Single-Malt Scotch Tasting
Thursday, October 2nd
4:30 P.M.  OR  6:00 P.M.
Featuring Independent Bottler Gordon & MacPhail
Lead by Importer, Gary Kiemach
Free

Left: Michael Urquhart, who is retiring as Managing Director of G&M and handing over the title to the first ever non-family member to hold the position. Right: His successor, former COO of G&M, Ewen Mackintosh

Those of you who joined us for our last tasting of whiskies from the Gordon & Macphail portfolio back in March will remember Gary Keimach. Only six short months later he’ll be back in the store again with a whole new set of offerings (plus the always reliable Benromach 10 year old from the distillery owned by the bottlers). Gary is a font of knowlege and we’re lucky to have him. Come pick his brain, learn, and taste through a lovely line-up. The two tastings (one at 4:30, one at 6) will be identical, so pick whichever works best for you but please be prompt. Bring a fellow whisky-nerd, a scotch-curious acquaintance, or just come yourself — but you won’t want to miss this tasting. We’ll taste the following whiskies, with pricing information to follow shortly:

G&M Bunnahabhan Cask Strength 9 Y.O.  (Peated )
Regularly $94.99, At the Tasting $84.99

Benromach 10 Y.O. $59.99, At the Tasting $49.99

G&M Scapa 10 Y.O. $71.99, At the Tasting $64.99

G&M Smith’s Glenlivet  15 Y.O. $89.99, At the Tasting $80.99

G&M Ardmore 15 Y.O. $79.99, At the Tasting $71.99

G&M Mortlach 25 Y.O. $274.99, At the Tasting $249.99

Prices subject to change without notice.  

Joe Howell

Federal Wine & Spirits
Email: joe@federalwine.com
Phone: 617-367-8605
Web: http://www.federalwine.com/

We had a blast at Maltstock 2014!! These weekends have a tendency to be gone before you know it. But, judging from your reactions during Maltstock and on the internet, Maltstock 2014 has been a great whisky party. And, since that’s kinda what we are aiming for, it is very good, sometimes humbling, to see all those warm and nice comments and reactions! We are really grateful!

So… Thank you all for being with us at Maltstock and making it a fun, relaxing and unforgettable weekend! We really enjoyed seeing everybody having a great time.

Friends and sponsors
A huge thank you to all our friends and sponsors! 12 Masterclasses, a Blind Bottle Battle, a whisky quiz, a BBQ, Pizza’s, soup, bread, a morning walk, a great breakfast, fine beer, fine food, and a Midnight Cafe all made possible by individual people and companies and their people. See the list below.

Volunteers
A big thank you to our volunteer crew. Without their hard work Maltstock would just not be possible. Thanks people!

Feedback and survey
Maltstock is all about you sharing and enjoying a great experience. Thanks for sharing your impressions with the other guests, us and the world on the internet. But if there is anything you would like us to know, any suggestions you’d like to make (other than scaring away rainclouds), please feel free to use our general mail address (info@maltstock.com).

Maltstock 2015
1\3 of the tickets is already sold. We see this as a huge complement and are very happy with this! Thank you!

Maltstock will be in the weekend of 25-27 September 2015.

Would like to order your ticket? Send us an email: shop@maltstock.com Thank you.

IWF Den Haag
Come and have a dram with us at International Whisky Festival Den Haag. See you there!

Thanks again everyone! We wish you a great (relaxed) year and hope to see you all again happy and healthy at Maltstock 2015.

Annette, Bob, Jeroen, Klaas, Stan and Teun

Maltstock 2014 was made possible by: YOU, our guests, A la Votre, Aberfeldy, Aberfeldy. Ardbeg, Anthony McCallum-Caron, Anverness, Arno Borsboom, Arthur, Ashok Chokalingham, BBQGuru, Ben Ellefsen, BenRiach/ GlenDronach, Berry Bros., Billy Abbott, Bob, Bresser & Timmer, Bruichladdich, Cadenhead, Cat Spencer, Claudia, Coot, Daniza, Dennis Hendriks, Donald MacLellan, Eline, Full Proof, Glen Garioch, Glenfarclas, Glengoyne Distillery, Glenmorangie, Glen Moray, Guinness, Hans Offringa, Henk, Highland Park, Highlander Inn, Jan Iedema, Jeroen Koetsier, Kilchoman, Kintra, Laphroaig, Lukasz Dynowiak, Master of Malt, Matt, Michael Lord, Minke, Miranda, Nienke, Reypenaer, Rogier, Sandra, Scott’s Selection, Sebas, Sietse Offringa, Slijterij Zonneveld, Suntory, Tamdhu, Tatsuya Minagawa, Teun, The Balvenie, The Bonding Dram, The Glenrothes, The Royal Oak, The whisky exchange, The Whisky Friend, The Whiskyshop Dufftown, Thomas, Tom, Tony van Rooijen, Tullibardine, Valentijn, van der Heijden, Van Zuylen, Walkers Shortbread, Wemyss, Scott’s selection, Whisky Base, Whisky Import Nederland, Whiskybase.com, WhiskyPassion, Whiskysite.nl, Wine World, Zeewijck, Zuidam, and all those who supported us but we forgot to mention.

