THE ENGLISH WHISKY MEMBERS CLUB

Love Whisky or know someone that does? Join The English Whisky Club!

As England’s oldest whisky maker, become a member of our highly sought after club to receive:

6 bespoke bottles a year delivered to your door

Discounts on future purchases from our online shop

Free distillery tours

Lots more member benefits…

Being a member means being part of our journey of discovery with new and rare whiskies.

Become a Member

Whisky of the Year – and the winner is…

It is the first day of December, so, as promised, we would like to announce The Whisky Exchange Whisky of the Year. Drumroll please…

Port Charlotte 10 – The Whisky Exchange Whisky of the Year

It’s a well-deserved win for the team at Bruichladdich. We’ve been big fans of Port Charlotte 10 since it came out back in 2018, and we’re very pleased to see that you are fans as well. Here are my tasting notes:

Nose: Toffee and vanilla fudge jump out before we dive  into a bucket of singed raisins and smouldering peat bricks. Green grass and leafy notes poke out around the edges along with candied lemons and flamed orange peel.

Palate: A sweet creamy hit up front leads into lemon boiled sweets. black-pepper spice and a thick layer of peaty smoke. The green edges from the nose are back, with richer notes of stewed apples and sultanas, and a touch of vanilla toffee.

Finish: Menthol throat sweets and sweet smoke slowly fade to leave grilled apples and buttery pastry.

Comment: Sweet, smoky, fruity, complex? A whisky that rewards you more each time you go back to it? This is what we want from our Whisky of the Year – excellent work by the judges.

You can find out more on our Whisky of the Year page.

The ShortList Blind Tasting Pack

Now for the thing which everyone’s been asking me – what were the whiskies in the blind tasting pack?

This year’s competition went entirely online, and started with nominations. We asked you to choose your favourite whiskies of the year, and added the top three to a list of three put together by The Whisky Exchange’s co-founder Sukhinder Singh and head buyer Dawn Davies. We then made up tasting packs listing the drams only by letter and asked you to tell us your top two in order of preference. We use a two-round instant run-off methodology to count up the votes, and came up with a first place and a runner up.

It was a very close race, especially between second and third place, but in the end Port Charlotte 10 came top, with whisky D coming second. Here’s the complete line-up for the tasting pack:

Whisky A – Nikka Coffey Malt
Whisky B – Johnnie Walker Green Label 15 Year Old
Whisky C – Kilkerran 12 Year Old
Whisky D – Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban 14 Year Old
Whisky E – Port Charlotte 10
Whisky F – Lagavulin 16 Year Old

Congratulations to Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban 14 Year Old. If you want to have a try of the whole shortlist yourself, then you can – we have tasting packs of all six now available: The Whisky of the Year 2021 tasting set

With Christmas soon approaching, we wanted to make it easy for you to show your appreciation this year with a beautiful whisky gift. For a limited time only, when you add a 70cl bottle of one of our single malt whiskies to your basket, you’ll receive a free branded glencairn whisky glass worth £6.95 which will be added automatically to your basket before checkout (one glass per order). To give your gift that extra special touch, you can also add a complimentary personalised gift note to your order.

Offer ends midnight on Sunday 6th December and is subject to availability.

Don’t forget – there’s also free UK delivery on orders over £25

SHOP NOW

Cotswolds Distillery
Phillip’s Field, Whichford Road
Stourton
Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire CV36 5EX
United Kingdom

We understand that everyone has their own unique characteristics which make them special; it’s the same for our whiskies. That’s why we’ve put together this gifting guide to help you choose the perfect gifts for your loved ones. Whichever gift you choose though, remember that we are Scotland’s most Unhurried whisky distillery. That means that when you give Glengoyne this Christmas, you’ll be giving the gift of time.

GIFT GUIDE

GIVE THE GIFT OF TIME

Give the whisky lover you know the gift of time with the three 20cl bottles Time Capsule gift set, each whisky is packed with complex, fruity flavours. Start with the lemon zest and toffee apples of our 12 Year Old. Then work your way up to spicy vanilla fruit, ripe apples and a rich, luxurious mouthfeel of the 18 Year Old  – it’s practically made for this time of year.

BUY THE TIME CAPSULE GIFT SET

GIFT WRAPPED

For the first time this year we have our very own fully recyclable gift wrapping paper and tag. So, let our distillery team take care of the gift wrapping with your chosen gift while you take the time to reward yourself…..

