Highball Part One: HOW TO MAKE AT  HOME.

In the 1950s, Shinjiro Torii, the founder of Suntory, helped cement highballs as an authentic way to enjoy whisky cocktails in Japan. The Japanese praised this simple, stylish cocktail as a refreshing way to drink whisky. Since then, Suntory has played an important role in reestablishing the highball as a popular cocktail for a new generation of whisky drinkers and today, if we were able to move out and about, you could walk into 100+ bars across the country that feature the Suntory Toki Highball Machine. Whether from the machine or made by hand, the recipe is simple:

• Fill a tall glass to the brim with ice cubes and add 1 PART SUNTORY TOKI WHISKY
• Stir to cool the glass and the whisky
• Add 3 PARTS CHILLED SUPER-PREMIUM SODA WATER down the side of the glass to not burst the bubbles
• Add citrus garnish and enjoy

To note – a ‘highball’ is defined as a spirit + carbonated beverage, so think of whisky & soda.

Highball Part Two: HOW TO CELEBRATE AT HOME. #SuntoryTimeAtHome

The House of Suntory is promoting a special moment of the day to ‘take a moment, take a sip, relax and enjoy.’ On Thursdays and Fridays, starting at 5pm ET, we’re asking you (and everyone!) to post a picture or video on your Instagram Story featuring a Toki Whisky or Haku Vodka Highball with #SuntoryTimeAtHome. Your post which will then be shared on the Suntory Instagram channel later that night. Our venerable Japanese colleagues have also participated – check out Shinji Fukuyo’s first toast HERE for Toki and Kazuyuki Torii’s first toast HERE for Haku.

Every Thursday starting at 5pm ET = #SuntoryTimeAtHome TOKI Highball Happy Hour

• Pour yourself a Toki Highball or neat
• Take a picture or video of you toasting to virtual happy hours and staying home
• Post to your IG Story and tag @SuntoryWhisky AND use #SuntoryTimeAtHome
• The brand IG channel will repost your image/video to help encourage and spark others to do the same

Hopefully we can get a swell of posts and encourage our fans to join in. Consider it a little morale boosting and fun way to (distantly) connect all across the globe!

Highball Part Three: HOW TO GET AT HOME.

Many acclaimed bars and restaurants across the country have shifted gears and are now offering Toki and Haku Highball Kits for takeout and/or delivery. Please inquire if you’re interested in learning more about these establishments and their offerings. The cities we currently have account lists and ‘how to buy’ info for include: New York City, Seattle and San Francisco.

KINDNESS. COMMUNITY. CREATIVITY.

We launched our fundraising initiative to support the hospitality industry just over a month ago and have been overwhelmed by the response we have received so far. Thank you to all who have donated or purchased an item. Please know that all your contributions will help to make a difference to those in need.

Our first orders have been dispatched and we would love to see photos of the items in action, so reach out to us at hello@compassboxwhisky.com or message us on our social channels.

We have also launched a dedicated European fundraising page at compass-box.teemill.com to make it even simpler to buy our limited edition Compass Box tops and totes in that region.

Our page at bonfire.com/store/compass-box is still live and welcoming support from our friends and fans within the US and the rest of the world, so please do continue to get involved.

We’re all in this together, and we’ll get through this together.

So be kind. Have hope. Look after each other.

And please support creatively.

Thank you.

John & the Compass Box team

SHARE A DRAM FOR WORLD WHISKY DAY

Saturday 16th marks World Whisky Day, and we’re inviting you to celebrate with us for a bit of an online get together. Social Media Mads will be hosting the festivities, featuring a fantastic line up of guest presenters, cocktail demonstrations and live DJ sets with DJ and Ambassador Knud Scheibelt. The party starts at 8pm over on our UK Facebook page and the SMWS Silverscreen YouTube channel. We look forward to seeing you there – and remember to bring a dram!

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

Relaxed Whisky Shop Dufftown Virtual Whisky Quiz by Maltstock

We really hope you and all your loved ones are staying healthy and relaxed.

One of the relaxed things to happen very soon is The Whisky Shop Dufftown Whisky quiz, hosted by Maltstock! It would be really great if many of you can join us for a bit of relaxed fun. It will be a quiz in the style of the quiz at Maltstock last year. Not über-geeky, more black cab geeky 😉

You can join either as individual of you can get a team together and play as a team. The quiz has five rounds. And there will be a winner and a prize after each round. And a very nice prize for the overall winner.  Check the Facebook page of The Whisky Shop Dufftown to see some of the amazing prizes.

And for a bit of extra fun, there also will be a league of professionals. They will be playing for eternal fame and honour. It will be fun to see if you can better than the professionals.
More info and signing up here: https://www.whiskyshopdufftown.com/the-whisky-shop-dufftown-relaxed-whisky-quiz/

Relaxed tip: If you like to join as team you can create a meeting at https://meet.jit.si That way you can easily chat and confer with each other and one person sends in the answering form.

