Loch Fyne Whiskies has stocked a new item, ‘Balblair Vintage 2000’
Balblair 2000
43% abv
£30.50 inc vat
£25.96 ex vat
Loch Fyne Whiskies
david@lfw.co.uk
Visit our friends at Loch Fyne Whiskies www.lfw.co.uk
Laphroaig 21 Year Old Old & Rare, 1989 Sherry Cask
Description
We don’t see many twenty something sherry matured Laphroaig bottlings – this one from indy’ bottlers Douglas Laing is sure to be a winner.
Single refill sherry hogshead distilled March 1989 and bottled June 2010. 212 bottles.
Distillery: Laphroaig
Founded in 1815. A stupendous complexity of sweet malt, Islay reek, Islay salt, all that is Islay, all that is the Scottish islands, that flows across the palate, that benefits from a chew and, finally rocks your own little foundations.
Tasting Notes
On the nose detect sweetly peated malt plus adistinctly smoked meat style masking some citrus and orange? quality. The palate is initially toffee’d then rollsinto rich smoke, bonfire ash and soft summer tar. It finishes in a smoky/damp wood style, clovestudied oranges, and even some burnt toast!
Product Details
Age: 21 Years Old
Vintage: 1989
ABV: 56.9%
Volume: 70cl
Bottler: Douglas Laing
Scotland’s Online Whisky Shop
On-sale NOW
August Outturn: 11 mouth-watering single casks
WOW-wee, this August Outturn explodes with a colourful cartwheel of characters. Delve straight in this First Friday, find your saviour flavour.
125.39 Gateau de Mille-feuilles
Highland Northern
£67.40 inc. Free P&P
A stunning multi-layered dessert; ripe peach stone, vanilla pods in mucovado sugar, wood spices, custard apple and pain au chocolat.
Pair Recommendation: Buy 125.39 with 35.39 for £97 (save£12.60)
48.23 Marshmallows and barley fields
Speyside Spey
£40.20 inc. Free P&P
The palate had sweet and creamy vanilla with warm toasted marshmallows and candy floss; a spicy prickle brought candied fennel and tarragon, and zingy chocolate limes
Trio Recommendations: Buy 48.23 with 76.71 & 27.82 for £138
(save £17.70)
19.47 Dried roses in a shoe-box
Highland Eastern
£58.30 inc. Free P&P
The palate tasted of sweet biscuits and golden syrup sponge, but with the welcome muscularity of ginger cake, malt loaf and exotic teas.
33.90 Cocktails in a chimney
Islay
£57.30 inc. P&P
Coconut, elderflower and lime aromas suggested exotic cocktails, but the Malt-meister was in a malt kiln; certainly there was peat smoke, chimneys, coal-dust, charcoal, tar and liquorice.
DRAMA at Hotel du Vin & Malmaison
Our August Outturn is also creating some drama at Aberdeen Malmaison & Birmingham and Brighton Hotel du Vin.
Sample drams 19.47, 36.47, 76.71 & 3.163 at each of the three hotels
Ask at the bar for more details
Browse all bottlings at http://tinyurl.com/33qnu8d (84 different bottlings)
2010 Edinburgh Festival Events this August
Our programme of Tutored Tastings at The Vaults and 28 Queen Street is almost underway, don’t miss out on a ticket…
The Vaults: Wed 11, Fri 13, Wed 18, Fri 20, Wed 25, Fri 27 August
Queen Street: Thu 12, Sat 14, Thu 19, Sat 21, Thu 26, Sat 28 August
SMWS Whisky Tasting & Events
New Outturn Open Tasting – London, Sat 7 Aug
New Outturn & Sunday Roast Tasting – The Vaults, Sun 8 Aug
New Outturn Open Tasting – London, Mon 9 Aug
Steak & Chips Tasting – The Vaults, Mon 23 Aug
London Eye Sundown Tasting – London, Fri 27 Aug
Aberdeen Preview Tasting -Caledonian Thistle Hotel, Fri 27 Aug
Harrogate Preview Tasting – Old Swan Hotel, Fri 27 Aug
Visit the Scotch Malt Whisky Society for your chance to join at www.smws.co.uk
Launch of The Arran Malt 14 Years Old
Be the first to taste The Arran Malt 14 Years Old FOR FREE!