GIFT WRAPPING

FINAL PIECE…

We’ve teamed up again with John Lowrie Morrison OBE to release a seasonal Glengoyne jigsaw. This beautiful item is available for £10 when purchased with a 70cl bottle priced below £100 or is free of charge with the purchase of a 70cl bottle priced above £100.

LEARN MORE

Doc Swinson’s 15 Year Old “Rare Release Batch #8” K&L Exclusive Exploratory Cask Series

Nonchillfiltered Small Batch Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (750ml)

$149.99    View

The return of the wonderful and mysterious Doc Swinson’s 15 Year is upon us. This newest batch is from the same unnamed source and continues to represent some of the best value available for old cask strength bourbon anywhere in the world. The Doc Swinson’s brand was started by a small (and very lucky) bottler in Washington state who’d made a name for themselves finishing Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee whiskies in various wine casks. When they had an opportunity to secure some high-quality mature Kentucky straight bourbon, they jumped at the chance and so did we. The source of this excellent bourbon is so concerned about its identity being revealed that the barrels are dumped in Kentucky before being transported to the bottler in anonymous totes. Usually we insist on having some idea of where the products we sell are produced, but one taste of this stuff and those standards get thrown out the window, as it’s just too good to care to argue with. We will likely never know exactly where it was made, but as long as it keeps tasting this good, we won’t complain. The most special bourbons from Doc are under their “Rare Release” line. This is the 8th release of this truly small batch line, but only the third batch of the unbelievably popular 15 year. This batch contains just 27 barrels and is bottled at 114.2 proof. Another example of why this whisky is one of the most exciting new bourbons on the market today. We love being the California exclusive for this special bourbon.

New Glenfarclas Family Casks Summer 2020

The latest Summer 2020 batch of Glenfarclas Family Casks. The usual epic sherry cask maturation for real vintage Speyside Scotch whisky. Plus a new Highland Edradour sherry cask cousin to join the family gathering…

Shop – Glenfarclas Scotch

IF YOU JOINED OUR GET TOGETHER ON SUNDAY…

Thanks so much for being a part of our latest Peat Monster Arcana virtual tasting. Founder John Glaser and Whiskymaker James Saxon had a great time as always, and we have enjoyed answering every question that came in during the event. You can read the full Q&A here, which includes the recipe for James’s smoky spin on hot chocolate. We hope it inspires you to get creative with some pairings at home. Keep your eye on our social feeds too for more surprising suggestions, and for those who asked on the day, head to our main website if you’d like to see the recipe wheels of any of our whiskies.

IF YOU COULDN’T MAKE IT THIS TIME…

Don’t worry, because you can still recreate the tasting at home. The full video is available to watch here, where you can also download your tasting mat and set-up guide. For this event, author of New York Cocktails, Amanda Schuster, joined us as a special guest to discuss smoky food pairings of either Peat Monster Arcana or The Peat Monster with hot and cold smoked salmon, BBQ ribs, smoked almonds and more. And things got pleasantly geeky when John quoted Jeffery Lindenmuth’s article explaining how stimulating our trigeminal nerve with smoky food or drink could be described as ‘pursuing flavour as a thrill-seeking behaviour’. Read the full piece here.

With December just around the corner, our thoughts are now turning to the holiday season, so watch this space for ideas on how to celebrate the Compass Box way, starting with a video series on pairing cheeses with limited edition whiskies for you to indulge in during the festivities.

The Compass Box Team

Amazing BLACK FRIDAY offer from Whisky Magazine…

Enjoy 3 issues of Whisky Magazine for just £3

Guarantee savings of up to 83% OFF the regular rate

Receive FREE magazine delivery direct to your door

Open up the gateway to the world of whisky

Order by 30th November to guarantee your exclusive subscription rate of 3 issues for £3.

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Alasdair Anderson: 40 years and counting

This is Alasdair Anderson, industry stalwart and Distillery Manager here at The Glenrothes. 2020 marks Alasdair’s 40th year in the whisky world, and yet you might never have heard of him. That’s because, much like the whisky he helps produce, Alasdair is understated and incredibly humble. He believes it’s not about him; what matters most is the whisky and the people making it.

Alasdair has seen and done it all, working his way to the top through hard work and a desire to learn that’s never wavered. We sat down with him to discuss the past, the future, and all the barrels and barley in between.

READ THE INTERVIEW

As America’s foremost spirits magazine, Whisky Advocate is the best gift for your whisky-loving friends and family! They’ll get new product releases and breaking news, hundreds of ratings and reviews, whisky and food pairings, whisky travel, and our highly anticipated ‘Whiskies Of The Year’!