LUSH CASKS NEW ONLINE

With the recent run of rain and sun, every green space has exploded into a leafy, flowery, tendrilled bounty, bursting with wildlife. And who are we to impose order? Instead, we’ve decided to join in and let the whisky run colourful riot. Peeping out from a shady hedgerow, we’ve spotted a couple of sweet little fledglings: G5.9 Coffee in a patisserie and G5.10 Sugar and spice and all things nice have fluttered briefly into our venues but never flown as far as the website before. August’s two most popular drams ran out in days but despite the harsh pruning a few more bottles are pushing out green shoots of Fruitilicious fun. Enjoy them in a bower, field or terrace but don’t lounge too long or they’ll hop off into the sunset, never to be seen again…

TOP AUGUST GROWERS

No. 1: Oily & Coastal

66.67 An apothecary on a motorcycle  Just back after a fast sell-out! £46.10

No. 2: Lightly peated

93.64 Holidays at the beach £59.60

No. 3: Spicy & sweet

36.88 Fruitilicious!  Just back after a fast sell-out! £49.20

No. 4: Oily & Coastal

4.209 The Cinderella cottage £76.00

No. 5: Peated

3.244 Film noir £72.90

NEW ONLINE FLEDGLINGS

Sweet, fruity & mellow

G5.9 Coffee in a patisserie £67.50

Spicy & sweet

G5.10 Sugar and spice and all things nice £67.50

Browse New Outturn >
Browse All Bottlings >

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

www.ralfy.com visits the Mill on the River Bush in Northern Ireland with Whisky Review 549 – Bushmills 10yo Irish Whiskey

men of Knock

Any single malt Scotch whisky can only be as good as the people who shape it. The Men of Knock, as our team came to be known, are a vital part of anCnoc’s success story. Their dedication to remarkable craftsmanship is second to none.

In our latest blog we’d like to introduce you to Ian Dingwall who started working at Knockdhu in December 1991. Find out more about how he mastered the distilling craft, the most difficult lessons he’s learned as a whisky-maker and what he really thinks is the best part of working in a Scotch whisky distillery.

Read our interview with Ian Dingwell, one of our renowned ‘Men of Knock’

Mortlach  18 year old
Was £180
Now £148

Formerly one of the less well-known gems of Speyside, coveted by those in the know, Mortlach’s light is now being firmly pushed from under its bushel with a luxurious new range of single malts. Now only £148

Royal Salute 21 year old
Was £150
Now £94

Originally created  by the Chivas master blender as a salute to Queen Elizabeth II on her coronation in 1953, a blend of whiskies no younger than 21 years old. Now only £94

Speyside  47 year old
Was £555
Now £295

This Old and Rare Platinum expression is one of only 204 bottles drawn from a Sherry Cask – Distilled June 1966 and bottled in November 2013. Bottled at a cask strength of 48.5% volume. Now only £295

Written by Senior Brand Ambassador, Edrington. Martin Markvardsen. 

On the 2nd of July the Finnish Viking Raid came to Orkney. For over a year, a cooperation between The Finnish Whisky Association, the founder of the Finnish whisky Fair ” Uisge” (Mika Jansson), Paul McLean of mcleanscotland whisky tours and Edrington Finland, came together. Senior Brand Ambassador Martin Markvardsen welcomed them as arrived by coach on Orkney.  ” This trip for the Finnish whisky fans has been on it’s way for a long time. For the last couple of years Mika Jannson and I have talk about this. Highland Park is one one the favourite malts in Finland and every time I’m in Finland to do maste classes it’s always the first to be sold out”, tells Martin Markvardsen.

The group was welcomed at Highland Park Distillery by Patricia Retson, myself (Martin Markvardsen) and tour guide Martin Gray. They had  a fantastic tour around the distillery before the two Martins took them on a special tour round Orkney taking in Hobbister, Cliffs of Yesnaby and Skara Brae.  Martin Gray, gave the group the best insight of history and tales about Orkney whist acting as tour guide for the mcleanscotland group. A tasting was done in the cask room at the distillery, where the Finnish group also had a special guest with them; Jani Bergström a guitar builder and a true Highland Park fan. Graham Manson Highland Park Distillery Manager and Patricia were there when he handed over a new Valhalla banjolin…. LOKI .

