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

AnCnoc Cutter Peaty

The most heavily peated AnCnoc single malt to-date. Much anticipated limited release of 6,000 bottles.

AnCnoc Cutter $67.48

The Return of the Milroy’s Bottlings

It has been some time since we last bottled whisky here at Milroy’s of Soho. Our aim is to always bottle the best whisky we have available to us and unless we can do that we won’t bottle anything at all. After a lot of hard work (our bottler-in-chief has experienced ‘new parent’ levels of sleep deprivation) we have put together an entirely new range of whiskies and spirits.

We had a few objectives in mind when we created this new range. The first was to address the issue we’ve had with our single cask bottlings, which is that because there is always only a finite amount of each release, people are disappointed when we sell out. We wanted a core range of whiskies that we will always have in stock. As such, we are producing a number of regional age-statement whiskies that you can always find on our shelves without fear of them disappearing in the puff of a barrel!

Do not fear however, we will still be bottling single casks as well. These will become available as and when we find casks we think are worthy of bottling.

Secondly, we have upped our game and replaced the old Milroy’s Finest Blended Malt with a brand new Blend and a new Blended Malt whisky  – the quality of these two is astounding and are great everyday drinkers!

Finally – we really quite like gin – a lot. So being the intrepid types that we are, we’ve decided to bottle our very own. Adorned, in style, with a label featuring Hogarth’s famous Gin Lane print – it’s pretty cool, and tasty.

As if this wasn’t enough, we have invested in a complete label redesign to complement what we think is a confident step-up in range and quality.

In other news, our 50^th anniversary is coming up and there may be a 50 Year Old bottling to match, and perhaps a party… with cake. More on that soon!

All the best,

Milroy’s of Soho

Our mailing address is:
Milroy’s of Soho
3 Greek Street
London, England W1D 4NX
United Kingdom

Haig Club – whisky for the cocktail fan?

There’s been talk about Diageo’s new Haig Club whisky for months, with much speculation and discussion about its celebrity connections, thanks to endorsement by Simon Fuller and David Beckham. One thing that’s been missing, however, is information about the whisky itself. We’ve talked about Cameronbridge, the distillery where it’s made, but as we’ve not had any bottles to put on the website we’ve not said much about the Haig Club.

However, it’s now up on the site, so here’s a bit more background to share with you.

Firstly, some tasting notes:

Haig Club, 40%, £46.75

Nose: Toffee and bananas up front, with green grassy notes, and gentle ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon spiciness.
Palate: Sweet and creamy to start, with soft caramel and toffee. Lemon peel zestiness develops, with tingly cinnamon. Creamy lemon posset with a cinder toffee?
Finish: Spice, toffee, soft anise and a touch of warmth.
Comment: Light and sweet with more complexity than you might expect. It’s not a whisky that you’ll be sitting down to examine over hours, but it does have good flavours, which are strong enough to shine through even when mixed.

As it says on the back label, this is a whisky focused at mixing, either in short, old-fashioned cocktails or in long drinks. The Haig Club team have put together a selection of drinks, but these are our favourite two:

The Haig Clubman
50ml Haig Club
35ml sparkling apple soda (Appletise or one of its friends should work nicely)
6 dashes of ginger bitters (we like Bob’s Ginger Bitters)
Add all the ingredients to tumbler with some ice and stir gently to combine. Garnish with a thin slice of root ginger.

The cocktail appears to be named after an old advertising slogan for John Haig’s whiskies from the early part of the 20th century – The Clubman’s Whisky. It’s a spicy apple pie of a drink, with fruit from the apple, buttery sweetness from the whisky and a touch of heat from the ginger.

Haig Club New Old Fashioned
60ml Haig Club
10ml sweet vermouth (a spot of Gancia Rosso would do here – you don’t want anything too heavy)
2 dashes of orange bitters (we’d go for Gary Regan’s Orange Bitters No.6)

While we’d probably call this a “Haig Club Rob Roy on the rocks” rather than a New Old Fashioned, it certainly fits the bill as a twist on the more classic Old Fashioned. Focused on the whisky, with the vermouth adding a touch of both sweetness and bitterness, it showcases the spirit’s fruity notes.

