LET’S TOAST A BRAND NEW BATCH

We’re excited to announce to our Glengoyne Family that our latest Cask Strength edition, Batch No. 6, is now available – and we wanted you to be the first to hear about it.

A first for this high strength, un-chillfiltered expression, Cask Strength Batch No.6 has been matured in 100% Sherry oak, giving it a rich and peppery flavour – with delicate hints of digestive biscuits and ripe bananas.

This stunning new whisky is the perfect embodiment of Scotland’s slowest distillation and has been bottled at 59.8%.

As a Glengoyne Family member, you can order this exclusive bottling first. Simply click the button below to order yours now.

BUY NOW

MEETING CHARLIE

Whisky legend Charlie MacLean has teamed up with the SMWS in our 35th anniversary year to make a special selection of bottlings for July Outturn. Charlie will present a preview tasting at Edinburgh’s Dominion cinema before a screening of The Angels’ Share. Charlie will also host events with his selected drams at our Members’ Rooms across the UK, and share some pearls of whisky wisdom. Secure your tickets for these one-of-a-kind tastings before they’re gone.

VIEW EVENTS

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

Glen Scotia 2008 Port Cask 2018 Campbeltown Festival

The 2018 Campbeltown Malts Festival begins this week but you don’t have to travel all the way to Argyll to enjoy the whiskies! Double matured in Ruby Port casks, this peated 2008 vintage expression from Glen Scotia distillery is in-stock and ready to go. Glen Scotia 2008 vintage Campbeltown single malt Scotch whiskey. Double matured in Port Casks, limited edition for the 2018 Campbeltown Malts Festival.

Buy – £49.63

Glen Scotia Distillery was established in 1832 in Campbeltown at the foot of the Kintyre Peninsular on the west coast of Scotland. Situated on the south side of Campbeltown’s High Street beside the lost Lochrin and Dalintober Distilleries where their rear walls were lapped by the tides of Campbeltown Loch. Glen Scotia Distillery is now one of only three whiskey distilleries in Campbeltown where a further thirty have come and gone. Both peated and un-peated malt whiskey are produced for its expanding range of single malt whiskies such as Glen Scotia Double Cask and the Glen Scotia 15 Year Old.

CASTLE STUART AND TOMATIN PRODUCE WINNING SHOT

Golfers always hope to pull a good shot out of the bag and a special edition collection will make it easier for them while playing at the internationally-renowned Castle Stuart Golf Links.

The four-time Scottish Open venue has partnered with world famous distillers Tomatin to produce a new set of miniatures featuring artwork of Castle Stuart and the course and Tomatin’s award-winning 12-year-old single malt.

The new dram has been launched ahead of World Whisky Day tomorrow (Saturday 19 May) and will be on sale at the course’s starter hut as well as in the clubhouse where Tomatin’s award-winning malts are prominent.

Stuart McColm, Castle Stuart’s general manager, said: “We are long-standing partners with Tomatin and it has always been our goal to get our own miniatures available for our visitors. They are a great addition to our bar offering and our ever- popular half-way pavilion as well as fantastic presents to take back from Castle Stuart.

“We are proud to be associated with such a celebrated brand which is a great ambassador for the Highlands and a natural partner for the golf industry.”

Stephen Bremner, sales director at Tomatin, said: “We are delighted to have been working with Castle Stuart on this local collaboration – with our long-established partnership, our premium brands are a natural fit. We have no doubt that the miniatures will be popular with golfers both on and off the course.”

Tomatin’s 12-year-old single malt received its fifth gold medal in a row at the San Francisco World Spirit Competition. The distillery’s 18-year-old single malt was also awarded ‘Double Gold’ for the fifth time.

Tomatin’s 36-year-old single malt, which is available in the Castle Stuart golf shop, was named Best Scotch at the same event last year.

Whisky Stories – Your Turn

It’s time for another Whisky Story, this time from Matt, who had a great time in the north of Scotland visiting Old Pulteney. Please keep sending us your own Whisky Stories – we’ll be publishing more of our favourites over the coming months.

My first experience of whisky was similar to many people’s – nabbing a wee dram from my father’s open bottle when my palate was far too young and inexperienced to appreciate it.

But fast forward a few years, and Old Pulteney had firmly established itself as my gateway whisky into the wonderfully diverse world of single malts.

Initially, I didn’t actually like Old Pulteney; I found the salinity and brine challenging compared to other entry-level whiskies. But it didn’t take too long for my palate to learn to appreciate, then love, those coastal-tinged flavours.

