Wednesday, October 9th 4-6 PM

Garrison Brothers Whiskey with Charlie Garrison 

Special guest Charlie Garrison joins us for this tasting of Garrison Brothers whiskey!

Three time winner of the Jim Murray Whisky Bible’s “Micro-distillery of the Year” distinction, the Garrison Brothers whiskeys are well known for their extraordinary quality and taste.

Come by from 4-6 PM to try Garrison Brothers whiskies and learn what goes into making award-winning Texas spirits from the distillery owner himself.

More Details & RSVP

Complete your Collection

We’re having a massive sale on ‘Game of Thrones’ branded whiskies, with most 50% to 75% off their original sale price! Even if you’re not a series fan, you can get Lagavulin, Talisker, Clynelish, and more single malt scotches at a fraction of the price during this sale.

Click Here for the Game of Thrones Single Malt Sale

Flaviar announces Distillery Tour program for members

Flaviar announces the launch of its Flaviar Distillery Tour program, which allows members special privileges at top distilleries around the world.

Flaviar, a spirits club designed to help people try more new things more often, has teamed up with over 25 distilleries to kick start the program.

Flaviar members will be able to access an array of special perks and privileges, from complimentary distillery tours and tastings, free distillery swag to meet and greets with master distillers, exclusive access to special drams, and industry discounts on distillery shop produce.

Each distillery chosen to be part of the program has a story to tell and some delicious drams to share including small batch whiskey, Cognac, rum, vodka, gin and liqueurs. From award-winning, family operations; to grain to glass, hyper local distilleries; organic and even kosher operations, all the distilleries involved have one thing in common ‘quality’ at the heart.

Jugoslav Petkovic, co-founder of Flaviar, comments: “There is literally nothing better for understanding a spirit than to visit the place where it is made and to speak to the people pouring their heart and soul into the glass.

“We’ve hand picked some of our favorite producers that will extend special industry privileges to our members and give them more access and opportunity to explore their palates and have a great time.

“There has been a huge increase in visitors to distilleries, in Kentucky alone there have been 1.4m visitors in 2018, which has a huge impact on the local economy. The Flaviar Distillery Tour program is a win-win for everyone, our members get access to a great experience and independent brands are able to reach a highly engaged, spirits enthusiast audience that drive distillery door sales.”

For details of the full line up and how to take advantage of any offers, please visit:

www.flaviar.com/distillery-tours

Flaviar Distillery Tours program distillery partners:

ADCo Distillery, Albany, NY

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary distillery tour & tasting for Flaviar members and a guest

+ 10% discount on all merchandise and products from the distillery shop

Alamo Distillery, San Antonio, TX

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary distillery tour & tasting (including any limited edition spirits available at the time) for Flaviar members and a guest

+ Free glass

+ 10% discount on all merchandise

Balcones Distillery, Waco, TX

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary general admission tour for Flaviar members and a guest OR a free tasting flight at the bar

+ A free Glencairn Tasting glass + Balcones sticker

+ $10 off a bottle of their choice

+ 25% off all other merchandise

+ Opportunity to meet and greet with Head Distiller Jared Himstedt (subject to availability)

Breckenridge Distillery, Breckenridge, CO

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary high-end whisky flight on a distillery tour (distillery tours are already complimentary) for Flaviar members

+ Every quarter, members can access spirit tastings not available to the general public i.e. Powder Hound, Single Barrel, Dark Arts etc.

+ $5 off all bottles

+ Once a year, members can enjoy one Dark Arts tasting at the restaurant accompanied by a tasty charcuterie plate

The Copper Fox Distillery, Sperryville, VA

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary VIP tour with a whiskey flight and a hands on floor malting experience for Flaviar members and one guest

+ An opportunity for a hands on floor malting experience

+ 15% off retail merchandise with any spirit purchase

The Copper Fox Distillery, Williamsburg, VA

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary VIP tour with a whiskey flight and a hands on floor malting experience for Flaviar members and one guest

+ An opportunity for a hands on floor malting experience

+ 15% off retail merchandise with any spirit purchase

Coppersea Distillery, New Paltz, NY

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary Coppersea Distillery tour and 3-flight tasting experience for Flaviar members and one guest
+ 10% industry discount on other drinks, bottles, and merchandise

Cotswolds Distillery, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire – United Kingdom

Flaviar member benefits:

+ 50% off a distillery tour and tasting for two people (£15, normally £30) for Flaviar members

De Molenberg Distillery, Blaasveld, Belgium

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary tour and tasting of the distillery and brewery for Flaviar members and one guest, free shuttle between the distillery and brewery

