Bidding kicks off for special whisky

Unique opportunity to purchase 1990 Balblair whisky housed in bespoke bronze plinth to mark 100 years of Highland Rugby Football Club

As part of its centenary celebrations, Highland Rugby Football Club (Highland RFC) is auctioning a 29-year-old Balblair whisky, generously donated by leading malt whisky specialist Gordon & MacPhail, housed in a bespoke bronze plinth created exclusively for Highland RFC by fine art, architectural and memorial bronze foundry Black Isle Bronze.

Already open for bids, the unique package will ultimately be sold on August 13^th at Highland RFC’s Centenary Dinner, taking place in Inverness with money raised going to charities Mikeysline, Alzheimer Scotland, My Name’5 Doddie and Highland RFC so that the club can continue to promote and deliver rugby to communities across the Highlands.

Just 469 bottles of this wonderful dark gold Balblair Highland Single Malt whisky were created from a single Sherry butt filled in 1990. It is part of Gordon & MacPhail’s famous Connoisseur’s Choice collection. Cask strength, it is described as having a soft cinnamon spice which leads to stewed plum and delicate sherbet aromas. The initial toasted malt flavours give way to light fruitcake with a hint of cashew nut. Hints of aniseed and dried ginger linger on the finish. Valued at around £800, it is expected to be a much sought-after bottle that is very hard to come by today.

The plinth was created by Farquhar Laing and his team at Black Isle Bronze based near Inverness. It took around four months to make and recreates a traditional rugby ball placed on a kicking tee and set in bronze. Designed specifically to display a bottle of whisky, one of the segments of the ball is removed, creating space for the bottle. The plinth is valued at around £4,000 which, when combined with the whisky, is a truly one-of-a-kind package.

Speaking about the exclusive package, Roy Dinnes, Vice President of Highland RFC, said: “This is a unique item, bespoke to Highland RFC, and we are extremely grateful to Gordon & MacPhail and Black Isle Bronze for allowing us to auction something very special in our centenary year and hopefully raise money to support charities particularly close to our hearts at the club. The auction site is live, and I would encourage whisky fans, rugby fans and collectors to take a look.”

Stephen Rankin, Director of Prestige at Gordon & MacPhail, added: “We are delighted to be part of the centenary celebrations at Highland RFC. Roy and the team do a phenomenal job promoting the game and coaching and supporting schools throughout communities in the Highlands. I hope this special bottle of Balblair helps raise funds for worthwhile charities, allowing them to continue their excellent work.”

Farquhar Laing, Director at Black Isle Bronze, described his involvement with Highland RFC: “I am a member of the club, a volunteer coach and by son plays for the Under-16s team. You can see our work all over the world, from Dallas in Texas to Dubai and of course here in the UK. Having created the line-out sculpture for Twickenham, we were only too happy to create something special for Highland RFC and hope it goes to a good home and raises a lot of money.”

Anyone wishing to bid for the plinth and the bottle of Balblair whisky can do so by visiting HERE or by attending the Centenary Dinner in Inverness on August 13^th. Tickets for the dinner can be purchased here and are on sale until August 1st.

About Highland RFC

Founded in 1922, Highland RFC is the largest club in Inverness and caters for all ages.

From Micro and Mini teams all the way up to senior teams, an over 35s team, and women’s and girls’ teams; anyone interested in playing rugby is welcome.

The club prides itself on its quality of coaching, its strong community of volunteers and its involvement with local schools throughout the community.

As part of the 100^th anniversary of Highland RFC, the club has organised events throughout the year. A full list of the 100^th anniversary events can be found at www.highlandrugbyclub.com/centenary-year-calendar-of-events.

www.highlandrugbyclub.org

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Exclusive single casks from Gordon & MacPhail

From the acclaimed Connoisseurs Choice range comes these highly limited single cask whiskies, bottled by the legendary Gordon & MacPhail. Exclusively bottled for our customers at The Whisky Shop, these are three massive names in the Scotch world with glowing reviews from renowned writer Charles MacLean.

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Gordon & MacPhail x The Whisky Shop

Dalmore 2008 13 Year Old Connoisseurs Choice TWS Exclusive

“The initial impression is fruity – fresh apple, pear in syrup, fruit salad, a suggestion of raspberry jam – beneath this is a whisper of shortcrust pastry. A soft texture and a sweet taste overall, with a surprisingly spicy savoury finish. Little change with a splash of water, the finish now slightly tart.” – Charles MacLean, Whiskeria Summer 2022

£140.00
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Glenlivet 2003 18 Year Old Connoisseurs Choice TWS Exclusive

“The top notes are sweet (fresh pineapple, with a trace of spun honey). A creamy, mouth-filling texture; the taste starts sweet and becomes savoury and spicy. Fresh and straightforward.” – Charles MacLean, Whiskeria Summer 2022

£195.00
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Mortlach 2002 19 Year Old Connoisseurs Choice TWS Exclusive

On the nose, there is spiced apple, fragrant vanilla, and dark honey. The palate is full of watermelon, citrus zest, and butterscotch before leading into the medium finish full of tropical fruit and oak.

