Glencadam Ambassador Night

Great Highland distillers Glencadam are visiting us in January to host an evening for you, our customers! On the evening we will be tasting through their entire range whilst being regaled with the history of the distillery and the tale of each dram. There might even be a surprise dram of something extra special at the end! More…

Glenglassaugh Rare Casks

Batch #2 of the Glenglassaugh Rare Casks. 8 single cask vintages from 1972-1978

Glenglassaugh Distillery is a Highland malt whisky distillery situated at Sandend Bay near Portsoy on the Banffshire coast with views north over the Moray Firth and the North Sea and is one of just a very few truly coastal Highland malt whisky distilleries. Glenglassaugh Distillery was established by James Moir and opened in 1875 on a site between the remains of Glassaugh windmill constructed in 1762 and the Craig Corn Mills. In an ideal location with barley and soft Speyside water to hand and sea breezes to pervade the distillery’s warehouses. When Glassaugh Station opened on the Moray Coastal Railway in 1884 Glenglassaugh Distillery gained speedy access the whisky blenders down south. This distillery was substantially re-built in 1959 and re-opened in 1960 only to closed in 1986. Glenglassaugh Distillery was purchased by the Scaent Group and back in production in December 2008. Visitors are welcomed at Glenglassaugh Distillery and tours are available by appointment.

Japan

Suntory Hibiki Harmony Japanese Whiskey 750ml $62.99 View

Scotland

BenRiach 17 Year Old Solstice Single Malt Whisky 750ml $99.99 View

Ireland

Midleton Very Rare Irish Whiskey 2015 Release 750ml $139.99 View

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

Christmas Special – American Oak HH0047

Liquid Gold 95.5/100, Jim Murray’s 2015 Whisky Bible.

This is the last remaining stock of Cask HH0047. There were only 255 bottles from this cask and at 95.5/100 it is both the highest scoring American Oak yet in Jim’s Bible, and also the highest scoring Australian whisky in his 2015 Bible. 22 bottles remain.

Tasting notes according to Jim:

Nose 24/25: Hard to imagine a malt whisky being more malt whiskier…the nose celebrates outstanding distilling and classic maturation in a fine cask. The barley is multi-faceted and just about perfectly balanced between and the use of deft, still slightly gristy sugars. The oak chimes in with delicious butterscotch and even a hint of ginger.

Taste 24/25: Few distilleries do weight in delivery better than this one. The intensity of the barley deserves a medal alone, its balance with the gentle vanilla-led oak a bar.

Finish 23.5/25: Long, with a sligh smattering of cocoa yet the barley still feigns to have a degree of youth…even now.

Balance 24/25: Exemplary malt whisky, absolutely beautiful.

BUY NOW

Dalmore 15yo Special Offer

The Dalmore 15 year old is smooth, rich and well rounded; the epitome of The Dalmore house style.

This delicate and approachable vintage is initially matured for 12 years in American white oak ex-bourbon casks. The character of The Dalmore 15 is achieved by then splitting the whisky equally between three different sherry woods; Amoroso, Apostoles and Matusalem oloroso for a further three years. The spirit is finally married together in an upstanding sherry butt, allowing the flavours to infuse. Was £58 originally and then on offer at £52. Now available for £47 while stocks last.

BUY NOW £47

A WEE TASTING WITH BIG ROSS in Perth – 3^rd December 2015

On a wet night we tracked doon to Exel shop once again for a tasting … Big Ross I know very well, lives in Perth but working at the Aberfeldy Distillery, some may know as Dewar’s. Guess who was first there? Aye well, needed to get out of the rain (my excuse), shook hands and chatted with big man, havnee seen him in ages, so caught up a wee bit, “who are you tonight?” he asked (it’s a facebook thing, didnee know to call me Paul or Sean), it’s nice to be nice eh? We got underway … first up was the Aultmore, this has been on the shelves around a year I think, it is light, fruity at 46%, non chilled no colour in ex Bourbon casks/barrels. No smokiness here, more floral than mineral, it’s a nice starter from this “Buckie Road” distillery near Keith, the aptly named Foggie Moss goes into quite a few blends, however this 12 year old was quite nice, but would need to move on to another after a few, as we did.