It’s a versatile whisky, with enough punch of flavour to work in a long drink, but without some of the rawness that appears in Cameron Brig (which is also made at Cameronbridge). We suspect we’ll see this popping up in bars across the country as the launch rolls out, and it’s certainly worth a try.

The Haig team, as well as Diageo whisky ambassador and cocktail expert Andrea Montague, will be at this year’s Whisky Show. So, if you want to have a chat about the whisky and try some cocktails, make sure you get a ticket – we are close to running out of tickets…

Ardbeg Supernova 2014 – SN2014 to its friends

Ever since the label leaked in the US this past April, the internet has been awash with rumours about a new whisky from Ardbeg. Finally, the details have been announced and we can let you into the secrets of the latest Ardbeg Committee Release – Ardbeg Supernova 2014, aka SN2014.

Ardbeg whisky maker Dr Bill Lumsden in a space suit. Any excuse to dress up…

The third release under the Supernova name, this whisky celebrates the return to earth of The Ardbeg Space Experiment. That’s rather an over-the-top name for a project where vials of Ardbeg new make spirit and wood shavings where held on the International Space Station for a couple of years, to see how wood/spirit interaction changes in a microgravity environment. Specifically it’s all about terpenes, but as I gave up chemistry after GCSE, I’ll stop there.

The samples are now on their way back to earth (or are already here, if they came back on the Soyuz that landed this morning) with Friday 12 September as Ardbeg’s big day – the reuniting of the space samples with the control samples that were left on the earth, and the release of Supernova 2014.

The first edition of Supernova appeared during a slightly silly time, when the Islay distilleries were competing to produce the peatiest whisky. While Ardbeg might not have won the war (that accolade goes to Bruichladdich’s Octomore whiskies) they certainly came out of it with some credit: Jim Murray crowned Supernova 2009 the Scotch Whisky of the Year and Second Finest Whisky in the World in 2010.

If you’re looking for the earlier editions, we do have still have a few bottles, but they’re starting to become hard to find: Ardbeg Supernova 2009 and Ardbeg Supernova 2010.
This new edition steps back from the silliness, but still packs a flavoursome punch.

Ardbeg Supernova 2014, SN2014, 55%, £125

Nose: Big mulchy peat, with sweetness and brine. There are some soured cream notes, with grassiness and a touch of herbal mint. More savoury herbal notes come in, along with coal smoke and burning seaweed. There’s also a bit of straw and hay, adding to a decently farmy background.
Palate: Softer than the nose suggests, at least at first. Gentle, sweet orange peel starts, but intensifies with charred peel, mint leaf, damp earth and pungently sweet peat smoke. Liquorice notes sneak in behind, with ferns, TCP and brine. Dark chocolate bitterness is joined by a hint of cherry fruit, with rich loam and wood smoke adding a dryness.
Finish: Sweet smoke – both peat and wood – dark chocolate and ashy touches. Menthol hints linger.
Comment: It may be quite light in colour and relatively fresh on the nose, but it’s still a beast. There are darker notes underneath the initial feisty smoke, and a fair whack amount of complexity. It’s Ardbeg looking fondly back on the crazy days of the late noughties.

It’s an Ardbeg Committee Exclusive release, exclusive to Ardbeg Embassies in the UK, and will be available from Friday 12 September in our London shop. We will start start selling it online on Wednesday 17 September at 1pm – first come, first served.

However, if you’d like to try before you buy, we will have some to taste at The Whisky Exchange Whisky Show in October. The folks at Ardbeg will be bringing along a huge 4.5 litre bottle for their stand, and we will be saving a few bottles to go on sale in the shop during the show. We still have some tickets for the Sunday of the show, so head on over to our tickets page to grab one.