Suntory Hakushu 18 Year Single Malt Whisky (750ml) ( $249.99) From Master of Malt: “A fantastic 18 year old Japanese whisky from the Hakushu distillery, a malty, fruity whisky of real quality. Nose: Orange, pear and a dry smokiness. Fruit salad. Palate: Patisserie sweet, baked goods and baked goodness! Finish: Long and fruity with Manuka honey with subtle smokiness. Overall: A fantastic Japanese whisky that hits all the right notes.”

Suntory Hibiki 12 Year Old Japanese Whiskey (750ml) ( $99.99) 92 points Wine Enthusiast: “With a little water, this golden blended whisky opens up to delicate, nuanced honey and floral aromas and flavors. Finishes smoky, dry, and brisk.” (03/2011) Whisky Advocate: “Well-rounded, solid malt backbone, and very drinkable. These are the characteristics of this impressive blend. Honeysuckle, vanilla-coated malt and fruit (pineapple upside down cake, lemon tart, plum, bramble) are the primary flavors. Ripe barley, marzipan, beeswax, and clove round out the palate. Gentle, soothing finish. Suntory can make a 12 year old blend this good with just two malt distilleries? Scotland, are you taking notice?” (07/2009) K&L Notes: Gold Medal, 2013 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Malt whiskeys matured 12 years or longer are perfectly matched with mellow grain whiskies of the same age to create this Hibiki offering. Also included is some whisky from casks formerly used in long-term aging of Japanese plum liqueur, which helps bring out the sweet floral notes on the nose and palate that Suntory whisky is known for. Adding venerable malt aged more than 30 years further brings out the bouquet and adds body to the palate.

K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
Phone: 877-KLWines (toll free 877-559-4637)
Email: wine@klwines.com
San Francisco, Redwood City, Hollywood CA

Bruichladdich 12 Year Old – 2003

Released by The Rest & Be Thankful Whisky Company, two casks from the Bruichladdich distillery have been vatted to create this limited edition release. A sherry & a bourbon cask, both distilled in 2003 have been aged for 12 years before being bottled at cask strength, 59.3% vol.

RRP £72.99 – last remaining bottles only £61.20

Scotch whisky is very different to a few decades ago. Demand is up and as drinkers’ tastes change, distilleries tweak their recipes. The spirit, the casks and the resulting whiskies are all different to how they used to be. Well, most of them anyway. There are a few distillers who still make old-fashioned whiskies – distillers like Benromach. We’ve got a fantastic bottle of whisky from the distillery to give away, so read on…

Rocky popped up to visit the folks at Benromach a couple of years back and you can read all about his trip here – not much has changed, but the distillery’s old-school drams are turning more heads than ever before.

The distillery’s style is typified by Benromach 10 Year Old – an oily dram with hints of soft smoke hiding under sweet toffee, fruit and rich maltiness. This is what I thought:

BENROMACH 10 YEAR OLD

Nose: Runny honey, green leaves, waxed apples, cinnamon, wood smoke and a touch of linseed oil.

Palate: Wood smoke kicks things off, with vanilla toffee, hazelnuts and the linseed from the nose sitting alongside. Darker notes of raisins, brown sugar and spice develop, as well as a touch of sappiness.

Finish: The smokiness hangs around, with apple skin and freshly ground malt slowly fading.

Comment: The waxiness and malt, along with the puff of smoke, remind me of some of the older bottles I’ve tried. Old-fashioned whisky at its best.

While it’s the distillery’s new whiskies, produced since it restarted in 1998, that are getting the most praise, owner Gordon & MacPhail occasionally unearths an old gem in its warehouses. The latest release is one of those – an incredible 35-year-old whisky.

We’re celebrating the launch of the new Benromach 35 Year Old with a prize draw – we have a bottle to give away to one lucky customer. All you need to do is buy a bottle of Benromach 10 Year Old before 11.59pm on Tuesday 9 August and we’ll enter you into the draw.

You can find full details here – good luck!

This week Joe Ellis reviews Glengoyne Scottish Oak Finish Single Malt.

https://youtu.be/EAaaKR0MQqk

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The Whisky Shop Exclusives

The Whisky Shop is home to a selection of single malt expressions that you simply can’t find anywhere else. From one of the rarest Single Malt Scotch Whiskies in the world to hand-selected single cask expressions, our exclusive range is a sight to be seen!

