November Outturn Previews: 4 new casks & pair offer

Drool over our spookily good November Preview Bottlings…released early and just in time for Halloween

76.87 Kissing a lady vampire’s neck
Speyside Spey
£39.80 inc free p&p
A ‘classy wee number’ – lightly floral (elderflower or meadowsweet after rain) and fruity (kumquat, physalis, cherry) with understated notes of old pine, coffee grinds and ginger

26.75 Scented candles in a sauna
Highland Northern
£90.75 inc free p&p
At first we noted ‘foamed banana’, then muesli (perhaps Sugar-Puffs) with dried banana and desiccated coconut. Then came ‘ginestra candle’, eucalyptus and sauna scents, which resolved into minerals

G5.4 Sweet Treats
Single Cask Grain
£51.60 inc. free p&p
sweet bourbon-like treats – banana toffee, golden syrup, barley sugar, pecan pie, maple syrup on pancakes, rum and raisin, sugar on cornflakes; vague hints of coconut, balsa wood, vanilla and felt-tip pens

Compare with…?
G5.3 Extraordinary taste intensity
Single Cask Grain
£51.60 inc. free p&p
We found a fabulous, unusual nose – polished oak, coconut and
perfumed smoke; curry spices, toasted sesame seeds and aniseed

Nov Preview Pair Offer: 76.87 & *29.106 for only £83.50

29.106 Old lace & lavender hand cream
Islay
*Exclusive to this pair offer
Big and smoky to taste with white pepper, barbecued prawns,
heather, chalky violets, sweet oysters and charcoal

*October Outturn SAVINGS:
Oct Naughty Pair: 64.32 & 93.46
Electric Six: 64.32, 26.82, 37.49, 93.46, 4.155 & 53.154
*Very last few bottles, 4.155 sold-out completely except within the Electric Six

Super, natural spirits…
We’ve found some lurking in our cupboards, get your hands on some before they vanish forever

Somerset Cider Apple Brandy
Cask 2. Toffee apples and scented cedar
£39.80 inc. free p&p
22 bottles available online

116.4 Cinnamon & garden mint
Japanese single cask
13YO, Date distilled: Nov 1988
Available by the dram at 28 Queen Street (very limited)

Oct Outturn Browse all bottlings (50 single casks online)

SMWS Tastings & Events (39 events online)
All About Sherry – Queen Street, Wed 26 Oct
Oxford Preview Tasting – Oxford Castle, Fri 28 Oct
Sheffield Preview Tasting – Leopold Hold, Fri 28 Oct
Chester-le-Street Preview Tasting – Cricket Club, Fri 28 Oct
Nov Preview Tasting with Cheese – Queen Street, Tue 1 Nov
Nov Preview Tasting for the Meat-Lover – Queen Street, Wed 2 Nov
Nov Outturn Open Tasting – London, Sat 5 Nov
Nov Outturn Tasting & Carvery – The Vaults, Sun 6 Nov

More Society tastings

Society Hogmanay Celebrations: Sat 31 Dec
The Vaults Hogmanay
Hogmanay Gala Dinner: The Dining Room
Hogmanay Member’s Room Event: 28 Queen Street

Whisky Magazine’s 2012 Independent Bottler of the Year
www.whiskymag.com/awards/ibc/2011/

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 http://www.smws.co.uk/memberships for your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers.

Macphails 30yo Puccini Decanter 40%alc.

One of our trade’s best kept secrets, a light and very pleasing single malt from an unidentified Speyside distillery. Stylishly presented in a fine decanter and first-class presentation box, lined with tartan.

If you’re looking for an example of a floral whisky here it is, soft, warm floral aroma, leafy and fragrant with soap and leather annotations when water is added.

On the palette it reflects the floral personality with slight matchwood smoke and a medicinal – surgical spirits – swallow.

Square A2 on the Flavour Map; that’s as Light & Delicate as they come, excellent.

