Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 349: Mortlach 20 Year Old 1978 Rare Malts Selection

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, got hold a golden oldie from the Rare Malts Selection. This Mortlach has by now been in the bottle longer than it ever spent in the cask. Distilled in 1978 and bottled after 20 years at a whopping 62.2% ABV. You’ll have a very hard time getting hold of this bottle now – or need very deep pockets – but Mark got his hands on it via a raffle and poured it as the finale in his online masterclass last October.

https://youtu.be/lHHRQUUlh_E

INTRODUCING THE MACALLAN DISTIL YOUR WORLD: THE LONDON EDITION

An extraordinary new collaboration with the Roca brothers  

The Macallan has unveiled Distil Your World: The London Edition, a unique limited edition single malt whisky providing a sensorial journey through one of the world’s greatest capital cities.

Marking the first global release in a ground-breaking series in collaboration with the Roca brothers to discover the essence of some of the world’s greatest cities, Distil Your World: The London Edition embodies London’s special charisma, and captures the people, experiences, colours and history that ultimately define the city.

United by an insatiable curiosity, quest for knowledge and dedication to mastery, The Macallan and the Roca brothers, owners of El Celler de Can Roca in Spain, twice named Best Restaurant in the World, explore different cultures and source inspiration for their own worlds of whisky-making and gastronomy.

Distil Your World: The London Edition is inspired by the long-standing partners’ journey and exploration through an uncharted London, with the purpose of distilling its soul and capturing the unique essence, aroma and flavour of the city in an exceptional single malt whisky.

In homage to its birthplace, the edition will be unveiled to the world in a highly coveted window display in Harrods’ world-famous flagship store in Knightsbridge, London on 1st November 2020. Over the years the renowned Hans Crescent window has hosted iconic displays from some of the world’s leading luxury brands and will showcase The Macallan’s remarkable whisky on a global stage.

During their adventure, The Macallan’s Whisky Maker Steven Bremner and Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca spent time with the craftspeople and creators who fuel London’s inimitable creativity and entrepreneurial drive; the committed leaders who add to its vibrancy; and the special thinkers who understand its past and anticipate its future. They truly immersed themselves by discovering emblematic buildings and going behind the scenes to uncover the unique flavours and scents that define London and unearthing its vibrant community spirit.

Ultimately, this journey led them to their own complex and sensorial map of the city and with this map as inspiration, they masterfully selected the perfect combination of six first fill European oak Oloroso seasoned casks to translate London’s values into an extraordinary single malt with unique tasting notes representing the spirit of the city.

A character led whisky with encapsulating nuances of orange caramel, curry spice and Earl Grey tea, rare to find in The Macallan single malts, this expression takes the taste buds and imagination on a journey of discovery, bringing London’s soul and unique character to life, while retaining The Macallan’s renowned signature taste. Seeking out these distinctive flavours among thousands of casks was a complex and highly skilled process, but Steven Bremner and the Roca brothers’ mastery of flavour, aroma and craftsmanship enabled them to distil the essence of London into a remarkable whisky.

Steven Bremner, Whisky Maker at The Macallan, said: “London is an international city, a melting pot of culture, cuisine, architecture, and art and its rich heritage and myriad of cultures, combined with a timeless spirit and an innovative nature, made it the ideal playing field for this journey of mastery. It is not just about being there, but about immersing yourself and dedicating time to understand what’s underneath everything you see, and we are proud to have collaborated with the Roca brothers on this exploration.

“Like the London soul, our single malt whisky, matured in its unique sherry seasoned oak casks, delivers rich complexities, harmonious flavours, and vibrant aromas. This whisky is something new – with London notes like curry or the sweetness of Earl Grey tea – but it keeps The Macallan’s signature taste, and that’s the difficult part.”

Josep Roca, said: “The places we visited, the people we met, all that now takes shape in this whisky – our own distillation of the London essence. There is part of umami, the subtle touch of curry, orange, vanilla and raisin. There are some special notes that are really rare to find.”

Distil Your World: The London Edition is housed in a striking presentation box featuring a triangular engraving design to represent the map of London and red detailing inspired by the city’s red bricks. As well as the limited edition whisky, the box contains a luxurious book capturing the different inspirations behind this single malt, alongside rich London photography, which combined, form a picture of London as created by Steven Bremner and the Roca brothers. 

The Macallan Distil Your World series is the next step in the brand’s long-standing partnership with the Roca brothers. They have previously worked together on a range of ventures, including The Macallan Edition No.2 which was inspired by the brothers’ distinctive and dynamic characters and Distil Your World Scotland, a culinary journey through Scotland to explore the country’s rich cuisine tapestry which resulted in an innovative publication and documentary.