+ Free gift from De Molenberg

FEW Distillery, Evanston, IL

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary General Admission for Flaviar members and one guest FEW Spirits’ Distillery Tour & Tasting

+ Free gift from FEW Spirits

Hali’maile Distillery, Makawao, HI 

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Discounted tour and tasting for $10

Hardy Distillery, Cognac, France

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary distillery tour for Flaviar members

+ Industry discount on purchases at the distillery shop

John Distilleries Distillery, Karnataka, India 

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Special Flaviar Distillery tour and tastings packages

+ Opportunity to meet the Master Distiller (based on his availability)

+ Exclusive access to the distillery’s Underground Cask Cellar

+ Tasting of the Wort, Distiller’s Beer and New Make Spirit

Kentucky Peerless Distillery, Louisville, KY

Flaviar member benefits:
+ Discounted distillery tour culminating in a tasting of four whiskies at the exclusive speakeasy at Kentucky Peerless Distillery for $15 per person.

Kilchoman Distillery, Islay, Scotland

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Flaviar members receive a 25% discount on the Ultimate Tour

+ Opportunity to meet and greet Anthony Wills, the founder, owner and master distiller of Kilchoman

Kings County Distillery, Brooklyn, NY 

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary tour and tasting including four whiskies for Flaviar members

KOVAL Distillery, Chicago, IL

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary tour & tasting passes for Flaviar members and a guest

+ Free VIP swag bag for Flaviar members full of with KOVAL goodies

+ 25% off KOVAL products

Limestone Branch Distillery, Lebanon, KY

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary distillery tour with a cocktail for Flaviar members

+ Meet and greet with the distiller

+ Free glass and a t-shirt or hat

New Holland Brewing Distillery, MI

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary tour of the brewery and distillery for Flaviar members

+ Tasting guided by the New Holland Distiller

NY Distilling Co. Brooklyn, NY

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary tour & tasting for Flaviar members

OOLA Distillery, Seattle, WA

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary VIP tour & tasting for Flaviar members led by OOLA founder/owner

+ Free OOLA swag bag

+ 25% discount on all cocktail classes, whiskey workshops and events at OOLA distillery

+ 25% off a 3-5L exclusive barrel aged cocktail for events

Sagamore Spirit Distillery, Baltimore, MD

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary Sagamore Spirit Distillery Tours and Tasting, including four whiskey samples for Flaviar members and a guest

Santa Fe Spirits Distillery, Santa Fe, NM

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Special rate for Flaviar members on Distillery tours and tastings at $15

+ 15% discount on purchases

+ 15% discount on the monthly masterclasses (How to make whiskey, cocktail masterclasses etc)

Starward Distillery, Melbourne, Australia

Flaviar member benefits:

+ 20% off Distillery tours and masterclasses including private tours for Flaviar members

+ 10% off bottle purchases excl limited releases

+ 20% off food & drink purchased at the distillery bar

Westward Whiskey Distillery, Portland, OR

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary Tour & Tasting Experience for Flaviar members plus one guest

+ 20% industry discount on all flights and in-store experiences at the distillery tasting room

Wolfburn Distillery, Thurso, Scotland

Flaviar member benefits:

+ Complimentary distillery tour for Flaviar members

+ 10% industry discount on merchandise in the distillery shop

ABOUT FLAVIAR:

Founded in 2012, Flaviar is the world’s largest premium spirits club, with operations in the US and Europe. Flaviar offers a better way to experience fine spirits.

Flaviar members enjoy a full suite of benefits including quarterly tasting boxes and full-size bottles sent directly to their home, invitations to exclusive spirits events, access to rare and original spirits available only to members, free shipping, over 200K member reviews and more.

Flaviar is here to help more people try more new things more often.

Flaviar membership is $300 per year, or $95 a quarter.

For more information visit www.flaviar.com

You’ve got to try this!

From single malts to blends and peated to well-sherried favourites, shop from hundreds of different whiskies in our end of summer sale.

SHOP THE SALE

Need Help?
Speak with a member of the team
Call (+44) 01384 394518 or email sales@nickollsandperks.co.uk

Saturday, October 5th 2-5PM: 

Scotch Tasting: 

Bowmore & Glen Garioch 

Try Islay and Highland scotches at this expert presented “Single Malt Saturday” tasting, featuring legendary distilleries Bowmore and Glengarioch. We’ll have a variety of rare and award-winning single malts to try from 2-5PM, with pourlist details to be revealed as event approaches.

RSVP to keep up to date!

Click Here to RSVP

Complete your Collection

We’re having a massive sale on ‘Game of Thrones’ branded whiskies, with most 50% to 75% off their original sale price! Even if you’re not a series fan, you can get Lagavulin, Talisker, Clynelish, and more single malt scotches at a fraction of the price during this sale.

