NEW: THE BALVENIE FORTY
Malt Master David Stewart has revealed that 2010 will see the debut of a new expression, the first 40 year-old ‘marriage’ from The Balvenie. Produced in a small batch of 150 bottles, The Balvenie Forty will be available in selected Duty Free outlets from July.
Supernova is back by popular demand.
The new 2010 expression is out of this world – even deeper, stronger and earthier than the award-winning 2009 edition.
60.1% ABV
Non-chill filtered
70cl
Tasting Notes
Colour: Deep gold
Aroma: Big and powerful with peaty, earthy and deep herbal notes.
With the first sniff, encounter deep earthy peat oils and crushed black pepper embedded in the darkest chocolate. Swirl the glass and dip your nose into herbal infusions of juniper, elderflower and agave. Tarry ropes and creosote-soaked elm follow with flowering currants, olives and hot chilli peppers.
Swirl water into the glass, and voyage into the unknown with smoky coal tar, an open box of rolling tobacco, peat moss and roasted malt. A barbeque of smoky charcoal rises above the peat moss, softened by camomile, cedar and heather bloom. A blast of brine, white pepper and smoky asparagus escapes into the atmosphere with a spritely display of gooseberries and greengages.
Taste
Ardbeg challenges the palate with a smoke and salt explosion – hot, sizzling and gristy sensations effervesce and explode on the tongue with a powerful peaty punch. Black and white crushed pepper pop with chilli and chocolate. Chewy sweet rolling tobacco, linseed oil and newly tanned leather roll backwards on a wave of brininess and burst of juicy lime marmalade. Cigar smoke builds up to a crescendo before drying out to bring dark roast earthy coffee, toasted almonds and liquorice root.
Finish
Long, deep and powerful, refusing to fade away – remaining warm and drying with tarry peat, cocoa and chilli.
http://www.ardbeg.com/shop/supernova-2010
Lombard Scotch Whisky is a family owned and managed company. It was established in the mid 1960s, initially as a “whisky broker”, supplying bulk whisky to blenders. To meet market demand, the company had to secure its own stocks. Lombard contracted “new fill” whiskies at selected distilleries (a practice that remains) and a stock base was developed. You can read more on the Lombard website www.lombardscotchwhisky.com
Lombard Gold Label Blended Scotch Whisky
The first brand to be released from Lombard, as it diversified into the cased goods market during the early 1980s. It was an award winning blend and was a good reflection of the company’s mood to produce a whisky that aimed to re-create the pre-war image of whisky and to re-establish traditional whisky values. It lay specific emphasis on the malts within (predominantly Speysiders). Harrod’s Book of Whiskies said “Peaty aroma, slightly peaty flavour with a dry finish. A good all round blend.”
Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible 2008 says:
Nose: Chunky with a good malt depth.
Taste: Silky and mouthfilling with the malts weaving beautifully into the grains; honeycomb towards the middle.
Finish: Delicate spice and toffeenut.
Balance: Excellently weighted with some wonderful honeycomb and spice making their mark.
March 2008 Lombard’s Gold Label was awarded Silver Medal in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Gold Label recently had an update on its merchandising and was launched into USA. The brand range consists of 500ml PET, 750ml, 1 litre and 1.75L.
Lombard’s Single Malts
Lombard’s whisky broking, acquired over many years, a formidable stock base of Single Malt Scotch Whisky, predominantly whiskies from the higher rated distilleries (ie, those most sought after by the blending houses). The stocks of aged and rare Single Malts, held by Lombard are wide-ranging and diverse, including whiskies from distilleries now closed and lesser known malts. The 1990s witnessed the malt whisky category develop and Lombard diversify its interests to the cased goods market – the company’s first move to control the utilisation of mature stock.
Lombard’s range of Single Malts is named ‘The Jewels of Scotland’ – an apt name given the heritage possessed by the whiskies offered under this name. These range from 46%al.vol (92 US proof) to cask strength – however, the benchmark bottling strength is 50%alc.vol (100% US Proof). These whiskies are never tampered with, ie, not chill filtered, not caramelised and not artificially coloured. At the bottom of each face label there is a colour coding for the distillation area. This gives a greater understanding of what to expect from the accompanying whisky – especially when the bottled whisky has a Distillery name or heritage that is unknown to the consumer. Every face label provides tasting notes and gives advice on what to look for when sampling.
