CHARLES MACLEAN HANDPICKS COLLECTION OF 30 WHISKIES FOR EDINBURGH BAR

World-renowned whisky expert curates guest whisky list from his personal collection and auction for The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s new Kaleidoscope bar

Whisky fans across the country may want to book a trip to Edinburgh as soon as possible with the news that international whisky doyen Charles MacLean has handpicked a guest whisky list of 30 old and rare bottles for the city’s new whisky bar, Kaleidoscope.

The Edinburgh-based whisky specialist and star of 2012’s whisky-inspired film ‘The Angel’s Share’ has curated a guest selection of 30 exceptional whiskies from his personal collection and auction for Kaleidoscope. The bar was recently opened by The Scotch Malt Whisky Society following a £300,000 makeover of its 28 Queen Street venue.

The selection includes 21 Scotch whiskies that MacLean sourced from a whisky auction, including a Dufftown-Glenlivet 12 year old distilled in the 1960s, The Balvenie Founder’s Reserve, distilled in the early 1970s, and a Mortlach ‘Flora & Fauna 16 year old.

A further nine whiskies are drawn from MacLean’s personal collection and around the world, including the Hakushu 18 year old Japanese Single Malt Whisky and the Kavalan Solist Fino Sherry Cask from Taiwan, which was named ‘Best New World Single Malt’ in the 2012 World Whisky Awards.

This is the first time that The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, which bottles single cask single malt whisky, has offered non-Society whiskies alongside its own bottlings at its bar.

Charles MacLean, who has been writing about whisky for 35 years, said, “The Scotch Malt Whisky Society looks at whisky through the lens of flavour, and my idea for this guest selection is to encourage everyone to explore how whisky flavours have evolved over the past decades.

“All of these expressions are discontinued so there are very few places in the world you can taste them, making a visit to Kaleidoscope a unique experience for whisky fans. I recommend a visit soon before all of the drams are gone!”

Charles MacLean’s guest whisky selection is available at Kaleidoscope Whisky Bar, 28 Queen Street Edinburgh, EH2 1JX, 0131 220 2044  

www.smws.com/kaleidoscopebar  

Notes  

About The Scotch Malt Whisky Society 

• The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is an international whisky club and bottler, which specialises in rare single cask single malt whisky.
• The Society releases a new batch of single cask single malt whiskies every month to provide an ever-changing selection of malts for its members.
• The Society was established in Edinburgh in 1983 and now has more than 26,000 members and branches around the world.
• The Society bottles the finest single malt whisky from around 350 single casks every year and has bottled whisky from a range of more than 132 distilleries in its history. The very nature of the single cask means that each bottling offered by the Society is limited.
• Only the very best whiskies are selected and approved for bottling by the Society’s respected Tasting Panel.
• The Society offers three levels of membership; Membership Pioneer at £120; Member at £61.50 and a Sample Subscription, which is free. For more details, visit https://www.smws.com/society-membership

About Charles MacLean 

• Charles Maclean has been writing about whisky for 35 years and published 15 books on the subject
• He sits on several whisky judging panels including the International Wine & Spirits Competition
• He was a founding editor of Whisky Magazine
• In 2009, he was elected a Master of The Quaich, the whisky industry’s highest accolade