THE FAMOUS GROUSE HOUSE RETURNS WITH THE LAUNCH OF ‘FAMOUS FRIDAYS’ HEADLINER COMPETITION  

Back by popular demand, The Famous Grouse House is returning to Scotland’s Capital for Edinburgh’s International Festival Fringe this August (Wednesday 3^rd August – Saturday 27^th August 2016) for its second consecutive year. To celebrate, Scotland’s favourite whisky will be launching ‘Famous Fridays’ headliner competition giving 4 lucky artists or bands the chance to win a headline slot like no other and earn the right to say they have played at the Edinburgh Festival at the famous venue!

The destination pop up bar which is set to return to George Street in the centre of the capital’s festival entertainment, will invite artists and bands over the age of 25 to submit their video entries to The Famous Grouse from 20 June 2016 for an opportunity to win a prime time Friday slot and perform live on stage! Artists and bands are invited to enter via email to: competitions@thefamousgrouse.com with a video link to one of their songs, alongside details of the band. Full terms and conditions are available on The Famous Grouse UK website www.thefamousgrouse.com/gb.

The winners will be joined by some of Scotland’s best up and coming music acts and musical fringe performances from all over the globe, as part of the eclectic festival programme at Venue 7, The New Town Theatre. Located just outside this popular festival venue, on a pedestrian friendly section of George Street, The Famous Grouse House will be open daily from 11:00am to midnight and include performances from popular festival band Posable Action Figures, Glasgow based indie rock band Kelvin and the hugely admired solo artist Luke Carey taking to the stage. With critically acclaimed new music, a festival vibe and a fresh sense of fun, The Famous Grouse House is going to be the perfect place to soak up the best of the festival!

Johna Penman, Marketing Controller, The Famous Grouse commented: “Last year we created the perfect place to enjoy Scotland’s No.1 selling Blended Scotch Whisky, The Famous Grouse, debuting The Famous Grouse House at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. With live music every day and a variety of refreshing summer serves, we joined in the world’s largest arts festival for three exhilarating weeks and attracted the most talented performers to our stage for everyone to enjoy.  We are returning even bigger and better for a second year, this time with the exciting launch of ‘The Famous Friday’ Headliner competition, which will give the public the chance to vote for who they want to see on stage. We can’t wait to welcome visitors to our famous venue – there’s no better place to be this August!”

The Famous Grouse House is open daily from the 3rd to the 27th August, from 11am until midnight, with live music every day, situated outside New Town Theatre, Venue 7, 96 George Street.

Please enjoy our whisky responsibly www.drinkaware.co.uk

For more information visit http://www.famousgrouse.com/. For the latest news follow on twitter @TheFamousGrouse or Facebook at: TheFamousGrouseUK #famousgrousehouse #famousfridays

NOTES 

The Famous Grouse House Headliner Competition

Bands can enter by sending their YouTube video entry to: competitions@thefamousgrouse.com

The competition will open on Monday 20^th June and close Friday 8^th July at 12pm. A shortlist of acts will be selected by the panel of x4 judges on Friday 8^th July and this shortlist will then be put to a public vote on The Famous Grouse UK Facebook page fans to decide who wins the headliner slot. (Public vote closes 14^th July) Winners will be notified on Friday 15^th July. 

Full terms and conditions are available on The Famous Grouse website and below:

The Famous Headliner Competition 2016

Terms and Conditions 

Entrants will be deemed to have accepted these terms and conditions, and agreed to be bound by them when entering this Promotion. 

• Promoter: The promoter is Maxxium UK Limited (the “Promoter”) whose registered office is Maxxium House, Castle Business Park, Stirling, Stirlingshire, FK9 4RT

1. Entrants: This Promotion (“Promotion”) is open to residents of the United Kingdom aged 25 or over.
2. Purchase: No purchase necessary. No purchase of The Famous Grouse product(s) necessary to enter the competition.

• Promotion period: Start date: 09.00 GMT on Monday 20^th June 2016. Closing time and date: 18.00 GMT on Thursday 14^th July 2016.

