Glenmorangie announce Justin Rose as new global golf ambassador

Ex-SWA director joins Board of £2m ‘stock exchange’ for maturing Scotch

LONDON, 19 April 2016 – WhiskyInvestDirect, the online marketplace enabling investors to buy and sell Scotch whisky as it matures and gains value in the barrel, has appointed former Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) director Campbell Evans to its board.

WhiskyInvestDirect launched in September last year. In its first six months, investors using the platform bought more than £2  illion of maturing Scotch, holding it in the same bonded warehouses as major distillers use to care for the maturing whisky they own.

The SWA is the 100-year old trade body representing the £4.5-billion Scotch whisky industry. Campbell Evans stood down as Director of International Affairs last year, having joined as Head of Media Relations in 1991.

He joins WhiskyInvestDirect CEO Rupert Patrick (formerly at Ian Macleod Distillers, Beam and then Diageo), co-founder Paul Tustain (head of world-leading gold and silver exchange BullionVault) and Rob Procter (representing preference shareholders after last year’s £1.55m crowd funding via Angels Den) on the Board of this innovative and fast-growing company.

Rupert Patrick said:

“Campbell is a highly respected member of the Scotch whisky industry, and I am delighted that he has agreed to join our Board. The breadth and depth of Campbell’s knowledge and contacts will be a major advantage to WhiskyInvestDirect as we build upon our successful launch.”

Campbell Evans said:

“WhiskyInvestDirect provides an exciting opportunity for individuals looking to diversify their investments. For the industry it provides a new and different platform to trade spirit. I am delighted to join at this early stage and help assist establish whiskyInvestDirect as a vehicle for investment and trade. “

WhiskyInvestDirect’s online platform acts like a stock exchange for maturing Scotch. Today it offers 10 single malts and two grain whiskies, all of them key constituents of major blended brands. Users can trade as little as 1 litre of pure alcohol at a time, currently costing between £1.40 for young grain to £4.20 for 3-year old malt.

Blended whisky accounts for 9 bottles in every 10 sold worldwide by the Scotch industry each year.

Industry data for 2006-2015 show that Scotch whisky sold in the barrel at 8 years old had appreciated by 10.7% per annum on average from its price at filling, net of storage costs.

Notes

About WhiskyInvestDirect

WhiskyInvestDirect is the online market for buying and selling Scotch whisky as it matures in barrel – a compelling new asset class for investors large and small, showing better than 7% annual appreciation after storage costs and inflation over the last decade. Accounting for 25% of UK food and drink exports by value, sales of Scotch whisky overseas equal 35 bottles per
second. WhiskyInvestDirect supports this centuries-old business by providing cash-flow to distillers, and by introducing for the first time an electronic exchange where brand-owners can then source a range of high-quality single malts and grain whiskies.
Coupled with CEO Rupert Patrick’s 24-year industry experience, WhiskyInvestDirect is launched by and employs the proven trading and custody I.T. of BullionVault – the world’s largest online market for physical gold and silver, and winner of two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise.

About Campbell Evans
Campbell Evans has 25 years of experience in the Scotch whisky industry, building and maintaining close relationships with member companies of trade body the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA). He served first as Head of Media Relations, as Director for Government, Consumer Affairs and Communications, and finally as International Affairs Director. Elected in 2006 as Vice-President of Brussels trade body the European Spirits Organisation (CEPS) by its international membership, he has also been a member of several UK government working groups across a variety of departments including the Home Office, DEFRA and
UKTI. Before joining the SWA in 1991, Campbell Evans spent twelve years in retail banking.

About Rupert Patrick
A liveryman and former committee member of the Worshipful Company of Distillers, Rupert Patrick began his whisky career at medium-sized private firm Ian Macleod Distillers in 1991,leading brand-building and exports before moving to Beam (now part of Suntory) in 2004. There he managed duty-free sales of major Scotch brands Teacher’s and Laphroaig, becoming Managing Director Emerging Markets. Joining Diageo PLC in 2012 he led New Business in Africa, managing new market sales of existing whisky brands such as Johnnie Walker, White Horse and Vat 69 worth $100m per year, until moving to launch whiskyInvestDirect in 2015

For more information, visit https://www.whiskyinvestdirect.com/

Royal Salute and a study in porcelain

Art Basel HK is the backdrop for the total Porcelain Dinner experience by Royal Salute

Hong Kong. March 2016. Royal Salute, the time honoured British whisky and pinnacle of the blender’s art, launches a celebration of the alchemical origins of whisky and porcelain at the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences with an ‘eternal life’ banquet prepared by Uwe Opocenskyis, executive chef at the MandarinOriental.

