New Exclusives: Edradour and Ballechin sherry casks

We’ve been working with the team at Edradour to release excellent exclusive single cask bottlings of whisky for years, and our latest pair of whiskies has arrived – an 11-year-old Edradour and a 14-year-old Ballechin, both matured in ex-sherry casks.

Edradour may no longer be the smallest distillery in Scotland – not only have smaller ones opened, but Edradour has also built a second distillery next door to the first – but it’s still a lesser-known gem of the Highlands. Our heads were turned years ago, when we tried some sherry casks while visiting the distillery, and ever since have been grabbing as many of them as Andrew Symington and his team will let us have.

The latest pair we’ve managed to sneak out of his warehouses showcase both sides of Edradour’s spirit – regular unpeated Edradour and big, rich and smoky Ballechin.

Edradour 2008 11 Year Old Sherry Butt #372

This was distilled on 28 November 2008 and filled into a single first-fill sherry butt. It was bottled on 8 May 2020 after 11 years of maturation, yielding 709 bottles.

Nose: Sticky dark fruit cake, studded with glacé and maraschino cherries, and fed for months with dark rum. Rich molasses and brown sugar notes build, with a buttery background, more than a spoonful of mixed spice and core of sweet banana bread.

Palate: Lighter than expected, with icing sugar sweetness diving quickly into a bucket of raisins. The glacé cherries are back, along with the fruit cake, but there’s now a layer of apple and caramel sauce sticking it all together. A touch of bitter char sits at the back.

Finish: Warming spice slowly grows accompanied by dates, raisins and dried figs. Polished oak hides underneath.

Buy now >

Ballechin 2005 14 Year Old Sherry Hogshead #158

This was distilled on 15 August 2008 and filled into a second-fill sherry hogshead. It matured for 14 years before being bottled on 8 May 2020 and there are only 296 bottles available.

Nose: Leathery smoke shrouds a vanilla sponge cake. Cherry and sultana notes develop, accompanied by a touch of menthol and freshly opened plasters. Green notes – hops, grass and leaves – float through the middle with gravel and a burst of mineral-laden smokiness.

Palate: Soft, sweet and sooty to start, with spice slowly building. Dark mint chocolate chips are joined by pine needles, singed ferns and some aniseed ball heat. The mint chocolate becomes chocolate-covered fondants as earthy notes build.

Finish: Mint imperials and cocoa nibs fade to leave sweet glacé cherries, fresh leather and leafy hints.

Buy now >

Scotch Whisky 

The Whisky Magazine Annual

Have you seen our new Scotch Whisky annual?

Packed with interviews, distillery focus features and blind tasting reviews, Scotch Whisky turns the spotlight on distilleries old and new, large and small. Curated by Whisky Magazine’s editor, Christopher Coates, Scotch Whisky is a valuable addition to any whisky lover’s bookshelf.

• 132-page ‘bookazine’

• Available in print and digital editions

• Includes six in-depth interviews with the great and good of whisky

• Distillery features on Highland Park, GlenAllachie, Macallan, Rosebank, Raasay, Glenturret, and many more

• More than 100 blind tasting reviews of the latest whiskies
• Tasting notes and progress reports on unreleased spirits from some of Scotland’s newest distilleries

BUY NOW

The Grand Whisky February 2021 Auction Closes Today!

^{www.thegrandwhiskyauction.com/live-auction}

1850+ lots to bid on including this Arrrrrrrdbeg!

Auction closes at (TONIGHT) 9pm Monday 15th Feb!

Interested in selling whisky in our next auction?

+44 (0)1463 210 427

E. sales@thegrandwhiskyauction.com

Daftmill Auction Success, Thanks !

SOUTH AFRICAN MASTER DISTILLER TO BE INDUCTED INTO THE GLOBAL WHISKY HALL OF FAME

Whisky Magazine announced today (4 February) that Andy Watts, Distell Master Distiller of a range of proudly South African whiskies, Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky and Three Ships Whisky, will be bestowed the great honour of being inducted into Whisky Magazine’s Whisky Hall of Fame.