The world launch of the first ever 14 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky from the Isle of Arran Distillery will take place in the whisky bar of the renowned Òran Mór in Glasgow’s West End on Wednesday 11th August 2010. But this is no ordinary whisky tasting………………
The Isle of Arran has a long history of whisky production, both legal and illicit, and in the past casks of the famous ‘Arran waters’ were smuggled to the mainland under the noses of the customs men. In the spirit of days gone by the first cask of The Arran Malt 14 Years Old will be brought directly from the Isle of Arran Distillery in Lochranza by boat to Glasgow Quay where a horse and cart will be waiting to transport it to Òran Mór. Accompanied by Arran’s Master Distiller, James MacTaggart, the cask will be piped into the whisky bar at approximately 6.30pm and the first 100 samples will be poured straight from the cask absolutely free of charge – no catch, honest! Expect a great evening with delicious canapés supplied using food sourced from the Isle of Arran and music provided by Arran’s very own Robyn & Amie (“The Safe Words”).
Come and have a chat with James MacTaggart, enjoy the food, music, banter and above all be the first in the world to sample this fantastic new single malt from the Isle of Arran Distillery.
But the great drams don’t end there…..The Arran Malt 10 Years Old is Malt of the Month in Òran Mór throughout August! Make a date for your diary…..
Visit the Òran Mór http://www.oran-mor.co.uk/page/The_Whisky_Bar_152.html
and Isle of Arran Distillery at http://www.arranwhisky.com/
Port Ellen Mackillop’s Choice 1979 30yo 51.9%alc.
Distilled 30th August 1979
Bottled June 2010
Mr. MacKillop’s notes are somewhat surgical, analytical with interesting observations:
Colour: Golden colour with khaki flecks.
Nose: Smoky, sweet, malt. Some vegetal tones, but also marine seaweed, sea-salt, and some floralness.
Palate: Powerful, but with some citrus and floral tones as well as seaweed and flinty smoke.
Finish: Nice, elegant but full finish.
See ‘label explanations’ above for more information.
Price excluding VAT: £124.25
£145.99 Including VAT at 17.5%
Visit Loch Fyne Whiskies at www.lfw.co.uk
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Single Malts Direct Newsletter
BenRiach and GlenDronach Special New Releases
August 2010
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Greetings!
Wow. Have we got some exotic and colourful releases this week.
Fresh from the GlenDronach and BenRiach warehouses are these beauties, very much whiskies for the summer with lots of fruit, vanilla and floral elements.
Read on for more…
New GlenDronach Releases
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14 YO Sauternes A creamy, custard pudding with strawberries, apples and rhubarb Only £41.99inc Vat £35.74 ex Vat.
14 YO Virgin Oak Tropical fruit salad with hints of ginger and Cinnamon. Only £41.99 inc Vat £35.74 ex Vat.
15 YO Moscatel A fruity and nutty combination with hints of summer fruits- melon, pineapple and raisins Only £44.99 inc Vat £38.29 ex Vat.
20 YO Tawny Port Wine elements with stewed fruits of prunes, pears and apples Only £64.99 inc Vat £55.31 ex Vat.
New BenRiach Releases
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17 YO Rioja Wood Dry and robust with vanilla, grapes and floral elements £44.99 inc Vat £38.29 ex Vat.
17 YO Burgundy Wood Summer red berries and cocoa with vanilla creme-£44.99 inc Vat £38.29 ex Vat.
16 YO Claret Wood Clean and fruity with spice fruit scones enrobed in a fig and date syrup £39.99 inc Vat £34.03 ex Vat.
Contact Information
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phone: 0845 6066145
email: info@singlemaltsdirect.com
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GLENDRONACH RELEASES FOUR NEW WOOD FINISHES
More good news from GlenDronach. On top of the news that its sales have soared since the launch of its 12, 15 and 18YO core range last year, the Aberdeenshire distillery has announced the forthcoming release of four new wood finishes – the first of their kind ever to be released by the distillery in its one hundred and eighty-year history.
This month they’ll launch the much-anticipated Sauternes, Virgin Oak, Moscatel and Tawny Port Wood finishes.
Each unique expression was initially matured in European oak and thereafter finished its maturation in a very small batch of the respective wine barrels (or in one case, virgin oak), which have given the whisky its own unique flavours and aromas.
All are non-chill filtered and of natural colour and are bottled at 46%abv.
GlenDronach 14YO Sauternes Finish
Appearance – bright lemon straw
Nose – juicy and fresh. A blanket of creamed soda and wild strawberries backed up lush late harvest dessert wine. Hints of sherbet and ripe cherries. Very fruity.
Palate – apples and rhubarb drenched in home-made custard. Sweet dessert wine influences emerge with ripe sultanas and a lovely creamy heart.
Conclusions – sweet fresh and fragrant with balanced acidity. Lots of finesse and elegance, whilst still maintaining the lively youthful elements.
