MILROY’S EXCLUSIVE RANGE TASTING

28th May 2022
7:00pm

@ Alba Tasting room within Silverleaf.
80 Houndsditch, EC3A 7AB, London

To celebrate the launching of our new whisky tasting room, ‘Alba’, at Pan Pacific Hotel’s Silverleaf cocktail bar, we’ll be pouring some of our very last unopened bottles from our inaugural Vintage Reserve bottlings.

Released in November to widespread enthusiasm and critical acclaim, this is the last opportunity to taste these old and rare single cask expressions. We’re also including our launch exclusive sherry-matured Ben Nevis 24 Year Old, the most limited whisky we’ve bottled to date!

Lead by Jolyon Dunn and James Russell, the creators of Vintage Reserve, this promises to be highly memorable event full of lively discussion and industry insights!

Clynelish 23 Year Old / 1997 / Cask 12359 / Milroy’s / 50.9% 

Ben Nevis 25 Year Old / 1996 / Cask 20 / Milroy’s / 47.6% 

Ben Nevis 24 Year Old / 1996 / Milroy’s / 50.2% 
Strathisla 14 Year Old / 2005 / Cask 134 /  Milroy’s / 58.7%
Aberfeldy 28 Year Old / 1991 / Cask 7434 / Milroy’s / 47.7% 

Springbank 28 Year Old / 1992 / Milroy’s / 50.9%

Buy Now

Linkwood 32 Years

1989 vintage single cask hogshead for the Old & Rare series.

Buy Linkwood 32 YO »

£493.30

Linkwood 32 Year Old 1989 vintage Speyside single malt Scotch whisky. Single cask refill hogshead bottled November 2021 by Hunter Laing & Co. for the Old & Rare Platinum series. 258 bottles. This gold-coloured whisky has a beautifully expressive, fruity nose with stewed apples, peaches, pineapples and lots of honey. Ginger, lemon and orange on the palate with more honey and some vanilla before leading into a long, soft and fruity finish with a perfect amount of oak influence.

Linkwood Distillery was established in 1821 by Peter Brown in the Speyside whisky region. This is a malt whisky distillery equipped with six stills and whilst a large percentage of Linkwood whisky flows into blends an increasing volume is appearing as single malt whisky. There are some excellent independent releases including vintages such as Linkwood 1969 and Linkwood 1972 from Gordon & MacPhail.

FOR EVERY TICKET PURCHASED YOU WILL RECEIVE A WHISKY TASTING PACK!

We can’t believe the time is almost here! With beautiful summer weather beginning to set in we’re all getting excited for this year’s show. Our exhibitors are preparing their liquids, menu’s being set, and display areas are built ready for the arrival of our guests at the Honourable Artillery Company in London.

If you haven’t secured your tickets yet, then make sure you grab your tickets today

to avoid missing out! Our Whisky Experience starts from just £95*

For a limited time only, for every ticket bought you will receive a free Whisky Live At Home tasting pack worth £99** which includes 30 x 30ml whisky samples, including three guest samples of gin and tequila which are complimented with over 15 hours of exclusive access to Whisky Live TV.

To redeem, use code WLL22WLAHFOC

This code is automatically added to the below link.

Once your ticket is purchased we will send a pack to you. 

BOOK YOUR TICKETS

Here’s a list of some of our confirmed exhibitors attending:

Remy Cointreau, Dingle, Single & Single, Angus Dundee, Maison Villevert, Marussia Beverages, The Glasgow Distillery Co, Cask Liquid Marketing, Interbev, Cardrona Distillery, Halewood International, Cotswolds Distillery, Stauning, Ahascragh, plus many more!

BOOK YOUR TICKETS

We look forward to welcoming you to this year’s truly unique tasting experience at Whisky Live!

*Excluding booking fee

**Includes postage and booking fee (UK residents only)

Must be aged 18 years old and over

We have the right to remove this offer at any time.

THE FLAVOUR HUNT IS ON!

We have just released our May Outturn with 21 new adventurous casks to taste and explore, including our Lowland Rare Release Lime and Thyme. Take part in the thrill of the taste, track down your favourite flavours and buy online now. Whisky Season is open.

BROWSE THE NEW 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

International Beverage bids farewell to long standing Speyburn Distillery Manager Bobby Anderson

Drams were raised to toast the long and dedicated service of Speyburn Distillery Manager Bobby Anderson today, as his retiral from the Rothes-based distillery after nearly 22 years was announced.

Hailing from Elgin and with a grandfather who worked as Distillery Manager at MiltonDuff, Bobby believed he had whisky making in his genes. After stints at Ardmore, Glentauchers and Glenburgie Distilleries, he joined Speyburn in 2000 as Distillery Manager.

