Waterford Distillery is a major new Irish whisky project led by Mark Reynier, the man behind Bruichladdich’s whisky renaissance. The pioneering project uses Irish Barley, including organic and biodynamic, from selected farms with their own unique terroir. Each crop is harvested, fermented, and distilled separately using innovative, proprietary methodology to reflect the character of the grain sourced from each individual site. This unorthodox approach extracts every ounce of flavour from the malted barley, which can be discerned in Waterford’s unique and characterful single malt whiskies.

BROWSE OUR FULL WATERFORD IRISH WHISKY RANGE HERE

Fortified wines like sherry and port have long been an important part of the whisky industry. Casks previously filled with these wines impart rich, sweet flavours of dried fruit, spices and nuts when used for ageing. Read on to hear about the history of fortified wine casks in the whisky industry, and how Sullivans Cove uses them in our whisky making process.

Loved by drinkers the world over, whiskies aged in fortified wine casks represent many of the most popular and highly awarded styles in the category. Fortified wines were particularly popular in the UK during the boom years of Scotch whisky production in the 19th century, so the casks were in plentiful and cheap supply. Scottish distillers would age their whiskies in the casks used to transport sherry and port from Spain and Portugal. Sherry and port cask-aged whiskies became the defining style of Speyside in particular, a region which still produces more than half of the single malt whisky in Scotland. Today, the world is in the middle of a malt whisky explosion, and the sherry and port influenced style popular in Scotland is now widely imitated by producers around the globe.

In Japan, Taiwan, Australia and elsewhere, modern distillers frequently employ fortified wine casks to create this style of single malt that whisky drinkers love.

But there’s a problem. These days, not as many people drink sherry and port, so there are less new casks of those wines being produced. Also, due to more modern transport methods, barrels are no longer used to move wines from one country to another. These factors mean that there are not nearly as many used port and sherry casks available for the booming whisky industry to use. As such, many casks are now “seasoned” with fortified wines specifically for the purpose of ageing whisky. This means that cheap sherry or port is stored in the casks for a short period of time, or in some cases is forced into the wood grain with high-pressure steam.

Many producers now also employ “finishing” to impart fortified wine character to their whiskies. This means the whisky is aged in another kind of cask (usually ex-bourbon) for the majority of its maturation, then transferred to a fortified wine cask for a short period of time before bottling. It’s also worth noting that even historically, the sherry and port casks used in Scotland for ageing whisky were not generally the casks actually used to age those wines, which would stay in Spain and Portugal to be used again, but were instead the casks used for storage and transportation on their way to the thirsty drinkers of the UK.

In Australia, our developing whisky industry is supported by the excellent fortified and other styles of wine produced here, which gives us access to a range of high-quality local wine casks.

One of the best things about Australian whisky is that when we use fortified wine casks, they are often the actual casks used for ageing those wines, sometimes for decades. Australian whiskies like Sullivans Cove French Oak have made big waves both at home an internationally partly on the basis of these excellent casks. However, some Australian cooperages are now experimenting with seasoning casks, and as the local whisky industry continues to grow, genuine fortified wine ageing casks will be harder and harder to come by.

So if you like Australian whisky aged in fortified wine casks, get out there and drink some of these excellent Australian products. They’re great in a cocktail, after dinner, or with cured meats and cheeses. And if you don’t drink the wine, we won’t have the casks to make the whisky. Look at the bottom of this page for a list of some excellent Australian fortified wine producers to try.

What’s in a name?

Due to relatively new labelling laws, there’s also a bit of confusion around Australian whisky styles and the casks they’re aged in. The terms “port” and “sherry” are actually protected as specific geographic denominations of origin, like “Champagne”. This means that the term sherry can only be used for fortified wines from a specific area of Spain, and port can only be used for the sweet wines produced in the Douro valley of Portugal. In Australia, wine producers must now legally use the term “Apera” for sherry style wines, and “Tawny” for port style wines.

