In addition to our recently launched single cask GlenAllachie we’re delighted to introduce two further drams which we’ve bottled up just in time for Christmas. The first hails from a distillery located in the Northern Highlands and is the fourth instalment in the Anon series, a stellar dram featuring one of the finest labels we’ve stamped onto a bottle of whisky. The second is a classy number from Tamdhu distillery, a stunning dram which will excite and stimulate discussion.

Both labels have been beautifully illustrated by the talented Peter Heron.

Anon. Batch 4 – 20 Year Old
Tamdhu 12 Year Old

View All Abbey Whisky Drams

It’s never too late for a gift voucher!

Our digital gift vouchers are perfect for all your last minute whisky gifting needs. Choose a voucher based either on the value of a specific course, or a monetary value that suits, which can be redeemed against any course. Purchasing a digital gift voucher creates a unique code which the recipient can use at their leisure. All you have to do is decide whether to send the voucher to yourself for safekeeping or directly to the lucky recipient.

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Edinburgh Whisky Academy

2 North West Cumberland Street Lane
EH3 6RF
United Kingdom

ralfy review 856 – American Eagle Bourbon 12yo @43%vol:

BARTON 1792 DISTILLERY UNVEILS ITS NEW THOMAS S. MOORE BRAND OF CASK FINISHED BOURBON WHISKEYS

An Exciting New Brand Dedicated To Extended Finishing in a Variety of Casks From Around the World

            BARDSTOWN, kENTUCKY (Dec. 10, 2020) – As whiskeys from Barton 1792 Distillery continue to receive global acclaim, the Distillery introduces its first ultra-premium brand. This range of Thomas S. Moore Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskeys has been finished in a variety of select casks from around the world. The first three expressions will be available in limited release this December, a Port Finish, a Chardonnay Finish, and a Cabernet Sauvignon Finish.

            In 1889, Thomas S. Moore built the Distillery known today as Barton 1792 Distillery. Moore was an early pioneer in Bardstown, recognized today as the Bourbon Capital of the World. Leading up to Prohibition, Moore established a constantly evolving whiskey empire, growing his humble operation into a powerhouse distillery, filling hundreds of barrels of whiskey a day. Business boomed until The 18th Amendment forced the Distillery to cease production in 1920.  Today this namesake line of bourbons intends to honor Thomas S. Moore, an innovative bourbon pioneer.

            Barton 1792 Distillery will define a new category of “extended cask finished” bourbon whiskeys with this new collection.  Their signature high rye recipe bourbon is aged for many years in new charred oak barrels before filling other casks that previously matured various wines or spirits from around the world, ranging from Cognac to Cabernet to Port and more. In these fabulous casks, the bourbon aged an additional one to three years. This extended cask-finishing method results in elegant whiskeys, each displaying a distinct flavor profile, reflecting nuances of both the bourbon and the finishing cask. Details for each are as follows:

            Thomas S. Moore Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Port Casks is described as having a taste that is soft and sweet, with subtle hints of vanilla and baking spices. This whiskey is 98.9 proof.

            Thomas S. Moore Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Chardonnay Casks has a rich taste, with notes of citrus, tropical fruit, and buttery oak. This whiskey is 97.9 proof.

            Thomas S. Moore Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Cabernet Sauvignon Casks has a bold taste, with notes of dark fruit, caramel, and vanilla. This whiskey is 95.3 proof.

            The tall sophisticated bottles feature imagery that pays homage to the legacy of Thomas S. Moore. Each label displays the image of a racehorse standing tall, honoring one of Moore’s earliest whiskey brands, Belle of Nelson, named for the thoroughbred who won the Kentucky Oaks in 1878.

Suggested retail pricing for each Thomas S. Moore expression is $69.99; state taxes will vary per market. Additional cask-finished releases will be unveiled every year in the fall. For more information about Thomas S. Moore Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, visit the brand at https://www.facebook.com/thomassmoorebourbon/ on Facebook and @thomassmoorebourbon on Instagram.