Limited to 2,000 bottles worldwide, Distil Your World: The London Edition has an RRSP of £2,630 and will be available globally from November 2020, including in Harrods, The Macallan Boutique in London Heathrow and The Macallan Estate Boutique.

For further information visit www.themacallan.com

Whisky Maker’s Notes:

ABV: 57.5%

Colour: Autumn chestnut

Aroma: Nutmeg, sweet Earl Grey tea, orange caramel, lemongrass, kaffir lime, soy sauce and polished oak

Palate: Wood and curry spice, Earl Grey tea, treacle sweetness, aniseed. Slightly salty with a complex umami feel

Finish: Long, viscous, complex and savoury 

Notes  

About The Macallan

Founded in 1824, The Macallan is renowned worldwide for its extraordinary single malt whiskies. Their outstanding quality and distinctive character reveal the uncompromised excellence pursued by The Macallan since it was established by Alexander Reid, on a plateau above the River Spey in north-east Scotland.

In 2018, The Macallan opened a new chapter in its history with the launch of its award-winning Speyside distillery. Designed by internationally acclaimed architects to promote sustainability, the building takes inspiration from the surrounding ancient Scottish hills. It stands nearby Easter Elchies House, the Highland Manor built in 1700 which is The Macallan’s spiritual home and remains the heartbeat of The Macallan’s beautiful 485-acre Estate.

Fall Super Sale  Rules & Conditions

There are more rules than usual thanks to Covid-19. Please consider shopping online, we are limiting in-store shopping to 6 customers at a time, and will not be able to pour samples. Where possible please submit only one order and not multiple orders for individual products.

1. The sale is this weekend only: Friday, November 13 through Sunday, November 15, 2020.
2. Most* in-stock Whiskies are at least 10% off. Well over 250 whiskies are 15-50% off.
3. We have 20 Scotch Malt Whisky Society Whiskies on Sale for 20-25% off. All other SMWS whiskies are not on sale! You still need to be a member to buy SMWS whiskies, and SMWS bottles on sale cannot be applied towards the “Membership with Bottle Purchase” option.
4. Web orders can be submitted after midnight tonight.
5. In-store Sale Hours:

10-9 Friday

10-8 Saturday

11-6 Sunday

1. If you do want to shop in store, please respect our Covid-19 Precautions, which will be posted outside the door. Do not come in to the store if you have any Covid-19 symptoms. Please wear a mask, observe a 2m social distance with other customers and staff, refrain from picking up products unless you intend to purchase them, and please try to limit the amount of time you spend in-store. We will only be allowing up to 6 people in-store at a time. Even though we miss it, this is not the time to come and hang out, and we won’t be able to offer any samples. Note we are not currently accepting cash. We have also extended our hours Thursday-Saturday to offer more options and flexibility, and help with distancing.
2. If you can please consider ordering online!
3. Our staff will be busy at the shop so no phone orders please!
4. Payment must be provided at the time of purchase for online and email orders. No layaways.
5. Sale is on in-stock items only, with the exception of KWM exclusives (including SMWS on sale), on which we will honour the discount should we run out (provided we still have stock).
6. No additional discounts or promotions can be applied on top of these discounts. The best discount available will be the only one applied.
7. In the event of a discrepancy in price or discount, the Point of Sale at Kensington Wine Market will be taken as correct.
8. Prices quoted below and in the attachment do not include GST.
9. Absolutely no sale prices will be carried forward or applied retroactively. The sale is only in effect this weekend!

10. * Most Scotch Malt Whisky Society whiskies, and a few other items, mostly new releases are not on sale. Sale pricing does not apply to pre-orders.

Virtual Whisky Show might be over, but you can still recreate the magic with our Perfect Measure tasting packs. We have a great selection available across our seven tasting themes: Get Your Geek On, World Series, Discover Scotland, Indies Series, Distillery Collections and Just For Fun. A great way to cure those lockdown blues, brush up on your whisky wisdom and taste alongside the experts from the comfort of your own home.

And with the most wonderful time of the year just around the corner, our tasting packs make the perfect stocking filler…if we do say so ourselves.

BUY TASTING PACKS 

NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT

Today we are excited to reveal some “unhurried” options for this year’s festive whisky gifts from Glengoyne. Celebrating our unique connection to time, we have created the Time Capsule gift box sets and teamed up with renowned Scottish artist John Lowrie Morrison (Jolomo) to produce our jigsaw puzzle featuring his ‘Heavy Snow at Glengoyne Distillery’ painting.