Sullivans Cove was the first distillery in Australia to label our whisky (specifically our French Oak Single Cask) as being aged in Tawny casks. It’s a recent change, so there are still some “port cask” labels floating around, but our newer labels will always say “tawny cask” where appropriate. At Sullivans Cove we always aim to be as transparent and accurate as possible with our labels, and we’re proud of the excellent Australian fortified wines that lend depth and character to our award-winning whiskies.At Sullivans Cove Distillery we never use seasoned or conditioned casks. Instead, we work with the best coopers in the country to find us only genuine ageing casks that have held Australian fortified wines for many years, infusing rich flavours deep into the oak. Furthermore, we very rarely finish our whiskies, choosing instead to use fortified wine casks for the entire duration of our whisky’s maturation.

So, when you see “Tawny”, “Apera” or some other fortified wine on a Sullivans Cove label, you can be sure that whisky has spent its whole ageing time in that kind of cask (on the rare occasions we do employ finishing, we’ll say so clearly on the label or in the cask descriptions online).

In the coming days, we’ll be releasing the latest single cask bottling from our Cask Variations series, American Oak Tawny Cask #TD0199. This whisky was aged in a single, 300 litre American Oak ex-tawny cask for 12 years, lending it the fresh oak, caramel and vanilla flavours generally associated with American oak, along with the rich, dark fruit of beautiful Australian tawny fortified wine.

Here’s a list of some great Australian fortified wine producers to try:

Pennyweight Winery makes outstanding certified bio dynamic fortified wines including fino, oloroso, manzanilla, and ruby styles.

Stanton & Killeen has a range of prestige fortified wines including muscat, tawny and topaque, as well as less expensive white and ruby tawnies.

Buller Wines focuses on sweeter style premium fortified like muscat, tawny and Pedro Ximenez

McWilliams produces a wide range of fortified wines from flagons of cheap cream apera to premium 25yo muscat.

Penfold’s makes a range of premium tawny wines aged up to fifty years for a really special occasion.

Seppeltsfield Winery produces premium fortified wines ranging from dry aperas to rich, sweet tawny.

AVAILABLE NOW

Limited to just 1500 bottles each worldwide, these first-release, Edition 1.1 bottlings of single malt from terroir-driven Irish distillery Waterford are, along with their counterpart – a third bottling available exclusively through Irish retailers – component single malts which will, in time, go on to form Waterford’s regular-release whiskies.

If you’d like to learn more about this exciting new producer and the whiskies themselves, check out The Whisky Exchange ambassador Billy Abbott’s deep dive into the distillery, its philosophy and its methodology over on the blog.

We anticipate that both of these bottles will sell out very quickly, so if you’d like one of the first ever releases from Waterford Distillery, speed may be of the essence.

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Caol Ila 7 Year Old 2012 Sherry Cask

These Caol Ila Striclty Limited are one of our favourite releases from our chums at Morrison & MacKay. And this one brings together 3 casks of sherry butts adding to the lovely peat smoke. Delightful! Caol Ila 7 Year Old 2012 vintage Islay single malt Scotch whisky. Matured in three sherry butts bottled 2020 by Morrison & MacKay for the Strictly Limited series. 1,324 bottles. Big punch of peat with sweet fruitiness adding depth and balance on the palate.

Caol Ila Distillery is famous for the stunning view from its still house windows looking out across the Sound of Islay and for the objects which have passed by including naval battleships, submarines and whales. Caol Ila was established in 1846 by Hector Henderson on a sheltered but rocky stretch of coast on north east Islay. Now the largest malt whisky distillery on Islay it produces peated and some un-peated malt whisky with the distillery range including Caol Ila 12 year old and the Distiller’s Edition. Caol Ila participates in Feis Ile, the annual Islay Festival of Malt and Music.

