FIVE SAZERAC CANADIAN WHISKIES EARN MEDALS AT

2021 INTERNATIONAL SPIRITS CHALLENGE 

MONTREAL — (Sep. 2, 2021) – Caribou Crossing Single Barrel and High River Canadian Whiskies were awarded Gold medals at this year’s International Spirits Challenge (ISC). Three other Sazerac Canadian whiskies also received medals following the competition’s rigorous judging process, which included blind tastings by panels of more than 50 industry professionals.

Royal Canadian Small Batch Canadian Whisky, Collingwood Blended Canadian Whisky and Canadian Mist Blended Canadian Whisky all received Silver medals at the 2021 ISC.

This is the 26^th year for the ISC, a global competition welcoming entries from nearly 70 countries. Throughout the 12-day process, judges scored products’ aroma, appearance, taste and finish to determine which medal would be awarded.

Sazerac’s Canadian Whisky portfolio brought home five of the 51 total medals received by the company, which was named ISC’s American Whiskey Producer of the Year for the second year in a row. A full list of results can be found at https://www.internationalspiritschallenge.com/live/en/page/isc-2021-winners. 

About Sazerac

Sazerac is one of America’s oldest family owned, privately held distillers with operations in the United States in Louisiana, Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, Tennessee, Maine, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Maryland, California, and global operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, India, Australia and Canada. For more information on Sazerac, please visit www.sazerac.com.

Tickets Released for St Andrews Day
Dinner and Awards

The national independent awards programme for the Scottish Whisky industry has launched its new annual St Andrews Day event with a promise to stage an authentic celebration of the many achievements in the Scotch whisky business.

The 3rd annual Scottish Whisky Awards has revealed details for the event on 30th November and plans a truly Scottish showcase of Scotch industry success. Tickets have now gone on sale for the event which takes place in Glasgow and will also be broadcast live to ticket holders anywhere in the world.

Despite the challenges of the year, the competition has welcomed over 200 Scotch whisky products from 31 producers.   Over 40 judges have participated in the blind tasting and assessment of written entries from across Scotland.   As a result of the judging, five new categories have been created and an announcement on who has made the finals will be made next week…

Read More

Book Tickets

*UPCOMING RELEASE* THREE AMERICAN OAK SINGLE CASK WHISKIES

Three American Oak Single Cask Whiskies.

One of the joys in crafting single cask whisky is celebrating the individuality of every cask, and our latest release is no exception. With all three whiskies each having spent over ten years maturing in American oak, you might expect three very similar flavour profiles. Instead, we have a line-up that exemplifies why we continue to champion single cask whisky – to showcase the unique relationship between spirit and cask.

We are tremendously excited to release these outstanding American oak whiskies.

American Oak Ex-Bourbon TD0345

Malt, malt, malt. Need we say more? Chocolate bon bons, sherbet, malt and mashed banana on the nose, combine beautifully with a big whack of pineapple upside down cake on the palate. More malt and a sweet biscuit-y note on the finish will leave you wanting more.

TD0345 was matured for 12 years and 5 months in a single, 200L American oak cask previously used to mature one of our American Oak Ex-Bourbon whisky releases. It yielded 250 bottles.

American Oak Second Fill TD0184

The perfect blend of sweet and savoury. Biscuits, nutty granola and custard intertwine with a herbal medley of potpourri, wet leaves and tobacco. “Perfect for those of us who love a savoury or earthy drop” – Heather Tillott, Distillery Manager

TD0184 was matured for 14 years and 1 month in a single, 200L American oak cask previously used to mature one of our American Oak whisky releases. Yielding just 184 bottles.

American Oak Second Fill TD0072

A fantastic example of unfettered Sullivans Cove spirit, wonderfully matured in a second fill cask. Intriguing and very beautiful savoury spice greets you on the nose before moving into rich shortbread and banana muffins straight from the oven. Sullivans Cove’s tell-tale sweet fruit on the palate develops into earthy mushrooms, cocoa and anise before a lengthy sweet chocolate and caramel finish.

TD0072 was matured for 15 years and 3 months in a single, 300L American oak cask, yielding 471 bottles. The cask had previously been used to mature one of our American Oak releases.

 Full tasting notes and cask details can be found on the product page via this link.

All three whiskies will be available to purchase via ballot on Monday the 11^th of October.

A further note will be sent to mailing list subscribers on Monday 11:00am Hobart time with a link to enter the ballot.

