DIAGEO SPECIAL RELEASES TASTING WITH COLIN DUNN

December 14 2017 7:00pm-9:15pm

Now’s your chance to taste the 2017 Special Releases, from closed distillery Brora to the first ever blend of Diageo’s 28 operational distilleries and plenty more! Join us in the city centre of Birmingham with eight totally different whiskies delivered by the legendary ambassador Colin Dunn!

BOOK NOW >>

-Brora 34 Year Old 1982
– Blair Athol 23 Year Old 1993
– Caol Ila 18 Year Old Unpeated
– Collectivum XXVIII
– Convalmore 32 Year Old 1984
– Glen Elgin 18 Year Old 1998
– Lagavulin 12 Year Old
– Teaninich 17 Year Old 1999

Each year Diageo selects anywhere from eight to ten whiskies from their extensive portfolio of distilleries, and bottles them for the Special Releases. The bottles usually make their way to the shelves towards the end of the year and can exchange hands from anywhere between £70 and £2,500 per bottle. These are rare and collectable whiskies which you certainly don’t see everyday, but thanks to our long relationship with Diageo, we’re able to bring you this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

VENUE

thestudio
7 Cannon Street
Birmingham
B2 5EP

Thursday December 14, 7:00pm – 9:15pm

New K&L Exclusive Japanese Single Cask from Fukano

When I first met Fukano-san over some very tasty Korean BBQ, her air of sophistication and elegant demeanor belied her ability to drink the entire crew under the table. She was rather restrained that evening, but the other distillers regaled me with stories of her prowess. They have great respect for her not only because she is champion of the bar, but also because they know her distillery is producing some of Kumamoto’s finest spirit. Fukano-san is the head of one of the Kuma Valley’s best producers, famous for a local Shochu called Saiba as well as sake and other liqueurs. While Saiba is her bread and butter, a certain amount of the spirit is distilled from malted rice and destined for a grander purpose -Whisky! We have a great relationship with the importer of Fukano, so when they have single casks to sell, we get pick of the litter. This only the second single cask we’ve managed to get out of there since the brand launched nearly 2 years ago. Our last cask sold out very quickly, not just because of the hype around Japanese whisky, but because people opened their bottle and came back for more. We still get requests for that special whisky but this one is even better. Rich and buttery oak, spiced exotic fruits, bold whole vanilla bean. Anyone who loves the smooth complexity of a great old grain whisky or the subtle soft sweetness of a wheated bourbon will appreciate the elegant depth of this Fukano Single Cask. Aged in new French oak puncheons.

Fukano K&L Exclusive Single Cask #2827 Japanese Whisky (750ml) – $69.99

ONLINE PREVIEW CATALOGUE

The first lots are already available to view in our online preview catalogue! As soon as we receive items at Whisky.Auction, our experts carefully check and photograph them. Every day we add items to the preview, right up until the moment the auction goes live on Sunday 29 October, so check in regularly to build up your watch list.

FIND OUT MORE

JAPANESE WHISKIES

This month’s auction boasts single cask single malts from Karuizawa, Miyagikyo, Yoichi, Yamazaki, Hibiki and Chichibu. Even the Hanyu cards are stacked in your favour…

FIND OUT MORE

FORTY CREEK CONTINUTES TRADITION OF INNOVATION WITH MAJOR REDESIGN

AWARD-WINNING CANADIAN WHISKY BRAND DEBUTS NEW DESIGN AND PACKAGING

TORONTO, ON – Forty Creek, a brand known for reinvigorating the Canadian whisky category through innovation and attention to flavour, is debuting its first-ever packaging refresh this fall. Developed with input from Canadian whisky drinkers from across the country, the new packaging design reflects the quality of the award-winning whisky found inside each Forty Creek bottle.

Each new element of the design was chosen to help improve premium perceptions of the brand. The new Forty Creek packaging features a proprietary bottle, new aluminum cap, and an embossing that calls out the brand’s home province. Together, the new features give a physical manifestation to the innovative, premium, and bold characteristics that are at the heart of Forty Creek. Forty Creek proudly celebrates its Canadian heritage and the good place it comes from by increasing the prominence of the maple leaf in their logo.

“For Forty Creek, the new packaging was an opportunity to improve overall brand perceptions and to really communicate the premium quality in our range of whiskies,” says John Andersen, Senior Brand Manager, North American Whiskies “We were fortunate to be able to engage with both Forty Creek and Canadian whisky fans on a personal level at focus groups in Hamilton, Toronto, and Calgary. Their feedback was instrumental in guiding the direction of our new packaging design. The result is something that is as special on the outside as the whisky is on the inside.”

