Jura Whisky Festival Going ‘Live’

The Jura whisky festival, part of the 26th annual Feis Ile, will be broadcast live from the Isle of Jura for the very first time this year.

Broadcasting ‘behind the scenes’

Fans of the award-winning whisky who are unable to make the pilgrimage to the unget-at-able Isle of Jura will be able to experience the island’s marquee event which takes place on 30 – 31 May, as the Jura distillery will be broadcasting ‘behind the scenes’ clips throughout the two day event. A wireless hotspot will also be set up in Craighouse – at the heart of the island’s festivities – allowing visitors to tweet and post comments, updates and photos.

Jura launches on Instagram

On the back of Jura’s successful following on both Twitter and Facebook, Jura will also be using this year’s Festival to launch on Instagram. Visitors to the island will be encouraged to take photos and post on Instagram using the hashtag #jurawhiskyfest. The best five images will be rewarded with a bottle of Jura Superstition.

Live events webpage

A dedicated live events webpage http://www.isleofjura.com/live/ has been launched on isleofjura.com to host the ‘behind the scenes’ footage and to capture all Festival discussion from across the main social networks. Frequent news updates and blog posts will also be provided during the course of each day.

Preview of new Distillery Tours

As well as all the new digital developments on Jura, visitors to the 26th Feis Ile will be the first to preview two new Distillery tours. The first of these new tours will focus on the myths and legends that provide the inspiration behind Jura’s core range of whiskies.

For those more interested in the process of whisky distillation, there will be a new Distillery Manager’s tour, hosted by Willie Cochrane himself, providing visitors with a more in-depth look at the craft of Jura whisky.

Festival programme

Visitors to this year’s Festival are able to book tickets in advance for the following three sessions, which will be held once on Wednesday and twice on Thursday.

· Myths and Legends Tour with Willie Cochrane: In this session participants will journey through the myths and legends of Jura’s core range single malts with the man who knows them best, Willie Cochrane, distillery manager.

· The Water of Life with Willie Tait: Willie Tait, global brand ambassador, takes participants through the history of Jura’s water and a tasting of the newest edition to the Jura range, Elixir.

· Wood and Maturation with Richard Paterson: Richard Paterson, Master Blender, takes participants on a tour of the finest casks that go in to making Jura’s core range and rare expressions.

Willie Cochrane, distillery manager at Jura Distillery, said: “With a packed programme of tastings, tours and tweets, it’s going to be our busiest Festival yet! Those who have been lucky enough to snap up tickets are in for a real treat, as part of our packed programme is a showcase of our brand new distillery tours. Those who are not so fortunate will still be able to follow all the goings-on through our new live events page. Whichever way you ‘re planning to take part, there will be plenty on offer to keep you entertained throughout the two days.”

There are a few remaining tickets left. Tickets cost £15, which includes lunch, entertainment, a distillery gift and free ferry travel for foot passengers from Port Askaig to Feolin. Places can be reserved by contacting Fiona at the distillery on 01496 820 385 or shop@isleofjura.com

Notes:

About Jura

Off the west coast of Scotland lies one of nature’s best kept secrets, the Isle of Jura. Populated by a community of less than 200 known as Diurachs (the Gaelic name for the people of Jura), it is a place of myth, legend and intrigue – and an award-winning range of single malt whiskies, which hold the promise of good fortune for all those that believe.

There are four classic bottlings in the Jura Collection: Origin 10, Superstition, Diurach’s Own and Prophecy. Many of the Jura whiskies have their own distinctive drinking rituals, but one cuts across the range – islanders believe that it brings good fortune to knock on wood before they drink a dram.

