Questions for Peter at our dram tasting in Perth

Age is but a number, a whisky tasting with Carn Mor in Perth

by Paul Maclean of Whisky Tours

Age is but a number, they must have been thinking about me! A whisky evening at Exel in Perth, with Peter MacKay (Morrison MacKay), Keron and Denise of Exel, with a number of whisky lovers, plus myself – dragged kicking and screaming at 6.15. Hello’s out of the way, why am I always first to arrive? Peter started us off right away with a dram of Original Old Perth; I have tried this many an occasion, do like it. It is a blend of malts, no grain here! Mainly an Aultmore and now up to batch 5. Says it all eh! We started the taste off properly with a Carn Mor Strictly Limited bottle of Glen Garioch, like my second wife, this had great legs, non chill no colour added, just a very good 5 yo, 46%, one of only 665 bottles from 2 Bourbon casks – obviously the Devil had bottle 666. Next along was a Strictly Benrinnes, hoggie casks, most of this distillery liquid goes to JW Black, so M&M have rescued it from a fate worse than death. Followed by another Strictly – Dufftown 7 yo, 46%, wood from an Austrian wine cask no less, I had to drink it, people were looking at me. Our final Strictly was a nice dram from a Sherry Shipper (butt) – Glenrothes, what I call a “kind whisky”, easy and even a novice would love it.

For world whisky day celebrations our dram list at Exel Wines

Then I was forced to accept a 21 year old Mortlach – they made me do it. The majority of this product ends up wasted in a JW, a real waste. One of my all time favourite drams, with a cult following. I certainly follow it, like a donkey after a carrot on a stick, by far the star of the night for me (and Keron). It’s no often I get my hands on a 21 year old these days, this was bottled only a week and a half ago, I should have bought a bottle! Oh well all good things come to an end, we ended with Big Strand, named after a beach on Islay, yup, an Islay single malt and a grand 5 yo. Peter is a great host, informative, humorous and knowledgeable, and human, unlike a certain bible person I could mention. This evening went down well, very well and it shows age is not everything. More about personal choice, experience and enjoyment of the drams, friends and surroundings, which leads me to a question often asked; what is my favourite dram? Answer; the one you buy me next of course. A good evening of fun and drams over 2.5 hours, many thanks to Peter, Keron and Denise, by the way, 4 August is a wine tasting and 19 August their own whisky festival – HEAD TO PERTH, DINNAE SPARE THE HORSES. Exel Wines, Perth.

Blogged by the happy drammer Paul McLean. The day before World Whisky day 2017, Perth is always first!

http://www.whiskytours.scot/

Since we have now fully recovered from the 2017 Campbeltown Malts Festival, we thought it was time to share the 2018 date with you all. We are delighted to let you know that the 2018 Campbeltown Malts Festival will run from Wednesday 23rd – Friday 25th May. 

Once again, the festival will celebrate the quality malts produced and bottled here in Campbeltown and we will have a full programme of events planned throughout the 3 day festival.

More information will be released in due course (likely in January 2018) and you will be the first to know what we have planned.

Also, I thought I could use this email to give a small update on the progress on the Society bottles. A few of you have your bottles already I would like to thank all of you who are waiting for your patience. Lauren and I are working hard to ensure your bottles are with you as soon as possible. At this time we are particularly interested in hearing from people who are wanting their bottle(s) sent to the following shops.

Edinburgh and London: If you want your order sent to either of these shops but have not contacted me regarding payment please email me as soon as possible

Baden, Switzerland: We can now send Society bottles to this shop – if you would like your order sent there please contact me within the next few days. Email: society@springbank.scot For everyone else, I will be back in touch in the near future to give you an update.

Slainte Nathan society@springbankwhisky.com

For the Springbank Society

FAVOURITE FOODIE CHARACTERS

With members taking a massive bite from June Outturn, we’re recommending our top five foodie favourites still available to buy online. For those hungry for more, explore over 100 different single cask bottlings in our online shop.

BROWSE

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, The Vaults, 87 Giles Street, Leith EH6 6BZ

Contact: sales@smws.com or call 0131 555 2929 (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm). Visit the Society at here for membership information

This is your chance to join and to take advantage of their great offers!

Spot the SMWS bottles in this amusing You Tube video

Mark’s Whisky Ramblings 165: Maverick 23 Year Old 1993 Blended Malt for MMM

Mark Dermul, Belgian whisky blogger, releases another one of his own bottlings, together with his buddy Manny. The second release of 2017 in the Galaxy Series by MMM – Mark & Manny’s Malts – is a special one. A blended malt of 23 year old sherry cask matured malts that were put to sleep in 1993. Mark and Manny dubbed it their Maverick, which stands for non-conformist and daredevil. Another fantastic addition to the MMM series.

https://youtu.be/0RyXvnGxA9E

A bottle of The Macallan Millennium distilled in 1949, aged for 50 years in Spanish oak sherry casks, and bottled in 1999 sold for £21,250 at Bonhams Whisky Sale in Edinburgh on 7 June.  It had been estimated at £15,000-17,000.

