EXCLUSIVE AUCTION NOW LIVE

MILK & HONEY ISRAEL’S FIRST SINGLE MALT WHISKY

Our exclusive auction of Israel’s First Single Malt Whisky from the country’s first whisky distillery, Milk & Honey is live!

This is an exciting opportunity to secure a unique and historic whisky, place your bids now on bottles number 1 through to 100!

THE WHISKY…

The distillation of this historical whisky is part of the distillery’s “Experimental Series” that took place before all the industrial equipment was purchased. The barrel was distilled together with internationally renowned master distiller, the late Dr. Jim Swan, as part of his role as consultant to the distillery at the time.

Every part of the whisky making process has taken place in Israel and thanks to the surrounding hot climate conditions the 3 year old single malt spirit has developed a mature and complex character well beyond its years.

Aged in new 225 litre American oak casks for two and a half years before being finished in ex-bourbon barrels, the tasting notes are an enticing mix of citrus, spice and marzipan – light bodied and finely balanced.

THE DISTILLERY…

Established in 2012, the team behind Israel’s first whisky distillery are dedicated to creating world-class whisky using traditional custom-built equipment and high quality ingredients.

Recent years have seen awards and plaudits shower down upon distilleries that have pioneered whisky production within their own countries, think of Taiwan’s Kavalan and Japan’s Yamazaki.

We have no doubt that Milk & Honey could well be the next to follow in their footsteps, making this a very exciting opportunity to secure one of their first bottlings!

The Auction is live until Monday 21st August, there is no fee to register on our site, our commission structure is very competitive and we offer worldwide shipping. For our terms and conditions please click here.

Happy bidding!

As a part of our Oban whisky weekend, we included a visit to the new Drimnin Distillery; Scotland’s ‘first’ 100% organic single malt Scotch whisky distillery has opened on a remote farm estate in the Highlands.

Reay at the condensers at Ncn’ean Distillery

Ncn’ean distillery    

Ncn’ean distillery (pronounced Nook-knee-anne), aim to produce a ‘young, light’ style of spirit. Ncn’ean began producing spirit in March this year. Its name is an abbreviation of Neachneohain, a witch-queen in Scots Gaelic folklore who was also referred to as ‘Queen of the Spirits’. It is to be found on the remote, historic Drimnin Estate, – formerly known under its working title of Drimnin distillery – it will produce just under 100,000 litres of pure alcohol each year. Sourcing only organic barley and local spring water to make its single malt spirit. It is also one of the greenest distilleries in the country, sourcing all its energy from renewable sources and recycling by-products from the process as cattle feed on the estate’s farm. The style of single malt whisky produced at Ncn’ean will be light and fruity, with maturation in ex-Bourbon and red wine casks. Some experimentation will also take place using alternative yeast strains and temperature regulators in its on-site dunnage warehouses – methods developed for the distillery in collaboration with the late whisky consultant Dr Jim Swan.

The distillery is the brainchild of Annabel Thomas, whose parents Derek and Louise Lewis bought Drimnin Estate in 2002. Thomas, a former strategy consultant in the City of London, was considering her future over a cocktail in 2012 when the idea to build Ncn’ean at her family’s estate came to her. Ncn’ean has employed a team of three distillers, lead by distillery manager Gordon Wood, formerly at nearby Oban distillery. Joining him are distillers Lorna Davidson and Reay Whyte. Dr Swan had acted as consultant master distiller on the project before his death in March this year. ‘Jim came to Ncn’ean two weeks before he died, and we’d gone through the whole recipe together,’ Thomas said. ‘He was due to come back the week we filled our first barrel, but he never made it.’ Dr Swan worked with Thomas and the Ncn’ean team, which includes managing director Benet Slay, formerly head of Carlsberg UK, to design the distillery and its spirit. Ncn’ean expects to release its first single malt whisky in 2020, when the spirit is three years old. In the meantime.