For more information on Isle of Jura, please visit www.isleofjura.com

Ardbeg Day at TWE Vinopolis

Fèis Ìle, the Islay Festival of Malt and Music, will be upon us shortly and despite our shop being almost as far from Islay as you can get while still being in the UK (as the crow flies) we wanted … Continue reading >>

The Scotch Whisky Academy

The World’s First Scotch Whisky Evening Class The Advanced Scotch Whisky Trail Certificate Course

Specifically created by renowned Scotch Whisky writer, industry expert and Master of Malt, John Lamond, the course stretches over 8 weeks from Thursday 6th September, 2012 at 6.30 p.m. and covers the following:

6th September, 2012 Characteristics Arising from Distillation and Fermentation
An examination of the characteristics which arrive through foreshots and/or feints, metallic, sulphury and off-notes, their causes and manifestations. 2/3/4 distillations. What makes a good whisky? Beyond subjectivity. Group blind tasting organised by tutor

13th September, 2012 Beyond Maturation.
A look at wood types and the inherent characteristics of various oaks; what previous inhabitants of the casks give to or take from the whisky; storage conditions; “good” and “bad” results – too old and too youthful. Focus on one whisky with a look at various ages of that whisky. Students to bring three aromas in containers for class to identify blind. Group blind tasting organised by tutor and group note taking.

20th September, 2012 Regionalisation – Does it Exist?
An examination of the flavours inherent in the makes of various distilleries; identification of regional characteristics; examination of primary, secondary and tertiary flavours with comparison with Diageo’s map, S.W.R.I.’s wheel and John Lamond’s Aberlour Whisky Wheel. Individual blind tasting and group note taking.

27th September, 2012 Glasses and Their Influences
Comparison of Schott, Riedel & Glencairn. Different flavour characteristics emphasised by different glasses Blind tasting from various glassware

4th October, 2012 Brand and Craft
Examination of independent bottlers’ influences on flavour; chill-filtration; 40/43/46/cask strength; e150; grain species – yields versus flavour? Blind tasting of non-whisky spirits supplied by students and written appraisal of tasting.

11th October, 2012 Visit to Whisky Lab
Biochemistry & gas spectrometry – what are they looking for? Reduction water quality, either at cask filling or bottling. Water problems at the distillery – low or contamination.

18th October, 2012 Open Week
Each student to give a 10 minute presentation on some aspect of whisky. Followed by an open discussion and appraisal. Blind tasting with each student giving a detailed written appraisal of four whiskies.

25th October, 2012 The Market
How is it controlled? Is it controlled? Who controls it? Politics, trends, influence, the auction market – and fakes; other World Whiskies. Blind tastings – each student to give a verbal presentation for five minutes on their chosen sample.

***All students enrolling on the Advanced Whisky Course must previously have completed the Scotch Whisky Trail Certificate Course*** This course will take place within The Good Spirits Company, 23, Bath Street, Glasgow, G3 1HW To enrol, contact: John Lamond The Scotch Whisky Academy e-mail: enquiries@scotchwhiskyacademy.com

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BENJAMIN FRANCIS LEFTWICH, MARCUS FOSTER, THE STAVES, GENERAL FIASCO AND DAVID C CLEMENTS JOIN THE LINE UP FOR ‘BUSHMILLS LIVE’

SNOW PATROL, IAIN ARCHER, FOY VANCE, ELIJAH WOOD ALREADY CONFIRMED FOR HANDMADE WHISKEY AND MUSIC FESTIVAL

Bushmills Village: May 2012: Bushmills™ Irish Whiskey has announced that Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Marcus Foster, The Staves, General Fiasco and David C Clements will join Snow Patrol, Foy Vance, Iain Archer and Elijah Wood on the bill for ‘Bushmills Live’, the handcrafted whiskey and music festival taking place at the Old Bushmills Distillery on 20th and 21st June.

The exciting line up brings together some of the best emerging talent from the UK, Ireland and America to play at the whiskey distillery located on Ireland’s north coast.

Singer-songwriters Marcus Foster and Benjamin Francis Leftwich are two of the most exciting UK based performers today. The Staves are a sisterly trio, who have received huge critical acclaim for their unique song-writing and mesmerising harmonies. They and Northern Irish rock acts General Fiasco and David C Clements complete the impressive line-up.

“I’m delighted with how the line up has come together for the event”, commented Festival Curator for ‘Bushmills Live’, Graham Brown.