• How to enter: To take part in this Promotion entrants may enter via sending an email to competitions@thefamousgrouse.com with a video/audio link to one of the artist’s/band’s songs, details of each of the members of the band including their age and country of residence and a description of the artist or band (50 words max.) Entrants must be aged 25 and over (this applies to all members of the band detailed within the entry.) Photographic ID must be supplied by the artist and all band members with entry. This is to comply with the Portman Code of Practice for Marketing Alcohol.

1. Entries: All entries must include name, telephone number, email address of entrant, date of birth, please take care when entering the competition and make sure that your entry is complete. Entries that are incomplete or that cannot be clearly viewed or read will not be entered into the competition. Maximum of one entry per artist/band.
2. Draw: The winner will be selected by a panel of judges comprising of two guest judges and the Maxxium The Famous Grouse brand team. The competition will open at 09.00 Monday 20^th June and close Thursday 14th July at 12pm. A shortlist of acts will be selected by the panel of x4 judges on Friday 8^th July and the shortlist will then be put to a public vote from the 11^th – 14^th July on The Famous Grouse UK Facebook page for fans to decide who wins the headliner slot .Winners will be notified on Friday 15^th July.
3. Winner: Winners will be notified by email or phone within 2 working days of draw but in no event later that 18.00 GMT on Friday 15^th July 2016. Winner must confirm their acceptance of the Prize (as defined below) by or before 18.00 GMT on Monday 18^th July 2016.
4. Prize: The prize is a an opportunity for the winning artist or band to perform on stage at the at The Famous Grouse House on George Street, Edinburgh, during the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival on a Friday throughout August at 8.30-9.30pm (prime slot.) Winning artist or band must be available to play on a date selected by The Famous Grouse from the following dates: 5, 12, 19, 26 August 2016 at the time 8.30pm-9.30pm; or prize will be revoked. The artist or band must arrive no later than 8pm to set up for 8.30pm slot.
5. Winners: Winners must be aged 25 or over and will each need a photographic ID and will be required to complete and sign a Winner information form in order to take up the Prize. The Prize does not include travel expenses or accommodation. The prize includes a headliner slot on one Friday during the festival from the following date: 5, 12, 19, 26 August 2016 at 8.30pm-9.30pm. The prize does not include any other costs or expenses not specifically listed in the above paragraph
6. Applicable law: This Promotion, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it (including the prize), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with Scottish law and you irrevocably agree that the courts of Scotland shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any such dispute or claim.

Competition is not open to employees of this outlet or of The Edrington Group or Maxxium UK Ltd their families, agents and agencies and anyone else professionally connected with this promotion.

1. Reserved Rights: The Promoter reserves the right to share artist or band’s video content and video entry as part of pre and post promotion of show on social media channels including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
2. The prize for the winner is non-exchangeable, non-transferable and no cash alternative is offered.

Liability etc

1. There are certain things for which the Promoter does not accept any liability to you, and these are explained in the next two paragraphs. The law does not allow the Promoter to exclude or limit its liability for some things, such as death or personal injury caused by its negligence, or loss caused by a false statement where the statement is made fraudulently.  The Promoter accepts full liability for these matters.  Otherwise, the exclusions of liability described below will apply. References to the Promoter include all of the Promoter’s associated companies, agents or any other third party involved in the Promotion.
2. The Promoter will not be responsible for (and will have no liability in connection with) the following occurrences, to the extent that they occur for reasons beyond the Promoter’s reasonable control:

1. any postponement or cancellation of the Promotion; and
2. any act or default of any third party supplier.

1. The Promoter does not accept responsibility for network, computer, hardware or software failure of any kind, which may affect the sending, receipt or processing of your entry.
2. Entries must not be made through agents or third parties.  Incomplete entries will be disqualified and will not be counted.
3. The Promoter’s decisions are final and binding in all respects on all entrants. No correspondence will be entered into. Entries that do not comply in full with these terms and conditions will be disqualified.
4. Please note that this Promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram.  By entering, you acknowledge that Facebook, Twitter and Instagram bear no responsibility for this Promotion and, to the maximum extent permitted by law, you release Facebook, Twitter and Instagram from any liability whatsoever in connection with this Promotion.  You understand that the information you provide is provided to the Promoter (and its affiliates, associates and agents where applicable) and not to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
5. If the Promoter has grounds to suspect any entrant or third party of cheating, deception or fraudulent or unsportsmanlike conduct of any kind (including, without limitation, manipulating the Promotion, choice of winners or any entry) the Promoter reserves the right (in its sole discretion) to disqualify any entrant, entry or person it reasonably believes to be responsible for, or associated with, such activity.
6. The Promoter reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions at any time. 

