March Outturn Offerings 

Cask No. 95.15                       $185

A Graceful Tight Rope Walker

Speyside, Spey

The initial nose had a whiff of varnish and pine reminiscent of the Big Top. A delightful balancing act ensued between grapefruit and marmalade, and the sweetness of Danish pastry and sultana cake with star anise. The tastes teetered with orange chocolate liqueur, Turkish delight and blackcurrant cordial delivering a spicy, lingering aftertaste. With a drop of water, it relaxed with mellow sticky toffee pudding with caramel icing poised between cooler notes of fennel and menthol. The finale flourished with chocolate chews, orange and damson syrup with black tea. Stage exit with balsa wood and hessian.

Drinking tip: For mulling and musing over

Colour: Copper belt buckles

Cask: Refill barrel

Age: 23 years

Date Distilled: June 1990

Alcohol: 57.4%

USA allocation: 150 bottles 

Cask No. 2.90                         $105     

Flower meadows and patisseries

Speyside, Spey

The nose told us that scythes had just been through the flower meadow and that children had just been through the patisserie (vanilla slice, fruit scones, strawberry jam, caramel, butterscotch and fudge). The palate balanced delightful sweetness (toffee, crème caramel, Danish pastry with vanilla icing, jam) with tart gooseberry, lemon, lime and cranberry – an unusual leather, liquorice and pine after-taste tingled the tongue. The reduced nose found blackcurrant, heather honey and digestive biscuits; the palate was now green, grassy and self assured, with custard cream sweetness and mouth-coating fruits dusted in fine ash. The distillery is uphill from the Packhorse Bridge.

Drinking tip: An anytime dram – but especially in the garden, with no thought of working.

Colour: Angel’s curls in the moonlight

Cask: Refill barrel

Age: 10 years

Date distilled: November 2003

Alcohol: 60.2%

USA allocation: 60 bottles

Cask No. 5.42                         $130 

Bathed in a bakers shop

Lowland

One panel member came over all broody, reminded of bubble bathed babies wrapped in fresh towels. Others found it very juicy, bouncing with green grape, apple chews and lemonade lollies. Ginger gave a lively spritziness to taste, baby was then soothed by vanilla Angels Delight, and peanut butter on bagels. The addition of water opened spearmint, elderflower soap and brioche on waxed paper. Mother hen found her baby swaddled in a newly laundered crochet blanket, while the rest found sweetly iced christening cake decorated with white lilies, lychee and pea shoots. A bonny, blooming bairn!

Drinking tip: A christening perhaps?

Colour: Cava spritzer

Cask: Refill hogshead

Age: 13 years

Date distilled: October 2000

Alcohol: 59.5%

USA allocation: 90 bottles

Cask No. 7.109                       $105

Take the MilkyWay

Speyside, Lossie

On first sniff, bananas, peaches in syrup, orange blossom and orange barley sugars. Vanilla and juicy oak begged us to take a sip, but not just yet. Cloudy lemonade fizz, spicy wedding cake mix and creamy nougat sweetness tempted further. “Wow!” went the taste. Top quality American oak gave flavours of lemon and sugar pancakes, Edinburgh rock, blueberry muffins, cherry bakewells and hot buttered malt loaf. Water stirred aromas of white chocolate and raspberries. Intense vanilla, frangipane and Juicy Fruit gum raised eyebrows while someone was reminded of holidays in Portugal with Pastéis de Nata (custard tarts). Cooling Softmints, Turkish delight, MilkyWays and toasted coconut to finish.

Drinking tip: Add water and enjoy with pastries

Colour: Brass door knob

Cask: First-fill barrel

Age: 10 years

Date distilled: September 2003

Alcohol: 59.7%

USA allocation: 141 bottles

Cask No. 73.67                       $180 

Orchard meadow picnic dram

Speyside, Deveron

The main nose character carried butter, cake and vanilla (Victoria sponge, custard, buttered fruit scones); panellists also identified flower meadows, various fruits (banana, mango, citrus), pine-wood, furniture polish and considerable spice (aniseed, clove, chilli). The palate was citric and fruity (sherbet lemon, apple strudel, Haribo sours, blackcurrant jam), with Dr. Pepper, cinnamon, ginger and humbug spice. The reduced nose became even more attractive – apple orchards – sunny days – picnic of lemonade, stroop waffles and Terry’s chocolate orange. The palate developed lively flavours of bitter lemon, rhubarb and custard sweets, gummi bears, grapefruit and butterscotch. The distillery lies two miles from Keith.