Created by Royal Salute’s Global Brand Director Vadim Grigorian, the complete porcelain dining experience is served on porcelain tables resembling altars or medieval alchemist workbenches carved with mystical symbols. The food is served on plates inspired by the imaginative astrologer and philosopher, John Dee’s famous obsidian mirror, through which he is said to have spoken with angels. Cutlery and tableware are also fashioned from porcelain to complete the experience.

This bespoke porcelain has been specially made in Dehua, the home of white porcelain, in a process overseen by famous porcelain expert Peter Ting and the feast will be eaten with cutlery designed by Gabriele Pezzini. The evening is inspired by the life of John Dee – court alchemist to Queen Elizabeth I and the man who orchestrated the coronation that began her glorious reign.

 Vadim Grigorian commented: “Royal Salute was created to celebrate the monarchy and the coronation of Elizabeth II, it is served in a porcelain flagon and is rooted in the notion of time – we are the only blend whose youngest whisky is 21 years old. It was natural for Royal Salute to take inspiration from Dee and his striving for perpetual life when we set out to explore the alchemical origins of both whisky and porcelain.” 

The menu is comprised of dishes cooked from superfoods recommended by futurist and director of engineering at Google – Ray Kurzweil– whose ‘Immortality Diet’ qualifies him as a modern day alchemist.

Over the past year, as part of a brand repositioning, the time-honoured blend has invested in forward thinking collaborations with leading British designers and artists, including Studio Mackereth and Jack Badger on a Neolithic Bar, cutting edge leatherworker Bill Amberg and experiential artist Marcos Lutyens.

The porcelain dinner will tour the UK, Russia and the US. For further information about Royal Salute, please visit http://www.royalsalute.com/.

NOTES

About Royal Salute

Royal Salute is a careful blend of malt and grain whiskies – with its youngest blend matured for a minimum of 21 years. Created to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the 21 gun salute that honoured her, the brand is steeped in tradition and proud of its royal lineage, but is firmly engaged in the modern world by constantly pushing the art of blending into new, creative and ambitious forms. Royal Salute is deeply involved in polo – the world’s oldest

surviving team sport and a game that’s expanding in the modern era. The brand sponsors more than 15 international tournaments from the UK and the USA through Argentina and China to Korea.

www.royalsalute.com

About Chivas Brothers

Chivas Brothers is the Scotch whisky and premium gin business of Pernod Ricard, the world’s co-leader in wines and spirits. Chivas Brothers’ award-winning portfolio features some of the world’s most revered Scotch whisky brands including Chivas Regal, the world’s first luxury whisky and the No.1 Scotch whisky in China; Ballantine’s, Europe’s No.1 Scotch whisky; The Glenlivet, the world’s No.1 single malt whisky; and Royal Salute, the world’s only exclusively prestige Scotch whisky range. The portfolio also includes two of the world’s leading English gins – Beefeater, the world’s most awarded premium gin, and Plymouth gin – plus a selection of highly acclaimed single malt whiskies, including Aberlour, Longmorn, Scapa, Strathisla and Tormore. The range is completed by a collection of blended Scotch whiskies operating in many of the world’s key whisky markets which includes 100 Pipers, Clan Campbell, Something Special and Passport Scotch.

www.chivasspirit.com

THUNDER THURSDAY: LIGHTNING SALE & MAY PREVIEWS

As unseasonable snowstorms chill the nation, we’re swapping our walking shoes for tasting glasses and sampling a luxurious and indulgent selection of finishes in our Cask Wonder Case. A long-lasting pleasure for the palate and absolutely spectacular value, saving a whopping £350 on whiskies with a combined age of 143! Offer finishes midnight on Sunday so not a moment to lose… Love the outdoors in any weather? A warming dram will hit the spot – check out our brand new, easy drinking May preview bottlings. SMWS Ambassador, Phoebe Brookes, reviews the previews on our blog.