About Barton 1792 Distillery

Barton 1792 Distillery is part of Barton Brands.  Barton Brands has facilities in Bardstown, Ky., Carson, Calif., and Baltimore, Md. Barton Brands is owned by the Sazerac Company, an American family-owned company based in New Orleans, La. Barton 1792 Distillery was established in 1879 and continues today as the oldest fully-operating Distillery in the “Bourbon Capital of the World.” The Distillery is located on 196 acres and includes 28 warehouses, 22 other buildings, the Morton Spring and the Tom Moore Spring.  Distilling, aging and bottling fine Bourbon whiskey are hallmarks of the historic Barton 1792 Distillery. 1792 Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey is produced at Barton 1792 Distillery, and is named for the year Kentucky became a state. The Distillery has garnered a number of prestigious awards for its whiskies, including its 1792 Full Proof, which was named the World Whiskey of the Year for 2020

Just a few more days to find Santa’s Dram in your next online order…

Find Santa’s Dram in your next Whisky Shop order and you could be the lucky winner of a Bunnahabhain 39 Year Old or a case of six mystery malts!

Our Santa’s Dram giveaway finishes at midnight on the 19th December: that’s just four more days to place an order at whiskyshop.com and be in with the chance of finding Santa’s red or golden dram glass hidden in your package.

If you find a red Santa’s Dram glass in your order, then you’re the lucky winner of a case of six mystery malts, worth £300. If you find Santa’s one and only golden dram glass, then you get to add THAT 39-year-old Bunnahabhain to your whisky collection… worth a whopping £11,995!

Remember, you can also enter the giveaway by sharing the hashtag #SantasDram via your own social media accounts, tagging @thewhiskyshop in your post. Make sure you’re following us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and keep your profile public so we can see your post.

So, what are you waiting for? Get your orders in at whiskyshop.com and share #SantasDram via your social media accounts to be in with the chance of winning a CRACKER of a whisky prize, in time for Christmas. Good luck!

Christmas is just over a week away, so however you’re celebrating it this year, we hope your preparations are well underway. But if you’re still feeling a bit unorganised – don’t panic! The Society is here to help. Check out this month’s Unfiltered magazine where you’ll find our top tips for planning the perfect retro Christmas.

A VERY RETRO CHRISTMAS

VIEW ALL WHISKIES

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

1997 Hector Macbeth (G*******h) 23 Year Old “Hepburn’s Choice” K&L Exclusive Single Sherry Butt Finish Cask Strength Blended Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) ($119.99)

One of the original teaspooned malts here at K&L that longtime customers may already be familiar with is Hector Macbeth. While nearly all of this year’s blended malts had another distiller’s spirit dropped into it right before bottling, this was teaspooned at the time of production by the original maker with the intention of being sold off to the independent market. This is really how teaspooning came to be a thing in the first place. Blue chip distilleries, like G*******h in this case, don’t want a bunch of people trading on their name. They do, however, still want to sell casks into the blending market to raise quick cash. While we don’t know what they put into the cask in this case (although our money is on the sister distillery next door – B*********e) we do know that it tastes just like you’d expect sherry-finished G*******h at cask strength to taste. If you’ve ever had the excellent G*******h 15 Year Sherry Solera bottling and thought, “I wish this was full proof,” this is the malt for you. The extra 8 years of aging doesn’t hurt either.

David Othenin-Girard | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: December 11, 2020

I’m generally skeptical of finishes, and I know I’m not the only one. That’s not because I don’t believe they can do great things, but because so many people use finishing to try to “save” or “hide” flawed whisky. If you start with great juice and use a great barrel to bring something more special to a whisky, then I’m all for a good finish. Here, though, we’re fully into a double maturation range. We started with the same awesome G*******h base that we’ve selling for several years. Two of these gorgeous hogsheads were dumped into a freshly emptied sherry butt more than three years ago. The result is something absolutely unique and undeniably delicious. None of the pancake syrup (thanks for that one Todd!) character that you sometimes get with finished whisky. Because the barrel was originally used for many years to age single malt, we’re getting that it’s very different than the seasoned sherry barrels that we normally see used for finishes. The color is auburn. The nose is an exotic bouquet of toasted vanilla bean, exotic wood, nougat, clean fresh leather, dried apricots and Christmas spice. The palate is medium bodied with extremely well integrated red fruit, nutty compote and baking spice. With water the nose explodes with dried stone fruits, exotic honey. nutmeg, clove and fresh sweet buns. On the palate it’s definitely very zesty and easily drinkable, but the water adds texture and length. I couldn’t be happier to have more than 500 bottles from this cask, it’s easily one of the best values we’ve ever put our name on. Stupendously high quality 20 year old malt aged for an additional three years in quality old sherry butt for less than $120? It’s so good I just don’t get why the distillery isn’t doing the same themselves.

