Let Scotch whisky take you to a new world of flavour

It’s time Scotch whisky got reacquainted with its distant cousin: beer. Because despite their obvious differences, these two drinks come from the same family, and get on like a house on fire. Curious to discover more? Then join us for our next Adventure in Deliciousness when we’ll be exploring what happens when you bring these two gregarious characters together.

Ideal for Father’s Day

In June, our founder John Glaser will reveal how three of our whiskies – The Peat Monster, The Spice Tree, and The Story of the Spaniard – strike up fascinating conversations with certain styles of beer. So, whether dad is a fan of the dram or the draught, we’ve got a great gift to satisfy his curiosity. Pick up a gift pack of our Malt Whisky Collection then sign him up for the event. For those in the US, a freshly designed gift pack will be available from early June – new packaging, same award-winning whiskies.

Save the date…

It’s happening on Sunday, June 27th at 8pm BST (12pm PDT / 3pm EDT) and of course, you don’t need to be a dad to join us. Everyone’s welcome! Is there someone in your life who loves a beer and you want to bring them into the delicious world of Scotch whisky? Then be sure to invite them along on the journey.

We look forward to seeing you there!
The Compass Box Team

PRIVATE BALLOT COMING SOON

This ballot for a small number of bottles of Ardbeg 25 Year Old 2021 will run from Friday 28 May until Sunday 30 May 2021. In order to qualify for entry, prospective entrants must have purchased a full-sized bottle of Ardbeg single malt whisky from The Whisky Exchange within the 24 months prior to the ballot opening, and must be signed up to receive our emails.

The deadline for purchase and thus eligibility for entry into the ballot is 23:59 BST on Thursday 27 May 2021.

The cost of each balloted bottle of Ardbeg 25 Year Old 2021 will be £795 including VAT, plus any relevant taxes and shipping costs, and winners of the ballot will be drawn on or after Ardbeg Day, 5 June 2021.

We’re also pleased to announce that we will be selling a small quantity of the limited-edition Ardbeg Scorch (General Release) on The Whisky Exchange website on Tuesday 25 May.

BUY ARDBEG

ABOUT ARDBEG 25 YEAR OLD

Since its purchase and subsequent re-opening by Glenmorangie in 1997, Ardbeg’s stocks of maturing whisky have been growing larger and older. Snapshots of well-aged ‘modern’ Ardbeg have been available from time to time – tantalising glimpses of the heights such spirit can achieve.

The Ardbeg 25 Year Old is one such glimpse. Extremely limited in number, this truly exceptional Islay single malt shows a quality and character we can only hope will become more attainable as Ardbeg’s mature stocks grow. For now though, it remains a rare insight into one of this well-loved distillery’s possible futures.

BUY ARDBEG

Just a very quick note to let you know that our line-up of ‘exhibitors’ for our Festival in a Box 2.0 is coming together nicely! We have the list of these, so far, on the Eventbrite page…

So if you were waiting to find out the contents of the packs themselves before buying, hopefully this will go some way to satisfying your curiosity!

Read on…

This pack and event is gearing up to being our best yet, with over 20 samples included in each pack, plus, plus!

Not forgetting that the live events take place over the Father’s Day weekend and the ‘mini-masterclasses’ go live at the same time. So if you want something truly unique and worthy for your whisky-loving dad, this could be the one…

As promised, here is a list of just a few of the whiskies on ‘show’;

Spey Fumare Cask Strength
Langutan Old Deer 46%
Nikka Miyagikyo
Laphroaig 10yo Sherry Cask
Glen Moray Tokaji Cask
Port Askaig 100 Proof
Waterford Grattansbrook
Pike Creek 10yo Rum Barrel Finish

It is going to be a real smorgasbord of cracking drams from all over the world, with video tastings of all of them available by the time the weekend comes around!

So what is included and what does it cost?

Festival in a Box – Standard Edition £45 (inc. delivery)

– ALL samples of ALL of the exhibitors mini-masterclass whiskies. This will be around two dozen samples of 30ml or more.

