We’ve just added the last drops of some unbelievable casks to our website. Returning from their travels out on the road, don’t miss the opportunity to grab a bottle or two before they disappear forever…but be quick, numbers are low and limited.

LET’S GO

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

GORDON & MACPHAIL UNVEILS LAST CASK FROM 1959 AS THIRD EDITION IN THE ‘MR GEORGE LEGACY’ SERIES

The latest whisky in the annual series to celebrate the legacy of George Urquhart – Gordon & MacPhail’s last ever cask from 1959 – has been launched this week.

Matured in a Gordon & MacPhail cask for more than six decades, the Mr George Legacy 1959 from Glen Grant Distillery features a genealogy chart on the label, box and certificate, highlighting the importance of guiding principles handed down from one generation to the next.

‘Mr George’ as he was known, joined his father, John, at the family business ninety years ago in 1933 and became a key advocate of single malt whisky at a time when most whisky was used for blending purposes. Referred to by renowned whisky writer Charlie MacLean as ‘the father of single malt’, George Urquhart was a firm believer in fairness, understanding, the importance of community and planning, guiding principles that are honoured at Gordon & MacPhail to this day.

The whisky was matured in cask no. 3665, a first-fill Sherry butt. Just 368 bottles are available at a remarkable cask strength of 56.5% ABV, providing a rich and complex dram that retains a subtle smokiness not found in modern Speyside whiskies.

Distilled on Thursday 15^th October 1959, this 63-Year-Old edition of the Legacy Series – the third – has an RSP of £6,499*.

On the nose, fragrant autumnal spice aromas intertwine with sweet, dried fruit and demerara sugar. To taste, stewed red fruit flavours lead to Seville orange with a hint of garden mint.  Tart raspberry notes then develop, accompanied by cocoa powder and mature oak, before giving way to a full finish with lingering notes of cinnamon and forest fruits.

Stuart Urquhart, grandson of Mr George and Gordon & MacPhail’s Operations Director, said: “Ninety years ago, my grandfather, Mr George, joined Gordon & MacPhail as an apprentice to his father, John, and his philosophy and principles live on through the business today.

“Mr George’s attention to detail and unwavering commitment to quality remain the foundation stones of our business, along with a forward-looking approach and refusal to bow to convention. This greatly aged single malt whisky is a fitting tribute to this ethos.”

Charlie MacLean, whisky expert, remarked: “A magnificent old whisky, wonderfully complex, but still lively in notwithstanding its advanced age. Another worthy tribute to Mr George Urquhart, the man who put malt whisky on the map.”

Celebrating its 125^th anniversary in 2020, Gordon & MacPhail has built up an impressive collection of whiskies from over 100 distilleries maturing in its warehouses, a testament to the close relationships forged with Scotland’s distilleries over many decades.

For more information, visit www.gordonandmacphail.com

#GordonandMacPhail

Gordon & MacPhail Mr George Legacy 1959 from Glen Grant Distillery

Glen Grant 1959

56.5% ABV

Filled: 15 October 1959

Bottled: 02 November 2022

Age: 63

Cask Type/ Number: First-Fill Sherry Cask, 3665

Outturn of 368 bottles

Tasting notes:

Aroma

Fragrant autumnal spice aromas intertwine with sweet, dried fruit and demerara sugar. Soft citrus zest comes to the fore alongside beeswax polish and walnut.

Palate

Stewed red fruit flavours lead to Seville orange with a hint of garden mint. Tart raspberry notes develop accompanied by cocoa powder and mature oak.

Finish

A full finish with lingering cinnamon and forest fruits.

About Gordon & MacPhail Whiskies:

For over 125 years, Gordon & MacPhail has been driven by a simple mission: to create single malt Scotch whisky of exceptional quality. Through four generations of family ownership, the company has matched spirit from over 100 Scottish distilleries to its own bespoke casks. It is this unique depth and breadth of experience that enables Gordon & MacPhail to combine oak, spirit and time to create a portfolio of iconic whiskies found nowhere else in the world.

• ‘Discovery’ – This flavour-led range is the perfect introduction to our portfolio of quality single malt Scotch whiskies
• ‘Distillery Labels’ – A range celebrating our long-standing relationships with Scotland’s distilleries
• ‘Connoisseurs Choice’ – The heart of our portfolio. Always unique, these non-chill-filtered, natural coloured, small batch expressions are genuine one-offs.
• ‘Private Collection’ – Greatly-aged single malts from celebrated, little-known, or closed distilleries specially selected by members of the Urquhart family
• ‘Generations’ – A prestigious collection of old, rare, and exclusive masterpieces

Our April Auction ENDS TODAY!

Only 8.5% buyer’s commission.

Auction ends Wednesday 19^th April from 2000 GMT. 

www.highlandwhiskyauctions.com

Click here to register as a user.

