VAT 69 Scotch Whisky Christmas Advertisements

n 1882, William Sanderson prepared one hundred casks of blended whisky and hired a panel of experts to taste them. The batch from the cask (or “vat”) with number 69 was judged to be the best, and this provided the whisky’s brand name.

Kentucky Distillers’ Association
Welcomes General George Stillhouse
as Newest Craft Member

Farm Distillery Shows Off Kentucky’s Heritage, Combining Agriculture and Bourbon On-Site

FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky Distillers’ Association today announced General George Stillhouse in Grayson County as the newest member of the non-profit trade group that unites and leads Kentucky’s signature Bourbon and distilled spirits industry.

Located in Falls of Rough, General George Stillhouse was established in 2022 by Travis Wilson, a professor at Western Kentucky University. The farm distillery is located on property once owned by George Washington three miles from Rough River State Park.

General George Stillhouse operates two pot stills within their 7,000 square foot production facility. A third still will arrive next summer, allowing them to increase production to 12 barrels daily.

Expansion plans include a rickhouse, bottling line, additional staff and a tasting room in the next phase of the buildout.

KDA President Eric Gregory congratulated Wilson on his endeavor and noted this is the first distillery in Grayson County in south-central Kentucky. There are now distilleries operating or set to open in nearly 50 of Kentucky’s 120 counties.

“The vision, energy and entrepreneurial spirit of new craft distillers like General George Stillhouse showcases the history and backbone of our extensive distilling heritage here in Kentucky,” Gregory said.

“We are proud to support Travis and his team in their venture, and we look forward to working with them and our friends in Grayson County. We are honored to officially welcome General George Stillhouse to our growing family of Kentucky’s finest distillers.”

Wilson said the Kentucky Distillers’ Association has been supportive by providing resources and connections.

“We at General George Stillhouse are excited to become members of the Kentucky Distillers Association,” Wilson said. “The organization’s long heritage and leadership in making Bourbon central to Kentucky’s identity is one of many reasons for us to join.”

“As lifelong Kentuckians, we are honored to be members of the world’s premier spirits association.”

Learn more at https://www.ggstillhouse.com.

General George Stillhouse joins the KDA as a “Craft” level member, aging between 1 and 10,000 barrels per year. The KDA now has more than 60 member distilleries, the most since the glorious Repeal of Prohibition.

“Kentucky Bourbon entrepreneurs are showing people across the world how to do Bourbon right. Combining a passion for Kentucky, spirits, and making a difference in their local communities through job creation, tourism and agriculture,” Gregory said.

“Bourbon brings people together. And together, distillers are able to support each other and continue to innovate and grow the world-renowned industry that builds Kentucky while telling our story across the globe.”

About the Kentucky Distillers’ Association:

Founded in 1880, the Kentucky Distillers’ Association is the legendary voice for Kentucky’s signature Bourbon and distilled spirits industry. Its diverse and growing membership produces the overwhelming majority of the world’s Bourbon, from historic, global brands to emerging micro distilleries that are fostering the next generation of the Commonwealth’s landmark economic engine and its thriving, timeless craft. Member benefits include media relations, international trade development, private sampling events, technical assistance, economic development support, networking, legal defense, marketing strategies, governmental and regulatory advocacy and innovative tourism experiences through the KDA’s world-famous Kentucky Bourbon Trail® and Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour® adventures. A 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization, the KDA maintains an open membership policy, champions a strong commitment to the responsible and moderate consumption of spirits, and fights to curb underage drinking and drunk driving. Learn more at www.kybourbon.com and www.kybourbontrail.com

DISTILLERY NEWS

It has been a quietly industrious time for the production team this month. Production is running smoothly with a variety of casks being filled to contribute to our core products later down the line. The hardest part of whisky production is always the waiting, but it is always reassuring to know that when our delicious spirit enters our casks, they will go on to be something fantastic!

On that note, Lorena has been nosing and tasting a number of casks to select the perfect ones for export and UK customer single cask bottlings. Her desk is always a sight to behold, especially when she’s busy nosing at 9am – no matter how delicious the whisky, that would be too early for most of us!