The induction will take place on 25 March during an online ceremony when the Global Winners of the Icons of Whisky Awards together with the World Whiskies Awards winners will be announced.

The honour of Whisky Hall of Fame has been bestowed on just a handful of iconic people since its inception in 2004, as a permanent tribute to their lasting contribution to the whisky industry.

Andy will receive this prestigious accolade in recognition of his life-long commitment to the South African whisky industry and subsequently, the World Whisky Category (whiskies produced outside of Scotland, the USA and UK).

Andy’s career didn’t start-off in the world of whisky. He grew up in Penistone in Yorkshire, England and arrived in South Africa in 1982 as a professional cricketer with Derbyshire CCC planning to spend six months a year coaching at schools throughout the Boland.

Within three years, he landed a position at the then Stellenbosch Farmers Winery (SFW) where he became involved in blending spirits. He was invited to Scotland by Morrison Bowmore Distillers to work hands-on at its three distilleries – Auchentoshan in the Lowlands, Glen Garioch in the Highlands and the legendary Bowmore Distillery on the Isle of Islay.

He returned to South Africa determined to prove that the country can produce internationally award-winning whiskies. Back at SFW, he was tasked, along with the company’s Technical Services Department, to transfer its fledgling whisky operations from the R&B Distillery in Stellenbosch to The James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington, taking up his position as distillery manager in August 1991.

In addition to a host of global awards achieved for the whiskies and the distillery, Andy was awarded in 2016 and 2018 the title as “Rest of the World Master Distiller / Master Blender” in Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky Awards and in the 2018 awards went on to be named as the “Global Icons of Whisky Master Distiller / Master Blender”. More recently he received the “2020 Global Icon World Whisky Ambassador Award” for his passion in not only creating whisky but in sharing knowledge of South African whiskies around the globe.

Richard Rushton, Distell’s CEO, says this incredible achievement is tangible proof of the lasting legacy that Andy has accomplished for Distell and South African Whisky.

“Making whisky in those early years certainly came with its challenges yet Andy persevered. With an unwavering passion for whisky, he dedicated his career in not only establishing the South African Whisky category and subsequent world-wide recognition for the exceptional whiskies produced here, but today inspires a new generation of local craft whisky producers. He continues to be the driving force of the industry and we commend him for his dedication, innovation and commitment to South African whisky.”

After spending 25 years as Manager of The James Sedgwick Distillery, Andy took up the position as Distell’s Head of Whisky in 2016. He is responsible for the company’s South African whisky portfolio focusing on the process, quality and style of their whiskies, providing strategic guidance to the production of the range of Three Ships Whisky and Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky.

Andy is also instrumental in providing the vision for the Three Ships Whisky Master’s Collection – the limited release whiskies made available from time to time to showcase the innovation of South African whiskies through an online live sale – and a range of exclusives produced for local and international retail.

His vision to produce whiskies sustainably has resulted in The James Sedgwick Distillery, the only commercial whisky distillery in Africa, being at the forefront of innovation. With his guidance, the distillery has won numerous international accolades for ingenious sustainability projects that lessen the impact on the environment.

Andy’s induction will take place live on 25 March at 12.30pm (GMT) on Whisky Magazine’s Facebook (@WhiskyMagazine) and You Tube channel (Whisky Magazine).

@BainsWhisky

@ThreeShipsSA

@TheWhiskyMaker

#WhiskyMagAwards 

#whiskymagazine #whiskyindustry #drinks #whisky #iconsofwhisky

#ProudlySouthAfrican

#TeamDistell

Our February auction is now LIVE!

Place your bids from Friday 12^th February until Sunday 21^st February.

www.whiskyhammer.com

Every month, we present an incredible selection of whiskies and other fine spirits to our members right across the globe. You will find everything here from limited edition releases and vintage bottles to whole casks of rare whisky. There is certainly something for everyone – whether you are looking to collect, invest or enjoy!

