Personalised Whisky

Give the perfect gift with a personalised bottle of whisky. Each of our own Loch Fyne whiskies and liqueurs and a select few other bottles can be engraved with a personal message to add that special touch to your gift. Whatever the occasion, say it with whisky!

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Loch Fyne Range

Here in our workshop on the shores of Loch Fyne we do just one thing, and we do it very well. That’s to know what people like in a whisky. You’ve told us everything we need to know and we’ve heard you, because, like whisky, the skill of listening improves with age.

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Ralfy sits in the cheap-seats with Ralfy Review 721 – Highland Black 8yo Blended Scotch

Whiskybase.com celebrates 1 Million whisky ratings

The leading whisky platform and community site hits 1 million whisky ratings. 

Netherlands: Sunday the 8th of April, Whiskybase.com, the leading whisky platform and community site, celebrates reaching 1 million whisky ratings. Whiskybase, which started as a website to keep track of whisky bottle information, has grown into the leading platform for information about whisky releases and ratings.

Menno Bijmolt, the founder of Whiskybase, on this milestone: “When starting the website, it was primarily just to keep track of whiskies I tasted and share this with other whisky drinkers. I couldn’t have imagined that so many people would be using the website and that we would gather 1 million ratings. Recently, we hit 100.000 unique bottles in Whiskybase and now we have 1 million ratings, it still feels unreal.”

There are some new exciting developments coming up that will make Whiskybase accessible for people who prefer to read in their own language. As people increasingly rely on these tasting notes for their whisky purchases, it goes without saying we will continue to focus on the quality of the information given by our members.

In the near future Whiskybase will offer automatically translated tasting notes using Artificial Inteligence technology and a guide that will help new whisky enthusiasts to leave proper ratings and tasting notes.

About Whiskybase: Whiskybase is a Dutch-based company consisting of an online and an a in Rotterdam; an event company that hosts a wide range of activities, including the yearly Whiskybase Gathering in Rotterdam; Archives, our independent bottler brand; and whiskybase.com, the leading whisky information website.

Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20 Year Old

£1,595

Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 23 Year Old

£2,195

Honouring the Tweedie Brothers

Families have always been a part of The Glenrothes Distillery. Over the years our team has included plenty of people who share both a passion for whisky and a close family connection. Perhaps, that’s because the art of whisky making runs in the blood.

This month, we pay tribute to the Tweedie brothers.  Between them, Gordon and Alexander Tweedie have given over 40 years of service to The Glenrothes whisky. Gordon Tweedie, who has been with The Glenrothes Engineering Team since 1990, is retiring this April. His brother Alexander Tweedie was Distillery Manager and part of The Glenrothes Production management team from 1991 to 2000 and retired last year. Since retiring, he has recently been back at the distillery hosting our special guests.

We would like to wish the Tweedie brothers health, happiness and plenty of fine Glenrothes single malt in this new stage of their lives.

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The Brothers in Wood: 

two very special single-cask releases

The story of the Tweedie brothers got us thinking about the relationship between every cask and the whisky inside. Despite sharing the same essential ingredients of water, spirit, wood and time, the whisky that emerges from two twin casks can often have a very different character.
In 1976 we filled two identical Bourbon hogshead casks on the same day with the same spirit. The two casks sat next to each other in the Glenrothes warehouse for 39 years until Gordon Motion, Master Whisky Maker at The Glenrothes, deemed them to be at their optimum moment of excellence, he sampled each of them and, to his surprise, found two single malts with very distinct characters.

They were bottled and are now ready for release. We’ll soon be offering these Brothers in Wood to our Glenrothes insiders.

Stay tuned for more information and for a rare chance to visit our distillery in person.

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The Glenrothes
Highland Distillers Ltd
100 Queen Street
Glasgow, G1 3DN
United Kingdom

The Glenlivet Code

This limited edition challenges whisky fans’ to put their senses to the test to decipher the tasting notes of The Glenlivet Code. Crafted with casks never before used in The Glenlivet, the flavour promises to be a completely new experience.

