Harvest-time is fast approaching (weather permitting!), and the local barley we use to make our single malt whiskies is nearly ripe and ready. Read all about why we are committed to using 100% locally-grown barley and the importance of Cotswolds terroir on our latest blog.
Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 332: Support Local Products
Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky vlogger, feels that in these times of Corona crisis it is important to support local products. So buy local! To help you out Mark gladly presents to you ten producers of Belgian spirits, whisky and beer. Sit back and relax, for the video lasts 25 minutes. Then put on your face mask and run to your local shop to get some of this wonderful product and enjoy!
Buffalo Trace Distillery Continues Expansion
$1.2 Billion Investment Underway to Increase Bourbon Supply For Future Years
FRANKFORT, Franklin County, Ky (Aug. 11, 2020) Buffalo Trace Distillery is grateful it has been able to survive Prohibition, the Great Depression, numerous floods, two World Wars, and is now working hard navigating through a pandemic, all the while never ceasing to make whiskey. Currently in the middle of a $1.2 billion infrastructure investment, this National Historic Landmark has made great strides in the past year. Still, Buffalo Trace predicts it will be a few more years before their whiskey supply catches up with demand, as consumers’ taste for its whiskeys continue to increase.
In the past year, this 247-year-old Distillery has installed four new cookers, four new fermenters, opened a new high speed-bottling hall, and completed construction on three more barrel warehouses. Here are more details on each project:
Just before the end of 2019, Buffalo Trace started cooking corn in its four new 22- foot tall cookers. The cookers are responsible for pressure-cooking the milled grain before the mash is cooled and fermented. The new cookers span three floors in height and give Buffalo Trace 80,000 gallons of cooking capacity, which is more than two and a half times the volume of the old cookers. The roof of the 1930s era Mash House was removed to install the massive cookers into the building. New cookers for the other grains were also installed to cook rye, wheat and malted barley.
Four new fermenters were also added last summer in the 1880s building that formerly housed the larger bottling operation. Each of these 93,000 gallon vats are slightly bigger than the twelve existing fermenters in use since 1933. A new cooling tower, which cools down the grains after they are cooked into mash, was also added.
A new $50 million high-speed bottling hall was completed in late 2019, located on site near the distribution center. The bottling hall is 110,000 square feet and offers improved efficiency, flexibility and overall quality for the Distillery’s award-winning brands. Happily, it came online just in time to also package hand sanitizer, which the company started producing on March 27th in response to Covid-19. The hand sanitizer is being made for some of the world’s largest organizations in healthcare, government, military, retail, airline, pharmacy and financial industries. The Distillery plans to continue to supply hand sanitizer for as long as the need is there.
Three new barrel warehouses have been completed in the past year, EE, FF, and GG, joining four other newly filled warehouses. Each warehouse holds 58,800 barrels, costing about $7 million each to build and another $21 million each to fill with barrels. Barrel warehouses HH, JJ and II are in various stages of construction now. Fifteen new barrel warehouses will be built on the 200 acres of land known as the “Whiskey Farm,” purchased adjacent to Buffalo Trace a few years ago. Every warehouse at Buffalo Trace is heated during the winter months, a rarity for bourbon warehouses, but a tradition started by E.H. Taylor Jr. in the 1800s. The reason for heating the warehouses is to keep the bourbon moving in and out of the wood to yield more flavor and color as barrels mature during the cold Kentucky winters, rather than lying dormant when the temperature drops.
Also in the works are eight more fermenters, a new dry house (the area where spent mash is dried and shipped out), a water treatment facility, a second still house, more barrel warehouses, and in the future, another craft bottling hall. Another craft bottling hall will allow Buffalo Trace to produce more single barrel and small batch bourbons.
Tours resumed July 1, and guests are now able to see the expanded Visitor Center at Buffalo Trace, which backs up to the recently completed fermenter expansion and includes additional tasting rooms and more retail space. The expanded Visitor Center triples the size of the former space, to accommodate for the ever-increasing interest in bourbon tourism, which accounted for nearly 300,000 visitors to Buffalo Trace in 2019.