Macallan – Red Collection

Chichibu – Intergalactic Series

Macallan – Easter Elchies (2008-2013)

Kavalan – Single Cask (Virgin Oak)

Macallan – 52 Year Old

Selling whisky? Why not arrange the pick-up of your bottles using our global courier service? If you’re based in Scotland, you might want to arrange the personal collection of your bottles. Wherever you’re based in the world, we will make getting your bottles into our monthly auction as simple as possible. Get in touch with the Whisky Hammer team now by dropping them a message at sales@whiskyhammer.co.uk.

OLD & RARE WHISKY SHOW RETURNS WITH ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME VIRTUAL TASTINGS

Old & Rare Whisky Show 2021 boasts a series of live-streamed masterclasses that provide a window into history – and they’re free to watch.

The famed annual celebration of old & rare whisky is returning, and for the first time will take place virtually. There will be four masterclasses live-streamed on Facebook across three days: 25, 26, 27 February 2021. Each class will be available to watch for free, with tasting packs available to purchase for those who wish to follow along with the hosts on Zoom.

The show is famed for celebrating the discovery of extremely rare whiskies produced in bygone eras, and this year will be no different. The show founders – Sukhinder Singh, co-founder of The Whisky Exchange, and whisky experts Angus MacRaild and Jonny McMillan – and Billy Abbott, The Whisky Exchange ambassador, will be joined by a variety of guests to lead the classes, sharing a lifetime of invaluable expertise and passion for old spirits.

The tasting sets feature old and rare whiskies rarely seen open, drawn from the collections of the hosts. Tasting packs are available to purchase from thewhiskyexchange.com, ranging from £150-225.

Masterclass line-up:

Waxy Whisky Masterclass: Thursday 25 February, 7pm

One of the key hallmarks of older style single malts is the elusive characteristic we call ‘waxiness’. In this tasting, our hosts will be joined by Roe and Co head distiller Lora Hemy and whiskyfun.com creator Serge Valentin to explore this flavour profile in depth with some famous and lesser-known examples.

Longmorn Masterclass: Friday 26 February, 7pm

Longmorn is one of the Scotch whisky blenders’ favourite malts, used as a ‘top dresser’ for adding something special to their blends. Our hosts and their guests – The Whisky Exchange’s Old and Rare Spirits Manager Diego Lanza and Catawiki whisky specialist Jeroen Koetsier – will dig deep into the flavours of Longmorn to discover what makes the distillery’s older whiskies so special.

Gordon & MacPhail Old & Rare Masterclass Saturday 27 February, 4pm

Gordon & MacPhail are one of the world’s oldest and most respected independent bottlers, with an unrivalled range of bottlings to its name. Host Billy Abbott will be joined by Diego Lanza and Jason Vaswani from The Whisky Exchange Old & Rare spirits team to showcase some of the best examples of more recent years, distilled between 1953 and 1972.

Old-Style Peat Masterclass: Saturday 27 February, 7pm

The flavour of peat is one of the most misunderstood and least explored aspects of whisky. The tasting pack features some excellent examples of single malts that express starkly differing aspects of peat flavour. A journey through history and geography with some stunning, rarely available whiskies. Our hosts will be joined by Scotch Whisky Research Institute senior scientist Frances Jack, and photographer, author and smoky whisky expert Marcel van Gils to taste some stunning examples of single malts that express starkly differing aspects of peat flavour.

In less than a year of our whiskies being on sale, Waterford Distillery has won an Icon of Whisky Ireland Award 2021 in not just one, but two categories – the coveted Distiller of the Year Award and Brand Innovator of the Year Award.

The Icons of Whisky are announced by Whisky Magazine each year to recognise the people, places and products that complete the whole dynamic of the whisky industry. This year the awards were announced online and a full list of the winners can be seen here

It promises to be a very exciting Spring for Waterford Distillery – they have some major announcements coming later this month…

Give your input and you could win a free bottle of Hibiki 17

Dekanta

2-49-7 Minamiikebukuro Toshima-ku, Tokyo