Price excluding VAT: £104.17
£125.00 Including VAT at 20%

https://www.lfw.co.uk/blog/2011/10/18/macphails-30yo-puccini-decanter/

Best regards,
Loch Fyne Whiskies
david@lfw.co.uk

1992 Bladnoch K&L Exclusive 18 Year Old Chieftain’s Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($89.99) As soon as we got off our red-eye flight to Edinburgh, David OG and I headed straight over the Chieftain’s office for some barrel tasting. Even with our sleep-deprived palates we both straightened up after tasting this single barrel Lowland whisky from Bladnoch. There aren’t too many distilleries left today in the southern part of Scotland, but it’s still considered a whisky-making region. Along with Auchentoshan and Glenkinchie, Bladnoch is one of the remaining survivors still making the light and fruity Lowland style of single malt, but it has been unavailable in the U.S. While the former two distilleries tend to be simple and straight-forward in their flavor profile, Bladnoch is expressive and alive in a way that most single malts are not. The nose is instantly perfumy with flowers and a waxy note that reminds me of a Crayola crayon box. The first sip is all jelly beans and citrus with sweet vanilla permeating the core. It finishes in a flurry of complexity that makes one instantly reach for more in hope of deciphering these flavors, but the malt is so intense that it proves difficult. We enjoyed this Bladnoch so much that we carried it in a pocket flask for the entire rest of the trip. It became our personal drink of choice when we finished each day because it was so fun and easy to drink. For a whisky this good, as well as 18 years old, the price is stunningly inexpensive. -David Driscoll, K&L Spirits Buyer

1983 Dailuaine K&L Exclusive 27 Year Old Chieftain’s Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($139.99) Cask maturation is a fascinating process, namely because 20+ years in a barrel doesn’t affect all whisky in quite the same way. Three decades in fresh sherry barrel, for example, sometimes results in a single malt so rich that the original flavors may no longer be recognizable. However, 27 years of slow aging in a refill hogshead can be like simmering a pot of stew over multiple days – the flavors congeal and are coerced into action. That’s a pretty good description of the Dailuaine 27 year cask we found at the Chieftain’s warehouse on our recent trip to Scotland. Another Diageo-owned distillery primarily used for blends, this Speyside malt is quite the little tease. The nose is full of fresh blossoms with vanilla and mulled grains which spring into further action on the palate – rather delicate and soft. The finish, however, comes roaring in with smoked almonds and a powerful mouthfeel, not at all what one expects after such an elegant entry. We’re always on the lookout for older whiskies that seem to have been forgotten and we really lucked out with this find. This whisky reminds me of the Mannochmore barrel we did from Chieftain’s last Christmas in that we’re getting a delicious, ancient malt for pennies. The difference between them is that the Dailuaine is better. -David Driscoll, K&L Spirits Buyer

1995 Allt-A-Bhainne 16 Year Old Chieftain’s Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 5 available ($69.99)

1998 Ardbeg 13 Year Old Chieftains Bourbon Barrel Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 10 available ($89.99)

1984 Benrinnes 26 Year Old Chieftain’s Single Sherry Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 5 available ($169.99)

1997 Caol Ila 14 Year Old Chieftain’s Jamaican Rum Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 10 available ($99.99)

1990 Rosebank 20 Year Old Chieftain’s Single Sherry Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 11 available ($169.99)

Springbank 14 Year Old Manzanilla Sherry Cask Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 11 available ($89.99)

Springbank 14 Year Old Oloroso Sherry Cask Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 12 available ($89.99)

1998 Strathisla 12 Year Old Chieftain’s Petrus Gaia Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 5 available ($69.99)

Scotland – Blended Scotch

Compass Box Great King Street Artist’s Blended Whisky 375ml – 8 available ($21.99)

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

Loch Fyne Whiskies has stocked a new item, ‘Arran Single Sherry Cask 719’

Arran Single Sherry Cask 719 1997 14yo
56.3% abv
£62.50 inc vat
£52.08 ex vat

Arran Single Sherry Cask 719 1997 14yo 56.3%alc.

Single Sherry Cask 719
Distilled 09/05/97
Bottled 11/08/11
Limited to 520 bottles

Price excluding VAT: £52.08
£62.50 Including VAT at 20%

https://www.lfw.co.uk/blog/2011/10/18/arran-single-sherry-cask-719/

Best regards,
Loch Fyne Whiskies
david@lfw.co.uk

We are pleased to announce that Kilchoman Inaugural 100% Islay has arrived!!