The Macallan Millennium Decanter 50 year old-1949. Sold for £21,250.

Two bottles salvaged from the wreck of the S.S. Politician, in 1987 also sold well.  A bottle of Gilbey’s made £6,875, and a bottle of Peter Dawson made £4,750. The shipwreck was the inspiration for Compton Mackenzie’s famous novel, Whisky Galore, and two feature films of the same name.

NOTES

Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world’s largest and most renowned auctioneers of fine art and antiques, motor cars and jewellery. The main salerooms are in London, New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong, with sales also held in Knightsbridge, Edinburgh, Paris, San Francisco and Sydney. With a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 22 countries, Bonhams offers sales advice and valuation services in 60 specialist areas. For a full listing of forthcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, please visit bonhams.com.

What’s New at The Exclusive Dram?

Whisky – We have been working hard on bringing new, exciting and different whisky to our shop. All our whisky comes in 50ml samples allowing you to try something different at a fraction of the cost. For the full range visit us here.

With Free Delivery For All UK orders over £100 and Worldwide Delivery Available there has never been a better time to shop at The Exclusive Dram. 

Father’s Day Gift Ideas

Glencairn Glass and Macallan Gold Miniature Gift Set – £16.99

Glencairn Glass and Glenfiddich IPA Experiment Miniature Gift Set – £18.99

Glencairn Glass and Dalmore King Alexander III Miniature Gift Set – £28.99

The Exclusive Dram

www.theexclusivedram.co.uk

www.facebook.com/theexclusivedram

10 Years Of The Glenfarclas Family Casks

In 2007 J&G Grant formally launched ‘The Family Casks’; an exclusive collection of 43 vintage dated Single Cask Whiskies ranging from 1952 to 1994. It was a remarkable achievement at the time for any distillery to have casks bottled from a continuous run of years and was the only known collection to span 43 years.

The Family Casks are the best single casks from the distillery’s warehouses, bottled at cask strength and at natural colour which is displayed perfectly in clear flint bottles.

Ten years later and the range has exceeded all expectations. Many expressions have now sold out or have only a finite number of bottles left; it’s a race against time for whisky enthusiasts to find their favourite year! The range has been extended up to and including 2001, there are no more 1952 or 1953 Family Casks remaining, and the most popular is the 1979 release- another surprise from the collection as this is one of the lightest expressions available!

At the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival George Grant hosts an extremely popular event open to just 20-30 people, where festival-goers join in the nosing and tasting process to choose the next Family Cask edition. This is a unique opportunity to be able to offer fans, and we are delighted to even see some familiar faces return each year to take part. Keep an eye out on the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival website to find out if this golden opportunity will arise again next year.

The latest installment of the collection has been chosen and is almost ready to begin its bottling process; a 2002 first fill Oloroso sherry butt, cask number 3770, which is maturing nicely in one of our dunnage warehouses. We look forward to launching it later this year!

A full interview with George Grant, 6th Generation of the Grant family, about the Glenfarclas Family Casks can be found at ScotchWhisky.com

For more information about the range, please contact info@glenfarclas.com

Ralfy has a taste of Tomatin, not tomatoes with Ralfy Review 656 – Tomatin 12yo @43%vol (bourbon & sherry cask)

Announcing our 7th Anniversary Whiskey Release and Distillery Birthday Celebration Saturday June 24th  11am – 6pm

Can you believe it’s been 7 years? Time flies when you’re having fun!

You’ve been waiting for it and it’s finally ready. In celebration of our seventh year anniversary, we’re releasing our “Rock Town Sherry Cask Wheat Whiskey”. It is a limited edition, one time bottling and will be available for purchase only at the distillery in downtown Little Rock, starting at 11am on Saturday, June 24th.

 • $49.99 per 375ml bottle
• 100 proof
• Available only at the distillery tasting room

7th Anniversary Celebration Tasting

Rock Town’s 7th Anniversary Warehouse Masterclass is a seated tasting hosted by founder and head distiller Phil Brandon at the distillery. During the tasting you’ll learn about the production of Rock Town’s whiskey, the influence of the flavor grain in bourbon and learn about the influence of sherry cask aging. The tasting will include these Rock Town whiskeys:

• 7th Anniversary Sherry Cask Wheat Whiskey
• Arkansas Bourbon – Flavor Grain Series – Chocolate Malt
• Arkansas Bourbon – Flavor Grain Series – Golden Promise Malt
• Arkansas Bourbon – Flavor Grain Series – Peated Malt
• Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey

Starts at 6:30 on Saturday, June 24th. Space is extremely limited for the tasting and the cost is $40 per person. Tasting reservations can be made here

7th Anniversary Celebration Free Tours, Food Trucks, and More

As a thank you to our friends and supporters we will be offering:

• Free tours 11am to 5pm (held periodically throughout the day on Saturday June 24th)
• Food Trucks in our parking lot for your dining pleasure
• Cocktails and local craft beer in the warehouse