Benrinnes 12 Year Old “Cane & Grain” (Mahler-Besse) Single Cask Plantation Rum Barrel Aged Cask Strength Non Chillfiltred Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $79.99 View

Benrinnes is a historical and unique distillery in the Speyside region. Founded in 1826 and completely destroyed by a flood in 1829, the distillery was rebuilt in 1835 a few kilometers from the original site. Once again devastated by flames in 1896, it was entirely reconstructed in 1956. Benrinnes gained international recognition for the finesse of its whiskies produced through unique 2.5-ish distillations and traditional worm tub cooling. This incredible barrel of Benrinnes was purchased exclusively by the renowned Bordeaux Negociant Mähler-Besse. Aged for its entire 12 years in barrels that had previously held rum from the famous Plantation Rum producer based in Cognac. Distilled on June 10th, 2010, it was bottled in 2022 without coloring or chill-filtration at a natural cask strength of 56.2% abv.

2009 Linkwood 13 Year Old “Cane & Grain” Single Cask Ruby Port Cask Aged Cask Strength Non Chillfiltered Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $79.99 View

Renowned for the quality and aging potential of its whiskies, the Linkwood distillery was founded in 1821 outside of Elgin. Just 2% of its production is designed for single malt production, while the remaining portion in the various Diageo blends like Johnnie Walker. Disilled in November of 2009 its spent 13 years maturing in high quality Ruby Port casks, and was bottled in January 2023 at cask strength of 58.2%. Bottled straight from the cask, this single malt is non-chill-filtered, and no colorants have been added. It was bottled exclusively for famed Bordeaux negociant Mähler-Besse. This single cask yields 277 bottles. K&L is the exclusive US source.

2008 Mannochmore 14 Year Old “Cane & Grain” Single Cask Marsala Barrique Aged Cask Strength Non Chillfiltered Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml) $89.99 View

The relatively young Mannochmore distillery was built in 1971 by Haig & Co. A stone’s throw from Glenlossie and a skip, hop, jump to Longmorn, its part of a group of core workhorse malts in northern Speyside that don’t get much fanfare outside of concoisseur and collectors circles. Only a tiny fraction of its production is destined for single malt production and even fewer sold as single casks. Their 3 sets of paired stills produce a fruit forward malty style of whisky that works wonders in high quality oak like this one. Distilled on February 5th of 2008 and aged for 14 years in freshly dumped Marsala barrique it was bottled in January 2023 at 51.6%. This single cask produced just 299 bottles bottled exclusively for famed Bordeaux negociante Mähler-Besse. Bottled straight from the cask, this single malt is non-chill-filtered, and no colorants have been added.

SPRINGBANK 21 YEAR OLD 46%

UK RRP £260 – £270

NOSE
Dunnage warehouse, old library books, leather, treacle and cinnamon notes kick off this rich dram.

PALATE
Viscous and thick on the palate, there are notes of dark fruits, bung cloth and dates, with touches of spice and peat smoke.

FINISH
A long-lasting finish, there are notes of salted caramel, toffee and the continuation of the peat smoke note.

This photo is credited to the teams of @frombarreltobottle

J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery Celebrates Its Heritage with Launch of Classic Bourbon

Small Batch Bourbon Available Nationwide Starting Aug. 21st

FRANKFORT, KY (Aug. 20, 2024) – J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery, created by Jeff Mattingly, a descendant of distilling pioneer John Graves Mattingly, is honoring its family legacy with the release of its Small Batch Classic Bourbon on August 21st, on what would have been John Graves Mattingly’s 201st birthday.

The Classic Bourbon is the first flagship bourbon released under the J. Mattingly 1845 line of whiskies, and will offer fans a consistent taste profile they will be able to find year-round at retailers and online. “Previously, all of the J. Mattingly 1845 double-staved whiskey releases have been custom blends, created for specific retailers, our guests at the distillery, or by our blending team to honor a specific cause or event,” said Harry Richart, president of J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery.  “This classic double-staved release is now our anchor “house style” from which all of our custom blends, including your own, emanate.”

If early reviews are any indication, J. Mattingly 1845 is right on track – famed Whiskey Bible author Jim Murray scored the Classic Bourbon a 96, saying, “This is extraordinary bourbon for a 6-year-old, having been taken as far as it can go – a bit like an apple plucked from the tree when at its most carmine but juiciest… Every year you will find a very small handful of bottlings which is a real bourbon-lovers’ bourbon. Well, this is one of them.”