Our journey to Old Pulteney started at Inverness Airport, taking the A9 northbound. The A9 is not just a picturesque and sometimes rugged route through Sutherland and Caithness, it’s also an ideal one for a whisky enthusiast.

Distilleries en route

Stopping off at Dornoch Castle (with its superb whisky bar), Glenmorangie, Balblair and Dalmore distilleries not only broke up our journey northwards, but also provided ample whistle wetting in advance of our final destination of Wick.

For our lodgings, there was only ever one choice – MacKay’s Hotel (seeing as it shares my surname) run by Murray Lamont. As a Wick resident, Murray and his family have long held ties with Old Pulteney, which was built in 1826 by Sir William Pulteney (the town originally being named Pulteneytown).

Murray’s hotel whisky bar is a treasure trove of bottlings – he’s quite the collector. During our time there, we helped him locate and order numerous bottles stored in the hotel cellar, and as a reward, a dram of one of the oldest Pulteneys I’ve seen, from a 37-year-old sherry cask Murray’s father had purchased in 1972.

Despite visiting many distilleries, the Pulteney tour is still the best I have experienced. On the day of our visit, not only did we have the entire site to ourselves, but we were guided by the passionate and highly knowledgable Kathy Csorogi.

Pulteney is a compact site, with all elements of production located a stone’s throw from one another. Our unexpected private tour allowed us plenty of time not just to learn about the distillery and its processes, but also to talk to the mashmen and stillmen while they worked. As with many things, tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I’ll remember.

During our visit we learned that the refined salinity that can often be tasted in Old Pulteney is actually present in its new-make spirit, although whether this comes from the naturally salty seawater and coastal location or simply though the distillation process is hard to say.

The still room is a highlight of any distillery tour and Pulteney’s unique stills make this even more so. The wash still doesn’t feature a typical swan neck and lyne arm – the story being that when the still arrived at the distillery, it was too tall for the stillhouse and had to be cut down in size to fit. Official bottlings of Old Pulteney reference the bulbous pot stills in their design.

Time to taste

Tastings at Old Pulteney take place in two locations – first we sampled some cask-strength expressions in the dunnage warehouse over the road from the distillery. Then we moved to the tasting room in the visitor centre to explore the distillery’s core range and some older expressions, including the rather lovely 35 Year Old.

No trip to a distillery is complete without taking the opportunity to hand-bottle your own whisky directly from cask, and Pulteney usually has two casks available. Kathy told us about some visitors who had got rather confused and placed their bottles straight down into the wax, bottom first – resulting in some rather odd-looking but certainly unique Old Pulteney bottles!

The experiences, sights and stories of my visit to Wick and Old Pulteney have stuck in my memory, and it won’t be long until I’m venturing up the A9 again. On my next visit there’s even more whisky goodness to explore, in the form of Wolfburn distillery.

With Pulteney and Wolfburn on the mainland and Highland Park and Scapa just a ferry ride away on Orkney, north-east Scotland is a pilgrimage every whisky enthusiast should make at least once.

Thanks very much to Matt for sending his Whisky Story to us. If you have one, we’d love to hear from you.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

NEW ALCOHOL MINIMUM PRICING LAWS

In an effort to combat irresponsible drinking throughout Scotland, the Scottish government has introduced legislation, enforcing a minimum price that alcohol can be sold for.

From May 1st 2018 the minimum price of an alcoholic drink sold in Scotland is £0.50 per unit. All licensed premises are now unable to sell alcoholic beverages at a price that equates to any less than this.

To ensure our auctions are compliant with this new law our starting bid for all lots is now £20 without exception.

You can read more about this on the Scottish Government’s website.

WHAT EFFECT DOES THIS HAVE ON ME?

Will this change the price I pay?
The majority of the lots sold at auction exceed the minimum alcohol price, this will not change. In order to comply with the law, we will no longer be selling any lot for less than £20. This starting bid is to cover whiskies which may be higher than 40%

What does this mean for sellers?
This change to our starting bid means that no individual lot can sell for any amount less than £20.
If you feel an item will not exceed the minimum price set out by the Government, we would not recommend sending it to us.

If you are unsure please contact us at Scotch Whisky Auctions for further advice.

HOW TO CALCULATE THE MINIMUM PRICE OF ALCOHOL

The minimum price can be calculated like this:

(ABV * Bottle Size in CL) / 100
*
0.5

Example: (Regular bottle of 40% whisky):

(40% abv * 70cl) = 2800
Divided by 100 = 28 units of alcohol
Multiplied by 0.5 = £14.00 minimum price

Ralfy heads down the “Glen of Tranquility” with Ralfy Review 727 – Glenmorangie 10yo Original (re-reviewed 2018).