The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show 2014 – bigger and better!

Andy

There’s less than two weeks to go (actually a lot sooner! – WI), and we’re almost there. The office is buzzing with talk of The Whisky Show, and we can’t wait to welcome you all there.

Since joining TWE last year, my main focus has been making the Whisky Show bigger and better than before. Having seen it grow and improve over the past five years, this seemed like quite the challenge, but I feel confident that you’ll enjoy the new features of the Show.

With even more whisky than ever, we decided to provide you with an extra hour per day to enjoy the Show (11.30am-6.30pm). Hopefully this will give you the chance to speak to everyone that you want to and let you enjoy the day in a relaxed manner rather than rushing around. There’s a lot going on once again, so plan your time well.

For those of you that attended the 2010 Show, you may recall that we displayed a bottle of Dalmore Trinitas 64 shortly after its release. This year, everyone attending will be in with a chance of winning one 10ml vial of this exceptionally rare whisky – you lucky, lucky people!

If you see me at the Show, stop and say hello. After all, without you being there, it wouldn’t be the biggest whisky show in the UK!

Diageo whisky ambassador Colin Dunn

Stuart

As my first Whisky Show as an employee rather than punter, I will be in charge of our film crew. We’re keen to capture the feel of the Show, so we’ll be shooting Masterclasses, seeing what’s happening in the cocktail bar and getting up close and personal with the big names.

We’re also keen to talk to you about the Show, so if the camera comes your way, don’t be shy – we’d love to hear your thoughts. Keep an eye out for some Scorsese-esque footage on The Whisky Show website later in the year.

The theme of this year’s Show is The Art of Distillation, so we’ve done the obvious thing and created a fully working whisky distillery. We’ll be taking visitors through the whole process, from turning barley, mashing, fermenting, and distilling. We’ve also got the cream of the whisky-writing crop, including Dave Broom, Ian Buxton and Ingvar Ronde, who will be signing books and chatting to guests.

As Andy said, the Show is better than ever – we’re sure you’ll agree.

Simply Whisky’s Whisky World of Wonder – a hit last year

Rocky

I’ll be running the Masterclasses, and we have a stellar line-up. We’ve managed to find five spaces for our headline Saturday classes – extra tickets for Glenfiddich – The First Single Malt Brand and Gordon & MacPhail: A New Generation will go on sale on Wednesday 1 October at 1pm. Sunday’s Brora flight tasting, Aurora Brorealis, is sadly sold out, but there are a few places left on Dave Broom’s  I Did It My Way, a history of independent bottlings with a jaw-dropping line-up of whiskies to taste.

Tickets are also still available for From the Port to the Port Finish, offering a taste of two sold-out whiskies – Kilchoman Port Cask and Laphroaig’s Cairdeas 2013. We have presenters from outside the whisky industry: Danton Supple, record producer for (among others) Natalie Imbruglia and Toploader, will add a musical feel to The Sound of Aberlour; rum ambassador Stefanie Holt will bring a taste of the Caribbean in Whisky vs Rum; and Rococo guru Sam Smallman will be pairing Whisky and Chocolate.

As well as signing their new books during the weekend, whisky writers Dave Broom and Ian Buxton will be talking about their new books in What is Whisky? and Whisky Legends respectively, with guests of the latter receiving a copy of Ian’s 101 Legendary Whiskies.

All the classes – including the free mini-masterclasses – promise to be entertaining, with exceptional whiskies and, just as importantly, allow you to take the weight off your feet.