The J. Mattingly 1845 Classic Bourbon is a six-and-a-half-year blend bottled at 119 proof.  Like all J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery releases, this bourbon has undergone the Distillery’s signature double- staving™ process, allowing the whiskey inside the barrels additional surface exposure to charred barrel staves to impart more flavor and color.

“This bourbon is the very definition of complex, as well as one which appears to like to stretch a point as far as it can without being guilty of over-indulgence. Unquestionably this is due to the Double-Staving™ method deployed which, with its extra charring, has turned a 6-year-old into something showing the honeyed and toasted intensity of a bourbon a little over three times that age: remarkable. More remarkable is the feeling that just another summer month of maturation and this would have clicked from brilliance to failure: such is the fine line of success in the rarefied atmosphere of whiskeys at this stellar level,” continued Murray.

The Classic Bourbon is available at the Distillery in Frankfort, in select retailers, and online, with shipping to 46 U.S. states.  Suggested retail pricing is $110 for 750 mL.

About J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery 

The Mattingly family has been synonymous with distilling in Kentucky for more than two centuries, having a hand in the development of at least nine separate distilleries in the Commonwealth, and with connections to some of the most illustrious names in the distilling industry, including George Garvin Brown, the Willetts and the Samuels.

It all started in 1845, with John Graves Mattingly’s first distillery in Marion County, Kentucky, Registered Distillery #2.  Many historians today believe his distillery was the first registered distillery in Kentucky.

            In 2010 Jeff Mattingly took up the family mantle and started his own craft bourbon business.  Today, Jeff’s son Cameron has joined the team as Vice President of Production, continuing the legacy into the latest generation for J. Mattingly Distillery 1845 in Frankfort, Kentucky. Together father and son offer their proprietary double staving process as well as a custom bourbon blending experience unparalleled in the spirits industry, available on-site in Frankfort or online at https://jmattingly1845.com/build-a-bottle/

For more information about J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery visit www.JMattingly1845.com.

INTRODUCING OUR NEW CORE COLLECTION. 

Four whiskies, each a destination on your map of flavour.

Discover the whisky inspired by a pâtissier’s test-kitchen…

Part artistry, part alchemy, Nectarosity generously brings you honeyed fruit and toasted oak notes, straight from our Blending Room.

TASTING NOTES

Joyously zesty with honey, lychee, juicy apricot and pineapple. Toffee and vanilla pull off a palate takeover, with lasting flavours of cinnamon bun.

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Or, meet our regal sage with a crown of oak…

Magisterial and powerful. Balanced by a benevolent generosity that says ‘what’s mine is yours – enjoy…’ So, will you do him the honour?

TASTING NOTES

Chocolate fudge cake undercut with clove and cardamom, with hints of plum jam and redcurrant jelly, then rich cherry, toffee and oak, finished with raisin, honey and brown sugar.

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SPRINGBANK 18 YEAR OLD 46%

100% Bourbon

UK RRP £110 – £115

NOSE
Tropical fruits are at the forefront in notes of papaya and pineapple. There is a malty, dried barley note, with vanilla and custard creams.

PALATE
Notes of golden syrup and honeyed granola emerge on the palate, along with fruit gums, pear drops and butter icing.

FINISH
The tropical fruits carry through to the finish, with the addition of a herbaceous, gorse note and a touch of sea salt.

INTRODUCING OUR NEW BOTTLING SERIES: WHISKYLAND

As Whisky Sponge officially draws to an end, it’s about time we introduced our new flagship bottling series: Whiskyland.

Welcome, please unpack all your opinions and pre-conceptions and leave them in a tidy puddle over by that wormhole. Whiskyland is your land, it is a culture and world that you know very well. It is a surreal, often humorous, frequently satirical, reflection of the whisky culture we all live and breathe.

Together, we’ll be exploring strange and wonderful realm over the course of precisely 100 Chapters. You can expect this series to feature bespoke artwork, plenty humour and mischief, and the very best whiskies we can get our mitts on!

WHISKYLAND CHAPTER ONE : SPRINGBANK 1998

When starting any new series, it’s nice to begin in style. It was important for us to have an impressive whisky for our first Chapter of Whiskyland, and we feel pretty confident that this 1st fill sherry butt of Springbank 1998 is every bit as impressive as we could have hoped for.  It has matured fully in this cask for 26 years on location in Campbeltown, before we bottled it at natural cask strength. It’s everything you’d hope for from this distillery, age and cask type.