– Glencairn tasting glass

– Can of Larkfire Wild Water for Whisky

– Access to ALL festival sessions, whether live or on-demand

BUY NOW – Festival in a Box 2021

There are other editions to accompany the live sessions, as follows. Each one includes EVERYTHING within the Standard Edition, plus…

The BBQ and Cocktail Edition £55 (inc. delivery)

Includes the cocktail ingredients and BBQ rubs you’ll need for the Friday night session. Only 50 packs originally available.

The Blending Edition £55 (inc. delivery)

Includes the blending components you’ll need for the Saturday night session. Only 50 packs originally available.

The Desert Island Drams Edition £55 (inc. delivery)

Includes the special drams you’ll need for the Sunday night session. Only 50 packs originally available. (previously the Desert Island Karaoke Edition)

The Ultimate Edition £95 (inc. delivery)

Includes everything you need to take part in ALL of the above three sessions. Only 20 packs originally available.

Whichever ‘Edition’ you prefer, just hit the button below and select your preference directly in Eventbrite.

BUY NOW – Festival in a Box 2021

Please note that the packs will NOT be sent out until just before the event itself, so please be patient and bear this in mind when ordering! For those of you with tickets for festivals that have been postponed, without a confirmed date re-arranged, you can put the value of your tickets towards one or more of the Festival in a Box packs. Please hit the button below and fill in the pre-fab’d email with your details.

Festival Ticket = Credit towards Festival pack

That’s it for now!

Best Wishes,
Eddie
The Whisky Lounge

Three American Oak Single Cask Whiskies

In the coming days, we will release three American Oak Single Cask whiskies.—

In addition to an American Oak Bourbon Single Cask (TD0177), we will be releasing an American Oak Tawny Single Cask (TD0317) and an American Oak Second Fill Single Cask (TD0121). All three are exceptional examples of the malt-led Sullivans Cove spirit working alongside the characteristics of American Oak for long-term maturation.

TD0177 American Oak Bourbon Single Cask, bottled at 47.2% was matured for over 14 years in a 200L cask and yielded only 122 bottles.

TD0317 American Oak Tawny Single Cask, bottled at 47.9% was matured for over 12 years in a 300L cask and yielded 427 bottles.

TD0121 American Oak Second Fill Single Cask, bottled at 47.5% was matured for 14 years and 5 months in a 300L cask and yielded 440 bottles.

Further cask information and tasting notes can be found on our online store.

“American Oak casks complement our malt-driven spirit and suit our gentler approach to all aspects of the whisky making process. With a more porous surface, American Oak lends itself to long-term maturation, with the vannillan characteristics of the wood marrying perfectly with our new make spirit.” – Heather Tillott, Head Distiller

These whiskies will be released via ballot.

The ballot will open for 24 hours from 11am Hobart time on Tuesday 25th of May, 2021. Further details will be sent via email prior to the ballot opening. Please note, entries will be strictly limited to one bottle per cask, per person. You’re welcome to enter all three ballots. Successful entries will be notified shortly after the ballot closes.

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Shene Tasmanian Single Malt Whisky Takes Home Five Double Gold and 1 Gold at this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition

The 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition was held at One Market Restaurant in San Francisco from April 1st through April 20th, with Shene Distillery taking home prestigious Double Gold medals for Shene Elixir of Life Tasmanian Single Malt Whisky 49% abv, Shene Solera Cask Tasmanian Single Malt Whisky 49% abv, Shene Mackey Trinity Tasmanian Single Malt Whisky 49% abv, Shene Trinity Enigma Tasmanian Single Malt Whisky 49% abv, Shene Mackey Triple Distilled Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 63.3% abv, and a Gold medal for Shene Cognac Release Tasmanian Single Malt Whisky 49% abv.

Founded in 2000, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition is the oldest and largest competition of its kind. This year the competition was another record-breaking year that more than 3,500 entries from all corners of the world.

