Kentucky Distillers’ Association Welcomes Allison Delande as Director of Special Projects

Kentucky Distillers’ Association Welcomes Allison Delande as Director of Special Projects

FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky Distillers’ Association today announced that Allison Delande has joined the historic non-profit trade group as its first-ever Director of Special Projects.

An events management, marketing and branding expert, Delande spent the past 20 years strategically developing, building and managing brands through multiple channels, including in-person experiences, web, marketing, advertising and fund-raising.

“We’ve had the pleasure of working directly with Allison on several key events and initiatives over the last few years and have been incredibly impressed with her work ethic, passion, professionalism and expertise,” KDA President Eric Gregory said.

“Allison’s experience will greatly benefit the KDA and our members as we continue to market and grow the profile of Kentucky Bourbon around the world and strengthen the Commonwealth’s title as the one, true and authentic home for Bourbon.”

At the KDA, Delande will coordinate and elevate KDA-related events and initiatives, including the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame®, Order of the Writ®, the Kentucky Bourbon Affair™, KDA Annual Meeting, legislative receptions and other special projects and internal events.

Delande said she looks forward to using her talents to widen the impact of Kentucky Bourbon.

“I’m truly grateful for this opportunity to join the KDA and further highlight its key initiatives,” Delande said. “Kentucky’s Bourbon industry is on an outstanding trajectory and I look forward to helping it achieve ever greater success.”

Delande comes to KDA from Minnick Media Inc., where she managed day-to-day operations, programming and experiential marketing for Fred Minnick’s growing business and brand.

“Allison is going on to new and additional great opportunities with the KDA. It’s a hard loss for my organization, seeing such a multi-talented employee and outstanding person leave my company, but her transition is great for Bourbon at large,” Minnick said.

“Working with the KDA, Allison will bring her knowledge and depth of experience to initiatives that benefit the entire industry. I look forward to partnering with her and the KDA on Bourbon-related events in the months and years ahead.”

Born near Toronto, Canada, Delande grew up in Cincinnati and received her bachelor’s in fine arts from Northern Kentucky University. After moving from Chicago to Louisville in 2007 with her family, she served as marketing and event coordinator for the Louisville Water Company, managed all aspects of the Louisville Certified Tourism Ambassador program, and worked with Bourbon Women Association.

She and her husband, Keith, have 16-year-old twins and live in Prospect.

Founded in 1880, the KDA is the voice for Bourbon and spirits issues. Its diverse membership produces the overwhelming majority of the world’s Bourbon, from legendary, global brands to emerging micro distilleries that are building the next generation of America’s only native spirit.

Bourbon is one of Kentucky’s most treasured industries, a thriving $9 billion economic and tourism engine sustaining more than 22,500 jobs with an annual payroll topping $1.23 billion each year, over $285 million in local and state taxes and $1.8 billion in federal alcohol taxes.

A key export, the iconic industry is currently in the middle of a $5.2 billion building boom, from innovative new tourism experiences to expanded production facilities, bottling centers and aging warehouses, all to meet the growing global thirst for Kentucky Bourbon.

Bourbon production has skyrocketed more than 435% since the turn of the century.

Kentucky now boasts more than 10.3 million barrels of Bourbon aging in warehouses across the Bluegrass, the most in its revered distilling history. Distillers filled more than 2.4 million barrels in 2020 alone, the third year in a row that production topped the two million mark.

Attendance at the KDA’s Kentucky Bourbon Trail® and Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour® experiences continue their rapid rebound from COVID and closures, up 160% in total attendance from last year and just down slightly from the pre-pandemic record in 2019.

Visit www.kybourbon.com and www.kybourbontrail.com to learn more.

Our June Auction is now LIVE!! 

Only 8.5% buyer’s commission! 

Auction ends Friday 10th June. 

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Macallan – Diamond Jubilee – 2012

Tomatin – 1962

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Glen Grant 70 Year Old 1952

Glen Grant 70 Year Old 1952 Private Collection

Commemorating Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Only Gordon & MacPhail could have selected a single first fill sherry butt spanning the seven decades of Queen Elizabeth II.

Scooping a whopping 93-points on WhiskyFun.

Buy – Glen Grant 70 Year Old 1952 Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Nose: Notes of beeswax polish give way to ripe fig aromas. Toffee and orange zest. Aged leather tempers rum and raisin.

Taste: Stewed blackberry compote, sweet clementine and milk chocolate flavours are followed by a menthol undertone/

Finish: A long finish with a touch of smoke and hint of pepper.

