A new blog post about Isle of Harris Distillery may be viewed HERE

Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold – Life in the freezer

I love it when people send me whisky, and a nice drop of Dalwhinnie? Great.

Winter’s Gold is the latest in Diageo’s No Age Statement versions of core Classic Malts, following on from the likes of Talisker Skye and Oban Little Bay. Reading between the lines of marketing hyperbole, Diageo, along with nearly every brand owner, is struggling with stock levels and these new lines help protect the existing product range, rather than replace them. It seems a small price to pay, if we can keep the whiskies we already know and love.

Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold. In ice?

When I first read the press release that accompanied my sample, the thing that struck me was the suggested serve. ‘The suggested serve of Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold is frozen. Freezing the liquid transforms the texture of the liquid to create a syrupy mouthfeel.’

Reading this, you may well explode in a volley of curses aimed at anyone who has ever worked in marketing, but I was intrigued, as this approach mirrors closely what Rémy Martin did with their iconic VSOP when Rocky and I visited them in 2008: ‘Freezing the Rémy Martin VSOP enhances the aromatic smoothness of the Cognac, giving it an entirely different and very exciting profile…‘

Seven years ago I was rather underwhelmed, both with the concept and the Cognac. But being fair-minded, my sample of Winter’s Gold snuggled up to the leftover chicken curry, bottle of gin and bag of peas. I also decided to try it, as I would any other whisky, at room temperature.

Straight out of the freezer, does Winter’s Gold ‘amplify the rich, heather, honeyed flavours that the distillery is famed for‘? Sort of, but… In the glass it’s very syrupy; oozing rather than flowing. The nose is unsurprisingly quiet, crème brûlée and peaches, but really soft. The palate however is a bit more interesting. I’m getting plenty of creamy heather and honey, along with a bit of waxy, sappy oak and lemon, with just a hint on menthol at the finish.

So does frozen whisky make me rethink the habits of a lifetime? No. Is it an enjoyable way of drinking whisky? Yes, it’s OK. Like freezing grain whisky, it brings out the creaminess.

What if you treat it like any other malt and don’t put it in the freezer at all? At room temperature, the Dalwhinne looks, smells and tastes; like Dalwhinnie. The nose is light and nutty with a distinct nut-toffee edge and just a whiff of wood smoke. The palate is light, fresh and honeyed, with a nice cut of citrus running through. A good Dalwhinnie that would make a really good aperitif dram.

Why bother putting the bag of peas to so much trouble? Don’t worry about the frozen part. It’s a great expression of Dalwhinnie. If you like Dalwhinnie 15, you’ll like Winter’s Gold, too.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Dalwhinnie Winter’s Gold – Life in the freezer

This week Joe Ellis was selected to take part in the Littlemill Flash Blog event. Here he reviews the brand new official distillery release of Littlemill 25 Year Old Lowland Single Malt.

https://youtu.be/8bvTegoZqmE

To view other blogs please search #Littlemill on Twitter.

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CAOL ILA 2001 DISTILLERS EDITION, 43%

Each month, we choose a whisky and a spirit that we particularly like and knock a chunk off the price. We’re nice like that. October is no exception, and we’re delighted to be able to offer three cracking deals on a trio of great products: the whisky is a rich, smoky dram from Caol Ila

Let’s start with our Malt of the Month. Caol Ila is the largest distillery on Islay, and much of its 6 million litres of alcohol per year find their way into bottles of Johnnie Walker. But the distillery has also found fame as a single malt in its own right, and quite right, too.

The 2001 Distillers Edition was finished in sweet Moscatel wine casks, adding rich fruitiness and layers of spice; a fine counterpoint to Caol Ila’s smoky, citrusy tones. We’re knocking £14 off our normal price, making the whisky a very reasonable £49.95.

CAOL ILA 2001 DISTILLERS EDITION, 43%

Producer’s Tasting Notes

Nose: Wonderfully concentrated pure, clean Caol Ila – peaty and medicinal, with rich fruit, spicy and fragrant. With water, the fragrant smokiness comes singing through.

Palate: Sweetness and maltiness strike first, then are quickly overwhelmed by peat smoke and intense, clean, crisp flavours. Caol Ila’s signature smoky bonfires are here, and build to quite a size. Overall, drying, in a beautifully balanced, complex, elegant development, complemented with cinnamon spice.

Finish: Long, rounded, robust and multi-layered.

Scotland

2000 Aberlour 14 Year Old Cadenhead Single Malt Whisky 750ml  $89.99

1992 Bruichladdich 22 Year Old Cadenhead’s Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 750ml  $199.99

1996 Glen Keith 19 Year Old Exclusive Malts Single Cask Single Malt Whisky 750ml  $154.99

1988 Highland Park 26 Year Old Cadenhead’s Small Batch Cask Strength Collection Single Malt 750ml  $299.99

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

Aultmore 25 Year Old

1990 vintage sherry butt matured expression bottled July 2015 for our Burns Malt range. This one is selling fast! Aultmore 25 Year Old 1990 vintage Highland single malt Scotch whiskey. Single sherry butt #3241 bottled July 2015 for our exclusive Burns Malt® series.