Over the years he balanced a respect for tradition with a drive for efficiency, taking an enormous amount of pride in building his team to craft a globally respected single malt.

As colleagues from across the business gathered at the Speyside distillery to mark the end of his distinguished tenure, Bobby reflected on the highlights of his career. This includes the 2016 refurbishment of Speyburn which saw it become one of the most energy efficient distilleries in Scotland; and the release of a celebratory Speyburn 18 Years Old to commemorate his 18^th anniversary – currently the highest aged expression in the Speyburn range.

He said: ‘It has been an honour to have spent so much of my career at Speyburn, with this small but brilliant distillery team. Working alongside them to craft such a special single malt whisky and putting it out into the world for all to enjoy has been a real privilege. I’ve also been so lucky to come to work every day in what is one of Scotland’s most beautiful distillery sites, and it’s satisfying to know that I’ve done everything I can over the years to preserve the environment that surrounds it. Making a whisky of such great quality, with real care and consideration for the natural landscape around us is a legacy that I’m extremely proud to pass on to the next generation. The golf course is beckoning but I’ll be keeping a close eye on Speyburn and look forward to seeing it progress and achieve further success in the future’.

Paying tribute to Bobby’s contribution to the business, Inver House Distillers’ Managing Director Martin Leonard said: ‘Working with Bobby for over two decades has been an incredible journey. He has nurtured Speyburn with so much pride, and thanks to his contribution, it has become a globally awarded single malt whisky that symbolises all that is special about Scotland’s great Speyside whisky region. Speyburn would not have achieved the success it enjoys today without him at the helm. 

‘On behalf of everyone in our business, we want to extend a huge thank you to him and wish him all the best for a long and happy retirement. For many years to come, every cask of whisky rolled out of our warehouses at Speyburn Distillery will be a celebration of his devotion, skill, and outstanding stewardship.’  

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL BEVERAGE HOLDINGS

International Beverage Holdings Ltd is one of the drinks industry’s most dynamic global businesses.  Established in 2006 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thaibev, the company operates as its international business arm, specialising in the development of premium local spirits for the global market. Its success is built on a strong understanding of local cultures and markets within a worldwide business network. Based in Hong Kong with regional offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, the USA and UK, the company is responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution of a portfolio of premium brands in over 85 markets. These brands are built on character, craftsmanship and quality, led by a range of award-winning Scotch whiskies and an array of vibrant beers and spirits. These include:

• Single malt Scotch whiskies Old Pulteney, Balblair, anCnoc and Speyburn
• Blended Scotch Hankey Bannister
• Caorunn, Scotland’s leading super premium gin
• Mekhong, ‘The Spirit of Thailand’ since 1941
• Chang Beer, Thailand’s iconic beer brand 

Inver House Distillers is a wholly owned subsidiary of International Beverage Holdings Ltd, producing its  Scotch whiskies and gin at five distilleries around Scotland: Pulteney, Speyburn, Knockdhu, Balblair and Balmenach. Inver House is also highly active in the warehousing and blending of Scotch whisky, with warehousing for 500,000 barrels and state of the art blending and laboratory facilities at its headquarters in Airdrie. The business has won many prestigious accolades over the years, including the Icons of Whisky Distiller of the Year Award for Scotland (2017).

www.interbevgroup.com

Mortlach 33 Year Old – 1988 | Cask 4594 | Connoisseurs Choice

A beautifully presented single malt from Mortlach distillery, released by Gordon & MacPhail for the excellent Connoisseurs Choice series. Distilled in 1988 then laid to rest in a refill American hogshead for 33 years, single cask 4594 was then decanted and filled to bottle 25th November 2021. Only 213 bottles of this delightful dram have been bottled for this independent Mortlach release.

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Ardbeg “Uigeadail” Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) (Elsewhere $86) 94 $79.99 View

 Launched in 2003, Uigeadail remains one of Ardbeg’s core offerings. Matured in a mix of sherry and bourbon barrels and bottled at cask strength. Peppery peat, warm tar, coffee grounds, machine oil, and black pepper on the nose. The palate is complex and rich, offering orange segments sprinkled with sea salt, dark chocolate, malt, and ever-present sweet peat. Nicely balanced. Lengthy in the finish, with smoky caramel. (GS, Fall 2018) 

K&L Notes

2009 World Whiskey of the Year. Ardbeg Uigeadail (pronounced Oog-a-dal) takes its name from the brooding, mysterious loch that provides the peat-laden water for Ardbeg. It is a special vatting of casks matured in bourbon barrels and many older sherry casks. The older casks bring luscious, sweet, raisiny tones to the unique Ardbeg taste. Michael Jackson’s tasting notes: “Nose: Intensely smoky. Dry, clean, tangy smoke. Like standing downwind of the barbecue while steaks are char-grilled on the beach; Palate: Firm, very smooth, then explodes on the tongue; Finish: Hot. Alcoholic. A shock to the system; Comment: The elemental opposite of the sophisticated Lord of the Isles.” 9 1/4 points from Whisky Magazine! Also, was on F. Paul Pacult’s List of the Scotch Whiskies to be Drinking in 2007. Nonchillfiltered.

