Halewood Artisanal Spirits Appoints Dr Kirstie McCallum as New Master Blender

Halewood Artisanal Spirits has announced the appointment of Dr Kirstie McCallum as its new master blender, as the business looks to strengthen its fast growing whisky portfolio.

McCallum will be responsible for evolving and developing Halewood’s core whisky brands, which includes Crabbie whisky from Scotland, Irish whiskies, Gelston’s & The Pogues, Aber Falls Welsh whisky and Peaky Blinder English whisky from Halewood’s newest distillery in the West Midlands.  In addition, she will work with the group on new projects and expressions.

McCallum has over 20 years experience in the spirits industry, and joins Halewood Artisanal Spirits from Glen Turner, where she worked as head of whisky creation for the Glen Moray brand. Prior to this, she was the senior blender at Distell International, working across the Bunnahabhain, Deanston and Tobermory brands.

Lee Tayburn, Operations and Production Director at Halewood Artisanal Spirits comments; “As a business, we are dedicated to growing our portfolio of artisanal spirits, and of course whisky plays a very important part in this. Over the last five years we have invested heavily in distilleries across the UK and globally, and are constantly evolving to ensure that we provide our customers with premium, quality spirits with provenance. With her extensive experience and expertise, Kirstie will be integral to this, and we look forward to working closely together as we grow and develop our whisky credentials”.

Dr Kirstie McCallum comments; “From brands like Crabbie’s, with its rich whisky history dating back to the 1830s,  to new expressions from younger brands such as Peaky Blinder and The Pogues, Halewood Artisanal Spirits has a very diverse and exciting whisky portfolio. I’m really looking forward to working alongside the team to develop these brands, and using my industry experience to help create the best possible whisky offer”.

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About Halewood Artisanal Spirits (www.halewood-int.com)

Halewood Artisanal Spirits is an award-winning UK-based craft distiller and the winner of the IWSC UK Gin Producer 2018 Award. Premium gin brands include Whitley Neill, J. J. Whitley, City of London Distillery, Marylebone Gin and Liverpool Gin.

Halewood has a strong portfolio of other high growth premium sprits, including Dead Man’s Fingers spiced rum, Rum Sixty Six, The Pogues Irish Whiskey, Gelston’s Irish Whiskey and Crabbie Whisky. 

In the 2020 IWSC Awards, Halewood’s artisanal spirits won 3 gold outstanding, 6 gold, 12 silver and 23 bronze medals. In the 2020 San Francisco World Spirits Competition they were awarded four double golds, 9 golds, 15 silvers and 24 bronze Awards. The spirits also won 9 silver and 5 bronze Awards in the Global Spirits Masters and two gold, ten silver and six Bronze in the International Spirits Challenge, 2019.

The business operates 11 artisanal distilleries across the UK, Russia, Australia and South Africa including:  The Liverpool Gin Distillery, Crabbie Distillery in Edinburgh, Aber Falls Distillery in North Wales, Bankhall Distillery in Blackpool, The City of London and Marylebone Distilleries in London, The Bristol & Bath Rum Distillery, Ironbark in Sydney, Halewood in South Africa and JJ Whitley in Russia. The company also operates the Hawkshead Brewery in Cumbria.

Outside the UK, the business exports products to over 90 countries around the world and has significant operations in a number of international markets including North America, Canada, Russia, Australia and China. The business has a £400m+ turnover, and employs over 750 employees globally.

The business was founded by the late John Halewood in 1978 and it remains owned and controlled by the Halewood family.

Drinkaware is an independent UK-wide, alcohol education charity with the objective of positively changing public behaviour and the national drinking culture. It aims to reduce alcohol misuse and minimise harm by helping people make better choices about their drinking. It achieves this by providing impartial, evidence-based information, advice and practical resources; raising awareness of alcohol and its harms and by working collaboratively with partners (including the medical community, public health, third sector organisations, local authorities, police and the drinks industry).

Drinkaware has more than 100 funders, including UK alcohol producers, retailers in the on-trade and off-trade, and wholesalers.

Available for Pre Order

Relaunch of Old Perth

The relaunched Old Perth is a range of Blended Malt Scotch Whisky – will restore tradition by blending in Perth and exclusively using sherry matured malt from a selection of Scotland’s finest distilleries, located in the Glenlivet region of Speyside.

OLD PERTH THE ORIGINAL £31.50

The relaunched Old Perth is a range of Blended Malt Scotch Whisky which will restore tradition by blending in Perth and exclusively using sherry matured malt from a selection of Scotland’s finest distilleries, located in the Glenlivet region of Speyside.

The Original has sophisticated sherry-sweet tones and subtle spice at the heart, giving way to warm dried fruits and honeyed cloves.

Non chill filtered, no added colour.

The Old Perth Original is setup to be a malt drinker’s everyday dram.

From Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers.

OLD PERTH CASK STRENGTH £41.00

The Cask Strength in The relaunched Old Perth is a range of Blended Malt Scotch Whisky – will restore tradition by blending in Perth and exclusively using sherry matured malt from a selection of Scotland’s finest distilleries, located in the Glenlivet region of Speyside.

The Cask Strength has an earthy palate with ginger and cinnamon spice, this unadulterated whisky is bottled at cask strength to reveal a full bodied aroma.

Non chill filtered, no added colour.

The Old Perth range is setup to be a malt drinker’s everyday dram.

From Morrison Scotch Whisky Distillers.

BUNNAHABHAIN DISTILLERY 23 Year Old 1997 The Golden Cask Exclusive

Bunnahabhain 23 Year Old

Exclusive 1997 vintage from the Golden Cask. 52.3% for a very tasty £135!

Bunnahabhain 23 Year Old 1997 vintage Islay single malt Scotch whisky. Single bourbon cask #CM265 bottled October 2020 by House of Macduff for the Golden Cask series. 277 numbered bottles exclusive to The Whisky Barrel.

Nose: Peat smoke, brine, pineapple, cinnamon, creme brulee.

Taste: Sea salt, bonfire smoke, vanilla ice cream, ripe banana, sea air.

Finish: Long and oily, with more salt and smoke and pineapple.

Bunnahabhain Distillery was established in 1881 on the north eastern tip of the Isle of Islay by the shore of Bunnahabhain Bay and overlooking the Sound of Islay. All the building materials were transported by puffer and unloaded at the distillery pier. Now tucked away at the end of the single track ‘main’ road with spectacular scenery all the way. Bunnahabhain Distillery is equipped with four huge pear shaped stills and produces Scottish malt whisky which is released in blends and in single malt and single cask bottlings. A participant in Feis Ile, the annual Islay Festival of Malt and Music. Core editions include Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old and 18 Year Old.

CAD$232 / USD$152 / €149 | Shop Now >>

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 365: Auchentoshan 18 Year Old 2000 Malts of Scotland

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky vlogger, is also known as the Toshan Man. Hence, another Auchentoshan rambling. Malts of Scotland – the German independent bottler – found a beauty of a sherry hogshead in the warehouse, that was filled with Mark’s favorite Lowlander’s triple distilled spirit in 2000. The Auchentoshan matured for 18 years before the cask yielded 329 bottles at cask strength. Two bottles made it his way and he seems very happy with them.

https://youtu.be/Ep9k8i7gXgI

Jim Beam® Debuts National Campaign Encouraging Bored Beer Fans to Take A Break From Beer and Make the Switch to a Refreshing Jim Beam Highball

The Whisky Exchange Single Casks Batch 3

Back in 2019, quite quietly, we launched a new range of whiskies. In the middle of last year, we released a second batch, also quite quietly. But now, with the launch of our latest whiskies, we want to make a bit of noise – please welcome The Whisky Exchange Single Casks Batch 3.

Where did these come from?

A bit of history. Back in the olden dayes – the early 2000s – The Whisky Exchange launched its first independent bottlings. These eventually led to three ranges of whisky – The Single Malts of Scotland, Port Askaig and Elements of Islay. As they got more successful, more people wanted them, and other shops started buying them – they were no longer special bottlings for The Whisky Exchange.

So, last year, Sukhinder Singh – The Whisky Exchange’s co-founder – decided that we needed our own whiskies again. While we have great bottlings that we’ve done with distilleries and independents from around the world, we didn’t have anything that was truly ours. He dug into his spreadsheets of casks, and chose a few, which were quietly launched at Whisky Show 2019 – a new range of single cask whiskies with our name on: The Whisky Exchange Single Casks.

Our second batch launched during lockdown and included an already sought-after Laphroaig 1998, as well as a miniature set of the whole range to date. With only a few bottles of those early batches left, it was time to bottle some more – five new whiskies: the third batch.

Caol Ila 2008 12 Years Old Cask #313261

A classic Caol Ila, maybe our favourite distillery – it’s definitely the distillery we go back to the most. Distilled in 2008 and matured in a hogshead for 12 years.

Nose: Incense, candied lemon and biscuity grain are joined by soft liquorice-root sweetness and earthy peat smoke. Notes of sea-spray, gravel and dark chocolate build, with toffee apples and lime following.

Palate: Chocolate limes and burning pine kick things off, sweet, smoky and citrusy. The limes are joined by charred orange peel, crashing waves, freshly spread gravel driveways, tarred ropes and wax-polished oak.

Finish: A touch of floral sweetness lingers, as burning rose bushes, liquorice and chocolate fade.

Comment: A classic, coastal Caol Ila, packed with citrus, minerality, sea-spray and tarry smoke.

