Canadian Whisky Twitter Tasting and Book Review

The Grand Finale of #DavinTT 

A month of discussing Davin de Kergommeaux’s Canadian whisky book on Twitter will wrap up on Sunday May 26, at 3:00 eastern time. Please join us for the final installment of #DavinTT on Twitter.

This week we’ll be discussing Chapters 22 through 25 of Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert while we sip a wee dram of Canadian whisky. If you want to join in, any Canadian whisky will do. However, this week we will discuss Highwood, Hiram Walker, Forty Creek, and Valleyfield distilleries so if you have a whisky from one of these distilleries on hand, all the better.

Go to #DavinTT on Twitter at 3:00 eastern time, Sunday and join in the discussion, add your comments, interact with author, Davin de Kergommeaux, and discuss a Canadian whisky you are tasting.

We invite bloggers to blog about the book, the experience, the whiskies and/or Davin. Let the fun begin!

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with me, @WhiskyLassie on twitter.

Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert is available at Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo, and many other fine bookstores, or on-line at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca.

While the history of whisky is long and proud, with legend telling of Saint Patrick bringing the craft of distillation to Scotland, the history of the Quaich is no less long or illustrious.

 The word Quaich comes from the gaelic “cuach” which means cup and they have been used for centuries to welcome or bid farewell to guests, or as a mark of comradeship or friendship. Sharing a dram of whisky from a Quaich has long been symbolic of binding people together in love, friendship or comradeship or to welcome or bid farewell to favoured guests. Today quaichs are often given as a gift to someone held dear.

This two handled Scottish drinking cup may have originated with the practise of drinking whisky from a scallop shell and progressed to forming these shallow cups from wood, stone or horn. Over the years the cups became more elaborate and highly skilled craftsmen fashioned wooden quaichs with beautiful celtic designs. From the 17^th century, as metals came to be more commonly used, quaichs have been made of  brass, pewter, silver or a combination of all three. The original outer shape was retained but the thick bases were thinned to reduce the the weight.

Quaichs originated in the Highlands and weren’t used in Lowland Scotland until the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie when the quaich travelled south in the canteens of the Prince’s army. The quaichs of the army were reputed to have glass bottoms enabling the drinker to keep an eye on those around him; a sad reflection on treacherous times.

Alex Scott & Co Ltd, a long established Aberdeen based company would like to offer you the chance to win a beautiful quaich so you may sup your dram in the traditional way and our gift set even provides a miniature of MacAllan Gold single malt whisky for the first filling.

To enter simply email the answer to the following question along with your name and address to sales@kiltmakers.co.uk using the subject line Quaich Competition, and we will draw the winner, at random, from the correct answers. Closing date June 19th, 2013…….. Please don’t forget to title your email Quaich competition.

What is the Centenary Quaich?

1. Quaich which resides in the Scottish Parliament building and is used for ceremonial occasions.
2. An international rugby union trophy contested annually by Ireland and Scotland.
3. A annual flat race run at Ayr races each September with the Centenary Quaich also being the name of the trophy.
4. A quaich presented to Queen Victoria by her loyal Scottish Subjects at the turn of the twentieth century.

Terms and Conditions:-  The winner will be notified of their win by email and the prize sent by post. No further correspondence will entered into and the judges decisions are final. The prize cannot be substituted or exchanged for cash. The competition is open to all except employees or relatives of Alex Scott & Co (kiltmakers.co.uk) or employees and relatives of Red Evolution. Important – entries will only be accepted from those who are 18 years old or over. This contest will run until Wednesday June 19th, 2013.

Ladies only Balvenie Whisky Tasting with Alwynne Gwilt (Miss Whisky) – Thursday 6th June – Delightful Drams & Delicious Nibbles!

Just a quick reminder that on Thursday 6th June we are holding our next Ladies only whisky tasting.  Alwynne Gwilt is a lady who has a real passion for whisky and through her website (misswhisky.com) is helping to spread the word that whisky is as much a drink for women as it is for men so we’re delighted that she will be joining us to present some of the delicious honeyed drams from the Balvenie distillery on Speyside, and to give us a unique perspective on the whisky world.