Aultmore

Aultmore is a Scotch whisky distillery in Keith, Banffshire, producing an epinomous single malt whisky. Its name is a derived from the phrase An t-Allt Mòr, Gaelic for big burn, referring to its water source the Auchinderran burn. It was founded in 1895 by Alexander Edward.

Aultmore 1990 – $109.90

Midleton Dair Ghaelach – Irish Virgin Oak

Back in April, I wrote about Midleton Dair Ghaelach, a new Irish pot still whiskey finished in Irish virgin oak. That post concentrated more on the sourcing and treatment of the wood; this post is all about the whiskey, which has just arrived at TWE HQ.

Kevin O’Gorman and Billy Leighton

 Midleton’s master of maturation Kevin O’Gorman (left) shares a toast with master blender Billy Leighton

Dair Ghaelach (‘Irish oak’) is a blend of whiskeys aged between 15 and 22 years in refill bourbon casks, before a 10-month spell in Irish virgin oak. Midleton began experimenting with Irish oak several years ago, and were delighted with the results. They’re even trialling whiskey aged entirely in Irish oak. We’ll have to wait and see whether they come to fruition, but in the meantime, this is what we thought of Dair Ghaelach:

Midleton Dair Ghaelach

MIDLETON DAIR GHAELACH, 58.2%
Nose: Very rich, with enticing aromas of sultanas and raisins, crème brûlée, and Caramac bars. Tobacco and leather are in there, too, along with honeyed fruit.

Palate: Good weight, with generous helpings of dried fruit, cinnamon and nutmeg. More evolved flavours of leather and old bookshops appear, helped along by green fruits, toffee and vanilla. Full flavoured and complex.

Finish: Good level of spice – pepper, cinnamon, touch of waxy fruits.

Comment: There is a lot going on with this whiskey, but every element finds its own place. The sweet spice from the oak really shines through, but not so much that it takes over. Just a fine example of Irish pot still, with the classic notes of tropical fruit, green apple and spice.

The first batch of Midleton Dair Ghaelach is limited to 12,000 bottles, and is available from The Whisky Exchange priced at £166.

Originally published on The Whisky Exchange Blog – Midleton Dair Ghaelach – Irish Virgin Oak

www.ralfy.com grabs an age-stated bottle off the Supermarket shelf and shares the experience with Whisky Review #555 – Glenlivet 15yo French Oak Reserve

Bowmore 25 Year Old 1990 vintage Islay single malt Scotch whisky. Single refill boubon barrel #1163 bottled June 2015 for our exclusive Burns Malt® series.

Bowmore

Bowmore Distillery was established on the Isle of Islay off the west coast of Scotland by John Simpson in 1779. Situated in Bowmore by the shore of Loch Indaal it is the oldest working distillery on Islay and one of the oldest malt whisky distilleries in Scotland. Bowmore Distillery continues to produce a proportion of its malted barley on its own traditional malting floors and malt kilns. Visitors are welcomed in the Bowmore visitor centre where distillery tours are available in addition to Bowmore Distillery cottages to rent. Bowmore Distillery is a participant in Feis Isle, the Islay Festival of Malt and Music.

BUY $189.33

Laphroaig Live 2015 now ‘On Demand’ on YouTube. We had a record worldwide audience at our special 200th broadcast from the distillery so may I thank each and every one of you who tuned in on the night. But of course I realise that for many of you the time difference meant that you could not watch it live, so we have now put it on YouTube here so you can all enjoy it at your leisure! There were some great and funny moments in the show so it’s really worth a watch! I was so pleased that Sam Heughan came to be our special guest on this auspicious occasion. As you will see he thoroughly enjoyed himself on the night.

The Worldwide premiere of our special 200th Opinions Welcome film At the show we aired the latest film in our Opinions Welcome series. In our anniversary year we asked the locals at home on the Isle of Islay to share their candid opinions on what Laphroaig tastes like to them personally. We have now put this on You Tube as well. You can watch it here. I think it’s fantastic – and so do my friends on Islay, I hope you do too. Don’t forget to let us know your opinions at www.laphroaig.com/opinions

Our 200th special edition book. The last pages of the book have now been complete as they were the show itself. It has now gone off to the printers. We will start sending them out at the beginning of December well in time for Christmas. But you can pre order it now if you want to be certain to get a copy of this complete history of Laphroaig. You can order it HERE at your shop.

Our Worldwide Laphroaig toast. Many of you have written in to find out just how many people toasted with us on the night. Well the answer is over 31,500. Whether this makes the record books I do not know but it certainly was the biggest toast I have ever been involved in. So thank you to all who toasted along with me – slàinte!

Slàinte,

John Campbell Distillery Manager, Laphroaig