Friday, July 26th 5-7PM: 

Scotch Tasting: Glenlivet 

Come by for our expert presented in-store scotch tasting featuring Glenlivet. Promoted as “The Single Malt that Started it All,” Glenlivet distillery was founded in 1824 in Moray, Scotland- and has operated almost continuously since. At this tasting, guests will be treated to a variety of rare and award-winning drams and be able to personalize bottles purchased at the tasting with their very own custom Glenlivet whisky label.

Pourlist will feature Glenlivet’s 12 Year Old and Cognac Cask 14 year old expressions.

Click Here to RSVP

ralfy tastes rye and barley as a ‘fusion’ flavour !

https://youtu.be/9D4uW_o3Wek

BLADNOCH DISTILLERY LAUNCHES STATE-OF-THE-ART VISITORS CENTRE

The 25th of July will mark the official opening of Bladnoch Distillery’s new state-of-the-art Visitors Centre in the heart of Dumfries and Galloway. The iconic distillery is one of the oldest working distilleries in Scotland and is owned by Australian businessman, David Prior.

The new Visitors Centre will feature a historical gallery, gift shop, café, and tasting bar serving the entire range of Bladnoch Single Malt Scotch whiskies and Pure Scot Blended Scotch Whiskies. At least two tours of the distillery will  be offered daily during the high season, taking guests on a journey through the distillery’s history and showcasing how Bladnoch Single Malt is crafted on site.

Bladnoch Distillery was founded in 1817 by the McClelland brothers who were some of the first in Scotland to acquire a license to make Scotch Whisky. In 2015, David Prior purchased the distillery with plans to reinvent the Bladnoch Single Malt offering and restore the historic distillery.

He enlisted the help of acclaimed Master Distiller, Ian MacMillan, and has invested over five million pounds into installing all new equipment including two pairs of copper stills from Forsyths of Rothes and six new wooden washbacks. Since 2017, the distillery has produced new make spirit once more, and has launched multiple awardwinning expressions across both of its brands, Bladnoch and Pure Scot.

David Prior said of the re-opening of the historic distillery, “Over the past 4 years my team and I have restored and upgraded the distilling operation of Bladnoch and launched our Bladnoch Single Malts into 30 countries.

The opening of the Visitor Centre represents the final piece of this exciting and rewarding project. We are delighted to welcome guests from all over the world and deliver Bladnoch back to the local community, as an ongoing source of pride and employment.”

Earlier this year, Bladnoch Distillery announced that former Master Distiller of The Macallan, Dr Nick Savage, would join the team as their newly appointed Master Distiller. Nick Savage played an integral part in launching The Macallan Visitor Experience in 2018 and will now lead the team producing whisky in the heart of the Lowlands.

For more information on the Bladnoch Distillery Visitors Centre, please visit www.bladnoch.com/visit-bladnoch/ and sign up to our mailing list for regular updates here: http://eepurl.com/dsUrDn 

Drioglann Cléire – Cape Clear Distillery
Newsletter – July 2019

New Office and Staffing

We are very pleased to have moved into our new office overlooking the distillery building against the background of Roaringwater Bay, which inspires our gin and whiskey.  This coincided with our first employee, Treasa Ní Ceadagáin who has been doing trojan work towards getting us started.

We also have a small merchandise shop beside the office, stocking all our branded t-shirts, hats, bags and with our fabulous selection of branded glassware on the way. Fáilte roimh Treasa go dtí an foireann. Ar aghaidh go pras, tá obair ag fanacht orainn!

Wiring and CCTV

We are now to be fully fitted with CCTV and burglar alarms to Revenue standards installed by O’Mahony Security Ltd.  Another significant step taken towards the final goal.  Bhí na Leaids seo éifeachtach agus geal gáireach agus iad i mbon a gcuid dúlgaisí agus ba dheas iad a bheith linn don lá.

Health and Environmental Officer

We also had a very successful visit from the health and safety officer recently. She was very happy if not quite complimentary about the progress made since her first visit. There are only some relatively minor improvements required according to her recommendations and these are well in hand. Táimíd ag obair go dian dícheallach ar na moltaí seo.

Bottling Machine 

A welcomed arrival from Italy during the week was our bottling plant. This is a major step towards getting our final product out onto the shelves and in the hands of you the consumer. Measaimíd go bhfuil cuma iontach ar an trealamh seo agus táimíd ar bís chun é a chur in úsáid.

