Ardmore Traditional Cask has numerous awards and accolades including Double Gold at the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Gold (Exceptional) at the 2009 International Review of Spirits (BTI) and Gold and Best in Class in the 2008 International Wine & Spirit Competition.
• The Ardmore has a long standing history with the golden eagle, which nest by the distillery, and supports the protection and conservation of eagles through its partnership with the RSPB.

Maxxium UK Ltd is part of the global sales and distribution alliance between Beam Inc and Edrington.

Its UK portfolio of premium brands includes: blended Scotch (The Famous Grouse and Teacher’s), malt whisky (Highland Park, Laphroaig, The Macallan, The Glenrothes and Ardmore), imported whiskey (Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Knob Creek, Canadian Club), cognac and brandy (Courvoisier and Fundador), sherry (Harveys), vodka (Stolichnaya), tequila (Sauza), rum (Brugal and Cruzan), liqueurs and specialities (Sourz, Bols liqueurs, Galliano, Vaccari, After Shock), No 3 Gin. For further information on our brands and how to enjoy them, log on to http://www.mixxit.co.uk/.

About Beam Suntory Inc.

As the world’s third largest premium spirits company, Beam Suntory is Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World.  Consumers from all corners of the globe call for the company’s brands, including the flagship Jim Beam bourbon and Yamazaki Japanese whisky, as well as world renowned premium brands including Maker’s Mark and Knob Creek bourbons, Hakushu and Hibiki Japanese whiskies, Teacher’s,  Laphroaig, and Bowmore Scotch whiskies, Canadian Club whisky, Courvoisier cognac, Sauza tequila, Pinnacle vodka, and Midori liqueur.  The company generates annual worldwide sales of approximately $4.6 billion excluding excise taxes.

Beam Suntory was created in 2014 by combining the world leader in bourbon and the pioneer in Japanese whisky to form a new company with a deep heritage, passion for quality, innovative spirit and entrepreneurial culture.  Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, Beam Suntory is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings Limited of Japan.  For more information on Beam Suntory, its brands, and its commitment to social responsibility, please visit http://www.beamsuntory.com/ and www.drinksmart.com.