The Irishman Whiskey Celebrates St Patrick’s Day with The Cold Irishman Serve 

With only three days until St Patrick’s Day, UK distributor Emporia Brands have put together a series of events and promotions involving its award-winning The Irishman Whiskey of Walsh Whiskey Distillers.

Twisting the whiskey cold brew recipe that’s famous in New Orleans, The Irishman expressions are used and will be available at NOLA in London and Pinch in Liverpool, offering a County Carlow slant in your celebrations. Pinch will also be presenting a special The Irishman cocktail menu, with an on-site sampling session being held in the evening for its customers.

NOLA, The Luggage Room, The German Gymnasium, 100 Wardour Street, Skylon and The Porterhouse, all in London, also serve up The Irishman 12-year-old single malt, one that is matured entirely in first fill flame-charred bourbon barrels. Other venues

The Irishman Single Malt is one of only a handful of Irish triple-distilled single malts available. Aged in bourbon and sherry casks, it can be enjoyed on St Patrick’s Day at Waxy O’Connor’s, whilst the original and signature blend created by founder Bernard Walsh, the Founders Reserve, is available at Time and Place in Manchester, Popolo in Newcastle and The Luggage Room & Portobello Gold (both in London).

To enjoy at home, you can pick up a bottle of The Irishman Founders Reserve at The Vintage House in London or Latitude in Leeds, whilst Hedonism Wines in London offer to you The Irishman 12-year-old and the Cask Strength, an expression where each year Bernard Walsh personally selects a handful of exceptional casks to make the benchmark super-premium cask strength whiskey. It is available in strictly limited quantities with on average 2000 bottles produced each year, each one uniquely numbered and signed.

With Royal Oak, the site of the new Walsh Whiskey Distillery in County Carlow, opening its doors in June, this year’s St Patrick’s Day marks the first celebration of 2016. Raise a dram of The Irishman and keep an eye on our future celebratory events coming to you across the UK.

About Emporia Brands:

Emporia Brands is a spirits importer, exporter and innovator which is relentless in seeking, around the world, distillers who respect artisan traditions of quality.

For more information on The Irishman and Walsh Whiskey, please visit www.walshwhiskey.com or www.emporiabrands.com

Follow The Irishman on Twitter @WalshWhiskey and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheIrishmanWhiskey

Follow Emporia Brands on Twitter @EmporiaBrandsUK, Facebook at www.facebook.com/EmporiaBrands and Instagram at www.instagram.com/emporiabrands

Dramming Perth in Perth!

We gathered again at Exel Wines in Perth (good pals of ours) on Thursday for another tasting sesh of good drams. Peter Mackay was our host, from MORRISON & MACKAY. Independent Scotch Whisky Merchants and Producers, based in the heart of Perthshire, family owned and managed. So what was on the menu? We started with the Bruadar whisky liqueur, to be honest, didnee like it, am no a big fan of liqueurs, so I moved on quickly to … Old Perth 4^th release. Chill filtered at 43%, have tried earlier batches and I can say hand on heart, this is the best so far, some of the make up of this blend have obviously aged since batches 1 – 3.  A good starter whisky for the beginner, based on the old Peter Thompson blend, its main core is Aultmore, Blair Atholl and Ailsa Bay, so cannee be bad!  This is their own blend and proving to be a good seller.

Moving on, next up was another Old Perth – my favourite from this family – the Sherry cask. Again 43%, 3 malts are hidden in this blend, nae grain. Glentauchers, Glenfarclas and Ailsa Bay, as the label shows, 3 different barrels, my own thoughts were; a younger brother to GlenDronach, like this a lot.