GlenDronach 14YO Virgin Oak Finish
Appearance – light gold. Freshly harvested straw.
Nose – toasted oak elements which are so intense that smoky attributes emerge. Sweet and lush tropical fruits rise with prominence. Banana and cacao, with roasted coconut.
Palate – spiced ginger and cinnamon cake with a beautiful smoky twist. Creamed dessicated coconut and fresh buttered toast with a handful of hazelnuts on the side.
Conclusion – a glorious nut feast with superb depth.
GlenDronach 15YO Moscatel Finish
Appearance – light gold.
Nose – golden syrup and nutmeg. Poached peaches and apricot flavours with fresh figs and dates. Subtle marzipan on the tail intensifies the aromatics.
Palate – sweet summer fruits of melon and pineapple intertwined with sweet ripe raisins and alcohol infused figs. Subtle marzipan adds a smooth round nutty edge.
Conclusion – a warming mix of fruit, nuts. Lovely length and balance.
GlenDronach 20YO Tawny Port Finish
Appearance – bright amber with a subtle tawny edge.
Nose – lashings of fine fortified wine elements and a generous portion of Mediterranean fruits including figs and dates.
Palate – stewed fruits of prunes, pears and apples. The stewed fruit is balanced with an injection of liquorice and subtle aniseed flavours. Massive power and definition.
Conclusion – a complex dram with a fantastic fortified backbone.
The release of a series of non-sherry wood finishes is certainly quite a departure from the norm for GlenDronach, where the tradition is to mature the whisky in big, rich sherry casks such as Oloroso and Pedro Ximinez.
As MD Billy Walker explained: “We’re not looking to change the style of GlenDronach. Our focus will continue to be on richly sherried malts, but we were interested to see how the whisky would react to different types of wood. It was important that the whiskies we selected for ‘finishing’ were not typical GlenDronach (richly sherried); instead we opted for whisky that had been maturing in lighter casks – this meant we could experience in full the impact of the second cask, be it Sauternes, Virgin Oak, Moscatel or Tawny Port.
“Each of these ‘finishes’ has been bottled in relatively small quantities, ranging from 340 cases of the Tawny Port Finish to 860 cases of the Virgin Oak Finish.”
The wood finishes will available in over twenty export markets, and in the UK through independent specialist whisky retailers, as well as at the distillery shop.
UK RRPs are as follows (70cl / 46%):
14YO Sauternes Finish – £41.99
14YO Virgin Oak Finish – £41.99
15YO Moscatel Finish – £44.99
20YO Tawny Port Finish – £64.99
Visit GlenDronach Distillery at www.glendronachdistillery.co.uk
The New Octomore 3_152
Maltstock Pre-order special!!!
Octomore 3_152
The world’s peatiest whisky: 152 ppm! This Octomore is not yet available in any shop. But you can already pre-order it through Maltstock. And with a very special Maltstock discount!
Maltstock guests pay just € 87,50 per bottle. (The estimated price in the shop is around € 110,- ).Your bottle(s) will be waiting for you at Maltstock.
Not able to come to Maltstock, but still would like to pre-order this Octomore? That’s also possible: for just € 95,- euro’s (+ shipping) you can pre-order your bottle(s). Bottles will be send to you early September.
This 5 year old Octomore has been matured in ex-bourbon casks. At 152 ppm it is the world’s peatiest whisky! It will be bottled at cask strength 59% ABV and is distilled from Scottish grown barley. Matured and bottled on Islay. “The iron fist in a velvet glove”
To order your bottle(s) simply send an e-mail to: info@maltstock.com
Maltstock tickets
If you haven’t bought your Maltstock tickets yet, please do so as soon as possible. Tickets are not available at the Maltstock gates. All tickets need to be bought in advance through our online webshop. You can also still register for the free Malttsock tastings as soon as you have bought your tickets.
Hope to see you all in September, see you at Maltstock!
Arthur, Bob, Eline, Rogier & Teun
www.maltstock.com
Once in a while something very amusing arrives at Whisky Intelligence and this is one of those times. Glenfiddich seems to be keeping this close to their chests for some odd reason which of course never works with bloggers…many thanks to Tim for taking the time to write this up.
Glenfiddich Explorers Competition
AUTHOR: Tim Forbes at the Whisky Exchange
All kinds of cloak-and-dagger skullduggery from Glenfiddich in the last few weeks, clearly designed to engage the whisky blog community:
Part 1 – A cryptic email on 19th July from a PR flunkey, enquiring about our address and promising a ‘rather valuable’ parcel to arrive on 26th July.