Even with all this expansion progress, demand for Buffalo Trace Bourbon and other whiskeys made at the award-winning Distillery continues to outpace supply, as most of its whiskeys age for eight years or more. “Although we’ve been increasing production on all of our bourbons for the past several years, the consumer demand also continues to increase,” said Kris Comstock, senior marketing director. “We understand fans are frustrated when they can’t find our brands on liquor store shelves. While we are bottling and shipping record amounts, overall demand outstrips supply, and as a result our brands will continue to remain allocated to ensure every state receives some each month.”
Allocations of favorite brands like Eagle Rare, Weller, Blanton’s and E.H. Taylor are increasing faster with each passing year and at the same time Buffalo Trace has been able to unveil several new whiskeys, such as Weller Full Proof and Weller Single Barrel, Double Eagle Very Rare, Blanton’s Gold in the United States, Old Charter Oak, and several others.
“We promise we are doing everything we can to make more, as evidenced by our progress we’ve made in the past year with our expansion,” said Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley. “But great bourbon does take time to age, and we won’t comprise age, taste, or proof just to fill more bottles. We’re just asking our fans to remain patient as we wait for our stocks to mature.”
To see a video of the progress Buffalo Trace has made on its $1.2 billion expansion in the past year, click here.
About Buffalo Trace Distillery
Buffalo Trace Distillery is an American family-owned company based in Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky. The Distillery’s rich tradition dates back to 1775 and includes such legends as E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee. Buffalo Trace Distillery is a fully operational Distillery producing bourbon, rye and vodka on site and is a National Historic Landmark as well as is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Distillery has won 35 distillery titles since 2000 from such notable publications as Whisky Magazine, Whisky Advocate Magazine and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Its Col. E. H. Taylor, Jr. Four Grain Bourbon was named World Whiskey of the Year by “Jim Murray’s Whiskey Bible 2018” and its William Larue Weller and Thomas H. Handy Sazerac were named 2nd and 3rd finest whiskeys in the world, respectively, in the “Jim Murray Whiskey Bible 2020.” Buffalo Trace Distillery has also garnered more than 1,000 awards for its wide range of premium whiskies.
4 year old Inchfad bottled for the NHS with profits going to Healthcare charities
Independent Bottler The Single Cask have bottled a unique single cask whisky and is donating all profits to Healthcare charities.
The COVID crisis has been tough for everyone, and continues to present challenges. The heroes of the hour are our NHS, healthcare, and frontline workers. They have, and continue, to look after us all.
As soon as warehouses in Scotland opened again after lockdown, The Single Cask decided to swing into action and bottle something special. They chose a unique single cask Inchfad, distilled at Loch Lomond in the Highlands. Inchfad is rare today, with the distillery itself no longer bottling this range. This heavily-peated single malt scotch whisky is renowned for its soft fruit and malt notes.
The Single Cask selected a four year old ex-bourbon cask, distilled in 2016. At cask strength of 61.4% the whisky has been bottled in its natural colour and without chill-filtration.
Tasting notes for this whisky are:
● Nose: barbecued, smokey pineapple with sweet malt, seasoned with white pepper and cinnamon.
● Palate: soft tropical fruit in the form of pineapple and mango, with both the malt character of the original spirit and the influence of the oak cask coming through, together with a touch of white pepper and cinnamon.
● Finish: long and satisfying with elements from both nose and palate present – smoked pineapple with malt, oak and wood spice.
All profits from the 197 bottles of this single cask expression will be donated by The Single Cask to healthcare charities in recognition of, and in support of, their ongoing efforts fighting COVID.