GLEN GRANT 

Established in 1840 by brothers James and John Grant, the business prospered and in 1897 Glen Grant No. 2 Distillery was established across the road in order to meet the high demand for Glen Grant whiskey. During the late nineteenth century a Victorian garden was laid out in the valley behind the distillery and is now open to distillery visitors. Glen Grant is a Speyside malt whiskey distillery situated in Rothes equipped with eight stills and an on-site bottling plant. Gordon & MacPhail has released some rare vintage single malts dating back to the 1950s.

ONE FANCIES A SHERRY
IN CELEBRATION OF THE QUEEN’S PLATINUM JUBILEE

Cak No. 108.58

Casks: First Fill PX Barrique

Age: 13 years

On the nose we discovered “two sides of a coin”. One being dark chocolate cherry liqueurs while, flipping it over, there was a funky scent of roasted beetroot and goat cheese tart. Massive on the palate, a creamy spicy jalapeno jam next to toasted, flaked almonds and a coffee bitterness in the finish. Diluted, an apple and cinnamon turnover, prune juice and on the other side, mushroom pie and tar. While to taste, hoisin sauce, ginger cake and glace cherries. After 11 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this whisky into a first fill barrique from a privately owned small bodegas, now in its 9th generation, that focuses exclusively on the Pedro Ximenez grape.

BROWSE WHISKY

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

IRISH SINGLE MALT WHISKEY

70cl | 47% ABV

Introducing the first Irish Whiskey to be distilled in County Mayo in over 150 years.

Connacht Batch 1 is a small batch, double distilled Single Malt, made from 100% malted Irish barley. It has been patiently matured for four years in ex-bourbon casks, before a final finishing in Oloroso sherry casks from Jerez, Spain.

Aromas

Plenty of raisins and dried fruits followed by a honeyed sweetness, with notes of fudge, butterscotch, an almond nuttiness and hints of star anise.

On The Palate

Vanilla and spices compliment notes of dried fruits and malt.

The Finish

Warming and full bodied with lingering walnuts and honey.

£54.95

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Tamdhu 2006 15 Year Old #2165
TWS Exclusive
+ free W Club annual membership

Our latest single cask collaboration is a first-fill sherry cask limited to 336 bottles!

A fabulous sherry bomb from Tamdhu. This release is an exclusive to The Whisky Shop, with just 336 bottles available. This expression was distilled in 2006 and was laid to rest in an American oak first-fill sherry cask. This single malt is bursting with spicy and fruity flavours. A simply outstanding dram.

On the nose, there are aromas of Christmas cake and chocolate coated brazil nuts. The palate is well-balanced and full of flavours of dried fruits and gentle baking spices. This spicy fruitness continues in the long finish.

£250.00
BUY NOW

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 444: Starward Single Cask #1855 for Whivie.be & The Bonding Dram

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, bottled a single cask from Down Under. Mark is a fan of Starward, that’s known. And when he got the chance to buy a barrel a few weeks ago, he didn’t let it pass him by. You should know that Starward used a first fill Apera barrel from McWilliams for this single malt. McWilliams has been producing Apera, the Australian version of sherry, made from the Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca grape varieties for years. The barrel – number #1855 – was filled in May 2016 and when bottled yielded only 222 bottles at a cask strength of 59.3%. Fun fact: when Mark tasted a sample taken on October 12, 2021, the strength was 57.1%. Yes, in Australia the strength increases!

https://youtu.be/jgfRTxfM8rw

Jura Whisky Celebrates return of Fèis Ìle Festival

with a Toast to the Community and the Launch of a New

2022 Distillery Exclusive

Mark Bruce, Jura Distillery Brand Home Manager in the Jura Cooperage Bar

Jura Single Malt whisky is celebrating the return of the popular Fèis Ìle festival with a very special community gathering and the launch of a limited-edition 14 Year Old Distillery Exclusive, crafted inside a specially selected cask waiting patiently in one of the island distillery’s warehouses.

The new whisky will be available from the 3^rd June, the date that Jura Distillery marks its official day as part of the Fèis Ìle celebrations, which this year will see the whisky community at the distillery come together with islanders for a gathering.

The 2007 limited Jura Distillery release was matured in Cask No.1892, a hand-selected Sherry butt from Jerez in Southern Spain, for 14 years. Just 700 bottles will be available of this exquisite liquid which boasts a golden orange colour and a cask strength of 57.2% ABV.

Joe Ricketts, Lead Whisky Maker for Jura, explains: “The distillery team had earmarked this cask as a potential island exclusive and it was easy to see why. The fruity, aromatic qualities we’ve found around the 2007 vintage, combined with the rich, warming notes from its time in a single Sherry butt make for a compelling expression of Jura’s distinct character. Trying it with Mark and the team on the island, we quickly realised it would be the ideal candidate for 2022’s Fèis Ìle Distillery Cask, celebrating the return of this great festival.”