A note on our ballot system.  These whiskies will be released via ballot. The ballots will open for 24 hours from 11:00am Hobart time on Monday 11th of October, 2021. Further details will be sent via email prior to the ballot opening. Our policy is one entry per person, per household. Our fraud detection algorithm detects multiple entries and removes them to ensure our whisky lands in the hands of our genuine supporters, so to ensure your entry counts, please enter once only. If you have any questions around our ballot process, you can email us at info@sullivanscove.com Successful entries will be notified shortly after the ballot closes.

Whiskey Del Bac Celebrates its 10-year Anniversary With
Community-Focused Events in Phoenix and Tucson

Tucson, AZ (September 28, 2021) – Arizona-based Whiskey Del Bac is celebrating its tenth anniversary this fall with two events in Tucson and Phoenix. Arizona Wilderness Brewing will co-host the Phoenix event on Saturday, October 23 from 1:00pm – 7:00pm and the Tucson event will be co-hosted by Westbound in the Mercado San Agustin Annex on Saturday November 13 from 4:30pm – 10:00pm.

“We’re proud to be an Arizona-based company and these events not only celebrate ten years in business but also our incredible partners, Whiskey Del Bac consumers, and everyone who has helped establish the notion of Desert Terroir in whiskey. Award-winning whiskey can come out of the desert and we love pioneering this tradition,” said Amanda Paul, Co-founder of Whiskey Del Bac.

Festivities on both evenings will include farmers markets with local companies: Monsoon Chocolate, Barrio Bread, E & R Pork, and Exo Coffee Roasters in Tucson, and Desert Provisions, Blue Clover Bitters, Iconic Cocktail Co. and Agritopia Farm in Phoenix. Cocktail workshops and whiskey seminars will be offered, as well as live music and Whiskey Del Bac cocktails. Both events are free to attend. The seminars and workshops do have a cost to attend and seating is limited. Reservations and tickets for those can be made in advance online at www.whiskeydelbac.com

A special limited Tenth Anniversary Calvados cask release will be bottled and distributed at both events and the Distillery (2106 Forbes Boulevard, #106, Tucson, AZ 85745).

“We couldn’t be more grateful for the enthusiasm that Tucson and the rest of Arizona have shown for these Sonoran Desert single malts. You never know where an idea will take you, and the opportunity to make a single-malt whiskey with the true character of the place I’ve lived has been so rewarding. I hope we’ve been a part of many memorable moments for folks, and we look forward to being a part of cherished new experiences to come,” said Stephen Paul, Co-founder of Whiskey Del Bac.

As Whiskey Del Bac looks to the next ten years, the organization is focused on increasing its production and will be expanding the current distillery over the next year. To help lead the focus on expansion, Mark A. Vierthaler recently joined the Whiskey Del Bac team as Head Distiller. Mark has over five years of head distiller experience and has developed more than two dozen international award-winning spirits across multiple brands. Since interest for Whiskey Del Bac has increased, the team launched a website within the last year that offers the ability for consumers to order whiskey and merchandise directly from the distillery for delivery or pickup — if they live within Arizona.

About Whiskey Del Bac

Father and daughter co-founders Stephen and Amanda Paul purchased a small 40 gallon still in 2011 and took their whiskey to the local Tucson marketplace with positive feedback. Captivated by his wife Elaine’s idea of drying malt over a mesquite fire instead of a peat fire, Stephen had experimented since 2007 on a tiny 5 gallon still to produce a regional single malt whiskey with the flavor of the Desert Southwest. In 2011, Amanda suggested he make it official and they launched Whiskey Del Bac. Del Bac is an ancient term meaning “from the place where the river reappears in the sand.” It was inspired by Tucson’s Mission San Xavier Del Bac, which was named for its proximity to the Santa Cruz River where groundwater surfaced and gave the desert life.

That “mesquited” —not peated— single malt became The Dorado, and has garnered much attention nationally, including two Double Gold Medals at the largest competition in the U.S., the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Its sister whiskey in the Whiskey Del Bac line-up, The Classic, recently received a rating of 93 from Wine Enthusiast. Their Distiller’s Cut special releases are getting rave reviews as well, including a recent 91 rating in Whiskey Advocate.

Expanding to a 500 gallon still in 2014, and implementing a 5,000 lb capacity malt house, Whiskey Del Bac is one of only a handful of distilleries in the country to malt its own barley – only malting for The Dorado in order to give the distillery that unique ability to include the mesquited flavor profile.