To celebrate Benromach’s 20th anniversary, Benromach have been running an exciting prize draw on Instagram, asking fellow Benromach lovers to post their favourite Benromach photo memory using the #benromachmemories hashtag.

Have you toasted a special date with a dram of Benromach? Given a bottle to a loved one to show them you care? Maybe you’ve visited Benromach in Forres and spent time with the distillers, learning the traditional, time honoured techniques they employ to handcraft every dram. Whatever your Benromach memory, we can’t wait to see them.

The closing date for the competition is tomorrow at 2359hrs (BST) Friday 25th May

Entries will be judged by the Benromach Team and the winner will receive a bottle of Benromach 20th Anniversary Bottling worth £299 as their prize. Please note, if the winner and/or the runners up come from outside the UK, they will only receive their bottle/sample if they live in a country where Benromach has an official distributor. If the winner and/or runners up come from inside the UK, the bottle/sample will be sent out. Due to market allocation, this competition will exclude US consumers.

For more information and terms & conditions, please visit: https://www.benromach.com/news/benromachmemories

The Good Dram Show – Episode 265 ‘Anglo-Canadian Whiskies’ – This week’s episode of the show is an Anglo-Canadian episode featuring the English Whisky along with the Glenora distillery and Two Brewers Yukon single malt from Canada

https://youtu.be/4LGJ2PErolk

AUCHENTOSHAN^® IS RALLYING BARTENDERS TO JOIN ITS GLOBAL COLLECTIVE, THE NEW MALT ORDER

Auchentoshan is on the hunt for the best bartending talent to enter its global cocktail competition

May 2018: Auchentoshan^® is on a mission to find creative bartenders to join its international bartender collective as it announces the launch of its New Malt Order 2018 competition. Launched in 2016, the New Malt Order is a growing community of likeminded bartenders who share a passion for shaking up the world of single malts.

The urban malt from the city of Glasgow, is challenging entrants to create a cocktail that captures the essence of its triple distilled malt whisky and takes inspiration from the bartender’s home city. Successful bartenders will be given the once-in-a-lifetime chance to visit the home of Auchentoshan^® in Glasgow, be immersed in the city’s culture and create an exclusive liquid with Master Blender, Ron Welsh (pictured below). The winners will go behind the scenes at the distillery and select from casks, blend, bottle and even have their say on the final packaging of this rare and unique single malt.

THE ORIGINAL CITY MALT

This year Auchentoshan^® will celebrate its urban heritage and challenge bartenders to share their own city’s unique character captured in an Auchentoshan cocktail. The competition is now open and bartenders from the UK, Canada, Russia, Australia and Germany are being encouraged to enter via Instagram for a chance to become part of the New Malt Order global collective.

Judged by the best in the business, winners of this once in a lifetime experience will be announced this September. 

THE NEW MALT ORDER

Launched in 2016, The New Malt Order is not only a competition but a growing global community of passionate bartenders who are pushing boundaries, breaking rules and taking single malt whisky to new places and new faces.

TWO LIMITED EDITIONS

Bartenders’ Malt 01 | Released July 2017

In 2016, the inaugural 12 bartenders from some of the world’s best bars designed a punchy 47% ABV malt to stand-up in cocktails including Bobby Burns, Vieux Carré, and the classic Old Fashioned.

Colour: Gold- copper with subtle grassy reflections

Nose: Dried apricots, milk, chocolate, honey and green tobacco leaf

Palate: Delicate floral cherry blossom and buttery brioche undercut by zesty notes of ginger

Bartenders’ Malt 02 | Released later in 2018

Bartenders’ Malt 02, created by 2017’s cohort of international bartenders, will be released exclusively to the on-trade later in 2018.

Speaking about the upcoming release, Master Blender Ron Welsh, said: “We’ve put together a blend that matches their requirements as bartenders, so nice high strength and lots of flavour. It’s one of the best Auchentoshan^®’s I’ve ever tasted.”

Charles Roche from Scout in London, a member of The New Malt Order: “Being a member of the New Malt Order is amazing. It’s about blending a whisky by bartenders, for bartenders.”

Scott Milne, International Brand Manager, Beam Suntory: “We are excited and proud to announce that Auchentoshan^®’s New Malt Order competition is returning for the third consecutive year in 2018. We are passionate about building an army of single malt advocates and championing creative bartending on a global scale. We’re looking forward to seeing how the entrants capture their city in a cocktail and welcoming the winners to the home of Auchentoshan^®.”