Looking to sell in our next auction? 0% Sellers commission & FREE* UK doorstep collections.

We offer FREE valuations to give you an idea of what your whisky may sell for at auction.

Contact us to arrange a valuation or collection. 

www.highlandwhiskyauctions.com

Since its launch last month, our latest Hearts & Crafts expression: Banyuls Cask has proved popular. It generated a lot of interest at Whisky Live in London last weekend, with people complimenting it’s perfectly-balanced sweet and smooth profile, but the most common question asked was, ‘What is Banyuls?’

Read our latest blog to find out more about this unique cask from our founder, Dan, in this Hearts & Crafts: Banyuls Cask Q&A.

LEARN MORE

Cotswolds Distillery Phillip’s Field, Whichford Road Stourton Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire CV36 5EX

Hibiki Blender’s Choice Japanese Whisky (700ml)(Japanese Import) $320.00 View

The famously controversial Blender’s Choice was released quietly after the discontinuation of the famous 17 year old Hibiki in the Japanese market. While sometimes billed as that wonderful whisky’s replacement, it actually represents a very different place in the pantheon of Suntory products. A blend of Suntory’s finest stocks from 12 to 30 years of age with an average around 15 years, this whisky stands alone in showing the incredible prowess of the Suntory Blending team. Normally for sale only in Japan, it’s presence on our shelves is a glorious and welcome consequence of the changes to TTB regulation allowing the importation of 700ml bottles. Suppliers are extremely limited. ****PRESENTATION BOX NOT AVAILABLE AT ALL TIMES. BOTTLES DO NO NECESSARILY INCLUDE THE BOX****

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

Our cask curiosity and endless pursuit of flavour and extraordinary taste experiences has created some truly exceptional whiskies, available ONLINE NOW. Embrace your wild side this spring and explore our experimental and specialist casks. From shaved, toasted and re-charred (STR) to heavy toast, medium char (HTMC) styles to butts, barriques and bespoke barrels – there’s endless discovery to enjoy.

Embrace new flavour frontiers, click on over to our website to view our entire range of experimental and specialist casks OR keep on scrolling to discover some of our favorites.

ALL SPECIALISTS CASKS

BROWSE ALL THE BOTTLES

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

The Lakes Whiskymaker’s #6, 52%

https://youtu.be/3E_xx4i7l1o

Established in 2011, The Lakes Distillery has really pushed itseld to the forefront of English whisky. Releasing a collection of well loved blends and limited release single malts, this is The Whiskymaker’s release #6. A vatting of ex-Oloroso, Pedro Ximinez and red wine casks from some European country (a little more clarity would’ve been great there.) Beyond that, it is honestly one of the best single malts I’ve tried this year, even if it does have some stiff competition from very well established Scottish brands.

GIFTWARE FIRM LAUNCHES 10-YEAR-OLD WHISKY TO MARK BIRTHDAY

Award-winning Stirling firm Angels’ Share Glass has bottled a single malt whisky to mark its tenth birthday.

The glassmaking company, which creates spirits-related gifts, launches its first whisky – a 10-year-old Scotch called `The Glassblower’s Malt’ – this Friday.

The whisky is named in honour of renowned glassmaker Tom Young MBE who founded the family firm along with his daughter, Managing Director Karen Somerville, in April 2013.

The pair have grown the business, which creates unique giftware including a signature line of glass whisky-filled angels, substantially over the past decade and last year secured their largest order to date with a £500K deal to supply their gifts to duty free outlets across Asia.

The family, along with employees, clients and members of the Scottish business community, will celebrate the firm’s tenth anniversary at a lunch with whisky pairings held at their Bridge of Allan headquarters on Friday.

Mrs Somerville said: “We’ve come a long way in the past ten years and wanted to mark the occasion with something special.

“Given our love of whisky and the way it has inspired our products, we felt it was the ideal opportunity to launch a whisky and it will also serve as a legacy for Tom Young – our talented and world-renowned glassblower.

“I think members of the glassmaking community and anyone with a love of whisky will enjoy the bottle which comes from Speyside – my favourite region of the five whisky areas.

“We found a cask of 10-year-old Linkwood Scotch at the Linkwood Distillery in Elgin and finished it in an oloroso octave for a few months before bottling and it really has an exceptional taste.”

She added: “We’re now looking forward to the next ten years of Angels’ Share Glass and are planning a complete change of direction.

“We’ll continue making our products but are also looking at opening a visitors’ centre and creating glassblowing experiences so we can ensure the heritage of the important Scottish craft of glassmaking is recognised and preserved.”

The Glassblower’s Malt will have a limited run of bottles and can be pre-ordered here

The single malt, from Elgin’s Linkwood Distillery which was founded in 1861, has been finished in an oloroso sherry octave for nine months and is described as having “dark fruit and dates on the nose and toffee and spicy sweetness on the palate.”