The bottling team have been busy with a variety of bottlings from single casks through to our core products. Our Warehouse Assistant, Robbie (who also happens to be the MD Drew’s brother!) was helping to roll some of our largest casks, luckily in that jacket you’ll definitely see him coming!

We caught up with some two of our Production Operatives in the distillery last week to see what they were getting up to, and they were both enjoying getting their teeth stuck into new tasks. Scott said that his highlight of the month has been doing the mash by himself for the first time – and Charles’s highlight was training Scott on the mash!

Slàinte

Gary Haggart
Distillery Manager at Lindores Abbey

LINDORES ON TOUR

These are some of the busiest months in the year for us at Lindores so we have been out and about all over the country and look forward to seeing as many of you as possible!

Front of house team member, Seb (our Blender Lorena’s son) spent the day at Aitken Wines in Dundee spreading the excitement for Lindores. It was his first time running an instore tasting and he loved every moment of it, and those who came along to taste our drams were equally happy! We are sure Seb will be visiting more corners of the country in the coming months, so do pop along to meet him at one of his next tastings.

Two more of the Lindores team, Matt and John, headed to Stirling Whisky Festival two weeks ago for a jam-packed day of tastings. They had a fantastic time at this busy and lively festival where they shared our history and delicious drams with whisky enthusiasts from all over Scotland.

Robbies Whisky Merchants in Ayr have just brought out a Lindores market exclusive from one of our delicious port casks. Definitely make sure to give them a visit for the chance to sample and pick up this exclusive bottle.

Also coming up in the next few weeks:

Matt will be heading down to Kendal this weekend for the Kendal Whisky Festival – his Parson’s Terrier Ella is also coming along for the ride so you might spot them both around and about if you’re in the area! Make sure to pop over to the Lindores stand for a dram and a chat.

Lindores will also be in Perth this weekend for the switching on of the Christmas lights. Whilst crowds may be largely flocking to the city for the promise of hearing Boney M’s live backing music for the switch on, they can also pop into the new shop Malts And Spirits for a tasting with Ben who will have several drams on offer to warm you up!

There are plenty more tastings happening across the UK over the next month so make sure to follow our social media updates to let them know when and where we will be each Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Christmas Crackers are taking the country by storm again, selling out extremely quickly so grab a stocking filler or secret Santa gift from your local specialist bottle shop while stocks last.

Finally, at the end of the month we will be at The Scotch Whisky Experience Distillers Fair on 29^th and 30^th of December in Edinburgh. It’s a fantastic show that brings together the best in the industry, so definitely worth a visit. We hope to see you there!

LINDORES INTERNATIONAL

Our export manager Elliot enlisted the help of lots of the team this month with Lindores representatives popping up all over Europe.

Our blender, Lorena, took a trip over to Denmark to visit our Danish friends at Mac Y. She was supporting them at their biggest annual show in Fredericks, just outside Viborg. The whisky and conversation were flowing, and she was thrilled to meet so many Lindores fans, both old and new!

Dean, our Assistant Distillery Manager, flew over to Germany a few weeks ago to lend a hand to our German importer Prineus at the Bottle Market Bremen show. It was great to have a member of our distillery team at the show to answer all your more technical questions and Dean reported back that those in our German Lindores Family continue to be our biggest fans!

Elliot himself took a trip over to snowy Oslo to discover a bit more about the Norwegian whisky scene and to work with the Vinmonopolet system to hopefully get a foothold in the market. He was then taken a bit further south to the Netherlands to support our Dutch importers, WIN Dranken at a show in The Hague which was thoroughly enjoyed by all, on both sides of the pourings!

CHRISTMAS DISTILLERY EXCLUSIVE 

We have a new Distillery Exclusive hitting the shelves on the 9th December. This beautiful Ruby Port Wine Barrique is the newest addition to our Distillery Cask series, and its colour really lives up to its name. This cask strength offering will be available to buy exclusively at the distillery and we shall be launching it at our Christmas Market.  It is limited to just 317 bottles so it is a must have addition to any Lindores collectors’ shelves.

