KWM Whisky Advent 2017 Day 16 – The Balvenie 14 Year Caribbean Cask 

Evan is taking a spin at the Advent Blog today, in his words: 

Balvenie is one of the two major Speyside distilleries owned by William Grant & Sons. It is typically one of the top 10 best selling Scottish Single Malt Brands worldwide – but the distillery’s production and sales are dwarfed by another William Grant & Sons operation that goes by the name Glenfiddich. You could say that Balvenie gets overshadowed by the giant that is its neighbouring sister distillery Glenfiddich, but then again which distilleries in Scotland aren’t?

The Balvenie distillery still operates its own floor maltings on site – though it is only responsible for up to 15% of the malt needed for its own production. The house whisky profile is typically well-rounded and honeyed in style. Hints of peat can sometimes be found, but typically not in amounts great enough to keep it from being a crowd-pleaser.

Both as a distillery and as a brand, Balvenie has enjoyed a great deal of success over the past half century – due in no small part to a gentleman named David Stewart. David is the Malt Master at Balvenie who has played a large role in making this single malt as sought after as it is to this day. He was one of the first to experiment with cask finishing with the introduction of the venerable Balvenie 12 Year Old Doublewood in 1993. In 2017 David marked his 55^th year of service in the whisky industry with William Grants.

Cask finishing plays a role in much of the of the current lineup for Balvenie including today’s Advent Whisky – the Balvenie 14 Year Old Caribbean Cask. Originally matured in ‘traditional oak casks’ before being transferred to barrels that previously held Caribbean Rum. Bottled at 43% ABV. 

Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask – 43% – Evan’s Tasting Note: “Nose: Fruity and floral with honey drizzled on top. Peaches and cream, oatmeal with brown sugar, baked apples, pears and even cherries, vanilla, honey roasted almonds and light wood spices. Palate: Smooth and rich. Honey roasted almonds again, apple turnover, poached pears, preserved peaches in syrup, milk chocolate, angel food cake and a gentle, warming spice. Finish: Tangy rum notes, oak and honey on the fade. Comments: Big, rich, and round but so very, very approachable. No real rough edges on this one, just smooth to the point that you wonder where all of the liquid in the bottle went…” – $107 for 700ml – or – $10 for 50ml

Laphroaig Lore

Rich and deep with distinctive smoke, peat and seaside minerality – this expression is unmistakably Laphroaig. This is a result of liquid being drawn from a selection of casks including first fill sherry butts, smaller quarter casks and their most precious stock capturing the timeless passion and very essence of the Laphroaig Distillery.

Was £99

Now only £69 Buy Now

Highland Park 12 Year Old Gift Pack

Introduced in 1979, the Highland Park 12 year old is the whisky that started it all for the Orkney distillery! At the very heart of their range, this Island malt reveals rich, well balanced malty tones, with the subtle floral smoke which makes Highland Park such a distinguished single malt whisky. Presented in a striking Viking styled gift pack with two Highland Park branded whisky glasses.

£42 Buy Now

Generic Torfa Photo

KWM Whisky Advent 2017 Day 15 – Glenglassaugh Torfa 

Glenglassaugh distillery is built into the sand dunes above the east end of the Sandend Bay on the Moray coast. Established in 1875 by Col. James Moir the distillery remained in the family until just 1892 when it became a part of Highland Distillers. The distillery was established at its location near the growing town of Portsoy to supply the town’s growing grocery business. It also helped that the distillery sat on the plentiful clean Glenglassaugh Springs, and it was also surrounded by bountiful barley fields. Highland Distillers, who also owned Macallan, Glenrothes and the Famous Grouse Blend owned the distillery from 1892 through 2008. The distillery didn’t operate uninterrupted during these years.

In 1960 the distillery had a major upgrade, they doubled production and changed to producing a lighter spirit. But the good times were not to last, the late 1970s and early 1980s were a difficult time for the industry. An enormous number of distilleries were closed between 1981 and 1993, many never reopened. Only 26 years after its major upgrade Glenglassaugh joined the list of closed distilleries. The industry downturn was brutal, but it didn’t last forever. In the 1990s interest in Scotch whisky, especially single malts began picking up, many of the closed distilleries we brought back to life, none of them later than Glenglassaugh; though Brora, Rosebank and Port Ellen are set to change this. It is surprising that Glenglassaugh ever re-opened at all, as the distillery was very remote and not especially well known, bottled seldomly even by independents.

