Ralfy visits Campbeltown with Ralfy Review 699 – Glen Scotia 18yo @ 46%vol:

In their own words – Dan Szor, founder, Cotswolds Distillery

Dan Szor is the founder of Cotswolds Distillery. He left behind a career in finance to follow his love of whisky and build the first distillery in the area. After years of development and hard work, he and his team released their first whisky in October 2017.

‘It was June 2012. I was looking out of my bedroom window in my house in the Cotswolds. It was beautiful day, the wind was rippling through the barley and I had a thought: “why hasn’t anyone made whisky out of this barley?”‘

‘[Building a distillery] was just a passing idea and I pushed it out of my head for a few months. I went full circle and went back to the one person I knew in the industry, the guy who sold me my barrel of whisky. While at Bruichladdich on my annual barrel-hugging visit in May of 2013, I asked to see Jim McEwan. I said, “I’ve had this idea of building a distillery in the Cotswolds and I can’t think of anyone to tell me if it’s a crazy or not besides you.” He told me, “You’ve got to do it – follow your dream.”‘

‘What grows here is a mix of fruit and cereals. You get apples, pears, plums, damsons – the hedgerows are full of different things. And you get tons of cereal, including some of the best barley. To me, the flavours of a Cotswolds whisky ought to be predominantly fruit and grain’

‘How do you design that kind of whisky? For that we enlisted the help of the late, great Jim Swan, who was a integral part of the team, even as short as his time with us unfortunately was. He was immensely important and he will live on in our whisky’

‘In terms of imbuing the whisky with a sense of place and terroir, it all starts with the barley, which true to my original vision/epiphany moment is all locally grown’

‘Another thing that’s cool is that we are, to my knowledge, one of only two whiskies in all of Great Britain that are in production and on sale that are 100% floor malted. The other one is Springbank, so we’re in good company’

‘[Jim Swan] felt very strongly that it was all about fruit: a good fruity new make will make a good whisky. For Jim, that started in the mash tun with a very long four-day fermentation. Why is four days important? Your alcohol is created in about two days, but its the third and the fourth day which provide you with a lot of what will create the esters [chemicals that create fruity flavours] in your whisky. The best time to inhale our wash is day four. You get these amazing banana, fruit salad and pineapple notes coming off and they come through in the distillation’

‘Our stills are called Mary and Janis. We’ve not gone with posh English names – you get a lot of Prudences and Constances and Patiences in the gin world – we’ve gone with American rock instead. Mary is Proud Mary, because she keeps on burning (she’s our wash still), and Janis is Janis Joplin, because we take a little piece of her heart every day’

‘The biggest part of the story and where Jim had a big effect was in the wood. He personally designed the barrel which is responsible for most of the flavour profile of our flagship whisky – the STR: shaved, toasted and recharred. You take a wine barrel and make it into a whisky barrel by charring’

‘Every six months we get a shipping container of incredibly juicy first-fill bourbon barrels. When they come to us they’ve never been disassembled and have only just been dumped – you could get high from just standing in the container’

‘It was my decision to combine the STRs with first-fill bourbon casks. We experimented with lots of different ratios and settled on 70:30 – our flagship whisky is 70% STR and 30% first-fill bourbon’

‘In terms of where we’re going, we’ll be peppering the world with fun, thought-provoking, interesting and novel small-batch stuff, hopefully cask strength. But in terms of what our flagship whisky will be 20 years from now, I don’t know. I’m just hoping I’ll be around to make that call’

‘Why do all of this? Because it’s fun. If you can’t have fun doing this, then why are you in this business? There are much easier ways of making money in this world’

‘A big part of the reason for doing this was a change of life. Moving out to the Cotswolds is a funny thing to do for a guy who grew up on 98th and Madison in New York. I don’t regret it in the slightest’

You can also sign up to receive a notification when the Cotswolds Single Malt whisky is back in stock – our first delivery sold out in days.

Notre Dram de Paris

Our Paris boutique is one of the most stylish whisky shops in the world and it has the whisky to match! With incredible bottles including rare and limited editions also available on our French website, you needn’t book a flight to get your hands on these whiskies.

International shipping available Just click ‘Translate this page’ in your browser

Yamazaki Mizunara 18 Year Old 2017

This 18 year old single malt from Japan’s Yamazaki distillery is aged exclusively in Mizunara oak casks – a rare and sought after species of oak which grows only in a few districts of Japan, central and northern China, Korea, eastern Mongolia and eastern Siberia. The result is an expression with an exquisite balance of subtlety, refinement and complexity, limited to just 1,000 bottles worldwide and presented in a case made from recycled Suntory casks.