I drove there this time (not again folks!) fae Oban where we were staying, a 3 hour plus drive through beautiful scenery, single track roads and a ferry all the way to Lochaline, from here, a dusty track of 10 miles – the longest ten miles of my life. I arrived early – I usually do – to be greeted warmly by Riona Whyte, wife of Reay, and local girl (Mull). Sit doon, sit doon, do you want tea or coffee? A superb tea came along with a whisky cake – the best “drivers share” I have ever had. A quick chat, questions and answers, all given right away, these guys know exactly what they are doing here. The tour; get this folks, the stills were made by Speyside Cooperage!!! Aye. The washbacks are insulated, mash tun uses 3 waters at different temperatures with 1 hour between, with 2 sets of condensers, larger than normal. A great all round the shop tour, fantastic to be there on my own with nae time limit. We dondered back to the start where I was given a drivers cocktail, nae alcohol, which was beautiful by the way. Can I thank Riona for her time and chat, grand stuff. Also, I would suggest not arriving by car, rather, do it by boat – now there is another story, briefly; we will be offering a whisky distillery tour by boat next year – details soon on our website www.whiskytours.scot.

Review by Paul McLean; www.mcleanscotland.com www.whiskytours.scot

………………………………………..

Andy, Liz & Paul at Oban Whisky Fest 2017

Oban: West Coast Whisky Feis

Where? My hometown, Oban, gateway to the isles and the capital of seafood in Scotland.  It’s only a few hundred yards from Oban Distillery, where you are surrounded by great pubs, food outlets, shops . Just over the water on Mull is another distillery; Tobermory, with an excellent pub within spittin’ distance, owned by a pal of ours, Macgochans Bar. When? From 12pm – 6pm, at Oban’s Skipinnish Cèilidh House.  What?  West Coast Whisky Feis, the brainchild of local drinks retailer Euan, Oban Whisky and Fine Wines, good pals of ours by the way (I think everyone in the drinks industry are friends!).  Skipinnish Ceilidh House will host a range of exhibits from west coast distilleries and food stalls highlighting local producers. Euan Finlayson, owner of Oban Whisky and Fine Wines, said, “We wanted to create an event that showing off the incredible whiskies that the west coast has to offer. Ticket holders received a dram glass and will be able to take samples from all of the exhibitors. There will also be a nosing competition where attendees can attempt to identify various whiskies by smell alone, with a bottle of single malt whisky up for grabs. Samples are included in the event ticket price and master classes are available for an additional fee. Tickets were £30, incredible value considering the amount of drams available.

Ah, nothing like going home, especially when there is a whisky fest on in town! That’s exactly what I did, with partner in crime Liz. Being born some twenty odd years ago (quiet Liz) just doon the road in Connel, I love any time I go back home, on tour with guests, with Liz or on my own. This time, Liz and myself went there for a special reason, friends of ours, Whisky Fix – a company specialising in Single Malt Scotch Whisky. THURSDAY a good start, I love the direction we are away to – west coast, and to be sure Drimnin. Why? To check out a new distillery. But not only that, but a wee bit of my clan history to boot. St. Columba’s Chapel. The Chapel and Drimnin Castle. The Maclean clan maintained control over the Sound of Mull and its adjacent lands through strategically located castles stretching from Mingary on Ardnamurchan to Duart on Mull. Drimnin Distillery – now that is another blog …

Was it worth going? Just try and stop us next year! It was better than good, as a first Oban whisky fest it was a resounding success, more people than we expected, both sides of the tables! Lots of excellent drams on offer, we did our best to try as many as possible, just for our education you understand. We arrived 12 noon and left just around 6pm. It was that good. Lots of people there we knew from distilleries and bottlers, great food (free) on offer also, the smoked salmon was excellent. We took lots of photos, too many for a blog so catch them on facebook – link from the website.

2018 fest. Gather your strength and gather your pennies … there will be another superb whisky festival in Oban in July next year, we will be there and it would nice to see as many friends as possible.  We will be offering tours around the fest, standard tour – accommodation, ticket etc, then a very special tour, a distillery tour BY BOAT to three west coast distilleries, fest ticket, accommodation and transport from Glasgow – this also includes 3 other distillery visits, a whisky dinner and tasting, all to be online soon. If you can’t wait for news, email us at info@whiskytours.scot

Review Paul McLean www.mcleanscotland.com www.whiskytours.scot

Best dram of the Day!