£975.00

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WHISKYLAND

While Whisky Sponge had the Sponge as its main character, Whiskyland itself is now our character. Imagine ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,’ but for whisky. Each chapter in Whiskyland will feature original artworks that embody the same spirit of inventiveness, mischief, and humour that defined Whisky Sponge.

This series will be home to the best whiskies we can find. Expect single casks, small-batch, and multi-vintage bottlings, all presented in elegant, cognac-style glass bottles. Each chapter will also feature original writing on the rear labels, with underpinning themes of travel, encyclopaedia entries and adventure.

Unlike Whisky Sponge, we’ve decided to be a tad more disciplined with Whiskyland, that means no A & B editions, no side series and no themed off-shoots. Just 100 bottlings, 100 chapters. That’s it. And when it’s done, well, we’ll just have to think of something else…

Chapters Two and Three will follow soon, featuring a Bowmore 2004 and a Glen Grant 1993 respectively. With many other gorgeous drams in the works for the journey ahead.

THE FINAL RUN OF WHISKY SPONGE

As we usher in our new flagship series, Whiskyland, it means saying farewell to the Sponge. But before we do, we are very pleased to introduce to you the last two additions to the Whisky Sponge series: Editions 99 and 100.

How did a change in Spanish law in the 1980s lead to The Scotch Malt Whisky Society owning hundreds of casks in the Andalucian Sherry Triangle and overseeing their seasoning?

The change in legislation meant that sherry had to be bottled in Spain and could no longer be shipped in casks – ending the days of the sherry ‘transportation’ vessel. Instead of importing full sherry butts, bottling the sherry and then filling the cask with whisky, the change in Spanish law forced the whisky world to get a bit more creative and hands-on in getting their hands on sherry casks.

Working with a variety of cooperages and bodegas, the Society now has the ability to have sherry casks created to our specific requirements and then seasoned exactly how we want them. The level of consistent quality is a world away from those transportation casks, and that quality shines through in the sherry cask-matured drams members enjoy today.

Read more on how we’re right in the middle of this sherry seasoning industry, or keep scrolling for some spectacular sherry cask-matured specials below.

READ MORE

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ

Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video

Lux Row Distillers releases the third edition of its Blood Oath Trilogy featuring

Pacts 7, 8 and 9

Highly collectible bourbons will be available in September

ST. LOUIS (Aug. 15, 2024) — Three is a magic number – especially when it involves a trilogy of sought-after bourbons. Lux Row Distillers announced the release of Blood Oath Trilogy – Third Edition, the latest collection of limited-release bourbons, or “Pacts,” created by Lux Row Master Distiller John Rempe. Featuring 750mL bottles of Pacts 7, 8 and 9, this latest Trilogy has a limited supply of 1,400 sets and is available at a minimum suggested retail price $799.99, which reflects the quality and scarcity of these bourbons. Shipments of the latest Blood Oath Trilogy will begin in September.

For a decade Rempe has sought out famous and forgotten rare bourbons and bottled them in combinations for his limited-release Blood Oath Pacts. Not to cater to anyone’s loyalties, he promises to choose and make the best he knows, but never to reveal where he finds his bourbon. With each Pact, he sets aside a limited number of bottles for his Trilogy editions, which are released every three years.

The third edition of the Blood Oath Trilogy contains Pacts 7, 8 and 9 – reserved since 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively – and is packaged in a custom black wooden display box designed to highlight each Pact’s distinctive label. Each of the three carefully crafted Pacts is bottled at 98.6 proof (49.3% ABV) and will never be repeated.

• Blood Oath Pact 7 is a blend of a 14-year ryed bourbon and two 8-year ryed bourbons, one of which was finished in casks that held Sauternes, a sweet white wine from the Bordeaux region of France. The casks impart a nose of caramel, oak and honey with flavor notes of apricots, honey and peaches.
• Blood Oath Pact 8 features a 14-year ryed bourbon, an 11-year ryed bourbon and an 8-year ryed bourbon finished in Calvados casks, which held apple or pear brandy from the Normandy region in France. The casks lend tasting notes of apple on the nose, with hints of vanilla and cinnamon, as well as flavor notes of ripe apples, juicy pears, butterscotch and subtle hints of chocolate.
• Pact 9 rounds out the Trilogy with a blend of a 16-year ryed bourbon, a 12-year ryed bourbon and a 7-year ryed bourbon finished in Oloroso Sherry casks from the Sherry Triangle region in southwest Spain. These casks bring out tasting notes of sweet sherry with hints of ripe fruit and spicy oak on the nose.