Some of last year’s show bottlings

Billy

I’ll be taking my now-traditional place behind the Show Bottlings stand, talking and pouring whisky. The stand will be full this year, with the special Show bottlings joined by the latest Single Malts of Scotland releases and a new Masterpiece. Full details will be available in the dram list, which is being finalised at the moment and will be up on the Whisky Show website next week, but here’s a quick rundown: a Benriach, a Glen Spey, a Teaninich, a Clynelish, a Laphroaig, two Bunnahabhains, two Bowmores and a Caol Ila.

Next door to the Show Bottlings stand, we’ll have the Japanese whisky stand, with the new Karuizawas that we announced last week on the Show website, as well as some Chichibu and Hanyu – yes, that will include the long-awaited Hanyu Joker.

It looks like we’ll have around 500 whiskies from around the world at the Show this year. I’d recommend trying the Ardbeg Supernova 2014 as early as possible – while they’ll have a magnum, I suspect it won’t last the weekend. A few of my other picks would be Port Askaig 15, the TWE exclusive Balblair 2000 first-fill sherry cask, the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, the new Longrow Red, Octomore’s new Islay Barley, and Compass Box’s just launched Lost Blend and the new Great King Street Glasgow Edition.

Most importantly, make sure you come and say hello to me. I’m the bald one with a beard, if that helps…

SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER EVENTS

New Members Tasting, 19 Greville St, London – Tue 30 Sept
Oktoberfest at The Vaults, The Vaults, Leith – Thu 2 Oct –  A jam-packed evening of beer, whisky and traditional game and harvest dishes, hosted by our very own Bavarian Whisky Ambassador – don’t miss out!
New List Open Tasting, 19 Greville St, London – Sat 4 Oct 
Steak & Whisky Tasting, 19 Greville St, London – Mon 6 Oct
Speyside Whisky Tasting, 19 Greville St, London – Tue 14 Oct
Japanese Branch Special Tasting, 28 Queen St, Edinburgh – Thu 16 Oct

Browse all events

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

Last weekend was the very successful 6th edition of Maltstock. A big thank you to all of you who made it happen again. This relaxed whisky weekend would not have been possible without the great help of our sponsors. One of them this year was the Dornoch Castle. Maltstock has stayed at the hotel earlier this year and highly recommends it! Great place, great staff, great food and the whisky bar… very relaxed! At Maltstock this year 3 lucky winners won some amazing Dornoch Castle prizes: free stays and a 100 pound bar credit!

For all of you who didn’t win or couldn’t attend maltstock this year, Phil and Simon from Dornoch Castle have this very special offer for you:

Are you after some exceptional Whisky? With somewhere to rest your head if you had one too many? Then Dornoch Castle Hotel is the perfect location with the one of the best Whisky bars in the World, right in the centre of Highland Whisky country. We specialise in old discontinued and very rare bottling and all bottles are priced and dated when opened and stored under Argon gas for perfect preservation, only the best for our visitors! With over 300 to try there is something for everyone!

As dedicated Whisky Geeks we know just what you want!

Our Whisky Bar is run by Simon and Phil Thompson, Whisky Enthusiasts, for Whisky Enthusiasts who know a thing or two about what a top dram of Whisky should really taste like!

Our Whisky is never less than excellent!

It might sound like we’re bragging, and I suppose we are, but we are only being honest! And here’s the proof! We are currently rated Number One Whisky Hotel in the World on Whiskybase.com and are Nominated for Scottish Field/SLTN whisky bar of the year.

Where better to bring your Whisky Club! So that’s why we have come up with these EXCLUSIVE offers especially for all Whisky Enthusiasts:

*20% room discount for a minimum of a two night stay
*30% room discount for 3 or more nights
*Parties of 10 and more receive one persons stay complementary ON TOP of the discounted rates

So come and experience something new!

If you want to find out some more info all you have to do is text ‘MORE WHISKY PLEASE’ to 0044(0)7849108246 Alternatively email Phil on Philip@dornochcastlehotel.com or go to our Facebook page; whisky collector

Simon and Phil Thompson, whisky geeks extraordinaire will be on hand to answer any questions you may have and make your experience one to remember!

Sláinte

Simon and Phil Thompson
Dornoch Castle Hotel,
Dornoch, Sutherland IV25 3SD
Tel 0044(0)1862810216
www.dornochcastlehotel.com
Philip@dornochcastlehotel.com
enquiries@dornochcastlehotel.com

The Whisky Exchange

TWE London Shop Hours – Whisky Show changes

With The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show rapidly approaching, we have some work to do in our London shop to get ready. As such we will be changing our opening hours over the coming week to avoid any banging and crashing while our customers are perusing the shelves.

