The 25th Auction which is now underway will end May 5th, 2013

Vist the 25th Auction HERE

There will be a Club tasting on Wednesday 1st May

Wednesday 1st May: Tasting at 6.30pm in Bookends, @Butchart
Tickets will be on sale between 12-2 in Alfies, Butchart on
Monday, 29th April

Please come along early – we can only fit so many people (legally) into Bookends
Come early to avoid disappointment 

You can still come to this event without becoming a member.
You should become a member as soon as possible.

University of Aberdeen Malt Whisky Society

The Butchart Centre

University Road

Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire AB24 3UT

United Kingdom

Your chance to attendThe Whisky School 2013

An unforgettable experience for fans of The Glenlivet.

There’s no better way to experience the single malt that started it all than by travelling to the place it all started: The Glenlivet Distillery in Speyside.

Whether you’re a connoisseur of malt whisky or a relative newcomer to the subject, The Whisky School offers you a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of The Glenlivet.

During this captivating three-day experience you’ll be guided by our International Brand Ambassador Ian Logan through a comprehensive nosing and tasting education, including samples of rare expressions. You’ll also walk ancient smugglers’ routes and enjoy an in-depth tour of the distillery, providing you with with an understanding of the rich history and exciting future of The Glenlivet.

But the entertainment doesn’t stop when the tours do; after each day’s activities you’ll experience the very best of Scottish hospitality, with traditional meals in our stunning private house in Keith. Here, you can relax with other passionate Guardians, reflect on your experiences and, of course, share a dram or two.

The £700 per person price includes all activities and all-inclusive luxury accommodation.

This year, we are running The Whisky School on the following dates:

13th-15th May
12th-14th August
7th-9th October

Demand for this once-in-a-lifetime experience is always high, so book now to secure your stay.

We’re heading to Edmonton on Saturday, May 11th to host a very special tasting!

To raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, one of our Edmonton members and his daughter (a cancer survivor), have been training with Team in Training for their first half-marathon. In conjunction with training he has been putting on monthly whisky tastings as a way to gather donations for the LLS.

We were honoured to be asked to participate and will host the final tasting, on Saturday, May 11th, to celebrate their efforts and help raise a chunk of money for a great cause.

We hope you can join us for what is sure to be a great evening – details and registration link are below and if you’ve already signed up we look forward to seeing you! If you can’t make it then please forward this on to your scotch-loving, philanthropic friends and we encourage you to donate directly to the cause at our member’s support page:
http://ow.ly/kg5rY

As always, you can expect a wonderful line-up of Society single cask scotches. There will also be light food, a special welcome drink upon arrival and a great selection of auction items!

Team in Training & The Scotch Malt Whisky Society
present
A Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Fundraising Tasting

Saturday, May 11th at 6:30pm
$65.00
Happy Harbor Comics
10729 – 105 Avenue, Edmonton
780-452-8211

To register click here: http://ow.ly/k7XaX or contact Happy Harbor Comics

We’re changing things up for our May Outturn tastings!!

Instead of new releases, we’ll be revisiting old friends.

Are you a new member who hasn’t had a chance to try some older releases?

Perhaps you haven’t been able to make it to any SMWS tastings and would like to hear more about the Society?

Do you have friends you’ve been talking to about the Society and you would like to introduce them to it?

Then this month is for you!

As always members get first crack at signing up but act quickly before these get opened up to the general public.

In Victoria please join us at The Strath on Friday, May 3rd at 6:30pm.
To register and pre-pay please email whisky@strathconahotel.com
or call 250-370-9463 or drop into the store at 919 Douglas Street
$50 ($10 discount for SMWS members)

In Vancouver please join us at Edgemont Fine Wines on Monday, May 6th at 6:45pm.
To register please click here: http://ow.ly/kaNKI
or sign up in person at 3020 Edgemont Blvd., North Vancouver
For more information call 604-984-9463
$50 ($10 discount for SMWS members)

www.smws.ca

Thursday Night Spirits Tasting!
From 6pm till 8pm
$45 per person
With special bottle pricing night of the tasting only

Duncan Taylor Single Malt Scotch Tasting – Thursday (4/25):

You are all cordially invited to Everson Royce’s first Scotch tasting of 2013. Eight different Duncan Taylor whiskeys from eight different distilleries that cover Scotland both geographically and stylistically. These whiskeys are anywhere from 15 to 34 years old. And they’re all cask strength as well. Special Guests Euan Shand, the Chairman of Duncan Taylor, and his son, Gordon Shand, will be onsite pouring your drams, answering your questions, and regaling you with stories. Euan is already a legend in the world of Scotch and Gordon is not far behind.

