25 Copper Circle VIP Club Memberships Are Available Now!

The first 25 Copper Circle VIP Club memberships are now available and we are offering early access to members of our e-mail list!

Copper Circle members enjoy first access to specialty releases, fun whisky release parties, and many other members-only gifts and perks. The club will be announced to the public on Monday so be sure to claim your spot this weekend!

Membership Includes:

• Two or three bottles (based on membership level) of our Spring Chardonnay Finished Commonwealth Collection Release
• Two or three bottles (based on membership level) of our Fall Cider Finished Commonwealth Collection Release
• VIP first access to other specialty releases
• Spring & Fall whisky release parties at the distillery for you and a guest *Your whisky will be available at these parties. Shipping is not available at this time but may be in the future.
• Two “Welcome to the Club” Copper Circle Cocktail Cups (see photo to the right)
• Annual “members-only” Copper Circle gift in years two and beyond
• 20% Off tours, tastings, and merchandise (whisky is excluded from discounts)
• First access to purchase tickets for all public events at our Visitors Center

Our first Copper Circle whisky release party will be on Saturday, May 13th. Pick up your copper cocktail cups & Spring Chardonnay Finished bottles while enjoying tastings and appetizers in our Whisky Loft!

Membership Cost:

TIER ONE: $385 per year (includes tax) for a four bottle membership with access to all Copper Circle perks (2 bottles per release- 4 bottles annually) (Retail Value: $620)

TIER TWO: $550 per year (includes tax) for a six bottle membership with access to all Copper Circle perks (3 bottles per release- 6 bottles annually) (Retail Value: $750)

Membership fees are charge bi-annually. Whisky must be picked up within one year of the release date or the member forfeits the bottles. Cancellation requests must be made by e-mail to coppercircle@vadistillery.com at least 30 days prior to the next whisky release date. Whisky purchases are non refundable per Virginia ABC rules.

JOIN COPPER CIRCLE

Ralfy plays spot-the-malts in Ralfy Review 644 – Johnnie Walker Platinum 18yo @40%vol

RECORDS FALL FOR WORLD’S LARGEST COLLECTION OF RARE JAPANESE WHISKY

The world’s largest known collection of rare and collectable Karuizawa whisky from Japan has been snapped up for £770,000 in an online auction held by Whisky Auctioneer (www.whiskyauctioneer.com), in what is believed to be a world record for an auction of Japanese whisky.

A 70cl bottle of Karuizawa’s 1960 52 year old, one of just 41 bottles originally released for £12,000 in 2013 sold for £100,100, setting a new UK and European record for a Japanese whisky.

The collection of 296 bottles, which had been built up over the last 10 years by a European collector, easily surpassed the pre-auction estimated value of around £500,000.

The auction has attracted worldwide attention which has translated into more than 5093 bids for the bottles, and resulting in 89 successful buyers. In terms of bottles purchased, the Unites States was by far and away the most popular destination, with 84 bottles purchased by US buyers. Germany finished in second place with 43, Hong Kong with 40, the UK with 37 and Greece with 23. Other successful buyers came from countries including Taiwan, China, Singapore, Canada, Belgium, Australia, Israel, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, France, Ireland and Poland.

The top 10 bottles by value to be sold during the auction were bought for a combined £217,060, with 7 of these bottles purchased by buyers in Hong Kong and the other 3 heading to Germany.

• Karuizawa 1960 Single Cask #5627 / The Archer £100,100.00
• Karuizawa 1963 Single Cask 50 Year Old #5132 £24,700.00
• Karuizawa Honor Sumo Collection / 1981 / 1982 / 1983 £17,100.00
• Karuizawa 1964 Single Cask 48 Year Old #3603 / Wealth Solutions £17,100.00
• Karuizawa 45 Year Old Single Cask #1946 / Aqua of Life £12,700.00
• Karuizawa 1995 Single Cask 18 Year Old #5022 / Ghost Series #2 – Only 22 Bottles £10,300.00
• Karuizawa 1981 Single Cask #158 / Sakura Cask – Only 45 Bottles £9,700.00
• Karuizawa Four Decades Ghost Series #5 / 1 of 24 Bottles £9,260.00
• Karuizawa 1970 Single Cask #6227 / Geisha Label £8,100.00
• Karuizawa 1983 Single Cask #3557 / Nepal Bottling £8,000.00

Karuizawa whisky has become one of the world’s most coveted whiskies since the distillery stopped production in 2000.The collection auctioned by Perth (Scotland) based Whisky Auctioneer covered almost every expression created by the renowned Japanese distillery. It is the first time such an extensive collection has been made available for auction anywhere in the world.