May 2010 Bottled Stocks
Jewels of Scotland
Aberlour 1970 46% 700ml
Balblair 1964 43% 700ml
Balmenach 1979 50% 750ml
Bruichladdich 1991 50% 750ml
Bunnahabhain 1979 50% 750ml
Caol Ila 1984 50% 750ml
Clynelish 1982 50% 750ml
Dailuaine 1973 50% 750ml
Deanston 1977 50% 750ml
Edradour 1968 50% 700ml
Glen Elgin 1975 50% 750ml
Glen Grant 1964 46% 750ml
Highland Park 1988 50% 750ml
Littlemill 1990 50% 750ml
Lochside 1981 50% 750ml
Macallan 1989 58% 700ml
Mortlach 1990 50% 700ml
Springbank 1991 50% 750ml
Springbank 1965 46% 750ml
Tamdhu 1989 50% 750ml
Tobermory 1972 46% 700ml
Tomatin 1966 46% 700ml
Tomatin 1965 46% 700ml
Tullibardine 1989 50% 700ml
Lombard Single Malt
Caperdonich 27yr 46% 750ml
Speyside 8yr 43% 750ml
Teaninich 12yr 43% 750ml
Lombard Scotch Whisky Ltd.
Bourne House, College Street.
Ramsey, Isle of Man IM8 1JW
British Isles
Tel + 44 1624 814345
www.lombardscotchwhisky.com
Your chance to sample The Irishman Rare Cask Strength
Following the very successful take up of our offer to whiskey clubs for St. Patrick’s Day in March of a miniature (50ml) of The Irishman Irish Whiskey (Superior Blend or Single Malt) to let you nose and taste our excellent whiskey, we would now like to offer you the chance to sample The Irishman Rare Cask Strength. A limited number of (unlabelled) miniatures of our Rare Cask Strength have been hand filled at the bottling plant. If you’re interested, drop us an e-mail with full mailing address and the name of your whisk(e)y club (you’ll understand that, as before, we need to limit this offer to one miniature per whisk(e)y club for logistical, packaging and postage cost reasons).
And the Winner is….
Did you know….
…The Irishman Single Malt has been rated as the 3rd best Irish Whiskey in the U.S. by rating agency Proof 66?
…The Irishman Irish Cream has recently won a Silver Medal at the 2010 San Francisco World Spirit Competition (Cream Liqueur Category)?
Sláinte!
Loch Fyne Whiskies has stocked ‘Mortlach 70yo G&M 70cl’
Mortlach 1938 70yo G&M 70cl
46.1% abv
£10,000.00 inc vat
£8,510.64 ex vat
THE OLDEST BOTTLED SINGLE MALT WHISKY IN THE WORLD – EVER!
…’old Victorian Scottishness (gunrooms, worn tartan carpet, tobacco stained paintwork, wet leather and stuff like that)…’
Also available: Mortlach 1938 70yo 70cl plus the matching 20cl both with the same bottle number £12,500.00 inc vat […]
From David Driscoll at K&L;
Some of you who subscribe to my whisk(e)y newsletter may recall my mentioning of a possible double cask purchase – a whole barrel of 1991 Aberlour and a cask of 1982 Clynelish all for ourselves and our customers. Well, I’m happy to write that the deal has gone through and last night, I went out to dinner with Andrew Morrison, whose family owns the A.D. Rattray line – from whom we purchased both whiskies. We really had a great time talking about his family’s history in the whisky business, his future role in helping to develop the Rattray label, and how we could team up to really bring awesome products to our customers.
Also dining with us were booze industry veterans Todd Smith and Rich Trachtenberg, who participated with us in our night long discussion about where Scotch whisky was headed and how we could all stay afloat in this business for as long as possible. My opinion as a retailer is based on what I see moving off the shelves and the comments of my customers. I made it clear that the current trend cask finishing was wearing thin on the patience of the whisky fans I knew, not to mention the multitude of bottlings that these various enhancements produced. “Who cares if it’s the same whisky in five different wine barrels?!” I said. My fears always revolve around our customers wallets being stretched too thin. “All people care about is good whisky, maybe at cask strength, from a solid distillery, and at a reasonable price. That’s all you need; nothing more,” I finished.
Innovation is necessary in all fields of business, but there is nothing to be said for creativity just for the sake of it. Good booze is good all on it’s own – there’s a reason people have been drinking the same Bordeaux wines for centuries. As we sipped our respective beers and cocktails, we all agreed that what people wanted was easier access to that good booze. Andrew and Rich mentioned that the whisky business has always been a rollercoaster ride, with prices rising and falling consistently over the years. With the world economy in the toilet, Andrew thanked his lucky stars that he wasn’t two years into a new distillery sitting on a rickhouse full of malt too young to drink. I told him that he was exactly where I would want to be: using his long-founded family relationships to track down the best barrels in Scotland. “You want selection,” I said, “but you want to be able to consistently bring in new products. How many different whiskies can you afford to make?” With the Rattray line, Andrew’s family is able to bring in a new whisky every time the old one runs out. So far I’ve yet to taste one stinker in the whole catalog, and it’s only a matter of time before people start associating that quality with his company.