Hope to see you all online Sunday 17 May!

Stay healthy stay relaxed

Annette, Bob, Klaas, Stan, Teun

When?

Sunday May 17th, 4pm CET/ 3pm BST through the Facebook page of The Whisky Shop Dufftown. 

Thursday, May 14th 5:30PM:

GlenDronach Single Malt Scotch 

presented by Rory Glasgow

Established in 1826, Highland distillery GlenDronach was one of the very first licensed distilleries in Scotland. The award-winning GlenDronach range marries the best of Highland and Spanish skill and heritage to offer whiskies of elegant, complex character and tremendous depth of taste. Masters of Sherry Maturation, Glendronach scotches are recognized for their deep color and rich flavor profiles, ranging from sweet fruity Pedro Ximenez sourced single malts, to the dry and nutty Olorosso expressions.

 Click Here to Reserve your  $0 Ticket

Tasting experiences are held over Zoom and allow a limited number of participants, so please do not wait until the last minute to reserve your ticket! After purchasing and shortly before the tasting, an email will be sent to you with instructions to access the tasting via Zoom.

World Whisky Day (16^th May 2020) is just around the corner, and the question of which whisky to celebrate with remains a question on everybody’s lips. There are few things more perfect than a fine whisky; patiently matured and rich with flavour, taking the drinker on an unforgettable taste journey. Bringing together the finest ingredients and flavours, here is a selection of stand-out whiskies perfect to raise a Dram with for World Whisky Day, including classics from The Macallan, Maker’s Mark, The House of Suntory, and more.

Bowmore 15 Year Old 

Bowmore is Islay’s oldest distillery, and home to the world’s oldest whisky maturation warehouse, the No. 1 Vaults. Matured first in bourbon barrels then Oloroso casks, there’s no finer example of a sherry cask finish than Bowmore 15 Year Old. The final three years spent in Oloroso sherry casks give Bowmore 15 Year Old the rich, deep colour and robust warming finish.

RRP: £60

Available to purchase from The Whisky Exchange and Amazon

The Macallan Estate 

The Macallan Estate, created by Whisky Maker Sarah Burgess, is a tribute to The Macallan’s heritage and home. It is an extremely special new single malt containing rare spirit from a proportion of the barley grown at Easter Elchies estate, which is distilled just once a year over the course of a single week. The liquid delivers a subtle hint of citrus which balances the traditional sherried richness, resulting in a complex single malt with an extraordinarily long finish.

RRP: £195

Stockists: The Whisky Shop and The Whisky Exchange

The Macallan

Highland Park 16 Year Old Twisted Tattoo 

In collaboration with Danish tattoo artist and modern-day Viking Soul, Colin Dale, Highland Park 16 Year Old Twisted Tattoo’s bold design celebrates the tattoo as a mark of both standing apart and being part of a tribe – just like Highland Park. The expression’s exquisite tasting notes include the likes of sweet vanilla, sun-ripened peaches, and full-bodied red wine, finished with a light peat smoke.

RRP: £80

Stockists: Master of Malt and The Whisky Shop

Laphroaig Lore 

By maturing the liquid in small batches in five unique casks, Laphroaig has created a liquid that is rich, complex, varied and above all, storied. Laphroaig Lore uses different aged liquids ranging from 7 to 21 years, which allows the richest possible flavour. As the name suggests, this offering from Laphroaig is inspired by the knowledge and traditions passed down from generation to generation of its distillery managers, blenders and craftsmen.

RRP: £80

Stockists: Master of Malt and The Whisky Exchange

Maker’s 46

The first bourbon in Maker’s Mark’s wood-finishing series, Maker’s 46 was created by Bill Samuels, J., to amplify the flavours he loves most in Maker’s Mark. The innovative wood-stave-finishing process starts with fully matured Maker’s Mark at cask strength, after which 10 seared virgin French oak staves are inserted into the barrel. The liquid is then finished for nine weeks in a limewood cellar, resulting in a bolder and more complex flavour, but without the bitterness typical of longer-aged whiskies.

RRP: £40

Stockists: Amazon and Master of Malt

Toki 

Meaning ‘time’ in Japanese, Toki brings together old and new – the House of Suntory’s proud heritage and its innovative spirit. A blended Japanese whisky that is both ground-breaking and timeless, the finish is subtly sweet and spicy with a hint of vanilla oak, white pepper and ginger.

RRP: £35

Stockists: Tesco and Master of Malt

Upcoming Tastings

Elements of Islay Online Tasting

Wednesday 20th May 2020 at 7.30pm

For one night only, the inimitable duo of Oliver Chilton and Katy Kennedy will lead you across the incredible selection of Islay whisky bottled by Elixir Distillers. Guiding you through some of the history of the island, as well as the science behind the unique flavour profile that binds these highly regarded distilleries, the evening will not be one to miss.

