Glendronach 12 Year Old

£26.67 ex. VAT

This superb richly sherried single malt is matured for at least 12 years in a combination of the finest spanish pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks.

Tasting notes:  

Nose: sweet, creamy vanilla, with hints of ginger. Spiced mulled wine and pear.

Palate: rich, creamy, silky-smooth. Warm, rich oak and sherry sweetness, full mouth feel, raisins and soft fruits. Spicy with medium length and a dry finish.

Finish: long, full and firm, slightly nutty.

(Official Tasting Note)

Glendronach 8 Year Old 

£26.67 ex. VAT

The Hielan’, Highland in the local Doric dialect, is an exceptional 8 years old single malt.

In 1826 the exuberant and extroverted James Allardice founded the distillery and produced his ‘Guid GlenDronach’ single malt. Down the years, the distillery he created has thrived under the stewardship of far-sighted investors like Walter Scott in 1847 and Captain Charles Grant in 1920.

Tasting notes:

Nose: rounded waves of orange blossom and a citrus twist flow over buttery, golden sultanas, sundried raisins and ripe yellow plums; all dusted with a touch of vanilla.

Palate: crisp, vibrant oak spices warm soaked sultanas, apricot jam and gingerbread; all rounded by delicate hints of butterscotch, cocoa and toasted almonds.

Finish: classic sherry overtones with a contrasting crisp dimension demonstrates the complexity of the traditional Highland character.

(Official Tasting Note)

Ardbeg Uigeadail Limited Edition Gift Pack

This special vatting marries Ardbeg’s traditional deep, smoky notes with luscious, raisiny tones of old ex-Sherry casks. It is non chill-filtered at high strength, which retains maximum flavour and gives more body and added depth. A complex balance of fruit, spice and smoke, with a rich, deep flavour and mouth-coating texture. The sherry cask maturation gives this a stunning sweet warming flavour that complements the aromatic smoky finish. Ardbeg Uigeadail was recently voted by the 100,000 strong Ardbeg Committee as their favourite Ardbeg.

£60 Buy Now

Glenfarclas 21 Year Old & 101 World Whiskies to Try Before You Die

A whisky pairing that is guaranteed to please!  This 21 year old expression of Glenfarclas is rich and full-bodied with fruity spice on the nose. Smooth on the palate with notes of malty biscuits and a touch of oak smoke, with a long and smooth finish.Once you have whet your appetite, Ian Buxton’s 101 World Whiskies to Try Before You Die is on hand to provide a map to your next dram.

£69 Buy Now

Adam Hannett, head distiller at Bruichladdich

Islay native Adam Hannett has some very big shoes to fill. As head distiller at Bruichladdich since summer 2015, he and distillery manager Allan Logan have taken over the running of one of Scotland’s best-loved distilleries, producing Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte and Octomore spirit. Retired production director Jim McEwan may cast a long shadow, but after 12 years of mentoring and training, Adam is now in charge of continuing the cult distillery’s reputation for making great whisky.

I spoke to him last month, during the build-up for this year’s Islay festival.

‘Growing up on Islay you take whisky for granted – you think everyone’s got eight distilleries on their doorstep’

‘In 2004 I dropped out of university – I didn’t enjoy it and wanted to come home to Islay. I came around to the distillery and met Jim McEwan, who took me on for a few months, just tour guiding and working in the shop. The first day I came home and my eyes had been opened – I’d absolutely fallen in love with the way whisky is made‘

‘What do I do in a normal day? Generally, whisky things. No two days are the same – that’s the joy of it’

‘The casks we have are amazing. The spirit is unbelievably good. My job is an absolute joy. It’s dealing with people who are at the top of their game – absolute craftsmen – and ingredients – whether it’s casks or barley or whatever – that are all the best quality’
‘I hear the term “master distiller” bandied around a lot. I’ve been working here for 12 years and I don’t think I’m anywhere near being a master of anything yet. You are constantly learning, constantly surprised by the little things. If someone else thinks that it’s the title for me in 20 years from now, then fair enough, but I’ll always be the guy who’s looking to learn‘

‘I’ll never rest and say “I know everything”, because the day you do that is the day you’ll have lost the spark for whisky making’
‘If I’m making a whisky, I don’t want to be doing it off a spreadsheet. I want to go to a cask, pull a sample and nose and taste it – keeping everything local means I can do that’