Part 2 – An apologetic email on 27th July, explaining that as not all the whisky bloggers to be involved in the ’surprise event’ had supplied their addresses on time (naughty bloggers!), the parcels were being delayed, but would be sent out on Friday 30th for arrival early this week
Part 3 – A notification email on Tuesday 3rd August explaining that the parcel was to be sent on Wednesday on a pre-noon delivery. What a palaver!
Part 4 – The arrival this morning of a locked wooden box, with instructions to watch my inbox (presumably for the combination to the lock).
That enigmatic Glenfiddich box
Sadly, we’re very busy here and the Glenfiddich PR team had reckoned without the dodgy Lithuanian who shares my desk. I’m sure he’s an escaped criminal. Anyway, the lock withstood his attentions for around 6 seconds, to reveal a bottle of distillery-only cask strength Glenfiddich Solera 15 (nice) and a URL which took us to a new warehouse exploration website – and there’s a competition involved, with the prize of a £3000 holiday. If that’s not worth a whisky blog post, I don’t know what is, so well done Glenfiddich on that one. You have my attention.
That Glenfiddich box after a few seconds of Lithuanian interference
Here’s what to do to enter the comp:
1) Go to Glenfiddichexplorers.co.uk and register to become a Glenfiddich Explorer. Then click to Explore the Warehouse.
2) You go through a padlock and are told to turn your sound on. Be warned that some ambient music will follow. You can turn this off by clicking on the little graphic equalizer in the bottom right hand corner.
3) The idea is that you ‘explore’ the warehouse by clicking on arrows. Your mission is to find a shovel, a suitcase and an oak leaf.
4) When you find each item you will be shown a video of an earnest Scottish man talking very softly about various Glenfiddich-y stuff. Don’t forget to turn your sound back on if you want to hear him. However, viewers prone to nausea may not wish to hear that by drinking Glenfiddich, in a sense, we’re all pioneers.
5) After you’ve found all the items you will be taken to a cask and prompted to select your holiday preferences, followed by a few standard questions on how much Glenfiddich you drink etc. You are then entered into the competition.
I jumped through all the relevant hoops, but unfortunately the site got stuck the first time I arrived at the oak leaf, so I had to go back and start again. Not wishing to have to plough through the whole warehouse navigation thing again, I found a few shortcuts, which I hereby pass on for the benefit of readers with a low tolerance for earnest Scottish men talking about symbolic suitcases. Fortunately, you can speed the whole process up immensely if you so desire:
a) Once you’re in the warehouse, skip the faffing around and go directly to each item by clicking on the Map at the bottom of the screen.
b) After you’ve arrived at each item, skip the earnest young man’s videos by hovering your mouse over him as soon as he appears.
The prizes are allocated at certain pre-set times – you win if you finish the game at any of these pre-set times. According to the terms & conditions, the prizes include:
26 x pair of whisky glasses
1 x Private Tasting with Jamie Milne
1 x Private Tasting with Brian Kinsman
1 x Trip to The Glenfiddich Distillery
18 x Tasting sets consisting of 1×20cl Glenfiddich 12 year old, 1×20cl 15 y/o, 1×20cl 18 y/o
2 x 70cl Bottle of The Glenfiddich Distillery Malt
13 x 70cl Bottle of The Glenfiddich Rich Oak
36 x The Glenfiddich Golf Umbrellas
11 x The Glenfiddich Ice Buckets
Good Luck! Many thanks to Glenfiddich’s long-suffering PR team for my box, and hopefully they’ll forgive me for exercising my ‘pioneer spirit’ and ‘exploring’ it a bit early.
Update: Have now received a clue as to how to find out who’s got my combination. It’s redundant now that I’ve already broken in, but that’s not their fault. I’ve also received someone else’s combination. If any of my whisky blog colleagues has received a clue that says ‘Look for a mouthy idiot’, that’s probably me and your code is 765.
Smokehead Single Malt Scotch Whisky $54.99
Edinburgh, 02 June 2010: SMOKEHEAD was awarded an International Review of Spirits’ Gold Medal by the highly respected Beverage Testing Institute (BTI).
Judged by an expert panel from BTI in the institution’s Chicago Tasting Room, Smokehead was awarded an ‘Exceptional’ rating of 91/100 for its explosive, peaty flavours. With the appearance of ‘bright old gold’, the panel commented on the Single Malt’s ‘aromas of honeyed raisin scone, dried peaches and medical tinctures with a hint of cedar and mesquite-like smokiness’.
The BTI also commented on Smokehead’s ‘good depth and lingering body’ with ‘subtly complex and earthy smoked wood, leather and a prairie grass driven finish’.
Visit D&M at www.dandm.com