Thursday, August 17th 

3:30-7PM 

Bourbon Tasting: Catoctin Creek

Located in Loundoun County, Virginia Catoctin Creek Distilling Company uses local and organic ingredients to produce a variety of small-batch craft spirits. Their flagship Roundstone Rye holds distinction as Virginia’s most-awarded whisky, including a glowing review from Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.

Click Here to RSVP

It’s that time of the month again! We’re live with our spectacular August auction. Get ready to browse through and bid on the best selection of old, rare and desirable whisky we’ve ever had at Just Whisky. We’ve highlighted a few bottles below you may be interested in but these are just the tip of the iceberg! -the real stars are lurking in among the hundreds of bottles on the August auction. Good Luck and Happy Bidding!

www.just-whisky.co.uk

The Whisky Exchange masterclass

An evening with Old Pulteney’s Malcolm Waring

Monday 4 September

7.30pm – 9pm

Tickets now on sale

Book here: https://billetto.co.uk/e/an-evening-with-old-pulteney-s-malcolm-waring-tickets-208476

Pulteney distillery in Wick is one of the most northerly distilleries on the Scottish mainland, producing maritime-influenced spirit since 1826. The distillery doesn’t rest on its laurels and is currently shaking up its range – join us for an evening of old favourites and never-tasted-before drams.

We’re thrilled to have distillery manager Malcolm Waring visiting from Wick for an evening of exploration. Malcolm is the man behind the whisky and is integral to every step of the production process – he knows the drams inside and out.

Malcolm joined Pulteney distillery in 1990. Since then, he has worked in every part of the distillery, from the maturation warehouses to mash house and stills. He worked his way up the ranks from brewing manager to assistant distillery manager, and has been managing Pulteney since 2006.

We’ll be trying:

Old Pulteney 12 Year Old

Old Pulteney 17 Year Old

Old Pulteney 35 Year Old

…and three secret drams

VENUE

Smith & Wollensky

The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam St, London WC2N 6HT

Program

Our crazy packed 2017 program will provide you with a relaxed weekend of whisky fun. If you want to check out all the Maltstock goodness that is coming your way this summer: Click here If you want to be part for this, but haven’t got a ticket yet… Relax! Tickets are still available, although availability is limited of course. Click here to ride the digital highway to our shop and treat yourself to a fun packed relaxed weekend!

Tickets

Maltstock tickets are all inclusive. All your food, beverages and all of our program is included in our entry fee.* You do, however, get to choose if you want to stay with us, and most of our guests do, which makes Maltstock an unique social event! If you want to camp outside or stay in a hotel nearby you are welcome to do so at your own expense. Maltstock tickets are for the whole weekend. We do not sell day or session tickets. Tickets are available at our online shop: http://www.maltstock.com/shop *There can be additional costs involved if you want to taste exclusive or rare whisky at the stands of our private collectors, importers and shop keepers.

Tuesday, August 15th 4-7PM:

Paul John Whiskey with Distillery Owner Paul John

John Paul whisky is a testament to the beauty of Goa, traditionally made in copper-pot sills, without artificial colours, flavours, or chill-filtration. The mash is made from a heritage variety of six row barley, harvested in the foothills of Himalayas. Goa’s tropical climate naturally accelerates the maturation process, taking an angel’s share of 8% per annum for its contribution. Their resulting whiskies have received multiple international awards, the most recent being Gold awards from both the 2017 World Whisky and Wizards of Whisky Award.

Distillery owner Paul John will be present, as well as distillery representatives and our own in-store whisky experts.