The final Old Perth was the Peaty version. The first (limited edition) release, couple of thousand bottles on this batch. Not an overpowering dram – for non peaty lovers; get them one of these. A really interesting story on the label – buy it to see – liked this also. We broke here for nibbles, I must admit, Peter and myself devoured the mini sausages (sorry Liz). A good time to chat, munch and look forward to the next three. First came a Tobermory 2008. If honest, far too young from this distillery for me, Tob (in my view) needs be min 15 years plus to be worthy, moving on … MORTLACH 1999 ah, nectar to my moothy. What can I say that hasnee been said already? A superb 16 year old, one of 520 bottles from M&M. Need say no more on this.

Caol Ila 2008, no too sweet, placed in a cask that had been enlarged with a few extra staves, a real nice light peaty dram, not the heavy peat of some Islay malts. I WOULD SAY BEST DRAMS OF THE NIGHT were Mortlach then Old Perth Sherry – but… Peter then brought out a surprise bottle to end on (always a good trick, have done it myself), a 28 year old Macallan! Oh boy did this hit my senses, a superb silky smooth dram, this bottle was 22/240, I wanted to buy one … sorry all gone, gone for good. From the Black Gold range, this was maybe £500 ish when available, if there are any left anywhere, I reckon maybe £1500 – £2000 by now. Here’s what you could have won!  I offered to by the remainder but was given a hard look by Peter, oh well.

Another good evening in Perth, thanks to Peter and Keron (exel).

PAUL MCLEAN  http://www.whiskytours.scot/   http://www.mcleanscotland.com/

March Auction *LIVE*

Ends Sunday 20th March 20.00 GMT

So far March has been an extremely busy month for us all at Just Whisky and it seems like just a few days ago our February auction came to a close! The quality of bottles to appear through the doors this month is just incredible. We have hundreds of bottles to bid on this month and we’re excited for the auction to begin. There is a particularly nice selection of Karuizawa bottles on offer this month. Included in that, we are lucky enough to auction one more Wealth Solutions 1964 Karuizawa, the incredibly rare (1 of 24) 5th Exclusive Nonjatta ‘Ghost Series’ bottling of Karuizawa showcasing four decades of the distillery’s past in a single bottle. Others include the highly decorative 35 year old Harbour City Exclusive bottle you see below and many more. Bidding starts at 6PM on Friday 11th (GMT) and comes to an end from 8PM on Sunday the 20th March. Here is a small selection of interesting Lots to whet your appetite …

Karuizawa 35 Years Old 1980 – Harbour City Exclusive

A fantastic release from Karuizawa from spirit distilled in 1980, which has a fabulous reputation among Karuizawa aficionados. This particular release comes in a beautiful piano black presentation case adorned with a woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi which is simply stunning.

The packaging adds a real sense of drama to this bottle, but the liquid inside is reputedly even more impressive. Limited to just 212 bottles and exclusive to Harbour City Hong Kong, it was bottled in 2015 from a single sherry butt (cask no. 4376) at a heady 60.1% vol.

Arran 18 Years Old 1997 – White Stag First Release

The tasting panel of Arran White Stags have chosen cask no: 1997/737 as a first ever official bottling of the White Stag community of the Arran friends worldwide. Distilled on the 23rd May 1997 and bottled on the 6th June 2015, this cask has been slumbering in Lochranza for 18 years in an outstanding example of a Sherry Hogshead matured Arran single malt.

This is an excellent start to the series of casks chosen exclusively by White Stags on behalf of the whole community.

Hanyu Ichiro’s Malt 1988 – ‘Cards’ Queen of Clubs

This is the Queen of Clubs from the highly collectable Cards series. Distilled in 1988 then matured until 2008 firstly in a Hogshead barrel and latterly in a a New American Oak Hogshead before bottling in 2008 by Sasanogawa. No Chill Filtering. No colouring. Imported by Number One Drinks Co. Ltd.

View the whole auction here – It ends Sunday 20^th March from 8PM

MARCH TASTINGS

Step into Spring with Scotland’s Oldest Working Distillery

There may still be a drop of snow in the air but here at The Famous Grouse Experience we’re getting ourselves excited for Spring! With lots going on and Easter just around the corner, now is the perfect time to pop up to our home at Glenturret Distillery. We’ve got some new releases in our Famous Shop, some delicious dishes on our Wilde Thyme menu and some great tours to be had!