Buy now >

Glenlossie 2009 11 Years Old Cask #6281

Not every distillery in Scotland gets its fair share of the limelight, and Glenlossie is definitely one that hides away a bit. It’s the style we focus on – it’s all about the distillery character. It’s a classic Speyside spirit, with loads of fruit, matured in a bourbon barrel for 11 years.

Nose: Butter icing and crisp apples at first, with sweet pastry, oatcakes and baked apples developing. Fruity caramel builds accompanied by crisp-but-sweet pear and sugared almonds.

Palate: Very sweet to start: apple-and-pear jam stirred through vanilla cream. Sharper notes of unripe apple, mango and pineapple build, along with green leaves, fresh-cut grass, sugared almonds and freshly sawn old oak boards.

Finish: Damp oak fades as apple pies and Granny Smith apples build. Oatcakes, digestives and anise linger.

Comment: Rich, rounded and malty, with a layer of fruit running through the middle.

Buy now >

Glen Elgin 2008 / 12 Years Old / Cask # 805343

Another fairly quiet distillery is Glen Elgin. It’s a bit more available than Glenlossie, but the official bottlings haven’t really been that inspiring recently. This single cask bottling is much more so – a balanced combination of fresh and jammy fruit, with an unexpectedly dark back-end. Distilled in 2008 and aged for 12 years in a hogshead.

Nose: A fruit bowl to start: pears and raspberries with some zingy redcurrants and zest lemons. Sweet butter and sugar sandwiches on white-bread are balanced by polished oak and woody spice, with barley sugar and lemon drops hiding at the back.

Palate: Thick and sweet, with the fruit from the nose alternately jammy and poached, with liquorice and damp oak sneaking in behind. Blackcurrant jam and mint cream notes develop, along with sweet, creamy custard and grated 100% cocoa dark chocolate.

Finish: Custard and jam lead to dark oak, gentle char and liquorice pastilles.

Comment: A big, fruity whisky which balances fresh and darker flavours against sweetness and oaky spice.

Buy now >

Bunnahabhain 1997 / 22 Years Old / Cask #5448

While Bunnahabhain is best known for its unpeated spirit, increasingly its smoky whisky is making a splash in the single malt world. However, it’s a relatively recent thing, with full smoky production only really starting in the past 20 years. This is a smoky spirit from before that time, which looks to have come from some of the experimental batches they did in 1997. Big and smoky, aged in a single hogshead for 22 years.

Nose: Damp fire-pits and last night’s burnt leaves. Fields of ferns are covered over with sweet smoke, as sea-breeze ozone and sticky liquorice notes build.

Palate: Rich notes of sweet malt loaf, raisins and liquorice sit alongside sea-wettened stones, burning pine and leafy herbs – mint and tarragon. Char and tar hide underneath along with soft spice and a hint of dark chocolate.

Finish: Damp leaves and polished oak linger.

Comment: A dark and smoky dram, with a slice of freshness and maritime character.

Buy now >

Ben Nevis 1996 / 23 Years Old / Cask #1709

When it comes to distilleries that are on the up at the moment, Ben Nevis must be in the top handful. Its own whiskies have been getting loads of love, and independent bottlings are being snapped up at speed, especially of 1996-vintage releases. This bottling – from one of the increasingly well-known #17xx casks – shows why: it’s a beautifully balanced and fruity whisky with loads of spice. It’s maybe my pick of the third batch. Distilled in 1996 and aged for 23 years in a hogshead.

Nose: Sweet, floral and fruity, with meadow flowers, Dolly Mixtures, candied orange slices and a touch of gummi bear. Dried pineapple and mango hide under a layer of apple sauce.

Palate: The fruit continues into the palate, with spicy gingerbread piled high with apple and pear jam. A touch of leafy mint floats over the top, with a river of raisins and currants following. Wax polished oak sits under it all.

Finish: Caramel- and chocolate-dipped apple slices on a freshly cut oak board.

Comment: Layers of fruit, spice and chocolate make for a rich and complex dram that rewards exploration.

The Ben Nevis is sold out online, but you can find details here, and there are a few bottles left in our shops.

You can find all of these whiskies over on our website – The Whisky Exchange Single Casks.

Welcome to a new year, and a new opportunity to journey into the world of flavour with the Society. The new year also marks the end of the Brexit transition period, so the way we service our members in the European Union will change slightly.

We’ll be launching a new website specifically for EU members in the coming weeks. Please note, that we will be unable to fulfil orders to addresses in the EU until the new website launches, and any orders placed on the current UK site will be cancelled and refunded.

In the meantime, we wanted to give you a sneak peak of the new array of intriguing Flavour Profiles which will be coming your way when the new website arrives. These drams will be available on the UK site today, but rest assured, we have kept plenty of these bottles aside to make sure we can share them with our members in the EU very soon.