The sale has been a huge success for Perthshire firm Whisky Auctioneer which specialises in auctioning fine, old, rare and collectable whisky. In recent years, collectors have flocked towards Japanese distilleries, whose reputations and values have rocketed in the booming secondary market. According to rare whisky experts and analysts Rare Whisky 101, the RWK (Rare Whisky Karuizawa) Index, which tracks the performance of a select collection of bottles from this silent Japanese distillery, shows an increase in value of more than 300% since July 2013.

Iain McClune, founder and owner of Whisky Auctioneer said: “I don’t think we ever expected to have this much interest in our collection of Karuizawa, regardless of its rarity and collectability! Despite being a UK-based auction, only 37 of these bottles will remain on our shores. The international profile of the winning bids truly underline the global appeal of rare whisky at the moment, with these bottles soon heading off to 19 different countries, located across four different continents..”

Rare whisky expert Andy Simpson from Rare Whisky 101 said: “Given the vast demand for Karuizawa whisky in recent years, we wondered whether the market might have begun cool for this iconic distillery. However, judging by the global interest and the prices paid for this most recent auction, it would appear that Japanese whisky is still at the apex of many collectors’ wish-lists. What we don’t know, of course, if whether any of these bottles will resurface on the secondary market in years to come, or whether they will be opened, enjoyed and forever lost to the collector market.”

The buyer of the Karuizawa 1960 “The Archer”, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “I was given the chance to try my first Karuizawa whisky sample a few years ago, and I immediately fell in love with it. When I saw Whisky Auctioneer’s collection of Karuizawa whiskies, including the oldest and rarest I knew straight away that I had bid for this once in a lifetime chance. I am absolutely thrilled to have secured this incredible whisky, in the knowledge that it was distilled only a few years after Karuizawa started production in 1955 and that it’s only one of 41 bottles ever produced! I’ve won an important  piece of history that will take pride of place at the heart of my collection.”

www.whiskyauctioneer.com

www.rarewhisky101.com

The story of Kilchoman whisky distillery in five stages

Many people dream of starting their own whisky distillery, but the Wills family went ahead and did it, founding Kilchoman on Islay back in 2005. George Wills was our host for a tasting of the entire Kilchoman range. He told us the five key stages that sum up the distillery’s 12-year-history…

Kilchoman Distillery, located at Rockside Farm in north-west Islay

1. Ambition

George explained the reason Kilchoman exists is because the family wanted to ‘take whisky back to its traditional roots’, and that the distillery started like so many others on Islay: small farms, growing a little bit of barley. He said: ‘When we came to Islay, people thought we were mad – there’s a reason why no one had built a new distillery there for 120 years – but it’s working. And we were surprised by the warmth we’ve received from the industry, and especially from other Islay distilleries.’

2. The whisky

Kilchoman’s house style is different to most other Islay whiskies. It’s peated to approximately 15 parts per million (‘depending on who lights the fire’, said George), but the predominant character is clean, fresh, and citrus-led. He added: ‘People think of peat as bonfires, chewing on ash and so on, but we’re looking for lighter, sweeter flavours with more citrus – this is what drives Kilchoman.’

The Wills family (from left): Peter, George, Anthony, James

3. Setbacks

Like most new companies, Kilchoman had its fair share of teething troubles:

• an exploding boiler (‘we bought a second-hand one – who does that?’)
• burst pipes
• a sherry butt weighing half a ton that fell off a fork-lift truck, denting a warehouse wall.

One incident, however, had potentially catastrophic consequences. George’s dad Anthony had gone to Edinburgh to watch a rugby match, leaving his sons in charge. In his absence, rather than adding bags of coal to the fire one by one, the sons just threw a couple on before heading home. The next thing they knew, the fire brigade was on the phone: ‘The kiln roof was on fire and the kiln was destroyed,’ said George, ‘but there was a beautiful smell!’