GlenAllachie AW Exclusive

We’ve received some fantastic feedback on our GlenAllachie single cask. If you’ve recently cracked one open, we’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions, please stop by the site and leave a review… If you’ve yet to try this dram, what are you waiting for?! An exquisite dram and beautifully presented, it would make a perfect Christmas gift for any sherry bomb lover our there.

BUY NOW

As we’re fast approaching the end of the year, we would like to take this opportunity to reassure our EU members about their Society membership.

There will be no change to the way you order from us, whether it is whisky, our Single Cask Spirits or any of our other products, these will all still be available to you and it is very much business as usual. In terms of delivery, we expect some small changes to be put in place alongside new regulations coming into force on Friday 1, January 2021 once the UK leaves the European Union but this will not impact your Society orders being delivered from Edinburgh to your door with tracking visibility.

We will continue to share a dram with you at local tastings and festival events and you will still have full access online to our Unfiltered magazine and wider whisky community.

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to ensure there is minimal disruption and change and we feel we are in a great position for a seamless transition. With this in mind, we’d like to highlight a few changes and developments.

DELIVERY TIMES

To ensure that all EU members still have full access to all the whisky on offer, post Brexit, we need to ship consolidated orders weekly to duty warehouses in six countries. From here we will redistribute with local couriers like DHL to members’ houses, this means that delivery times will be around 2-3 weeks on average. We will always endeavour to minimise this and look to prioritise the EU shipments on certain occasions. We felt that the alternative of warehousing smaller, limited pockets of stock in the local hubs to reduce delivery times does not give the best member experience.

In the next few months, as the EU and UK commence trading in a new way, there may be additional delays, as we start a completely new border and logistics process as a UK supplier to EU countries. There may also be additional delays due to a reduced capacity in transport provisions. However, we have been planning for over 12 months and believe our processes for delivery are solid and secure.

LOCAL WEBSITES 

For the initial Brexit move, in phase 1, all members will continue to use www.smws.com as a single English language website, since we have already made significant developments and modifications to successfully fulfill EU orders. In this phase we mainly focus on the legal compliance of VAT and Duty calculations for local markets. Members will see very little change. However, with a further phase 2 development we look to offer local language websites for Germany, France and possibly Sweden.

PRICING

Whilst we transition, this first phase will see us hold the same pricing as the current site in British Pounds. Further development will see local pricing and currency being introduced depending on local VAT and duty rates.

CHRISTMAS ORDERS

Orders for deliveries in time for Christmas in the EU will need to be with us before 12 noon (UK time) on 17th December.

We will look to honour any last orders made on our current website, please make sure to do this before 12 noon (UK time) on 21st December, with deliveries being made before 31st December.

Sorry, any orders placed after this date will need to be refunded as we cannot legally accept orders for shipment to non-UK countries to arrive post Brexit date of 31st December, until our new EU site is live. We anticipate this to be Tuesday, 8th January 2021. We will aim not to release any new bottlings in UK or EU until the EU site is live, but if we do, we will ensure we save stock for the EU members. At this stage we anticipate the January Outturn to go on sale on Friday, 15th January 2021.

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

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 355: Talisker 2009 Distillers Edition

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tries a special malt from Skye. Barely three months ago Mark had tried the Distillers Edition from 2007, bottled in 2017. But he recently presented this version from 2009, bottled in 2019, during his online tasting WhisQy (Whisky in Quarantine) Edition #5: Talisker Treats. As always, the Talisker Distillers Edition is double matured on Amoroso sherry casks.

https://youtu.be/xyYbpZDgMUg