– THE –
TUN 1509
Batch No. 1

Malt Master David Stewart is one of the most respected experts when it comes to marrying whisky casks. Following on from his highly regarded Tun 1401, comes Tun 1509. Larger than its predecessor, Tun 1509 allows David to select a wider range of component casks; 42, in fact, resulting in a remarkably complex expression.

Of the 42 selected casks, 35 are traditional American oak barrels and seven are European oak sherry butts – all from the distillery’s precious aged stocks. Among these casks are some of the finest The Balvenie has to offer. And all have been allowed to marry together and sit for several months in Warehouse 24 before bottling.

The result is an expression that is deep and rich on the nose with floral notes and clear hints of sweet vanilla and orange peel. It is velvety smooth to taste with distinct tangy citrus, mellow cinnamon spice and blossom honey overtones. In short, this is a truly exceptional expression.

Each bottle comes with a series of graphics representing the flavour profile of each cask.

To learn more about this extraordinary expression, click the link below.

LEARN MORE

INTRODUCING THE ARDMORE LEGACY

The Ardmore distillery has just launched The Ardmore Legacy, a lightly peated Highland single malt to be distributed by Maxxium UK.

The Ardmore Legacy continues the distillery’s history of producing the only traditionally peated Highland single malt whisky and will replace Ardmore Traditional Cask as its core expression. 

A lightly peated, sweet dram, The Ardmore Legacy offers the ideal introduction to peated single malts.  Combining notes of creamy vanilla, smoky charcoal, sweet honey and savoury spices with a pleasant smoky taste, The Ardmore Legacy is a full-bodied and smooth dram with the typical Ardmore dry, spicy and long-lasting finish. 

The expression also brings a new premium look for the brand with its eagle icon firmly at the heart of the packaging design.  The bottle label and outer tube feature a splendid copper foil eagle in full flight, acknowledging their rare golden eagle neighbours and representing an adherence to tradition.  The eye-catching monochrome backdrop encompasses a map design conveying the distillery’s Speyside location and heritage.

Peter Sandstrom, Marketing Director, Maxxium UK said: “This is an exciting new expression from The Ardmore offering an exceptional Highland single malt with broad appeal.  As the only traditionally peated Highland single malt, The Ardmore Legacy has real stand out.  It is ideal for whisky drinkers looking for something new and is also the perfect introduction for any whisky drinkers beginning their journey into peated malts.”

The eagle has long played a key role in the brand’s history with rare golden eagles often seen riding the thermals above the distillery.  The Ardmore supports these birds in partnership with the RSPB, most recently with the reintroduction of the white tailed eagle, a cousin of the golden eagle.

Distilled in Speyside, The Ardmore single malt has continued its traditional ways since the distillery was founded in 1898, combining traditional methods with the very best craftsmanship to produce award winning single malt whisky.

The Ardmore Legacy (RRP £29.99) will be available to purchase at Tesco and Morrisons as well as select specialist whisky retailers from the beginning of October.

The Ardmore Legacy

Colour: Light honey

Nose:    Heather Honey with hints of cinnamon and toffee bonbon. Very subtle hints of peat smoke

Palate:  Creamy vanilla spice gives way to more overt smoky charcoal notes, especially with the                 addition of water. Smoke doesn’t dominate and    is balanced by the sweet honey and spice            flavours

Finish:                 Full bodied, silky mouth feel with a (trademark Ardmore) dry, tangy and lingering aftertaste, coupled with delicious spice notes

 40% ABV.