This release has been produced from barley grown, malted, distilled, matured and bottled at the distillery. This makes Kilchoman the only distillery that does this.

It’s bottled at 50% alcohol. The RRP is: $99.99.

There are only 780 bottles (130 6/pks) available for the entire country.

If you need samples, let us know.

Thank you,

The ImpEx Beverage Team

Loch Fyne Whiskies has stocked a new item, ‘Malt Whisky Yearbook 2012’

Malt Whisky Yearbook 2012

An enthusiast’s yearbook, by an enthusiast, for an enthusiast. This latest version is so bang up to date Ingvar must have perfected some form of time travel! Remarkable.

298 pages

£13.95

https://www.lfw.co.uk/blog/2011/10/18/malt-whisky-yearbook-2012/

Best regards,
Loch Fyne Whiskies
david@lfw.co.uk

Bringing in the Barley

Cask No. 22.29
Lowlands, Eastern Lowlands

Our first thoughts were of combine harvesters in golden fields of barley; sweet bails of hay, husk, meadow blossom and hessian sacks of grain. Then buttery short crust pastry, roasted chestnuts, sweet mincemeat pies and Manzanilla sherry, with raisins in a Waldorf salad. The neat palate was almost hoppy, reminiscent of a real ale IPA. The reduced nose was floral and gristy, like barley through the mill; a muesli mixture of husk and flour with nuts, raisins, papaya and dried apricots. The reduced palate was creamy with soy milk and bran flakes, muesli and beer. This Lowland whisky is brewed and distilled in the Lothians, also known as The Edinburgh Malt.

Drinking tip: Instead of a beer

Colour: Sunset on the ocean
Cask: Refill sherry butt
Age: 24 years
Date distilled: April 1987
Alcohol: 54.9%

$150

Jam making and harvested fields

Cask No. 9.60
Highlands, Speyside (Rothes)

The nose was buttery (buttered toast, croissants, bread and butter pudding) with raisins, baked apples, custard, new-made jam and mixed spice. The unreduced palate was big and full-bodied with lasting heat – the flavours included intense fruit and vanilla, poached pears with soft cinnamon spice and syrup and slightly burnt pastries with currants. Water accentuated the jam tarts (with icing sugar) on the nose and introduced an earthy note. The reduced palate, still rich and substantial, evoked a jam maker’s kitchen, fresh sourdough bread and the comforting glow of autumn sunshine on harvested fields. From the first distillery established in Rothes.

Drinking tip: A kitchen dram – or to evoke childhood autumn days

Colour: Burnished brass with beads
Cask: Refill hogshead
Age: 13 years
Date distilled: April 1997
Alcohol: 57.6%

$110

Clean smoking jackets

Cask No. 37.48
Highlands, Speyside

There was a cleanliness that suggested a doctor’s surgery or swimming pools; one Panellist found smoking jackets with the pockets stuffed full of boiled sweets, overripe squishy pears, tobacco and chocolate cake with raspberry jam. Grapefruit, empty cigar boxes and tuck shops were also mentioned. Zingy, hot, mouth-coating and thick on the palate, with tannic tobacco, bitter cocoa powder and custard apples. Water released sweetness – golden syrup (on Scottish plain bread) and tinned peaches in mango juice as well as freshness – Zoflora, lemon balm and scented candles. To taste it was soapy, soft, chewy, clean, fruity and warming. From Ballindalloch in Banffshire.

Drinking tip: In springtime while hanging out the laundry

Colour: Well-done biscuit
Cask: Second-fill hogshead
Age: 12 years
Date distilled: February 1999
Alcohol: 55.4%

$105

Medieval banquet
Cask No. 99.12
Highlands, Eastern Highlands

Weirdly complex – yeast, red grapes, linseed oil, ham & pickle crisps, winey-garlicky cheese fondue, white jasmine, strawberry shortcake fruit corner and Schweppes lemonade – everything at once like a medieval banquet. A savoury palate; brown sauce covered cold Scotch pie and more of those crisps but also lovely peachy-mango coulis, Canada Dry ginger ale and a dry peppery heat. Dry in reduction like an Oloroso sherry, wet clay, window putty, pork chops & apple sauce, Irn Bru, Wham or Refreshers bars – we couldn’t decide. To taste we thought the complexity was lost; it became dusty, with mutton, leather and starfruit. This Peterhead distillery closed in 1983.

