In honor of the upcoming Chinese New Year on February 16^th, The Macallan released a Chinese New Year Limited Edition Gift Box, containing two bottles of Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old.

Some more details:

• This celebratory co-pack honors the Year of the Dog
• Currently available in select retailers for a limited time
• Only 2,500 packs will be available in the U.S.
• Will be available for an MSRP of $130.00
• Tasting notes:

o    Color: Harvest sun

o    Nose: Creamy butterscotch, toffee apple, candied orange, vanilla custard and fresh oak

o    Finish: Oak lingers, warm, sweet and drying

o    Palate: Ginger, nutmeg, citrus, caramel, raisins & resinous

o    Strength: 43% ABV

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 193: Caol Ila 17 Year Old Unpeated Style

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries an unpeated Caol Ila. Caol Ila – which means ‘Sound of Islay’ in Gaelic and thus refers to the straight between Islay and the Isle of Jura – has a so-called Unpeated Style on the market since 2008. That is to be taken quite literally. This Caol Ila – which appeared as an 8 years old at first, but is now already at 18 years – is made from unpeated malt. Mark tries the 2015 bottling, the Unpeated Style 17 Year Old.

https://youtu.be/aA649eiNHs8

Isle of Arran Distillers announce Burns Unbroke events

Isle of Arran Distillers, sponsors of Burns Unbroke, a brand new multi-arts Robert Burns Festival have announced a series of masterclasses at the inaugural celebration, and a cocktail reception on the opening night of the Festival.

To be held on the 26^th January, 1^st February, 15^th February and 1^st March, the masterclass tastings will include a selection of expressions from the award-winning Arran Malt range including the Robert Burns Malt – the only whisky officially endorsed by the World Burns Federation.

Under the tutelage of the experienced, friendly staff from the Isle of Arran Distillery Festival goers will have the chance to taste the ‘Arran Waters’ with five drams of the Arran Malt, as well as the delicious Arran liqueur, discovering the inspiration and craft behind each. You will be guaranteed an informal and enjoyable evening.

Running at the Summerhall in Edinburgh for six weeks from the 25^th January 2018, the program for Burns Unbroke will celebrate the plethora of artistic and performing talent in Scotland, and beyond, through the prism offered by new interpretations of the life and work of Robert Burns. The opening night of the Festival take place on Wednesday 24^th January for press.

Invited guests will be welcomed at the evening reception by two bespoke cocktails created for Arran Whisky by Glasgow agency The Drink Cabinet, who specialise in experiential events in the drinks industry. Using Arran Whisky’s Robert Burns Malt, the specialists from The Drinks Cabinet will offer guests the chance to taste two delicious cocktails inspired by the Bard himself, a most fitting way to kick start the Burns Unbroke Festival celebrations.

The Isle of Arran Distillery is a headline sponsor of Burns Unbroke alongside Creative Scotland and Scotland.org.

James MacTaggart, Master Distiller at Isle of Arran Distillery, said: “As the producer of the official Robert Burns Malt, we were delighted to be involved in a festival that shares our passion for the poet.

“At Arran, we regard whisky making as a form of story telling. Each of our expressions take inspiration from the landscape, history and legends of the island we call home.

“We’re really looking forward to sharing these stories with festival goers and, of course, raising a glass to the Bard.”

Sheilagh Tennant, Burns Unbroke Director, says “Just as ‘ freedom an’ whisky gang thegither’, so to does Burns Unbroke and a quality dram.

“The Arran masterclasses will be a great chance for people to learn more about the history and heritage of our national drink, and we are looking forward to enjoying the cocktails inspired by their whisky and Burns himself on our opening night.”

Burns Unbroke open to press and invited guests on Wedneday 24^th January and runs at Summerhall from 25 January – 10 March 2018, with the majority of performance events focussed around the weekend of 26-28 January.

The Arran masterclasses will be held in the Anatomy Lecture Theatre of Summerhall at 6:30pm on four dates; 26^th January, 1^st February, 15^th February and 1^st March 2018. Tickets are priced at £10 which includes five tasting drams and a cream liqueur. The tasting lasts approx. 1hr 30mins. 

Tickets are available here.  

Notes: For more information visit www.arranwhisky.com

Accolades for Isle of Arran Distillery include Winner for: Best New Exporter (2004), Queen’s Award for International Trade (2005), Scottish Distiller of the Year (2007) and Scottish Drinks Producer of the Year (2007.)

Scottish Field Visitor Experience of the Year 2014 & 2015.