We will be starting with a whisky cocktail then move through a selection of drams that will include such luscious lovelies as the new Single Barrel 12 year old and (perfect for a summer’s evening) the Caribbean Cask 14 year old.

Along with the whiskies we will be tasting some dainty nibbles specially selected by Alwynne to enhance the flavours of each dram so the evening has all the perfect ingredients for a great girls night out with a difference.

Come by yourself (we’re a really friendly bunch of ladies) or get some friends together and join us.  See below for all the details and if you have any queries just contact us

Sláinte!
Fran
Arkwrights Whisky and Wines

Ladies only Balvenie Whisky Tasting with Alwynne Gwilt
Date Thursday 6th June 2013
Time 7pm for 7.30pm
Venue Stanton House Hotel, Stanton Fitzwarren SN6 7SD

Details Balvenie is still a family owned distillery, having been established in 1892 by William Grant. It retains it’s own maltings and cooperage, and production of its smooth, rich whiskies is overseen by David Stewart, who has over 50 years of experience. Excellent use of different cask types produce some delicious variations in the range and the whiskies that have been selected for the night will give you the chance to find your own particular favourite(s).

Tickets are £13.50 per person, and this also entitles you to a discount of £3 against a bottle of one of the featured whiskies if bought or ordered on the night of the tasting. Tickets are very strictly limited, and allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and as these tastings sell out very quickly it is best to book ASAP. To buy tickets just log on to www.whiskyandwines.com  and place an order for the number you require.

Admission to the tasting is by ticket only, and the whiskies tasted will be available to purchase on the night so come prepared.

N.B. We have negotiated special rates at the hotel for anyone who wants to stay overnight after the tasting – click here for further details.

anCnoc builds on Peter Arkle partnership

Once-in-a-lifetime competition launched to celebrate latest release

anCnoc Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky has unveiled its third Limited Edition Peter Arkle release.

The striking and distinctive packaging from the New York-based Scottish artist takes its inspiration from the thick, brick walls of anCnoc’s Knockdhu Distillery’s dunnage warehouses.

Internationally-acclaimed illustrator Peter Arkle said:

“I have loved working with anCnoc and am very proud of our latest limited edition. The distillery at Knock is such a great place and I had a fantastic time visiting there. This particular illustration for me really shows a complex thought in a very simple way. On one hand it’s just a drawing of the bricks that make up the walls of the distillery and the warehouses with a yellow sign stuck on. But, on the other hand, those bricks are so old and so soaked with the essences of anCnoc –absorbed over the years – that they are not just any old bricks. They are bricks with real character and history. And the sign is there to remind people that anCnoc is not something you can take for granted. One must handle something remarkable with care.”

The liquid has anCnoc’s signature honey and lemon notes and has a spicy taste with notes of citrus, sherry and dark chocolate.

Strictly limited to only 1000 cases, this Limited Edition will be available online and through specialist retailers in the UK as well as across the globe in the USA, Germany, Russia, Japan, Taiwan and Canada.

To mark this unique collaboration, anCnoc is offering 10 fans the chance to win a personally illustrated bottle of anCnoc in a Twitter contest. By Tweeting in a picture of how they enjoy their whisky, 10 of the entries will be chosen by Peter and hand-drawn before being transposed onto a label and tube of anCnoc.

Gillian Gibson, Brand Manager for anCnoc, said:

“anCnoc has long had a close relationship with visual art and we are delighted to not only be continuing with this fantastic series with Peter which we are sure will become instant collectors’ items like its predecessors, but that we can also offer truly personalised art with a mighty fine dram with our #youranCnoc campaign.”

The campaign, called #youranCnoc, will go live on June 17th when people all over the world will have a single day to Tweet in their perfect way to enjoy a dram of anCnoc – whether that be at the beach, by a roaring fire with a dog or looking at the countryside from their window. One of the 10 winners will be flown to New York to meet Peter and be presented with their personalised bottle.

Peter added:

“I have been so inspired designing for anCnoc and I’m really excited for people to get the chance to be inspired themselves and have their own personal anCnoc moment immortalised onto their very own bottle. It’s such a fun opportunity.”