4. THE Young pretender

Another hurdle Kilchoman had to overcome was the fact that it had no stocks of mature whisky to draw on, and everything it released had to be distilled from scratch. George explained: ‘At the start, it was a slog to get people to drink three-year-old Kilchoman. We were trying to put out NAS or very young whiskies when not many people were doing it, but now we’re looking around and people are releasing younger whiskies. Consumers are now far more open-minded as to what they’re tasting.’

5. Small steps

Kilchoman makes the same amount of spirit in one year as its Islay counterpart Caol Ila does in one week: approximately 200,000 litres of alcohol, which works out at 20 bourbon barrels’ worth a week (‘22 in a good week’). And George’s favourite expression? 100% Islay: ‘It’s the closest one to my heart. It’s everything that’s great about Kilchoman – the freshness, the saltiness, it’s like being by the seaside.’

WE TASTED

Kilchoman 100% Islay – beautifully clean, grassy notes with a barley, brine and biscuit character

Machir Bay – fruity and aromatic, with clean, fresh red fruits, honey and malt biscuits, as well as punchy peat

Sanaig – silky mouthfeel with rich spice, soft peat and weighty dried fruits. Notable sherry influence

Loch Gorm – winter spices, notes of cinnamon, brioche, dark chocolate and cocoa, with peat and dried fruit in the background

Original Cask Strength – subtle and clean, with lemon, sea spray and woodsmoke

100% Islay PX Finish (the result of a mix-up in the distillery) – treacle toffee, dates, orange peel and cloves, with warm peat lurking

A big thank you to George for his very honest appraisal of what it takes to start your own whisky distillery. Kilchoman is now very much part of the Islay whisky scene, and its bottlings are much in demand. You can see our full Kilchoman range here.

APRIL AUCTION NOW LIVE (ends Sunday 30^th April)

…place your bids at http://www.whiskyhammer.co.uk/

With an incredible selection of whiskies and other fine spirits there is certainly something for everyone – whether you are looking to collect, invest, enjoy!

Tormore 2002 Private Collection

Matured in first fill bourbon casks before double maturation in Coté Rôtie wine casks and bottled by Gordon & MacPhail. Sweet and creamy with soft spiced apple, butterscotch, and tangerine flavours.

$56.44

SHOP NOW

https://youtu.be/SkqyxFj3Apo

Words can’t really summarize this whisky. A limited edition, heavily peated, all sherry, cask strength BunnahabhainMoine Oloroso. Rich with raisins, sultanas, white chocolate, seaweed, BBQ smoke, hickory and a warming wash of spice. Truly outstanding, no more need be said about it. Enjoy!

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Aberlour Visitor Centre tastes success with global award win 

Rikki Scott, Visitor Centre Supervisor at Chivas Brothers’ Aberlour Distillery, has scooped a prestigious Whisky Magazine Global Icons of Whisky Award.

Rikki, who is from Rothes in Speyside, was named Visitor Attraction Manager of the Year 2017 at The Whisky Magazine Awards Presentation Dinner at The Wardorf Hilton Hotel, in London.

He was initially crowned as Scotland’s Visitor Attraction Manager of the Year in December, before moving through to the global finals where he beat competition winners from the Americas and Rest of the World.

Since joining Aberlour Distillery in May 2014, Rikki has shared his passion for Aberlour’s world-renowned malt whiskies with both visitors and colleagues, helping to boost visitor numbers and drive the success of the centre shop.

Last year, he also created a Driver’s Tasting Kit which enables motorists to take part in the initial nosing before dispensing the whisky into bottles to enjoy the tasting experience at home.

The Aberlour Visitor Centre, which lies at the heart of Speyside, recently re-opened its doors for the summer season, offering a variety of tutored nosing and tasting experiences of Aberlour’s exquisite collection.

Commenting on his award win, Rikki said: “I was very shocked but also very proud to win the Global Icons of Whisky Award. To be recognised globally is not only an achievement for the Aberlour Visitor Centre but also for the area as a whole.

“The award win is a real testament to the hard work and dedication of the team and the high standards we set ourselves each year to enhance the visitor experience.”

