Congratulations to OLD PULTENEY, Gordon Hynd and team of Inverhouse Distillers, winners of this year’s The SPIRIT of WHISKY FRINGE Award. Over the three days of Whisky Fringe, all 1300 visitors had the chance to vote for their favourite whisky, from those sampled. Old Pulteney 1990 Vintage, a lightly peated, limited edition, was clearly voted the outright winner.

As always, commiserations to the runners up. Both the Glenglassaugh and the Ben Nevis are superb and highly recommended, while the new Highland Park Dark Origins was extremely well received. Thanks to all the exhibitors for participating and thanks to all the customers who voted.

1st PLACE

~ OLD PULTENEY 1990 Vintage ~
The Spirit of Whisky Fringe 2014

“If a cask is missing a certain zing or surprise, we use as many different oak casks (including different oak species) to produce some truly unique and truly outstanding whiskies; Exclusive Malts in Exclusive Casks Creating an Exclusive Range.”

Introducing the new and limited BenRiach single cask Batch 11 range! 14 unique and individual expressions covering a spectrum of natural colours and flavours! Each expression is very limited and all orders will be dealt with on a first come first served basis.

 The Whisky Shop
Tel 0141 427 2919
info@whiskyshop.com
http://www.whiskyshop.com/

We create a whole variety of whisky products, all made here in the Highlands of Scotland. All our frames and wooden products have a unique look due to the ageing of the wood, charring and materials used in production. Using the menu to the left please browse through what we have to offer… hopefully you’ll find something you like! All our products are so good we have some of them in our own house, and often find it difficult to part with some of the products we create.

http://www.whisky-on-tour.co.uk/

AUGUST UPDATE: HIGH CLASS LUXURY

This rare dram from a recently closed distillery in the deep southwest took us (aromatically speaking) to a hunting lodge: lots of waxed wood, polished leather, tobacco, bookcases and gun cabinets. We also found attractive toffee, crushed nuts and spicy apple pie. But what will you find? Hurry and get one of the last few bottles before they’re gone…

NOW AVAILABLE BY THE BOTTLE

Deep, rich & dried fruits

50.55 High class luxury

LOW OUTTURN: only 70 bottles!

23 years, refill ex-bourbon barrel

BUY £94.90

BACK IN STOCK: LAST FEW BOTTLES

Young & spritely

13.46 Something sweet for a beekeper

8 years, refill ex-bourbon barrel

BUY £55.70

Lightly Peated

29.157 Heidi’s Holiday to Islay

17 years, refill ex-sherry butt

BUY £62.40

Browse Full August 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

Port Ellen 31 year old Platinum Selection Old and Rare

This Port Ellen Expression is one of the rarest of its kind.

Distilled in September 1982 and bottled in July 2014 at a natural cask strength of 45.9% volume. This 31 year old Port Ellen is one of only 29 bottles filled from a Refill Hogshead.

Each bottling of Old & Rare has been matured to perfection, so due to the angels’ share there are comparatively few examples to emerge from each cask. Presented in a highly distinctive squat bottle, each expression comes beautifully packaged in a specially crafted wooden box.  The personal tasting notes of our expert “nose” are included to complement the views of each individual taster. It goes without saying that each expression remains without chill-filtration or colouring.

£1200 – click here to buy

Kininvie – a long-overdue solo appearance

There was much excitement when William Grant launched Batch One from Kininvie to the Taiwanese market in the autumn of 2013, the first-ever release from this off-the-radar distillery. But now, UK whisky drinkers have something to get excited about: Batch Two, a 23-year-old Kininvie, is about to be launched in this country. Since it began distilling in 1990, virtually all of Kininvie’s output went into Grant’s blends and the tri-distillery blend Monkey Shoulder, but Kininvie itself stopped operating in late 2010, with William Grant seemingly reluctant to throw its weight behind a third single malt – understandable given that Glenfiddich and The Balvenie were doing very nicely, thanks very much.

So far, the only Kininvie we’ve seen here at TWE has been two bottlings, released under the Hazelwood banner (we still have some here), but William Grant is now ready to unveil Kininvie to a thirsty UK market – and the results are well worth it. TWE was invited to try three cask samples in addition to the two finished whiskies to get a good grounding of the whisky’s style:

1. 2006 (bourbon barrel): bags of sweet fruit and vanilla, with refreshing green-apple notes
2. 1990 (American oak hogshead): briney, cured-meat notes, lots of spice, tight and lean
3. 1990 (sherry butt): big, big flavours of Christmas cake and rancio, but not overblown

The first ‘complete’ whisky I tried was the 17 Year Old. Sadly, at the moment it’s limited to travel retail, but for the record, it offered clean, fresh aromas of apple and pear, with a sweet, creamy, mouth-filling palate delivering spicy cinnamon and clove notes. Thankfully, the best of the bunch was the one that is going to be available in the UK: the 23 Year Old.