With an inviting nose expressing warm sweet spice, prunes soaked in Armagnac, crystal malt, dried peach, green banana and bitter orange, this 14 Year Old single cask malt delivers dried stone fruit and sweet citrus on the palate, together with notes of chocolate mint, medium roasted coffee and pistachio, before finishing with a lovely citrus blossom lift.

Mark Bruce adds: “We knew this was a special cask destined for great things. Our distillery team had shortlisted it as a potential future distillery exclusive and Joe agreed. We’ve worked harder than ever to ensure this celebratory bottling is ready for Jura Day, filling, wax dipping and completing every single bottle with hand-written labels all on island. A fitting tribute to the great community here.”

The 700 bottles will be available to purchase exclusively from the distillery visitor centre on the 3^rd of June before the remaining allocation of bottles is made available for pre-sale to select international markets via the Jura Whisky website, with an RRP of £120.

There will be no tours or tastings in the distillery this year, however the visitor centre will be open to all and distillery staff look forward to greeting everyone keen to get their hands on a bottle of Jura 2022 Fèis Ìle Distillery Exclusive. Deer Island Rum, Jura Brewery, Lussa Gin and The Island Bakehouse will also be running activities throughout the day and, for the islanders themselves, along with anybody lucky enough to be staying overnight, there will be live music from Glaswegian sensation Trail West supported by local band Pete Smoke and the Roaches, from 8pm in the local community hall.

About Jura:

Jura is a remote island nestled off the West Coast of Scotland. With only one road, one pub, one whisky distillery and 212(ish) people, Jura is as beautiful as it is remote.

The distillery was established in 1810 and reborn in 1963 to revive the community.

Inspired by our history and our island home, we create single malt with a true passion for the craft of whisky making.  Each bottle of Jura Whisky is a celebration of our island home and embodies the passion of those who make it. This remote Scottish island provides the canvas from which these dedicated islanders take their inspiration, and our distillery provides the means by which to bring this to life through whisky making.

Product information:

Distillery Exclusive Fèis Ìle Edition 2022 (14 Year Old, 2007 Vintage)

ABV: 57.2%

Available in 70cl

Colour:           Orange gold

Nose:              Cocoa dusting, warming sweet spice, prunes soaked in Armagnac, crystal malt, dried peach, green banana and bitter orange

Taste:              Dried stone fruit, sweet citrus, chocolate mint, medium roasted coffee and pistachio

Finish:            Finishes with a citrus blossom lift 

Whyte and Mackay – home to a collection of multi-award-winning Single Malt Whiskies The Dalmore, Jura, Fettercairn and Tamnavulin.

2021’s Distiller of the Year (Scotland) at the Icon of Whisky awards, Whyte and Mackay toasted a remarkable start to the year in 2022, achieving 38 awards at the IWSC.

The award-winning whisky makers’ collection now features three Single Malt Scotch brands ranked in the top twenty worldwide, by industry authority The IWSR. Worldwide, Tamnavulin and Jura become the #1 and # 2 Fastest Growing Single Malt Scotch brands. In the UK – the home of Scotch Whisky – Jura became the Number 1 Single Malt Brand.

The Dalmore continues to enjoy exceptional performance, at the pinnacle of the category. The Dalmore Decades featured a once-in-a-lifetime collection of whiskies celebrating whisky making artistry across six decades. The campaign broke records for Sotheby’s Asia, achieving $1.1MM at auction. The collection secured prestigious feature in Paris, Los Angeles, London, Taipei, and Shanghai. The Dalmore Decades set a new standard in luxury spirits marketing, with a boutique in Hainan, elite performance on Tmall and Whyte & Mackay’s first NFT partnership.

The Dalmore’s Richard Paterson was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II celebrate his visionary contribution to the industry over the past five decades. Whisky Making is led by Master Whisky Maker Gregg Glass, who celebrates six years at Whyte and Mackay, leading the creation of Woodsman and Whisky Works. Glass championed the rejuvenation of Jura and Fettercairn, respected for the enlightened approach taken by Glass, alongside Stewart Walker and the team at the Aberdeenshire distillery.

Whyte and Mackay operate eight sites across Scotland including Dalmore Distillery in the Highlands, and Jura an island off the west coast of Scotland, home to a tiny island community of 212.