Thursday, October 7th,

3-6PM:

Single Cask Nation

Anyone who wishes to know more about the greater world of whisky and independent bottling is sure to enjoy this tasting! Established in 2011, independent bottlers Single Cask Nation have faithfully dedicated themselves to selecting and bottling the world’s finest and rarest single casks of whisky. Their highly rated bottlings include Laphroaig, Glenmoray, and Catoctin Creek, to name only a few.

Click Here to RSVP

(or email us at info@whiskyshopusa.com)

BARTON 1792 BOURBONS WIN FIVE GOLD MEDALS

AT 2021 INTERNATIONAL SPIRITS CHALLENGE

Ten Distillery Whiskeys Receive Medals

             BARDSTOWN, Ky (Aug. 31, 2021) – Judges awarded a total of 10 medals to whiskeys from Barton 1792 Distillery at the 2021 International Spirits Challenge (ISC), including five Gold medals for products in the Distillery’s growing bourbon lineup. Products were scored during 12 days of blind tastings where panels of experienced judges evaluated aroma, appearance, taste and finish. Five Silver medals were also awarded.

Gold Medals:

• 1792 Small Batch
• 1792 Single Barrel
• 1792 Bottled in Bond
• 1792 Full Proof
• Thomas S. Moore Chardonnay Finished

 Silver Medals:

• 1792 Aged 12 Years
• Thomas S. Moore Port Finished
• Thomas S. Moore Cabernet Sauvignon Finished
• Early Times Bottled in Bond
• Early Times Kentucky Whiskey

For a full list of results from the 2021 International Spirits Challenge, visit https://www.internationalspiritschallenge.com/live/en/page/isc-2021-winners.

About Barton 1792 Distillery

Barton 1792 Distillery is part of Barton Brands.  Barton Brands has facilities in Bardstown, Ky., Carson, Calif., and Baltimore, Md. Barton Brands is owned by the Sazerac Company, an American family-owned company based in New Orleans, La. Barton 1792 Distillery was established in 1879 and continues today as the oldest fully-operating Distillery in the “Bourbon Capital of the World.” The Distillery is located on 196 acres and includes 28 warehouses, 22 other buildings, the Morton Spring and the Tom Moore Spring.  Distilling, aging and bottling fine Bourbon whiskey are hallmarks of the historic Barton 1792 Distillery. 1792 Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey is produced at Barton 1792 Distillery, and is named for the year Kentucky became a state. The Distillery has garnered a number of prestigious awards for its whiskies, including its 1792 Full Proof, which was named the World Whiskey of the Year for 2020.  To learn more visit www.1792bourbon.com.

ralfy review 896 Extras – Vote for your choices at the OSWA’s

I hope this email finds you well and looking forward to a relaxing weekend with your friends and family.

If you didn’t already know, we hosted our first physical event, since March 2020, last weekend – The Liverpool Whisky Festival.
We want to thank everyone who turned out for what was a fantastic event. We were so touched by the positivity and good will from those of you who, in many cases, have been holding onto tickets since 2019!

So, following on from this, we are very excited to tell you that we are also going to be running our Manchester and York Festivals this autumn/winter! And tickets are now available to buy!

Read on…

29th-30th October 2021

We are excited (and unapologetic for the overuse of the word) to be coming back to Manchester after so long. We really hope you will join us as we have missed you as much as you (hopefully!) have missed us.

We are also ecstatic that we are back at the Manchester Cathedral, which is one of our favourite venues.

Those of you who bought tickets for the original 2020 event will automatically have their tickets carried over to this event, for the same session. We only have a limited amount of ‘new’ tickets we can sell, due to fact so many bought tickets in 2019 for the 2020 event, which we had to postpone.

As for Liverpool, we will have exhibitors, old and new, desperate to show you, and have you taste, their wares. Plenty of familiar faces and lots of new whiskies to go at!

The Covid bit

Everyone attending will need to have a vaccine ‘passport’ or proof of a lateral flow test done on the day of the event.

This is not only to ensure your safety, but also that of our exhibitors and team, plus it is a requirement of the venue itself, in order to protect their staff too.

Mask-wearing will not be mandatory, but you may well see exhibitors and team members wearing them. We would encourage you to wear one when you’re not tasting or chatting.

There will be plenty of hand sanitiser available to everyone throughout the venue, and we would encourage you to use it.

The capacity of the event has been reduced dramatically. A maximum of 350 people per session has been put into place.