Click Here to RSVP

30 SEPTEMBER – 1 OCTOBER 2017, 11.30AM 6.30PM
OLD BILLINGSGATE, LONDON
TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

NEW MASTERCLASSES AND
SATURDAY TICKETS ALMOST SOLD OUT

We’ve got two new masterclasses going on sale in the next week, so get your diaries out. Also, if you haven’t already booked your ticket for the show make sure you do so soon – they’re selling quickly…

BUY NOW

 THE ART OF MATURATION

Join Suntory chief blender Shinji Fukuyo to try a selection of cask samples highlighting some of the styles of whisky created by Yamazaki distillery. This is a rare chance to try whisky matured in Japanese oak – mizunara – official bottlings of which sell for thousands of pounds. Tickets on sale Friday 11 August at 2pm LEARN MORE

THE ART OF WHISKEY

Few distilleries create such a varied range of whiskey as Buffalo Trace. Join master blender Drew Mayville for a masterclass guiding you through the history of this great distillery, tasting a host of great whiskeys including past releases from the yearly Antique Collection. Tickets on sale Monday 14 August at 2pm LEARN MORE

Friday, August 11th 5-7PM 

Locally Made: Do Good Distillery

Curious about local whiskey? Located in Modesto, California, Do Good Distillery produces uniquely wonderful craft spirits, with an emphasis on whiskey. They strive to use local ingredients as much as possible, and give back to their local community in true “Do Good” fashion. Their whiskies have won numerous awards since their release, including recent Gold medal wins at the 2017 World Whisky Awards.

Click Here for RSVP

To the members of the Springbank Society

Hi everyone, how are we all doing? Hope your summer is rather sunnier than here in Campbeltown. We are all hard at work at Springbank Towers and we have exciting times coming soon.

It is time for another Society Quarterly – many of you know what these usually entail but for any new members we shall give a quick summery.

Society Quarterlies are released 4 times a year, roughly (very roughly) 3 months apart, and are larger and more expansive that the standard Society newsletter. For example, in this quarterly we shall touch upon topics like Society bottles, trips that the sales team are going on, upcoming releases, a message from our friends at WM Cadenhead’s and a reminder on how you can follow us online or get in touch with us.

We shall start with a “heads up” regarding upcoming releases. Please note that this email is not intended as an announcement email or as a society newsflash and all distillery releases will get their own Society Newsflash at the time of release.  Current/upcoming releases

Springbank 12yo cask strength, 56.5% – Available to purchase from 8th August. There will be a Society Newsflash next week to provide you all with details of this release.

SB14yo Bourbon Wood – This cask strength limited edition whisky will be released worldwide in mid-September. Upcoming events and tastings

This section is dedicated to the trips, travels, events and tastings undertaken by our diligent and knowledgeable sales team. This should (in theory) take us up to the date of the next quarterly.

August

11th – 13th: Edinburgh Whisky Fringe (David, Grant, Melanie and Ronan are all participating over the weekend)

19th: The Whisky Social, Falkirk (Grant)

September

1st-2nd: Manchester Whisky Lounge (Grant)

1st-2nd: Berlin Whisky Messe Herbst (Melanie)

4th-11th: Japan tour, including Modern Malt Osaka, 5th, and Modern Malt Tokyo, 8th (David)

26th-29th: France tasting Tour (Melanie)

30th-2nd Oct: Whisky Exchange Whisky Show, London (David, Grant, Ronan)

October

6th-7th: Palexpo Genève (Melanie). Please note, this event is for Glengyle/Kilkerran only.

10th-14th: Denmark Tasting Tour (Ronan)

12th: M&P Festival, Forteca, Warsaw (Melanie)

13th: Tasting in aid of Marie Curie at Fairley Wines, Coleraine, N. Ireland (David)

14th-15th: Budapest Whisky Show (Melanie)

20th: Bar & Spirits Festival, Vienna (Melanie)

21st: The Wee Dram, Bakewell (Grant)

28th: Dornoch Whisky Festival (Grant)

29th: Tasting, Willow Park, Calgary, Canada (Melanie)

November

1st: Willow Park Whisky Festival, Calgary, Canada (Melanie)

4th: Co-Op Whisky Festival, Calgary, Canada (Melanie)

4th-5th: Whisky Messe, Villingen, Germany (Ronan)

Please note that these events are subject to change.

Society bottles

Thankfully, most people have their Springbank 9yo Sauternes society bottles by now or have made arrangements regarding collection or delivery however, there are a few people who have not made those arrangements. In particular, if you asked for your bottle(s) to be sent to any of the European Cadenhead shops but have not collected them please make sure the staff know your intentions.