Cask Wonder Case – £599 >

They say life is like a box of chocolates but we disagree – a life well lived is like a case of whisky; this case of whisky! Aged in casks from America, Spain and France then hand-picked by our Panel of exceptional palates, nothing but the best has made it through selection. Want even better news? This would normally set you back an extra £350 so snap one up before another lucky member grabs the lot!

41.70 C’est Magnifique!
Flavour: Old & dignified
Age: 34 years
Cask: Second fill ex-sauternes hogshead
Price: £332.00
BUY >

72.40 An infinity of concinnity
Flavour: Old & dignified
Age: 31 years
Cask: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead
Price: £161.00
BUY >

50.76 Booze up in a bakery
Flavour: Spicy & sweet
Age: 25 years
Cask: Refill ex-bourbon barrel
Price: £137.50
BUY >

9.104 Lychee Martini
Flavour: Old & dignified
Age: 27 years
Cask: Refill ex-sherry butt
Price: £129.90
BUY >

33.143 Thank you and goodnight!
Flavour: Spicy & sweet
Age: 8 years
Cask: Second fill ex-sherry butt
Price: £120.00
BUY >

36.98 Gaelic coffee
Flavour: Sweet, fruity & mellow
Age: 18 years
Cask: Refill ex-bourbon barrel
Price: Exclusive to Cask Wonder Case

BUY Cask Wonder Case >

Browse Current Outturn >
Browse All Bottlings >

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ

Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube

The Glenkinchie 12 Year Old replaces the discontinued 10 year-old as the main expression of the Lowland style. Glenkinchie distillery was founded in 1825 in the farmland around Edinburgh as Milton distillery. It was renamed to Glenkinchie in 1837 and had became a global sensation by the end of the 1980s.

 Glenkinchie 12 Year Old || £35.00 incl. VAT

The only Speyside dram to be triple-distilled like a Lowland malt or Irish whiskey.This is a very interesting dram and with a lot more body and character than Lowland and Irish Whiskey – making this spirit pretty impressive on the palate.

Benrinnes 15 Year Old || £49.50 incl. VAT

This 2000 vintage Glenkinchie Distillers Edition was bottled in 2014 at 43% ABV. The whisky was finished in Amontillado Sherry casks and harbors spicy aromas and a depth of dark fruit on the palate, which highly compliments the freshness and honey notes of Glenkinchie single malt.

Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition || £53.50 incl. VAT

Single Malts Ltd 36 Gordon Street | Huntly | Aberdeenshire | AB54 8EQ | Scotland UK

+44 (0) 845 606 6145 | mailto:info@singlemaltsdirect.com

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival appoints two new volunteer directors to board

Two new faces have joined the board of volunteers behind the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, helping to ensure that the 17^th edition of the event later this month will be one of the best on record.

Industry stalwart Linda Mellis – who spent four decades with drinks giant Diageo before her retirement – has become a director of the Festival, along with Speyside Cooperage visitor centre manager Gill Reid.

Both women have been responsible for delivering first class visitor experiences in their careers, and plan to use their skills and expertise to benefit the Festival and its many thousands of guests from home and abroad.

The curtain rises on the annual Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival on April 28, signalling the start of five days packed full of whisky, music, food and fun at locations throughout the region.

Although the Festival is managed by one full-time member of staff, the volunteer board of directors is responsible for ensuring its continued growth and position as one of the leading events of its kind in the world.

James Campbell, chairman of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, believes that Linda and Gill will be excellent additions to the board due to their vast knowledge of the whisky industry and customer service fields.

He adds, “The Festival aims to marry the opportunity to appreciate and learn more about our local whisky industry with a first-class visitor experience. Both Linda and Gill will be instrumental in helping to guide us as we move forward and grow the Festival in future years.

“Many of our visitors are quite staggered to learn that the driving force behind the Festival are volunteers who willingly give up their time to help because they feel so passionate about whisky and what the Speyside region has to offer.

“It’s through their vision – and the sterling efforts of our festival manager Pery Zakeri in turning the vision into a reality – that the Festival has evolved into the leading event that it is today.