Chill Filtered. 80% Peated malt 20% Unpeated malt 

Notes

• Founded in 1898 by Wm. Teacher & Sons, The Ardmore distillery continues to uphold traditional distilling methods and uses only the aromatic smoke from natural, Highland peat fires to dry its malted barley.
• The Ardmore distillery stands proudly on the fringes of the Highlands, draws its water from the nearby hills and sits beside a railway line that was once at the heart of the industrial revolution at Kennethmont, Speyside.
• Ardmore Traditional Cask has numerous awards and accolades including Double Gold at the 2010 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Gold (Exceptional) at the 2009 International Review of Spirits (BTI) and Gold and Best in Class in the 2008 International Wine & Spirit Competition.
• The Ardmore has a long standing history with the golden eagle, which nest by the distillery, and supports the protection and conservation of eagles through its partnership with the RSPB.

About Maxxium UK Ltd

Maxxium UK Ltd is part of the global sales and distribution alliance between Beam Inc and Edrington.

Its UK portfolio of premium brands includes: blended Scotch (The Famous Grouse and Teacher’s), malt whisky (Highland Park, Laphroaig, The Macallan, The Glenrothes and Ardmore), imported whiskey (Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Knob Creek, Canadian Club), cognac and brandy (Courvoisier and Fundador), sherry (Harveys), vodka (Stolichnaya), tequila (Sauza), rum (Brugal and Cruzan), liqueurs and specialities (Sourz, Bols liqueurs, Galliano, Vaccari, After Shock), No 3 Gin.
For further information on our brands and how to enjoy them, log on to http://www.mixxit.co.uk/.

About Beam Suntory Inc.

As the world’s third largest premium spirits company, Beam Suntory is Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World.  Consumers from all corners of the globe call for the company’s brands, including the flagship Jim Beam bourbon and Yamazaki Japanese whisky, as well as world renowned premium brands including Maker’s Mark and Knob Creek bourbons, Hakushu and Hibiki Japanese whiskies, Teacher’s,  Laphroaig, and Bowmore Scotch whiskies, Canadian Club whisky, Courvoisier cognac, Sauza tequila, Pinnacle vodka, and Midori liqueur.  The company generates annual worldwide sales of approximately $4.6 billion excluding excise taxes.

Beam Suntory was created in 2014 by combining the world leader in bourbon and the pioneer in Japanese whisky to form a new company with a deep heritage, passion for quality, innovative spirit and entrepreneurial culture.  Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, Beam Suntory is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings Limited of Japan.  For more information on Beam Suntory, its brands, and its commitment to social responsibility, please visit www.beamsuntory.com and www.drinksmart.com.

The Whisky Exchange

TWE London Shop Hours – Whisky Show changes

With The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show rapidly approaching, we have some work to do in our London shop to get ready. As such we will be changing our opening hours over the coming week to avoid any banging and crashing while our customers are perusing the shelves.

PLEASE NOTE: web orders are unaffected by these changes.

It won’t be quite as extreme as this…

Here’s the schedule:

Friday 26 September: Midday-9pm
Saturday 27 September: 10.30am-8pm
Sunday 28 September: CLOSED
Monday 29 September: Midday-7pm
Tuesday 30 September: Midday-7pm

We’ll back to normal as of Wednesday 1 October, but will be running slightly different hours over the show weekend:

Saturday 4 October: 10.30am-8.00pm
Sunday 5 October: Midday-8.00pm

Monday will be business as usual, although after a weekend of Whisky-Show-related exertion, running up and down ladders may not be as fast as normal.

Billy – The earliest TWE photograph of me, with our customer service queen Ali and Diageo’s Colin Dunn

Balblair 2000 – TWE exclusive first-fill sherry butt

Time has rolled on a bit. It seems like only yesterday that I was a balding computer programmer, sat at a table in The Whisky Exchange shop in Vinopolis, confronted by 10 excellent whiskies. It was the company’s 10th anniversary tasting, and I was a punter who liked whisky.

Move on five years to the present day. I’ve got even less hair and while I still sit in front of a screen all day, I now do so at TWE HQ and attempt to write words that make sense to people rather than computers. That extra five years also means that TWE has now hit another milestone – we are 15.

To celebrate our birthday, we’ll be releasing a few whiskies over the coming months, and the first is something special: a Balblair 2000 single cask, fully aged in a first-fill sherry butt.