Duncan Taylor’s brand new U.S. headquarters are just down the street in South Pasadena. Please join us in welcoming them to the neighborhood.

The tasting will be held at:
The Armory Center for the Arts
145 N. Raymond, directly next door to Everson Royce. 

Doors open at 6pm. Please check in at Everson Royce before the tasting. Please arrive prior to 7pm as to have ample time to taste all the spirits. Reservations are strongly recommended but not required and can be made by calling the store at 626-765-9334. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to The Armory Center for the Arts.

Featured Duncan Taylor Whiskys:
Blair Athol 1989 / 23 Year / Highland / 47.6% / $171 per bottle
Imperial 1995 / 17 Year / Speyside / 53.2% / $126 per bottle
Glentauchers 1997 / 15 Year / Octave / Speyside / 53.6% / $99 per bottle
Macallan 1996 / 15 Year / Speyside / 55.1% / $130.50 per bottle
Caol Ila 1983 / 29 Year / Sherry Cask / Islay / 53.8% / $238.50 per bottle
Cameronbridge 1978 / Single Grain / 34 Year / Lowland / 54.6% / $166.50 per bottle
Caperdonich 1992 / 20 Year / Speyside / 54.9% / $198 per bottle
Bunnahabhain 1987 / 25 Year / Octave / Islay / 54.8% / $211.50 per bottle

$45 per person for the tasting

Special bottle pricing night of the tasting only

Everson Royce
155 N. Raymond Avenue
Pasadena, California
626 765 9334
http://www.eversonroyce.com/

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the rebirth of the Jura Distillery in 1963, and we’re welcoming you to the island to help us celebrate this milestone on the 29th and 30th of May at the Jura Whisky Festival.

Get involved in our Whisky Masterclasses, presented by Willie Cochrane, Willie Tait & Richard Paterson. Spend some time in the cooperage savouring a dram at our new dramming bar whilst listening to live music and sampling some local venison burgers.

We’ll also be releasing a unique festival bottling. These 663 bottles will be available only during the festival, with a limited number being released online exclusively for Diurachs on our online shop.

We’ve got loads more planned, even if you’re just coming for a wee visit, so check out the festival programme for more info on what’s happening.

We look forward to seeing you there! BOOK NOW VIEW THE FESTIVAL PROGRAM

If you can’t make it to Jura this May, join us on Facebook to win 1 of 10 vials of a secret future release. You can also join in on Twitter by signing up to our live tweet tasting on the Wednesday 29th. Head to @jurawhisky to sign up.

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival’s campaign to legalise the dram as a measure for Scotch whisky gathers support

A campaign to have the dram legalised as a measurement for the sale of Scotch whisky is gathering momentum.

Organisers of the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival say they have been inundated with messages of support for their effort have the 25ml measurement renamed as a dram.

They believe that public support is weighing down heavily in their favour, and hope that a final push from the thousands of international visitors who are expected to attend the Festival next month will help them reach a successful outcome.

Organisers wrote to the National Measurement Office to ask for the dram to be reinstated so that revellers would be able to walk into any bar and ask – legally – to be served a dram.

But when officials said alcohol could only be sold in metric measurements and they could not support a dual measurement system, the Festival launched its bid to have the 25ml and 35ml measurements renamed a dram and large dram respectively.

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival manager Mary Hemsworth says the campaign has sparked an important debate about a word which is synonymous with Scotland and Scotch whisky.

She says, “We have had messages of support for what we are trying to achieve from as far afield as California and Australia. People do genuinely feel a huge affinity for the dram and they are telling us that they would like to see the dram gain official, legal recognition.

“It has been clear from the debate being generated that people have very different ideas about what size a dram should be. Some people are saying the 25ml measure should be a nip and the 35ml measure should be a dram, while others are telling us that to limit the dram to a 25ml measure may seem a little stingy.

“The people who visit the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival come from all over the world, but they all have one thing in common – an incredible passion for Scotch whisky. We intend to listen to their thoughts during the Festival and if they truly do support this campaign, we will go back to the National Measurement Office to ask them to listen to the will of the people.”

In olden days, the dram measurement was about the size of a teaspoon. Mrs Hemsworth says the Festival is not advocating a return to that measurement as it would undoubtedly be unpopular with whisky lovers.

She adds, “The most important thing is to have a legally recognised measurement called the dram because the very word is so important to the Scotch whisky industry and synonymous with Scottish hospitality.”