This 4 year old Inchfad bottled for the NHS is available to buy for £49 at www.thesinglecask.co.uk/nhs
For further queries please contact Ed Leigh: ed@thesinglecask.co.uk
Notes
About The Single Cask
The Single Cask bottles unique spirits one cask at a time. We search hard to find exceptional single malt whisky, Irish whiskey, and American bourbon. We like whiskies that showcase a distillery’s characteristics or an interesting maturation technique. But in the end, if it’s delicious, we put it in a bottle. We bottle our whiskies at cask strength, natural colour, and without chill-filtration. This keeps the whisky as pure and natural as possible; just as we found it in the cask. Our glass bottles are styled like a decanter, designed to be passed around a group of friends as they enjoy sharing a dram together. The best whisky should be opened, shared and enjoyed; not left to gather dust on a shelf. We’re passionate about what we do. We’re here to get these single cask releases into whisky-lovers’ hands.
The Single Cask be found here
● Website: www.thesinglecask.co.uk
● Instagram: @thesinglecask
● Twitter: @the_single_cask
● Facebook: @thesinglecaskuk
We have hidden a bottle of Ledaig 42 Year Old in one of our Tobermory 12 Year Old gift boxes. With a one in 300 chance to win, today could be your lucky day to get your hands on one of the last bottles of this highly-limited golden dram!
Peated, finished in Spanish sherry oak casks and worth a whopping £2,800; there’s no mistaking that Tobermory’s Ledaig 42 Year Old is the epitome of liquid gold.
To enter: simply buy a bottle of award-winning Tobermory 12 Year Old online (currently on sale!) before midnight on Sunday 30th August. When it comes to receiving your order, instead of the 12-year-old, perhaps your whisky gift box will reveal the golden dram…
Entrants must be 18 years and over; read the full T&Cs here.
Tobermory 12 Year Old
Was £50.00
Now £37.99
As we prepare to celebrate our spiritual home with The Gathering next month, we’ve taken the opportunity to once again delve into our deepest warehouses and select three exceptional casks to add to our Vaults Collection.
The whiskies of The Vaults Collection will transport you to another time and place, reliving whisky of a bygone era, this time from a group of distilleries which are rarely bottled by the Society. Pour a dram and indulge yourself in whiskies which are held in the highest regard by the Society’s esteemed Tasting Panel and create a moment of history in your own whisky journey.
To purchase bottlings such as these please contact the Society for Membership details…
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
A New Allocation of an Old Favorite from Suntory
Suntory Hakushu 12 Year Old Japanese Peated Single Malt Whisky (Elsewhere $195) ($119.99)
“Hakushu has always been my favorite of the Suntory malts.”
— Andrew Whiteley, K&L NorCal Spirits Buyer
NOTE: Our walk-in retail locations are currently closed. We have curbside pickup and low cost (often free) delivery options available in ZIP codes where we can ship lawfully, including anywhere in California. We can also include any new or existing will call orders in your delivery batch. Choose local delivery at checkout to learn if you qualify.
It is no secret that Japanese single malts have become wildly expensive in recent years. This is what happens when a limited-production collectible meets a precipitous climb in demand. That being said, on occasion, we are able to track down a bottling that bucks this trend and isn’t priced into the stratosphere—enter the Hakushu 12 Year Old. A prized bottling in Suntory’s impressive collection, this peated malt has developed quite a devoted following over the years. Graced with a modest touch of smoke, it unveils a classic Japanese profile of persimmon, melon, honey, vanilla, and jasmine. Lithe and elegant, there’s also some underlying power that makes the whole composition all the more intriguing. Priced elsewhere north of $200, we have this classic Japanese malt for a razor-sharp price of $119.99. This is a steal for a whiskey of this caliber and is practically unheard of in today’s market. Japanese whiskies with an age statement are harder to find by the day, so unearthing one with this kind of pedigree and so affordably priced is a real boon for collectors. We sold through an allocation of the dazzling single malt in record time earlier this year and expect this allocation will go just as quickly. You’ll want to make your move now to secure your bottles.