So if you asked for your Society order to be sent to Cologne, Berlin, Odense, Salzburg or Baden and have not collected your bottle(s) please contact the relevant shop. If you are unsure if this applies to you please email society@springbank.scot and we shall try to answer any questions you have.

Society section of the Website

If you haven’t signed up for the Society section of the website please do so whenever you have some time. As well as being a useful insurance policy to guard against not receiving a Society email (we upload the newsletters to the society section after we send them out to you guys) but it also gives you access to the occasional society blog or distillery update too.

Of course, the most important information will continue to be emailed but other day-to-day news will be added to the website.

I would urge all members to register for an online account to keep up to date with the news as it happens. To create an account please follow these instructions:

• Go to www.springbank.scot
• Click on the ‘Society’ tab along the top of the page
• Click on the ‘Confirm Log-In Details’ orange tab
• Please enter all the information that is required
• Once you have submitted this information, a notification should be displayed to tell you that an email has been sent to your given email address and it will ask you to verify this email address
• Please open this email in your email account and click the link to verify your email
• Once you have done this, I will receive a notification informing me that a new member has signed up to the website so I will then activate your account for online use
• When your account has been activated, you will be able to read all news stories in the Society section. To log in, just click the ‘Log-In to Society News’ tab where you will just be asked to enter your username and password for access.

Message from WM Cadenhead’s

As some of you may know, WM Cadenhead’s recently released their shop single casks to celebrate their 175th anniversary and they have asked us to include a message to you all in this newsletter:

Hopefully many of you are currently enjoying some of the amazing whiskies we released this week as part of the Cadenhead’s 175th anniversary celebrations, the highlight undoubtedly being the launch of the single casks bottled for each of our shops.

It has come to our attention that one complete set of the 10 casks bottled in the collection has already found its way into the hands of an auction site and it’s fair to say that we’re disappointed that such an incident has occurred. As most of you know, we do not condone the process of flipping – buying bottles just to sell them on immediately – and while we appreciate that many people build whisky collections for a number of reasons, it’s saddening that some people take advantage of our excellent whiskies and reasonable pricing just to try and turn a quick profit. In this case, an auction house managed to take possession of some of these bottles before some shops had even been able to put theirs on sale which no doubt most of you will find as frustrating as we do.

The UK Cadenhead’s shops took a joint decision this week to each sell 12 complete sets of the 10 casks bottled in the series, making 36 in total, and it’s a shame that at least one of these sets will end up turning a profit at auction rather than being in the hands of someone who who will properly appreciate what they have. We are always keen to ensure that our bottlings are distributed as fairly as possible and in future, in cases where we are able to identify flippers (not genuine collectors and certainly not people who buy our whisky to drink), we will ensure that those people do not get access to any special releases before the rest of our members.

Malt Barns

Our Malt Barns are currently being renovated and are therefore out of action for a few weeks. This work will be completed in approximately 7 weeks time and we shall keep all of our followers up to date with developments on our Social media outlets.

If you are visiting the distillery during the next few weeks while the work continues, please note that you will not be able to enter the Malt Barns as part of the distillery tour and that tour prices have been temporarily adjusted to reflect this. The details are contained on the attached poster.

Social Media

Before we finish, a quick reminder that you can follow us online through a variety of websites and social media channels.

Facebook – www.facebook.com/officialspringbankwhisky

Twitter – @Springbank1828

Instagram – @springbankwhisky1828

Also, we recently joined WeChat and you can find us under the name “Springbank Distillers” or by searching for SpringbankWhisky.

And, of course, you can always find us on the Springbank website – www.springbank.scot

Thank you for taking the time to read this Society Quarterly, hopefully you have found it informative.

If you have any questions, queries, concerns or comments please contact society@springbank.scot and we shall do our very best to get back to you as soon as possible.  If you wish to join the Society please contact them ASAP ~ WI

As stated above, the next contact you shall have with us is early next week for the Springbank 12yo Cask Strength newsflash.

Until then…

Slainte

Springbank Sales Team and Staff of Springbank Towers

Springbank Society

Springbank Distillers