NEVER MIND THE SHERRY:

THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY LAUNCH PLATINUM PUNK PAIRING FOR JUBILEE

Victorious, punk, and glorious! The world’s most entertaining whisky club have launched a special bottling paired with whisky-flavoured ice cream ‘Bohemian Raspberry’ for the Platinum Jubilee, with alternative Punk Afternoon Tea experiences at Members Rooms throughout June

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) are saluting the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with the launch of a special bottling ‘One Fancies a Sherry’ available to members on Monday, 30^th May. The ever-playful whisky club will be hosting Punk Afternoon Tea experiences in their UK Members Rooms throughout June where the limited-edition whisky-flavoured ice cream ‘Bohemian Raspberry’ will be available for only £10.

‘One fancies a Sherry’ Cask No 108.58 is bottled specifically for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend. ‘One fancies a Sherry’ falls under the Society flavour profile Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits, available to members at £72.90 at: smws.com.

SMWS are hosting Platinum Punk Pairings at UK Members Rooms through June, including events at Edinburgh’s Kaleidoscope Bar which won Global Whisky Bar of the Year 2022 at the recent Whisky Magazine awards.

Commenting on the celebration Helen Stewart, Head of Membership said: “The Society is all about having fun, and this felt like the perfect opportunity to show the world our playful side. The release emphasises what we stand for at the Society – unconventional, playful experiences for people who really love whisky. We wish The Queen the very best on her Platinum Jubilee and hope she can relax with a wee dram over the weekend.”

Begin a discovery of flavour with the Society now at smws.com. 

*FULLL TASTING NOTES

Cask No 108.58 ‘One Fancies a Sherry’

Age: 13 Years

ABV: 55.0%

Distilled Date: 4 August 2008

Flavour Profile: Deep, Rich & Dried Fruits

Speyside

Tasting notes:

On the nose we discovered “two sides of a coin”. One being dark chocolate cherry liqueurs while, flipping it over, there was a funky scent of roasted beetroot and goat cheese tart. Massive on the palate, a creamy spicy jalapeno jam next to toasted, flaked almonds and a coffee bitterness in the finish. Diluted, an apple and cinnamon turnover, prune juice and on the other side, mushroom pie and tar. While to taste, hoisin sauce, ginger cake and glace cherries. After 11 years in an ex-bourbon hogshead, we transferred this whisky into a first fill barrique from a privately owned small bodegas, now in its 9th generation, that focuses exclusively on the Pedro Ximenez grape.

Belonging to the world’s most entertaining whisky club gives you access to exclusive experiences, a monthly members magazine Unfiltered, colourful tastings and events at the Society’s Members’ Rooms, partner bars as well as online – and of course, the finest selection of single cask whisky, bottled exclusively for members. 

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

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#SMWS

About The Scotch Malt Whisky Society 

•        The Scotch Malt Whisky Society was established in Edinburgh in 1983 and now has more than 30,000 members and branches around the world.
•        The SMWS bottles rare single malt whisky, and a range of other spirits
•        The Society bottles single malts, unique single casks and exclusive blends
•        The Society has bottled whisky from 150 distilleries from Scotland and beyond
•        The Society offers a new batch of around 20 single malt whiskies every month
•        The Society offers a variety of membership packages that can be tailored. Please see: https://cutt.ly/aQGwfkH
•        For more information about the Society, visit: https://cutt.ly/HQF6PTv
•        Twitter: @SMWSUK Facebook: @thesmwsuk Instagram: @smws_uk

UK MEMBERS ROOMS

SMWS EDINBURGH

28 Queen St, Edinburgh EH2 1JX

The Vaults, 87 Giles St, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6BZ 

SMWS GLASGOW

40 Bath St, Glasgow G2 1HG

SMWS LONDON

19 Greville St, London EC1N 8SQ

Glen Grant 1952 to mark the Platinum Jubilee

£20,000

With only 256 bottles this gem from the private collection of Gordon & MacPhail has been bottled to commemorate the Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.  Bottled on 6th February 1952 to mark the coronation, this first fill sherry cask has matured for 7 decades.  This is not due to go on sale until 6th June, but Whisky Shop customers can secure a bottle of history before then by pre-ordering today for £20,000

 Pre-order Today→

This single cask has been bottled as part of Gordon and MacPhail’s Private Collection to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. Distilled at Glen Grant on Saturday 26th January 1952 and matured for seven decades in a first fill sherry butt before being bottled on Sunday 6th February 2022. Just 256 bottles have been filled at a  strength of 52.3% abv.

Orange peel, honey, and dried fruits on the nose; the palate brings hints of mint, juicy clementine, and dark berries, before a long and gently smoky finish.