Aspiring code breakers are invited to join an interactive adventure by scanning the bottle’s code in the Shazam app. Those who manage to pass the ultimate flavour test will be presented with a cipher of their tasting notes and a score comparing their accuracy to that of Master Distiller, Alan Winchester.

£100 Pre-Order Now
Orders will be dispatched w/c 16th April

CIDER CASK FINISHED VIRGINIA-HIGHLAND WHISKY WINS GOLD, BEST OF CATEGORY & BEST OF CLASS

We are very excited to announce that our Cider Cask Finished Virginia-Highland Whisky was awarded a GOLD medal, Best of Category AND Best of Class at the American Distilling Institute 2018 Judging of Craft Spirits.

The ADI Judging of Craft Spirits is the largest & most respected judging devoted to craft spirits.  US and international entries are tasted blind and evaluated by an expert panel of judges made up of distillers, journalists, bar owners, bartenders, retailer, wholesalers, distributors and importers.

It is an honor to receive this kind of recognition from the American Distilling Institute.  We’ve loved having the opportunity to collaborate with a variety of partners as we get ready to release our ultra-premium American Single Malt whisky in the Spring of 2020.

Marlene Steiner (Brand Director), Nancy Fraley (Consulting Master Blender), Gareth Moore (CEO/Chairman) and Jerry Heddy (Operations Director) accepting our awards in Portland, Oregon.

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PORT CASK FINISHED
VIRGINIA-HIGHLAND WHISKY
AWARDED 96 POINTS AND
CHAIRMAN’S TROPHY

Our Port Cask Finished Virginia-Highland Whisky was recently awarded 96 points AND the Chairman’s Trophy by the Ultimate Spirits Challenge. The Ultimate Spirits Challenge is the world’s most prestigious and progressive global spirits and cocktail competition. This year was the eighth consecutive year of record entries from no less than 52 spirit-producing nations.  The judging, which was held throughout March, determined 40 Chairman’s Trophy winners, the beverage industry’s most coveted award.

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MAY WHISKY RELEASE:
CHARDONNAY CASK FINISHED
VIRGINIA-HIGHLAND WHISKY 

We’re getting excited for the release of our Chardonnay Cask Finished Virginia-Highland Whisky (Batch 2) in May!

It is released annually in the Spring, after resting for up to 18 months in Chardonnay finishing casks from a variety of wineries. Each partner barrel brings nuance and complexity to the whisky, with notes of honeysuckle, green apple, lemon and caramel on the nose. Hints of pear and toasted pecans add intrigue on the palate, finishing with a hint of vanilla. It will be available at our Visitors Center on May 12th and in Virginia ABC Stores and retailers in other markets soon after.

Our mailing address is:

Virginia Distillery Company

299 Eades Lane

Lovingston, VA 22949

Musée du Whisky:
The Whisky Shop Paris

Our French boutique is about to celebrate its second anniversary, and already it is a veritable museum of whisky, with a collection of some incredible and rare whiskies. Just a stone’s throw from some of Paris’ most iconic sights, our shop in Place de la Madeleine is home to limited editions from The Macallan, Bunnahabhain, Springbank and more, many of which are no longer available in our UK shops.

That’s not to say you can’t get them for your own collection! With international shipping there’s no need for a Eurostar ticket, in fact you don’t even have to speak French, just click ‘Translate this page’ in your browser.

Macallan Edition No.2

The second in an annual series of limited editions, this Speyside single malt is the fruit of a creative partnership between Bob Dalgarno, Whisky Maker at The Macallan, and the Roca brothers of restaurant, El Celler de Can Roca, in Catalonia.

The nose has layers of vanilla, tropical fruit and subtle green wood with treacle, ginger toffee apples and rich fruit. The palate brings cracked black pepper, chocolate, nuts, cloves, oak, brown sugar, liquorice and brandy snaps, before a full, slow and warming finish.