£195.00
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Home to around 200 people, the Isle of Jura is a walkers’ paradise covered with wild mountains, peaceful lochs and a single road leading to its one and only whisky distillery.

Despite its close proximity to Islay, Jura’s single malts are typically less smoky than your average west-coaster – showing instead a spicy, oily profile filled with coastal minerality and warming oak influence.

Jura’s signature series features whiskies matured in ex-bourbon barrels before finishing in various cask types – from Caribbean rum to Bordeaux red wine barriques – to create unique expressions of the distillery character.

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YESTERDAY’S RAIN, TODAY’S COLLECTION

After last week’s searing heat, it’s time for some well-deserved freshness with two new rare and exquisite casks from our Vaults Collection. Coastal rain clouds roll in from the west with Cask No. 53.389: Goodnight and joy, bringing in waves of briny notes and dreamy flavours evocative of the crisp Hebridean coast. Aged to perfection in a refill sherry butt, you’ll be treated to eucalyptus sweets, tar extracts, salted mead and oysters with lime juice.

After the rain, bask in blissful, cooler, fruitier summer days with 65.7: Timeless and magnificent, which introduces summery treats to the table with poached pears, plum wine, roses and apple-infused tobacco. Hailing from a now-disappeared distillery, it’s a flavourful 30-summers-long story you will not want to miss. Late summer afternoons and evenings could hardly get better than that.

These bottles are online from 9am, grab one before the tide (and lucky members) swipes them away.

GOODNIGHT AND JOY

Cask No. 53.389

Bottle notes: An ode to sublime distillate and time in refill wood. Purity, power, precision, minerality, fragrant peat and hauntingly evocative complexity.

TIMELESS AND MAGNIFICENT

Cask No. 65.7

Bottle notes: Pears poached in Sauternes, cardamom and ginger followed by oak-aged Japanese Umeshu plum wine. Diluted; rose-scented perfume and apple tobacco.

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

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OLD & RARE WHISKIES

Last week, 300+ old and rare whiskies arrived offering a myriad of historic limited releases and independent bottlings from legendary distilleries such as Highland Park, Ardbeg, and Springbank, as well as closed distilleries like Rosebank and Port Ellen. Head on over and have a look!

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Welcome to this week’ episode of the show in which I’ll be taking a look at three recent single malt and three single grain bottlings in the House of Macduff’s Golden Cask range.

https://youtu.be/bc6dfwyhbdU

Carlo Coppola Appointed Global Leader of the James B. Beam Distilling Co. Brand House

Hailing from the village of Scadabay on the east coast of Harris, Domhnall Macleod wasn’t always interested in the making of ‘uisge beatha’ and in fact spent most of his working life as a builder.

Starting as one of our original Tarbert Ten in 2015, with the help of expert training and many long days he quickly learnt to master the art of producing the spirit that flows from our stills.

Domhnall tells us of his homeland…

“Home is where we’re from. It has that ancestral connection, there’s no place quite like it.”

One of the ultimate aims of the distillery has been to provide secure employment and to continue island traditions, something which Domhnall is proud to be a part of…

LEARN ABOUT OUR WHISKY

Bruichladdich 2009 12yo Israel Cabernet Sauvignon Cask #1549

An ongoing exploratory series of single casks, specifically selected to examine the evolutionary influences on maturing Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky – the variables of age, wood, barley, storage location, humidity, heat and marine climate – the very essence of provenance.

Vintage: 1st May 2009
Aged for 12 Years
Barley type: Appaloosa
Cask type: Israel Cabernet Sauvignon
Cask no: 1549
Bottled 1st March 2022
One of only 276 bottles produced from a single cask.