It has been hard work especially from Edrington Finland to keep the interest for Highland Park growing. There will be a lot of special tastings in the future in Finland, and Highland Park will for be present at the next whisky fair in Helsinki, Finland.

Paul Mclean of MCLEAN SCOTLAND (working with Mika and Martin), arranged the distillery tour (the coach tour sold out in 60 seconds) and was really pleased at the result. Paul also invited Martin to be guest for dinner the previous evening, where they all shared a few good drams!  All in all, this trip went – as usual – very well.

In their own words – George Grant, Director of Sales, Glenfarclas

Glenfarclas is a rare example of a Scottish distillery that is still in independent hands. I sat down with director of sales, George Grant, as the distillery celebrated 150 years of Grant family ownership.

George Grant in a typically shy and retiring pose for a Dutch advert

‘The big advantage to being family owned is that you have one person to ask the questions to and you can get an answer immediately. The negatives are you don’t have that team behind you, or that massive marketing budget.’

‘Being traditional leads to more innovation, we look at things on a longer-term basis, we’re very anti-finishing, but we still use other casks: port, Cognac, fino – there’s lots of different things we have done, and we’re still doing. We’ve just filled lots more quarter casks for the future. It is very long term.’

‘If we run out of one our age-statement bottlings, we pull it from the market until stocks get old enough again. There’s a lot of NAS whisky out there, but we would rather keep an age on the bottle.’

‘I drink beer during long tastings in Germany. People laugh at me, but I tell them if I drank the 12 whiskies I wouldn’t be able to stand and keep talking!’

‘The best thing about being a whisky drinker is you know what you’re going to get for birthdays, Christmas and Father’s Day.’

‘The non-Glenfarclas whisky I drink the most of is Johnnie Walker Black Label. It’s everywhere and you know exactly what you’re getting.’

‘Maltings are a bit like restaurants. If you ask for a medium steak and it arrives well done, you send it back. If you burn your steak at home, you just eat it. It’s best to use barley from someone who malts full time!’

‘If we need space, we just build another building. You have to consult any neighbours within a couple of miles, but we own all the buildings for three-and-a-half miles in all directions.’

‘The slowdown in blended whisky sales means some distilleries are down to five-day working (a reduction of 20% in production), which will have a big effect in output in the next 10-20 years.’

‘Germany is our biggest market and I enjoy going there to talk about whisky. You do a tasting in the UK, you have an hour; it’s 30 minutes in the USA. You do it in Germany and they expect a five-hour tasting! It’s very rewarding as they’ll all end up buying a bottle and they have so many questions, the audience really get involved.’

‘People are realising there’s an awful lot of good whisky out there that is 10, 15 or 20 years old. For a long time, people thought: “older, older, older” and we’ve had a generation that haven’t fully appreciated younger whiskies. I think people are going back to basics.’

‘The new 40 Year Old will be very limited. I wanted to do it at 46%, but sadly the cask strength was lower than that, so we’ll have to release it at 43%. There was no conspiracy to lower the strength.’

‘If we had an offer to sell, we wouldn’t. If you were losing money, you’d just stop producing to reduce costs and sell the 60 years’ worth of stock.’

Balvenie Tun 1509 Batch 1

This is the first ever batch of the Balvenie Tun 1509 single malt Scotch whisky, created by carefully hand selecting 42 of the finest casks – 35 traditional American oak barrels and seven European oak sherry butts – from the distillery’s precious aged stocks. Bottled at 47.1% volume.  We are down to our last few bottles – dont miss out on your last chance to buy this highly collectable whisky!

Only £250

LAPHROAIG 15 YEAR OLD 200TH ANNIVERSARY BOTTLING

This release celebrates the 200th anniversary of Laphroaig, this special limited edition bottling pays tribute to the original 15 year old, which to this day is one of Laphroaig Distillery Manager, John Campbell’s favourite ever expressions.