Free delivery available on all orders over £75 Next day delivery available

Aberfeldy Single Cask

Distilled in 1996 and specially selected by the members of The W Club and the staff of The Whisky Shop Edinburgh in March 2013, this Highland Single Malt is a fabulous single cask expression. Brimming with vanilla notes and stewed fruits, this fabulous expression also packs some typical warming oak flavours from the fairly long maturation.

£160 Buy Now

Glenfarclas 1994

Bottled exclusively for The Whisky Shop and limited to only 1200 bottles, this expression from the family-owned Glenfarclas distillery is our very own award-winner! Scoring an impressive 95.5 in the 2016 Jim Murray Whisky Bible, this Speyside Single Malt received the coveted Liquid Gold Award. The nose has intense layers of sultanas and dessert wine, the palate offers juicy grape, toasted oak, sauternes and marmalade, while the finish is medium with notes of cocoa and vanilla.

“…not far off God’s gift to present day sherried malt whisky” – Jim Murray

Glenfarclas 2000

This Single Malt Scotch Whisky was specially selected for The Whisky Shop, and is an utter delight from start to finish. There’s enough Glenfarclas character here for fans of the distillery to love it, but this is also a great way to start your exploration of the distillery if you’re not yet familiar with it. A great malt. Mid-amber: ex-sherry cask. Slow legs. A somewhat closed nose to start, then scents of rice pudding, perhaps with a spoonful of red jelly, becoming more cereal-like, especially with a drop of water. A sweet overall taste, with peppery spice in the warming finish, reduced somewhat by water.

£60 Buy Now

Bowmore Laimrig 15 Year Old

This Whisky Shop exclusive bottling of Bowmore takes its name from the Gaelic for ‘pier,’ referring to the ancient stone pier that once served the distillery. Finished in the finest Spanish sherry butts, the cask strength, non chill-filtered Bowmore Laimrig has a rich, dark character and colour. The nose offers an instant aroma of coal tar soap, but the rich Oloroso sherry notes deliver an attractive counterbalance. On the palate it is full bodied, with a luxurious raisin and sherry taste, complemented by wood smoke. The finish is long and spicy and smoky.

£78 Buy Now

Glenfiddich Rare Collection 1992 Single Cask

Hand-selected by The Whisky Shop and Glenfiddich Malt Master, Brian Kinsman, this expression was chosen to celebrate the founding of The Whisky Shop in 1992. The very first release from the Glenfiddich Rare Collection, this single cask is available exclusively from The Whisky Shop and is limited to only 200 bottles. Matured in a refill bourbon cask distilled on the 13th March 1992, bottled at 55.6% abv. This whisky really shows off the Glenfiddich distillery character, with lots of sweet, fruity notes with apple and pear and just a hint of oak and spice.

£1,200 Buy Now

Ladyburn 1974 40 Year Old

Hailing from Scotland’s shortest-lived distillery, this 40 year old is one of the rarest malt whiskies in the world. Built on the site of William Grant & Sons’ Girvan grain distillery, Ladyburn produced malt whisky for less than 10 years from 1966 to 1975 before being demolished. One of the last remaining casks from Ladyburn, Cask 89/199 No.74 was filled in 1974 and aged in the warehouses at Girvan until its 40th birthday on 21st November 2014. This Whisky Shop Exclusive is limited to only 157 bottles.

£2,597 Buy Now

The Glenlivet Gallow Hill

This limited edition Speyside Single Malt comes from the distillery that started it all! The Glenlivet Distillery in the Cairngorms National Park was the first legal distillery in Glenlivet and became so famous that other distilleries began to use its name leading to the owners being granted legal protection for the name The Glenlivet. Matured in a hogshead cask and one of approximately 250 bottles, this limited edition takes its name from the hill above the The Glenlivet distillery where the local gallows used to be.

£240 Buy Now

Glen Garioch 1978

This sophisticated Single Malt was hand-selected by The Whisky Shop in October 2011. Bottled non chill-filtered at cask strength from North American Oak, Cask No 11,000 quietly matured at Glen Garioch Distillery from 1978. Hailing from one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland, this rich and fruity Highland Single Malt has sweet notes of vanilla and dried fruit

£485 Buy Now

Glenkeir Treasures The Secret Speyside 2002

Born from an ex-sherry cask this Secret Speyside comes from one of the most famous distilleries in the world but we’re not giving anything away! This mysterious single malt is a limited release that was filled to cask on 5th April 2002. Red jelly and burnt sugar contribute to a sweet overall taste with dried fruit and sherry notes. A warming finish.