“Each year’s results are closely followed, both by consumers eager for the expert judgements and more importantly by the trade, especially the distributor community. Many a craft distillery startup has found that recognition by the SFWSC is the golden key to unlocking broad national, and often, international distribution. Even established producers look to the SFWSC for confirmation of their core ranges, as well as validation of new products and new production techniques.” – Joseph V Micallef in a 2021 Forbes Article.

The 30+ judges of the 2021 Competition are established spirits industry experts, including Anthony Dias Blue (Executive Director), author, editor, publisher, and one of the most influential food, wine,and spirits writers and lifestyle personalities in the U.S.A and Jeffrey Morgenthaler (Director of Judging), of Clyde Common at Portland’s Ace Hotel, named America’s Bartender of the Year and the country’s Best Cocktail and Spirits Writer at the 2016 Spirited Awards.

The SFWSC is a blind-tasting competition considered one of the most reliable indications of spirits excellence globally. The judges determine which entries are worthy of Gold, Silver or Bronze based on tasting alone. “Double Gold—Awarded to the entries that receive a Gold medal rating by all members of the judging panel; these are among the finest products in the world.” San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Shene Tasmanian Single Malt Whisky is proudly milled, mashed, fermented, distilled, matured and bottled onsite.

Shene Distillery
www.shene.com.au

Virtual Whisky and Chocolate Tasting!
The Singleton x COCO Chocolatier

Whisky and chocolate lovers rejoice! We have the ultimate treat for you.

On Thursday 27th May at 19:30 GMT we will be hosting a virtual tasting led by Diageo Brand Ambassador Jo Last, where she will be guiding us through the core range of single malts from The Singleton – the 12, 15 and 18 Year Old expressions. These will be paired with indulgent chocolates from Edinburgh based COCO Chocolatier featuring their Orange and Rhubarb & Ginger Milk Chocolates.

Tickets are now live and cost £24.95pp. The perfect tasting for a sweet tooth – why not treat yourself (or a friend!) and join in?

The Singleton
Whisky and Chocolate Tasting

27/05/2021 19:30 GMT

£24.95

Buy Now

We hope you all are managing to stay relaxed and healthy. I’m sure you all had your fair share of MS Teams and Google Meet sessions. Often with some very relaxed drams. I know we certainly did! But, let’s Zoom in on Maltstock!!

Will Maltstock 2021 go ahead as planned?

The short answer is: we don’t know yet. But… we are rather hopeful. So do pencil it in the dates 10-12 September.

Let us be very clear: Maltstock will only happen if it can be done in a safe way. The health of our guests and our crew is our number one priority. Also there will be no Maltstock if social distancing rules are still in place.

So why are we hopeful?

Things are slowly but surely improving. People are getting vaccinated. And if everyone at Maltstock has been vaccinated or has a negative test result, we should all be safe.  A vaccination passport will certainly help us. The question remains of course if the speed at which people are being vaccinated is high enough. But more should be clear on that in a month or two.

Of course, social distancing rules will have to be lifted as well before we can have a relaxed Maltstock. We just need to be a patient for a bit longer. We expect to be able to get back to you by the end of June.

Again, we will only organize Maltstock this year if we can do it in a safe and relaxed way. If you for whatever reason do not wish to come to Maltstock this year, not a problem at all. Your ticket will remain valid for any future edition. We have our fingers crossed we will see most of you the September at Maltstock. How relaxed would that be!

Stay healthy stay relaxed!

Annette, Bob, Klaas, Stan & Teun

PS

If you haven’t bought a Maltstock ticket yet, you can still get yours here. It will be valid for the next edition of Maltstock. Which of course we hope will be this year!

Stewart Buchanan, Benriach Global Brand Ambassador

Stewart Buchanan, Benriach Global Brand Ambassador

GLOBAL WHISKY FANS LOG INTO CELEBRATE SPIRIT OF SPEYSIDE

From Turriff to Tokyo, 688 guests from 15 countries from around the world logged into Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival’s first online event, which took place last week.