“As we prepare to raise a glass in toast to another successful Festival, I would like to thank all of our volunteer directors, past and present, for their outstanding commitment to making the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival an event like no other.”

Linda worked for Diageo for 43 years, having started out as a typist before moving up the ranks. Before her retirement earlier this year, she was responsible for managing brand support malt distilling and marketing the distillery visitor centres and brand homes.

A long-standing supporter of the Festival since its inception in the late 1990s, she was recognised by the organisers for her commitment when they named her Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival Ambassador of the Year last year.

Gill has been the manager of Speyside Cooperage Visitor Centre – a five-star attraction welcoming around 22,000 people annually – for two years. She has been responsible for raising the bar on the visitor experience by developing a 4-D extra-sensory film presentation and mini-cinema on site.

Prior to taking up the post, she was a partner in her family business – one of the UK’s largest manufacturers of oak barrel garden products. She was responsible for developing the firm’s export market and is a previous winner of UK Trade & Investment’s Young Exporter of the Year.

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival programme comprises almost 500 different events including distillery tours and tastings, outdoor activities, arts and crafts, food, music and comedy.

Tickets for events in the 2016 Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival programme are available to buy at www.spiritofspeyside.com/. The Festival is also active on social media – facebook.com/WhiskyFestival and @spirit_speyside on Twitter and on Instagram.

Picture caption: Linda Mellis (left) and Gill Reid who have joined the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival board of directors.

Notes to editors

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.

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund Programme 2014 to 2020. The Scottish Government is the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme.

Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design

2016 will shine a spotlight on Scotland’s achievements in innovation, architecture and design through a wide-ranging, variety of new and existing activity.

The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design will run from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2016 and will build on the momentum generated by the 2015 Year of Food and Drink as well as previous years including Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.

Through a series of exciting events and activity, the year will showcase Scotland’s position as an “innovation nation”, its outstanding built heritage, and its thriving, internationally acclaimed fashion, textiles and design sector.

The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, supported by partners including Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, Architecture + Design Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS).

The Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.

Whisky Month 2016

• May is Whisky Month in Scotland, inviting visitors and locals to sample Scotland’s national drink and explore the subtle blend of stories and provenance behind our vast array of marvellous malts.
• In 2016, Whisky Month will also celebrate the 2016 Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design, turning the spotlight on other related areas, such as the famous feats of engineering and innovation in today’s whisky industry as well as the distinct architecture of many of Scotland’s wonderful distilleries.
• To encourage even more visitors to sample Scotland’s whisky a series of eBooks are available. Each book focuses on one of the country’s five distinctive whisky-producing regions in Scotland – Campbeltown, Islay, Speyside, Lowland and Highland.  VisitScotland’s The Land of Whisky guides can be downloaded at visitscotland.com/see-do/food-drink/whisky/distilleries
• Find out more and search for events, recipes and trails at visitscotland.com/see-do/food-drink/whisky/whisky-month and join the conversation using #WhiskyMonth

Hibiki Japanese Harmony, Hakushu 18 Years Old and Hakushu 12 Years Old Win a Double Gold Medal at “San Francisco World Spirits Competition”

Hibiki Japanese Harmony, Hakushu 12 Years Old and Hakushu 18 Years Old from Suntory Spirits Limited won a Double Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SWSC), an international spirits competition held in the United States.
Winning these prizes is highly significant, as it further cements Suntory’s reputation for the high quality of our malt whisky and unblended grain whisky as well as our excellent blending techniques.
From Beam Suntory’s spirits portfolio, Knob Creek, Laphroaig 10 Year Old and so on also won Double Gold Medal awards.

●About the “San Francisco World Spirits Competition”
Now in its sixteenth year, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition is the global spirits competition in the United States. Panels of judges include restaurants, buyers for large purveyors and journalists who assess the entries and select the winners of Double Gold Medal, Gold Medal, Silver Medal and Bronze Medal awards in each category.

●About Hibiki Japanese Harmony
Inspired by the riches and subtleties of Japan’s 24 seasons of the traditional Japanese calendar and mastered by Suntory’s Art of Blending, Hibiki Japanese Harmony is a meticulous blend of the finest select whiskies from the House of Suntory Whisky. This distinguished blend creates a luminous harmony of flavors and aromas and a taste of mild and deep.