New Forty Creek Barrel Select and Copper Pot bottles will begin to appear on shelves in the coming weeks. New packaging for Forty Creek Cream, Spike Honey Spiced, Double Barrel Reserve, and Confederation Oak is expected to roll out between the fourth quarter of 2017 and early 2018.

Forty Creek employed Claessen’s International, the renowned design and branding agency to bring the design and packaging to life.

Forty Creek’s new packaging is featured in the brand’s new :15s television spot, which will air to a national audience, running primarily during sports programming (MLB and MLS playoffs, NBA, NHL) with a secondary focus on late-night television. In the digital space, the ad is featured as pre-roll on YouTube, as well as on TSN and Rogers Sportsnet properties.

The creative was developed by Cossette’s Toronto office, with Excelerator Media managing the media buy. National media relations for Forty Creek are managed by Your Brand Integrated Marketing Communications Inc.

About Gruppo Campari:

Davide Campari-Milano S.p.A., together with its affiliates (‘Gruppo Campari’), is a major player in the global beverage sector, trading in over 190 nations around the world with leading positions in Europe and the Americas. The Group’s portfolio includes over 50 premium and super premium brands. Internationally-renowned brands include Aperol, Appleton Estate, Campari, Cinzano, Grand Marnier, SKYY Vodka and Wild Turkey. In 2014,The Group acquired Forty Creek Distillery Ltd., a Canadian spirits company with a portfolioof brands including whisky, vodka, brandy, rum and liqueurs. Internationally-recognized for its superior taste and quality, the multi-award winning Forty Creek Whisky serves as both the fastest growing brand in its category across North America and Canada’s first successfully launched whisky brand in over 70 years. Headquartered in Sesto San Giovanni, Italy, Campari owns 18 plants worldwide and has its own distribution network in 20 countries. The Group employs around 4,000 people. The shares of the parent company, Davide Campari-Milano S.p.A. (Reuters CPRI.MI – Bloomberg CPR IM), are listed on the Italian Stock Exchange since 2001. For more information: http://www.camparigroup.com.

Dornoch Whisky Festival Wolfburn 2017 

The Carnegie Whisky Cellars has worked closely with Wolfburn Distillery again to create a special bottling to celebrate the Dornoch Whisky Festival 2017. 

This bottle has been selected and bottled by Shane Fraser, Wolfburn Distillery Manager, to celebrate the 2017 Dornoch Whisky Festival. One of only 150 bottles.

Each bottle is individually numbered and this bottling will be split equally between the Carnegie Whisky Cellars and the Wolfburn table at the Grand Tasting Event on Saturday 28^th October from 1pm. 

The Carnegie Whisky Cellars will start to sell their allocation from 12 noon on Saturday 28^th October on a first come first serve basis with a maximum of 2 bottles per customer. They are not taking any pre-orders due to this being a festival bottling. 

Tickets to the Grand Tasting cost £25 per person and this will entitle you to 20 10ml drinks vouchers to swap for drams during the event. The will be a selection of whisky, gin and beers on offer from across Scotland. Tickets to the Grant Tasting can be bought through the Dornoch Whisky Festivals website or in store at the Carnegie Whisky Cellars. 

For more information visit the Dornoch Whisky Festivals Facebook or Website.

Carnegie Whisky Cellars

The Carnegie Courthouse Dornoch, Sutherland IV25 3SD Phone: 01862 811791 E-Mail: whisky@thecarnegiecourthouse.co.uk

OCTOBER AUCTION ENDS SOON!(ends Sunday 29^th October)

…place your bids at 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!

https://youtu.be/KLUa5sRJNVY

ARRRRRRRRDBEG! The ultimate whisky for a lot of drinkers in the world. It becomes even more exciting when they announce a new standard bottle to their line up, the first in a decade, almost. A combination of first fill bourbon, Pedro Ximinez sherry and American Virgin Oak, this whisky is an oddly sweet number from the boys and girl at Ardbeg. The usual salty style lingers and classic elements of smoke remain, but with the use of VO, PX and first fill bourbon barrels, it’s allowed a certain amount of sweetness to pull through and i like it!

Three Decades in Oak

Glengoyne Launches 30 Year Old Highland Single Malt Limited Release 

Glengoyne Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky today launches its long-awaited 30 Year Old limited release.

Matured exclusively in hand-selected sherry oak casks for three decades in Glengoyne Distillery’s traditional dunnage warehouses, only 6,000 bottles of this exquisite whisky, crafted from just 13 casks, will be available worldwide each year.