Personal Details and Submission of Photographs

1. For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998, the entrant acknowledges that in the course of entering via email to competitions@thefamousgrouse.com where the entrant has given consent by submitting video content of band, certain personal information or data about the entrant will be captured electronically or otherwise and transmitted to the Promoter. By entering into any promotion, the entrant expressly agrees to transfer such personal information or data to Maxxium UK Ltd to use, store and process the personal information for this competition and for future promotional actions and advertising related with the product The Famous Grouse. The entrant has the right to access, modify and cancel the personal information or data by contacting us at The Famous Grouse, Maxxium UK Ltd, Maxxium House, Castle Business Park, Stirling, FK9 4RT or via Karen.dobie-lawson@maxxium.com.
2. Any personal information, including without limitation, the entrant’s name, age, address (including postcode), telephone number and/or email address will be used solely in connection with this competition and for any purpose for which the entrant specifically opts in and will not be disclosed to any third party except for (a) the purpose of fulfilling the Prize(s) where applicable and (b) for any purpose for which the entrant specifically opts in. Any personal information held by the Promoter in respect of any competition will be held on record for a reasonable period to fulfil the purpose for which such personal information was collected. If an entrant gives the Promoter permission to pass on their personal information to a third party then this shall no longer be the responsibility of the Promoter and shall be subject to the privacy policy of that third party.

Publicity

1. The Winner agrees to allow the Promoter to use their name, competition entry and performance on stage for advertising and publicity purposes without additional remuneration. This authorization is not limited in time or geographically.
2. The Winner hereby agrees to be photographed and  filmed during the Prize, and the Winner agrees to sign a release form (to be provided by the Promoter or its agent) which will entitle the Promoter, and third parties to use and exploit the photographs and footage of the Winner for various purposes including promotional and advertising purposes without further remuneration.  The Winner shall procure that their chosen companions shall do the same if required by the Promoter. This authorization is not limited in time or geographically.
3. The Winners will take part in other related reasonable publicity and PR activity at the Promoter’s request.
4. Reserved Rights: Maxxium reserve the right to share artist or band’s video content and video entry as part of pre and post promotion of show on social media channels including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Scottish Law applies

1. This Promotion, and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it (including the prize), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with Scottish law and you irrevocably agree that the courts of Scotland shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any such dispute or claim.
2. The winner may be required to provide a written acknowledgement of acceptance of all Terms and Conditions of the competition prior to receiving their prize. 

The Famous Grouse (http://www.thefamousgrouse.com/)

• The Famous Grouse is the no. 1 whisky in UK and no. 4* standard blended whisky worldwide (*IWSR data 2014).
• The Famous Grouse has been the best-selling whisky in the home of Scotch whisky, Scotland since 1980.
• The Famous Grouse is exported to over 100 countries.
• Created in 1896 by founder Matthew Gloag, it was originally called The Grouse Brand.
• The brand became so popular that on August 12^th 1905 it was renamed The Famous Grouse.
• The Famous Grouse Experience is located at Scotland’s oldest working distillery – Glenturret. Originally established as a single malt distillery in 1775, today The Famous Grouse Experience is the most visited distillery in Scotland.(www.thefamousgrouse.com/experience) 