It’s special because sherry casks are not really Balblair’s day-to-day business. They’re well known for their bourbon-cask-matured whiskies, and other than occasional indies it’s rare to see a fully sherry-matured dram – distillery manager John MacDonald specially selected this cask, as he reckoned it would be to TWE Director Sukhinder Singh’s taste. He was right, and it was a must-have as soon as we tasted it.

Balblair 2000 #1343
Natural colour, of course.

Balblair 2000. First Fill Sherry Butt #1343. 53%. £95

Nose: Rich and heavy ginger cake, studded with burnt raisins and maraschino cherries, and covered in bitter-sweet dark chocolate. Dry oloroso sherry, the kind they love in Spain, provides a heavy, vinous backbone, with cherry-jam-slathered black bread, rich earth, liquorice and dark sugars – demarara and molasses. Damp and charred notes develop, with flamed orange zest, charred oak and driftwood bonfires, doused by a rainstorm. Water brings out chocolate-fudge-brownie sweetness, sweet leather and brown toast. The fruit is subdued, but the raisins are less burnt and the cherries sweeter.

Palate: Intense treacle toffee, baked apple and bitter coffee. Cinnamon bark is joined by freshly sawn oak, driftwood and clove, leading to a drier palate than the sweet nose suggests. There is still sweetness, with plump raisins and touches of brown sugar joined by fruity dark chocolate and cinnamon sugar. Water adds more sweetness, but also sharpens the wood, bringing more oak, with sweet butter, nutmeg and bitter-but-balanced barrel char.

Finish: Lingering char notes, with liquorice pastilles, plump raisins, cinnamon sugar and bitter dark chocolate. Hints of Murray Mints develop as you consider your next sip.

Comment: The biggest and boldest sherry cask matured Balblair I’ve ever tasted. Rich and dark with controlled sweetness – a grown-up whisky. Drams like this make me lament the small amount of sherried Balblair available.

To go with the launch, we’re also running a prize draw:

Buy a bottle of the 2000 or any of the other core vintages from Balblair’s range and you’ll be entered into a draw to win a trip to the distillery, including a tutored tasting with distillery manager John MacDonald.

You can find full details over on our competition page, but the most important bit is that it closes at 11:59pm GMT on 14 November 2014. To whet your appetite, here’s my blog post from when I visited a few years back. They’ve finished building their visitor centre now, and it’s even more worth a trip.

The Lost Blend – Available Now! 

“Distilled elixir of battle, money and high life”

We are delighted to announce the release of our new Limited Edition whisky: The Lost Blend.  This elegantly complex union of two fruity Highland single malts and one peaty Islay single malt is a homage to our own ‘lost blend’ – Eleuthera – that we sadly had to retire in 2004. Here, ethereal fruit and a sweet, herbal character is buttressed by a lovely underlying smokiness.

Whiskymaker John Glaser has long had a name that he’s been waiting to use for a project like this—The Lost Blend, inspired by the O. Henry story of the same name.  This sharp and witty portrait of life in a New York bar in the early 1900s was published in 1907 and features two business partners who try to recreate a blend of different spirits with close to supernatural properties.

We have created three different front label designs all around the same theme: lost items.  The whisky behind each label is the same, and the three labels have been randomly bottled and put into cases, which allows you an additional discovery:  which label did I get?  Contact your favourite retailer now to reserve your bottle or, alternatively, just pick one up from our UK-based web shop.

“Above All, Share & Enjoy!”

* The Lost Blend is available now in the UK and Europe, and in the next month or so in Canada, South Africa and Asia. It will be released in the US on 1^st October 2014.