Notes

About Chivas Brothers

Chivas Brothers is the Scotch whisky and premium gin business of Pernod Ricard, the world’s n°2 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 single malt whisky that set the standard; 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

Guests attending The Aberlour Visitor Centre can now book tours online: www.aberlour.com/distillery/

The Dramble aims to consolidate the voice of whisky bloggers  

The Dramble, launching today, aims to consolidate the independent whisky blog ecosystem, by connecting up reviews and tasting notes. Whisky appreciation is about the sharing of experiences and opinions. It’s an inherently social activity with a growing community of whisky lovers all over the world. The number of whisky blogs and news sites has risen massively over the past decade – each one adding to the rich tapestry of the vibrant, welcoming and knowledgeable online community. But, with so many blogs and so many different opinions to choose from, where should you start?

Created by two whisky enthusiasts, The Dramble recognises that everyone has different individual tastes and also different innate abilities to detect and identify specific tastes and flavours. The Dramble has been created to build a comprehensive and expertly-curated collection of tasting notes supported by additional reviews drawn from whisky bloggers worldwide. The goal of the new site is to help whisky enthusiasts build up their whisky knowledge and appreciation, whilst also providing bloggers with additional channels for people to discover their tasting notes on a dram-by-dram basis.

Speaking of the launch, Co-Founder Matt McKay said: “The world whisky community is a wonderful thing. From local tasting groups, through to festivals, brand ambassadors and commentators, everyone I meet shares the same love and passion for good whisky. In building this site, Danny and I hope that The Dramble becomes a go to starting point for anyone interested in learning more about whisky. It is all a matter of opinion – and we’d like you to add yours.”

As well as featuring tasting notes, The Dramble will also have a strong focus on people, with regular interviews and features which highlight the important contributions made by individuals within the industry. From distillers and blenders through to brand ambassadors and distillery tour guides, The Dramble will look to explore the lives of the people who make whisky what it is today.

NEW TO THE PARTY

Belle Meade Bourbon Madeira Cask Finish – Last week we had a single malt Scotch finished in a Malmsey Madeira cask. This week it’s a Tennessee Bourbon (yes, you read that right), finished in a Madeira cask. The newest special selection from Nelson Green Brier, this bottling is a blend of 6 to 9-year-old high-rye bourbon barrels finished in the sun-baked Madeira casks. All of the age on the bourbon, coupled with the Madeira finish, and non-chill filtered at bottling means this juice is absolutely packed with flavor. Expect everything from traditional baking spices of cinnamon, clove, and vanilla, to honey and caramel, little hints of nuts and dried red fruit, maybe a kiss of mint and some chocolatey tones; it’s a flavor bomb. For the true whisky enthusiast, get a bottle of the Glenmorangie Bacalta to try first, and then try this after. It will be a cool study in how a Malmsey Madeira cask finish affects a single malt versus a bourbon.

Minor Case Straight Rye Whisky – From the Limestone Branch Distillery, this is a sherry finished two years aged rye. The name is a tribute to Limestone Branch Distillery’s owners’ grandfather, Minor Case Beam. Minor Case made rye whisky before prohibition. The bottle is beautiful in and of itself. It’s embossed with the Minor Case Beam crest that minor used to put on his labels.  The whisky is nice and is exactly what you’d expect from a rye finished in a sherry barrel. It is rich rye spice wrapped in red fruit.

Linkwood 37yr Single Malt – Here’s a real treat. Linkwood is a bit of a house favorite here at The Party Source. We have long recommended the independent bottlings from Gordon & MacPhail. So it is with great excitement we now have this distillery edition 37-year-old to offer you! This bottle should be nothing short of a wonderful dram and should show a lovely depth of flavor with both floral and fruit notes alike.

Royal Brackla 12yr Single Malt – Here’s the first time in a long time that we’ve been able to offer whisky from Royal Brackla. In 1835, Brackla was the first distillery to be granted the royal warrant; meaning it provided goods to the royal household. It’s an oloroso matured single malt, and undeniably so. Aromas and flavors of ginger, cocoa powder, almonds, apples abound in this delicious malt.

Bunnahabhain Single Malts – We’ve been able to offer you some fantastic independent bottlings from Bunnahabhain, and now we can offer you the distillery selections too! The Bunnahabhain 12 year and Toiteach are both excellent pours. Pronounced boon – a – ha – vin, is one of the great distilleries from Islay (pronounced eye – luh). The 12yr is a nice soft mix of smoke, vanilla, oak, and fruit (cherry?). The Toiteach, which is Gaelic for smoky, delivers a nice, well integrated but ever present gentle smokiness amidst some fruit and spice. Best yet, these are both of natural color and non-chill filtered!