The commemorative whisky has also been used to fill 50 limited-edition Birthday Angels which are adorned with individually created handmade glass parcels and a balloon.

Whisky Angels are the original and signature product of Angels’ Share Glass.

They were created after Mrs Somerville was inspired to bring the legend of the ‘Angels’ Share’ – which claims the small portion of a whisky’s volume lost to evaporation during ageing is taken by angels – to life by creating glass angels filled and sealed with a measure of Scotch whisky in a secret process.

The angels were followed by a range of handmade high-quality gifts for spirits’ lovers including a signature glass, whisky water droppers and innovative whisky gifting ideas.

For more information about Angels’ Share Glass, visit www.angelsshareglass.com

Notes: Angels’ Share Glass is a family-run business based in Bridge of Allan, near Stirling. The firm was co-founded by Karen Somerville and her father Tom Young MBE – a world-renowned Master Craftsman who has been glassblowing and making lamp-work glassware for 60 years. More information about the company can be found at www.angelsshareglass.com

Pay In Your Own Currency

We are delighted to announce an update to our payment system which will now allow international customers to pay in your own currency. 

This update to our system will give our valued international customers more flexibility when settling invoices, while potentially reducing the fees paid for currency transfer through financial institutions.

In addition to GBP the currencies you can now pay in are US Dollars (USD), Singapore Dollars (SGD), Hong Kong Dollars (HKD), Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CNY) and Euros (EUR).

We have endeavoured to make this process as simple as possible, all you need to do to pay in your own currency is log in to your MySWA account and pick your desired currency from the dropdown in the ‘Update My Details’ tab.

Once your desired currency has been set any invoices you pay will show clearly the amount to be paid in both GBP as well as your desired currency.

We are always striving to improve, and we believe this change will result in a more streamlined payment process for our valued international customers.  If you have any questions about this new function please message us at mail@scotchwhiskyauctions.com.

A Highly Acclaimed Bourbon Favorite Back in Stock
Knob Creek 12 Year Old Small Batch 100 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) ($64.99)
“It is absolutely deserving of the major accolades and has kept up batch after batch in the intervening years with the high quality of its first release.”
— Andrew Whiteley, K&L Spirits Buyer

The #2 Whiskey of the Year designation and a 95-point score from Whisky Advocate typically means a tightly allocated item that’s only available with perfect timing, a little bit of luck, and a big price tag. But our spirits team has managed to land a reload of the coveted Knob Creek 12 Year Old Small Batch at a price that puts its age-stated bourbon competitors to shame. There’s a reason Knob Creek is so highly regarded among collectors, and this one hits all the marks and then some.

Knob Creek 12 Year Old Small Batch 100 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) ($64.99)

95 points Whisky Advocate: “Until now, most Knob Creek has been bottled at 9 years of age or younger for good reason: Theres no guarantee that bourbon will taste good after a dozen years in the barrel let alone great. This one is richly complex from the start: York Peppermint Pattie, raisins, baking spice, dark chocolate-covered cherries, iced tea, and tobacco barn appear on the nose, followed by a chewy, full palate laden with cinnamon, allspice, and ginger, and perfectly balanced with sweet berry cobbler, chocolate ganache, and caramel. The finish goes on and on. Add in a fair price and excellent availability as part of Knob Creeks core lineup, and only one question remains: What are you waiting for? *Ranked #2, Top 20 Whiskies of 2020* (SSB, Winter 2020)”

K&L Notes: #2 Whisky Advocate Whiskey Of The Year 2020. The return of the age statement! As we’re now over a decade into the whiskey boom, and producers have done everything possible to massively increase supply, we are finally reaching a point where there are enough aged stocks for brands to bring back long-gone age statements, or to introduce new ones. Knob Creek hits the scene now with a much sought-after 12 Year Old age statement. This is classic Kentucky bourbon at its best.

Andrew Whiteley | K&L Spirits Buyer | Review Date: April 08, 2023

Impossible to keep in stock since its release and subsequent #2 Whiskey Of The Year honor from Whisky Advocate in 2020, we finally have some Knob Creek to sell! It is absolutely deserving of the major accolades and has kept up batch after batch in the intervening years with the high quality of its first release. It’s a big, bold, spicy, and sweet bourbon. It carries a sweet, ripe red cherry note from nose to finish that is bright and lovely. The nose is redolent with cinnamon, nutmeg, and coconut. It shows a touch of developed varnish and sawdust for a savory balance. The palate is peppered with butterscotch and caramel covered apples and a healthy bite from the 100 proof—not overwhelming, but enough to know this bottle means business. The finish is long and complete, hitting every flavor facet again as it rides off into the sunset. It’s super easy to drink, easy on the budget, and it’s finally available in a decent quantity! It’s wonderful to see the big boys in Kentucky releasing age statements that don’t always come with a crazy price tag. This feels like what bourbon used to be.

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