As far as the future for retailers goes, I think our best bets are to start working with experts we trust and people we like to meet our common goals. I really like Rich, Todd, and Andrew and they really know their stuff. We brainstorm ideas constantly about how we can do our jobs better. I long for the old-school, small-town grocery type of relationship with my customers. If I could have a whisky barrel open in the store where everyone could bring in a bottle and fill it up every week, I would do it. I would love to have a new cask every month that people could enjoy until it ran out, only to be replaced by something new and exciting. While I can’t have the cask open in the store, I can have it bottled for me and available for purchase, so that’s where I’m headed and that’s where guys like Andrew fit in. He finds me the barrel and I sell it for him – it’s a win-win for us and for our whisky-drinking friends who depend on us for good advice.
So while we wait for A.D. Rattray to bottle our newest barrel acquisitions to make their way over the pond, I’ve got some of Andrew’s other selections available for purchase. Currently in the Redwood City store I have an outstanding Bowmore 17 Year Cask Strength $89.99 full of smoky almonds and rich amber flavor. On the Spey side of things, we just received the Balblair 19 Year Cask Strength $74.99 which to me is a veritable steal of a malt – perfect balance of power, sweetness, and length. Along with the two we have in stock we offer many more on special order (go to the website and search Rattray).
At the end of the night, as I was sitting on the midnight train back down to San Mateo, I thought about how much fun it is to work with people who really care about building something from the ground up. I’m hoping that we’re on the verge of doing great things with all the new barrels we are ordering, and I’m glad that there are people like Andrew in his family who just as excited as I am. It makes everything so much easier – and fun.
Visit K&L at http://www.klwines.com/
The starting point for any great whisky is the new make spirit. The liquid that comes off the still is, literally, the essence of single malt Scotch whisky. I’ve always thought we make excellent spirit and that we should sell it. At last, the powers that be have seen sense.
As you know, Highland Park is the most respected single malt in the world: Earl Magnus winning New Release of the Year at the World Whisky Awards 2010 is simply the latest in a long line of awards for every expression we produce.
This wouldn’t happen without the highest quality spirit. It always surprises me by its freshness and complexity; the spirit already features the trademark balance between sweetness and peat. Highland Park’s spirit forms the DNA of the flawless character of every expression of our award-winning whiskies. Now you can taste it for yourself…
It is distinctively aromatic, full-bodied and floral. Orkney peat – thousands of years old and based on hardy heather – imparts wonderful honey sweetness. The shape of the stills, coupled with the expertise of our stillman, emphasises the delicious fruity flavour.
The judicious addition of water assists in the revelation of the sprit’s complexity; peat, pear drops and freshly cut grass are immediately obvious. These flavours develop until the arrival of a lingering, smoky aftertaste which gently dries the mouth.
Highland Park New Make Spirit is being sold reduced to 50% abv. Why reduced, you ask? Well, although we sell whiskies at a higher strength than this, they are at a much higher price. At £20 for a 35cl bottle we would not like to be thought of as being socially irresponsible by bottling at full strength.
Highland Park New Make Spirit is available exclusively from our secure on-line store and the distillery.
For more information on the Best Spirit in the World visit www.highlandpark.co.uk
Gerry
Whisky Brand Ambassador of the Year, 2010
May Outturn ON SALE NOW
May Outturn: 13 single casks that’ll SUIT YOU Sir?
With such outstanding variety this Outturn, there’s sure to be something to suit all tastes and moods. Of course, if you’re finding it hard to decide there’s always the Society’s recommendations.
These dapper drams are our picks of the bunch; the bottlings that tickled our noses and had us giddy with excitement. Give them a twirl…
Smoky Sherried Pair: Buy 10.71 & 93.38 for £85 (save £10.40)
10.71 Onions Spring Enternal £44.70 inc. Free P&P
Islay: The orimental flavours of the east meet sweet in this golden beauty. Grab the chopsticks and tuck in (Forks available on request
93.38 Stirs the atavistic soul £50.70 inc. Free P&P
Campbeltown: Lip-smacks you between the eyes. A deliciously complex beast of a dram, one minute singing with chocolate, the next singeing with burning twigs
Best Buy Pair: Buy 95.11 & 35.38 for £88.50 (save £11)
95.11 Punched in the face with happiness £57.30 inc. Free P&P
Speyside Spey: “Call the surgeon, this one’s got one heck of a nose on it!” Syrups and sandelwood, teas and Turkish coffee, you won’t know where to look
35.38 “Fire in the hole!” £42.20 inc. Free P&P
Speyside Lossie: “Sweet, with pecans and popcorn, old-fashioned sweetiBOOM! Chillies cinder toffee and lava explode out of nowhere in the mouth. So moreish.”