Benriach’s World of Flavour proved to be the top pick of the festival, with Global Brand Ambassador, Stewart Buchanan, leading a tasting of their core range, giving a sneak peek behind the scenes of their new visitor centre in Elgin. Virtual distillery tours were also high on the agenda for visitors, with tours of Benromach and Tamdhu distilleries being the second and third most popular events.

In addition to the main festival events, guests were invited to join virtual booths hosted by distillery managers, brand ambassadors, and whisky experts to chat with like-minded whisky lovers. The festival saw 2,877 visits to the 20 available booths, with guests using a total of 2,254 emojis and enjoying drams from 836 tasting kits.

James Campbell, Chairman at The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival, said:

“This year’s Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival might have been very different from years gone by, but the distilleries rallied to create one of our most engaging and internationally visited events in our 21 year history.

“With guests from every corner of the globe from Australia to The Philippines, Canada, Germany, Mexico and across the UK, whisky lovers rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names in the whisky industry.

“But nothing beats being together to celebrate the world’s largest producing whisky region. We have our fingers and toes crossed that we can welcome back whisky explorers in person to the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival from 3-8 November 2021, subject to government guidelines”

Updates on the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival will be posted on https://www.spiritofspeyside.com and across social media. This will be subject to government guidelines and may be subject to change.

The 2022 festival will take place 27 April to 2 May 2022.

Notes 

About the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival

First launched in 1999, the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival’s annual celebration of Scotland’s national drink has developed into one of the largest events of its kind anywhere in the world. The Festival is a mecca for the curious beginner and the whisky connoisseur alike. Over the past 20 years, festival events have taken place throughout Speyside, the biggest whisky producing region in Scotland, located in the Moray area in the North-East of the county between Aberdeen and Inverness. This year is the first year that the festival has adopted an online format.

Over the years, the Festival has developed close links with many Speyside businesses and communities who help to fund the festival. It is a true team effort to deliver an ever-improving range of events and services to make the Festival a truly unforgettable experience.

The company is limited by guarantee, it runs the festival with a voluntary board of directors drawn from key areas of the whisky industry along with other local businesses and tourism organisations.

Despite the lack of tourists, spring has been a hugely busy time at the distillery. We took advantage of the cool damp weather before Easter to have our best-ever production period, with our mashmen and stillmen working long hours to produce great volumes of spirit, and without any loss of quality – quite an achievement. Simultaneously we were lucky enough to take delivery of an entire truckload of Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso hogsheads; these have all now been filled and we look forward to seeing the results in five, ten, fifteen years… in this game it pays to be patient.

Happily the lack of tourists is now behind us, as the distillery formally reopened for visitors today – something we have been looking forward to for many months. All tours are fully compliant with current covid guidelines – Click here for details on how to book.

Today we are also announcing a brace of new bottlings: our Fathers Day special (last year’s was a huge hit, so we thought a sequel would be a good idea) and the much-anticipated issue of bottles from Iain’s private cask: the Manager’s Cask release. They’re now both be released from our webshop.

Finally, we’re offering our friends and followers a chance to win both the new releases: if you’re feeling lucky and fancy getting hold of a Fathers Day and Manager’s Cask bottle, please enter our competition. Wishing all our friends and followers a very happy summer!

Slàinte

The Wolfburn Team

Awards are always appreciated!

We are so pleased to announce the 2021 winners of this prestigious competition from our portfolio.  Some you may know well, while others may be new friends… all of them are delicious experiences!

SFWSC medal winners range from some of the most renowned international distillers to small-batch producers. Not only is an SFWSC medal a testament to your hard work, it’s a universally recognized indicator of exceptional quality and craftsmanship.

DOUBLE GOLD
Awarded to the entries that receive a Gold medal rating by all members of the judging panel; these are among the finest products in the world.

GOLD
Exceptional spirits that are near the pinnacle of achievement; these products set the standard for their categories.

MacNair’s Mastered the Double Gold Medals

Ne’er happier than when exploring the globe or the spirit from the golden still, Harvey MacNair was – in the parlance of his native Glasgow – a man or ‘lad o’pairts’: a true Victorian entrepreneur. A trader, thereby a traveler, an inventor of all sorts of mechanical contraptions, his genius lay in the blending of fine whiskies. He loved and championed the natural, unadulterated color of whisky. “Pure gold’ he said with a wink.