Údarás na Gaeltachta

Our flag flew high to welcome Údarás na Gaeltachta Máire Ní Shé to the Distillery for the first time on Monday the 9^th of July. She too was very happy to see the progress of the Distillery and the benefits a business like Drioglann Cléire can bring to the island, both directly and indirectly. With the help of the Údarás our ‘clár teanga’ was further developed which hopes to strengthen the link between business and the Gaeltacht. Is í an Ghaeilge gnáth teanga oibre na hoifige.

Bottles

We show our first consignment of bottles which arrived recently as planned. This was an exciting day for us and we were glad of some extra hands to have them stacked and ready for production. Bhí fáilte mór roimh an lámh cúnta ó Patsi agus Seán.

Revenue
We also hosted our penultimate visit by the Customs and Excise people who have confirmed that the paperwork for the license is now complete is being forwarded for approval. It may or may not happen that a further query will arise and we shall deal with that promptly if it happens.

Our Recipe

We feel that a lot of work has been done on our recipe which will stand us in good stead into the future. We strongly feel that the product in our bottles should meet the highest expectations of our customers and getting there takes time and effort.  We say mile buíochas to our dedicated team. Ní fiú jab a dheanamh gan é a dheanamh go maith.

First 1,000 Bottles

We show the almost final version of the label for our first 1,000 bottles. These will be numbered from 1 to 1,000 and will be sold through a local licensed intermediary. The bottles will retail at €40 and shareholders will receive a discount of 10%, thus a shareholders price of €36. We propose to hold a public draw in Club Cléire to determine who gets number nos. 1 to 300. The rest will be sold on a first come, first served basis. As soon as the license and the first distillations are confirmed the offer to purchase these unique bottles will be also be open the public. Meanwhile shareholders who wish to prepurchase these first bottles can do so by transferring multiples of €36 to our new account Drioglann Cléire, AIB, Skibbereen, Co Cork IE45AIBK93637515816004. The transfer should include a reference to the sender and an email should also be sent to confirm. The cost does not include transport so bottles can be held awaiting collection or delivered via the formidable Cape Clear Island network of friends and supporters. Sweat investors who have not yet received their shares are also included in this offer as are shareholders in local private companies which have invested in us.  Beidh spóirt again leis an crannchur seo agus cé gur fada uainn an lá tá sé ag teacht.

It Hasn’t Been Easy

The last few weeks and months have been difficult and challenging and there are hurdles still to come. But we have, nevertheless made relentless progress towards our goal  and we are optimistic that the first distillation is not far off now and , we earnestly hope, to be announced in the next e-news.

Our mailing address is:

Cape Clear Island Distillery
Cape Clear Island
County Cork
Ireland

Barrell Bourbon “K&L Exclusive” 14 Year Old Cask Strength Single Barrel #E522 Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml)

$109.99 View

Barrell has firmly established themselves as the premier independent bottler of American spirits. It’s casks like this one that showcase how they did it. While there is a plethora of aged Tennessee whiskey on the market at the moment, there is certainly an enormous variation in the quality of those casks. Careful selection by Barrell and a subsequent selection by us at K&L has led to this beauty being bottled. At 14 years old it really shows its age in all the best ways. It’s dark and spicy without being overly tannic. The sweet brown sugars have caramelized perfectly into a robust and complex whisky expressing notes of chocolate, citrus, and a lively herbacous note to be savored. Clocking in at nearly 108 proof it’s a powerful whiskey, but not overly hot. (-Andrew Whiteley, K&L Spirits Buyer).

JULYAUCTION ENDS SOON!
(ends Sunday 28th July)

…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/zLntGzr2Vyg

 I LOVE GLEN SCOTIA! Let’s get that part out of the way first. This is a throw back to their old school days, pre-prohibition stuff. When Campbletown ruled the world…some would say that it still does today. Less talk, more booze! Cheers!

Whisky Reviews every Wednesday ~ Facebook.com/whiskytube ~ Twitter.com/whiskytube ~ Youtube.com/whiskywednesday

Irish, Rockstar-approved whiskey to hit the auction block at Victor Mee Auctions

The team behind family-run Cavan auction house Victor Mee Auctions have announced a once-in-a-lifetime collection of pieces scheduled to hit the auction block for their two-day sale on Tuesday 30th and Wednesday 31st July. Titled ‘The Clermont Collection Rare Advertising, Pub Memorabilia and Architectural Fittings,’ the sale – which is sure to be the highlight of any avid collector’s summer – offers bidders the chance to own pieces of the history of the iconic Louth institution, the Clermont Arms pub, Blackrock.