Find out what’s going on at Scotland’s award winning, five star visitor attraction this month…

The Famous Shop New Arrivals

The newest addition to The Famous Grouse family has landed in our Famous Shop. Carefully crafted by our Master Blender to deliver a subtly sweeter, mellow flavour, The Famous Grouse Mellow Gold has been matured in sherry and bourbon casks to deliver a smooth, well rounded whisky.

Spring Menu at Wilde Thyme

With the new season comes new fresh, local produce. We’ve got some tasty dishes on our lunch menu, incorporating some of the best of Spring. Served daily between 12pm and 3.30pm, click here take a peek at the menu on the website.

Famous Blending Experience

Fancy yourself as a Master Blender? With our Blending Experience, enjoy a tour of the most traditional distillery in Scotland and a guided whisky tasting followed by an in-depth blending session where guests create their own blended whisky to take home. Find out about our Blending Experience here.

Opening Hours

The evenings are getting lighter and we’re open later! Tours now run hourly from 10.30am, with the distillery closing at 6pm. We’re open 7 days a week and you can book your tour online on our website here.

OUR AUCTION ENDS TODAY!

Our latest auction at whisky.auction will end today (Tuesday 8 March) from 7.30pm GMT. There are some great bottles still sitting at good prices, so take a look at our selection and don’t miss your chance to place your bids before it is too late. We also have many miniatures – a great opportunity to try some rare whiskies at very good prices.

Get bidding, and good luck!

The Whisky Auction team.

EARLY MARCH TASTINGS

Glenturret, Macallan & Highland Park – The Vaults, Mon 7 Mar  More >

Scotland V. France Warm-Up – 28 Queen St, Sat 13 Mar  More >

Chocolate & Whisky Pairing – The Vaults, Fri 18 Mar  More >

Cheltenham Preview Tasting – Jury’s Inn, Fri 18 Mar  More >

Dundee Preview Tasting – Malmaison, Fri 18 Mar  More >

Inverness Preview Tasting – Kingsmills Hotel, Fri 18 Mar  More >

Leeds Preview Tasting – Malmaison, Fri 18 Mar  More >

Tunbridge Wells Preview Tasting – Hotel du Vin, Fri 18 Mar  More >

FREE EVENTS AT THE VAULTS

Poker Night – Tue 8 Mar   More >

6 Nations on the Big Screen – Next match Sun 13 Mar   More >

Peat Lovers’ Night – Tue 15 Mar   More >

Browse All Events & Tastings >

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

Bid on our old and rare bottles! Macallan 1940 is leading the auction with Karuizawa 1981 and Laphroaig 40 Years Old following. The selection of bottles is strong across all categories. This month, we also have a fine selection of limited-edition bottlings from The English Whisky Co, as well as a good number of old blended whiskies and a tempting selection of miniatures.

SEE OUR CURRENT AUCTION

Get bidding, and good luck! The Whisky Auction team.

2016 Cheshire Whisky Tasting 

Get ready to enjoy a day of Whisky Tasting at Cheshire’s outstanding country estate – Carden Park near Nantwich on 22nd May 2016. 

Mingle with the producers and distillers of the greatest whiskies in the world. You can opt to attend any of the fascinating Master Classes* that provide up to an hour of intriguing insights into your favourite whiskies, presented by knowledgeable brand ambassadors, master distillers and experts. 

Taste and discover great whiskies from the classic range to rare and exclusive bottlings. There is something for everybody whether you’re new to this incomparable drink or you’re a seasoned expert. 

Cost: £35.00 per person (which includes admission, all samples, buffet lunch and entry to one Master Class). 

Transport: You may opt to travel on the shuttle bus that is leaving Nantwich Civic Hall at 10.30am, returning at 5.30pm. Just £6.00 per person. 