BECOME PART OF THE NEW MALT ORDER 2018

The competition is open from Tuesday 1 May, with entries to be submitted by Saturday 30 June.

HOW TO ENTER

Enter on Instagram by posting:

1. A photo of a cocktail that embodies your city (no branding or people to be included)
2. Tag @theauchentoshan and use #newmaltorder so we can track your entry
3. Tag your bar (e.g. @scoutldn)
4. Post details of your cocktail’s ingredients and methodology
5. Post an outline of your City inspiration behind the cocktail

To find out more and to enter, visit

www.instagram.com/theauchentoshan or www.auchentoshan.com/newmaltorder

facebook.com/Auchentoshan/

instagram.com/theauchentoshan

twitter.com/Auchentoshan

http://www.auchentoshan.com/ 

Notes:  

The Auchentoshan New Malt Order collective:

Name                          Country                      Bar

Jack Wareing UK Dandelyan (2016)
Georgia Billings UK Plateau (2016)
Jan Jehli Germany Parlous Bar (2016)
Lucia Schurmann Germany Galander (2016)
Michele Heinrich Germany Kinly Bar (2016)
Oliver Stern Canada Toronto Temperance Society (2016)
Valerie Alvardo USA Terminal Bar Union Station (2016)
Kristina Magro USA Fulton Market Kitchen (2016)
Jonathan Shock USA Gallagher’s Grill (2016)
Tommy Klus USA La Moule (2016)
Linus Morgan Sweden Tap Room Kungsholmen (2016)
Charlotte Halsius Sweden Ling Long (2016)
André Duncan Canada Bar consultant (2017)
Karl-Martin Edin Sweden Open/Closed (2017)
Sascha Geiersberg Germany Luna Lounge (2017)
Christian Herberholz Germany Das Schwarze Schaf (2017)
Nicholas Incretolli Canada Bar Sazerac (2017)
Robert Kramer USA The Brick Yard (2017)
Charles Roche UK Scout (2017)
Lachlan Rooney UK The Voodoo Rooms (2017)
Jeremiah Schenzel USA Daps (2017)
Nathaniel Smith USA Spoon & Stable (2017)
Filipp Vovnenko Russia The Balance (2017, pictured above)
Kimber Weissert USA Butcher and Rye (2017)

Awards for Auchentoshan:

Bartenders’ Brand Awards 2018 | Silver for Auchentoshan Bartenders’ Malt 01

IWSC 2017 | Silver for Auchentoshan American Oak

IWSC 2017 | Silver for Auchentoshan Three Wood

IWSC 2017 | Silver for Auchentoshan 12 Year Old

IWSC 2017 | Silver for Auchentoshan 18 Year Old

IWSC 2017 | Silver for Auchentoshan 21 Year Old

IWSC 2017 | Silver for Auchentoshan Blood Oak

ISC 2017 | Silver for Auchentoshan Three Wood

ISC 2017 | Silver for Auchentoshan Blood Oak

ISC 2017 | Silver for Auchentoshan 12 Year Old

ISC 2017 | Silver for Auchentoshan 18 Year Old

ISC 2017 | Silver for Auchentoshan 21 Year Old 

About Auchentoshan^®

After 200 years of urban life in Glasgow Auchentoshan is part of the city and the city is part of Auchentoshan. It is the only Single Malt Scotch Whisky to triple distil every last drop to create its delicate flavour. Smooth, but gusty. Approachable but deep. Auchenstoshan is the alternative malt for newcomers and whisky lovers alike. 

About Beam Suntory Inc.

As the world’s third largest premium spirits company, Beam Suntory is Crafting the Spirits Brands that Stir the World.  Consumers from all corners of the globe call for the company’s brands, including the iconic Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark bourbon brands and Suntory whisky Kakubin, as well as world renowned premium brands including Knob Creek bourbon, Yamazaki, Hakushu and Hibiki Japanese whiskies, Teacher’s, Laphroaig, and Bowmore Scotch whiskies, Canadian Club whisky, Courvoisier cognac, Hornitos and Sauza tequila, EFFEN and Pinnacle vodka, Sipsmith gin, and Midori liqueur.

Beam Suntory was created in 2014 by combining the world leader in bourbon and the pioneer in Japanese whisky to form a new company with a deep heritage, passion for quality, innovative spirit and commitment to Growing for Good.  Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Beam Suntory is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings Limited of Japan.  For more information on Beam Suntory, its brands, and its commitment to social responsibility, please visit www.beamsuntory.com and www.drinksmart.com.

© 2016 Beam Suntory Inc., Merchandise Mart, 222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 1600, Chicago, IL 60654