Product awards include: Best Whisky Liqueur (2007), ‘Best Single Malt Scotch 12 Years & Under’ for The Arran Malt Amarone Cask Finish (2008) ‘Best Single Malt Scotch 11-15 Years’ for The Arran Malt Sherry Single Cask 1998 (2010) and ‘Best Single Malt Scotch 11-15 Years’ for the Icons of Arran Peacock (2011.) ‘Double Gold Award’ for Arran’s 14 Year Old Single Malt and ‘Gold Award’ for Arran’s 10 Year Old Single Malt at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (2012). Double Gold in FiftyBest.com awards (2012). Double Gold Medal for the 12 year-old Cask Strength in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (2013). Double Gold for both the 10 year-old and 12 year-old Cask Strength at the China Wine & Spirits Best Value Awards 2014.

January Outturn is a celebration of Scotland’s national poet Rabbie Burns with 7 colourful characters to address the haggis with!

CASK NO. 35.157  REWARD FOR A BRASS BAND

14 years old; 1st fill barrel; 58.2%; Juicy, oak & vanilla

The nose has alluring freshness – nougat, chocolate, dried grass, flowers and honeyed apricot flan – hints of polished wood. The palate displays sweet, juicy top notes (fudge, cinnamon biscuits, raisins, orange zest) and deeper notes of toasted oak and oiled cricket bats.

CASK NO. G9.3  FRUIT, SPICE AND ALL THINGS NICE

16 years old; 2nd fill barrel; 62.6%; Juicy, oak & vanilla

Creamy vanilla and sawdust with cinnamon and nutmeg lead to milk chocolate and oily walnuts with intriguing peppermint freshness. The palate delivered brown sugar, mango and chocolate orange with Caribbean rum. Water accentuated lemon sherbet and a satisfying finish of dark chocolate, apple pie and candied orange.

CASK NO. 73.84  TUG OF WAR IN A MEADOW

15 years old; refill butt; 57.4%; Sweet, fruity & mellow

The frolicsome nose suggests apple strudel in a Spring meadow, but playful spice dominates the palate – cinnamon and nutmeg on apple pie.

CASK NO. 37.89  A COSY SLIPPER SIPPER

17 years old; 1st fill French oak hogshead; 53.9%; Deep, rich & dried fruits

Muscovado sugar combined with cinnamon, nutmeg and roasted sweet chestnuts. Then figs, dates and porcini mushrooms came to the fore with blood oranges and spiced rhubarb and ginger tart. Sweetness turned to fudge with heather honey before finishing with dark chocolate. Previously matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead.

CASK NO. 7.167  CHOCOLATE PRALINES IN AN OAK BOX

26 years old; 1st fill American oak PX hogshead; 54%; Spicy & sweet

Old dunnage warehouse with suggestions of soft fudge, nougat, toffee and dark chocolate pralines. Fruit followed with roasted peach and demerara sugar, overripe strawberries, gooseberries and rum soaked cherries before chili chocolate, freshly ground coffee and spiced orange chocolate covered marzipan. Previously matured in an ex-bourbon hogshead.

CASK NO. 10.117  SMOKY, SALTY, SWEET PORRIDGE

9 years old; refill barrel; 61.2%; Peated

Neat, plenty of smoke and tar on the nose with an unusual porridge to taste. Water calmed tempers with an underlying sweetness revealed.

CASK NO. 66.99  PINE-SMOKED SALMON AND BURNING HEATHER

8 years old; custom virgin oak barrel; 60%; Peated

Plumes of incense and high intensity smoke. Dried raspberries, a sprig of scorched heather and peppery pine-smoked salmon. Previously matured in a bourbon barrel.

SMWS Canada

Hidden Treasures of Paris

While our customers are familiar with our 20 shops across the UK, many are still in the dark about our Paris boutique! Opened just under two years ago, the shop in Place de la Madeleine is home to some wonderful treasures, including whiskies no longer available – or never available – in our UK stores!

The best part for our British customers is that the French website offers international shipping so there’s no need to book your Eurostar ticket to get hold of the whisky you want! You needn’t speak French to shop here either, just click ‘Translate this page’ when prompted by your browser. C’est très simple!

Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost & Rare: Special Release with Brora & Rare

The Johnnie Walker Blue Label reserves contain a small number of very precious casks from Ghost Distilleries – iconic stills that have ceased production. Master Blender Jim Beveridge has hand-selected some of the most interesting parcels from this library of liquids, skilfully marrying them together with the other rare malt and grain whiskies in the Blue Label recipe to create an extraordinary blend.

With a highly limited release worldwide, this first special edition is Brora & Rare, an 8 whisky Blue Label blend with single malt from the now silent Brora at its heart. Bottled at the higher strength of 46% abv.