The tasting will comprise of:

Br7 –  sherry hogsheads, distilled in 2001
Ma2 – first fill bourbon barrels, distilled in 2004
Lp8 – ex-Madeira casks, distilled in 1998
Bw7 –  sherry butts, distilled in 2001

Book Tasting

Douglas Laing Online Tasting

Wednesday 27th May 2020 at 7.30pm

Join us for and our good friends at Douglas Laing for an unforgettable online tasting experience, exploring their selection from many categories of Scotch whisky. From grain to blended and single malt, the various styles of whisky produced in Scotland will be on show.

Rock Island 21 Year Old (Limited release)
Glenrothes 15 Old Particular
Braeval 18 Old Particular
Inchgower 21 Old Particular
Cameronbridge 35  XOP

Book Tasting

The Whisky Shop Dufftown
Virtual Relaxed Whisky Quiz

At the beginning of May The Whisky Shop Dufftown intended to bring a host of whisky events to Speyside.  One of them was a relaxed whisky quiz hosted by our good friends at Maltstock with the most relaxed quiz master known to whisky, Teun van Wel.  Maltstock quizzes are legendary and it would be a loss to the world as we know it if it did not go ahead.  Teun suggested we could go ahead as planned, albeit virtually, so that is what we are going to do.  Just two weeks later, and via Facebook live, we will bring direct to you (almost) the same relaxed fun quiz on Sunday 17 May.

The event will be streamed on The Whisky Shop Dufftown’s Facebook page from 4pm CET / 3pm BST.  Answer forms will be sent to contestants electronically to be completed and returned.  Teun will be your on-line host with the questions.  The questions may be fiendish, testing, whacky, revealing or fun but always relaxed.

How do you take part?  We will be running three leagues during the quiz.  The first one is for mere mortals, the amateur league.  The second one is for teams of mere mortals.  If you are entering as a team then it is down to you how you organize your team communications.  The third and final league is not for immortals but for whisky professionals.  Not all of these are immortal.  These are people that are or have been employed in the whisky industry and is just for fun.  This is to make things fair for all taking part.

When you complete the quiz, you will receive a £5 voucher to use on The Whisky Shop Dufftown’s on-line store to put towards a whisky purchase.  You will be able to win prizes along the way during the quiz as well and, of course, the big prize for the top scoring contestant or team in each amateur league.  When taking part, we strongly recommend ensuring you have a good supply of drams to hand to make sure the brain cells are appropriately lubricated.

To enter the individual amateur league click here to buy a ticket and for the team amateur league click here.  Tickets are £10 per entry.  One ticket per team but it is down to you on how to share the voucher and any prizes you win amongst your team.

The professional league is for “fun” only.  No prizes.  They do not need the incentive to be competitive.  Drop me an email if you want to take part in the professional league (mike@whiskyshopdufftown.com).

So contestants are you ready? Tickets on sale until 16 May.

Don’t miss our new video series filled with Japanese Whisky, comedy, music and more whisky.

Watch the latest episode now.

Discover the famous whisky from one of Japan’s most renowned distilleries.

Dekanta

2-49-7 Minamiikebukuro Toshima-ku, Tokyo,

How time flies; it is now the beginning of May and “The Self Isolation Festival” is less than four weeks away so we thought that we would take this opportunity to give you the latest update on our progress.

Firstly, we are surprised by the interest shown by the whisky industry, you can see this by the strength of those who are supporting us on the day. There have been one or two changes, as you would expect, due to the current difficult time that we are going through and we also had to find a replacement for Whisky Auctioneer due to unforeseen circumstances.  However, they are behind us and still providing their support to the day.

The full day’s programme of Whisky Masterclasses will now be as follows:

• Starward Distillery from Melbourne, Australia
• Dewar’s of Aberfeldy
• Tullibardine Distillery
• Lindores Abbey Distillery
• The GlenAllachie
• Buffalo Trace from Kentucky, USA
• Robertson’s Private Collection

The masterclasses will be interspersed with music from three local musicians, mixology sessions, a talk from Blair Bowman – whisky consultant and author, a whisky quiz and a prize draw.

Tickets are now on sale and have now been purchased in several countries globally.

As planned, we will be giving £5 from every tasting kit bought to the NHS Emergency Fund, along with monies raised by the auction and a Just Giving page that we are setting up for the event.

We are now offering the opportunity to pick and mix your drams for the day, please see the web site for details.

To register or purchase tasting kits please go to:   www.robertsonsofpitlochry.co.uk

To ensure that the tasting kits arrive in time for the event we will be having two cut off dates for purchasing:

International 15th May 2020

United Kingdom 22nd May 2020

Kind Regards

Sandy Fraser

Co-organiser

Highland Perthshire Whisky Festival

The Self Isolation Festival