FEBRUARY AUCTION NOW LIVE
(ends Sunday 25th February)
…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!
Hello everyone! I’m back! There’s only so long a chest infection can keep me down. This is, as far as I’m aware. the first and only single malt scotch to be matured solely in 100% ex-American Rye casks. As a result of doing this, the flavour profile gives you a combination of sweet vanilla, fudge and toffee that is all mixed in with some light earthy rye spices. Cardamon, cinnamon, rye and light slightly muddy flavours that run through the whisky. This whisky wasn’t designed to be either savory or sweet it’s a good combo of both, subtle and sweet with a good mix of everything, it’s just a good, solid and interesting solid single malt. Cheers!
Whisky Reviews every Wednesday ~ Facebook.com/whiskytube ~ Twitter.com/whiskytube ~ Youtube.com/whiskywednesday
SAZERAC’S OLD MONTREAL DISTILLERY NOW DISTILLING WHISKY
MONTREAL (Feb. 14, 2018) History was made earlier this year when Canadian whisky was distilled in downtown Montreal for the first time in decades at the Sazerac Company’s Old Montreal Distillery. For more than a year Sazerac has been putting the elements in place, installing grain mills and a 4,000 gallon mash cooker, converting existing equipment and hooking up fermenters. Recently a key piece, a brand new still, was added to the Distillery located in the downtown Montreal area, adjacent to the Port and Old Montreal. The still is 18 inches in diameter and 37 feet tall and was made at Vendome in Louisville, Ky.
The Old Montreal Distillery has long had the capacity to distill spirits, including Genever gin, but had always wanted to bring back whisky distillation to Montreal. “With the long standing connection this city has had with distilling premium Canadian whisky, through the headquarters of the legendary Seagram Company and its patriarch Sam Bronfman, it was always a goal of ours to bring whisky distilling back to Montreal,” said Mark Brown, Sazerac Company president and chief executive officer.
Not only does the new still mean Canadian whisky will be made here, it will also allow experiments with new whiskies, something Sazerac is itching to do. “With over 500,000 Canadian whisky barrels in inventory, we’re anxious to get started experimenting here in Montreal similar to what we do at our other distilleries,” said Drew Mayville, Sazerac’s master blender. The Montreal project holds a special place in Mayville’s heart, a native Canadian now living in Kentucky, who worked for Seagram’s for 22 years, serving as the fourth and last Master Blender under the Seagram dynasty.
Plans are still under wraps for now as to which Canadian whisky or whiskies will be made at the Old Montreal Distillery, and a formal christening of the still will be held later this year. It is likely tours will be added later this year as well.
The Old Montreal Distillery dates back to 1929. It currently employs more than 100 people. The addition of the new distilling operation adds a few more full time employees. Caribou Crossing, the world’s first single barrel Canadian whisky, is bottled at the Old Montreal Distillery, along with many other long time favorites.
About the Sazerac Company
Sazerac is one of America’s oldest family owned, privately held distillers with operations in the United States in Louisiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Maryland, California, and global operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, India, Australia and Canada. For more information on Sazerac, please visit www.sazerac.com.
Diploma in Single Malt comes to London
The Edinburgh Whisky Academy is expanding and hosting the first Diploma in Single Malt Whisky course in London on Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th March. The venue is the Caledonian Club near Hyde Park Corner and there are only a few places left.
The Diploma course will teach candidates on
The History of Whisky
The Business of Whisky
Raw Materials
Batch Distillation
Maturation
Sensory
World Whiskies
As the course is accredited by the Scottish Qualifications Authority, there is an exam on the second afternoon to ensure candidates have understood the material.
Comments from previous candidates:
“Fantastic opportunity to develop complete knowledge about single malts”
“Detailed information given by an authoritative and experienced lecturer”
“A ‘must attend’ for any aspiring brand ambassadors”
FIND YOUR FLAVOUR MATCH
Prepare your senses as we take a journey through our ever-changing variety of single cask whiskies. All 12 of our flavour profiles are available online now with something for all tastes, moods and occasions – visit our online shop to find your favourite flavour match.
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
St. Patrick’s Whiskey Shenanigans!
Our next tasting series will be a bit of a departure from the usual sit-down, serious whisky tasting stuff. We wanted to bring a bit of fun into your March, and what better excuse than around St. Patrick’s Day? We will have whiskey for you of course, but we will also be feeding you some delicious Irish Stew, playing some traditional music and turning the Craic up to 11! Whiskey-wise, we will have some really interesting drams from some of the new distilleries that have been popping up in recent years, alongside a few established ones…
All of this for just £35! You really can’t say fairer than that!
16th March
York – Brigantes
17th March
London – Marlborough Arms
(plus Rugby – its gonna get lively!)
20th March
Leeds – The Northern Monk
22nd March
Birmingham – The Edgbaston
23rd March
Manchester – The Britons Protection
26th March
Sheffield – The Sheffield Tap
We hope to see you soon!
Slainte!
Eddie
Amanda, Guy, Rupert, Vicky, Connas, Chris
The Whisky Lounge Team
We turn 10 years old in 2018
Come and help us celebrate in style at one of our nationwide festivals or tasting events.