Bring along your wife or partner for a spa day: For wives and partners who may wish to accompany you but may not wish to attend the tasting, we offer an exclusive spa day for wives and partners. This custom-made spa package at Carden Park includes: 

Use of robes and slippers

Refreshments upon arrival and throughout the day Use of leisure facilities including hydrotherapy pool, sauna, steam room, swimming pool and gym Light-bite lunch in The Vines restaurant with a glass of Prosecco

2 x 25 minute treatments including massages, exfoliations, facials and more

Cost: £60 per person 

Overnight Stay: Accommodation on the Saturday night is just £145.00 B&B for single, £155 for double occupancy. Sunday night is just £110.00 B&B single, £120.00 double occupancy. 

Overnight stay also includes use of the Spa and the leisure facilities including hydrotherapy pool, sauna, steam room, swimming pool and gym plus the use of a robe and slippers. Treatments cost extra. 

All Whisky Tickets and Spa Treatments, please book through Edencroft. Overnight stays, have to be booked directly with Carden Park (telephone number 01829 731000) quoting code EDEN220516 to enable you to get the discounted rate. 

More details at www.edencroft.co.uk 

* Details nearer to the time.

“A Dram Come True” Offers

Dozens of Whisky Tastings From Local and International Distilleries

Sophisticated surroundings, limited tickets and dozens of rare and unusual finds make for an exquisite evening.

Vancouver, BC – Tickets are now on sale for the Vancouver Writers Fest’s hotly anticipated annual whisky fundraiser, A Dram Come True. On Friday, May 13 at 7:30pm, ticket holders can sample more than 40 whiskies while strolling the exquisite grounds of Hycroft mansion in South Granville. With only 300 tickets for sale, this elegant event is an ideal evening for both the whisky aficionado and those who want to learn more. All proceeds go towards the Writers Fest’s programming – which reaches more than 25,000 people every year.

Now in its 14th year, A Dram Come True curates whisky from around the world, including rare and distinguished whiskies from countries such as Canada, Scotland, Taiwan, Ireland and India, alongside other unique spirits from local distilleries, such as oaked gin or cassis. Participating vendors this year include renowned names Glenfiddich, Kavalan, The Balvenie, Bunnahabhain, Duncan Taylor, Glenlivet, Aberlour, and – closer to home – Odd Society Spirits and Pemberton Distillery.

Tasting experts at each table will be on hand to share tasting tips and provide context for each whisky – from its style, age and finish to the distinct characteristics of each distillery.

For those who favour vineyards over malts, Tinhorn Creek will be pouring a selection of wines, while craft breweries including Parallel 49, will pour their latest creations.

“The event comes just days before World Whisky Day and embodies its sense of discovery and enthusiasm,” explained Dave Mason, President of the West Coast Whisky Club. “We’re thrilled to have the support of local agents who are sharing their knowledge, expertise and products with enthusiastic attendees. It makes for a very special evening.”

Hors d’oeuvres of luxury cheeses and charcuterie, plus a silent auction and games throughout the evening add additional flavour to the event.

Early bird tickets are now on sale until March 31 ($110, $125 reg. price)

Ticket Information

WHAT: A Dram Come True: A Whisky Fundraiser for The Vancouver Writers Fest

WHEN: Friday, May 13 at 7:30pm

WHERE: Hycroft, 1489 McRae Avenue, Vancouver

TICKETS: Tickets available at picatic.com/adramcometrue

$110 Early Bird ($125 Regular Price). “Early Access” can be purchased for $25, allowing for select whisky samples 45 minutes prior to doors opening. Group rates available.

About the Vancouver Writers Fest

The Vancouver Writers Fest is one of North America’s premier producers of literary events. The Society presents an annual six-day Festival in late October, the Incite reading series in the spring and a host of other literary and special events throughout the year. Vancouver Writers Fest activities attract 25,000+ readers of all ages annually.

For further information please visit writersfest.bc.ca.