Deveron, in its new packaging, used to be Glen Deveron, now a really nice newly designed tube and frosted bottle, this 12 year old Highland hit just the right spot with me. We tried one bottle from the 2.5 million litre output tonight, a shame as I could have sat there all night with a few bottles. Previously a 10 and 15 year old, this is now 12yo with a spice/malt taste, out of a Bourbon/Sherry finish from the 5 stills, it is quite tight and can also be found in the Willie Lawson blend, it has a large market in France. I would like to try the 18yo (hint there big man). Then we got around to the Aberfeldy 12 year old, what is it tonight with the twelves? This has had several make over jobs, from the Perthshire distillery built for the blending market. It has a sweetness to it, like myself, and has matured from its 70 hour fermentation and arriving through wood and stainless steel to drop into a glass, realistically called the golden dram. Did you know? This was originally sold from the family (Dewar) shop on Perth High Street, now a Newlook shop – how times change. This delightful dram is the heart of all the Dewar blends and aye, it does contain a wee bit o caramel. Any of these first three would be good for a whisky beginner.

Ah, my (almost) favourite of the night, the delicious Royal Brackla 12 year old (again). Travelling doon from near Cawdor castle/Nairn (I am there this Christmas by the way) this is the oldest distillery in the group of 5. The kings own dram, this was the first to get the handle Royal (three only) – er, was it king Willie 4^th? Tis nae wonder all those German royals come to Scotland eh! This has more sherry than the others (put together is my thought), possibly Olorosso or PI, at only 40% this is a dram for me bhoys! I get toffee, fudge and Christmas cake, love it. There are also a 16 and 21 year old brothers to this dram, coming from the 3.5/4 million litres production, making this the largest output in the group? Cawdor Burn has been the constant water supply for Royal Brackla, with the Cursack Springs being used for mashing. There is a dribble of colouring, but as I like the taste so much, let’s forget that bit. The “Brackla” portion is, like the distillery itself, something of a mystery – I am sorry I don’t know what Brackla means, hmmm annoyed at meself. Finally we arrived at the Craigellachie 13 year old, what! 13 years old? Moving on … the biggest and boldest of the five said Ross, a nice Speysider fruity aye, but I was bowled over by the RB. It is only an Angus company who supply barley to this distillery next to the petrol station (garage in Scots), this distillery has worm tubs, the dram has a sneaky sliver of sulphur – try saying that at the end of a tasting – non chilled at 46% it does grow on you after a few.

The surprise dram, Ross brought in a bottle that can only be bought at the distillery, one of 600 I think, 16 years in a first fill sherry cask, this limited edition Ramble is 56% and will set you back £160 – is it worth it? Here’s my money Ross, a true sherry bomb. So excited was I that Keron (Exel shop lassie) opened up a bottle of Aberfeldy 21 year old, a much calmer version of the 12 yo, smoother, could taste the wood, a lovely end to the night, many thanks Keron and Ross for allowing me in! Favourite? The one I asked to buy – there was only around 2 inches left, same as Perth actually, that’s another story, but Ross kep a tight hold of it, am no goin to argue wi him!

The Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd

DISTILLER OF THE YEAR REBRANDS CORE RANGE

The Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd is delighted to reveal their new rebranded core range of single malt whiskies. Available to purchase from March 2016, the multi award-winning range includes a variety of different ages and wood styles to suit all tastes including The Tomatin Legacy, 12 year, Cask Strength, 14 year, 18 year, 1988 vintage and 36 year.

The reveal follows the news that the company was named ‘Distiller of the Year’ at the Whisky Magazine’s Icons of Whisky Awards 2016, announced at the prestigious awards ceremony in Edinburgh on Friday 4th December. Nominated and voted for by industry members, the Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd is understandably thrilled to receive the awards’ top honour: “We are extremely grateful to our industry peers, customers and suppliers who nominated us for this award” says Robert Anderson, CEO of The Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd.

“These are incredibly exciting and important times for the Tomatin brand” says Jennifer Masson, Marketing Manager. “Over the past few years we have invested a lot of time in rediscovering our distillery, our people and our values. We now have a far stronger voice and sense of identity and our rebranded packaging is the final piece of this puzzle in place. Having experienced dramatic growth around the world over recent years, it is great to receive recognition of our efforts with awards such as the Distiller of the Year – we as a company are all looking forward to seeing where 2016 and beyond takes this fantastic brand.”

Following the development of a brand repositioning last year, ‘The softer side of the Highlands’, award-winning creative agency Pocket Rocket Creative was appointed to create a new look and feel for the Tomatin brand which is now being rolled out across all packaging. With the intention of cutting through the saturated single malt market and capturing the proposition of the softer side of the Highlands, the end result presents an identity that uses earthier colours and a softer tone than the current pack along with a refined version of the present logo to create a fresh, contemporary identity while retaining the quality and tradition of the brand.