In 2007 a group of Dutch investors, the Scaent Group, who had been looking for a distillery to purchase found their way to Glenglassaugh. They purchased the distillery and approximately 400 casks of pre-1986 stock from Highland Distillers. They took possession the following year and released the oldest introductory core range that any Scottish distiller ever has, consisting of 26, 30 and 40 year old single malts. After 6 months of intensive refurbishments, the First Minister of Scotland was on hand to turn on the mill for first time, November 28th 2008, reviving the distillery. In 2013 the distillery was purchased by the BenRiach Distillery Co. who also own BenRiach and Glendronach distilleries. BenRiach Distillery Co. was itself purchased by Brown Forman in 2016. As the post 2008 stocks mature, it will be interesting to see how the whiskies develop. They can’t be the same as the pre-closures stocks as much of the equipment changed, but in the hands of the BenRiach Distillery Co. they will be sure to make a mark. While we wait for more mature stocks, they have released three young expressions including the Glenglassaugh Evolution, our Day 8 whisky!

The name Torfa translates roughly to Turf or Peat in the Old Norse influenced Scots Gaelic of Scotland’s North East, and as the name implies this is a peated single malt. The original Glenglassaugh distilled before its closure in 1986 was unpeated. When the distillery reopened in 2008, cognoscente of the fact that the new whisky would never be exactly the same as the old, the decision was made to produce both peated and unpeated single malts. The Torfa is, according to the bottle, “Richly Peated”, peated to 20ppm, matured Ex-Bourbon.

Glenglassaugh Torfa – 50% – Matured in Ex-Bourbon – Andrew’s Tasting Note: “Nose: big, malty and savoury; a big hit of salted caramel, candied apply and brown sugar melting on warm homemade oatmeal; a touch of decadent spice and marmalade. Palate: still big, brash and malty; there is a surge of tarry-oily-peat on the palate; Dutch licorice and salted caramel with dried orange peel and cloves; more decadent spice and marmalade; still sugary with more melting brown sugar. Finish: clean, smoky and malty with more salted caramel. Comment: I swear the recipe for this whisky is evolving as the maturing spirit at the distillery ages; it is richer, more complex and peatier than I recall; it also tastes a lot peatier than 20ppm!” – $78 for 700ml or $10 for 50ml

Gift The Macallan this festive season

One of the great joys of whisky is sharing it with friends and family. So whether you’re looking to enjoy a bottle with loved ones during the festive season or choosing a gift for someone special, you can find a selection of different whiskies to suit your taste, direct from The Macallan online shop.

Order by 17th December for guaranteed delivery to Europe before Christmas.

SHOP THE MACALLAN

Full details of our shipping countries and pre-Christmas delivery dates can be found here.

KWM Whisky Advent Day 14 – Writers Tears Copper Pot

Today’s is the first whisk(e)y in the 2017 edition of the Kensington Wine Market Whisky Advent Calendar not to be from a single distillery. For Day 14 of Advent, we are delving into our second Irish whiskey, but a more traditional one than the first. The Writers Tears Copper Pot is a blended Irish whiskey, composed of 60% pot still and 40% malt. There is a lot to unpack here, but before we go any further let’s quickly discuss the Irish spelling of the word whisk(e)y. The Irish, along with the Americans, are the only people in the world to employ an “e” in the spelling of whisk(e)y. The difference relates to Anglicizations of uisge beatha Scots Gaelic and usice beatha Irish Gaelic for “water of life”.