Nose: Mellow prunes, figs, plums and dark berries, chestnuts. Taste: Fruity nectarines, caramel cream, dark chocolate orange, cinnamon spices, marzipan and roasted chestnuts. Smooth texture on the palate. Very Well Balanced and complex. Finish: Lingering spicy poached pears finish. Colour: Mahogany, henna notes

HOLYROOD DISTILLERY TASTING:

After landing the cover of Whisky Magazine in October, following the release of its award-winning inaugural whisky Arrival, Holyrood Distillery is well on its way to earning its “whisky stripes.”

As you may or may not know, the founders of SMWS Canada are also the co-founders of Holyrood Distillery, a new single malt distillery in the heart of Edinburgh.

To celebrate the arrival of Arrival into the Canadian market, Distillery Manager Calum Rae is travelling across the pond to share it with you, along with some single cask samples and experimental bottlings.

At only $20 per ticket ($15 each if you buy two!), this is not to be missed (plus, Calum is super-excited about coming to Canada for the first time, even though it’s in January, so let’s show him what a great whisky community there is in the Okanagan).

HOLYROOD DISTILLERY TASTING

at ARC LIQUOR – 1973 Harvey Ave. Kelowna

Tuesday, Jan. 23rd  7:00pm  $20

Please enjoy our products responsibly; no drinking and driving

SIGN UP FOR HOLYROOD DISTILLERY TASTING

Bruichladdich 10 Years Old

2012 Micro Provenance Series

This wonderful unpeated whisky from Bruichladdich Distillery was distilled in 2012 from concerto barley harvested on Islay. It was then matured in a single 2nd Fill cask that had contained Monbazillac – an aromatic white wine from southwest France. Released as a part of the Cask Evolution Exploration series, exclusively for Aqua Crew Members. It was bottled at natural cask strength, without chill filtration or artificial colouring. Only 282 bottles were produced.

£110.00

Shop now

Subtle Spirits “STELLAR” Art by Kate Tova Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) $79.99 View

The intent behind STELLAR bourbon was simple; create an exceptional blend of bourbons in a larger volume than I had ever created before that would appease both the seasoned and new whiskey drinker alike. STELLAR Bourbon consists of a constellation of seven barrels. It is comprised of 6yr, 7yr, and 8yr straight bourbon whiskey, distilled from the two MGP rye-bourbon mash bills. 90% is made from ‘low-rye’ bourbon mash (75% Corn, 21% Rye, 4% Barley), and 10% from ‘high-rye’ bourbon mash (60% Corn, 36% Rye, 4% Barley). The seven barrels spent their life aging in new charred American oak from Speyside Cooperage, with a portion of the whiskey spending additional time in five different finishing casks. The final blend yielded roughly 288 gallons and went into a marriage tank at cask strength of 112.86 proof where it rested for two weeks before being cut to 100 proof. It spent an additional 6 weeks resting before being bottled without filtration. The precise make up looks like: 20% – 2 mos Fresh PlumpJack Estate Cabernet cask 20% – 3 mos Fresh Hanzell Estate Chardonnay cask 15% – 3 mos French Oak from Subtle Spirits, HODL #22 15% – 2 mos French Oak from Subtle Spirits, QUIXOTIC 15% – 2 mos European Oak from Subtle Spirits, Paper Trail 15% – New charred #4 Speyside Cooperage casks.

Email: wine@klwines.com
Phone: (877) KL-WINES (Toll Free 877.559.4637)
K&L Wine Merchants 3005 El Camino Real Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

 Festive serve ideas for the holiday season

Produced from the slowest stills in Scotland, the fruitful notes of Glengoyne compliments the festive spirit perfectly in the cold winter months, which makes Glengoyne the perfect serve at Christmas. Serve neat, or mix into one of our cocktail suggestions below and take your time to enjoy every sip.

DISCOVER GLENGOYNE SERVES

ralfy review 1007 Extras – Three bits of advice for 2024

This week we’ll show showcasing Scotch whisky advertisements which celebrate Christmas.

Black & White Scotch Whisky 1950 The Illustrated London News

When the blend was first made in 1879 was Initially known as Buchanan’s Blend and then House of Commons (after the British House of Commons), its nickname, referring to the black and white labelling, was eventually adopted as the official brand instead. The brand’s motif (featuring a black Scottish Terrier and a white West Highland White Terrier) was conceived by James Buchanan during the 1890s.