Case Offer: Buy all SIX for £287.70 (save £35)
10.71 Onions Spring Enternal £44.70 inc. Free P&P
Turn your nose east and waft up the asian flavours
9.49 It’s in the bag £78 inc. Free P&P
Sod Terry and Dawn. This sweet choccie orange is ours
35.38 “Fire in the hole!” £42.20 inc. Free P&P
hooo…hooo…ha….ha..ha. A spicy wee devil this one
125.35 Amontillado and Aubergine £64.40 inc. Free P&P
A complex discusser – things kicked off amongst the Panel and taste buds
39.75 Cuban Memories £46.70 inc. Free P&P
Gunpowder, cigars, riches galore -viva la Revolucion!
G1.7 Flamed Christmas Pudding £46.70 inc. Free P&P
Sweeeeeet! Christmas comes especially early in this rich dram
SIX of the BEST
@ Aberdeen Mal & Birmingham & Brighton Hotel du Vin
125.35 Amontillado and Aubergine
35.38 “Fire in the hole!”
95.11 Punched in the face with happiness
93.38 Stirs the atavistic soul
53.140 Swelling, crashing waves of flavours
G1.7 Flamed Christmas pudding
Enjoy six of the best single cask single malts from May Outturn at the bar at Aberdeen Malmaison and Birmingham & Brighton Hotel du Vin.
SMWS Whisky Tasting & Events
Birmingham Preview Tasting – Brighton Hotel Du Vin, Fri 14 May
Cafe Spice Nameste – Cafe Spice London, Tue 18 May
Cardiff Preview Tasting – Novotel Cardiff Centre, Fri 21 May
Islay and Island Tasting – 28 Queen Street, Sat 22 May
Cafe Fish & Dram Tasting – The Vaults, Mon 24 May
All things Japanese Night – The Vaults, Thu 27 May
Liverpool Preview Tasting -Malmaison, Thu 27 May
Aberdeen Preview Tasting – Caledonian Thistle Hotel, Fri 28 May
Bristol Preview Tasting – Hotel Du Vin, Fri 28 May
Pan-Asian Curry Experience – London, Sat 29 May
Visit the Society at http://www.smws.com/
Battle of the Glen™
Special Edition Glen Breton®
Glenora Distillery, Glenville, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
A Single Malt worthy of the campaign commemorated by this Special Edition.
Colour
A rare dissolution of gold – at break of dawn, the first brushing of the sun upon the snow-covered lakes of the Bras d’Or;
Nose
Subtle, summer-cut applewood, with undertones of Highland honey;
Taste
Taking by surprise, come the waves of malt, powerful, but without overbearing, then a complex orchard of flavour;
Finish
Rich, almost lubricious mouthfeel, The malt withdraws into heat, resolving into the warm caress of an enduring companion, Peat character is very
subtle – rather wisps of hardwood smoke, evoking memories of autumn leaves;
Balance
The play between lightness of the whisky and the strength of the malt is a work of harmony….and mystery…….
David A. Copp January 2010
Shades of Bruichladdich! A battle well fought and fairly won.
The Dalmore Mackenzie 46% abv
£89.90 inc vat (£76.51 ex vat)
Limited to 3,000 bottles, with the chance to send in for a print of the original cover artwork.
From RJ @ LFW;
It’s eight weeks since I was given a taster bottle of this Dalmore and it has been very hard to leave some for sharing in the shop, it is our first ace bottling from Dalmore, an appreciation in part due to the 46% bottling strength.
This is a luscious whisky, 11 years in American white wood followed by six in port have created a creamy-smooth dram, very inviting. There is a lot going on, plums and feints (honey and tobacco), port-and-whisky flavours. Water sprays floral perfumes like a shower in the sun, sweet and entirely luscious. Ace.
On the flavour map it’s in square I 7 on the rich side of Rich and Smoky.
‘…Water sprays floral perfumes like a shower in the sun, sweet and entirely luscious. Ace.’
Visit Loch Fyne Whiskies at www.lfw.co.uk