‘Sometimes when you’re walking around the warehouses you find something you forgot you even had: the experiments that Jim had, things you find in dark corners, things you see and say “Oh, I remember we did that!”‘

On Bruichladdich Classic Laddie] ‘It’s a very complicated recipe, and it changes. And that’s ok. We don’t mind if we get a bit of variation, as the whisky is about the flavour and ingredients we’ve got. Whatever nature gives us, whether it be through the barley or the casks, that’s what we need to put in the bottle’

On our wish list of things we’d like is to have our own maltings and malt our own barley here. It’s a missing piece of the jigsaw. How we do that, we don’t know yet. One day…’

It’s a Victorian distillery, we have to respect it. Doing things slowly slows down the process and limits how much we can make. But we’re not trying to flood the market, we’re just trying to make the best whisky we can‘

You can see Adam in action below, hosting his first Islay Festival masterclass last weekend.

Glendronach 18 Year Old Allardice 

£50.83 ex. VAT

The famous Glendronach 18 year old, now renamed Allardice, is the third expression in the Glendronach core range.

In 1826 the exuberant and extroverted James Allardice founded the distillery and produced his ‘Guid GlenDronach’ single malt. Down the years, the distillery he created has thrived under the stewardship of far-sighted investors like Walter Scott in 1847 and Captain Charles Grant in 1920.

Tasting notes:

Nose: sweet aromatics of fudge and muscovado sugar. Fruit compote and glacier morello cherries provide added complexity.

Palate: rich dark and seductive. Remarkable flavours of stewed fruits and all-spice marry together with classical aged Oloroso and toasted walnut bread and chocolate orange.

Finish: tremendously complex and long.

(Official Tasting Note)

Single Malts Ltd 36 Gordon Street | Huntly | Aberdeenshire | AB54 8EQ | Scotland UK

+44 (0) 845 606 6145 | mailto:info@singlemaltsdirect.com

Whisky Ramblings Via Video #132

Mark Dermul, Belgian Whisky blogger, tries French single malt! When we think of single malt, we usually have Scotland in mind. But of course many countries make excellent single malt whisky today. France, for example, has over 40 whisky distilleries operational. Perhaps you have not yet heard of the Armorik Single Malt, produced at the Warenghem Distillery in Brittany. It is Mark’s great pleasure to present two excellent releases to you: Armorik Maitre De Chai and their Millésime 2002 single cask. Be ready to be surprised! 

https://youtu.be/h0ndtLtHFLE

Ardbeg Dark Cove – smugglers’ delight

Posted: 27 May 2016 05:33 AM PDT

The Islay Festival is drawing to close. Tomorrow is the last day, and in usual fashion, things are ending with a bang: it’s Ardbeg Day – or, as they are calling it this year, Ardbeg Night. Unlike the other Islay distilleries, Ardbeg shares its open day with folks who can’t make it to the island, and its festival bottling will be hitting the shelves of our London shop and website on Saturday – introducing Ardbeg Dark Cove.

This year’s origin story talks about the illicit history of distillation of the island, with tales of smugglers and their night-time exploits in the years before the founding of Ardbeg. But at the heart of it all, it’s all about the new limited release – ‘the darkest Ardbeg ever’.

Ardbeg Dark Cove is a classic combination of bourbon- and sherry-matured whisky, with a heart matured in ‘dark sherry casks’. No one is entirely sure what a dark sherry cask is, but with official tasting notes that talk about squid ink, coal tar and coffee, we can see what they’re aiming for.

Ardbeg Dark Cove, 46.5% ABV. £99.95

Nose: A sweet and savoury combination of new leather, creosoted fences, char siu pork, sultanas and raisins, with lemon and orange oil, treacle toffee, a touch of tar and burning heather.

Palate: Softer than expected, with lots of char and ash up front. Coffee grounds and singed citrus lead to bitter dark chocolate and tar, before fruit cake, candied ginger and liquorice sweeten things.

Finish: Burning pine needles and black coffee fade to blackcurrant and liquorice, and Hall’s mentholyptus. The menthol lingers for minutes, along with a background of peaty smoke.

Comment: A complex nose leads into a surprisingly easy-drinking palate – there’s lots of flavour, but little in the way of boozy burn. However, the finish took me by surprise – it lasted happily through my washing up of my tasting glass and the making of a cup of coffee, and is still just hanging on as I type this, five minutes later. It may not be as dark as the name suggests, but it is classic Ardbeg.