Today’s Lum Reek is the creation of Master Blender Billy Walker, raising his hat to the top hatted Victorian. It’s a peated malt, marrying Islay & Speyside whiskies with rich GlenAllachie, to extend the flavour profile. Lum Reek is matured in GlenAllachie’s warehouses, bottled at 46% (and above) and unchilfiltered, allowing its natural colour to shine like those golden autumns Harvey MacNair enjoyed decked out in his waders.

‘Lang may yer lum reek’, literally meaning ‘long may your chimney smoke’, is a traditional Scots way to wish someone a long and healthy life.

LUM REEK PEATED 12 YEARS OLD
Introducing the first age range statement from MacNair’s, the Lum Reek 12 years old, bottled at 46% ABV, reflects Billy Walker’s vast experience as a blender, his creative skills and his expert knowledge of wood management. A combination of whiskies from first fill Bourbon, Red Wine and Pedro Ximenez casks were blended together to produce this smoky malt.

COLOR: Copper Bronze.
NOSE: Sweet peat reek combining with butterscotch and mocha.
TASTE: Lashings of rich peat reek with mature heather notes, bog myrtle, butterscotch, toffee and sweet spices.

LUM REEK PEATED 21 YEARS OLD
A blend of some of the finest Islay and Speyside peated malts combined with richer, older GlenAllachie, the Lum Reek 21 years old, voted Worlds Best Blended Malt 2020, was aged in Oloroso, Virgin Oak and Red Wine casks. Non chill filtered, natural colour and bottled at 48% ABV, Billy Walker has recreated the peated whiskies of 100 years ago for the modern-day palate.

COLOR: Butterscotch.
NOSE: Aristocratic peat smoke with dark chocolate and fudge.
TASTE: Tobacco, leather, cedar wood and waves of peat reek with oodles of cocoa, vanilla, honey and spices.

M&H Shocked the Judges with a Vision of Things to Come

While this exciting Double Gold Winner is not available in the US, it is a true testament of the quality that M&H Distillery delivers.  This expression is a reflection of the difference that maturation at the Dead Sea can make in the hot climate of Tel Aviv, Israel and is a truly unique and special whisky.

To learn more about the M&H Apex Expression that are available here in the US you can visit our Bottle Images and More here.

For other M&H Expressions and content you can view our product page here.

Kurayoshi Crushed It

Kurayoshi 18yr Malt Whisky – 50% abv, 750ml – A deep and rich fragrance of the highest quality makes you feel the long-term maturation of over 18 years. The complex and deep flavor profile joins the sweet taste of honey mixed with smoke and spice, a mellow sweetness of vanilla, and a refreshing touch of mint. It is a drink that can satisfy the best whiskey enthusiasts.

It was so exciting to see Kurayoshi be so well received by the judges this year earning them these medals:

Gold – Kurayoshi Pure Malt
Gold – Kurayoshi Sherry Cask
Gold – Kurayoshi 8 yr
Gold – Kurayoshi 12 yr
Double Gold – Kurayoshi 18 yr

For more information on these and other expressions from Kurayoshi, you can visit our product page here.

Meet Matsui Umetsu

Tottori is the line of sourced blended whiskies brought together by the Kurayoshi distillery in Tottori, Japan. Kurayoshi is known for its fresh spring water which is best-suited for producing whisky. The name “Kurayoshi” in Japanese was originated from the phrase “Kurashiyoshi”, which is translated to “Good Living” in English.

This whisky is characterized by mellow sweetness and aroma. The mouth feel is refreshing with a faint fruity sweetness and an ornate finish. The finish is soft and lasting. Perfect for any style of drink, on the rocks, High Ball, and soon.

Thank you all so much!  We will be in touch as the year drinks on 🥃

If you have any questions or would like any additional information, please don’t hesitate to email office@ImpExBev.com.