Suntory Hakushu 12 Year Old Japanese Peated Single Malt Whisky (Elsewhere $195) ($119.99)
Whisky Advocate: “Although only two years older, this expression of Hakushu—the first to be launched in the U.S.—shows a fleshier side to the distillery’s wares. While it has retained the freshness of the 10 year old, it shows more pineapple and grapefruit on the nose, with a little fragrance of jasmine and osmanthus. On the palate, it’s fresh and lively with a hint of persimmon and a tickle of smoke. Recommended. (DB, Spring 2012)”
K&L Notes: Suntory’s Hakushu, known as the “forest distillery,” was built in 1973 as a sister distillery to Suntory’s Yamazaki (previously the only Japanese single malt available in the United States). The facility is located at a high-elevation site next to the pristine waters of the Ojira River, which are used to dilute the whisky itself. Hakushu distillery uses different styles of oak barrel to age their single malt, but mainly hogshead, which, according to the distillery is, “suitable to the clear air and cool humid climate.” The 12-year old from Hakushu is lightly peated and very delicate in its flavor profile. The light and fruity style of the whisky is quite similar to the Yamazaki 12, but the smoke really makes up for any lack of richness. We’ve seen insane price increases over the last five years on Japanese whisky and inventory getting tighter and tighter, but for a limited time, we have Hakushu 12 in stock and available to sell, and at a fraction of the price you’ll see at many other retailers across the country.
Andrew Whiteley | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: June 27, 2019
Hakushu has always been my favorite of the Suntory malts. The sweet and elegant malt profile is rounded out beautifully by the gentle peat smoke giving the whisky more body and texture than its brothers. The “forest distillery” also produces a verdant whisky – it feels green and fresh, cool and earthy. Moist peat and cool mint gently hold up the bouquet of flowers and cereal notes. The palate is extremely balanced with pepper and cinnamon playing off of the sweeter grain notes. The smoke is more rich body than intense fire. A long and earthy finish is sweetened by a maple syrup and caramel note that leaves a very pleasant aftertaste. With Japanese whisky being so hard to get these days, you have to get while the gettin’ is good.
Gary Westby | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: June 27, 2019
This expertly crafted single malt has extraordinary balance for a peaty style and a refreshing salty lightness that makes me come back for more. I love that this has the smoke and complexity of peat, but doesn’t get bogged down with oily heaviness. To the contrary, this is a refreshing whisky that is fantastic to enjoy after a big meal!
Edition 1.1 of Waterford Ballykilcavan. A new Irish distiller who are spicing up the game for everyone. Single sourced barley, 50%ABV, no colouring, no filtering and the most detailed website from any brand that I’ve ever seen from a distiller. Terroir in whisky, is it possible? Is it even attainable?
LOCH LOMOND WHISKIES REVEALS COMPLETE BRAND REFRESH
Loch Lomond Whiskies has unveiled a complete brand refresh which includes redesigned packaging across its domestic and Global Travel Retail single malt Scotch whisky ranges.
The investment comes after strong business growth over the past five years which has seen Loch Lomond Whiskies become one of the top five fastest growing single malt brands in the world, listed in over 125 markets.
The new look packaging introduces a more contemporary aesthetic alongside simple flavour descriptors allowing consumers to easily navigate their way through the portfolio.
The restructured portfolio brings the Inchmurrin 12 year old and Inchmoan 12 year old under the Loch Lomond Whiskies brand, forming the heart of the range alongside Loch Lomond 12 year old.
These three expressions demonstrate the capability of Loch Lomond’s innovative distillation and long fermentation, which can deliver a range of flavour profiles, from the light and fruity Inchmurrin to the heavily peated Inchmoan, with Loch Lomond 12 year old in between. Loch Lomond Original, Loch Lomond Classic, Loch Lomond 10 year old and Loch Lomond 18 year old complete the domestic portfolio.
A further three aged Loch Lomond single malts are due for release later in 2020, building the appeal of the range.