Single Pot Still, formerly, Pure Pot Still, is the most Irish of whiskey styles. The first whiskies in Ireland and Scotland were made from malted barley, essentially distilled beer. Unlike corn or wheat, barley has enzymes which can convert insoluble starches in the grain into fermentable sugars. Barley is also a hardy grain, so it is ideal for storing in cool, wet climates like Scotland and Ireland. Scottish and Irish whisk(e)y production in the 1700s did not escape the eyes of the government in London. Westminster sought to curb excessive drinking and tax its production. One way of doing this was by taxing malted barley by the ton. Although the alcohol yield per ton of barley can vary by strain and by harvest, taxmen could estimate the amount of whisky that would result from a given ton of barley. They could also estimate a distillery’s production for the purposes of taxation.

Over the course of the 18^th Century the British imposed a series of “punishing malt taxes”. No one knows when or where the practice began, but Irish distillers began using a blend of malted and unmalted barley in their mashes as a way of avoiding or reducing their exposure to the “hated malt tax”. As is common in Canadian and American whiskies made principally from corn, you only need a small quantity of malted barley in the mash bill, 10-15%, for an efficient fermentation. So Irish distillers began making whiskey from a small amount of malted barley, and a greater amount of unmalted barley, or green malt. A uniquely Irish style of whiskey, Pure Pot Still, was born. In 2010 the style which had at least two other common names was legally re-categorized as Single Pot Still Whiskey.

Due to the Irish whiskey industry’s contraction, all Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey available today comes from the New Middleton Distillery in Cork. Some Single Pot Still Whiskey is bottled pure, under labels like: Red Breast, Powers, Green Spot, Writer’s Tears and Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy. But as with the bulk of single malt whisky production in Scotland, most pot still whiskey is produced for Blended whiskey. Many other distilleries in Ireland are making Single Pot Still whiskey, but none of them have yet produced whiskies old enough to bottle. Curiously Shelter Point on Vancouver Island has produced the closest thing we know of to Irish single pot still whisk(e)y, the Shelter Point Single Grain Montfort Lot 141.

Writers Tears is produced by Walsh Whiskey, which opened their own distillery in June of 2016 at Royal Oak, County Carlow. It is the first distillery to be built in this region of Ireland in over 200 years. The distillery was founded by Bernard and Rosemary Walsh, who started the Hot Irishman in 1999 to blend and bottle the perfect Irish Coffee. In 2007 the branched into whiskey with “The Irishman”, releasing “Writers Tears” for the first time a few years later.

Writer’s Tears Copper Pot – 40% – Andrew’s Tasting Note: “Nose: doughy with loads of cooked apple, white chocolate Hershey’s kisses, a touch of juicy malt and fresh almond croissants; a touch of that distinct, dusty but oily pot still note. Palate: round, oily and coating; more cooked apple, under-cooked pie crust and dewy flowers; steely, a bright copper note and citrus; more white chocolate and light coloured Jujubes. Finish: more white chocolate, almond croissants and Jujubes; light but lasting and fresh. Comment: this is not mind-blowingly complex, but it is dangerously drinkable, especially on a hot day!” – $52 for a 700ml or $7 for a 50ml

Cotswolds Distillery appoints Richard Watling to its Board

Industry veteran to serve as Director of Sales & Marketing Strategy

The Cotswolds Distillery today announces the appointment of Wine & Spirits industry veteran Richard Watling to its Board of Directors. Watling will serve as Director of Sales & Marketing Strategy, helping the award-winning young distillery continue its growth in both national and international markets.

The Cotswolds Distillery began production on its idyllic North Cotswolds site in September 2014 and its ‘outstanding natural spirits’ are now on sale in over 30 countries. It’s self-titled Single Malt Whisky was launched in October 2017 and is the first ever whisky to be created in the region. The distillery is also home to the globally acclaimed Cotswolds Dry Gin.

Richard Watling’s career in the spirits industry spans more than 25 years. He ran International Marketing for Hiram Walker, after which he become Marketing Director of Allied Distillers. Watling later worked with International Distillers and Vitners (IDV) in both Europe and Asia, and when IDV became Diageo he returned to the UK to become Chief Executive of their Justerini & Brooks (J&B) division. His last post at Diageo was as Scotch Whisky Director, which he held for 5 years. During the past year he served as the Master of Worshipful Company of Distillers, spearheading many industry and charitable initiatives. 