“Both ticket winners and the artists are in for a special few days”, said Brown. “Not only will they get to experience world class whiskey and discover how it has been handcrafted in the Bushmills area for centuries, but they’ll be privileged enough to see some of the best live music possible within the intimacy of the old distillery buildings – whiskey and music, it doesn’t get much better than that!”

‘Bushmills Live’ will be a handcrafted festival of whiskey and music and will be the first such event of its kind ever staged in an Irish Whiskey distillery.

More than six thousand people entered the competition to win tickets to ‘Bushmills Live’ via the Bushmills Facebook page – facebook.com/bushmills1608. Up to ten pairs of friends in each participating country have been shortlisted to go through to the next stage of the competition – a public vote on Facebook.

The pair of friends in each country that gets the most votes will make it to Bushmills Live. Voting closes on 25th May 2012.

As well as listening to great music, those fortunate to win a ticket to the festival will also have the opportunity to make their own blend of BUSHMILLS Irish Whiskey.

Colum Egan, Master Distiller at the Old Bushmills Distillery said: “The list of artists that will be performing at ‘Bushmills Live’ is amazing. We already have the world-renowned Snow Patrol playing right here at the distillery. Now we have also have a brilliant line-up of critically acclaimed artists from Ireland, the UK and America that will make ‘Bushmills Live’ a truly landmark event.

“The festival will be a unique occasion and will bring the best of handmade music and the best of handmade Irish whiskey together under one roof – it’s going to be brilliant!”

Snow Patrol’s performance at ‘Bushmills Live’ will go some way to help establish a legacy for new music in Northern Ireland with their fee being donated in full to the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast, which was co-founded by lead singer Gary Lightbody to help to support up-and-coming local musicians.

To find out more about ‘Bushmills Live’, visit facebook.com/bushmills1608 Voting closes at 23:59 on 25th May 2012. Terms and conditions apply.

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Notes

Captions

Picture 1: Colum Egan, Master Distiller at the Old Bushmills Distillery, pictured at the launch of ‘Bushmills Live’, the landmark whiskey and music festival taking place at the Old Bushmills Distillery on 20th and 21st June 2012.

Picture 2: The stage is set for ‘Bushmills Live’, the landmark whiskey and music festival taking place at the Old Bushmills Distillery on 20th and 21st June 2012.

Picture 3: The Old Bushmills Distillery.

The Facebook competition is open to people in:

· Belgium

· Bulgaria

· Germany

· Great Britain

· Netherlands

· Northern Ireland

· Portugal

· Republic of Ireland

· USA

From each, one pair of finalists will win tickets to ‘Bushmills Live’.

Picture #2

The Scotch Whisky Academy

The World’s First Scotch Whisky Evening Class The Scotch Whisky Trail Certificate Course

Specifically created by renowned Scotch Whisky writer, industry expert and Master of Malt, John Lamond, the course stretches over 8 weeks from Monday 3rd September, 2012 at 6.30 p.m. and covers the following:

Production: Basics of Malt & Basics of Grain, barley farming, development of varieties, development of yeast strains, floor v. drum v. Saladin maltings, shapes of stills and derived characters, development of the blend, evolution of labels

Maturation: Dunnage v. modern racking, chemistry of wood, gas chromatography and the development of understanding

History: Geography & geology, growth from the farm to the factory, licensing, legislation and government involvement, water, minerals, natural external influences, the move from pot to continuous, worldwide domination, the whisky barons, greed, prohibition, two world wars, barriers to trade, independent bottlers, the family-owned distillers, the growth of the multi-national

Marketing: Brand development, the development of advertising, the importance of the brand, the way ahead, present & future possibilities.

The course finishes with an exam and the award of the Scotch Whisky Trail Certificate. A distillery visit is programmed for the final evening.

