JUNE EVENTS

10 Year Anniversary Jazz Improvisation Tasting, 28 Queen St, Edinburgh – Wed 4 June
10 Years of Queen Street Tasting, 28 Queen St, Edinburgh – Fri 6 June
New List Open Tasting, 19 Greville St, London – Sat 7 June
Steak & Whisky Tasting, 19 Greville St, London – Mon 9 June
Scotch on the Rocks, 19 Greville St, London – Wed 11 June
Speyside Tasting, 28 Queen St, Edinburgh – Thu 12 June
Global Whisky, 19 Greville St, London – Wed 18 June
Society on the Road: Glenkinchie, The Vaults, Leith – Sat 21 June

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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

Sunday 25 May 2014, Paul travels to the capital.

I caught the 09.36 train to Edinburgh frae Perth, the train that stopped at EVERY station in between, too just over 2 hours! Och well, got there at last, took a taxi to the first hotel in the west end – dropping off tour notes for guests. Then to the south of the city, another hotel, more tour notes. Headed then towards the venue for the Stramash whisky fest. Took an early lunch, healthy stuff to line my belly to make ready for the juice to follow. A wee bit early so took photos of the Edin University – part of it, really good Georgian buildings.  Nearing 12.20 I thought “to hell with this waiting aboot” and went to the door, some big ape asked what I wanted, luckily I was wearing my Glen Moray jacket “am setting up on the stand with Glen Moray mate” he let me in, some security eh! Even later as I went to get my tickets, none there, I had pre – arranged for these months back and was told they would be there – nope! Anyhow, went in early, saw a few old pals and took some pix and had a few drams. After a few hello’s I flew over to to the Japanese whisky table, Suntory. A friend from the Highlander was ambassador for Suntory, hell’s and chatted bewfore a good slug of Hakushu Distillers Reserve, interesting, I hadnee seen this before, a green bottle, 12 year old single malt, from the mountain distillery, it was herbal? Wee bit of smoke, fruity and a wee bit minty. Apparently, it has only been available in Europe one month, so very pleased to try it.  I did go back later for more! I also enjoyed the 12 year old Hibiki, banana, pepper, fruits, almost a sweet and sour, lovely! I like the bottle also! There then followed samples of Glen Moray, who were a busy table as usual, drifted over to Stewart at GlenDronch/BenRiach/Glenglassaugh table… “where’s the kilt Stew?”, a smile… “just home from China, its in the cleaners, mingin!” I do like the sherry finish to the drams here, tried all 3 labels on the stand, top end; sherry hogshead, 35 year old Glenglassaugh – thanks Stew! Superb.  The festival opened and filled quickly, but – not as mad as Saturday many told me. There’s a suggestion folks; if you attend next year, try out the Sunday, no as crowded.

A good venue, the Surgeons Building, but fer an old codger like me, too many stairs! Sat doon wi a dram and made these notes, took it easy. As mentioned, Sunday is easier, especially for first timers, but still awash with the Scottish juice. Plenty of opportunity to get a dram from each table.  Other tables there of note, Glenfiddich, Deanston, Drambuie, Scallywag, Famaous Grouse, Dewars and so on … a good fest for a first time reveller I would say, not panicked like Speyside or Islay, nice and easy (Sunday). By the time I escaped it was raining. Then debunked around the corner to a favourite capital pub, the Brass Monkey, a traditional pub, not touristy, good ales, drams and spirits of all kind, good staff too! As it was chuckin it doon wi rain, it was the nearest I could fall into – honest! Enjoyed a Silent Sun beer and a chat with a local and the staff, shared some fun here, stayed longer than planned – I only went in oot of the rain and to make a few notes. Er, the toilets are something to be seen! Say no more. I decided enough was enough and took a taxi towards the train station, still pouring down, at the traffic lights I said to the driver “this will do mate, thanks”. Got out at the Balmoral 5 star hotel – I needed to do some research here at their whisky bar. Over 400 drams on offer, leave some for another day perhaps. Started with a Glengoyne 1985 summer release, butterscotch, fruits and lovely! Michal was on duty at the bar, very good, he knew his tuff and fed me stories and drams; Signet is superb! Most of the bottles are “behind bars” (d’you like that?) and found easily by the staff, a relaxing but high end bar – a nice touch, when you order a dram, you also get almonds and chocolates etc, nice touch. This bar has been assisted by Diageo and Glenmorangie, evident when you look at the bottles in the menu.

Again, stayed longer here than intended – research is a hard job, serious research is even harder, I put myself through the wringer on your behalf, hope all appreciate this. The station is just around the corner, wandering through the rain I found the platforms and ticket barriers, asking “where is the Perth train please?” I was shown a platform to the left, I think the guy was havin a laugh, I woke up an hour later in the Borders! Wrong train, took me ages then to get home on two more trains, once home – rain – I looked longingly at a bottle of red wine, but that’s all I did; look. Bed!