 £43.85 / $45.88* / €48.96*

Buy Now – Caol Ila 7 Year Old Strictly Limited

TyndrumWhisky.com
Exclusive

PRE ORDER

Glenglassaugh
Rum Cask #2

We quietly launched this on the website during this past week, and it’s nigh on sold out, so don’t delay if you want to get your hands on this Rum Cask from Glenglassaugh.It seems like an eternity ago when we sampled this cask, we’re nearly at delivery point and thoroughly excited to be bringing this to market. Distilled 16th May 2011. Aged for 8 Years. Bottled just before lockdown in 2020. Cask type – Peated Rum Barrel
Cask Number 2. One of only 216 bottles

Tasting notes from Rachel Barrie:
Colour – Ivory.
Nose – Sweet peat and cedar wood with candied apple.
Palate – Smoked caramel and barbecued peach with rich vanilla syrup.

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Old Pulteney Twin Pack

The renowned 21 year old and 1989 vintage in a rare and limited presentation pack.  Old Pulteney 21 Year Old & 1989 Vintage Twin Pack Highland single malt Scotch whisky. Limited edition of 276 packs worldwide containing 1 bottle of Old Pulteney 21 Year Old and 1 bottle of Old Pulteney 1989 Vintage.

£699.95 / $732.50* / €780.94*

PULTENEY SINGLE MALT WHISKY

Pulteney Distillery was established by James Henderson in 1826 in the coastal town of Wick, Caithness. Pulteney is a Highland malt whisky distillery equipped with worm tubs to cool the spirit from its single pair of particularly short stills. Thomas Telford designed the lade which originally carried all the water into the distillery, and a fragment of his stone channel survives in the back yard. The Old Pulteney 12 Year Old, 17 Year Yld and 21 Year Old form the core range supported by Clipper and Navigator in the non-aged bottling series.

Loch Lomond Whiskies agrees an exciting new partnership with the European Tour

Award-winning, independent Scotch whisky distiller Loch Lomond Whiskies has agreed an exciting new partnership with The European Tour, becoming the first Official Partner of the innovative new UK Swing.

The partnership with the European Tour means that the distiller’s innovative and exciting range of Single Malt Scotch Whiskies will become “The Spirit of the Tour” throughout the duration of the UK Swing. Loch Lomond Whiskies have been “The Spirit of The Open” since 2018.

As part of the new relationship, Loch Lomond Whiskies’ hand sanitiser will be available on every tee during each of the six UK tournaments when the European Tour returns to action in July.

Loch Lomond Group were one of the first spirits companies in the world to utilise their existing resources and infrastructure to make hand sanitiser, so as to help and support those in need across the country throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. As the European Tour resumes, Loch Lomond Whiskies will help ensure good hygiene at all six UK tournaments as part of the European Tour’s comprehensive Health Strategy.

As an Official Partner of the European Tour’s UK Swing, Loch Lomond Whiskies will also support the launch of the new ‘Golf for Good’ initiative which will underpin all European Tour events in 2020 by  making a positive impact in the communities where the European Tour plays – and the wider world of golf – rewarding heroes of the pandemic such as front line workers, and promoting the many health benefits that golf offers to everyone.

Colin Matthews, CEO of Loch Lomond Group, said: “The European Tour is one of the most internationally recognised and respected golf bodies in the world and we are delighted to become a key partner of the UK Swing. This new association further extends our already very successful association with the game of golf through our existing sponsorship agreement with The R&A for both The Open and The Women’s British Open and The PGA and allows us to support the launch of the European Tour’s excellent “Golf for Good” initiative.”

Max Hamilton, the European Tour’s Head of Commercial Partnerships, said: “We are delighted to welcome Loch Lomond Whiskies and their award-winning brands as the first Official Partner of our new UK Swing. This innovative stretch of six events marks the start of our new Golf for Good initiative, enabling us to give back during these unprecedented times.  Our health strategy is vital to this and Loch Lomond Whiskies will also contribute to that through the provision of hand sanitiser. This is a great example of how brands can work together in different ways at the moment.”