Daniel Szor, founder and CEO, Cotswolds Distillery commented: “We are very honoured to have such a highly respected industry veteran as Richard join our board. I’ve come to know him through the Distillers’ Company and have always been impressed by his great knowledge and drive. Richard will help us chart our course as we grow our market share and expand trade sales in whisky and gin.”  

Richard Watling added: “I am delighted to be joining fellow Liveryman Daniel Szor in this exciting venture. The foundations of this Distillery and brand are very strong, giving great potential for the future”. 

For more details on The Cotswolds Distillery please visit www.cotswoldsdistillery.com

NOTES: 

• The Cotswolds Single Malt Whisky, made using locally grown barley, gained early attention following three consecutive years rated as ‘Liquid Gold’ (94/100 points) in noted whisky writer Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible.
• Prestigious accolades for the Cotswolds Dry Gin include ‘Best London Dry’ at the World Gin Awards 2016 and a Gold-Outstanding award at IWSC 2017. Difford’s Guide recently ranked the Gin as one of the top 20 Gins available in a survey of 450 brands.
• Cotswolds Dry Gin is on sale nationally and in over 23 countries.  Key national accounts include Waitrose, Majestic, Oddbins, Laithwaites, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, and Fortnum & Mason.
• The distillery has become a premier local attraction, offering tours and tastings daily, and receives nearly 30,000 visitors a year.  It represents an investment of nearly £7 million by the founder, backed by a group of passionate local investors, as well as its highly successful ‘Angels’ Share’ crowdfunding round in 2016.

https://youtu.be/ZxPUXy4xtaM

This is an absolute gem of a single barrel! A very recent addition to the JD line-up and it’s an absolute stunner of a bottle,  with such a high rye content, you’ expect this whisky to be as varied as something such as Bulliet Rye or Sazerac, but no, this Rye fills it’s own unique place in the American whisky market. Delicate and balanced with winter spices with subtle notes of caramel and vanilla, this is a real stand out, especially at £50 a bottle! JD have done a cracking job with this product and I’m beyond impressed with every element of this bottling. Cheers!

KWM Whisky Advent Day 13 – Gordon Macphail Balblair 10 Year

Balblair is one of Scotland’s oldest distilleries. The official founding of the distillery was in 1790, by a local man named John Ross. There are records though that indicate the distillery may have been operating on its original location, as far back as 1749. Built near Edderton, the original distillery was moved a half a mile north in 1895, to make better use of the Inverness to Ardgay rail line. The distillery operated until 1911 when tough economic times forced its closure. It would not reopen until 1949.

The distillery was expanded twice in the 20th century, to take advantage of the boom in demand for Scotch whisky in the 1960s and 1970s. A major expansion took place in 1964, followed by extensive improvements in the 1980s. The distillery was owned by Hiram Walker from 1970 until 1996. In 1996 the distillery was sold to Inverhouse Distillers, who already owned Old Pulteney and Knockdhu (anCnoc) Distilleries. They would later add Balmenach before that firm was itself sold to a beverage industry giant now known as Thai Beverage Inc.

Like Glenrothes, Balblair distillery bottlings don’t have an age statement range, instead releasing its whiskies in vintages. Independent bottlings of Balblair are increasingly rare, exception today’s Gordon Macphail Balblair, the only other whiskies available from this distillery in Alberta the distillery bottled vintages of 2005, 1999, 1990 and 1983. All of the whiskies are bottled at 46%, without artificial colouring. The Gordon Macphail bottling we are sampling today is from the Macphail’s Collection range, bottled at 43% after maturing in Refill Ex-Bourbon.

About the Gordon Macphail “Macphail’s Collection” (Courtesy Gordon Macphail): At the very heart of our business lies the sample room; its contents, the sum of over a century of experience maturing and bottling the finest Scotch whisky. We regularly sample the contents of our casks to make sure they are maturing well, only bottling them for sale when we believe they are truly ready. This approach to cask curation means we know exactly how spirit with a specific distillery character matures in different styles of oak. Using this knowledge, which has been handed down through four generations of the Urquhart family, we created ‘The MacPhail’s Collection’: a selection of seven unique distilleries from across Scotland; providing the perfect starting point for a spirited journey to discovering the outstanding diverse flavours of single malt Scotch whisky.”