Taking inspiration from the time we take to create our whisky and from knowing when to press pause in this fast-forward world, our Time Capsule gift sets allow you to capture moments to be enjoyed and remembered.

Each Glengoyne Time Capsule gift set features three distinctive Glengoyne expressions: the award-winning 12 Year Old, 18 Year Old and limited edition Legacy Series: Chapter Two.

Available in 20cl and 5cl size bottles, the Time Capsule gift sets make for the perfect stocking filler.

THE MISSING PIECE TO AN ‘UNHURRIED’ CHRISTMAS

The limited edition 500-piece puzzle features the striking painting of our beautiful distillery by Jolomo, titled  Heavy Snow at Glengoyne Distillery. Taking approximately 4-6 hours to complete, the jigsaw is free with any purchase of a 70cl bottle with a value of more than £100, or for £10 you can include with any 70cl bottle with a value of less than £100.

It’s back! Laphroaig 30 Year Old
The Ian Hunter Story Book Two

This 30-year-old single malt is the second chapter in The Ian Hunter Story from: a fifteen-part series of rare aged single malts, celebrating chapters in the life of Ian Hunter, the last member of the distillery’s founding family to own and manage Laphroaig and the person responsible for launching Laphroaig as a single malt.

 Aged for thirty years in Spanish oak oloroso sherry oak barrels and bottled at a strength of 48.2% VOL, the nose has dried dates, figs, toffee and dark chocolate, with smoke and manuka honey on the palate, before a long finish.

£760.00
Buy Now ›

Double Gold for Loch Fyne!

We’ve been craving some good news here at Loch Fyne recently, and much to our delight we’ve been awarded Whisky of the Year for our Loch Fyne Glentauchers 11 Year Old by the Scottish Field Whisky Challenge. Sláinte!

This exceptional Glentauchers whisky was selected from our unique and exceptional cask collection. It was distilled in May 2008 and spent 11 years maturing in a single sherry cask before being bottled at 57.7% abv. Limited to just 954 bottles, this Double Gold winner is highly-limited. Don’t miss out.

Buy the Whisky of the Year Now ›

“The one that got away”

It was a rainy evening, as Chiltern street’s rooftops were drummed by deep boom of thunder. The relentless water was driving people inside the shops to seek shelter. This was the evening when a clandestine man entered our shop and the call of mystery followed after him!

From his bag (that definitely was older than his convincing facial hair), the man grabbed a forgotten bottle of Caol Ila! This beauty was like the jewel of the depths, and I could almost hear the gnarly wood of an old boat in the seas! Rarely had I seen the spirit of the ocean’s storms inside a such a small glass object. Nevertheless, I looked deeper inside the bottle and behind its reflection our front door opened – showing us many familiar faces shouting “We are here for the Call of Ila!”

We smiled, for they had not forgotten, and they were here to claim their treasure!

Erm, in reality we can make things slightly easier for you, and offer you a magnificent opportunity to get a bottle of a new Original collection Caol Ila 12 years old, bottled by William Cadenhead’s.

Caol Ila 12yo Original Collection – available to reserve from 11th November for launch on Friday, 13th November

Caol Ila 12 years old – 46% – 70CL

Nose: Faint candle smoke, peppermint, toasted marshmallows

Palate: Stewed apples, vanilla yoghurt, kiwi fruit

Finish: Burning coals, honey ham, salted caramel

BUY TODAY!

The Macallan Distil Your World: London

Introducing The Macallan Distil Your World: London – the first release in a series of limited edition bottlings in collaboration with the world-renowned Roca brothers of El Celler de Can Roca – named Best Restaurant in the World on two separate occasions. This spectacular new series seeks to capture the essence of some of the world’s greatest cities.

The Macallan Distil Your World: London is a Speyside single malt that has been matured in six first-fill European oak Oloroso sherry-seasoned casks specially selected by the Roca brothers to represent the spirit of the UK capital.

What does it taste like? Joan Roca describes the taste as “slightly umami, with the subtle touch of curry and the sweetness of Earl Grey tea, as well as keeping The Macallan’s signature taste of orange, vanilla and raisin. There are some special notes in there that are really rare to find.”

The unique release is presented in a stunning presentation case engraved with a stylised map of London and is accompanied by a luxurious book documenting the inspirations behind the expression.

£2,630.00
Buy now ›

Welcome to this weeks episode in which I’ll be reviewing a selection of samples that have come my way recently, including, Starward, Tomatin, Glencadam and Tomintoul.

https://youtu.be/FYVTBY6vLaY