A fragrant and oily top-note of aromatherapy oil and sandalwood on the nose, before mangoes and over-ripe bananas emerge. The palate is dry and nutty overall with rich walnut and nutmeg.

€1,750 Buy Now

Glen Grant 18 Year Old

The award-winning Glen Grant 18 Year Old has all the characteristics of a modern Speyside whisky: it’s refined, silky, exuberant and well-balanced. The nose is delicate with floral aromas and some vanilla to the fore. The influence of the wood is then revealed with notes of sweet spices and pastries. On the palate, subtle notes of caramelised cereals, raisin and vanilla emerge, before hazelnut and sweet spices in the long finish.

€115 Buy Now

Macallan Ruby

1995 Miltonduff 22 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky (750ml) $89.99 View

Lagavulin “2016 Edition” 12 Year Old Natural Cask Strength Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) (Previously $130) $99.99 View 

Ardbeg “Twenty Something” 23 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (750ml) $549.99 View

Ralfy has audio issues with Ralfy Review 698 – Glencadam 10yo @ 46%vol

It’s whisk(e)y season, folks! We’re less than three days away from Thanksgiving and I know a number of you finicky drinkers out there are getting your selections together for the big holiday feast. I’ve got four new ones for you today that might be of interest. The first two are fresh from Scotland’s Speyside region, while the second pair are single barrel exclusives from none other than Dickel. First off, a new single cask of 22 year old Miltonduff; a gristy malt that packs quite the punch.

Miltonduff 22 Year Old “Old Particular” K&L Exclusive Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky $89.99 – If you’re tired of the same sweet vanilla and soft stonefruit profile of your typical Highland malt, I invite you to check out this 22 year old single barrel release from Miltonduff: a Speyside distillery that sees most of its malt go into the Chivas Blended portfolio. At 57.6% ABV cask strength and with a malty, gristy note, this is a robust and heavy whisky that very much tastes like malted barley smells, but with added notes of dark chocolate and cacao that carries over from the malting process. Intermixed with the malt and mocha notes are hints of toasted nuts and new oak with a classic Scotch whisky finish that is again accentuated from the huge proof. Mixed nuts and roasted cocoa flavors are the calling card of Miltonduff and this 22 year old cask offers both of those profiles with a bold and assertive character. It’s definitely not your typical gentle, graceful Highland malt. This is big time stuff.

Then there’s the new Macallan “Classic Cut” 2017 Limited Edition, a 58.4% ABV distillery release that drinks much like Macallan’s version of the Aberlour A’Bunadh: big sherry, big proof. This is dark and unctuous on the finish. Sherry heads will be pleased.

Macallan Classic Cut “2017 Limited Edition” Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky $79.99 – This limited edition Macallan harkens back to an older and much lauded regular release, The Macallan Cask Strength. Adopting the royal crimson colored label -a color made famous by its predecessor – a warning of the impending intensity of this exceptional Highland Single malt whisky. The Macallan Classic Cut is aged exclusively in sherry seasoned oak from Jerez and bottled without the addition of any water prior to bottling. This preserves the extraordinary character of this most exalted of Highland malts. The higher proof adds texture and depth, highlighting the quality sherry and bold malt flavors produced at the Macallan. Like all Macallan single malt, the Classic Cut is bottled without the use of color additives.

You have to understand, when someone offers you nine year old single barrels of 100+ proof Bourbon that you can sell for around forty bucks, you say YES! You say yes as many times as they’ll let you. You take as much of it as they’ll sell you and you ask for seconds, thirds, fourths, and fifths.

Sure, Dickel is Tennessee whiskey, not officially Bourbon, but there are plenty of people out there buying it independently and selling it as Bourbon (Belle Meade, Barrell, etc.) because technically it is Bourbon. Just don’t tell that to anyone in Tennessee.

Back to my original point: these single barrels of Dickel are older, richer, tastier, and sweeter than any whiskies available in any other distillery-direct single barrel program right now. Yet, somehow, they’re around $20 less expensive per bottle than similarly-aged casks from Four Roses or the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof.

I dare you to do a comparison, side by side, of our latest Four Roses barrel with one of these two new arrivals from Dickel. I did it blind for fun this past week and I had a rough time figuring out which was which.

George Dickel “K&L Exclusive” 9 Year Old Single Barrel #L7233K1008″ Tennessee Whiskey $44.99 – Barrel #1008 is like a big bag of toasted caramel corn with power and intensity from the bold proof. Those who love the sweetness of classic Tennessee whiskey with the punch of cask strength Bourbon will be elated with a finish of sweet vanilla and hearty baking spices.