Paul McLean

www.mcleanscotland.com    www.angelswhiskyclub.com

Ardbeg Auriverdes with Dr Bill Lumsden – liquid football!

It’s almost that time of year again – Ardbeg Day, with events happening all around the world.

Each year the distillery releases a limited-edition whisky to commemorate the day (click here for our post on last year’s Ardbog or here for 2012′s Ardbeg Day).

This year’s bottling, being a World Cup year, is named Auriverdes (the nickname of the Brazilian football team) and I was given the opportunity to speak to the Ardbeg (and Glenmorangie) Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky Stocks, Dr Bill Lumsden, about the latest release.

A Scot holding aloft the World Cup? Er, no, it’s Dr Bill Lumsden with the new Ardbeg Auriverdes

While it is being released just before the start of the World Cup, the original inspiration for the bottling was nothing to do with it. ‘I wanted to create a particular flavour,’ he told us, ‘the target image in my mind was a basket of soft fruits.’ The whisky was distilled back in 2002 and is 10-11 years old. Its tweak on the regular Ardbeg 10 year old is that it was matured in second fill ex-bourbon casks, each fitted with a specially toasted head – specially toasted in a secret manner.

It slots quite easily in to the general Ardbeg line-up, being inspired by some of the other whiskies that Dr Bill has created over the years, but it is still its own animal. ‘I’m not just doing another Alligator,’ he said, ‘those barrels were unbelievably charred. Auriverdes is altogether more gentle; it is almost my beloved 1977, almost Airigh Nam Beist. It’s a cross between Airigh Nam Beist with a bit of Alligator thrown in.’ Switching from a heavy char to a toast really makes a difference.

Despite not starting out as a World Cup tie-in, it has certainly now become one. Ardbeg Day is now celebrated around the world, and this year’s they will be focusing on football-related events.

Here in the UK, there’s the Ardbeg Peat Football Championship, for which St Andrew’s Square in Edinburgh will be turned into a peat-bog football pitch – all the Ardbeg embassies have been invited to take part, and we will have a TWE team up there on the day (hopefully) doing us proud.

One thing we couldn’t pass up the chance to ask about was the recent auction sales of the special-edition gold bottles of Auriverdes, sent out to a few lucky writers and retailers. While Dr Bill isn’t a big fan of limited editions and single casks, as there are so many loyal fans that won’t get the change to taste them, he understands that certain bottlings will always be collectable. His view on the £2,500 auction prices for the gold Auriverdes bottles was clear – ‘…it was absolutely inevitable that it would happen.’ Ardbeg will certainly be thinking twice about doing something similar again in the future.

Stuart and I were then offered a chance to taste the Auriverdes for ourselves:

Ardbeg Auriverdes. 49.9%. £79.95

Rocky:

Nose: Notes of dark chocolate, mocha, tar, peat and vanilla.

Palate: A creamy texture, with the mocha notes continuing, being joined by liquorice, tropical hints of pineapple and mango, and a whack of vanilla from the bourbon barrels. The peat is on the lighter side for an Ardbeg and isn’t overpowering.

Finish: Pretty long finish with the fruity notes slowly dissipating to leave spicy liquorice and peat smoke.

Comment: The peat is nowhere near as strong as I was expecting, with the toasting balancing it elegantly. This Ardbeg Day release is certainly very different in style to the previous editions, but is just as intriguing.

Stuart:

Nose: Hang on, this is Ardbeg? Much lighter than expected, with the peat fighting for survival against the toasty oak, mocha and peppery notes.

Palate: Creamy coffee to the fore, joined by dark chocolate and mocha, then a refreshing peachy character kicks in alongside peat and black pepper.

Finish: The creamy fruitiness gives way to the trademark (if subdued) Ardbeg peat.

Comment: After some of Ardbeg’s recent big-hitting releases, this is an intriguing, pastel-shaded malt.

It will be available in our shop on Saturday 31 May and online the following day. Bottles are available for pre-order on the website.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Ardbeg Auriverdes with Dr Bill Lumsden – liquid football!

The Relaxed Whisky Weekend
5 – 7 September 2014

Helllloooooo very relaxed whisky lovers,

E-Tickets:

Like mentioned in the previous newsletter, Maltstock has E-Tickets now. We will make sure that people who ordered their tickets in the old shop or at Maltstock 2013 will receive a ticket in their mailbox as well. Probably this will happen in June.