“Blood Oath is a passion project for me,” said Rempe. “Each new Pact brings together everything that I love about creating memorable bourbons – from the unique blends to the cask-aging. This third Trilogy edition is something truly special and I’m looking forward to sharing this unique collection of bourbon history with our fans.”    

About Luxco

Founded in St. Louis in 1958 by the Lux Family, Luxco is a leading producer, supplier, importer and bottler of beverage alcohol products. Our mission is to meet the needs and exceed the expectations of consumers, associates and business partners. Merged with MGP Ingredients, Inc. in 2021 (Nasdaq: MGPI), Luxco operates as MGP’s Brands Division and manages all MGP/Luxco brands. This extensive and award-winning spirits portfolio includes well-known brands from four distilleries: Bardstown, Kentucky-based Lux Row Distillers, home of Ezra Brooks, Rebel, Blood Oath, David Nicholson and Daviess County; Lebanon, Kentucky-based Limestone Branch Distillery, maker of Yellowstone Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Minor Case Straight Rye Whiskey and Bowling & Burch Gin; Jalisco, Mexico-based Destiladora Gonzalez Lux, producer of 100% agave tequilas, El Mayor, Exotico and Dos Primos; and Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where Remus Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Rossville Union Straight Rye Whiskey are produced. The innovative and high-quality brand portfolio also includes Penelope Bourbon, Everclear Grain Alcohol, Pearl Vodka, Saint Brendan’s Irish Cream, The Quiet Man Irish Whiskey, Green Hat Gin and other well-recognized brands. For more information about the company and its brands, visit luxco.com.

TRIPLE PRODUCT RELEASE

We’re excited to announce the launch of our very last two Whisky Sponge bottlings, Edition 99 – Glen Moray and Edition 100 – Ardnamurchan. These final editions mark the end of our Whisky Sponge bottling series.

But that’s not all! As one chapter closes, another begins..Introducing, Decadent Drinks new flagship bottling series, Whiskyland.Confined to precisely 100 chapters, this series will feature the very best whiskies we can get our mitts on! We’re starting as we mean to go an and kicking off Whiskyland Chapter One, with a 1998 Springbank,

WHISKY SPONGE ED.99 GLEN MORAY

For our penultimate Whisky Sponge bottling, we thought it would be fitting to revisit the distillery that started it all: Glen Moray. This is a small batch, multi-vintage bottling of Glen Moray, made my marrying together a refill hogshead of 1990 with a 2nd fill sherry hogshead of 1991. The resulting mix has been bottled at natural cask strength, we think it’s a beautiful dram and a great demonstration of everything we’ve learned and tried to achieve over the past five years of bottling.

WHISKY SPONGE ED.100 ARDNAMURCHAN

For our final entry in the Whisky Sponge series we wanted to select a whisky that was unique to us, that was collaborative and that we’d had a strong role in creating. One which was top quality and also modern in the best sense, a whisky that was forward looking rather than old and ‘old style’. And we also wanted one that was sufficient in volume and affordability that plenty folk would get to try it, buy it and enjoy it. It’s a small batch, multi-vintage, 7 year old Ardnamurchan. We were delighted to work with the good folks at Ardnamurchan on this; we made it by mixing together 1st fill and 2nd fill, peated and unpeated, sherry octaves and then marrying that mix in a refill sherry butt for around six months. We finally bottled it with a couple of degrees reduction to 57.1%. It’s a wonderfully rich, peaty, sherried and concentrated Ardnamurchan with great character. We’re really happy with it and we hope you love it too and see it as a fitting end to the Sponge series.

WHISKYLAND CHAPTER ONE: SPRINGBANK 1998

When starting any new series, it’s nice to begin in style. It was important for us to have an impressive whisky for our first Chapter of Whiskyland, especially as this series will now become our flagship bottling series for the best whiskies we can source. That’s why we decided to bottle this Springbank 1998 as Whiskyland Chapter One, it has matured for 26 years in a 1st fill sherry butt, and we bottled it at natural cask strength. It’s everything you’d hope for from this distillery, age and cask type.