George Dickel “K&L Exclusive” 9 Year Old Single Barrel #L7234K1004″ Tennessee Whiskey $44.99 – Barrel #1004 has strong aromas of herbaceous, peppery spices on the nose with heavy pencil shavings and toasted oak. It’s decidedly less sweet than all of the other Dickel barrels we’ve featured in 2017 with a robust richness that finishes like a fine bottle of Four Roses. Basically, if you’re looking for a 9 year old bottle of cask strength OBSV for $20 less than what it normally would go for, this is a fine substitute for serious bourbon fans. For serious Bourbon fans.

That covers it for this week. Have a very Happy Thanksgiving. We’ll be back with another Whisk(e)y News after the holiday, until then be sure to check out The Spirits Journal for updates on other exciting spirits hitting our shelves.

– David Driscoll

https://youtu.be/Phd8bzzFxqs

Perfect is an overly used word. It’s used to describe films, albums, people and isn’t always used in the correct way, however, THIS WHISKY IS PERFECT!!! PERFECT! I’ve never ever used that word to describe a liquid ever before. Cask strength, bourbon cask Lagavulin – too good to say no, i’m buying this bottle and it is without doubt one of the greatest purchases that I will ever make in my whisky drinking life to date. That’s that, by one, open it, enjoy it and thank me in the comments! Cheers!

It’s all systems go at Wolfburn distillery, with new expressions being bottled as fast as we can manage – and half the staff away on road trips at whisky shows and exhibitions all around the globe (Paris, Tokyo, Johannesburg and Zurich to name just four)! But we can’t complain – Wolfburn has had more visitors than ever in 2017, and the distillery has just been graded a three-star tourist attraction. We’ve made lots of new friends and we’re having a ton of fun making whisky. What’s not to like?

In this edition of the Laydown:

• Looking ahead: Kylver#3 is just around the corner…

• Morven is Launched! Wolfburn’s third permanent expression is finally here – a beautiful, lightly peated dram.

• Photo comp: Win a Wolfburn “three pack” (Northland, Aurora and Morven). Send us a pic of you or your friends/family enjoying a drop of the wolf somewhere fun or unusual.

Sláinte

The Wolfburn Team

PS: If you’re in the Thurso area, we’re holding an open day on Saturday 9th Dec, 10am-3pm – and we’ll be unveiling our Christmas special edition bottle. Hope to see you there.

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 186: Ledaig 9 Year Old 2007 for MMM

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, announces the fourth and final release for 2017 in the MMM’s series of single casks. It is a young and dirty peated whisky from the Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull. Mark and Manny selected a Ledaig 2007 as the conclusion of their bespoke Galaxy Series. It is bourbon cask matured and bottled at 52.3% ABV. The release is limited to only 50 bottles.

https://youtu.be/XVeDIeHRVjw

Old Pulteney’s famous stills

In Their Own Words – Malcolm Waring, distillery manager, Old Pulteney

Malcolm Waring is the distillery manager at Old Pulteney, until recently the most northerly distillery on the Scottish mainland. He tells us how Old Pulteney got its name, his reaction to winning the most coveted award in the whisky world, and his approach to whisky-making.

Malcolm Waring, distillery manager at Old Pulteney

The distillery is named after Sir William Johnstone Pulteney who was quite a vocal guy. People would go round saying “Did you hear that Old Pulteney was talking about this and that?”’

‘When we won the top award in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible – well, Jim Murray is a Marmite guy but it really opened things up for us. A lot of people hadn’t heard of Old Pulteney before that. You can take his Bible with a pinch of salt but he’s clearly got a very educated palate because he thinks that Old Pulteney 21 Year Old is the best whisky in the world!’

‘When the 21 Year Old won the Whisky Bible award, if people couldn’t buy it, they’d buy the 17 Year Old. And if they couldn’t buy the 17yo, they’d buy the 12 Year Old! In three days we sold what we would normally sell in three years’

‘Eighty per cent of what you taste you get from the cask’

‘We take from the land. It gives us what we want in spirit and we return it. Everything taken from the land is returned’

‘A longer fermentation gives a more fruity character; shorter ferments bring out the cereal notes’

‘The DNA of Pulteney is coastal, briny and floral with a banana note – but it’s not salty’

‘The coastal note is easy to explain: look out through any window on a stormy day and you’ll see that it’s salted up. It’s salt city round here; we’re only 200 yards away from the North Sea’

‘The story about our [famously shaped] stills? We got our calculations wrong and we couldn’t get the roof back on…’

‘Distilling is all about experience. You make it with your senses, not with a machine’

Click here to see our full range of Old Pulteney whisky.