VIEW PREVIEW BOTTLINGS

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

Bestselling Rare
Whiskies of 2020

Rare & Collectable Whiskies from 2020

Don’t miss out on these great bottles from 2020 including GlenAllachie, Cambus, Glen Scotia, Lagavulin and more!

ralfy review 859 – Bladnoch 11yo @46.7%vol:

DEVILS RIVER AND 375 PARK AVENUE SPIRITS FORGE PARTNERSHIP TO ACCELERATE SURGE ACROSS WHISKEY CATEGORY

Louisville, KY (Jan. 6, 2021)— 375 Park Avenue Spirits, a division of the Sazerac Company, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a supply and distribution agreement with Devils River Whiskey effective April 1, 2021.  Under this agreement, 375 Park Avenue Spirits will assume responsibility for all sales and operational functions and will support the brand’s marketing efforts.

“Devils River is an emerging whiskey brand but one that’s made quite a bit of noise since entering the scene back in 2017,” said Jason Schladenhauffen, president and CEO of 375 Park Avenue Spirits. “The brand has established a clear stronghold in its home market of Texas and has steadily been expanding that U.S. footprint over the last 12-18 months.  We expect to take the baton from the Devils River team and increase the pace as we embark on the next leg of their growth trajectory.”

Devils River Whiskey was launched in Texas on April 1, 2017.  The brand’s ascent has been impressive as it is currently available in 29 states and selling over 125,000 cases to date.  They say the devil is in the details.  Devils River Whiskey attributes its quick rise in the category to its meticulous attention to detail as it only uses the finest grains, the limestone filtered spring water from the Devils River region, and its proprietary finishing process.

The brand has been recognized as one of the best whiskies aged less than 10 years by some of the industry’s most discerning judges.  Since its debut in 2017, Devils River Whiskey has collected over 55 medals and is quickly becoming one of the most awarded Texas whiskey brands.

Industry veteran, Jeff Colbert recently joined the Devils River Whiskey leadership team as the company’s new Chief Operating Officer.  Reporting to the company’s three co-founders, Jeff will oversee the company’s day-to-day operations as well as ensure the seamless transition with 375 Park Avenue Spirits.  “Jeff brings a significant track record of commercial leadership and we are confident that he is the right person to lead the company into its next phase of growth,” said Devils River Whiskey President and Co-founder Mike Cameron. “He has a successful track record of cultivating and leading a strong performance-oriented culture, and we believe his reputation for execution and achieving results makes him the right choice to lead our organization.”

“We are extremely excited to be entering into this strategic partnership with 375 Park Avenue Spirits,” said Colbert.  “The collaboration will strengthen Devils River Whiskey’s brand development and provide the competitive edge we need to more effectively compete in today’s competitive whiskey category through the strength of 375 Park Avenue Spirits sales and distribution network.”

Devils River will be available from 375 Park Avenue Spirits beginning on April 1, 2021. Available SKUs include the following: Devils River Bourbon 1.75L, 750ml and 50ml, Devils River Barrel Strength, Rye and Coffee 750 and 50ml and Single Barrel & Barrel Select 750ml’s. 

About 375 Park Avenue Spirits

375 Park Avenue Spirits specializes in the premium- to luxury-spirit categories and our portfolio includes numerous expressions from leading international producers.  Founded as Luctor International, LLC in 1981, 375 Park Avenue Spirits joined the Sazerac Company in early 2015 to act as an independent, yet fully integrated sales and marketing affiliate. The company is known today for creating an environment of growth for supplier partners in the domestic market for renown brands like Van Gogh Vodka from Holland, Sobieski Vodka from Poland, Cutty Sark Blended Scotch, J.P. Wiser’s Canadian Whisky, Paul John Single Malt Whisky from India, Scapegrace Gin from New Zealand, Novo Fogo Cachaca and many others. For more information on 375 Park Avenue Spirits, please visit www.375park.com.  

About Sazerac

Sazerac is one of America’s oldest family owned, privately held distillers with operations in the United States in Louisiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Maryland, California, and global operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Australia and Canada. For more information on Sazerac, please visit www.sazerac.com. 

About Devils River

Devils River Whiskey, a premium whiskey company based in San Antonio, Texas, is committed to creating a whiskey that stands apart from competition because of its use of the purest water in Texas at the heart of the production process.  The brand is comprised of six expressions – Bourbon, Rye, Barrel Strength, Coffee Bourbon, Single Barrel Texas Straight Bourbon and Distiller’s Select Texas Straight Bourbon – and distributed in 29 states. [ TX, OK, AR, LA, CA, CO, MO, KS, NE, IL, WI, IN, KY, FL, GA, TN, SC, NY, NJ, MA, RI, MD, DC, ME, CT, NV, AL, PA, NC ].  Follow Devils River Whiskey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn @DevilsRWhiskey.