€125 Buy Now

Of Tempests & Teapots

The things over which some people will get their shorts in a knot. When Crown Royal released the latest in its Blenders’ Series, whisky lovers were given an opportunity to sample the source of those woody, vanilla tones that set this top-selling, and sometimes mysterious, whisky apart.

Although Crown Royal is decidedly Canadian, one of the component whiskies included in the blend is made using a typically American process. As well as their Canadian-style single grain whiskies, Crown Royal also mingles in whiskies made from a corn-rich mash bill, much as bourbon is made in the US.

Descriptively, they named this new whisky “Bourbon Mash.” Government authorities approved the name for US release and the bourbon industry raised no concerns. The whisky, which incidentally is a luscious, approachable vanilla-laden beauty, began appearing on store shelves across America, and all was well with the world.

However, a few bloggers, perhaps smelling click-bait potential, began complaining of government incompetence and producer conspiracy. It is not clear whether the US government withdrew approval of the name before or after the folks at Crown Royal shrugged their shoulders and changed it, but the whisky will remain in production, now labelled as “Blenders’ Mash,” in the US.

Crown Royal is the best selling whisky in America next to Jack Daniels. No one was going to be confused by the name. Nevertheless, it’s been changed. Still, a mad rush by speculators to snap up remaining bottles while they can, seems ill advised. There may be a few people out there willing to pay a premium for label variants, but they can simply buy it at their leisure in any liquor store in Canada where it is still called “Bourbon Mash.”

This is well-made whisky and it is not going away any time soon, north or south of the border. That’s good news because whether the label says Blenders’ Mash or Bourbon Mash, this is a richly flavourful addition to an already much-loved brand of whisky.

A review of this new whisky is posted here: http://www.canadianwhisky.org/reviews/crown-royal-blenders-mash-40.html

Reviving the Kinsip Cooperage

Whisky fans who worried about the future of the whisky program at 66 Gilead, when Sophia Pantazi and Peter Stroz sold their Prince Edward County distillery, can breathe a sigh of relief. Now owned by Jeremiah Soucie and three members of his family, the popular microdistillery has a new whisky called “Cooper’s Revival.” Initially, it will be for sale in the distillery gift shop.

The team renamed the distillery “Kinsip,” and redesigned the packaging and labels and now they have reopened the on-site cooperage. Cooper, Pete Bradford is back making bespoke whisky and wine barrels, one by one, toasting them on his ancient, single-burner outdoor cooper’s furnace & kiln. If you happen to visit on a Saturday, have your camera ready. It is a photo opportunity not to be missed.

 
Buddy, can you spare a dime?

Dave Broom (left) is the world’s foremost whisky writer and great proponent of Canadian whisky. Amber Light Productions currently has a kickstarter campaign underway to fund a movie that will feature Dave telling us about about Scotch and Scotland. They are about 90% there with just 5 days remaining. Would you like to see your name in the credits? Head to Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1186204465/the-amber-light

Briefly . . . 

News that New Orleans-based Sazerac Company has installed a column still in its bottling plant in Old Montreal has been greeted warmly by the Montreal spirits community and Canadian whisky connoisseurs. Blender, Drew Mayville, a 40-year Canadian whisky veteran will oversee operations. Mayville apprenticed for 22 years in the Seagram’s blending lab near Montreal, and was their last distiller before the company was sold. There is a lot more to this story as readers of the Whisky Advocate blog will soon learn. Watch http://whiskyadvocate.com/news/ over the next week or so for details.

Thank you Dave Mitton!

Corby global brand ambassador, Dave Mitton spends a lot of time on the road. It is his passion to spread the gospel of Corby whiskies in 12 countries. How gratifying to learn that my book, Canadian Whisky: The New Portable Expert keeps him company. Airplane sightings anyone? Post them on Twitter or Instagram. Canadian Whisky: The New Portable Expert is available in book stores and from most on-line sellers.