Founded in 2009, Smooth Ambler Spirits produce small batch, artisan American whiskies in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia. Set among historic mountains and rich earth, Smooth Ambler pulls the best ingredients from the region – real mountain water and locally grown grain.

Curated by a truly dedicated team, Smooth Ambler whiskies are known as much for bold yet balanced flavour as they are for pride of place. It’s easy to see why each and every whiskey is best enjoyed one slow sip at a time. Delicious flavours, accessible and easy-drinking, these whiskeys are meant to be savoured and enjoyed!

BROWSE OUR FULL SMOOTH AMBLER RANGE HERE

May First Friday is around the corner, and we’re inviting you to unleash your wild side to celebrate the wonderful diversity of both our whisky and our members. Flock over to the website and explore the new Outturn ahead of Friday’s release, where you’ll find bottlings from all 12 flavour profiles as well as three colourful festival casks.

OUTTURN HUB     SEE ALL BOTTLINGS

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

Buffalo Trace Distillery Releases

Experimental Wheat Bourbon

Bourbon Aged Four Years, Cut with Water, Aged Eight More Years

FRANKFORT, Franklin County, Ky (April 23, 2020) Buffalo Trace Distillery is releasing its first experimental whiskey for 2020, a wheat recipe bourbon aged for four years, cut with water, then re-barreled and left to age for another eight years.

The barrel, filled with Buffalo Trace’s wheat mash recipe and entered into the barrel at 114 proof, was put away to age in one new barrel on Dec. 10, 2007. After four years of aging in Warehouse C the barrel was removed, the bourbon was cut with water to lower it down to 100 proof, and then put back into the same barrel and left to age another eight years in the same warehouse.

Although unusual to interrupt the aging process, the distilling team at Buffalo Trace is pleased with the results.  “We’ve always known water was a necessary component in making whiskey,” stated Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley. “This experiment helped us to understand how important a role water actually plays in whiskey production.  The result of this experiment led us to a bourbon that is actually one of my favorite experiments.”

Wheatley describes this bourbon as having a “nose that is sweet and floral, with notes of oak, vanilla, and a bit of leather. There’s a really smooth creamy mouthfeel here.  The taste is a pleasing balance of butterscotch, honey, and wood with a crisp finish.”

This is the 23^rd  experimental release from Buffalo Trace Distillery, having started with its first experimental release in 2006. In total, there are more than 25,000 experimental  barrels of whiskey aging in the warehouses of Buffalo Trace Distillery, the largest number of experimental barrels ever held in inventory at the National Historic Landmark Distillery, and most likely the world. Each experimental barrel has unique characteristics that differentiate them in distinct ways. Some examples of experiments include unique mash bills, types of wood, and different barrel toasts. Buffalo Trace also has an experimental warehouse, Warehouse X, which is designed to explore the extent of environmental influences on the flavor profiles of whiskey.

The Experimental Collection is packaged in 375ml bottles, and each label includes all the pertinent information unique to that barrel of whiskey. These whiskeys retail for approximately $46.99 each and will be available in May.  Experimental Collection releases are generally quite small and have limited availability.

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 1773 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 2^nd and 3^rd 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. To learn more about Buffalo Trace Distillery visit www.buffalotracedistillery.com.

Water is our most important ingredient, but is also a precious shared resource which is coming under increasing pressure in many parts of the world. Water is essential to our production processes and used widely throughout our value chain. It is vital to ecosystems, local economies, communities in which we live and work, and especially to grow the crops we use. Managing our impact on water, and being good stewards of this resource, is our highest environmental priority.

We want to thank you! 

We hugely appreciate your custom and support during these difficult times. To say thank you, we’re offering you £15 off our exclusive Inchmurrin 2004 Single Cask with online discount code thankyou15.

As well as £15 off, you’ll receive a free gift of Loch Lomond whisky tumblers with your order!

A single malt distilled at Loch Lomond Distillery, Inchmurrin spirit is light and fruity, becoming more floral and grassy during maturation. Distilled in November 2004, this particular expression was matured in a single French oak barrel for 15 years and bottled in December 2019 at a natural cask strength of 54.6% abv. Highly exclusive, just 393 bottles exist!

The thankyou15 code is valid for one use per customer on our exclusive Inchmurrin Single Cask only, until Sunday, 31^st May (and while stocks last). Simply enter the code at check out, whether you are registered with us or not.

Buying gifts for friends? Feel free to purchase multiple bottles, with £15 taken off each one.

Order now

That Boutique-y Whisky Company is a multi-award-winning independent bottler established in 2012, bottling exceptional single malts, blended malts, blended whiskies, grain whiskies, bourbons and more from around the globe. These whiskies are small batch, expertly sourced and adorned with cultish graphic novel style labels! On a mission to open up the big world of whisky, TBWC was named Brand Innovator of the Year at Icons of Whisky Awards 2020.

BROWSE OUR FULL THAT BOUTIQUE-Y WHISKY COMPANY RANGE HERE

The details we await…………..we’ll have to wait until next week, Phil is having technical issues….