Following the suspension of the season due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, the European Tour will return to action initially behind closed doors in July with two events in Austria – the Austrian Open and Euram Bank Open – immediately followed by the UK Swing. The first tournament in the UK Swing is the Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood, which will be played at Close House, from Wednesday July 22nd to Saturday July 25th.

It will be followed by the English Open at the Marriott Forest of Arden and the English Championship at Marriott Hanbury Manor, before The Celtic Manor Resort in Newport hosts back-to-back European Tour tournaments. The UK Swing will then conclude with the UK Championships at The Belfry.

All tournaments will be subject to stringent safety and testing protocols set out by the Tour’s comprehensive Healthy Strategy which will continue to evolve, aligned with international Government guidance and health guidelines.

Founded in 1814, Loch Lomond Whiskies can trace its roots back to the Littlemill distillery, which was established in 1772 and is thought to be one of the oldest in the world. Its current malt and grain distilleries, in Alexandria, Dunbartonshire on the banks of Loch Lomond, were built in the 1960s and are among only a few in the industry to maintain an onsite cooperage. The malt distillery at Alexandria also features a unique combination of traditional swan neck and distinctive straight-necked pot stills, enabling it to produce a diverse range of flavour profiles.

In 2018, the group secured its first major golf partnership, agreeing a prestigious five-year deal with the R&A, as sponsor of both The Open and AIG Women’s British Open. In February 2020, Loch Lomond Whiskies also concluded a new agreement with the Professional Golfers’ Association (The PGA) to become a ‘PGA Partner’ and the title sponsor of the Scottish PGA Championship.

For further information, visit Loch Lomond Whiskies on Twitter: @LochLomondMalts, Instagram @lochlomondmalts and search for Loch Lomond Whiskies on Facebook. To find out more about Loch Lomond Group please visit www.lochlomondgroup.com.

About the Loch Lomond Group

• Loch Lomond Group is an independent distiller, blender and bottler of some of the finest scotch whisky brands in the world.  Based in Alexandria, Dumbartonshire, close to Glasgow it is home to several multi award-winning brands that are sold in more than 125 countries across the world.
• Loch Lomond distillery has been producing the finest single malt whiskies since 1814.
• Images and interviews with key staff from the Group are available upon request. www.lochlomondgroup.com

About Loch Lomond Whiskies

• Loch Lomond Distillery has one of the oldest heritages in the industry. It was founded by American, Duncan Thomas, the owner of the Littlemill distillery which was licensed in 1772. In the 1930s Duncan Thomas was at the forefront of innovation within the Scotch whisky industry and his innovative philosophy is ingrained into everything that is done at Loch Lomond to this day
• The multi award winning Loch Lomond whiskies range includes the Loch Lomond 12-Year-Old which has been awarded the Platinum Award in 2020, one of only 7 single malts to be awarded this honour at the San Francisco World Spirits Challenge 2020. Other expressions in the range are the single malts Loch Lomond Original; Loch Lomond Classic; Loch Lomond 18-Year-Old; Loch Lomond 50-Year-Old; the Loch Lomond Island’s Collection which includes the Inchmurrin and Inchmoan ranges as well as the deluxe blend Loch Lomond Signature and Loch Lomond Single Grain
• Loch Lomond Inchmoan 12-Year-Old has been awarded Best Highland Single Malt 12 Years and Under at the 2018 World Whiskies Awards and a Gold Medal at the 2020 San Francisco 2020 Awards
• Loch Lomond Whiskies was recently also awarded the following medals at the 2020 San Francisco World Spirits Competition:
  • PLATINUM: Loch Lomond 12 Year Old
  • DOUBLE GOLD MEDAL – Inchmurrin 12 Year Old
  • GOLD MEDAL – Inchmoan 12 Year Old
  • DOUBLE GOLD MEDAL – Loch Lomond 18 Year Old
  • DOUBLE GOLD MEDAL: Loch Lomond 10 Year Old

A New Allocation of an Old Favorite from Suntory
Suntory Hakushu 12 Year Old Japanese Peated Single Malt Whisky (750ml) ($119.99)
“Hakushu has always been my favorite of the Suntory malts.”
— Andrew Whiteley, K&L NorCal Spirits Buyer

NOTE: In accordance with local directives, our walk-in retail locations are currently closed. We have curbside pickup and low cost (often free) delivery options available in ZIP codes where we can ship lawfully, including anywhere in California. We can also include any new or existing will call orders in your delivery batch. Choose local delivery at checkout to learn if you qualify.