●About Hakushu 18 Years Old
This single malt whisky is made from carefully selected malt whiskies aged over 18 years from the mountain forest distillery “Hakushu”. This is characterized by a rich and deep aroma reminiscent of ripened fruits. With a brilliant harmony of complex richness, sweetness and woodiness, the gently smoky scent of the Hakushu brand echoes pleasantly through you.

●About Hakushu 12 Years Old
This single malt whisky is made from carefully selected malt whiskies aged over 12 years from the mountain forest distillery “Hakushu”. A distinctive flavor with fresh and green aroma, gentle smokiness followed by fruity and crisp aftertaste.

In Their Own Words – Colin Dunn, Whisky Ambassador, Diageo

Diageo whisky ambassador Colin Dunn

Colin Dunn has done more than most to get people switched on to whisky. After a spell with Suntory, he moved to Diageo in 2008, educating drinkers about the delights of the company’s numerous single malts, as well as the Johnnie Walker range. Here he talks about his life in whisky…

‘When I first tried the Classic Malts, I was amazed how different they all were, and how I needed to know more about them – it was like Howard Carter opening the tomb of Tutankhamun’

‘I’m not Scottish, but I’m Cornish, so there’s a bit of Gaelic there. But people would say “You’re not Scottish, what do you know about whisky?”!’

‘In the early tastings I did, all the people I spoke to were over 50 and male. Trying to teach them how to taste whisky was very difficult’

‘In this country [the UK], Japanese whisky didn’t exist 15 years ago’

‘I still get a buzz trying whiskies from Lark or Kavalan, not just Diageo whiskies’

‘I think of bartenders as alchemists; they create new flavours. We’ve moved on from the Martini and the Mojito’

‘The first time I tried Laphroaig, it put me off whisky for a good 10 minutes!’

‘There are many times I’ve been given a 50-year-old whisky and the person who gave it to me told me it was fantastic just because it was a 50-year-old whisky. But I’ve tasted 50-year-old whiskies that have done nothing for me; it’s all about how the whisky evolves’

‘Cardhu is the most bourbonesque distillery in the Diageo portfolio’

‘I remember the first time I tried Japanese whisky; I realised it was the missing link between bourbon and Scotch’

‘Where will I be in five years’ time? Please welcome Colin Dunn. He used to work for Diageo; now he works for the Cornish Whisky Company!’

PEATY PRE-PREVIEWS & PERSONALITY PAIRS

We’re so excited by May’s peaty propositions we just couldn’t wait a moment longer to pass them on to you – ta-dah! Meet the Peaty Range: three diverse whiskies at different levels on the peaty spectrum and all wrapped up at a special price. Not a peat freak? Get stuck into one of our sweet pair recommendations, bursting with personality. Smoky (and sweet) treats are never around for long; if you want one, stick it in your basket now…

May’s Peaty Range Trio – £195

3.260 Delicate perfumed sweetness
Age: 15 years
Flavour: Lightly peated

10.93 Sweet but dangerous
Age: 9 years
Flavour: Peated

29.180 An apothecary shop on the shore
Age: 16 years
Flavour: Heavily peated

BUY May’s Peaty Range Trio >

Playful & Bouncy Pair – £110.90

Young & spritely

39.113 An explosion of playfulness
Age: 15 years

5.46 Peachy & perky
Age: 14 years

BUY Playful & Bouncy Pair >

Sweet Nostalgia Pair – £99.50

Sweet, fruity & mellow

39.118 Sweet memories
Age: 8 years

28.27 Autumn feelings
Age: 10 years

BUY Sweet Nostalgia Pair >

Mouth-watering Pair – £108.00 >

Sweet, fruity & mellow

112.11 Nostalgic & comforting
Age: 15 years

36.94 Young & spirited
Age: 16 years

BUY Mouth-watering Pair >

Naughty but Nice Pair – £104.00

Spicy & sweet

44.72 Slightly wicked sweet treats
Age: 12 years

36.95 The joy of jelly
Age: 15 years

BUY Naughty but Nice Pair >

Browse Current Outturn >
Browse All Bottlings >

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ

Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video