For more information on the anCnoc range or the #youranCnoc campaign please visit www.anCnoc.com

Alan Winchester, Master Distiller of The Glenlivet led the inaugural tasting of a new mystery expression, The Glenlivet Alpha at a media launch event held at the Whisky Shop in Piccadilly on 8^th May.

Chivas Brothers CEO, Christian Porta, attended the event to support the launch of the new expression, which is limited to 3350 bottles.

Guests were also invited to try a range of sensory challenges (pictured left) launched by the Glenlivet in collaboration with Greyworld to help whisky enthusiasts master their senses to unlock the secrets of The Glenlivet Alpha. The sensory challenges are hosted on The Glenlivet Facebook page and http://www.theglenlivet.com/.

Alan Winchester (pictured above leading the tasting) will reveal the tasting notes and cask information for the mystery expression in a video broadcast on 6^th June at 12:30pm. To watch the reveal live, visit The Glenlivet’s Facebook page. 

Notes 

Follow The Glenlivet on Twitter via the handle @The_Glenlivet and stream the campaign through #alpha 

The Glenlivet is the No. 2 single malt Scotch whisky in the world. Crafted in the remote Livet Valley since 1824, it is the only whisky with the unchallengeable right to be called The Glenlivet. 

Chivas Brothers is the Scotch whisky and premium gin business of Pernod Ricard – the world’s co-leader in wine and spirits. Chivas Brothers is the global leader in luxury Scotch whisky and premium gin. Its portfolio includes Chivas Regal, Ballantine’s, Beefeater Gin, The Glenlivet, Royal Salute, Aberlour, Plymouth Gin, Longmorn, Scapa, 100 Pipers, Clan Campbell, Something Special and Passport.

For further information please visit http://www.chivasbrothers.com/

The fantastic programme of events is only two weeks away. Masterclasses are now sold out but there’s still a load more to see and do. Have a dram, a dance and grab a hearty venison burger in the cooperage. Click the button below for the full run down.

If you can’t brave the waves to Jura then get online. We’ll be covering the festival on Facebook & Twitter. Keep your eye out for our 39 ¾ year old –pre release of our 40 year old in the week following the festival, you could win a vial of this very special dram in our video competition.

See you at the dramming bar!

VIEW THE FESTIVAL PROGRAMME

First of all, if you’re not based in the South-East, my apologies, but we haven’t been able to fully regionalise our mailing list. However, we will have a full UK news email in a week or two, with updates on Leeds Festival, hopefully Manchester and a whole sluice of summer tastings…

If you are in the South-East, and London in particular, please read on!

This Sunday’s ‘Jam & Dram’ session at The Village Underground, Shoreditch still has 75 places up for grabs and rather than perform to a half-full room, we would like to give you the opportunity to take up a crazy offer! We put this event together as a truly experimental day which we worked hard, along with the guys from CaskStrength Creative, to put together. What we now have is an event that will (hopefully!) successfully blend whisky and music together. Three bands, each containing not-insignificant industry personnel…

A little more meat for you about the event first…

The idea is to ‘blend’ music and whisky. We wanted something where people could come and sample the tasty wares of the exhibitors, have the opportunity to blend their own whisky and, at certain times, just relax and listen to some good, live music. Pretty simple really! We have already detailed the exhibitors on the website, so its time to tell you about the bands…

The Copper Dogs
– a good time rock and roll band featuring the talents of Dr. Whisky himself (Sam Simmons, Global Balvenie Ambassador), Cat Spencer from Master of Malt and Rob Allanson, the editor of Whisky Magazine.

Prince Adewale & The Endeavours
– Black Keys-esq shenanigans including Neil Ridley of CaskStrength Creative and Dr. Nick Morgan, Diageo’s very own ‘Master of Malt’!

The Whisky Lounge Blues Band
– Whisky-fueled….blues, with your very own, Eddie Ludlow of The Whisky Lounge and his band.

Each band will play for around 30 minutes at predetermined times of the day and will be representing a whisky that you will then get to vote on at the end of the session. You will also get the opportunity to try your hand at blending, plus you’ll get a mini of your blend, a goodie bag courtesy of Cutty Sark and a whole lot more. Most of our Saturday exhibitors will still be on hand to provide you with samples and insight into a room-full of tasty whisky. This all takes place between 12pm and 5pm.