€299 Buy Now Out of stock on our UK website

Bunnahabhain 2004 Moine Brandy Finish

A limited edition release from Islay’s Bunnahabhain distillery, this single malt has spent 9 years in sherry casks before being finished for an additional 3 years in Brandy casks.

Limited to just 4,152 bottles worldwide, this special edition from Bunnahabhain was distilled in 2004 from peated malt barley (unusually for this distillery) and is presented at a cask strength of 55.7% abv.

€99 Buy Now Not available on our UK website

Knockando 21 Year Old Gift Pack

Distilled at Speyside’s Knockando distillery (not to be confused with Knockdhu distillery who produce anCnoc), this 21 year old single malt is rich in hazelnut, brown sugar, and stewed fruits, with some fantastic wood notes that only a whisky of this age can provide.

Presented at a strength of 43% abv in a stunning gift pack with two glasses, this Speyside single malt is the perfect post-Christmas indulgence.

€69 Buy Now Not available on our UK website

Tomatin 2005 The Whisky Shop Paris Exclusive

This single cask expression from the Tomatin distillery in the Scottish Highlands was distilled in 2005. Filled to a first-fill bourbon cask, number 2679, before being hand-selected and bottled exclusively for The Whisky Shop Paris in 2017.

Bottled at a natural cask strength of 59% abv, only 200 bottles have been produced, each one bearing a unique motif designed for The Whisky Shop Paris.

€99 Buy Now Exclusive to our Paris shop

Port Dundas 52 Year old 2017 Special Release

One of Diageo’s 2017 Special Releases, this Lowland single grain whisky was distilled at Port Dundas in Glasgow in 1964. Matured for more than half a century in refill American oak hogsheads, this is the oldest Special Release to date, with only 752 bottles available worldwide at a strength of 44.6% abv.

Rich butterscotch and sugar-dusted fruit on the nose, developing into vanilla toffee and sweet oak. The palate is creamy and sweet with honey, golden syrup, spiced pastry and dried fruit. The finish is long and warming, with oak and lingering peach.

€865 Buy Now Out of stock on our UK website

2008 Aultmore 9 Year Old K&L Exclusive “Sovereign” Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky (750ml) SKU #1330625

Aultmore isn’t one of Scotland’s most recognizable whisky names, but ever since Bacardi’s move to establish the Dewar’s distilleries as veritable single malt brands, names like Craigellachie, Royal Brackla, Aberfeldy and Aultmore are moving more to the forefront on the global stage. Originally founded in 1896, Aultmore was sold by Diageo to Bacardi over 100 years later as part of the big Bombay gin deal, resulting in a rarely seen 12 year old edition half a decade later. Located in the Speyside region, the distillery’s sherried malts are often described as having flavors of “milky coffee” and that’s most definitely the case with this heavily-sherried 9 year old expression. Coffee in both its color and its aromas, the nose is pungent with heavily-roasted aromas and savory Oloroso rancio. Don’t be confused by the color, however, because despite its dark hue this is no supple, sweetly-flavored Sherry bomb. In fact, it’s a robust malt, dry on the finish and almost savory in its profile. The mid-palate is loaded with toasted almonds, tobacco, and bitter orange, but the finish is short and simple. While many of our casks are meant to be pondered and savored, this 9 year old Aultmore is very much to the point. It’s a cask strength, sherry-matured edition of everyday quality single malt, priced to drink and enjoy in volume. The high proof is almost unrecognizable with the saturation of the sherry and its very much drinkable at full strength.

$49.99

Buy one of the remaining bottles of our award winning Glen Garioch and receive 10% off our 10th Anniversary drams…  We have very few Glen Garioch left in stock, so this is a rare opportunity to receive such a discount on our Anon. & Glenrothes single casks… Just add a bottle of Glen Garioch to cart to receive this amazing offer!

Glen Garioch 21yo

Special new offers and discounted whisky for January 2018. New items added daily, limited stock available at these great prices…  Be sure to follow our Facebook & Twitter pages for up to date daily offers! 

Canadian Whisky Grabs the Spotlight 

Those who still doubt that Canadian whisky is back in the connoisseur’s glass should note that Clay Risen begs to differ. In a feature published in The New York Times on-line edition on January 11, Risen traces the rise on Canadian whisky in post-Prohibition days, its decline in the eighties and the current resurgence in popularity of new, robust Canadian bottlings.

Risen’s in-depth article appears just as Canada prepares to name the best whiskies of the year at the Canadian Whisky Awards. Held annually at the Hotel Grand Pacific in Victoria, BC, 2018 marks the eighth year for the awards. Among others, past winners include Forty Creek, Wiser’s, Lot No. 40, Collingwood, Masterson’s, Crown Royal and Canadian Club.