Drinking tip: An aperitif, especially in the summer time

Colour: Warm, buttery gold

Cask: Refill barrel

Age: 22 years

Date distilled: March 1992

Alcohol: 50.1%

USA allocation: 140 bottles

www.smwsa.com

The BenRiach Distillery Company has been named Global Whisky Distiller of the Year at the 2015 Icons of Whisky Awards.

The announcement was made last night during a ceremony at London’s Waldorf Hilton on the eve of Whisky Live London.

This latest award follows hard on the heels of BenRiach winning the “Icons of Scotland” Whisky Distiller of the Year earlier this year.

First held in 2007, the World Whiskies Awards are Whisky Magazine’s awards, searching for the very best whiskies in the world.

And BenRiach had double cause for celebration last night, as it won Best Speyside Single Malt for the BenRiach 16 years old produced at its Elgin distillery.

The winners were decided in online voting by writers, whisky producers and other industry leaders along with the editorial staff of Whisky Magazine.

They were selected from three regional rounds of Icons awards covering Scotland, the US, and the Rest of the World.

This year’s competition saw more than 300 whiskies put through their paces during three rounds of rigorous tastings to win the coveted titles of the ‘World’s Best’

Founded in 2004 under the leadership of whisky veteran Billy Walker and his South African investors Wayne Kieswetter and Geoff Bell, the Edinburgh-headquartered company has grown with impressive speed, acquiring BenRiach that year and turning it into one of Scotland’s most admired distilleries.

It acquired GlenDronach Distillery in 2008 and Glenglassaugh Distillery in 2013 as well as a bottling plant at Newbridge outside Edinburgh. All three distilleries produce unique award-winning whiskies with extraordinary depth, balance and character.

Billy Walker said: “It’s a pretty amazing achievement for a small privately-owned independent company to win this prestigious global award. I’m especially proud that it highlights the innovations we’ve created at our three distilleries and it also quite properly recognises the high-quality, committed team we have built at our four locations.

“We’re currently trading in some 40 countries worldwide with other emerging markets entering the negotiation stage, so I believe the future for all our brands is tremendously exciting.”

In August the company posted record pre-tax profits of £8.9m for 2013 boosted by unprecedented demand for its high-end whiskies in Asia, North America, Russia and Europe.

Arran 18 Year Old

The third and final release in the trilogy of malts released by Arran distillery to celebrate the countdown to the launch of the first official bottling of Arran 18 year old! This limited edition Arran has been produced from un-peated malted barley and matured in a selection of ex-sherry casks.

£70.00 (£58.33 ex vat)

Click here to purchase Arran 18 Year Old

Arran 17 Year Old

A limited edition release from Arran distillery produced from un-peated malted barley and aged for 17 years in casks that previously held Spanish sherry.  This bottling is the second in a series marking the countdown to the launch of The Arran Malt 18 year old in Spring 2015.

£61.95 (£51.63 ex vat) 

Click here to purchase Arran 17 Year Old

Special Offer! Arran Single Cask #893

Single cask #893 is the 2014 Autumn release from Arran distillery. Distilled in 1998 and aged for just over 16 years in a single sherry cask, 296 bottles have been filled at 54.3% vol.

Was £64.95

Now £57.50 Save £7.45 (£47.92 ex vat) 

Click here to purchase Arran Single Cask 893

www.ralfy.com double-reviews an official and indi malt with Whisky Review 528 – Glen Elgin 12yo + 17yo Indi cask

2015 Rare Life Award Presented to Alana Miller of Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary

Miller Awarded $50,000 Donation; Supporters Rallied Record-Setting Number of Votes

St. Pauls, NC (March 10, 2015) — Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey has named Alana Miller of St. Pauls, North Carolina, as the winner of the Grand Prize 2015 Rare Life Award.

Eagle Rare will donate $50,000 to Miller’s charity, Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary, and host an awards ceremony in St. Pauls on March 14.

The Rare Life Award is an annual recognition program created to honor individuals who exhibit courage, leadership, survival, devotion, character and heroism. Candidates are nominated by friends, family and colleagues. Their stories and photos are posted online at www.eaglerarelife.com, where many people vote for their favorite inspirational stories.