The Clermont Collection has been carefully developed over the last 30 years, housed within The Clermont Arms, and is now being sold at auction. The wide variety of pieces included in the collection includes show-stopping advertising mirrors, vintage showcards, figurines, bar fixtures and fittings, whiskey bottles, confectionary cabinets and enamel advertising all produced between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Commenting on the exciting chance to oversee and execute the sale auctioneer and proprietor Victor Mee said, “This may be one of the rarest collections I have come across in over 40 years in the industry, the likes of this may never be seen again in Ireland. It is extremely rare to see a single owner collection like this on to the market. Typically, over time, mass collections like this are usually broken up, given to family members or forgotten about.”

Whiskey fit for a rock star

A star lot within the ‘The Clermont Collection Rare Advertising, Pub Memorabilia and Architectural Fittings’ is an 1880s bottle of Cassidy & Co. Monasterevin whiskey, matured by the Cassidy family who made whiskey from 1784 until 1921 at their County Kildare mill. In recent years, the Ballykelly Mill has been restored by businessman and property investor Paddy McKillen, with support from U2 frontman Bono who has been named as an investor to help revive Monasterevin’s rich heritage in producing the finest whiskey going back to the 18th century.

This bottle of Cassidy & Co. Monasterevin whiskey is sure to light up the eyes of any whiskey lover or collector in Victor Mee Auctions’ upcoming July sale. In addition, ‘The Clermont Collection’ sale will also see a rare early 20th century Irish copper whiskey still go to auction. The whiskey still is roughly 300 litres and would look great displayed in a bar or may also be of interest to whiskey distilleries to utilise in their current development.

“Whiskey is another area of expertise for us at Victor Mee Auctions and selling extremely rare bottles of whiskey is becoming a common occurrence for us, much to our delight! We are looking forward to offering up such a unique bottle of whiskey as part of ‘The Clermont Collection’ sale, which has virtually been given the seal of approval from such a globally-known Irish Rockstar!” added Bryan Mee.

For more information on the upcoming 30th – 31st July The Clermont Collection Rare Advertising, Pub Memorabilia and Architectural Fittings sale at Victor Mee Auctions visit www.victormeeauctions.ie.

Raasay Distillery, situated off the north-west coast of Scotland on the idyllic Isle of Raasay, has gained international acclaim for both their rich and fruity single malt scotch whisky and their impressive calendar of regular ‘Raasay Tunes’ music events. Since the opening of their impressive visitors’ centre in January 2018, Raasay Distillery have hosted a wide range of artists, from local favourites to international stars.

On the 28th September, ‘Raasay Tunes’ welcomes two of Scotland’s most popular Highland multi-instrumentalists, Mairearad Green on accordion, bagpipes and vocals and Anna Massie on guitar, banjo, fiddle and vocals. Having performed for over ten years as a duo, the pair are famous for their combination of highly energetic performance and warm, funny stage presence. Tickets here.

On the 1st November, Raasay Distillery looks forward to a night of music and entertainment from The Donald Black Band. A native of Benderloch, Argyll, Donald’s roots are firmly steeped in the West of Scotland Highland Bagpipe and Gaelic tradition, but his repertoire extends well beyond to embrace the idioms of Ireland, Shetland Isles, Nova Scotia and mainland Scotland. He is totally self-taught and embraces his own unique style, which has taken him across the world from Moscow to Kansas City, Chicago to Stornoway. Tickets here.

On the 15th November, by popular island demand, Willie Campbell brings his song-filled solo performance back to Raasay. An energy-filled night of beautifully crafted songs from his cross-genre repertoire ranging across Country and Western, Pop and Hebridean Americana to Trad Gaelic awaits visitors to the distillery, and his irresistible hook-filled melodies, ringing guitar sound and catchy choruses are guaranteed to flush out the reluctant Raasay crooners in the audience. Tickets here.

Each event will cost £12 and will take place in the distillery Gathering Room from 8 pm until late (doors open at 6.30pm).

Exclusive Apollo 11
50th Anniversary Bottling

One Giant Leap Deanston 10 Year Old

Fifty years ago Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong took “One giant leap for mankind” when he set foot on the Moon – one of the most historic, scientific and culturally significant events of the 20 Century.

To mark this occasion, TheWhiskyBarrel.com has bottled a single American oak first fill Pedro Ximenez sherry cask distilled in 2009 at the Deanston Highland distillery. Yielding 276 numbered bottles at cask strength 61.6%.

In the interest of fairness One Giant Leap Deanston 10 Year Old is limited to one bottle per customer (but you don’t have to be an astronaut to buy it!)

Shop – One Giant Leap – $127.85