Only £75

Scotland – Single Malt Scotch

• Balvenie Tun 1401 Batch #9 Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 3 available ($999.99)

• Bowmore 22 Year Old Seagull Ceramic Bottle Islay Single Malt Scotch – 1 available ($999.99)

• 1981 Brora 19 Year Old Malt Cask Sherry Cask Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 1 available ($1,299.99)

• 1965 Macallan 17 Year Old Sherry Matured Single Highland Malt Scotch Whiskey 750ml – 1 available ($1,999.99)

• 1980 Macallan 18 year old Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 1 available ($999.99)

• 1979 Macallan Gran Reserva 18 Year Old Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky 750ml (Elsewhere $3000) – 2 available ($2,499.99)

• 1982 Macallan Gran Reserva Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky 750ml – 2 available ($1,999.99)

• 1966 Springbank 30 year Local Barley Bourbon Barrel #470 Single Malt 750ml – 1 available ($2,999.99)

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

Aberlour, Chivas & Glenlivet Whisky Tasting 20th August

Price: £20.00 Date:  Thursday 20th August 2015 Time: 7:00PM Location: N&P Cellars

Book Tickets Online

Phil Huckle, ambassador from Pernod Ricard is coming to the store’s cellars on Thursday 20th August to present an evening of Scotch whisky! Expect medal winning drams from Aberlour, Chivas and the Glenlivet distilleries, including A Bunadh, Royal Salute, The Glenlivet 15 year old French Oak…and more! Plenty of fun to be had at this one!

For further info, email David Gardener or phone him on 01384 394518. Starts 7:00 pm

1996 Tobermory 18 Year Old K&L Exclusive Old Particular (Douglas Laing) Single Barrel Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($109.99)

Tobermory is kind of hot right now. While this distillery is often listed as a highlander, it is actually from the majestic and mystical Isle of Mull. There the picturesque hamlet of Tobermory, contains one of the Scotland’s most underappreciated malt producers. Their current flagship 15 year old is now on the market for a staggering $150 a bottle and while it’s a fine malt, we’ve always found it to be slightly over priced. Now this wonderful 18 year old expression from a refill sherry butt, makes a mature version of this fun distillery available to all. Tobermory has a unique character and this expression is no different. The nose is creamy oak and rich vanilla – the sherry notes are very faint – it’s a contemplative malt for sure. When it hits the palate a wonderful herbal rush powers out the sweet oak aromas, this is followed by a strong pepper and then the tiny hint of nutty sherry. On the end a briny note builds, giving depth, but also keeping it lively. The aromas in the glass after that last sip are almost as impressive as the whisky itself. A fun, if not quite different malt, that should definitely be a benchmark for the unusual and interesting distillery.

Olivia Ragni | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: March 27, 2015
This K&L exclusive bottling comes from Tobermory’s unpeated stocks but still shows earthy and savory characteristics. A nose of toffee, salt and nuts combine with a palate of malt, sea salt and herbs makes for one of my favorite whiskies of the year!

David Othenin-Girard | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: March 25, 2015
BOOOOOOOOOM! This is definitely my favorite Tobermory to date. This fun and funky little distillery from the gorgeous Isle of Mull, is considered very high quality. That said, the distillery offering, their 15-year-old, sells at close to $140. This is several years older and from one single cask, but also has even more character than the standard offering. Perhaps it’s the fact the half the time the little distillery on Mull is devoted to creating peated whisky, but this definitely has a phenolic background note which makes it very intriguing at first glance. While the distillery is officially in the highlands, this bottling is the epitome of an “Island” whisky. It has a certain sense of place that is just unexplainable. Fruit, salt, malt, and the tiniest hint of smoke – pure joy! The finish has this fabulous earthy gravel note that slowly merges into a dark fudge quality. Probably the most unexpected of this years offerings and the obvious contender for sleeper hit of the year.

Jeffrey Jones | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: March 07, 2015
This is one of the best 18 year old single malts in the store right now. It is a pleasure to drink, offering soft malt flavors with a hint of saltiness. A complex and long finish completes the picture.

David Driscoll | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: March 03, 2015
I was on the fence with this cask when we tasted it in Scotland, but now that it’s here and I’ve gone back to it, I’m not sure what I was originally thinking. It’s awesome whisky; lots of oak spice and sweet vanilla with malty grains and nice texture.

Gary Westby | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: February 20, 2015
After 20 years in the booze business, our spirits team can still surprise me! This 18 year old Tobermory is unlike any other single malt that I have had. The nose is so expressive and sweet, with exotic Chinese herbs along with classic malty aromas. In the mouth the whisky is round and plump, clearly mature but without obvious wood flavors. The best thing about this Old Particular bottling is the finish- it is a real peacocks tail, it swells up and goes on for as long as you care to pay attention. Top notch!!