The Deal

If you have already purchased tickets for Saturday’s London Whisky Festival or Sunday’s Jam & Dram, we are offering you the chance to buy additional Jam & Dram tickets for just £12.50! That’s right, for today only, you can get a full days whisky and music – and all of the associated goodies – for the paltry sum of £12.50 – half the original ticket price.

This is unrepeatable and limited to the first 75 to book on. Good old-fashioned, first come, first served.

We have set up a new page on the website specifically for you, and to make this nice and easy for you to take advantage of. Simply click here to be taken to it. A word of warning though. This offer is only for those who have a previous booking – anyone found to have booked this offer without following this guideline will simply have their money returned via Paypal and with no ticket. Please be honest!

A reminder of date, time and place;

The Whisky Lounge ‘Jam & Dram’
Sunday 19th May 2013, 12pm-5pm
The Village Underground
Hollywell Lane
Shoreditch
EC2A 3PQ

We hope you can make it and we know you’ll enjoy it!

Cheers,
Eddie

Discover A Rare Find!

Shielded from the world’s prying eyes deep in the Highlands of Scotland, quietly producing small, precious batches of Single Malt Whisky, Glen Garioch is a Rare Find indeed.

Now, we want to share this little hidden gem in Scotland’s northeast with one lucky winner!

We’re offering Glen Garioch enthusiasts the chance to experience Rare Finds across Aberdeenshire: a two day, all expenses paid trip to the Garioch, The Granary of Aberdeenshire.

On a VIP tour of our Glen Garioch distillery, our lucky winner will discover the time honoured skills at work and hear from the master craftsmen involved.

After a private tasting held by our Master Blender, Rachel Barrie, the lucky winner will rest their head at Meldrum House: a luxury four star hotel situated in the beautiful countryside surrounding the market town of Oldmeldrum, the home of Glen Garioch.

The next morning, you’ll venture out into the wild to discover Rare Finds of the northeast. Guided by local experts, our winner will experience salmon fishing and gold panning at secret locations precious few will ever see.

Competition runners up will also receive their very own Rare Find: a special, Limited Edition Small Batch release of Glen Garioch Single Malt Whisky.

For your chance to win, simply enter via the Glen Garioch Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/glengarioch Entry closes at midnight on 3rd June 2013: good luck!

1) Saturday May 18th 12-1:00 PM. The Whyte and Mackay Blending Seminar with J. Wheelock 

Want to impress your friends at parties? Want to improve your resume? How about… sampling some excellent Whiskies while trying your hand at being a Master Blender? The Whyte and Mackay Blending Seminar will be conducted by ambassador J. Wheelock and the lucky attendees will nose and sample 5 of the component Whiskies in the Whyte and Mackay Special and then actually blend them together. Participants will then go on to compare with their neighbours as to how well they did compared to the control sample of Whyte and Mackay Special Blend. Seats are limited, don’t miss your chance to have the best bragging rights in town. P.S. We’re just kidding about the resume thing. This only counts as FUN.”  Register via VHGA Whisky School Chair

J. Wheelock

Canadian Whisky Book Review and Twitter Tasting Week Three

Join author, Davin de Kergommeaux and whisky fans from around the globe on Twitter this Sunday, May 19, at 3:00 Eastern time. We will be chatting about Davin’s award-winning book, Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert, and raising a dram of Canadian whisky. To take part simply go to #DavinTT on Twitter at 3:00 Eastern time this Sunday.

Social media are changing the way whisky lovers interact right around the globe. Whisky fans from Israel to Oregon took part last week as we reviewed several chapters from the book Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert and discussed them with each other and with the author on Twitter.

If you wish to add your comments, interact with author, Davin de Kergommeaux, or discuss a Canadian whisky you are tasting, please join us for week three this Sunday. This week we will be talking about chapters 18 – 21.

We invite the bloggers among us to blog about the book, the experience, the whiskies and/or Davin. Let the fun begin!

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with me, @WhiskyLassie on twitter.

Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert is available at Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo, and many other fine bookstores, or on-line at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca.