The Devil returns to Bowmore – The Devil’s Casks Batch 2

[Sadly, we’ve sold our initial allocation, but you can sign up here to be notified should we manage to find some more.]

Arguably the most anticipated Scotch whisky release of 2013 was the first edition of Bowmore The Devil’s Casks. It created such a buzz that we sold our allocation in under two minutes (it would have been the fastest-selling product of the year, but for the matter of that Karuizawa…). One year on and the second batch has been released – like the first batch, it was matured for 10 years in first-fill sherry casks, bottled at high strength (56.3% abv), and once again there were only 540 bottles for the UK.

Legend has it that the Devil once visited Islay. Heading straight for the capital, Bowmore, he initially wanted to hide in the town’s church. As it’s round, there were no corners for him to conceal himself, so he headed into the distillery and hid in a cask. And when the distillery released the new dark expression, the name was easy to choose.

This is what we thought:

Bowmore The Devil’s Casks Batch 2, 56.3%.

Rocky:

Nose: Rich – notes of treacle, Werther’s Originals and toffee combine with liquorice and smoke.
Palate: Warming – prune, chocolate, Christmas cake, raisin, truffle oil and cinnamon are all balanced against the backdrop of peat smoke and the merest hint of lit matches.
Finish: Long, with smoky raisins continuing to the very end.
Comment: Very well-balanced – sherry-cask maturation and peated whisky can be a difficult combination to get right, but the high abv is not overpowering and the whisky is moreish – even at this strength.

Stuart:

Nose: Weighty, heady aromas of treacle toffee, Demerara sugar, candied orange and a hint of leather.
Palate: A few drops of water exorcise the whisky, releasing notes of toffee, clove, cinnamon and chilli chocolate, along with subtle peatiness.
Finish: Big spices and dark chocolate linger long.
Comment: Big, big flavours, but everything is in balance. A dram to take your time over.

So how did the second release differ from the first? Comparing them side-by-side, the first release was slightly darker in colour and this was apparent showed on the palate – the new bottling was very slightly sweeter than the original, but was still full of the hallmarks of sherry-cask maturation: raisins, Christmas cake and chocolate.

Hopefully this won’t sit on people’s whisky shelves gathering dust, it’s tasty and deserves to be drunk – if you get a chance to grab a dram, make sure you do.

ALL SIGNS POINT TO GREAT SCOTCH!

September’s seven spectacular single malts await your discovery, so follow the signs – you won’t be misled! Bottle notes are below; for full tasting notes and to purchase please visit http://www.smws.ca/

Also, remember to sign up for the October First Friday tasting! Join Colin and Rick at The Strath Ale, Wine & Spirit Merchants on Friday, Oct. 3rd at 6:30pm for another fun night of good scotch and good company. Contact The Strath now to register ($35 members/$45 non-members): 250-370-9463.

Cask No. 36.62 The Italian job
21 years old; 2nd fill hogshead; 51.3%
A fresh, chalky and slightly sweet nose neat with a fizzy mouth feel turning juicier with time. Adding water almost flinty like an austere Lombardian wine and the taste has an intriguing balance of sour cream chips and honey yogurt ice cream.

Cask No. 17.35 Very fruity, very tasty
11 years old; refill barrel; 56.1%
The nose – plentiful fruit (tinned pineapple, three-fruit marmalade), toffee, honey, vanilla and Battenberg cake; also tarragon, straw and stationery cupboards. The palate – very tasty, very fruity; gummy bears, ‘soor plumes’ candies, Moffat toffees and coke with lime, traces of salt and ginger.

Cask No. 94.4 Ode to autumn
24 years old; refill hogshead; 52.3%
Warm and dusty, like a hayfield at harvest time on a sunny afternoon. The taste has the sweet richness of Italian biscotti with hazelnuts and dark cherries. With water – roasted red peppers and salty/sweet flavours of a quality olive oil and balsamic bread dip.

Cask No. 7.97 Cedar, sandalwood and cinnamon
20 years old; refill hogshead; 53.9%
The nose balances deep wood, dark honey, chocolate, coconut, menthol and leather against tropical fruits and gardens of flowers and herbs. The palate tingles with leather, orange zest, aniseed and ginger, before finding sexy traces of floral perfumes and sweet tobacco.

Cask No. 4.181 A muscle man from Orkney
16 years old; refill sherry butt; 54.6%
Rustic, grizzly and animalistic at first sight, this muscle man has lots to offer. Burnt coconut syrup, Dundee marmalade, smoked pork buns and Demerara sugar; smouldering and rich to taste. Water gave coffee liqueur and sweet molasses.

Cask No. 33.130 The farmyard and the chip shop
11 years old; 2nd fill barrel; 56.1%
The tasting panel divided into two camps. Malt in burlap sacks, sillage, tomatoes and compost in one, versus fish and chips and lobster pots in the other. Coal buckets and barbecue smoke. Blankets with mothballs and laundry day at the beach.

Cask No. 127.38 Enticing fume of a peak reek
10 years old; refill sherry butt; 66.3%
Sweet smoke, pork cracklings, honey and soy sauce, oily mackerels and Germolene. The taste is simply huge! A peat fire blazing in a croft house. Water releases herbal aromas of fish stock and the taste Mediterranean pork with sage plums and oven-roasted tomatoes rolled in herbs.

 http://www.smws.ca

Two New Single Cask Releases From Kilchoman

We’re delighted to announce that two single cask releases, the ex-Sherry matured and the PX finish, are both now available in the US. Both have been selected by and exclusively bottled for ImpEx Beverages USA.

The ex-Sherry Matured

The ex-Sherry matured cask #85/09, bottled at cask strength of 57.9% ABV, has been personally recommended by Tony Rozga, the Distillery production manager. This whisky was distilled in 2009 and spent over 5 years in a first-fill Oloroso Sherry Cask.

Tasting notes:

Colour – Dark burnished copper.

Nose – Deep sherry, smoke and leather notes.

Palate – Rich, luxurious sherry flavours. Viscous almost syrupy, lots of cooked fruits and citrus peel.

Finish – The finish is excellent, for a young whisky this has all the characteristics of great age.

RRP: $130

The PX Finish

The PX Finish is a first-fill ex-Bourbon cask #394/09, bottled at cask strength of 59.2% ABV. The Bourbon cask was chosen by the Distillery manager, John Maclellan, and was then transferred into a PX cask. It was bottled once the additional layer of complexity and a balance of what the Kilchoman and ImpEx teams were looking for were achieved.

Tasting notes:

Colour – Golden amber.

Nose – Strong vanilla with citrus fruits, caramalised brown sugar and sultanas.

Palate – Sweet toffee up front with a hint of marmalade, dryness and a long peaty finish.

Finish – The finish is long and clean with rich smoke and dried fruit.

RRP:$130

For further details please contactImpEx Beverages, Inc. at office@impexbev.com or call (650) 872-1113.

ImpEx encourages responsible drinking.

Introducing an incredible single cask Talisker bottled at a staggering 59.9% volume. It is one of only 298 bottles drawn from a refill hogshead and bottled exclusively for The Best of the West Festival.

£58 – Click here to buy

Appearance: Pale straw with a slight greenish tinge

Nose: Briny, vegetal, malty biscuits, faint rubber and peat smoke (abv holding the smoke back)

Palate:Intense peppery heat quickly gives way to a really creamy mouthfeel. Vegetal character turns into seaweed, cereal and woodsmoke.

Finish: Astringent, salty, classic Talisker pepperiness.

Tasting Notes by Jamie Milne.

The Best of the West Festival takes place on Saturday the 13th and Sunday the 14th of September and hosts over 70 musicians ranging from the world famous, young talent, local pipe bands including Gaelic and more traditional acts. Food and drink features strongly with over 20 whisky distilleries pitting against each other in a light-hearted ‘people’s tasting’ and foods including the famous Mull Cheddars, Inverawe salmons, Loch Fyne Oysters, Bute jams and chutneys.

New releases for the autumn

We released the final chapter of our incredibly popular Devil’s Punchbowl series at the end of July and were absolutely amazed by the response. It sold out in record time with Arran friends keen to complete their Devil’s Punchbowl trilogy. To read some exclusive notes from Master Distiller James MacTaggart on this bottling, click here and sign in to your Arran White Stag account.

For those looking to add to their collection of Arran Single Malts, there are still some bottles of our Limited Edition 17 year-oldavailable to purchase in our web shop.  The next Limited Edition release is our brand new Machrie Moor Peated Arran Cask Strength and 10 year-old Orkney Bere Barley which will be available in our web shop at the end of September. You can find out more about our limited edition whiskies in the private White Stag section of our web site. (Click HERE to join the White Stag of Arran.)

Finally, we have just released our re-designed 10 year-old Single Malt and will be releasing our new design of the 12 year-old Cask Strength in the coming weeks. These expressions are joining our 14 year-old to create a fresh core range of Single Malts for our Distillery before the release of our first ever 18 year-old next year. Our ever-popular Arran Gold Cream Liqueur has also been re-designed and you will find it in our web shop too – just in time for the autumn months when it is perfect on its own, over ice or even in coffee! You can see some more images of our re-designed core range by clicking on Find Out More below.

FIND OUT MORE

Springbank Society Newsletter

September 2014

I hope you have all had a great Summer and the weather has been kind to you wherever you are. We were very lucky here in Campbeltown with some beautiful weeks of sunshine and it’s with weather like that we all really appreciate the amazing beaches and scenery we have on our doorstep. There has been an increased number of visitors around the town this Summer and it’s a great sight to see.

NEW SPRINGBANK WEBSITE

I’m extremely excited to tell you that we are now in the first stages of having a brand new, 21st century approved website designed for us! If you have visited our current website I’m sure you will agree that it is a little out of date and in need of a modern make over. Glasgow-based Graphic Design Agency, Made Brave will be designing the fresh new website for us and with a number of high end clients under their belt, we are confident they will be able to deliver a website which will reflect the quality of our products.

Andrew and Martin from Made Brave visited us at the weekend and spent two days shooting different parts of the distillery. From just glancing at a few of the creative shots they took, we know we are in safe hands with them. We hope to have the website up and running before the end of this year so I will keep you posted on the progress – I can’t wait to see how it looks!

CAMPBELTOWN MALTS FESTIVAL 2015

Following the success of The Campbeltown Malts Festival 2014, where Campbeltown’s three distilleries worked together to create a 3 day whisky festival, I am pleased to say that the dates for next year have been confirmed. Once again Springbank, Glengyle and Glen Scotia will team up and will hold the Campbeltown Malts Festival 2015 from Wednesday 20th-Friday 22nd May. Like previous years, the Springbank Open Day will fall on the Thursday (21st) with a variety of other events happening on the Wednesday (20th) and Friday (22nd). As always, we have already been thinking of ways to make it bigger and better than the last and we would love your ideas on how you think we could do this! If you have any suggestions on things you would like to see or anything you think could work better then please so share! We would love to hear any feedback you have, although please don’t be too harsh as I may take it personally!

WHISKY SCHOOL DATES 2015

The dates for the Springbank Whisky School 2015 have now been announced and spaces are filling up quickly. For all our new members who maybe haven’t heard of it before, we started the Whisky School in 2007 and it’s where we offer enthusiasts the chance to come and work in the distillery for a week long ‘course’. During the week they will gain knowledge and experience in all stages of the whisky making process including malting, mashing, distilling and bottling as well as gaining some well earned ‘tasting’ experience!!

The dates for next year are:

Term 1: ” Week commencing Monday 18th May 2015

Term 2: ” Week commencing Monday 25th May 2015

Term 3: ” Week commencing Monday 1st June 2015

Term 4: ” Week commencing Monday 8th June 2015

Term 5: ” Week commencing Monday 15th June 2015

Term 6: ” Week commencing Monday 22nd June 2015

Term 7: ” Week commencing Monday 29th June 2015

To find out prices, availability or get some more information, please email Janet at whiskyschool@springbankwhisky.com.

DISTILLERY & SALES TEAM NEWS

We have been very busy at the distillery this Summer with both our day-to-day shop tours and Sales Team visitors. Visitor numbers during the Summer months have seen a steady increase from last year and it’s great to see so many people coming all the way to Campbeltown to visit us.

At the distillery, we are currently in the 5th week of malting which will take us up until Friday 31st October. After this, the guys will head up to Glengyle Distillery where they will start mashing on Wednesday 5th November until we break up for the Christmas holidays.

The Autumn and Winter months are always a busy time for the Sales Team who will be out and about at various shows around the world. Ranald, Melanie, David and Grant have their calendars full for the next few months meaning it will be a very quiet (and peaceful!) office for the rest of us!

I am also very excited to be working my first ever show at the beginning of October! I’m finally being trusted on a trip away and will travel down to London along with David and Grant for the Whisky Exchange Whisky Show which takes place on the first weekend of October. I will hopefully be able to bring a sample of the new Society bottling (due out in October) with me so I hope to see some of you there!

UPCOMING RELEASES & INFORMATION ON CURRENT BOTTLINGS

We have recently bottled two new releases which will be hitting shops this week.