About Maxxium UK

• Maxxium is the distributor of The Famous Grouse and Famous Ginger Grouse in the UK.
• The Famous Grouse portfolio includes: The Famous Grouse, The Famous Grouse Smoky Black, The Famous Grouse Mellow Gold, and The Naked Grouse.
• Maxxium UK Ltd is part of the global sales and distribution alliance between Beam Suntory and Edrington Group.
• Its UK portfolio of premium brands includes: Blended Scotch (The Famous Grouse, Teacher’s and Cutty Sark), malt whisky (Highland Park, Laphroaig, Bowmore, Auchentoshan, The Macallan, and Ardmore), imported whiskey (Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Knob Creek, Canadian Club, Red Stag) Japanese whiskey (Hibiki, Yamazaki, Hakashu), cognac (Courvoisier) vodka (Stolichnaya), rum (Brugal), liqueurs and specialities (Sourz, Midori, Bols liqueurs, Galliano, After Shock)

Maureen Robinson has been working in the whisky industry for nearly 40 years

Maureen Robinson is a master blender for Diageo’s whisky team, and is involved in both blended Scotch and single malts, as well as helping to choose the eagerly awaited Special Releases each year. She is also a judge at whisky competitions, and was made a Keeper of the Quaich in 2012. Here, she shares some views on her role:

‘For the first nine years at Diageo, I learned about the science of whisky, then I moved on to working with blends’

‘Seeing something you’ve created is a real thrill’

‘Just now, the thing I really like doing is the Special Releases; it’s such a thrill to find these old whiskies. The idea is to release whiskies from distilleries that are closed, but also to show some experiments from our brands that are unique’

‘Putting a blended whisky together, to me, is like doing a single malt – you have all these flavours coming through. Each of our whiskies has their own character‘

‘How does a new product come about? Normally, we get a brief that we need something new, and I’ll start to think what that could be. I’ll go through lots of samples and mix the whiskies together. Sometimes it might not be how I envisaged it, so then I start playing with different percentages and different woods’

‘As a blender, NAS [Non Age Statement] whiskies open up new horizons. People say NAS means “young whisky”, but it doesn’t – it’s a balance between young and old. I do get a bit annoyed when people dismiss them’

‘Throughout history, there’s always been pressure on whisky stocks, but the current environment now is really healthy’

‘Diageo has a vast stock of whisky; at any one time, it has eight million casks’

‘With blends, sometimes you get it right on the first attempt; sometimes it takes 15!’

Benromach 1974 – 41 Year Old

A stunning 41 year old Benromach, distilled in 1974 and aged in a single sherry butt for 41 long years. Only 452 bottles were filled at 49.1% from single cask #1583. As you’d expect from Benromach, this 1974 release has been beautifully presented in a unique bottle decanter, wooden presentation box and comes complete with history book outlining the distilleries past.

£1165.00

Limited Stock – Strictly One Per Customer

Abbey Whisky Ltd

Registered Office

Dollar, FK14 7AS

United Kingdom

NEW TO THE PARTY

Breckenridge Bourbon TPS Private Barrel – This is a first for us at TPS, a Private Barrel Bourbon from Colorado! Breckenridge has gained some solid notoriety in recent years and we couldn’t be happier for having been offered barrel samples from them. It’s full of nice caramel and baking spice notes yet it is wonderfully smooth. If you haven’t yet tried a bourbon from the rocky mountain state, this is an excellent introduction. It’s now open to try at our Spirits Library!

Stalk & Barrel Rye – Canadians take their rye whisky very seriously. This Rye from Stalk & Barrel has now won the 2014 Canadian Whisky Awards ‘Best New Whisky’ and ‘Gold Medal’. It’s aged a minimum of three years, and has all natural color and is non-chill filtered. This is a well-rounded and deliciously sip-able rye.

Mikkeller Spirits! – Yes, you read that correct. Mikkel, one of the biggest names in the beer world, has delved into the spirits game. We have the two whiskies from the Mikkeller Black Series, and each has an initial for the type of cask it was aged in; R for Rum, and O for Oloroso Sherry. There are also two vodkas, one dry hopped with Citra Hops and the other with Simcoe Hops. Rounding out the spirits is a nice botanical gin. We tried, and loved, the Series O Whisky. These are receiving great reviews and are a must for any whisky collector or Mikkel enthusiast.