Drinking tip: Much better neat, why not try this with a cheeseboard

Colour: Coppery amber
Cask: Refill sherry butt
Age: 30 years
Date distilled: May 1980
Alcohol: 46.7%

$185

Desperate Dan whisky

Cask No. 127.9
Islay, Loch Indaal

The initial nose suggested peat smoke, tar and TCP, langoustines on beach barbeques, burnt limes, liquorice, aniseed, biltong and hay. The big, intense, smoky palate had syrupy sweetness, violets, chilli, charcoal and ash – ‘A Desperate Dan whisky!’ someone exclaimed, but no-one particularly wanted to spit it out. The reduced nose seemed colour-coded – black pudding, black pepper, blackberries and Black Jack chews were all mentioned – as were tropical fruits, burnt wood, heather and the Bowmore swimming pool sauna. The reduced palate had sweet popcorn, mint, chalk and tar – drinkable neat, but also great with water. The peated version of distillery 23.

Drinking tip: Ladies – this will definitely attract real men – pour a glass or dab it behind your ears – whichever

Colour: Chardonnay
Cask: Refill barrel
Age: 9 years
Date distilled: December 2001
Alcohol: 65.1%

$90

Please click on the LINK to read further and visit the SMWS of America at www.smwsa.com  for information on how to join. 

GlenDronach 21 Year Old ‘Parliament’

Matured in a combination of the finest Oloroso and Pedro Ximinez Sherry Casks.

Tasting Notes:

Nose – A delicate mix of ripe autumnal fruits – notably blackberries and red plums. Rich Oloroso sherry and candied orange segments. Spiced oatmeal biscuits and toasted oak fragrances bring excellent weight and balance.

Palate – Resolute flavours of fine Oloroso sherry and bitter chocolate sauce, which has been spread liberally over homemade plum pudding. This is all infused with fabulous spicy notes – cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Full bodied with smooth tannins.

£69.98 inc VAT
CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW

GlenDronach Single Cask 1995 # 4681 – UK Exclusive – Sherry Matured – 725 bottles available

Glendronach 15 Year Old (1995) Single Cask

Selected and bottled exclusively for the UK

Cask Type – Pedro Ximinez Sherry Puncheon
Cask No – 4681
Bottled – 08/11

Appearance – cherry-wood and russet mahogany.
Nose – chocolate orange and stewed plum.
Palate – delivers chocolate, toffee, spiced fruits, figs, raisins and dates.

£59.99 inc VAT

CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW

BenRiach Limited Release 1995 cask # 7164 – UK Exclusive – PX Sherry Finish – 695 bottles available

Benriach 1995 Pedro Ximinez Sherry Finish – Limited Release

Selected and bottled exclusively for the UK.

Cask Type – Pedro Ximinez Sherry Puncheon

Cask No – 7164

Character – Juicy fruits of melons, bananas and lychee. Clean toasted oak attributes and distinctive cinnamon flavours.

£58.00 inc VAT

CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW

Scotch Malt Whisky Society Arrives in Canada

Calgary – Calgarians and whisky enthusiasts Rob and Kelly Carpenter are launching the Canadian branch of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society at an invitation-only event at Calgary’s Kensington Wine Market October 17, 2011. The member’s only society originated in Scotland a quarter century ago, and now has 26,000 members in 15 countries around the world. The Society bottles only single cask, single malt whisky from over 125 distilleries. Since single casks are unique, so are the whiskies they produce making each bottling unique. Each cask is limited in supply, with some casks producing upwards of 500 bottles and others fewer than 100; once a particular bottling is sold out it’s gone forever never to be replicated. Bottlings are chosen by a Tasting Panel made up of industry experts and enthusiasts, and each bottling is given clever and informative tasting notes to help Society members select their preferred single malt.

The Society is partnering with Kensington Wine Market as its exclusive retailer. Kensington Wine Market will also be hosting “First Fridays,” where members and those interested in joining can sample The Society’s new monthly releases. First Fridays happen on the first Friday of every month beginning in November. Private tastings are also available.