Kininvie 23 Year Old, 42.6% abv. RRP £96.95 (35cl)

Nose: Rich and complex with stone fruit and notes of Seville orange. Very seductive and moreish. Spices start to come through over time.
Palate: This is 20:80 sherry cask/bourbon cask, but the sherry influence certainly makes its presence felt, with a big whack of dried fruit (raisins), along with Christmas spices. Some honeyed notes in there, too.
Finish: Superb. Lovely balance, as the fruit and spices gently dissipate.
Comment: This was the pick of the five by some distance. A very classy product indeed.

Like its Batch One counterpart, Batch Two will be sold in 35cl bottles – very dinky but rather charming, with 1,286 available in the UK. William Grant’s global marketing manager Kevin Abrook says: ‘Good things come in small packages, and we think we’ve got a super whisky here. We went for 35cl because we wanted to convey the sense of something precious.’

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Kininvie – a long-overdue solo appearance

The Rumor Still: More Dirt

After a long absence from our shelves – the Dirt has returned. Black Dirt Bourbon that is. Black Dirt takes its name from the dark, fertile soil left by an ancient glacial lake that once covered Thousands of acres of upstate New York. The ‘dirt’ is perfectly suited for growing crops such as corn for fantastic bourbon.

Our Price: $50/btl

Cheers!

Jonathan & Eric
The Park Avenue Liquor Shop
292 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10017
212-685-2442 

www.parkaveliquor.com 

info@parkaveliquor.com

AUGUST UPDATE: TOP TIER OF THE CAKE STAND

As the cake stand touched the table, all hands shot out to snag a sweet morsel. The fancies flew off the plate so fast that a few ran out in minutes, but don’t worry: you’re still in time to enjoy that perfect dainty. Here are your favourite five remaining delights…

No. 1: Lightly peated

29.157 Heidi’s Holiday to Islay

17 years, ex-sherry butt

BUY £62.40

No. 2: Spicy & sweet

35.122 Perfumed lady at a garden fete

12 years, ex-bourbon barrel

BUY £43.80

No. 3: Peated

53.210 Fantastic stuff

24 years, ex-bourbon hogshead

BUY £97.60

No. 4: Old & dignified

59.49 Celebration in a glass

30 years, ex-bourbon hogshead

BUY £137.60

No. 5: Spicy & sweet

39.101 Sophisticated adult sweetness

30 years, ex-bourbon hogshead

BUY £84.60

Browse Full August 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

Words to live by!! The August Outturn is full of great bottles, so keep calm, put your feet up and find the perfect scotch for you. For full tasting notes please visit http://www.smws.ca.

Cask No. 125.67 Clean and innocent
14 years old; 1st fill barrel; 58.7%
The nose is sweet (honey, meringue, toffee, creme brulee) and pleasantly woody (tea chests, coconut, polished Steinway) with lemon, leather, vanilla and elderflower. The palate evokes wooden toys, sticky with love and sweets (creme eggs, ice cream, custard) – fruitily perfumed with water.

Cask No. 77.30 Attractively accessible and mouth-watering
9 years old; refill hogshead; 61.9%
An attractive nose, brimming with barley sugars, fondants and shortbread; added interest from fresh linen, pear sorbet and orange zest; water brings mango, lime and daffodil stems. The easy-drinking, mouth-watering palate has stewed apples, pineapple tarts, toffee, tablet and sherbet fizz.

Cask No. 9.78 White chili chocolate
11 years old; 1st fill barrel; 59.3%
Sweet aromas dominate; brown sugar, golden syrup and cream of coconut. The taste is devilishly hot and lip tingling like white chili chocolate. With water fresher and slightly herbal on the nose and wonderfully smooth and creamy, white chocolate lime mousse, on the palate.

Cask No. 3.201 Scented wood smoke, lavender and violets
24 years old; 2nd fill sherry butt; 50.8%
Lots of scented wood-smoke on the nose – also polished furniture, rosemary, leather, marmalade on toast, toffee, cedar and carbolic. The palate has nice viscosity, wood smoke and ash (leather armchair by a log fire), charred orange peel, lavender and parma violets.

Cask No. 29.131 Buttercups, bothies and BBQs
17 years old; refill barrel; 60.6%
The unusual nose eventually balances sweetness and smoke – sugar puffs, vanilla and honey against coal, charred mackerel, rock-pools and oil lamps in bothies. The palate has caramelized onions, burnt schnitzel, mustard, tar, ash and smoke; lavender and buttercups in the background.

Cask No. 53.200 A day at the beach
18 years old; refill sherry butt; 59.8%
On the beach with fresh seaweed and overgrown wooden groynes next to a harbour where the boats are landing their catch. The taste is like fresh oysters with Tobasco and honey butter roasted scallops. Adding water, like eating ashy marshmallows and fresh rhubarb with an agave syrup.

http://www.smws.ca