Incorporating the Monadhliath Mountains, the hills surrounding the distillery, on the base of the new bespoke bottles and cartons across the core range captures the landscape that is intrinsic to the brand and the whisky. Ultimately, the new packaging now better reflects the product inside, the distillery in which it was made and the people it was made by.

Supporting the rebrand is The Tomatin Distillery Co Ltd’s new campaign, ‘Tomatin Life’, which is a celebration of their people, their place and their whisky. Launched online in November 2015 and launching to the consumer at Edinburgh Waverley on the 16th December, Tomatin wishes to invite their customers to appreciate the tradition, passion and personality behind the bottle and learn more about the traditional lifestyle of distillery workers and whisky craftsmen in their quiet corner in the heart of the Highlands.

Notes:

 See www.tomatin.com or contact Jennifer@tomatin.com for more information

 For more information on the Tomatin Life campaign contact gaynor@genoablack.com

 The new core range packaging has been revealed in December 2015 and will be rolled out worldwide in March 2016.

 Designed by Pocket Rocket Creative Ltd, based in Stirling – Central Scotland – established in 2007 and operates with 5 staff, 3 of whom are Directors (Gary Dawson, Gary Doherty, Del Sneddon)

 Icons of Whisky Awards press release available to download here

Announcing our favourite whiskies of 2015. We’re very proud of our 40 year old and reviews confirm it’s a wee beauty. Ditto the exclusive and rare Single Cask Old Pulteney. The Royal Brackla surprised a lot of us – is it really ‘only’ 16 years old and 40% abv? Then there was the return of the wonderful Flaming Heart (better than the ‘This Is Not A Luxury Whisky’ in our humble opinion). Glendronach Peated and the limited release cask strength Arran ‘The Bothy’ are both deliciously rewarding malts that really show how good reasonably priced NAS whiskies can actually be. What were your favourite drams this year? Let us know by tweeting #RMWBestDram

OLD PULTENEY 1997 Single Cask £99.95

RMW 40 Year Old Blended Malt £199.95

FLAMING HEART 15th Anniversary £99.95

GLENDRONACH Peated £37.95

ARRAN The Bothy £54.95

ROYAL BRACKLA 16 Year Old £69.95

ROYAL MILE WHISKIES

379 High Street The Royal Mile EDINBURGH EH1 1PW

Tel: 0131 225 3383

There is no time of year as convivial as the festive season. And of course, nothing breeds conviviality quite like a great drink, well prepared. So this year, why not use your whisky creatively to give your guests a taste they’ll remember?

We believe there is nothing quite like a refreshing Grapefruit Mamie Taylor to start things off. Simply pour 10ml of grapefruit juice into a glass filled with ice and add 50ml Great King Street Glasgow Blend. Top with 100ml good quality, spicy ginger beer then stir briefly and garnish with a zest of lime. Sharp, smoky, fresh – a memorable twist on an old classic. After dinner, The Peat Monster will pair perfectly with cheese in place of wine or port – the higher alcohol of the whisky cuts through the fat content of the cheese, while the smoky character provides a beautiful foil to all rich flavours. And nothing works better served alongside warm spiced puddings than the intense, clove-like character of The Spice Tree.

Last order dates for Christmas

We hope you have a friendly local whisky retailer who can take care of all your Compass Box needs. However, if you don’t, please pop in to our UK online shop – fulfilled by our friends at Speciality Drinks.  Order deadlines for delivery before Christmas are as follows: USA: 16th December 9.00 am (EST) Europe: 16th December 2.00 pm (GMT) UK: 18th December 2pm (GMT) For most other countries, the deadline for guaranteed delivery is 11th December.

Time for something new! Time for something old!

Before we give you a few gentle clues about the next few months we should update you all on the releases of small batch and authentic collection malts.

We have taken delivery of a few more cases of the amazing Caol Ila 20 a nice full replenishment of the Glen Grant 20 year old also back in stock along with many others via the web shop and in store. Below you will find some of our top tasting whiskies we think you should consider.

We have a number of Small batch malts in back up stocks though this range is greatly depleted in some areas we will do our best to get the odd bottles in stock over the next week or two and with time add them to the web shop assuming they don’t sell out as soon as they arrive.