Exclusive Aqua crew bottling

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A Brilliant Collectible: Inspired Bourbon with K&L & SF Roots
Rare Character 6 Year Old “Bay Bridge” Barrel #RIO-254 Cask Strength Indiana Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) ($79.99)
“There are two really important things to note about this Bourbon. First, it tastes delicious. The second is that it offers an incredible way to highlight the hidden talents of our crew at K&L.”
— Andrew Whiteley, K&L Spirits Buyer

Rare Character has taken some incredible MGP distillate and raised it up entirely in the famous brick warehouse at Castle & Key in Kentucky. Pablo Moix seems to have the golden touch, and as K&L Spirits Buyer David Othenin-Girard says, he’s “identified extremely special stocks and curates each barrel” and that they are “some of the most exciting stocks around.” At 6 years old, this cask is absolutely singing. We are also thrilled that we were able to design the label, which features the incredible artwork of K&L’s very own Abraham Ortega (AB as he is known to K&Lers). AB’s stunning photography offers a unique perspective on Bay Area living as seen from unique vantage points and his artistic framing. Check out more of his take on all things beautiful around the Bay Area and farther afield on Instagram @417am___. Add these together with the fact that there are only a few hundred bottles of this exclusive bottling, and you’ve got a surefire collector’s item

Rare Character 6 Year Old “Bay Bridge” Barrel #RIO-254 Cask Strength Indiana Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) ($79.99)

Andrew Whiteley | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: July 21, 2022

There are two really important things to note about this Bourbon. First, it tastes delicious. The second is that it offers an incredible way to highlight the hidden talents of our crew at K&L. Let’s talk whisky first—this 6-year-old pours brilliant red copper in color. At 56.43% it jumps out of the glass. The nose is cherry syrup, vanilla, candied apples, spicy cinnamon, and a complex oak varnish. The palate is rich and full offering burnt sugar, dark chocolates, cherry jam, and a touch of herbal goodness. The finish is medium and fresh. For all the sticky character of the flavor, it doesn’t cling to the palate forever, but lets you go feeling like you want to keep going back. Now, the part I really want to highlight: Abraham Ortega. K&L employs nearly 150 people across the state and anyone who shops with us knows that it’s those people and their passion who make this place special. Most of our customers only get to interact with our wonderful sales and customer service staff when they talk wine or booze. But we’ve got such a diverse set of talents across the board and in every role at the company.

When Rare Character offered us the opportunity to put our own art on the labels and give it a regional focus I immediately thought of this image. AB has been working on our Redwood City store operations team for 5 years where he is a core part of all of our logistics, but especially our receiving team. I was struck by this background image on his desktop a year or two ago and asked him about it. I was impressed to learn he had taken it and that he’d be doing serious photography for over a decade. His unique take on the San Francisco skyline and work it must have taken to capture the image stuck with me. Fast forward to our labeling needs and I reached out to see if he had any interest in using that for our barrel. Thankfully he said yes! We got it proofed up and thought it was amazing. If you’re as compelled by his art as we are, check him out @417am___ (that’s 3 underscores). It’s an incredible collection of original photography, editing, drone work, and fresh beats from a creative mind and critical part of our team at K&L.

David Othenin-Girard | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: July 20, 2022

The stupendous Rare Character brand has taken the bourbon world by storm. The industries preeminent whiskey detective, Pablo Moix, has manage to ferret out some of the most exciting stocks around. On paper they might look just like the barrels offered by his many competitors, but Pablo isn’t just putting lipstick on a pig. He’s identified extremely special stocks and curates each barrel. We also happen to have a special relationship with this up-and-coming purveyor and that’s meant we’re getting first dibs on some of the choicest casks. This barrel comes from the same stocks that we selected last year, which have matured for half a decade in the famous old warehouse at the Old Taylor Distillery now called Castle & Key. This awesome super long warehouse is basically a whiskey wind tunnel. The contrast from the MGP warehouses in Lawrenceburg couldn’t be starker. Those old concrete warehouses remain extremely consistent temperature-wise, but the window clad brick warehouse at C&K is much more reactive. The resulting whiskies see significantly more barrel influence than stocks that spent a similar amount of time in Indiana. Even just a year difference, from the first barrel we selected to this one, offers a distinct experience. Let’s have a look. The color is a gorgeous burnt amber. The nose a absolutely gorgeous filled with grade B maple syrup (AKA Grade A Very Dark, AKA the good stuff), Ceylon cinnamon, caramel apples, roasted clove and salted candied pecan. Unctuous and rich on the palate, demerara sugar melting, ripe plum, dense wood spice, toasted vanilla, hints of sarsaparilla, subtle herbal underbrush and sweet mint. This is dynamite bourbon of the highest order. I still can’t get over the label too. For anyone who dares pooh-pooh MGP, this is the whiskey to change your mind. Of course, it ain’t no regular old Indiana bourbon. I’m starting to wonder if anything in this warehouse for more than five years might turn to gold.