During the 8 weeks, you will taste in excess of 30 different whiskies. In previous courses, students have tasted whiskies such as: Macallan 25 y.o., Deanston 17, Glenfiddich Havana Reserve, Baillie Nicol Jarvie, Dewar’s 12 y.o., Dalmore Cigar Malt, Glenfarclas 15 y.o., Highland Park 18 y.o., Old Pulteney 21 y.o., Lagavulin 1979 & Ardbeg 17 y.o. The cost for this cornucopia of delights? A mere £ 57.00 plus a small cover charge of up to £ 5.00 per evening to cover the cost of some of the whiskies.

This course will take place within The Good Spirits Company, 23, Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 1HW. To enrol, contact: John Lamond The Scotch Whisky Academy e-mail: enquiries@scotchwhiskyacademy.com

The Relaxed Whisky Weekend 7 – 9 September 2012

Fellow whisky enthusiasts,

Less than four months before Maltstock commences again. Time to give you an update.

Spirit of Speyside festival
A delegation of Maltstock was present at the Spirit of Speyside Festival during the first week of May. We very much enjoyed the festival and driving our Maltstock promo car through the beautiful Speyside scenery. Beware! There will be one present at the Feis Isle too. Honk if you see it.. We also met up with some of you and people from the ‘whisky industry’ supporting Maltstock. We went home with plenty of new ideas for ‘Maltstocks to come’.

Confirmed Tastings
During the past few months a lot of work has been done to provide you with an interesting program. Part of the program, as always, are the free tastings. A couple of them are confirmed now, so we can share them with you. We can proudly announce that Master of Malt will be present once more at Maltstock doing “Something special – with free sh*t”.

Japanese whisky will be present as well at Maltstock this year. We are very honoured to welcome Tatsuya Minagawa at Maltstock representing Suntory. Within the next few weeks we hope more tastings will be confirmed. We will publish them on our website. Our guests will be informed about how and when they can book the tastings.

Club Bottle Battle
Again a world premier at Maltstock! Which whisky club has the best club bottling? A couple of Club bottlings have been announced to be entered into our Battle. But there still is room for more. So if you are interested in having fellow enthusiasts judging your Club bottling blindly against others, please compete! Be aware that besides eternal fame and honour some really great prizes are in stock for the winners. Entering bottles and competing is free and you are not required to be present at Maltstock. Although presence is highly recommended of course 😉

Tickets

Almost half of the available tickets have been sold. If you plan on buying tickets for Maltstock, please do so in time! If you wish to purchase your tickets using a credit card, you can do so at the Whisky Shop Dufftown. Besides being able to use your credit card you will be getting a 5% discount on every purchase made at the WSD. This offer extends to our other guests too.

Arthur, Bob, Eline, Rogier & Teun.

www.maltstock.com

Peter Capaldi performs at forthcoming Whisky Stramash

As the final touches are being put in place for 2012’s most unique whisky event, the inaugural Edinburgh Whisky Stramash, which takes place at Surgeons’ Hall on 26th & 27th May, some details of the cast performing the Jura Murder Mystery have been announced.

The Jura Murder Mystery, an experience at this year’s Whisky Stramash, allows audiences to witness the suspense shortly after the gruesome demise of a fictitious Jura Distillery Manager in a classic whodunnit. Peter Capaldi has been cast as the murdered Distillery Manager who comes to life to tell the story in the production that has been described as “Scooby Doo meets Coronation Street”. At the conclusion of the play, audiences will be invited to guess who they suspect the perpetrator to be for the chance of winning a once in a lifetime trip to Jura.

Darroch Ramsay, founding partner of the Whisky Stramash, said: “With us being so close to event, it’s fantastic to have such a famous name in our cast and you can expect fantastic performances from all the production”.

Willie Cochrane, Jura Distillery Manager: “Jura boasts a long and proud tradition of storytelling, legends and mystery, so we’re delighted to see that tradition continued with the very first Whisky Stramash. The winners are in for a real treat when they visit our island. They’ll experience the grandeur of the Lodge, the beauty of Jura’s landscapes and the delights of our whisky!”

The Whisky Stramash will be held on three sessions over the 26th and 27th of May 2012:

Saturday 26th of May 2012: 12pm – 4pm and 5pm – 9pm and Sunday 27th of May 2012: 1pm – 5pm.