Hatfields & McCoys Combine Century-Old Recipes to Create New Legendary American Whiskey: Before the Feud, There Was Whiskey 

After feuding for more than 150 years, the direct descendents of the Hatfields and McCoys finally agree on something: This is what whiskey is supposed to taste like. Introducing The Legendary Hatfield & McCoy Family Brand Whiskey™, the only authentic Hatfield and McCoy American whiskey available today (http://www.legendaryhatfieldandmccoy.com/). 

The Hatfield and McCoy clans have each been blending and distilling traditional American spirits even before the feuding began. The two clans have century-old recipes written down in the backs of bibles and the backs of their minds. Until now, those recipes of the two clans have never met. 

Their violent and storied history comes to life with an aged-to-perfection, all-American whiskey, essentially a legend in a bottle. 

“This Whiskey is the first authentic product that is truly worthy of our Hatfield & McCoy names,” said John T. Hatfield, the great-great-great grandson of “Devil” Anse Hatfield. “While blood may be thicker than water, turns out this whiskey has them both beat.” 

The Hatfield and McCoy families hunted high and low before finding an award winning distiller out of Charleston, South Carolina, Local Choice Spirits, to partner with them on a whiskey worthy of their legendary names.  

The result: a distinctive whiskey inspired by American pride, old family recipes and Appalachian tradition. The complexity of The Legendary Hatfield & McCoy Whiskey comes from its unique blend of corn, barley, malt, special strains of yeast, infused natural flavors, and pure water. Aged in oak to perfection, filtered and purified to create a mature-tasting, bold, and complex 80-proof whiskey with an incredibly smooth finish. Available in 750 ml. 

Nose: Hints Of Green Grass, Light Vanilla, Wet Stone, Complex and Balanced.

Taste: Medium Body, Light Black Pepper, Smoke, Layers Of Dried Apricot, Custard and Black Walnut.

Finish: Balanced, Clean, Hints Of Vanilla, Caramel And Butter. 

“The Hatfield & McCoy feud is one of American folklore’s most legendary stories,” said Monsell Darville, Managing Partner of the Legendary Hatfield & McCoy Whiskey. “This authentic whiskey brings the story to life with the real descendents of ‘Devil’ Anse Hatfield and ‘Ole’ Ran’l’ McCoy coming together to create a true American product. With its bold and balanced flavor, it’s an amazing experience whether you sip it straight, ‘touch’ it with a little water and ice or mix it in your favorite craft cocktail – Americana distilled.” 

To find out more, visit http://www.legendaryhatfieldandmccoy.com/ or for wholesale pricing and orders, contact Michael Leibick at mleibick@yahoo.com or call (954) 224-3333. 

• 1994 Benriach 19 Year Old K&L Exclusive PEATED Single Bourbon Barrel #7187 Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($149.99)
  When we originally picked out this cask back in the Spring of 2013, we were incredibly excited about the wonderful balance of sweet, round, fruity Highland flavor, balanced by a delcate whisper of peat (think Talisker level smoke, not Islay). The result was something in between Talisker 18 and peated Glen Garioch: lovely layers of grains, a soft, supple mouthfeel, and a finish of campfire smoke with butterscotch on the backend. We couldn’t wait to get this baby delivered. Then it showed up and there wasn’t a smidge of peat to be found. It turns out Benriach had sent us the wrong cask (a delicous, light-bodied 19 year old that we kept nonetheless). We were fine with the 1994 barrel as it was indeed tasty, but we still wanted that magical peated barrel, so we put in the order again; this time for Cask #7187. Over one year later, that whisky has finally shown up and it’s still as fantastic as we remember. At 53%, the extra proof is enough to brighten all of the edges, but low enough as not to interrupt the amber waves of grain. It’s a seamless whisky; one that floats over the palate in layers of stonefruit, sweet barley, and smoke, as each element undulates in and out of focus. There’s a reason we keep going back to Benriach for their direct barrel program. Imagine if you could get cask strength Talisker 19, or Caol Ila 19, or unsherried Highland Park 19 year old whisky for $150. That’s what this cask of Benriach 19 year old is offering you. (David Driscoll, Spirits Buyer)

K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com/
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

Diageo Special Releases 2014 – first look

The eagerly-awaited line-up of the Diageo Special Releases 2014 has been announced. There are a total of 11 bottlings this year, including the four usual suspects (Port Ellen, Brora, Lagavulin and unpeated Caol Ila), a couple of first-timers (Strathmill and Singleton of Glendullan), and the first premium no-age-statement entry (Clynelish).