Reisetbauer Single Malts – Hans Reisetbauer is one of the greatest living distillers in the world, and maybe of all time. He has won accolades for his Eau-de-vies so many times that he was asked to stop entering them into certain competitions so as to make it fair for the rest of the contestants. The barley is all from his personal estate, and the new make is aged in Austrian Chardonnay and Trockenbeerenauslese (intensely rich and dry dessert wine) casks. Simply stated, these are single malt whiskies to rival the quality level achieved by the greats of the reigning king of single malt, Scotland. That being said, expect a rollercoaster ride of new flavors and taste progression that is unlike any Scotch, American, Japanese, or Taiwanese single malt you’ve had.

Blackadder Black Snake No. 5 – This is the newest iteration in the Black Snake lineup, and is a vatted single malt finished in Pedro Ximinez (PX) sherry butts. There is both lightness of fruit and richness from the dessert sherry cask used. As always, Blackadder does not add coloring, nor does it chill filter the whisky.

Amrut Single Malts are Back! – Only the Amrut Single Malt and Fusion were available to order, and we are excited to have them back in stock. To anyone not in the know, these are stellar Single Malt Whiskies from India, and arguably the best India has to offer. To anyone in the know, get here fast because they surely won’t last too long.

Tweeddale 12yr Blended Scotch – This is the third batch of Tweeddale Blended Scotch. The blend is comprised of 18yr old sherry butt aged grain whisky, and eight different single malts between 12 and 21 years old. This is a fantastic blended malt.

 Crown Honey – Smooth Canadian Crown Royal with some sweet honey flavor. For all Crown Royal and/or honey lovers, this is a new must try.

www.ralfy.com crosses the Atlantic for Whisky Review 589 – High West Campfire & Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon

Lagavulin™ Releases 25 Year Old Limited Edition Bottling to Honour

200 Years of Distillery Managers

2016 continues to be a year of celebration for Lagavulin as the Iconic Islay distillery marks its 200^th anniversary with a limited edition release. This Lagavulin 25 Year Old release is a recognition of the contribution the Lagavulin distillery managers have made in crafting Lagavulin across the years. Lagavulin is treasured around the world as one of the most special Single Malt Scotch Whiskies and this is the first 25 Year Old release to be matured exclusively in sherry casks.

200 years ago, John Johnston & Archibald Campbell oversaw the first new make spirit distilled. Since that day the distillery managers have carried on the Lagavulin legacy, creating an acclaimed spirit on the shores of the Isle.

Georgie Crawford, distillery manager at the Lagavulin distillery said: “For two centuries, Lagavulin has been crafted through the hands of hard working Islay residents; from peat cutters to warehousemen; the characters that make Lagavulin what it is today share a passion for producing an award winning Islay dram, and I am proud to say that I am part of this passionate group of people.”

This 25 Year Old is an ode to the many craftsmen and immense skill behind making Lagavulin whisky. With the typical peaty, rich and iconic flavours of Lagavulin, this special bottling follows the earlier release of Lagavulin 8 Year Old this year, which marked the start of the #Lagavulin200 anniversary celebrations.

Dr Nick Morgan, Diageo’s Head of Whisky Outreach adds: “To continue this special birthday we wanted to release a brand new bottling to Lagavulin enthusiasts worldwide. The 25 Year Old is a sublime expression of Lagavulin, I couldn’t think of a better way to pay homage to the distillery managers. This year our aim is to bring as many people to Islay and Islay to as many people from around the globe as possible to celebrate years of craft and passion.”

Cramped and chaotic by nature, this sea front distillery can never be expanded and therefore demand often exceeds supply. Bottled at natural cask strength and with only 8,000 individually numbered bottles worldwide, this extremely limited edition will become a beautiful collectors item that will rest comfortably on any whisky connoisseur or collectors’ cabinet around the world.