It is no secret that Japanese single malts have become wildly expensive in recent years. This is what happens when a limited production collectible meets a precipitous climb in demand. That being said, on occasion, we are able to track down a bottling that bucks this trend and isn’t priced into the stratosphere—enter the Hakushu 12 Year Old. A prized bottling in Suntory’s impressive collection, this peated malt has developed quite a devoted following over the years. Graced with a modest touch of smoke, it unveils a classic Japanese profile of persimmon, melon, honey, vanilla, and jasmine. Lithe and elegant, there’s also some underlying power that makes the whole composition all the more intriguing. Priced elsewhere north of $200, we have this classic Japanese malt for a market-best price of $119.99. This is a steal for a whiskey of this caliber and is practically unheard of in today’s market. Japanese whiskies with an age statement are harder to find by the day, so finding one with this kind of pedigree and so affordably priced is a real boon for collectors. As you might expect, our allocation is limited, so don’t waste any time in adding this gem to your collection.

Suntory Hakushu 12 Year Old Japanese Peated Single Malt Whisky (750ml) ($119.99)

Whisky Advocate: “Although only two years older, this expression of Hakushu the first to be launched in the U.S. shows a fleshier side to the distillery’s wares. While it has retained the freshness of the 10 year old, it shows more pineapple and grapefruit on the nose, with a little fragrance of jasmine and osmanthus. On the palate, it’s fresh and lively with a hint of persimmon and a tickle of smoke. Recommended. (DB, Spring 2012)”

K&L Notes: Suntory’s Hakushu, known as the “forest distillery,” was built in 1973 as a sister distillery to Suntory’s Yamazaki (previously the only Japanese single malt available in the U.S.). The facility is located at a high-elevation site next to the pristine waters of the Ojira River, which are used to dilute the whisky itself. Hakushu distillery uses different styles of oak barrel to age their single malt, but mainly hogshead, which, according to the distillery, is “suitable to the clear air and cool humid climate.” The 12-year old from Hakushu is lightly peated and very delicate in its flavor profile. The light and fruity style of the whisky is quite similar to the Yamazaki 12, but the smoke really makes up for any lack of richness. We’ve seen insane price increases over the last five years on Japanese whisky and inventory getting tighter and tighter, but for a limited time, we have Hakushu 12 in stock and available to sell, and at a fraction of the price you’ll see at many other retailers across the country.

Andrew Whiteley | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: June 27, 2019

Hakushu has always been my favorite of the Suntory malts. The sweet and elegant malt profile is rounded out beautifully by the gentle peat smoke giving the whisky more body and texture than its brothers. The “forest distillery” also produces a verdant whisky – it feels green and fresh, cool and earthy. Moist peat and cool mint gently hold up the bouquet of flowers and cereal notes. The palate is extremely balanced with pepper and cinnamon playing off of the sweeter grain notes. The smoke is more rich body than intense fire. A long and earthy finish is sweetened by a maple syrup and caramel note that leaves a very pleasant aftertaste. With Japanese whisky being so hard to get these days, you have to get while the gettin’ is good.

Gary Westby | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: June 27, 2019

This expertly crafted single malt has extraordinary balance for a peaty style and a refreshing salty lightness that makes me come back for more. I love that this has the smoke and complexity of peat, but doesn’t get bogged down with oily heaviness. To the contrary, this is a refreshing whisky that is fantastic to enjoy after a big meal!

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