Click Here for the Game of Thrones Single Malt Sale

The Dram House

Membership

The new four storey Townhouse will house a basement cocktail bar called the proofing room, a ground floor whisky bar with over 1000 whiskies to marvel at and a Private Members Club with a cigar terrace and The Sample Room.

The Dram House is a members club above Milroys Whisky Bar in Spitalfields, a part of London’s oldest whisky specialist, Milroys of Soho. Established in 1964 by Jack and Wallace Milroy and remains a centre for whisky enthusiasts worldwide.

The Dram House was a name first posited by legendary brothers Jack & Wallace Milroy on one of their tours of Asia. During a successful mission to introduce fine Scottish whisky to the Japanese market, the brothers were considering naming whisky bars The Dram House to share their passion with as many people as possible. Unfortunately this had not been realised until today.

The bar is London’s finest members club for whisky aficionados. Members can enjoy some of the finest spirits available above Milroys Whisky Bar in Spitalfields. The club boasts a private cigar terrace, as well as a tasting room for up to 25 people. Events at The Dram House are tailored to a knowledgeable consumer, providing some of the most unique tastings in the city.

WHAT KIND OF CASK ARE YOU?

The theme of  Whisky Show 2019 is The Journey of the Cask – a journey which begins prior to, then runs parallel to, the journey of whisky itself. To help you get excited about casks and, hopefully, about this year’s Whisky Show (not to mention provide a fun and engaging way to learn about wood, whisky, and the relationship between the two) we’ve put together this fun quiz to determine, more or less, what kind of cask you most resemble.

Let’s start off easy: of the following, which would be your preferred snack?

( )  Scotch egg

( )  Crisps (potato chips, y’all)

( )  Oatcakes

( )  Cheese is the best snack

( )  A banana

( )  None of the above. Give me yoghurt or give me death

We say holiday, you say…?

( )  Cycling in Southern France

( )  White sandy beaches on an island somewhere

( )  European city break

( )  Roadtrip, stateside

( )  Staycation in Devon

( )  Sailing around the Horn

Choose a hot drink

( )  Tea, please!

( )  Coffee. Now. Thank you.

( )  Hot chocolate.

( )  Bovril… Look, I just really love golf, okay?

( )  Lemsip. My glands hurt.

( )  Grande Chai Tea Latte.

What kind of flavours do you primarily look for in your whisky?

( )  Elegant and floral.

( )  Fresh fruit and vanilla.

( )  Dried fruit and nut.

( )  Malt and honey.

( )  Rich fruit and spice.

( )  Whatever’s new and exciting.

What’s your favourite journey?

( )  The Journey of the Cask, obviously.

( )  Catching the train into London every year to attend Whisky Show.

( )  The Lord of the Rings.

( )  That of Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons from the grand hope of Westeros and People’s Champion to widely reviled, wild-eyed city-burner in the space of a single episode.

( )  Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s BBC-documented odyssey, Long Way Down.

( )  Stop it.

Question 1 of 5

Mark the Date for 2020!

Spirit of Toronto returns to Roy Thomson Hall on Saturday, April 20 and we look forward to welcoming you back then! The on-sale date for our box office will be announced in December; until then we invite you to relive the good times (and good spirits) as recorded in this years photo gallery below:

Spirit of Toronto 2019 on Flickr

 

Ardbeg 1976 Manager’s Choice – buy it for its 1999 price

Continuing our 20th anniversary celebrations, we’re selling a fabled bottle of whisky for its original 1999 price – a whisky selling for £7,500 in 2019 for just £99. There’s just one catch: we’ve only got one to sell at that price. Head to the bottom of this post to learn more about the ballot we’re running for the chance to buy the bottle, but read on to learn a bit more about the whisky itself – Ardbeg 1976 Manager’s Choice.

In the beginning…

Just as The Whisky Exchange made its first tentative steps online twenty years ago, Ardbeg distillery was also beginning a new era.

Learn more about our 20th anniversary celebrations >

Stories of Ardbeg go back to the early 1800s, but its more recent history is more chequered than its illustrious past. Reopened by Glenmorangie in 1997, the distillery was still finding its feet in 1999, with a new team firing up the stills after 16 years of intermittent operation and occasional silence.

Whisky takes time, and with very little younger whisky available, the distillery team dug deep into the warehouses to find gems to share with whisky fans while they waited for their own spirit to mature. In 1999, the Ardbeg 1976 Manager’s Choice was released, putting Ardbeg firmly back on the map.