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival takes place from May 2-6 and is a celebration of everything connected to Scotland’s national drink. It takes place annually in Speyside – a region home to more whisky distilleries than any other part of Scotland – and this year almost 400 events are on the programme.

Visitors will be able to tour distilleries including several not usually open to the public, nose and taste classic malts, learn how to pair the amber nectar with food, and dance the night away at ceilidhs.

There’s also the opportunity to enjoy the stunning scenery with ‘drambles’ across the countryside, take a trip on the whisky train and gain a unique perspective of the region’s distilleries on a canoe tour of the River Spey.

Tickets for this year’s Festival are on target to break records, with a huge rise in the number of visitors coming from the USA, Canada and Scandinavia. Further information about the programme and where to get tickets are available at www.spiritofspeyside.com

Notes:

The Save Our Dram Facebook page can be found at www.facebook.com/SaveOurDram and on Twitter @SaveOurDram

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival is committed to promoting responsible drinking. Visitors needing to travel to and from festival events can take advantage of a range of transport options including a taxi voucher scheme (sponsored by Diageo) providing festival goers with a 25% reduction on fares with participating operators, various pre-bookable dedicated bus shuttles and even a “Dram Line” off-road Argocat taxi for a day long distillery tour.

The Festival also runs several competitions and awards including the prestigious Spirit of Speyside Whisky Awards as well as the Benromach Spirit of Speyside Whisky Photographic Competition

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival has received funding from EventScotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and is also financially supported by many other private and public partners

EventScotland: EventScotland is the national events agency. EventScotland is working to make Scotland one of the world’s leading event destinations. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors. For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit www.EventScotland.org

About the Year of Natural Scotland 2013: Year of Natural Scotland 2013, the third of four focus years, is a chance to highlight Scotland’s great natural assets. It provides an opportunity to celebrate our reputation as a land of outstanding beauty, and encourage responsible tourism in Scotland. The aim of Year of Natural Scotland 2013 is to promote Scotland’s stunning natural beauty and biodiversity, and promote ways in which visitors can enjoy our beautiful landscapes, wildlife and heritage responsibly. More information about the programme can be found at: www.visitscotland.org.uk The Year of Natural Scotland is a Scottish Government initiative led in partnership by EventScotland, VisitScotland, Creative Scotland and VOCAL.

In March, we hit the significant milestone on Facebook of 10,000 likes. We are thrilled to have so many loyal Facebook followers and to celebrate this and thank you all, we launched a competition to win a bottle of our multi-award winning 21 yo malt. Here’s the question to ponder…

10,000 days ago Facebook had not been invented. However in 1985, our craftsmen at Glengoyne were already producing the slowest distilled whisky in Scotland, hand selecting only the finest oak casks and drying our barley by air, never peat.

A sherry butt was filled with our amazing spirit back then and still sleeps in our Dunnage warehouses. However if we were to bottle that whisky today how many cask strength, unchilled filtered, 70cl bottles do you think we would have to tantalise your taste buds with?

A wee clue: the first year our sherry butt gives away 4% ‘angel’s share’, then every year thereafter it is an average of 2%.

The competition closes on Thursday 18th April and the person who guesses the nearest figure to the actual number of bottles, wins the 21 yo. There’s still 3 days left to enter, so for your chance to win, please visit our website or Facebook page. Good luck!

Win a bottle of single malt from our Rare Casks Series!

We’re giving you the chance to win the 1st release in ‘The Rare Casks‘ series by Abbey Whisky. Since its launch whisky writers and bloggers have been singing the praises of the Caperdonich 17 Year Old. We thought it was only fair to share the love and give our fellow whisky buffs the chance to sample this fine dram.

87/100 – Serge – Whisky Fun

“I really enjoy this kind of jumpiness, it’s a very lively Caperdonich that, at times, hints at Rosebank in a way”

The Whisky Wire

“A Mothballed Marvel”

94/100 – Squidgy Ash The Whisky Fiend

“If you get a chance to try this whisky, to buy this whisky, don’t hesitate, DO SO. Right now!”

Whisky Magazine

“A delightful elegant dram”

It couldn’t be easier to enter…

All you have to do is retweet the competition message via Twitter and follow @abbeywhisky

Competition Message

RT & Follow @abbeywhisky to #win a bottle of Caperdonich 17 Year Old #malt #scotch #whisky – #therarecasks series by @abbeywhisky

Competition closes 23.59 (GMT) on Thursday 30th April 2013. The lucky winner will be chosen at random and revealed on Wednesday 1st May 2013.

Click here for full T&C’s

Happy Tweeting!