LONDON Christmas & New Year Opening Times 2015:

DECEMBER 2015
Saturday 19th 10:30AM to 6:00PM
Sunday 20th Closed
Monday 21st to Wednesday 23rd 10:00AM to 6:30PM
Thursday 24th 10:00AM to 3:30PM
Friday 25th to Monday 28th Closed
Tuesday 29th 11:00AM to 6:00PM
Wednesday 30th 10:30AM to 6:30PM
Thursday 31st 10:30AM to 4:00PM

JANUARY 2016
Friday 1st Closed
Saturday 2nd 11:00AM to 6:00PM
Normal hours resume from Monday January 4th

LOOKING BACK AND FORWARD

So what a year that was for Cadenhead’s & Springbank products with some ranges selling out in a matter of hours such as the last release of Authentic single casks, I can’t recall a time when every single bottle from a release was sold with-in 1 hour. We thought the last release would take us nicely to mid December!

Thankfully we managed to get a few cases from other releases to fill the shelves otherwise it would have been a rather ordinary looking whisky shop when people visited the London store. (More than enough stores selling the same products in this city we did not want to be one of them)

2016 is the lead in year to mark Cadenhead 175th anniversary and of course our own 21st birthday in London. Not that many single malt whisky specialists can say they are still run by the same owners in a city like London.

So with such a special year ahead what will we be doing? Quite a lot as it happens starting off with a new range named after the founder of the company William Cadenhead.

First off the block will be a new 12 year old cask matured sherrywood 46%vol then a rather big peaty Islay single malt for all those who love a big peat beast then this one aged to 7 years old bottled at full cask strength of 59.1% is for you.

Next we head off to Ireland for a new 13 year old smooth Irish at 46% this one is rather special so grab one if smooth and sweet is you’re thing.

The new range will be a mix of blended malts and unspecified single malts, each bottle will carry a picture of the founder himself on the label.

Next up some general news on the 12th small batch release due again early in the new year. 10 – 12 new products start us off in this now iconic range, ages will range from 10 to 37 year olds with regions like islay and the islands featuring alongside some amazing Speysiders and highlands. Three of the new single malts will be in the single cask gold range. I am sure I will be able to predict one of them will fly off the shelves given its great age and coming from one of the islands?

I am not going to go on and on about the new range just yet…that will be in the next newsletter.

BENRIACH 1986 29y/o 50.1%-70cl Small Batch
A stunningly smooth malt that one should never share.

GLEN SPEY-GLENLIVET DISTILLERY 1995 19Y/O 58.5% 70cl Small Batch
A classic rich Speysider malt that goes on and on.

CRAGGANMORE 1993 22Y/O 56.3%-70CL Small Batch
One of the best I have ever tasted

TOBERMORY Distillery 1994 20y/o 57.8% 70cl – Sherrywood
This is a real gem of a whisky that changes constantly in the glass. (One of the top rated in the tasting room)

CAOL ILA Distillery 1995 20y/o 57.7% 70cl
Another fantastic Islay that will be a much treasured dram in the
future

FETTERCAIRN Distillery 1993 22y/o 53.7% – 70cl Sherry since May 2008
Simply elegant and smooth

BEN NEVIS Distillery 1998 16y/o 51.2% 70cl
Refreshing fruity west highland malt that is second to none

STRATHMILL 19Y/O 55.1% – 70cl Chateau Lafitte cask since 2009
Smooth creamy with lot of rich tones inc orange notes

SPEYSIDE distillery 24Y/O 53.3% – 70cl
This little distillery makes a huge rich malt at any age. Well worth a place in anyone’s collection. Elegance in a bottle

CAOL ILA 31 year old Islay London Special Edition 1984 70cl/ 54.3%
And finally one last champion whisky that will sell out very soon the last few Caol Ila 31 London special 2015. A rich smoke and peat with a lot of rich cream and vanilla notes can be found in this amazing Islay Single cask.  Dare I say the best vintage islay we have had for 2015. Bottled at 10:30am May 5th exactly 20 years to the day and the hour we opened the first Cadenhead’s shop outside Scotland.  When the London store opened a few of us thought would it work without selling wines and other spirits after all thats what everyone else did. No need to worry about being like everyone else doing what we do best has worked just fine.

Springbank will have a few new products in January early February 2016 again more about them soon, the big clues to what is coming are the clocks on the newsletters recently “all about turning back time”  As i am working on this newsletter the Springbank 15 bottled in October 2015 has sold out from the bonds. Another batch was bottled in October, the new batch is still 100% sherrywood but this time it has a more gold Amber colour than the dark offering back in August, the taste is all you would want and rightly expect with a little more smoke coming through in the October offering just a subtle amount though.

If you want the August bottling you can add a comment to the order or ask us over the phone to check if we still have the August stocks.