Full 2014 range

The full range of Diageo Special Releases 2014

I tasted this year’s range at a pre-launch presentation last week. We will post full tasting notes after the official launch, but here are my initial impressions. The prices quoted are the RRPs, but we won’t know our exact prices until they arrive: Strathmill 25 Year Old

Strathmill 1988. 25yo. 52.4%. 2,700 bottles. RRP £275.

Strathmill makes its first appearance in the Special Releases – apart from the Manager’s Choice and Flora and Fauna bottlings, this is the first official release in recent times. Matured in refill American oak, this is sweet and creamy, with a whack of vanilla from the oak, and showing the grassiness that is the distillery’s hallmark. Rosebank 1992 / 21 Year Old

Rosebank 1992. 21yo. 55.3%. 4,530 bottles. RRP £300.

Some of the last whisky to be produced at the distillery which closed a year later, this has been aged exclusively in refill American oak, and is fruitier and sweeter than the 2011 release, while also being more complex and chewy. It has a creamy texture and displays notes of tangerine, which turn to pineapple when water is added.Cragganmore 25 Year Old

Cragganmore 1988. 25yo. 51.4%. 3,372 bottles. RRP £299.

Cragganmore makes its first appearance in the Special Releases since 2010′s 21 year old. Aged in refill American oak casks with new ends, this is rich with spicy wood notes and a creamy texture, which develops with a little water. Singleton of Glendullan 38 Year Old

Singleton of Glendullan 38yo. 59.8%. 3,756 bottles. RRP £750.

The distillery is making its first appearance in the line-up and this bottling is also the oldest in this year’s range. This was distilled at a higher cask-filling strength of 68.5%, hence the high strength even after 38 years. This is subtle and elegant on the nose but explodes on the palate. It is warming without water, but the strength is not overpowering and neither are the wood tannins. It is laden with menthol notes and is spicy on the finish. Benrinnes 1992 / 21 Year Old

Benrinnes 1992. 21yo. 56.9%. 2,892 bottles. RRP £240.

The flavours in this release are the most likely to divide opinion. Aged in ‘Bodega European oak’ (Diageo-speak for a first-fill sherry cask), this is big, meaty and salty (think Bovril). With added water, the saltiness dissipates to reveal dark chocolate. This isn’t a whisky for the faint-hearted, but will please those who love bold, sherried whiskies. Clynelish Select Reserve

Clynelish Select Reserve. 54.9%. 2,964 bottles. RRP £500.

The first premium no-age-statement Special Release, this is a combination of five vintages and five wood types: three types of American oak (first-fill, refill and rejuvenated) and two types of European (refill and bodega). With the current debate around NAS whiskies, this is bound to cause some controversy. Bottled without an age statement due to the mixture of ages (however, we do know that the youngest is 16 years old), it has been created solely with a flavour profile in mind. It’s incredibly complex – a classically waxy Clynelish with spicy oak notes right to the end.

Caol Ila Unpeated 1998 / 15 Year Old

Caol Ila Unpeated 1998. 15yo. 60.39%. 10,668 bottles. RRP £75.

The first releases of unpeated Caol Ila were unexpectedly smoky. It’s been reducing year-on-year and there’s hardly any in this year’s release. I found this surprisingly easy to drink for a whisky at 60%, and for me it was better without water. Incredibly fruity on the nose, the palate is creamy with an orange note, and black pepper present right to the very end of the finish. Brora 35 Year Old

Brora 35yo. Distilled 1978. 48.6%. 2,964 bottles. RRP £1,200.