Glengoyne 30 Year Old is bottled un-chillfiltered, with an ABV of 46.8%. A striking rich chestnut colour, imparted from time and wood alone, this exquisite malt boasts tangy flavours of plum compote, cinnamon and cloves.

Uniquely presented in a luxurious solid oak box, featuring an oak and rose gold bung and a hessian square, the outer casing reflects the traditional cask sampling method employed by Glengoyne Distillery.

Robbie Hughes, Distillery Manager at Glengoyne Distillery, said:

“We are delighted with the exceptional quality and taste of the Glengoyne 30 Year Old, it has certainly been worth the wait!

“Meticulous time and care has been given into selecting the perfect cask make up for this special bottling, ensuring the very highest quality liquid which truly reflects Glengoyne’s character. This distinctive malt is made up of 33% first fill European oak sherry butts and 66% specially selected refill sherry butts. The refill butts impart plenty of flavour and colour but do not dominate or overpower our spirit with too much oak. They also tend to be fresher and fruitier, good for balancing the richness and weight of the sherry casks, adding pleasant top notes and complexity. In this instance, the task was finding the right mix of refill cask to best showcase the sherry exceptional oloroso sherry casks we spend six years sourcing, ensuring incredible colour and an exceptional flavour profile.

“The Glengoyne 30 Year Old highlights the quality, time and care that goes into each and every one of our malts and we are sure this limited release will delight Glengoyne fans, connoisseurs and collectors alike.”

The Glengoyne 30 Year Old Highland Single Malt is available from glengoyne.com with an RRP of £600 (46.8%ABV).

www.glengoyne.com

www.drinkaware.co.ukwww.scotch-whisky.org.uk  

Notes: 

Glengoyne 30 Year Old Tasting Notes:  

Colour: Deep Amber

Nose: Black Cherry/Sherry Trifle/Marmalade/Tea Rose/ Rum & Raisin Chocolate.

Taste: Burst of sweetness changing quickly to plum compote/ Cinnamon/Cloves/Tangy Marmalade.

After Taste: Soft oak dryness, Cinnamon.

About Glengoyne Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky: 

Glengoyne Distillery is owned by one of Scotland’s leading independent, family-owned distillers, Ian Macleod Distillers.

Nestled into Dumgoyne Hill and with the mountains of Loch Lomond in the distance, Glengoyne is widely considered Scotland’s most beautiful distillery. Just 14 miles north of Glasgow, Glengoyne sits on the border between the Highland and Lowland whisky regions.

Glengoyne, uncompromising in its pursuit of excellence, runs its stills slower than any other distillery in order to create the sweet, complex flavours for which the brand is known. The Glengoyne Highland Single Malt range is matured in the finest sherry casks from within its traditional dunnage warehouses.

The Whisky Bible® Jim Murray Q&A with The Whisky Barrel- Parts 1 & 2

Last week the annual announcement of Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible® 2018 World Whisky of the Year was made.

The 2018 winner is Colonel E.H. Taylor 4 Grain Bottled in Bond Aged 12 years from Kentucky. In addition, Scotch and Irish whiskies made up the top three spots with Redbreast Aged 21 Years and Glen Grant Aged 18 Years Rare Edition.

We were also lucky enough to be given the chance to put some questions to Jim, picking his brains on this year’s Whisky Bible® and on the wider whisky industry, in an exclusive Q&A interview with The Whisky Barrel. Jim has plenty to say, so our Q&A is in two parts!

To find out how many whiskies Jim sampled for the new 2018 Whisky Bible; how close the two runners up came to stealing the top spot; what Jim’s biggest surprise was when tasting the whiskies this year; and where you might find Jim when he’s not sampling whisk(e)y, make sure to read our two part blog piece ‘The Whisky Bible® Jim Murray Q&A with The Whisky Barrel’ exclusively at The Whisky Barrel.

Both parts of the interview in full can be found at The Whisky Barrel blog at: www.thewhiskybarrel.com/blog

Jim Murray The Whisky Bible® Liquid Gold Awards

Also included in The Whisky Bible 2018® are some of The Whisky Barrel’s very own Exclusive Bottlings. And we are chuffed at the results, including two very high scoring whiskies in the Liquid Gold Awards section (94 points+). Two of these bottlings are still available exclusively at The Whisky Barrel (at the time of writing).

• Dumbarton 30 Year Old, 1987, The Sovereign, TWB 10th Anniversary Exclusive: 96.5 points
• Bowmore 15 year old 2001, Burns Malt®: 94 points
• Irish (Cooley) 13 year old, 2003 Exclusive Malts, TWB 10th Anniversary:  82.5 points.