In recent years Japanese whisky has become increasingly popular. Winning Jim Murray’s coveted Whisky of the Year award in 2015 and constantly ranking in the top 5 and 10, Japanese whisky is no longer the discarded cousin of Scotch whisky.
Here are four Japanese whiskies you simply need to try this year…
This single malt from The GlenDronach was distilled on 13th May 1992 and matured for 26 years in a single sherry cask before bottling in 2018.
Selected and bottled exclusively for The Whisky Shop and our customers, this expression is limited to just 493 bottles, each one individually numbered and presented at a cask strength of 57.1% abv.
Described as the Maritime Malt, Old Pulteney is distilled in the port of Wick, Caithness. This expression was laid down in 2007 in cask number 1471. Matured for more than a decade in a single cask, this Highland single malt was bottled in 2019 exclusively for The Whisky Shop, producing just 408 individually numbered bottles at a strength of 50.2% abv.
The Balvenie Distillery is built on the stories that are told from each generation of craftsmen to the next. Discover the tales of the distillery at Loch Fyne Whiskies.
Only a few bottles of our 10th anniversary single cask remain…
Before it disappears for good, we’d like to celebrate this fine dram by listing it as our Malt of the Month for August, offering £6.00 off and including one of our limited edition 10th anniversary tasting glasses (which have all but gone, so only while stocks last!).
Grab a bottle of this award winning dram, while you still can!
Since it first opened in 1995 the Arran Distilling Co has operated out of its distillery in
Lochranza, on the northern coast of the Isle of Arran off Scotland’s south-west
coast. As the distillery slowly filled its warehouses and grew in popularity it
became clear that more space was needed and in 2016 a request for planning
permission was submitted for a new distillery on the south side of the island,
near the village of Lagg.
Lagg Distillery,
complete with welcoming piper
After three years of planning, hard
work and anticipation, the Lagg Distillery and visitor centre opened its doors
on the 12th of June 2019.
New and exciting
The construction of a new distillery
on the Isle of Arran’s south coast was initially prompted by the need for more
warehouses in which to store casks as they matured. Isle of Arran Distillers
acquired a piece of land, near the village of Lagg, and, deciding to think
bigger than just new warehouses, began working on plans for a new distillery
and visitor centre.
Smaller than the original distillery
at Lochranza, Lagg Distillery has been created as a more artisanal distillery,
experimenting with both casks and peat. While production has begun at Lagg, it
will be a few years until we see any single malts from it, however, the
distillery’s new make is available to buy now from the visitor centre.
Nose: Freshly-mown grass, white peppercorns, heather honey and earthy
smoke are instantly apparent. The smoke softens, bringing out aromas of summer
flowers, garden herbs and seaside bonfires.
Palate: Straight off there are sweet, grassy notes, fresh hay, meadow
flowers and rich wood smoke. There’s an earthier edge underneath the light,
fresh notes – peat smoke wrapped around rich spices and sharp citrus.
A winning recipe
Using cloudy water from local stream,
Lagg Distillery is able to produce malty, sweet spirits with a distinctive
sulphur character. This is helped by a 72 hour fermentation, which produces the
earthy, floral flavour profile that Master Distiller James MacTaggart is
looking for.
Arran Distilling Co. have opted to use
traditional Douglas fir wash-backs, due to their self-regulating properties
removing the need to manage temperature and yeast-activity. The
distillery has two stills, each designed slightly differently to create a light
spirit that maintains a heavily-peated character.
Wash still on the
left, spirit on the right
The wash still is wide and bulbous,
with a steep downwards gradient to the lyne arm that prevents large amounts of
copper contact, preserving the heavy peat flavour in the first run. The spirit
still has a lamp-glass shaped neck to promote reflux, creating a lighter spirit
than if it had the same plain necked shape as the wash still. Currently Lagg
are distilling to 63% ABV before filling into a variety of different types of
cask.
Looking to the Future
Isle of Arran Distillers have designed
Lagg Distillery with people in mind as much as whisky. Employing locals from
the south of the island, Lagg is focused on the visitor centre, aiming to
provide information on the history of Arran’s whisky trade, and the history of
the island itself.
As the two distilleries lie at opposite
ends of the island travelling between the two is difficult, especially after a
tour and tasting. Isle of Arran Distillers have been looking into a shuttle bus
service between the distilleries which will hopefully be up and running soon,
allowing you to see both distilleries in a single trip.
Would you look at
these absolute units
Already, the team at Lagg is looking
further into the future – the distillery has been designed to grow and evolve
over time and they’re already putting in the groundwork for projects that might
appear further down the line. As a more artisinal distillery than Lochranza,
there’s much more scope to play with the distillery’s whisky, and they’ve also
planted an orchard behind the distillery – plans of making cider are already
being made and apple brandy won’t be far behind.
Arran’s whisky-making project has
impressed us since its early days at Lochranza, and the new distillery at Lagg
and the possibilities it opens for whisky production (and more) on the island
is very exciting. We can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
While waiting for Lagg’s whisky to mature, check out the rest of the Isle of Arran range.