The 13th release of Brora was aged in a combination of refill American and refill European oak. Closer in style to the 2012 bottling, rather than last year’s earthier expression, this is elegant yet complex, displaying the trademark Brora waxiness along with sweet wood tannins and, with water, notes of tropical fruit. Caol Ila 1983 / 30 Year Old

Caol Ila 1983. 30yo. 55.1%. 7,638 bottles. RRP £425.

My personal favourite from the set, this stands out from the crowd, especially at this price. Aged in a combination of refill American and refill European oak, the first note is of menthol cigarettes and freshly cut grass. Initally absent, the peat slowly builds and builds right to the very end of the finish. Tasted blind, I would have said it was either a Brora or a Port Ellen – combining the waxiness of the former with the chamois leather note of the latter. Lagavulin 12 Year Old / 13th Release

Lagavulin 12yo. 13th Release, bottled 2014. 54.4%. 31,428 bottles. RRP £80.

One of the stalwarts of the series, the 13th release is very different to last year’s. Aged in refill American oak, the texture is mouth-coating with notes of dry ash and iodine. Much drier than previous bottlings, with tar and struck matches combined with a hint of meatiness, the latter more prominent when water is added. Port Ellen 1978 / 35 Year Old / 14th Release

Port Ellen 14th Release. Distilled 1978. 35yo. 56.5%. 2,964 bottles. RRP £2,200.

The highest-priced entry in the range and the one that’s the most sought-after. The 14th release is more elegant than last year’s: the wood tannins are subtle and the chamois leather not as prominent as one expects from Port Ellen, but that’s not a bad thing here. Incredibly complex, with notes of Oxo cubes, and a cinnamon spiciness that continues to the end of a very long finish.

This year’s range is – once again – outstanding. The two Caol Ilas are the standouts for me – the unpeated for its approachable nature and the 1983 for the sheer complexity and intensity. The Benrinnes may not be to my personal taste, but there are plenty that will love it. The line-up ticks all the boxes, including three closed distilleries and a couple of distilleries where expressions as a single malt are rare. Diageo have shown that they are able to produce a wide range of whisky styles – sweet and fruity (Strathmill), sweet and rich (Rosebank), rich and spicy (Cragganmore and Clynelish), sherry monster (Benrinnes), fruity and spicy (Caol Ila Unpeated), rich and peaty (Caol Ila 1983 and Brora), rich and spicy (Port Ellen and Lagavulin) – and this year (for me at least), they’ve created some masterpieces that are indeed special.

We are awaiting details of release dates, but you can click on any of the products above to sign up for an email when the whiskies become available.

SEPTEMBER UPDATE: WHICH RARE BOTTLINGS HAVE YOU SPOTTED?

With game season well under way, we invite you to join the hunt for fun and flavour. Your greatest weapon is your nose: point it directly at a tasting note and allow the aromas to trigger a flurry of memories, associations and emotions. But remember that all Society bottlings are as rare as a lesser-spotted hare so bag yours before they disappear altogether.

TOP 5 SEPTEMBER BOTTLINGS BAGGED BY YOU

No. 1: Spicy & sweet

2.88 Cinderella weeping over matchmakers

Try pairing with rich, sweet hare

BUY £80.50

No. 2: Peated

53.212 Peat smoke and Para Handy puffers

A classic match with wild salmon

BUY £89.60

No. 3: Juicy, oak & vanilla

G4.7 Flying saucers and foamy shrimps (GRAIN)

Pair with partridge to make your mouth water

BUY £83.10

No. 4: Sweet, fruity & mellow

9.91 A whispering dram

Mild, dark mallard will complement it beautifully

BUY £83.70

No. 5: Light & delicate

26.105 Bumblebees by the sea

Delicious with rich, complex red deer

BUY£122.60

Browse new Outturn

Browse all bottlings

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