The Canadian Whisky Awards kick off the annual Victoria Whisky Festival (Jan 18 -20 this year) so we don’t have long to wait to see which whisky the eleven judges vote as the best of the year. Meanwhile, why not check out what The New York Times has to say about the comeback of Canadian whisky. CLICK HERE 

Diageo policy on plastic straws

In December 2017 we confirmed a new policy in relation to the use and promotion of plastic straws and plastic drink stirrers by our business and brands.

Commenting on the policy, David Croft, Global Sustainable Development Director said:

“Diageo is committed to minimising our environmental impact and we are, like many of our consumers, increasingly concerned about the negative environmental impact associated with the irresponsible disposal of plastic straws. We are therefore committed to phasing out the use of all plastic straws and stirrers from all our offices, events, promotions, advertising and marketing globally – and will advocate the same to our partners and customers. When the use of straws is important to the enjoyment of our brands we will only use reusable, compostable or biodegradable alternatives.”

We have a comprehensive approach to managing the environmental impact of our packaging – an integral part of our Diageo Sustainability & Responsibility 2020 Targets. Specifically we have committed to reduce the overall weight of our packaging, increase the level of recycled materials we use in our packaging, and ensuring all our packaging is recyclable as set out in our Diageo Supplementary Guideline on Plastics and our Sustainable Packaging Commitments.

The Whisky Exchange Blog Review of 2017

It was a busy year, 2017. Lots of new things to drink, lots of tastings to attend and lots of new posts on the blog. So, before we properly commit to 2018 (it’s only a day old, and we’re not sure of it yet) here’s what happened last year:

Jim Murray…in January?

It’s no secret that our annual posting of Jim Murray’s picks for the whiskies of the year is one of our most popular posts. But last year we got a triple dose of Jim, with an exclusive two-part interview popping up in January. It gave us an insight into Mr Murray’s take on the whisky world as well as what the front cover of the Whisky Bible 2017 was all about – yellow eyes and Jim as Luke Skywalker? Part 1 and part 2.

Despite claims to the contrary, Jim’s eyes do not glow in real life

And then, of course, there were the 2018 picks themselves themselves – Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2018 winners. In usual fashion, the World Whisky of the Year is one that’s not easy to find here in the UK, but with the next two spots going to Redbreast 21yo and Glen Grant 18yo we have a chance of seeing whether we agree with Jim – when they’re back in stock…

People

We met lots of interesting drinks people this year. While we managed to have a chat with a few of them – Buffalo Trace’s Drew Mayville, Benriach and Glendronach’s Stewart Buchanan, Cotswolds’ Dan Szor, Old Pulteney’s Malcolm Waring, and Ardbeg and Glenmorangie’s Brendan McCarron – we also convinced some others to write us guest posts: Sexy Fish’s Jerome Allaguillemette and his love of Japanese whisky and Compass Box’s John Glaser’s on the importance of blended whisky,  We even managed to convince TWE boss Sukhinder Singh to write about whisky investment and his love of Irish whiskey. Hopefully we’ll see more from him in the new year…

The cornerstones of the year

There are a few events that pop up each year that we really like. First was Feis Ile: the Islay Festival of Music and Malt. While we generally see it as a whisky festival, there’s loads going on during the week, and The Whisky Exchange was up on Islay running a pop-up old and rare whisky bar. We’re still working out if we can make it again this year, but in the meantime you can live vicariously through my pictures of the trip.

Port Ellen in the sun. Can you spot the excitable Whisky Exchange events manager?

Next was my favourite launch of the year, the Diageo Special Releases. Ten great whiskies, including the now-obligatory ‘annoy the whisky geeks’ entry: Collectivum XVIII – a blended malt made up of whisky from all 28 of Diageo’s working malt distilleries. I liked it… You can find the remaining bottles from this year’s line-up on our Diageo Special Releases 2017 page.

And not forgetting our Whisky of the Year, as chosen by our customers: Bowmore 15 Year Old. They may have taken the word ‘Darkest’ off the label in the latest rebranding, but it’s still the same great combination of sherry, fruit and gentle smoke that we know and love. A worthy winner.

2018…

We’ve got The Whisky Show: Old & Rare in February and the 10th anniversary edition of The Whisky Show in October already in the calendar. Along with that, we are lining up loads of great tastings in central London – sign up here to be the first to hear about them. We’ve got a load of great new Whisky Exchange exclusives on their way and the ‘save the date’ emails have already started arriving from the producers for new releases, so we certainly won’t be lacking for tasty things to drink.

Happy New Year!