Barrell Craft 8 Year Old K&L Exclusive Single Barrel #Z4B1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) $99.99 View

The spectacular 8 year old single barrels of Kentucky Straight Bourbon that Barrell has sourced have been wildly popular. One of only 36 barrels to trip the 8 year mark for their Kentucky single barrel releases, this cask is superlative.

Balvenie 21 Year Old “Port Wood” Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) 94 $249.99 View

 A port cask finish gives this Scotch a copper penny hue. The aroma suggests baked apple, while the palate has a chewy, concentrated vanilla-oak profile, leading to walnut, leather and espresso. The rounded finish sings with sherry and spice. Adding water coaxes out baked apple sweetness and dials back the oak. (KN)  (12/2017)

91 points Whisky Advocate

 This is the ultimate Port-wood expression from Balvenie and has been finished in 30-year-old port pipes. A more vibrant and textured Travel Retail variant is non-chill filtered and bottled at 47.6%. Soft, red grape notes, vanilla, and milk chocolate on the nutty nose. Very discreet smoke. Rich plum flavors in the mouth, dark berries covered in cream, and spicy honey. The finish is long and elegantly drying. (GS, Spring 2017) 

DUFFTOWN DISTILLERY

14 Year Old 2007 Old Malt Cask

Cask #18976

£71.98

ralfy review 925 Extras – Choosing better Independent bottlings.

The Manx Whisky Company – founded in 2019 by  Magnus Grinneback and Scott Young.

(Part 1 was published on May 1st and Part 3 will be published May 15th)

The company was founded to create a whisky that truly is a product of the Isle of Man and in order to do this they have decided to do it the hard way. Manx Whisky Company was born out of a desire to prove that it is possible to run a whisky distillery as a small scale company that controls all the steps in the production process. Most distilleries buy ready made malt but these guys have decided to do the opposite. Their barley comes directly from the farmer and they floor malt it at the distillery. Long fermentation times for optimal flavour development and they age the whisky on site. Production is extremely limited but this is how they prefer it. The barley is grown on the island. The strains at the moment are Concerto and Planet. They have no legendary source of water where ancient Celtic tribes buried their treasures over the centuries giving rise to mythical whisky making properties. No, they use the local tap water of the Isle of Man. It is a small distillery after all.

Cutting peat is illegal on the Isle of Man and given this they will not produce any peated whiskies. Using peat from other locations would be too much of a deviation from their Manx ethos. Given that they don’t use temperature control during the fermentation a multitude of yeast strains will be used during winter and summer.

“Where can I buy your whisky” I asked? This is the sad part – you can’t! The whisky will not be ready until at the very earliest Christmas 2023, so if you want to stay up to date on planned releases and events, sign up like me and they will stay in touch; https://www.manxwhisky.com

Who are these lads? Scott is from the Isle of Man and Magnus from the west coast of Sweden. I’ve been to the IOM as a wee snipper, liked it, apart fae the ferry, I was seasick. Never been to Sweden though have friends there. Both thought that it was strange that no one had made a serious effort to make whisky there on the island so decided to start a small distillery that focused on doing the most local product they can, this means getting the grains straight from the farmer and taking care of the entire process themselves including floor malting of the grains. They are hardly empire builders and aim to release very limited quantities each year. The spirit is very much for the informed drinker who cares about nitty-gritty details (just like themselves!). I cannee wait to take a sample! PAUL MCLEAN

Wee chat with Magnus; “Hi Paul, We are just outside Baldrine (Paul’s note; near the Laxey Wheel, went there as a wee lad). Scott is mostly working with the farmers and is also doing the barley cleaning and all logistics related to this. He also builds some of our custom made equipment (you’d be surprised how little equipment there is off the shelf for microscopic distilleries!), I do the rest of the production – malting, mashing, fermentation, distilling and oversee the maturation (all this is done on site”).

I would suggest one to keep an eye on!

PAUL MCLEAN

WWW.WHISKYTOURS.SCOT

PART 3

PART 1