Gordon Macphail Balblair 10 Year – 43% – Refill Ex-Bourbon Barrels – Andrew’s Tasting Note: “Nose: honey and orange strike out first with a slight maritime hue and almost, curiously, some clean smoke; malty, dried apricots and peach eau de vie. Palate: thick, honeyed and malty; oily and then bang… a wave of fruit: orange, apricot and peach; more salt and a whiff of smoke with some creamy-vanilla-oak-tones; very savoury with salted caramel. Finish: light and fresh the oils, salt, honey hang on even after the fruit has vanished. Comment: seems light but it catches you a bit by surprise; very fresh!” – $90 for 700ml

KWM Whisky Advent Day 12 – Tullibardine Sovereign

Tullibardine was founded in the old town of Blackford in 1949, a few miles down the road from the storied Gleneagles golf course. Though the distillery is relatively new by Scottish standards, the town of Blackford has been in the drinks business for 6^th centuries. Situated just a few miles from the Ochil Hills, the town has long been blessed with pure, clean water, perfect for making beer. James IV famously made a visit to the town as a teenager in 1488, to acquire a cask of ale for his coronation. Legend holds the town, situated at a ford on the River Allan earned its named when Hellen, Queen to King Magnus, drowned in a storm.

The current Tullibardine distillery is the second to bear the name. The first operated for a year beginning in 1798 and again between 1814 and 1837. Though the distillery didn’t take hold the town remained a prominent brewing center with a maltings and three breweries. The Gleneagles Brewery was the last of these to close in 1927. William Delme-Evans, the mid-20^th Century’s most famous distillery designer bought the old Gleneagles site in 1949 and set about opening Scotland’s first new distillery in half a century.

The distillery was built to supply young malt whisky for blending, and it was brought into service at the very beginning of the 20^th Century’s first whisky boom. Over the course of the next 44 years it served as a workhorse of the rapidly expanding blended whisky market, changing hands a number of times until it was acquired by Whyte & Mackay in 1993. The following year they mothballed it, a decade into the crises which had closed nearly half of Scotland’s distilleries. It would lay silent for just under a decade. In 2004 the distillery and its buildings were purchased by a consortium of investors.

A lot of work was needed to get the distillery and buildings up to speed. Some of the site was sold off for a commercial development to raise cash. Much of the whisky was found to be matured in sub-standard casks, so it was re-racked into an assortment of fresh new barrels. The years between 2004 and 2011 may well be looked upon as the golden age of Tullibardine. Many stunning old whiskies were bottled, all of them at cask strength or at the very least 46%. There was a core range of vintages and young wine finishes. The distillery was seemingly on a roll, and then it was sold!

In 2011 the French wine and spirit group Picard took over. They have done much good for the distillery, including recently opening its own cooperage. The portion of the site originally sold off as a retail park, which had failed by the middle of this decade, was bought back by Picard, and is now being repurposed for the distillery. But they made one crucial decision that has not sat well with me over the last five years. Tullibardine had been a proud proponent of bottling their whiskies at either cask strength or failing that, 46%. The distillery bottled loads of single casks and one off bottlings. They also experimented with different casks types and finishes. Picard dropped all of the single casks and one off in favour of a core range, and cut the strength of all of the whiskies to 43%. The whiskies are still good (especially the 20 and 25 year olds), but it has been quite a while since they were great.

Tullibardine Sovereign – 43% – Matured in First Fill Ex-Bourbon – Andrew’s Tasting Note: “Nose: creamy, floral and nutty; lots of almond, lush tropical vegetation just after the rain and chunky malt; becomes more honeyed as it opens with marzipan and candied lemon. Palate: fresh, floral and crisp; this is the tart sauvignon blanc of single malt whiskies; more dewy tropical vegetation; white pepper, Marcona almonds and French croissants filled with almond paste. Finish: light, clean and on the medium-short side of things. Comment: young but fresh and crisp; I really wish they would go back to bottling at 46%!!! – $65 for 700ml