Hopefully all of this will help to ensure everyone’s safety and comfort.

Obviously we have to caveat that, in the event of the current government rules surrounding the pandemic changing, we may have to alter or cancel the event. However, we are hopeful that this won’t happen this time!

Tickets

So, on to the tickets themselves. Due to the venue capacity being dramatically reduced and the devastating impact of the pandemic on our business, we cannot afford to run any ‘early-bird’ promotions, and we hope you understand this. However, we have kept the price to the previous full price of £50 per ticket, which we hope you’ll agree is still very reasonable for what you get;

– Entry to one session of the event
– A Glencairn Whisky Tasting Glass
– Access to dozens of whiskies from all over the world, with nothing more to pay
– Chat with whisky industry folk about their product at their stands

There will be THREE sessions;

Friday 29th October
6pm-10pm

Saturday 30th October
12pm – 4pm
5.30pm – 9.30pm

You can choose which session you’d like to attend.

Once again we are directing to you straight to Eventbrite for tickets, due to our new website not being quite ready, and our old one is….we don’t want to talk about it!

BUY NOW – Manchester Festival 2021 Tickets

Saturday 27th November 2021

What do they say about what happens when you’ve been waiting for one event…? Two turn up at once!

Yes, we are excited for this ‘home’ event obviously, but we will give it its moment in the sun in future mail-outs.

Suffice it to say, it is a fantastic event in its own right and, if you’re able, you should definitely come!

There will be 2 sessions for this one;

Early Session – 12pm-4pm
Late Session – 5pm-9pm

AND TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE NOW!

Same deal for 2020 ticket holders – your current tickets will be valid for the rearranged event, so we hope to see you there!

BUY NOW – York Festival 2021 Tickets

If you already have a ticket carried over (for either event) and need to change sessions or can’t make it for any reason, please email info@thewhiskylounge.com with as much detail as possible.

Also, if you have a ticket for a different postponed event and would like to come to either of these, please let us know, as we can almost certainly arrange this.

We are planning on further live event announcements, so please do watch this space and our Facebook Page.

Please bear in mind that there is currently one person working one day a week in the business, so it WILL take a little while (two weeks plus) to get back to you.

That’s it for now but don’t forget to read The Gateshead Whisky News for all the latest industry buzz, from our very own Connas!

Thanks for listening and for your ongoing patience and understanding.

Have a great weekend!

Best Wishes,
Eddie
The Whisky Lounge

SAVE 15% ON SPECIALLY SELECTED BOTTLES 

GREAT GATHERING GIVEAWAY 

We’ve enjoyed exceptional whiskies this month, in the company of our members around the world – a huge thanks to everyone who got involved. Now, as an exciting finale to our Gathering celebrations, we’re offering great savings on some extra special whiskies.

There’s still time to enjoy our Gathering celebrations, and from now until Thursday, 30 September we’re offering members these juicy savings.

SAVE 15% ON SPECIALLY SELECTED BOTTLES 

Never be without something wonderful in your whisky glass. Use our Great Gathering Giveaway coupon code online to enjoy a 15% saving on Society bottles priced £80 and over.

COUPON CODE: GATHERINGGIVEAWAY15 

Apply coupon code to your online basket, your discount will be applied automatically against bottles priced £80 and over. Coupon code can be used multiple times. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer, applied retrospectively or exchanged for cash.

Available online until Thursday, 30 September

BROWSE ALL BOTTLINGS

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

Single Malt Saturday Returns!

Weekly In-store Tastings featuring Single Malt Whiskies

Saturday, October 2nd,

12PM-5PM:

Glengoyne

Established in 1833, Highland distillery Glengoyne creates wonderful, award-winning drams through Scotland’s slowest distillation. Their unhurried approach to whisky begins with exclusively air-dried barley, never heated or peated, contributing to the whisky’s smooth, sweet taste. Discover the whiskys yourself at this expert presented tasting. We’ll have a variety of Glengoyne’s award winning drams poured just for you!

Click Here to RSVP

(or email us at info@whiskyshopusa.com)

As per city ordinance, we are now required to ask all guests for Proof of Vaccination before attending our tastings. Please be prepared to provide this when you arrive. More details can be found HERE This is a San Francisco ordinance – The Whisky Shop does not have control over this rule. If we don’t implement the new laws we face the possibility of being fined, shut down, or losing our business license. Thank you for your patience & understanding! We look forward to sharing a dram with you.