Ardbeg 1976 Manager’s Choice

Selected by distillery manager Stuart Thomson, cask #2391 was found hidden in warehouse #10 and was only available to visitors to the distillery. Distilled on 4 November 1976 and bottled by hand at 22 years old on 23 June 1999, every bottle was hand-numbered and signed by Stuart.

The whisky perfectly balanced the character of cask and spirit, with rich dried fruit, tobacco  and worn leather poised against tarry ropes, singed oranges and tropical fruit. An incredible marriage that wowed those lucky to get one of the 497 bottles yielded by the cask.

It currently sits with an average score of 93/100 from the Malt Maniacs and 94.77 on Whiskybase, the 55th highest ranked of the 128,000 whiskies in its database and one of six Ardbeg 1976s in the top 100 – a truly legendary combination of distillery and vintage.

Vintage 1976 – it’s all about the sherry

The Ardbeg 1976 Manager’s Choice opened the door for the distillery’s rise to fame. More 1976 releases followed, with the Manager’s Choice’s sister casks picking up almost as much praise as the original – earlier years became known for bourbon-matured whisky from the distillery, but the 1976 vintage was all about the sherry.

Whisky Exchange co-founder Sukhinder Singh was fortunate enough to try the run of 1976’s head-to-head in a tasting: “They were all stunning, but in the end it came to just two – the Manager’s Choice and the Feis Ile 2002 special edition. Depending on the day, either could have come out on top, it was so close. On that day, the Manager’s Choice took it.”

The Whisky Exchange 20th anniversary ballot

Today, the distillery’s releases focus on the spirit produced since reopening, winning awards and fans around the world. Whiskies like the Ardbeg 1976 Manager’s Choice are now rare and much sought-after – a time capsule of how the whisky world has changed over the past two decades.

Whisky Exchange co-founders Rajbir and Sukhinder Singh with the ballot bottle of Ardbeg 1976 Manager’s Choice

Launched at just £99 per bottle, it has steadily risen in value over the years. With only 497 bottles to start with, the number left has slowly fallen as they have been opened and enjoyed. Now, the few remaining bottles change hands for many times the original price, and we are very pleased to have found one to sell in our 20th Anniversary ballot.

How does it work?

It’s simple: head over to the Ardbeg 1976 ballot page, click “Enter Ballot” and then checkout as usual – you won’t be charged unless you are the winner of the ballot.

The ballot closes on 22 September 2019, so don’t delay – get yourself entered.

UNIQUE PRIZE GOES ON SHOW TO TEE UP HIGHLAND PRO AM EVENT

A unique prize in Scottish golf is going on display as the countdown begins to a prestigious event which tees off this month.

The Highland Golf Links Pro Am sponsored by Tomatin will be held from 30 September to 2 October at three leading championship courses – Castle Stuart Golf Links, Royal Dornoch Golf Club and The Nairn Golf Club.

In addition to the winner’s cheque, the top professional will this year collect a bottle of Tomatin 50-year-old single malt which has been bottled exclusively for the tournament and is valued at more than £10,000.

In the build-up to the PGA in Scotland Tour event, the valuable prize will be displayed at the Tomatin Distillery visitor centre from Tuesday 10 September until Friday 20 September.

Stuart McColm, general manager at Castle Stuart and Pro Am organiser, said: “The Highland Golf Links Pro Am is already one of the richest events in the PGA in Scotland Tour, but the addition of this prize by our headline sponsor means it offers something different to any other golf competition in Scotland.”

Stephen Bremner, managing director of the globally-renowned Tomatin Distillery, said: “The 50-year-old malt is a very special whisky, which is fitting for such an outstanding event at three of the finest courses in Scotland.”

Having matured for half a century, the deep-honey coloured malt is encased in a handblown Glencairn crystal decanter. This is presented in an Italian- crafted wooden box, furnished with soft, premium Italian leather, and comes with its own, individually-numbered book, signed by Distillery Manager, Graham Eunson.

As well as the winning pro prize, Tomatin is supplying all amateur players in the event an exclusive bottle of 16-year-old single malt from a commemorative cask.

The Pro Am has attracted more than 50 teams from across the UK, Europe and the USA. Amateur players include BBC journalist and broadcaster Naga Munchetty, Sky Sports reporter Sarah Stirk and talkSPORT radio host Georgie Bingham.

Pro golfer and BBC golf reporter Alan Tait will captain the Caste Stuart team which will also feature BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter.

The event has attracted new corporate partners, TaylorMade and Black Isle Brewery, while other sponsors include the Kingsmills Hotel and Culloden House hotel, clothing manufacturers Private Estate and communications company System2.

There are still a few spaces available at the event. If you would like to enter visit https://www.hglproam.com