Travel the wonderful world of whisk(e)y!

Here is your friendly reminder of some of the incredible whisk(e)y available from outside the boundaries of Scotch. Expand your horizons with a dram from the legendary Yamazaki, an Irish favourite from Bushmills or in search of the perfect Old Fashioned with Woodford Reserve. There are plenty to choose from so have a look at our extensive range!

View World Whisk(e)y →

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 416: Auchentoshan 22 Year Old 1998 Klubb23

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, tastes yet another Auchentoshan. His friends from Klubb23 got their hands on a cask of Auchentoshan, bottled especially for the Dram Brothers Whisky Society of Luxembourg. Mark had to hurry to get his hands on one as there are only 70 bottles available. It’s a belter!

https://youtu.be/k63KjJUJ1Bo

EX-PAUL JOHN WHISKY’S REGIONAL MANAGER, SHILTON ALMEIDA, JOINS M&H DISTILLERY

Tel Aviv – December 2021 — Shilton Almeida, formerly of Paul John’s Whisky, joins the M&H Distillery as the Global Brand Ambassador.

Almeida will bring to the Tel Aviv-based distillery a decade of experience in retail sales, marketing, and branding, as well as a wealth of knowledge and expertise. For more than six years, Almeida worked as a Regional Manager for John Distilleries, focusing on sales, marketing, and branding for Paul John Whisky in the United Kingdom and Europe. Shilton Almeida has been named Icons of Whisky – Highly Commended World Whisky Brand Ambassador of the Year for 2021.

“Almeida’s experience, passion, and understanding of the industry will undoubtedly be a huge asset as we look forward to a busy year ahead,” stated Gal Kalkshtein, founder and owner of the M&H Distillery. “I’ve been in love with M&H since they released their Young Single Malt, which I first tried in Frankfurt and got me all excited about the future there.” said Almeida. It’s fascinating to see what the team is doing in those climatic conditions in Israel. It is a privilege to be a part of this fantastic team”.

M&H finalizes the year with great enthusiasm, winning top honors including “Craft Producer of the Year” in Whisky Magazine’s 2021 Icons of Whisky (Rest of World), and after successfully launching its APEX series, the distillery’s signature core line of innovative, forward-thinking bold whiskies. M&H is currently presenting worldwide its most exciting release, the APEX Dead Sea, the first single malt whisky matured in the lowest place on earth, where temperatures climbing as high as 55 ºc.

About M&H Distillery: M&H Distillery (Milk & Honey), established in 2012 by entrepreneur and investor Gal Kalkstein, is Israel’s first whisky distillery and produces high-quality distillates in Tel Aviv. All raw materials, equipment, casks and processes were selected to ensure that the final product – whether white distillates or aged whisky – meets the highest quality standards. M&H Distillery received guidance and advice from the late Dr. Jim Swan, a world-renowned master distiller. All the products of the distillery are kosher.

Glenfarclas Donates to Moray Food Plus

Whilst this has been an unusual year for everyone, we are thrilled to be back welcoming visitors to our distillery with both tours and tastings. It has been great to have our distillery visits back up and running where we have been able to welcome visitors from all around the world. In accordance with government guidelines, we have enjoyed running our full tours.

The Glenfarclas team have continued their fundraising efforts for Moray Food Plus over the past six months with tour charges being replaced by donation requests following the reintroduction of distillery visits. It is safe to say that we could not have predicted the overwhelming response, support and generosity from our visitors. Distillery Manager Callum Fraser hosted a special manager’s tour for his birthday (which happened to be during the whisky festival) and all proceeds of this special tour went to Moray Food Plus as part of the donations. We would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who visited for their contributions and we are very excited to announce that the grand total raised was an amazing £16,580.94. The cheque was presented to Mairi McCallum from Moray Food Plus by our Visitor Centre Manager Matthew Porritt on Wednesday 8th December. Overseeing the handover was Major General Seymour Monro (Lord-Lieutenant of Moray) and Patricia Seligman (Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Banffshire). Proudly photographed at the cheque handover are Suzanne, Kirstin, Steve and Lauren who were all involved alongside Donna (not photographed) in persuading visitors to part with their cash for such a good cause. Despite the Covid-19 restrictions the Visitor Centre has had a fantastic season and we are looking forward to welcoming back guests to Glenfarclas in the New Year.

Since our reopening announcement we have had a very busy second half of the year and have been thrilled to be able to host and attend a number of events. In August we had an unexpected visit from some very special guests who were raising money for Police Care UK and The Fire Fighters Charity by walking over 600 miles from Gloucestershire to Elgin. The Glenfarclas team had a lot of fun welcoming William, Millie and Boo Boo and even got the chance to feed them some of our very own draff.