Privacy at Maltstock? YES WE CAN!:

As you all know part of the fun is sleeping at the dorms. But we also received some request from people who would love to come, but don’t want to stay at the dorms. The nearest hotel however is a good 4 kilometers away. But this year we have a solution for all those people! Your own private cabin. Yes, privacy at Maltstock!

Your own private cabin at Maltstock 2014, how very relaxed!
The Cabins Camp consists of several wooden cabins and can be rented by a minimum of 2 people per cabin.
The Cabins Camp consists of; 7 wooden cabins, each with 2 bunk beds. Sanitary facilities you can find in the sanitary cabin
The Cabins Camp is right at the Maltstock Venue.
Only 30,- per person with a minimum of 60,- per cabin.For the whole weekend. So when you and your friends, wife or girlfriend would like to have more privacy. The Maltstock Cabin Camp is for you!
When you order a 4 persons cabin with 2 persons, it will cost you 60 euros and the other 2 beds will remain empty. Just to be clear that a cabin only will be shared with the ones you have orderd it with.

First order your Maltstock ticket, then email us at shop@maltstock.com if you are interested in a cabin.

Introduction of the new members:

– Hi we are Stan(ley) and Annette de Goeij, we love Maltstock and are looking forward to it every year! Sharing a weekend with people sharing the same passion and “gezelligheid”. Awesome idea! We are members of the Whisky club in Nijmegen and because a couple of members of the Maltstock organization quite last year. Teun and Bob asked us to assemble a new organizational team. Of course challenging and an enormous amounts of fun!

The first name we thought of was Klaas. Klaas, with his gezelligheid and smooth communicational skills has made many hearts beat faster. Especially the Islay woman are very fond of him. After Klaas said “Yes”, we asked Jeroen for his technical and PR skills. We were hoping that he could make time for Maltstock next to his ITF-Taekwondo tournaments. To our pleasure he choose to quit the tournament lifestyle and choose for Maltstock.
We will do our very best to make Maltstock 2014 as relaxed as possible for you. We hope to see you and let’s drink a dram together in September!

Maltstock promo tour:

Thanks everyone for spotting, photographing, sharing and tagging our Maltstock promo car. We had a very relaxed time at the spirit of Speyside festival. See you next year!!

Spot us at the Dramboree in July:
Dramboree – 4\5\6\July

http://www.dramboree.co.uk 

Reeeelaaaxxxed,
Annette, Bob, Jeroen, Klaas and Teun

First Release Early-Bird tickets now on sale – 2 for £40 – Click here or on the banner to book. Only 100 pairs available. Second release will be 2 for £50…

Don’t tell anyone…except those you want to come!

See you there.

First Release Early-Bird tickets now on sale – 2 for £40 – Click here or on the banner to book. Only 100 pairs available. 2nd Release will be 2 for £50.

Don’t tell anyone…except those you want to come!

See you there.

Eddie
The Whisky Lounge

First release Early-Bird tickets now on sale – 2 for £40 – Click here or on the banner to book. Only 100 pairs available. Second release will be 2 for £50…

Don’t tell anyone…except those you want to come!

See you there.

Eddie
The Whisky Lounge

MAY & JUNE EVENTS

Seafood & Whisky Tasting, The Vaults, Leith – Thu 29 May
Dunfermline Clans & Drams Tasting, Garvock House Hotel, Dunfermline – Thu 29 May
New Members Tasting, 19 Greville St, London – Thu 29 May
Glasgow Clans & Drams Tasting, Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow – Fri 30 May
10 Year Anniversary Jazz Improvisation Tasting, 28 Queen St, Edinburgh – Wed 4 June
Alchemy Beer, Bangers & Whisky Tasting, The Vaults, Leith – Fri 6 June
10 Years of Queen Street Tasting, 28 Queen St, Edinburgh – Fri 6 June

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

In there usual garrulous fashion the folks at Scotch Whisky Auctions have let us know that the 38th Auction is now live….

“Hi folks, The 38th auction is now live. Enjoy. 

Kind regards from Glasgow 

The SWA Team”

This Weekend visit The Famous Feastival

Join us this Sunday 25th May for the ultimate celebration of food, whisky, chocolate and music at The Famous Grouse Experience in Crieff.

Three places have just become available for the Exclusive VIP Lunch with Tom Kitchin – if you are looking for a last minute treat, call 01764 657005 to book.

May is Whisky Month so why not learn about whisky or chocolate in our exclusive masterclasses, as well as a delicious array of public events, including tasting sessions, live music and celebrity book signings, not forgetting a tour of Scotland’s oldest working Distillery.

This is your last chance to book tickets for this weekend so don’t miss out, and join us for a very Famous Feastival.

See you on Sunday!

Buy Your Tickets Now