The 2015 award received 259 nominees and a record-setting 1 million votes were cast, 11 percent more than for the 2014 award. Miller garnered nearly half the votes, with 467,721, a testimony to her active social media presence, including more than 1 million Facebook fans.

Miller opened Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary in 2005 after volunteering for a local animal shelter and seeing blind cats immediately euthanized. “There were no resources or support for blind cats, but I decided I needed to do something,” Miller said. Blind Cat Rescue is a cage-free, lifetime care facility for blind cats and cats with feline versions of leukemia and FIV. Cats are not up for adoption into homes, but supporters have “adopted” them online – pledging financial support to cover expenses, which run about $230 per month per cat. Blind Cat Rescue provides full medical care including vaccinations and dental exams.

There are currently 91 cats at Blind Cat Rescue, which is about their maximum capacity. “We are not hoarders,” Miller said. “We are a responsible shelter, but we can’t save them all. However, 90 percent of the cats we put on Facebook get adopted.”

Part of Miller’s mission is educating the public, including potential adopters or those whose cat goes blind due to an illness. Miller said, “A blind cat doesn’t know it’s blind. They will act like a normal cat. They climb on top of things, scale the curtains … We have several big hamstertype wheels that the cats run on and they can’t see the wheel, but they can jog like nothing you’ve ever seen.” Cats, like humans, are vulnerable to a number of diseases that can cause them to lose vision, including cataracts, glaucoma, traumatic injury, and viral and bacterial infections. Blind Cat Rescue features a live web stream of the cats 24/7 and a live tour of the shelter on the stream daily. Miller strives for transparency and also enjoys letting her supporters see her opening boxes of food or toys they have sent, so they can see where their donations go.

Eagle Rare spokesman Kris Comstock said, “Alana Miller has selflessly committed herself to helping a whole population of domestic animals that the rest of the world has written off. She has shared their stories and educates the public about caring for these creatures, while dedicating her own life to making sure they have safe shelter and lifelong care. We congratulate and thank her, along with our other winners and nominees, for sharing their rare lives with us. In addition to the cash award, we hope this greater visibility assists them in securing long-term support for their invaluable work.”

Eagle Rare also will donate $5,000 to the charities of choice of the six runners-up, each one embodying a distinct characteristic of a Rare Life: Courage, Leadership, Heroism, Character, Devotion and Survival. Eagle Rare’s prize donations for 2015 total $80,000. This is the fifth year for the Rare Life campaign, and the 2015 awards will bring total grants to date for charities to $240,000.

The six 2015 runners-up are:

Rocky Bleier of Pittsburgh, Pa.: Heroism Award for The Beating the Odds Foundation

Ashley Boyd Gann of Lexington, Ky.: Character Award for Sweet Blessings

Howard Garrett of Palm Harbor, Fl: Leadership Award for Orca Network

Karen Good of Trail, Minn.: Courage Award for Red Lake Rosie’s Rescue

Brooke Pennypacker of Berlin, Wisc.: Devotion Award for Operation Migration

Melissa Phelps of Warsaw, Ky.: Survival Award for Dystonia Medical Research Foundation

For more information on the Rare Life Award or Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, visit www.eaglerarelife.com.

About Eagle Rare Bourbon

Eagle Rare Bourbon Whiskey is part of the award-winning Buffalo Trace Distillery, an American family-owned company based in Frankfort, (Franklin County), Kentucky. The Distillery’s rich distilling tradition dates back to 1773 and includes such legends as E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee. Eagle Rare Bourbon is a 10-year-old bourbon that has won multiple awards, including five double gold medals from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. To learn more about Eagle Rare visit www.eaglerarelife.com

This month Cutty Sark is 92. Ninety-two years since its very humble beginnings in 1923, when the Cutty Sark blend was brought to life by the vision of two wine merchants and their illustrator companion, James McBey, who drew the image of the ship featured on the yellow label…

Cutty Sark’s popularity grew immensely during the Prohibition era of the 1920’s and 30’s, when cases used to be smuggled into the States from the Bahamas. It came to be known as a high quality, easy drinking whisky. By the 1960s, Cutty was the biggest selling whisky in the US. Part of its success was down to maverick advertising director, George Lois, who was responsible for the iconic Cutty Sark advertising during the 1960s and 70s. Some say that George inspired the character of Don Draper in the hugely popular TV series Madmen. Since then, the Cutty family has grown to include Storm and Prohibition Edition. Today, you can enjoy a Cutty in cool bars across the globe.