Dark Cove will be hitting the website on Saturday and if you are in London, we’ll have it open and ready to taste at our Covent Garden shop. Pop in and say hello – dressing as a smuggler is entirely optional.

This week Joe Ellis reviews the Ardbeg Dark Cove Committee Release live from the Feis Ile 2016 Festival!

https://youtu.be/4kAgqm7Dm4U

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Greetings fellow whisky-lovers!

Festival fever is upon us as we wrap up a week of festivities in Fèis Íle and look forward to a bounty of TWL festivals across the UK over the next few months!

Now on sale are EARLY-BIRD TICKETS for our string of festivals this Autumn – we’ve got a special 2 for £40 offer on for the first 75 tickets sold for each session so make sure you’re quick!

3rd September: Liverpool Whisky Fest: BUY TICKETS
10th September: Yorkshire Whisky Fest: BUY TICKETS
22nd October: Manchester Whisky Fest: BUY TICKETS
12th November: Birmingham Whisky Fest: BUY TICKETS

This week we’ve been in Islay for the annual Fèis Íle (aka the The Islay Festival of Music and Malt) running a handful of amazing tastings on Tall Ship Irene and at the famous ruins of Finlaggan castle. Thanks to everyone who came down for making it such a special experience!

We also had Bristol Whisky Festival at the start of the month which was a roaring success – check out some of the snaps here.

The fun doesn’t stop there; next month we have dozens of events for you to get stuck into including two festivals, more blending workshops and the last of our Elements of Islay tasting series dates – read on to find out more!

Brighton Whisky Fest: June 18th  BUY TICKETS

After a two year hiatus we have decided that the whisky love is in desperate need of nurturing in lovely Brighton!

We have also decided to up the ante in terms of venue and have moved to the fabulous Corn Exchange within the Brighton Dome.

For a limited time we are offering a 2 for £50 ticket. There are severely limited quantities of these and we would urge you to be quick! Head here to get yours.

Edinburgh Whisky Solstice: June 25th  BUY TICKETS

Tickets are now on sale for our big return to Edinburgh!

This year we’re heading back indoors and will be setting up our Edinburgh Whisky Festival in the Assembly Rooms on George St. This iconic Georgian venue has long been at the heart of Edinburgh hosting thousands of events from Royal banquets to film festivals, but for this day in June it will play host to Scotland’s most iconic drink, whisky!

Elements of Islay Tasting

We still have a number of dates left for our Elements of Islay tasting series!

Delicious, mature and unadulterated Islay whisky, bottled at full strength and assembled by a crack team of people who truly know and love whisky.

Whether you’re a fan of peated whisky or not, this series is an absolute no brainer! Click on the locations below to go to the tickets!

June 11th York Brigantes : Tickets
June 15th London Salt Bar : Tickets
June 16th Leeds The Cross Keys : Tickets
June 16th Brighton Nightingale Room : Tickets
June 22nd Liverpool Jenny’s Bar : Tickets

Blending Workshops

Fancy getting involved in the art form that is whisky blending?

Sign up to one of our blending workshops now to apply both your palate and your brain to construct your very own blended whisky.

June 8th London, Salt Bar : SOLD OUT
June 8th, Liverpool, Jenny’s Bar : Tickets
June 9th, York, Brigantes : Tickets
June 9th, Brighton, Nightingale Room : Tickets
June 10th, Newcastle, Blackfriars : SOLD OUT
June 14th, Sheffield, The Sheffield Tap : Tickets
June 19th, London, Salt Bar : SOLD OUT

Here at the Soho Juice Company we believe in the cucumber. So much so we produced a citrus infused cucumber and mint soft drink that reflects this belief. The Soho is original, exciting and beautifully refreshing.

Exquisitely balanced with naturally sourced flavours and fruit juices the Soho is one of the most innovative and exciting new soft drinks in the world today.

Inspired by the new wave of beautiful Japanese whiskeys, we designed an ode to on a Soho favourite, ‘The Japanese High Ball’ made with a shot of good whiskey with lemon juice, sugar, and Soho all topped with soda water and garnished with fresh mint and lemon.

It is an exciting time for the Soho Juice Co and we find your passion and interest for delicious drinks inspiring. If you would like to know any more about us then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

www.sohojuice.co.uk