THE TASTING ROOM

Over 6024 people have attended the tasting room this year or will have done by December 30th, not to mention the several thousand we have seen during outside events, we added extra nights and employed a new team member to cope with demand, I doubt we can fit many more in next year indeed I know we cannot at this stage anyway.

To allow those with vouchers purchased last Christmas time to book in we are extending the redemption period until Thursday 31st of March 2016. So long as you call us before the extended date we can book you in with the voucher codes that will expire very soon.

I have been asked to run Rum tastings over the last year, due to so many advanced bookings we had trouble setting them up until now. Check the web site for the first Friday Night Rum session on Friday 1st of April 2016, we also have Irish Vs Scottish week with 2 evening sessions on March 15th & 17th again more info will be added to the web site soon alongside the dates already listed.

You can use the Trip Around Scotland vouchers for the new tastings listed on the web site now and any future additions to the events.

A limited Tasting Room Event: PERSONAL BLENDING NIGHT

The latest event that is very different has been added to the home page of the web site.

Friday 5th February 2015 starts at 6:15PM finishing by 8:00PM

 You will taste 6 single malts (Think of this as speed dating for whisky). You will then choose 3 from the 6 to add to a base whisky for the blend.  We will supply you with a selection of wood styles and regions to taste, a short informative talk about the wood styles and flavour notes to look out for when making the final choice for blending.

You will have a hydrometer to measure the ABV (% VOL) of your personal blend. We will have a note sheet so you can keep track of the tastes you discover during the tasting helping you record of how you have made the choices for your personal blend.  After you taste the blend corking will take place along with filling out a Chiltern street personal label. You will also have a signed certificate after completing the tasting. Light snacks are provided during this tasting nothing too heavy to keep your palate clear.  If you purchase this session on-line we will send you a confirmation email with a PDF voucher to the email address associated with the order. We can also send a voucher if purchased over the phone, email us with the unique code we will give you after purchasing via phone.
6 Spaces are sold on-line 4 spaces over the phone by calling 0207 935 6999 between 10:30AM and 6:00PM Monday to Saturday.  This session cannot be moved to another date only 10 spaces available. Now I have to do the boring bit! Due to heavy demand for the tasting room events its becoming difficult to keep moving people to another date. When booking we strongly advise you to be 100% sure you can attend the tasting.  We do allow people to move but sometimes we have groups or individuals seek to change several times, it’s unworkable and not very fair when we have turned people away only to have a last minute cancellation. We will only move people or groups once with the full notice given as per T&C’s when booking or purchasing vouchers on-line.

CADENHEADS WHISKY CLUB MEMBERSHIP

If you are new to this newsletter you will have missed the information about the Cadenhead’s whisky club. The club is for those who purchase our amazing single cask malts on a regular basis, if you buy 6 or more bottles per year then this is a great way to add to your collection.

When you join the club you will be eligible to receive special bottling’s that will not be released in the shops, the bottles are so exclusive I never get to see them until they arrive for customer collection. Every Time you purchase a bottle from the Cadenhead’s range we will stamp a card one stamp for every bottle you buy.

You will receive a welcome pack when you join in archive tasting notes and a leather wallet with the club logo, the cost for membership £50 for the first year then £30 renewal fee if you would like me to forward your contact details to head office to get more information email me at steve@whiskytastingroom.com or info@whiskytastingroom.com

BREAKING NEWS

Some breaking news arrived late tonight 4/12/15 via The Whisky Magazine…

Cadenhead’s whisky shops have won the best multiple retailer of the year award for 2016 this is once again an honor to first be nominated then to win again in 2016.

A huge thanks to Whisky Magazine and the award sponsors Loch ness water. Our biggest thanks must go to the 1000’s of customers who have found us through word of mouth then taken the time to visit our shops in the UK and Europe, subscribed to our newsletters and reviewed our products (both good and bad).

I would also like to thank the tireless work from our suppliers who constantly keep me up to date with new products for our London store especially Gordon & Macphail, Tomintoul & Glencadam distilleries, Maxxium UK, Marussia beverages, J & B (DIAGEO).

Our own teams at Springbank (J&A Mittchell) and Wm Cadenhead for the fantastic ranges they provide to us for our customers and Distil This our web shop developers who are now working on the new we site after all my interference they just keep going.

 Above all thank you for making 2015 the best year ever for the company, you guide us we try to deliver.

Have a great Christmas and a very happy and prosperous new year 2016

All the best from the team in London

Stephen W