As per tradition Glenfarclas Distillery put forward its team for the Dramathon who ended up winning the We Dram relay. On behalf of Glenfarclas we would like to say a massive well done to both our team and those who participated in this annual event.

November was a very exciting month for us with the return of the rescheduled in-person Speyside Whisky Festival. As well as welcoming visitors to the distillery and attending tastings we were very excited to find out that we won overall best whisky at the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Awards from 2020 which was accepted by Callum at a launch event in October.

On the topic of awards, we are also thrilled to be able to announce that we also took away a bronze award from the Fields of Whisky Challenge which was accepted on behalf of Glenfarclas by our very own Deborah Stewart.

December has been a busy end to the year for us with our specially designed 1965 decanter and crystal tumblers which are housed in a beautiful rose wood box going to the Distillers One of One Auction. The auction was in aid of disadvantaged young people in Scotland and is led by The Worshipful Company of Distillers. This unique, one of kind whisky and decanter exceeded expectations and raised a total of £17,000.

We are also very excited to announce that our Chairman John Grant has been inducted into the Whisky Magazine’s Hall of Fame. This very prestigious honour was accepted by John himself at the award ceremony held in Edinburgh at the Balmoral Hotel. Please join us in congratulating him on his success.

As the year draws to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Mark, Scott and Niall, who are the three new faces that have joined the Glenfarclas team and will be involved in the production of our Glenfarclas spirit. Whilst we have made new and exciting changes our vision to produce traditional Highland Single Malt Whiskies remains the same. We would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years from everyone here at Glenfarclas.

Introducing Mark who has joined us in the Mash House as an operator.

Please welcome Scott who has taken on the role of Bio plant operator.

And last but not least Niall, who is our newest Still House operator.

Fettercairn 16 Year Old 2nd Release: 2021

The 2021 batch of the 16-year-old Fettercairn has just landed! And here we have a delcious trio of casks in this unique maturation: first-fill Oloroso, refill Oloroso and rare Palo Cortado sherry butts. Expect that tropical fruit forward character with the influence of those sherry casks bringing complexity and depth. Bottled at 46.4% abv as a limited annual release, we can’t wait to taste a bit of Summer in a dram!

HAMISH SAYS

£69.99
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The 2021 batch of the 16-year-old Fettercairn is here! And here we have a delicious trio of casks in this unique maturation: first-fill Oloroso, refill Oloroso and rare Palo Cortado sherry butts. Paired with the Highland distillery’s unique distilling process of dousing their stills in cool water to increase condensation leading to a lighter spirit, we have something truly wonderful! Expect that tropical fruit forward character with the influence of those sherry casks bringing complexity and depth. Bottled at 46.4% abv as a limited annual release, we can’t wait to taste a bit of Summer in a dram!

A Singular Scotch Collectible from Renaissance Star
1992 Bruichladdich “Black Art – Edition 9.1” 29 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) ($599.99)

The rebirth of Islay’s renowned Bruichladdach distillery has been one of the most exciting developments of the past decade in the Scotch world, which makes this release that much more compelling. The oldest single malt ever sent to market by Bruichladdach, the Black Art – Edition 9.1 is an unparalleled glimpse into history and tradition, as it was produced and laid down before the distillery’s closure in 1994. Matured for 29 years in cask (only head distiller Adam Hannet knows what kind of cask), this extraordinary unpeated whisky is hands-down one of the most impressive collector’s items we’ve seen come through the door in recent years. Displaying opulent, layered aromatics and flavors carried by mesmerizing depth and viscosity that are second to none, it’s a Scotch experience unlike any other. We’ve taken in a painfully small allocation, so avid aficionados will want to move fast, as opportunities like this only come along once in a blue moon.

ralfy review 908 Extras – Wine with a ‘whisky cask’ finish

I hope you are well and relatively stress-free!

Just a very quick note from myself and Amanda to say have a great festive period and an excellent New Year. All the best to you and your families going into 2022. Thanks once again for your support and patience through this continuing situation, and our one wish is that we can continue to reconnect with in-person events!

See you next year!

Slainte!

Eddie & Amanda

The Whisky Lounge Team

This Christmas, on behalf of everyone at the Isle of Harris Distillery, please accept our thanks for following our story and supporting our island enterprise. We have lots to look forward to in 2022, but for now the copper stills lie silent and the home fires are lit as we spend time with family and close friends.

Wishing you and yours a peaceful festive season and a very Happy Christmas.

Nollaig Chridheil agus Bliadhna Mhath Ùr!

Mike Donald
Isle of Harris Distillery Storytelle