£60 Buy Now

www.ralfy.com does an unusual comparison of ‘generational’ bourbons with Whisky Review 591 – Bourbon de Luxe (2016 and 1970’s)

The Whisky Shop Dufftown Challenge for Independent Bottlers: Speyside

The Whisky Shop Dufftown threw down the gauntlet and challenged the independent bottlers to find the best Speyside Single Malt.  Our guests at The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2016 voted for their favourite in blind tastings. The winner was Old Malt Cask Speyside 1993 21 Years Old from Hunter Laing.

First Place:

• Old Malt Cask Speyside 1993 21 Years Old (£86.95)

Second Place:

• Adelphi Glenrothes 1991 25 Years Old (£189.00)

The Whisky Shop Dufftown Challenge for Independent Bottlers:  Rest of Whisky

The Whisky Shop Dufftown threw down the gauntlet and challenged the independent bottlers to find the best whisk(e)y not from Speyside – it could be any whisk(e)y just not a single malt whisky from Speyside.  Our guests at The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival 2016 voted for their favourite in blind tastings. The winner was Adelphi Bunnahabhain 2005 11 Years Old.  We should also mention the Old Perth Sherry which coming in second place and at that price is amazing!

First Place:

• Adelphi Bunnahabhain 2005 11 Years Old (£75.95)

Second Place:

• Old Perth Sherry cask from Morrison & MacKay (£29.95)

Each year, Mike as Chairman of the awards, has a look at the whiskies that did not win to see if there is another one that did really well with the public but also shows value for money considering how highly it was placed.  If he sees one then he will award it The Chairman’s Award for a Cracking Dram.  This year he has decided there is a deserving dram and that is the Old Perth Sherry which to beat off competition from much older more expensive whisky to come second place in the Rest of Whisky category makes it worth £29.95 of any one’s money.

The Best Tasting Note

 As part of the Challenge for Independent Bottlers we ask our guests taking part in the judging to write tasting notes for the whiskies as well as picking their favourites.  At the end of the festival we pick the best tasting notes and the winner receives a bottle of their favourite whisky from the competition.

This year it was won by Ruth Ball and she wins a bottle of Old Malt Cask Speyside 21 Years Old.

Mark Dermul, Belgian Whisky blogger, tastes a bourbon for a change. Elijah Craig is one of the few brands produced by the family owned Heaven Hill Distillery in the States. Bottled at 94 proof, which translates into 47% ABV, the 12 Year Old is one of the bestselling bourbons they put out. Those 12 years on casks have turned this entry level bourbon into a round and rich drink. This is value for money. 

https://youtu.be/jkWQ_IyVX04

The Loch Fyne The Living Cask^®

Say hello to the newest member of the family!

Here in our workshop on the shores of Loch Fyne, The Living Cask® takes pride of place. Our own unique creation, The Living Cask® is an ever-evolving vatting of whisky and now we’re ready to release the latest expression, Batch 4. Next day delivery available on UK orders. Worldwide shipping also available

The Loch Fyne  The Living Cask®
Batch 4

The latest edition of our legendary The Living Cask®, Batch 4 is another unique expression, completely different from its predecessors. Fresh creamy aroma with a dry citrus burst, fresh pine needles and lovely fresh oakiness, it opens nicely with time to reveal fresh apple, pear and rhubarb with a sweet heather bouquet. It has a creamy mouth-feel with a waxy texture, carrying a lot of flavour, autumn fruits with cherry, peaches and plums combining well with a dry wood spice and a little cinnamon. Adding a touch of water releases a more softer sweeter flavour, marshmallow and creamy coconut with a hint of wood smoke on the finish. A most perfect, warming beach bonfire companion.

£45 Buy Now

Hi Folks.

A piece of bright news in the post-Brexit gloom. We’re revamping our website with some exciting new measures, including a crisp new look, better search options, and an all-new app. We’re changing our pricing structure too and bringing back our hugely successful commission-free deal for our sellers. Insert fees will be £5 per lot plus VAT if applicable and £5 for reserves, also plus VAT if applicable.

There is sure to be a great demand for this incredible offer, so contact us now to arrange for deliveries and collections. Last date for entries to the 64th auction is July 15, so get in touch now. But don’t worry if you can’t get bottles to us by then – our commission free deal for sellers will be around for a while.

Best wishes from Glasgow

The SWA Team – Bidding to be the Best