Cambus, along with Bowmore, is a distillery we will always stock from when available. One of Diageo’s top grain distilleries until it was closed forever in 1993, not only are the Cambus whiskies smooth and round in character from front to back, but because the distillery has been gone for 25 years now it means that every bottle consumed from this point out moves the whisky a step closer to total extinction! This 29 year comes in at 48.9% with less richness from the oak than our previous 25 year cask, but with more vanilla and nuance. In essence, if you’re a fan of the Nikka Coffey Grain expression, consider this an older, full proof version for a hot price. The nose is a standard grain profile of buttery oak, but on the palate those flavors open up into toasted coconut and cookie dough. It’s a mellow, easy drinking whisky and an ice cube works wonders. 281 total bottles available, minus the one I’m sipping on right now!
Isle of Arran Distillery announces record visitor numbers to
award-winning Lochranza site
The award-winning Isle of Arran Distillery visitor centre at Lochranza welcomed a record number of visitors last year. Almost 110,000 people made the journey to find ‘the Arran Waters’ in 2017 – a 6% increase on 2016 – meaning visitor numbers have more than doubled since 2012.
With the Scotch Whisky Association’s most recent report estimating 1.7 million visits to all 130 Scotch whisky distilleries, Arran accounts for 7%. An impressive total considering its isolated location and distance from other producers.
The independent distillery recorded a turnover of over £6.9m in 2016 – an increase of 11% – with the Visitor Centre contributing 17% of this total.
Over the six years from 2010 – a period of extensive investment – turnover has increased two and half times and net profit surged tenfold to over £1.3.
Euan Mitchell, managing director of the Isle of Arran Distillers, said: “2017 was another fantastic year for us – both in terms of tourism and sales of the Arran Malt itself.
“We’re particularly proud that so many people are making the journey to Lochranza – from self-proclaimed whisky tourist to curious holiday-makers on Arran and everyone inbetween.
“It is for this reason that we have placed so much emphasis on the visitor experience. With the completion of a £1m renovation at Lochranza, and with the current construction of second £10m distillery and visitor centre site on the south of the island at Lagg, we intend to improve an already world-class whisky tourism destination.”
As a consequence of this investment, last year the distillery was awarded Best Contribution to Wine and Spirits Tourism at the international Drinks Business Awards and Best Distillery/Brewery Tour at the Scottish Outdoor and Leisure Awards.
Faye Waterlow, visitor centre manager at Lochranza, said: “We have long recognised the value of giving consumers the chance to experience the whisky making process and the source of the Arran spirit. We appreciate the enormous contribution that the location of our distillery makes.
“The steady growth of the visitor centre is a testament to increasing consumer demand for authenticity and whisky with a story to tell. We look forward to sharing this story with even more visitors when the second site opens next year.”
Total visitor numbers to both sites are expected to exceed 200,000 by 2020 once the new visitor centre in Lagg has been opened. The contribution to turnover is forecast to exceed £2m a year.
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.)
Best Contribution to Wine and Spirits Tourism – Drinks Business Awards 2017
Best Distillery/Brewery Tour – Scottish Outdoor and Leisure Awards 2017
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.
One week of Highland Park discount at Musthavemalts.com
From the 21st of February 8PM CET until exactly one week later, we will be celebrating our love for Highland Park whiskies. How will we be celebrating, you might ask? Not only by drinking bottled Viking spirit heavily and responsibly, but first and foremost by handing out discounts on ALL the 25+ different Highland Park releases we have in stock. Have you been looking for that super rare HP 1968 Arcadian, but you thought the price could be better? The price will be better, for a whole week (or until someone buys it). Vintages? Check. Special bottlings? Of course. The USA only Magnus release and other recent rare releases! Aye. HP 1968 Tantalus? It will be there, with a discount.
Discount for everyone!
Sweet! But please keep in mind that we specialize in rare and hard to find whiskies at Musthave Malts, which means our stock is limited. Real Vikings don’t cry, they conquer. Act quickly if you fancy a share of collectible Highland Park: other enthusiasts might snatch away your loot and leave you behind with a blend of salty, non-aged tears.
Want to be notified on the start of Highland Park Week? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Want to see which Highland Park Whiskies are available? Check out our Highland Park supply here!
About Musthave Malts
Musthavemalts.com – MHM for friends – is a website that specializes in collectible whiskies, whiskeys and bourbon. Our aim is to create a super optimal and easy shopping experience for everyone who would normally spend a lot of time on their passion: expanding their awesome collection of even more awesome drams. See Musthavemalts.com for all our collectible whiskies. For more information on our Highland Park Week, please contact us on info@musthavemalts.com.
One in a million…
That may be special, but when it comes to whisky, one in a few hundred is even better! This week has seen the arrival of the third batch of Glenglassaugh’s Rare Cask Releases, a series of eight expressions all aged between 30 and 50 years old, and all limited to just a few hundred bottles.
Next day UK delivery available
International Shipping
Glenglassaugh 1986 30 Year Old
Part of the third batch of Rare Cask Releases from Glenglassaugh, this Highland single malt was distilled on 19th February 1986 and aged in a single Pedro Ximenez sherry puncheon, cask #1393, for three decades before bottling in November 2016 at a cask strength of 42.6% abv. Limited to just 425 bottles. The nose has dark chocolate notes with red grape and blackcurrant, black pepper and a floral oak spice. On the palate there’s fresh plum syrup, heather honey, gentle chocolate notes and candied ginger, with soft barley sugar.
View all the Rare Cask Releases in Batch 3 including a 50 year old from 1965
