Hello Fellow Scotch Lovers –

This weeks’ email is about another rare whisky (do I have to remind you about how fast these rare whiskies disappear?) bottled by one of Scotland’s great independent bottlers, and produced by one of Scotland’s last remaining Independent distilleries:

Douglas Laing & Co is a Glasgow based independent bottler which was established by Fred Douglas Laing in 1948, and today is in the hands of his sons Stewart and Fred. The company started seriously bottling single malt whiskies in 1998 to cater to the increasing interest in single malts. They have now released thousands of single malts and are considered one of the top independent bottlers in the industry offering an excellent portfolio of single malts which have been bottled in small batches or from single casks. They offer an very extensive portfolio of varying ages from 10 up to 45 years of age.

The Benriach distillery, located near Elgin in the ‘Lossie’ part of Speyside, was built in 1898 by John Duff, who had constructed the Longmorn distillery a year earlier. Unfortunately, financial problems forced him to sell both distilleries soon afterwards.

After remaining silent for more than half a century, Benriach was eventually sold again and rebuilt by new owners; The Glenlivet Distilleries Ltd. in 1965. Chivas bought Benriach in 2001, but closed the distillery again in 2002, almost immediately after they acquired it. Fortunately, Benriach was reopened again in 2004 by yet another new owner – Scotsman Billy Walker and two South African partners. They did a remarkable job and turned Benriach into one of the ‘hottest’ distilleries in Scotland today.

Douglas of Drumlanrig Benriach 18 YO Single Malt Whisky is one of those whiskies that you cannot find anywhere (go ahead and try…), and the lucky few that have a bottle hide it when friends come over…unless of course they’re good friends…very good friends.

Fortunately for us (and you) or man Nicky The Neck has “connections”, who have friends, who know a guy….who has friends. And so we are able to offer you insider access to Douglas of Drumlanrig Benriach 18 YO for $125 / bottle.

I hope you will take advantage of this exceptional opportunity, and do it it fast….because as always, once our limited supply is gone, its gone.

Until next Wednesday….

Doug Stone
Founder
www.ForScotchLovers.com

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DOUGLAS OF DRUMLANRIG BENRIACH 18 YO SINGLE MALT WHISKY

___________________ TASTING NOTES – Courtesy of Paul Paccult’s Spirit Journal

Pale straw/9-carat gold/American chardonnay color; excellent purity. Lightly smoked and toasted grain aromas kick off the inhalation stage in fine form and there’s even a trace of saline, which is interesting since Benriach is an inland distillery; the smoky grain blows off after seven minutes in the glass, leaving in its wake a mineral/ cement/stone aroma that’s dry, though not as thought-provoking as the opening bouquet. Entry is grainy sweet, gentle, and rounded off at the edges by the oak influence; mid-palate is direct, no-nonsense, and composed within a sweet grainy bubble of taste that extends well into the finish. An underrated malt distillery whose time has come in the US – Spirit Journal December 2009: * * * * /Highly Recommended