The first bottling is the third in the series of Longrow Red. You may remember in 2012 we released Longrow Red which was matured in Cabernet Sauvignon Casks and in 2013 we released a version which was matured in Shiraz Casks. The 2014 edition has been matured in Fresh Port Casks and is magnificent! It is 11 years old and bottled at 51.8% with 9,000 bottles available for worldwide distribution. The price for this is £55.00 and as a Society Member, you will get your 10% member discount, meaning it will cost you £49.50.

The tasting notes for the new Longrow Red are as follows:

Nose: Beautiful sweet fresh summer fruits. Creamy with a hint of peat and classic cigar box notes.

Palate: Very smooth and elegant, particularly for an 11 year old. Good peat influence with the port casks providing lots of juicy current notes: Lingonberries!

Finish: A soft oaty creaminess provokes thoughts of brie and cranberry on oatcakes. Long and sweet.

The second new release this week is the Hazelburn 10 year old which will join the Hazelburn 12 to make up the two core products in the Hazelburn range. The 10 year old is bottled at 46% and is made up of 100% bourbon casks. This will retail at £38.00 and members will of course get their 10% discount on this bottle making it £34.20. The tasting notes for this are:

Nose: Stewed pears and baked apples are followed by honeycomb and fudge notes.

Palate: A lovely and rich whisky with vanilla and honey flavours. Liquorice follows with a refreshing zestiness.

Finish: A refined milk chocolate cream finish which is oily and chewy.

We will be releasing another three exciting bottlings in October/November, including a new Society bottling, so as soon as I have more information on these I will send you all the details!

Earlier this year, we re-designed the packaging for the Longrow 18 year old so that it fitted in with the other products in the Longrow range. Now our Springbank 18 year old has also been given a make over with a more  striking colour of purple being used on the label and packaging. The whisky is of course the same – it’s just been given a new look!

Over the past two years, prices at Springbank have only increased in line with duty. Unfortunately with increased production costs (water, oil, electricity, barley and casks are all more expensive than previously), it’s necessary to update our current retail price list. The 10 core products in our range along with their updated prices are listed below:

• Hazelburn 10yo: ” £38.00 (-10% Society discount) = £34.20

• Hazelburn 12yo: ” £50.00 (-10% Society discount) = £45.00

• Springbank 10yo: ” £38.00 (-10% Society discount) = £34.20

• Springbank 12yo: ” £47.00 (-10% Society discount) = £42.30

• Springbank 15yo: ” £53.50 (-10% Society discount) = £48.15

• Springbank 18yo: ” £78.00 (-10% Society discount) = £70.20

• Springbank 21yo: ” £180.00 (-£10.00 for Society Members) = £170.00

• Longrow: ” ” £38.00 (-10% Society discount) = £34.20

• Longrow Red: ” £55.00 (-10% Society discount) = £49.50

• Longrow 18yo: ” £84.50 (-10% Society discount) = £76.05

SHIPPING OUT-WITH THE UK

In the last newsletter, I told you that we had found a new shipping company who are able to ship worldwide for us. The service seems to working very well for almost all countries and we have had some very happy customers who have been impressed by the quick and easy service which has been provided. The main problem we have experienced is when trying to send to some states within the USA, as due to strict laws on importing, they have not been allowed into the state. At the moment we are having problems shipping to the following states:

• California

• Illinois

• Missouri

• North Carolina

• New York

• Oregon

• Pennsylvania

• Washington

• Texas

We are currently working on a way round this problem but unfortunately until we find a resolution we will not be able to ship to the above 9 states. If you live in a state which is not listed then it should be possible to get bottles shipped to you. If anyone would like another copy of the shipping prices for different countries then please let me know and I can get this emailed over to you.

Anyway, I think that is all the news I have at the moment so thank you for reading and I will be in touch in the next few weeks with news of the upcoming bottlings.

Slainte,

Mairi

For the Springbank Society

 To join the Springbank Society please contact them at society@springbankwhisky.com

Craigellachie – a brand new range of single malts that pay tribute to the original distilling methods of 1891. The Craigellachie distillery was described as old-fashioned even in 1891 as they used ‘worm tubs’ to cool the vapour down and condense the spirit back into liquid form. This increasingly rare and old fashioned method is still in use at Craigellachie today and creates a unique strong and meaty character.

Craigellachie 13 year old

The colour of Pinot Grigio white wine, from refill American oak casks. A youthful nose, with creamy rice pudding as a top note, acidic tropical fruitiness in the middle and the most subtle hint of smoke at the back. The taste follows this: sweet, acidic, slightly smoky.
Tasting notes by Charlie Maclean
70cl, non chillfiltered, 46% ABV.
£50 – Click here to buy

Craigellachie 17 year old

Full gold in colour, from American oak casks. Strikingly more aromatic and fruity that the 13YO: An oily mouthfeel and a sweet, slightly acidic taste, with nougat in the aftertaste.
Tasting notes by Charlie Maclean.
70cl, non chillfiltered, 46% ABV.
£96 – Click here to buy

Craigellachie 23 year old

Chardonnay in colour, from American oak casks. A deeply mellow aroma, with putty and woodsmoke. A voluptuous texture, and all these scents are translated into tastes. A drop of water develops both aroma and taste, now slightly mentholated. A delicious dram.
Tasting notes by Charlie Maclean
70cl, non chillfiltered, 46% ABV.
£385 – Click here to buy

After enjoying years of the Willett’s bourbon and rye “bottlings” we were excited to receive and taste Rye “distilled” by them. The nose is quite lovely and light, with some clove and buttered pickles. With H2O: floral qualities, cinnamon; Palate has notes of toffee, candied fruits, marmalade.

Buy Now: $48.99

Malt of the Month – Glengoyne 18 Year Old

It’s time for our next Malt of the Month, and for September we’ve chosen Glengoyne 18 Year Old. Our selection is based purely on highlighting whiskies that often get overlooked – either within a distillery’s range or the category as a whole.

Introduced in 2012 to replace the popular 17 Year Old, the 18 Year Old benefits from an additional year’s ageing, which adds another layer of complexity and richness. Aged entirely in sherry casks, with a high proportion being first-fill, it’s rich and full-bodied – and with Glengoyne using just warm air to dry the barley, it’s entirely unpeated, allowing the quality and character of the spirit to shine through.

The distillery straddles the line between the Highlands and Lowlands and the spirit is often of a lighter and delicate style – more in line with the latter than the former region in which it sits.

Glengoyne 18 Year Old, 43%. £61.45 this month (usually £73.45).

Nose: Rich and pronounced fresh-fruit notes: apple, pineapple and papaya, with malt and toffee in the background, along with a hint of cinnamon.

Palate: The richness continues, but with the fruit notes of apple and pineapple superseded by prominent notes of nut and spice: hazelnut, nutmeg and clove.

Finish: Medium to long, with the fruit and nut slowly dissipating to leave the spicy flavours.

Comment: A rich and spicy whisky, with the added complexity that the additional year’s maturation gives, compared to its predecessor. It may not be priced in the everyday whisky bracket, but its approachability and fullness of flavour mean it’s not a whisky that should only be enjoyed on special occasions.

Sitting in the middle of the distillery’s core range, this more than surpasses the discontinued 17-year-old – it’s won awards in three continents, so the judges agree, too. At £12 off for the month of September, it’s even better value – head to The Whisky Exchange website to buy a bottle.

The Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd has announced some exciting new limited edition releases with a strong emphasis on Sherry. 

The Tomatin Cuatro Series presents four unique limited edition expressions of Tomatin Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky. 

All distilled on the same day, the whisky was matured for nine years in traditional American Oak casks and was then transferred to four different types of Sherry butts for a period of over three years. As a result each of the four expressions have developed their own unique characteristics. The range includes: Fino, Manzanilla, Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez. 

With its Spanish sherry inspiration, the name “Cuatro” is fitting as the Spanish word for “four”. 

Graham Eunson, Distillery Manager, launched the new release with a Tweet Tasting on the evening of 3^rd September, where selected tasters were provided samples of each expression along with its relevant Sherry. He said: “We are constantly striving to innovate and push boundaries and I believe Cuatro is a great example of something yet again different from Tomatin Distillery. Sherry is a key feature within our core range and this limited series allows us to delve deeper into the different effects it can have on our whisky.” 

There are 1500 bottles of each expression available and each is expected to retail at £49.99. 

Staying with the Sherry theme, the company has also added to its Cù Bòcan brand range with another limited edition: the Sherry edition. With the standard edition comprising Sherry, Virgin Oak and Bourbon casks, this is the first of three limited editions highlighting the flavours derived from each cask type. 

Fully matured in first fill Sherry butts, the Sherry edition is rich and fruity with hints of smoke and paprika. There are only 6000 bottles available and it is expected to retail at £49.99 in specialist retailers.

The further two limited editions will be released in 2015.