PLEASE NOTE: web orders are unaffected by these changes.

It won’t be quite as extreme as this…

Here’s the schedule:

Friday 26 September: Midday-9pm
Saturday 27 September: 10.30am-8pm
Sunday 28 September: CLOSED
Monday 29 September: Midday-7pm
Tuesday 30 September: Midday-7pm

We’ll back to normal as of Wednesday 1 October, but will be running slightly different hours over the show weekend:

Saturday 4 October: 10.30am-8.00pm
Sunday 5 October: Midday-8.00pm

Monday will be business as usual, although after a weekend of Whisky-Show-related exertion, running up and down ladders may not be as fast as normal.

Billy – The earliest TWE photograph of me, with our customer service queen Ali and Diageo’s Colin Dunn

Balblair 2000 – TWE exclusive first-fill sherry butt

Time has rolled on a bit. It seems like only yesterday that I was a balding computer programmer, sat at a table in The Whisky Exchange shop in Vinopolis, confronted by 10 excellent whiskies. It was the company’s 10th anniversary tasting, and I was a punter who liked whisky.

Move on five years to the present day. I’ve got even less hair and while I still sit in front of a screen all day, I now do so at TWE HQ and attempt to write words that make sense to people rather than computers. That extra five years also means that TWE has now hit another milestone – we are 15.

To celebrate our birthday, we’ll be releasing a few whiskies over the coming months, and the first is something special: a Balblair 2000 single cask, fully aged in a first-fill sherry butt.

It’s special because sherry casks are not really Balblair’s day-to-day business. They’re well known for their bourbon-cask-matured whiskies, and other than occasional indies it’s rare to see a fully sherry-matured dram – distillery manager John MacDonald specially selected this cask, as he reckoned it would be to TWE Director Sukhinder Singh’s taste. He was right, and it was a must-have as soon as we tasted it.

Balblair 2000 #1343
Natural colour, of course.

Balblair 2000. First Fill Sherry Butt #1343. 53%. £95

Nose: Rich and heavy ginger cake, studded with burnt raisins and maraschino cherries, and covered in bitter-sweet dark chocolate. Dry oloroso sherry, the kind they love in Spain, provides a heavy, vinous backbone, with cherry-jam-slathered black bread, rich earth, liquorice and dark sugars – demarara and molasses. Damp and charred notes develop, with flamed orange zest, charred oak and driftwood bonfires, doused by a rainstorm. Water brings out chocolate-fudge-brownie sweetness, sweet leather and brown toast. The fruit is subdued, but the raisins are less burnt and the cherries sweeter.

Palate: Intense treacle toffee, baked apple and bitter coffee. Cinnamon bark is joined by freshly sawn oak, driftwood and clove, leading to a drier palate than the sweet nose suggests. There is still sweetness, with plump raisins and touches of brown sugar joined by fruity dark chocolate and cinnamon sugar. Water adds more sweetness, but also sharpens the wood, bringing more oak, with sweet butter, nutmeg and bitter-but-balanced barrel char.

Finish: Lingering char notes, with liquorice pastilles, plump raisins, cinnamon sugar and bitter dark chocolate. Hints of Murray Mints develop as you consider your next sip.

Comment: The biggest and boldest sherry cask matured Balblair I’ve ever tasted. Rich and dark with controlled sweetness – a grown-up whisky. Drams like this make me lament the small amount of sherried Balblair available.

To go with the launch, we’re also running a prize draw:

Buy a bottle of the 2000 or any of the other core vintages from Balblair’s range and you’ll be entered into a draw to win a trip to the distillery, including a tutored tasting with distillery manager John MacDonald.

You can find full details over on our competition page, but the most important bit is that it closes at 11:59pm GMT on 14 November 2014. To whet your appetite, here’s my blog post from when I visited a few years back. They’ve finished building their visitor centre now, and it’s even more worth a trip.

Scotch Whisky Legend to Visit Australia in October.

The Master Distiller for Bruichladdich Distillery, Jim McEwan, returns to Australia from the 30th September until 14th October this year.