So, join us in a toast to this exciting history and an even better future!

Here’s a little cocktail inspiration,

That’s our kind of Cutty.

Rare and exclusive whiskies

From the very limited single cask bottlings from Hunter Laing, to the last remaining bottles of Brora and Port Ellen from Diageo’s 2014 Special Releases, we’ve got some fantastic whiskies that you definitely don’t want to miss out on! We’re also very sad to announce that stocks of our wonderful Bowmore Exclusive have almost run out, so it’s your last chance to get one before it’s gone forever!

Glenfarclas Family Casks

Glenfarclas Family Casks

The Family Casks are a unique collection of the best single casks from the Glenfarclas distillery’s warehouses. Launched in 2007, the collection initially comprised 43 single cask bottlings, with one cask from every year from 1952 to 1994. The Family Casks are bottled at cask strength and natural colour, allowing you to explore the subtle differences between casks and the history of family owned Glenfarclas.

£175 – £2,315 Explore the full range here

Single Cask Bottlings

Hunter Laing 

Hunter Laing is an independent bottling company based in Glasgow, who select the finest casks from the best distilleries in Scotland and bottle them under the Old and Rare, Old Malt Cask and Douglas of Drumlanrig brands. All of the Hunter Laing whiskies we sell are hand picked by our staff, based on their fantastic flavour profiles, value for money and exclusivity. All of the whiskies are of natural colour, and non-chill filtered.

Discover the full collection here 

Ghosted Reserve

Rare Cask Reserves  Ghosted Reserve

The Ghosted Reserve is the first blended malt from William Grant & Sons that contains whisky from long closed distilleries Inverleven and Ladyburn. Both of which have been closed since 1991 and 1975 respectively. This exceptional one-off expression offers notes of almond oil and zesty citrus fruit. One of only 4100 individually numbered bottles were created and only 1200 are available to purchase in the UK.

£350 Buy now

Last chance to buy

Port Ellen 35 year old 14th Release

A limited edition, natural cask strength single malt from Port Ellen, a closed distillery on the Isle of Islay. One of the most rare and highly sought after malts, this is the 14th of a limited series of annual releases and is the oldest release of Port Ellen ever to come from the original distillers. Part of Diageo’s 2014 Special Releases. One of only 2,964 individually numbered bottles, bottled at 56.5% abv.

£2,200 Buy Now

Brora 35 year old 13th Release

Distilled in 1978 and matured in refill American Oak and European Oak casks for over 35 years old. From the closed distillery at Brora on the Sutherland coast. It is the equal-oldest Brora bottled in this series and the thirteenth of a limited series of annual releases. One of only 2,964 individually numbered bottles, bottled at 48.6% abv.

£1,200 Buy Now

Whisky Ramblings Via Video #106

Poitin or poteen is sometimes also referred to as moonshine. It was a practice that was banned in 1661, but nowadays quite a few distilleries market their new make. This Teeling Poitin is a mix of 80% triple distilled maize spirit and 20% double distilled malt spirit. The result is quite astounding.

http://youtu.be/TKJu1W3yev4

Glenturret 2000The MacPhail’s Collection 

A 2000 vintage Glenturret, bottled by independent whisky retailer Gordon & MacPhail for The MacPhail’s Collection. Beautiful colour on this Highland whisky, bottled in 2015 at 43% vol.

£38.80 (£32.33 ex vat)

Click here to purchase Glenturret Vintage 2000

Glenturret 2006 – Single Cask #545 Ewan McGregor 

A single cask release from Scotland’s oldest distillery. Distilled in 2006, cask #545 is a distillery exclusive and has been named Ewan McGregor due to the famous Scottish actor being born in Crieff, the same town in which the distillery is located.

£108.00 (£90.00 ex vat) 

Click here to purchase Glenturret Single Cask 545

Moray Golf Club toasts links with new packages

Visitors to Scotland now have the opportunity to combine the thrill of links golf with the pleasure of sampling the very best malt whiskies through a new range of exclusive golf packages. For the first time, Moray Golf Club has introduced a range of special offers designed specifically for visitors to the club, which will host one of the UK’s most prestigious amateur championships in May.

Moray Golf Club has launched the three new experiences following the success of its ground-breaking sole-supplier agreement with one of Scotland’s most respected suppliers of wines and spirits. Along with the launch of a limited edition 15-year-old Speyside single malt, the formalisation of the club’s relationship with Gordon & MacPhail was one of the highlights of the club’s 125th anniversary celebrations last year and has now been extended to a new three-year contract.