John Grieveson, Chief Marketing Officer, commented: “We recognise that in a growing and increasingly fragmented market the continued success of the Loch Lomond Whiskies portfolio depends on our ability to clearly communicate what makes our whiskies so unique. The breadth of flavour characteristics available across the range is unrivalled across the industry. Our investment in this brand refresh allows us to better communicate this range of flavour profiles to consumers, as well as improving stand out of the Loch Lomond Whiskies brand, and celebrating our much-loved location close to the banks of Loch Lomond.”
The new look packaging retains the familiar stag icon and features a more prominent Loch Lomond brand name and age statement to increase visibility on shelf. The outline of the famous Loch Lomond has been incorporated into the background of each gift box, celebrating the distillery’s enviable location. A simple flavour descriptor also features on both the gift box and bottle.
The design will also be rolled out across the Loch Lomond Whiskies Global Travel Retail range, better aligning the two collections, and improving brand recognition.
In 2018, Loch Lomond Whiskies entered a prestigious, five-year partnership with The Open, golf’s original championship. The partnership with The R&A includes support of the AIG Women’s British Open and showcases the full range of Loch Lomond Whiskies on a global scale. In February 2020, Loch Lomond Whiskies concluded a new agreement with the Professional Golfers’ Association (The PGA) to become a ‘PGA Partner’ and the title sponsor of the Scottish PGA Championship. More recently Loch Lomond Whiskies, have confirmed their commitment to golf as new sponsor of the European Tour’s newly launched ‘UK Swing’ in July and August.
Founded in 1814, the Loch Lomond distillery can trace its roots back to the Littlemill distillery, which was established in 1772 and is the oldest licensed distillery in the world. Its current malt and grain distilleries, in Alexandria, Dunbartonshire, close to the banks of Loch Lomond, were commissioned in 1964 with first distillation in 1966.
When it opened, Loch Lomond distillery’s ground-breaking straight necked stills were a revelation, enabling production of a lighter, fruitier spirit and greater control over the whisky’s character. Under the later ownership of the Bulloch family further distilling innovation took place with the aim of being self-sufficient. It is among only four distilleries in the Scotch whisky industry to maintain an onsite cooperage which makes and maintains 20,000 casks annually.
For further information visit www.lochlomondwhiskies.com .
Loch Lomond Whiskies Domestic Portfolio:
Loch Lomond Whiskies Global Travel Retail Portfolio:
Notes:
About the Loch Lomond Group
About Loch Lomond Whiskies
“UMIKI WHISKY is awarded with “GOLD” Medal from The World Whisky Masters 2020.
Osaka, JAPAN, 1st August 2020- At the The World Whisky Master 2020 competition – one of the world’s most progressive international spirits competition – Umiki Whisky was awarded with the “GOLD” medal within overall entrants.
About.Umiki Whisky – Ocean Fused Whisky From The Heart of Japanese Pine.
Yoshino Spirits Co. has added UMIKI Whisky – “World’s First Ocean Fused Whisky” to its portfolio, initially available in North American, Asian markets in April and rest global markets after May and onwards.
UMIKI is “World’s first Japanese Pine barrel aged whisky” and “World’s first ocean water fused whisky that uses only renewable water source for blending”
This sustainable process brings an exceptional smoothness with sea-breeze on the nose, rounded floral taste on the palate and a soothing freshness in the finish to UMIKI.
UMIKI has already picked up awards, winning Double Gold Awarded from China Wine & Spirits Awards 2020 and Gold Medal from World Spirits Award 2020.
Visit Umiki HERE
About The World Whisky Masters 2020:
In July 2020, The Spirits Business organized The World Whisky Masters competition in a drive to find and reward the finest World Whisky brands on the world stage. Chaired by The Spirits Business and a panel of leading spirits specialists, the World Whisky judged in a blind tasting, to discover the World Whisky Masters of 2020. www.thespiritsbusiness.com