For further information, visit the website http://thewhiskystramash.com or follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thewhiskystramash and Twitter http://twitter.com/WhiskyStramash

Notes:

Tickets for the event cost £25 and are available from several outlets TicketSoup.com (online and via telephone 0844 395 4000) and at the SECC and The Hub box offices.

*Dewar’s, Jura, Bunnahabhain, Finnieston, Isle of Mull, Arran Single Malt, Dalmore, Fettercairn, Whyte & Mackay, Aberfeldy, Glenrothes, Amrut, Benromach, Highland Park , Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Drambuie, Black  Bottle, Tobermory, Ledaig, Deanston and Springbank whiskies will all exhibit at the event.
*Glenfiddich is the world’s most awarded range of single malt Scotch whisky.
*Peter Capaldi is an actor from Bishopbriggs Glasgow and regularly performs at the Fort Theatre.
*Whisky Stramash is the brainchild of Scott Martin and Darroch Ramsay who have both been to whisky events all over the world and wanted to create a whisky event with a distinct point of difference.
*Scott and Darroch have a combined experience of 22 years in the drinks industry and both have a keen interest in whisky since working as bartenders. Scott currently works as a global Scotch ambassador and Darroch’s background in Scotch is in brand management.
*Whisky Stramash will give brands the opportunity to present their whiskies to a desirable group of consumers.

The Drambusters Whisky Festival 2012

Tickets are now on sale for our second Whisky Festival at Easterbrook Hall, The Crichton, Bankend Road, Dumfries at £20 per person. We have organised two Master Classes, Bruichladdich and either Tomintoul or McKillop’s Choice. The Master Classes will cost £15 each and are on sale now too.

BUY YOUR FESTIVAL TICKET HERE NOW

BRUICHLADDICH MASTERCLASS

TOMINTOUL/MCKILLOPS CHOICE MASTERCLASS

The festival will run from 12 noon until 4.30pm on Saturday 24th November at our new venue and we are anticipating a larger turnout of both visitors and exhibitors. More information will follow both in the newsletters and also online, so keep an eye on our email newsletters, website and facebook pages as well as our tweets @drambusters and also by text.

Antonia Bruce of Adelphi Distillery, one of Scotland most exclusive Independent Bottlers and Malmaison invite you to an unique whisky tasting. Preview Adelphi’s new summer release of single cask whisky complemented with delicious Malmaison food. Antonia will be sharing her vast whisky knowledge as well as revealing Adelphi’s plans for their brand new distillery. Taste of the new summer collection straight from the barrel for what’s sure to be an unforgettable Sunday afternoon!

Sunday 17th of June, 5.00pm, ticket price £42

That’s Mal Life!

www.adelphidistillery.com/

Bernd Staber

Bar Manager
Malmaison Aberdeen
49-53 Queens Road
Aberdeen
AB15 4YP
T: 01224 327 370
E: bstaber@malmaison.com   

Malt Messenger Bulletin – Kensington Wine Market 20th Anniversay 1 Day Birthday Sale!

Dear Malt Messenger Subscribers, 

The Kensington Wine Market is nearly 20 years old! We were one of Alberta’s first private liquor stores, and we are still growing and thriving 20 years on. To celebrate we are having a massive one day sale on Saturday May 26th! 10AM to 8PM.  so we’re giving our whisky drinkers some great deals. All whiskies, all Single Malts and all Scotch, Canadian, American, Irish, Japanese, Indian whiskies and more will all be 15% off for one day only. You will also be able to purchase your favourite rums for 15% off. This is the most we’ve ever discounted these products as a category before, and it is a can’t miss opportunity. So get on down and pick up those whiskies you’ve been thinking about.  

From Campbeltown on the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland. 

Slainte! 

Andrew Ferguson 

PS-Don’t forget to check out my tour blog at  http://fergusonwhiskytours.com/?page_id=10  or that you can follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/scotch_guy .