Instagram: @lagavulinwhisky

Twitter: @lagavulinwhisky

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lagavulin

For more Malts news please visit: http://www.malts.com/ 

NOTES

Tasting notes:

Appearance: Deep, red-hued chestnut. Slow, lingering 

Nose: Profound, complex and dry overall. Rich yet elusive, it really takes time to open up, first offering liquid dried fruits; figs, dates or prunes, a trace of treacle toffee with almost no sweetness and a distant faintly medicinal note of wood polish, which takes on char and smoke, as with a fine old oak chest left too close to a roaring fire. Gradually you discover jammy notes with roasted meats and honey; even, a raspberry coulis. Finally, there are clean ripe red apples, mint and, in time, a whiff of sealing wax. Water brings up soft toffee and milk chocolate, sweet marzipan over sour cherries, cold smoke, burnt timbers and pine resin. 

Body: Medium-rich, coating

Palate: A voluptuous, oily texture, with a bitter-sweet and gingery, slightly drying start. Intense, with masses of charred wood, oak-smoked meats, honey, burnt treacle tart and ash. Then, refreshing spearmint. Salty, then sweet, with water; gentle peat and spearmint. Now it’s soft, comforting and relaxed.

Finish: Long, smooth, sweetly honeyed and elegant, with slowly rising fragrant wood smoke, ash, salt and a subtle, chilli like heat; followed by cooling eucalyptus. Finally, oily and bittersweet, with burnt orange peel, all of it lingering deliciously. Softer with water, which brings a late, quiet pungency.

The origins of Lagavulin

Local records suggest that Lagavulin was already a centre of whisky production in the early 18th century. There had almost certainly been many other illicit stills before John Johnston founded the first legal distillery at Lagavulin Bay in 1816. As with all Scottish distilleries, it passed through the hands of different owners, including the celebrated Sir Peter Mackie, whose company became White Horse Distillers, forever associated with Lagavulin. White Horse joined The Distillers Company Ltd. (eventually Diageo) in 1927. In 1989, Lagavulin, now normally bottled at 16 years rather than the original 12, became one of the six Classic Malts of Scotland™

About Diageo:

Diageo is the world’s leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, beer and wine. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, JεB, Buchanan’s and Windsor whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Baileys, Captain Morgan, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is a global company, with its products sold in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people, brands, and performance, visit us at Diageo.com. For our global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit DRINKiQ.com.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.

The LAGAVULIN word and associated logos are trade marks. © 2016

Visit malts.com for further information.

This month we have a cracking cavalcade of Scotch, Japanese, Irish and American whiskies to slake your thirst and arouse your interest.

Big Petrie once again gives us a sneak peak of this month’s auction here.

Firstly this month we have a crystal decanter that contains whiskey from Ireland. Distilled in 1943 and bottled by Douglas Laing 42 years later, this is one of only 36 decanters bottled, so the angels were especially greedy with this rare and special spirit.

From across the Atlantic we have a bottle from the ever exciting Pappy Van Winkle. This particular bottle was distilled in 1974 and bottled at 16 years of age.

There are three 50 year olds in this month’s auction. Firstly, from the lost Glenury Royal distillery, is whisky distilled in 1953, then two bottles from the same distillery and same bottler – one distilled in 1936 and the other in 1957. Gordon & MacPhail has bottled both these Mortlachs,o why not buy and try both as a compare and contrast exercise?

Glenlivet brings us a 49 year old bottled for the Italian market and Probably Speysides Finest Distillery pops up twice with 46 and 47 year old offerings. Glenfarclas from a cognac cask bottled at 43 years old is up next and a Pride of Strathspey from 1950 also makes an appearance.

We have a Talisker from 1947, a White Horse from 1937 and a Linkwood from 1938. As well as a Cardhu, 1962, Dalwhinnie, 1957, Glen Lochy, 1967, Springbank,1965, and a 39 year old Littlemill all from the Granddaddy of independent bottlers, Cadenhead’s.

There are two interesting Glenlossies in this month, one from Cadenhead’s and the other from Gordon & MacPhail. The first is 43 years old and was distilled in 1938 before being bottled for the Connoisseurs Choice range. The other comes from 1957 and was bottled after 20 years by Cadenhead’s.

As always we have an array of Karuizawa, Port Ellen and other lost and hard to find distilleries and bottlings as well as this year’s Feis Ile offerings.

Please explore at your leisure but remember, Don’t Lose Your Bottle!