Kelly Carpenter explains why she and husband Rob Carpenter felt so passionate in bringing The Society to Canada, “When we lived in Edinburgh we discovered The Society and we fell in love with the product from the very beginning and couldn’t wait to share it. Before we decided to bring The Society to Canada, we would visit Edinburgh at least once a year and stock up on their unique bottlings to bring home as gifts for our family and friends. This is really just an extension of that.”

Membership for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society is $230 to sign up, with $120 yearly renewal. Membership grants exclusive access to the very best single cask, single malt whisky available anywhere in the world. The Society recently won 12 awards in Whisky Magazine’s 2011 Independent Bottler’s Challenge, including the overall title of Independent Bottler of the Year. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is owned by luxury brand world leader LVMH. Membership information can be found at www.smws.ca , or by emailing curious@smws.ca.

Spirit of dogged curiosity

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is a curious and unique fellowship of whisky lovers, who like to do things in a very particular way. Members come together to share and explore the exceptional quality and endless variety of Scotch malt whisky. It’s the Society’s mission to intrigue, entertain and delight with the very best single cask, single malt whisky available anywhere in the world.

The Society isn’t interested in brands or labels. It’s all about how the whisky tastes. It seeks textures that challenge and excite; aromas that thrill and surprise. Most important of all, each Society bottling only ever comes from a single cask. That means there is only a limited opportunity to sample each rare find before it’s gone forever.

Where it all began

Over a quarter of a century ago a group of friends met in a private house in Edinburgh to find out what malt whisky would taste like straight from the cask. The contents of a cask obtained from a Speyside distillery were filtered through muslin cloths into old lemonade and whisky bottles.

It was nothing like they had experienced before; stronger and more flavoursome with the influence of the wood particularly notable. Intrigued, they went on to investigate more single cask whiskies and discovered that the same spirit from the same run in different casks had different characteristics. They realised that each cask was unique and that once consumed it would be gone forever.

As tempting as it would be to keep their discovery to themselves they knew there were others around the world who’d appreciate being let in on the secret. In 1983 they formed a limited company, bought the premises at The Vaults in Leith and began inviting people to join.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society – Key Facts

 Rather than naming distilleries, the Society numbers them and gives clues to their identity in The Tasting Panel’s entertaining tasting notes.
 The Scotch Malt Whisky Society recently scooped 12 awards in the 2011 Whisky Magazine Independent Bottler’s Challenge including the overall Icon of Whisky title for the Independent Bottler of the Year.
 The single cask single malts are presented in identical dark green bottles, specially commissioned for the Society. Individual tasting notes are presented on each Society bottle, alongside the whisky’s name and the Society’s unique cask and distillery coding.
 Every Society bottle is at cask strength (around 57%). The higher the strength, the better the whisky holds its flavour. Many members like to add water to their glass, opening up the different flavours and aromas
 No two casks are the same and no two whiskies will develop in the same way. The type of oak, the size of the barrel, what it was used for before (usually American bourbon or Oloroso sherry) and how many times all influence character of the whisky.
 An average outturn is about 250 bottles but can be as many as 900 or as few as 15. Once they sell out Society staff can assist in finding a similar (but never identical) whisky.
 The Society doesn’t just bottle whisky from Scotland. Occasionally single cask bourbon or Welsh and Japanese whiskies have made it on to the list. On even rarer occasions other single cask spirits such as Somerset Cider Apple Brandy and rum are included.
Individual Membership costs $250 for the first year and annual a renewal cost of $120 yearly. Membership can be bought online at www.smws.ca .
 The Society is partnering with Calgary’s Kensington Wine Market as its exclusive retailer.
 The Society is hosting “First Fridays” on the first Friday of every month beginning in November at the Kensington Wine Market. The Society also does private tastings.
 International branches in Australia, Benelux and Germany, France, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, UK and the USA.

(From the Isle of Arran distillery)…we have the latest bottling of our Premium Single Cask range which is also available at the beginning of September. This time we have bottled a small selection of our best Sherry Butts from 1997 and at 15 years old, cask strength these really are the crown jewels of our Distillery.