And then there was only one month before Maltstock 2019! Icredible how relaxed time moves on and brings us back together again!
We are in full ‘prep mode’ now and can’t wait to meet you guys! And look at our relaxed program! It’s one of the most relaxed ones we’ve ever had! With a campfire hosted by Dave Broom, Sam Simmons and Mark Watt, a new set-up for the whisky quiz, and a Saturday filled with all new set-up for tastings. No less than 30 ‘Drinks with…’ sessions to make you even more relaxed! And of course meeting old and news friends sharing drams and stories. If you haven’t got a ticket yet… haste ye back to our shop, in a relaxed way of course 🙂
Annette, Bob, Klaas, Stan and Teun
Retox walk
11 years ago it started as a detox walk. That all changed when Jan & Dennis took over. It’s now a retox walk…
Saturday morning we have a relaxed walk, enjoying the beautiful scenery surrounding the Maltstock venue. It’s made all the more relaxed by sharing a few drams. Dennis and Jan are Irish Whisky Ambassadors, so no prizes for guessing where the whisky will come from.
But we do know that there will also be one rather nice and surprising whisky during the walk. So definitely not to be missed!!
Relaxed Masterclass reminder
If you have tickets to Maltstock but (for any reason) haven’t let us know your Masterclass preferences yet, please let us know before the 25th of august. If you did not get your invitation e-mail, please let us know at info@maltstock.com A.R.A.P. (As Relaxed As Possible).
Make sure you don’t miss out on what promises to be a very special edition of Maltstock! We’ll get the full program online soon, but what a line-up it is, wow!!
So if you haven’t done so already, get relaxed and get your Maltstock ticket here
It’s high summer and the Far North is, as the poet Neil Gunn famously described it, “the land of exquisite light” – it’s daylight almost round the clock in fact. Wolfburn is in its annual maintenance period, when all the equipment is stripped and serviced and cleaned, which has given us a wee breather and time to put together this edition of the Laydown.
The first half of 2019 has seen our whisky – and indeed the Distillery as a whole – win a series of hugely prestigious awards from competitions all around the world. Full details of the awards can be found hereand a list of forthcoming shows and exhibitions we’re attending can be found here.
It’s over six-and-a-half years since Wolfburn went into production (time flies when you’re having fun!) and the constant production cycle has taken its toll on the equipment, so we’re sprucing up the stills and while we’re in a constructive frame of mind, we’re also installing a proper shop. Read all about the distillery’s improvements here.
Collectors of our limited releases will be happy to learn that after a relatively quiet first half of the year, there will be several new bottlings in the coming weeks. Wolfburn’s Summer edition (only available to visitors at the distillery) will be released any day now, and it will be closely followed by the long-anticipated fifth instalment in the Kylver series. Read more on Kylver#5 here.
In the meantime we’ll be doing a special release for the forthcoming Mey Games, consisting of just 200 bottles. The whisky has been matured for a shade over five years in an ex-bourbon quarter cask and is a real treat. Anyone not able to attend the Mey Games (3rd August) has a chance to win a bottle here!
Last Autumn saw Wolfburn’s first charity release, which raised almost £10,000 for PoppyScotland. After the success of the fundraising and the wonderful reception given to the whisky, we’ve decided to do another charity bottle this autumn, in aid of Help For Heroes. Full details will be announced next month.
In the meantime we will sign off with this rather lovely proverb: “What whisky will not cure, there is no cure for!”
We can’t believe there’s only 2 weeks left until our festival on Saturday 17th August!
To mark the occasion, we’ve bottled a very special limited release – our Summer Festival Single Malt Whisky. This single malt is our first port cask release, and has rich flavours of oak spice, red fruits and dark chocolate. It will be available for purchase exclusively to festival ticket holders on the day, and we only have a small amount available.
If you’d like to get your hands on a bottle, be sure to buy tickets to our festival soon as they are selling very fast!
What a month it’s been for awards! In the space of just four weeks, we have received six incredible results.
The IWSC results were up next, and this time it was our Single Malt Whisky and Founder’s Choice Single Malt Whisky which struck gold!
Last but certainly not least, the Great Taste results came out this week, and we’re thrilled to announce that our cask strength Founder’s Choice was the only English whisky to receive 3 stars. Our flagship Single Malt and Dry Gin also came away with 2 stars. Well done to our passionate and talented distillers, we couldn’t be more pleased with these results!
We are very proud of our distillery’s beautiful location here in the North Cotswolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. To help you enjoy your visit even more, we’ve worked with the Cotswold Voluntary Wardens to design a series of circular walks of varying degrees of difficulty, all departing from our visitor centre. Over the next few weeks we will be producing route maps which will be available online and in our visitor centre so you can go for a ramble whenever you please!
Ah the beautiful Isle of Islay. Whilst she’s only 239 miles squared, as of 2019 there are no less than nine distilleries on the island. And these aren’t just any old distilleries, these are known the world over for producing some of Scotland’s finest whiskies.
Was £85.00