Throughout the tour Jim McEwan will provide audiences with an insight into the world of whisky production gained from 50 years of experience. He will take his audience through a tasting of seven drams including his legendary Black Art and the most heavily peated whisky in the world, Octomore 6.1.

Loved for his story-telling and charisma, McEwan has thrilled Australian audiences in the past and will be visiting every state in Australia.

Jim McEwan is the only person to be named Whisky Distiller of the Year on three occasions.  

This is a rare opportunity and one that should not be missed!

All shows are as shown below. Follow the link to purchase tickets.

Sydney
Tuesday 30th Sept – 6:30pm
The Tattersalls Club – https://jim-mcewan-tattersalls-club.eventbrite.com.au/

Thursday 2nd Oct – 6:30pm
Sir Stamford Circular Quay – https://jim-mcewan-sir-stamford.eventbrite.com.au/

Brisbane
Saturday 4th Oct – 12:00pm
The Gresham Bar – info@thegresham.com.au

Saturday 4th Oct – 6:30pm
The United Services Club – https://jim-mcewan-united-services-club.eventbrite.com.au/

Sunday 5th Oct – 12:00pm
Nant Whisky Bar – http://www.nant.com.au/

Melbourne
Monday 6th Oct – 6:30pm
Blue Diamond – https://jim-mcewan-blue-diamond.eventbrite.com.au/

Wednesday 8th Oct – 6:30pm
The Kelvin Club – https://jim-mcewan-the-kelvin-club.eventbrite.com.au/

Tasmania
Thursday 9th Oct – 6:30pm
The Shoreline Hotel – https://jim-mcewan-the-shoreline-hotel.eventbrite.com.au/

Adelaide
Friday 10th Oct – 6:30pm
ARKABA hotel – https://www.rollerdigital.com/arkabahotel/#/event/1033/43786/20141010

Saturday 11th Oct – 6:30pm
Rob Roy Hotel – enquiries@robroyhotel.com.au

Perth
Sunday 12th Oct – 6:30pm
The Oxford Hotel – https://jim-mcewan-the-oxford-hotel.eventbrite.com.au/

Monday 13th Oct – 6:30pm
Fremantle Navy Club – https://jim-mcewan-fremantle-navy-club.eventbrite.com.au/

SEPTEMBER EVENTS

Dunfermline Members Tasting, Garvock House Hotel, Dunfermline – Thu 25 Sept
Liverpool Members Tasting, Malmaison, Liverpool – Fri 26 Sept
Glasgow Members Tasting, Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow – Fri 26 Sept
Newcastle Members Tasting, The Caledonian Hotel, Newcastle – Fri 26 Sept
Guildford Members Tasting, Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, Guildford – Fri 26 Sept
Winchester Members Tasting, Winchester Royal Hotel, Winchester – Fri 26 Sept
New Members Tasting, 19 Greville St, London – Tue 30 Sept

Browse all events

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

VOTE FOR US!

It’s always exciting to get an award and we are delighted to be shortlisted for the Scottish Field Best Distillery Visitor Experience in the 2014 Scottish Field Whisky Challenge Awards.

Voting closes on Friday 3rd October

VOTE FOR US HERE

V

The fall 2014 Whisky Extravaganza Schedule 

Chicago

Thursday, October 9, 2014

The Union League Club of Chicago 

Boston

Thursday, October 23, 2014

The Taj Boston 

Washington, DC

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

JW Marriott Hotel 

Seattle

Friday, November 14, 2014

The Rainier Club 

Los Angeles

Thursday, November 20, 2014

The Los Angeles Athletic Club 

Fort Lauderdale

Thursday, December 4, 2014

The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Ladies and Gentlemen are cordially invited to enjoy a connoisseur’s evening featuring rare & exceptional single malt, Scotch and unique whiskies from around the world. The evening includes unlimited tastings, epicurean food, a selection of premium imported cigars for our guests’ later enjoyment, souvenir snifter glass and much more. The Whisky Extravaganza brings the discerning enthusiast the opportunity to sample the participating whiskies in a sophisticated and elegant environment with genuine camaraderie and knowledgeable representatives from each participating distillery.
 
All events from 7:00pm-9:30pm. Registration begins at 7:00pm. 

Whisky intelligence readers are offered a 10% discount on tickets to the Extravaganza. Please use the promotional code “INTEL2014 ” 

You can purchase tickets directly from the link here, by visiting our website  www.thewhiskyextravaganza.com  or by calling 800.990.1991