All the best from us here at SWA HQ!

MALTSTOCK MASTERCLASSES

It’s the moment many of you were waiting for, booking the Masterclasses! Over the years we’ve had amazing Masterclasses. And this year’s line-up looks very promising again. You can find all Masterclasses at our website.

In about 10 days you all can let us know, what your favourite Masterclasses are. On July 1st everyone with a Maltstock ticket will receive an email from us, explaining this year’s procedure.

If you aren’t the relaxed owner of a Maltstock 2016 ticket yet, you won’t receive the link until you are completely relaxed with a Maltstock ticket. To get the preference link, get a ticket first.
Get your ticket(s) here: TICKET SHOP

A more complete (work in progress) version of the program can be found here: MALTSTOCK PROGRAM

Trust us, you don’t want to miss this edition of Maltstock. We still have some tickets available, but please be fast in a relaxed manner of course, before we sell out.
Get your ticket(s) here: TICKET SHOP

FOOD AND DRINKS

As every year there will be plenty of Friday: Pizza, midnight snacks. Saturday: Full Scottisch breakfast, lunch, BBQ and midnight snacks. Sunday: Full Scottisch breakfast. At the bar we will have fruit available as well.

Softdrinks, coffee, tea, beer, you can get at the bar or at night in the Midnight Cafe.

All drinks and food available at Maltstock is included in the price!

The midnight cafe will be open again for dancing into the early hours. We are going to ask our guests what music they would like to hear a couple of days before Maltstock. The organisation will make a selection of this input.

Full Proof (Jeroen Koetsier) will be there with his insane collection of rare and outstanding whisky from the past. the Whisky Mercenary (Jurgen Vromans) will be there as well to present his relaxed bottles.
Remember last year’s whisky chocolate and candy? Wow, those treats were delicious! the Chef without a restaurant (Inge Lanckacker) will be back!!
Wagging Finger the new project of Erik Molenaar, who we all know from Kintra. We think Wagging Finger Gin is a very relaxed gin, easily drinkable with very relaxed flavor!

You can enjoy Wagging Finger Gin on Saturday before the BBQ.

MALTSTOCK TICKETS

You don’t have a Maltstock 2016 ticket yet?

Please, for your own well being, make sure the time till Maltstock is as relaxed as possible and buy a ticket in our ticketshop:

TICKET SHOP

ps. at our Facebook page we are posting photos and videos of previous Maltstock edition. Take the trip down memory lane here: Maltstock Memory Lane

Agenda (Maltstock visiting other festivals):

Aquavitae 2016, Mullheim (29.10.16-30.10.16)

Our 63rd Auction is now live.

Kind regards from Glasgow

The SWA Team

Kavalan “Ex-Bourbon Cask #75” K&L Exclusive Cask Strength Single Barrel Taiwanese Single Malt Whisky (750ml) ( $149.99) Taiwan’s Kavalan distillery once faced an uphill battle, selling the quality of their precocious young single malt whisky to a world of skeptics. It didn’t take long, however, to sway the critics. When the Kavalan Vinho Barrique expression won “best in the world” at the 2015 World Whisky Awards the entire planet took notice and Kavalan’s reputation received an instant shot in the arm. Here at K&L we are lucky to have a close relationship to both the company and to the master distiller Ian Chang, who hosted our group in Taiwan back in 2014. Due to the close bond that was formed between K&L and Kavalan, we were allowed to select three single barrel casks to be bottled exclusively for our store; all three of which were ex-Bourbon barrels. Because of Taiwan’s subtropical climate and intense humidity, the whisky ages more rapidly and soaks up the flavor of each cask with intense concentration. In all three cases, the Bourbon flavor comes through on the whisky almost more than the single malt character. Barrel #75A is another beast of a whisky at 58.6% ABV, but it’s the richest of the three by a hair with subtle floral elements that dance atop the intense oak flavor. There’s more maltiness apparent on the palate than the others and there’s a tropical coconut note on the finish that comes from the sweetness of the oak. It still needs water, however, as the high proof masks much of the complexity when taken neat. It’s a whisky to unlock slowly and methodically.

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