The interest it generated also led to the creation of the new packages, as John Thomson, captain of Moray Golf Club, explained. “The link between Moray Golf Club and whisky has always been celebrated by the club, but the new packages take this connection to another level. The combination of championship links golf and whiskies from every distillery in Morayshire and Speyside is a big draw, and now our tailored packages give us the means of delivering a very special Scottish experience.”

The link between Moray Golf Club – which will host this year’s Carrick Neill Scottish Open Stroke Play Championship – and whisky cannot be overstated. The club claims to have the longest association with its own malt whisky of any golf club in the world with its own malt being created when the club was founded in 1889. Indeed, many of its founders were distillery owners who collectively laid down hogs heads of whisky for the club’s members to enjoy. The club’s own current malt is a 10-year-old Glen Moray from nearby Elgin.

Within living memory, the club whisky was bottled on site with the practice only being abandoned after committee members were overcome by fumes emanating from the bottling process. The new experience packages have been designed to celebrate this link between golf and the ‘water of life’ with the first incorporating a round of championship golf on either the Old or New Moray course followed by a whisky tasting experience created by Gordon & Macphail. Hosted in the club’s Heritage Room which overlooks the sparkling waters of the Moray Firth, The Whisky Experience includes an exhilarating round of golf with a tasting session incorporating five specially selected drams.

The second package embraces the skills needed to tackle Moray’s celebrated championship links courses by playing six holes alongside the club’s pro John Murray. What better preparation could there be than picking the brains of one of Scotland’s finest coaches and an expert in links golf? The Links Experience is a unique opportunity to get some handy links tips and to test them out on the sandy turf before a full round.

The third option combines both The Whisky Experience with The Links Experience creating a full day of learning, fun and indulgence. The experience begins with either a one-to-one or group session with Moray’s resident pro followed by a round on the magnificent Moray Old and then a visit to the Heritage Room to taste some of the finest whiskies Scotland has to offer.

“The Moray Experience brings together the very best of Moray in a fantastic day of golf and whisky,” explained Thomson. “It has been devised to cater for individuals, pairs and groups, and provides a structure around which visitors can experience a day like no other.”

The new Moray experiences have been launched to coincide with the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival and Homecoming Scotland’s Whisky Month in May which form part of the Year of Food & Drink Scotland in 2015.

Notes:

About Moray Golf Club

1) Founded in 1889, Moray Golf Club is situated in Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland. The club has two 18-hole courses appropriately called the Old Course and the New Course.

2) A classic layout designed by Old Tom Morris, the Old Course is one of the finest links courses in Scotland with one of the most memorable closing holes you’ll find in golf. At 6,572 yards, it has a par of 71. It is No 37 in Golf World’s Top 100 Scottish Courses (2013).

3) The tighter New Course was masterminded by Henry Cotton, whose preference for precision golf can be seen in the shorter layout and smaller greens. At 6,068 yards and a par of 70, it is every bit as challenging as the Old Course.

4) Closely associated with whisky, many of the club’s founders were distillers who collectively laid down various malts for the members of the club. In fact, the club has its own cask-strength collection called Founder’s Legacy which started with a 15-year-old Miltonduff. The second in the series is the current malt; the 14-year-old Mortlach (Dufftown’s oldest distillery). 5) The club’s first malt was Dailuaine before moving on to Glen Grant which lasted nearly eight decades before being replaced by The Macallan. Today, the club malt is a 10-year-old Glen Moray from nearby Elgin.

6) For more information about Moray Golf Club, visit http://www.moraygolf.co.uk/

7) For more information about the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, visit http://www.spiritofspeyside.com/

8) For more information about Whisky Month, visit http://www.visitscotland.com/ 

About Gordon & MacPhail 

Established in 1895 the family owned firm of Gordon & MacPhail has a number of business interests. It is as a retailer in Elgin; a wholesaler of wines and spirits in the UK; a bottler of Scotch whiskies, an exporter to over 60 international markets; and a distiller, owning Benromach Distillery in Forres.

Gordon MacPhail is one of the UK’s leading independent specialist wholesalers and distributors, stocking over 4,500 products, including an extensive portfolio of wines, spirits and UK specialist beers and ciders.

For more information about Gordon & MacPhail, visit http://www.gordonandmacphail.com/