BLACKS BREWERY & DISTILLERY KINSALE MOVE ONTO THE NEW PHASE OF WHISKEY FOUNDERS CLUB

Blacks Brewery and Distillery. Sam & Maudeline Black…..there is no stopping this pair who already have their eyes firmly on their next endeavour – the whiskey market. Always looking for a unique angle, and bringing creativity to their business, be that in the form of seasonal craft beer recipes, production methods or eye-catching packaging, Maudeline & Sam wanted to make their whiskey journey special too. They have achieved this by opening up their business to other whiskey enthusiasts who wish to share in their passion with the Blacks Whiskey Founders Club.

Already boasting over 100 members, the Blacks Whiskey Founders Club gives whiskey lovers the opportunity to purchase their own cask of whiskey, starting from €6,500. This club allows members to create their very own personalised and branded whiskey, with a cask expected to deliver over 397 bottles of pot still single malt Irish whiskey, or to use this as an investment opportunity and after the five-year maturation period sell back their cask to Blacks. This buy-back scheme will generate a minimum 4% annually compounded (approx. €280 per year per cask) return on a members initial investment.

Phase one of this €1million project has now been completed, the installation of two copper whiskey stills. With the club still open for new members to join, and with lots of different cask options to choose from for example ex bourbon, sherry or port, the next key date in the diary is the first annual Blacks Whiskey Founders Club party, which is set to take place on Friday 18th September. This annual event gives members an opportunity to network and check in on their whiskey, becoming an actively engaged part of the distilling process. During the day members will have a choice of some social activities such as golfing and a Kinsale Harbour sailing trip,  while in the afternoon there will be tours of the distillery and brewery, with lots of spirit and beer tasting.

Speaking in relation to the Blacks Whiskey Founders Club , Sam Black commented, ‘This really is a unique opportunity for whiskey enthusiasts, who otherwise would not be in a position to produce whiskey alone. It was my passion for brewing and my wifes support that gave me the push to open Black Brewery & Distillery and I want to share that experience with others. Some of our members who have already joined plan to bottle and label their whiskey to gift to family, friends, as corporate client gifts and to sell some on the secondary whiskey market, while for others its an investment opportunity, but one in which they to play an active role in also creating a piece of our famous Irish whiskey heritage. The next few weeks mark a huge milestone in this project as the actual whiskey production begins. I look forward to watching our club grow, adding more people to the Blacks family and getting to meet a lot of these face to face at our annual get-together.’

Blacks Brewery and Distillery are among some of the lucky businesses who have been able to adapt their operations processes in order to remain functioning safely through this Covid19 pandemic. Not only are they still supplying beers and spirits to off-licenses and supermarkets across the country, but they are also playing their part in trying to fight this virus and support the community, with the production of much needed hand sanitiser. Despite their online sales increasing over the last month and sales staff required to focus their efforts here, Maudeline and Sam were still adamant that they were going to use their resources to help, and therefore redeployed members of their sales team, who would have primarily focused on on-trade pubs and restaurants.

Sales staff are now helping in the distillery to bottle and label hand sanitizer. This supply of hand sanitiser is being split between charities, such as Cork Simon and local Kinsale volunteers, and consumers. In addition to charity drops and for consumers through retail stores, when placing online spirit orders through the Blacks website consumers receive free sanitiser and one is also donated to a charity group in their name. Now that the new copper whiskey stills are installed they will also play a role in this sanitation process, as before whiskey production begins in the coming weeks the stills must undergo a cleaning run in manual mode with vinegar, followed by a sacrificial alcohol run which will also be transformed into hand sanitiser.

Commenting on the new edition to their production line Sam Black said, ‘We consider ourselves very fortunate to still be in a position to stay open and meet the demand of customers. It is a very hard time for the entire Irish community and we just wanted to play our part, no matter how small in helping during this crisis. When we became aware of the huge shortage of hand sanitiser for those on the frontline we realised we were in a unique position to be able to assist, and so we quickly went about altering our production process to start manufacturing and getting this into the hands of those who need it.’

To find out more about how to become a member of the Blacks Whiskey Founders Club www.blacksbrewery.com. You can also contact Paul, a member of the Blacks team at paul@blacksbrewery.com or stay connected online at Instagram/blacksbrewery Instagram/blacksdistillerykinsale, Twitter @BlacksBrewery or Facebook/BlacksOfKinsale

We may not be gearing up for a month of whisky festivals like we’d planned this May but here at the Society, we still have a jam-packed whisky schedule to keep us entertained for the coming month. To get us excited for what’s in store, we’re inviting to you to go wild with our five specially selected preview bottlings from the May Outturn, full of big, bold flavours to perk up your mood.

Only a limited number of preview bottles are available ahead of the full Outturn release at 9am, Friday, 1 May. Order now to be the first to get your hands on these colourful characters.

PREVIEW BOTTLINGS                                    SEE ALL BOTTLINGS

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

Founded by the Nelstrop family in 2006, The English Whisky Co. built the beautiful St George’s Distillery specifically to make the very finest whiskies. Notable for being the first English whisky distillery for over a century, the site is perfectly suited to the production of whisky, having access to an abundance of locally grown barley, and fresh, clear water from the Breckland aquifer that lies 50 feet beneath the distillery.

This forward thinking distillery produce both peated and unpeated single malts, including a multitude of small batch bottlings that display an innovative and experimental approach to whisky making and maturation. They also produce a range of grain whiskies and liqueurs under “The Norfolk” brand.

BROWSE OUR FULL THE ENGLISH WHISKY COMPANY RANGE HERE