NEW ARRIVALS

Scotland – Single Malt Scotch

• Highland Park 13 Year Old Alexander Murray Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 4 available ($89.99)

United States – Bourbon and Rye

• Low Gap 2 Year Old Rye Whiskey 750ml – 10 available ($64.99)

• Stranahan’s Diamond Peak Colorado Whiskey 750ml ($74.99)

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

This week Joe Ellis reviews Overeem Sherry Cask Matured Cask Strength.

https://youtu.be/TK23O71JVdE

http://Twitter.com/whiskytube

https://www.facebook.com/whiskytube

www.ralfy.com goes over slow-tasting of standard blended scotches with Whisky Review 536 – Scottish Leader blended scotch.

As an ex-farmer, this time of year is always full of promise. Most of the crops are sown and starting to grow nicely now, the weather is dry and warm enough for garden furniture to start being used again and of course the lawn mower is serviced and back in gainful employment.

Our barley is growing nicely on a family farm near Lincoln, each year this provides a good portion of our barley needs, it is a real treat to be able to have barley grown by Nelstrop’s, harvested by Nelstrop’s, milled, distilled, matured and finally bottled by Nelstrop’s. This really is field to glass production; I have an inkling we may be the only whisky distillery that can and does do this.

We have lots of news from the distillery – so in no particular order…

The distillery has been privileged to have been used as a polling station for the General Election. What was billed as the most exciting election campaign for a generation had in my humble opinion become a little stale but I am sure you all still had a favourite to put a tick against – no one saw that result in their crystal ball – well done the blues and to our northern cousins, commiserations to the others. My sincere apologies to all of you who didn’t have free whisky at your own polling stations to assist in the voting procedure.

I would like to welcome two new members of staff. Peggy & Joyce have joined the team as new tour guides, hopefully you will enjoy their company for an hour when you come and do a tour. We are also thinking of taking on a boy/girl Friday to help with the telephones, web orders and in the shop generally, so if anyone knows of someone locally who is incredibly cheerful, willing to work hard and willing to learn – tell them to send a short resume in to us.

Some of you now have a Founders Private Cellar – The Last Signature in your possession. You also have to make a decision whether to open one of the bottles or keep it intact. We may have a solution for you. One of our lovely customers would like to buy a case and open it for a tasting session and would like to invite 18-20 of you to join him at the distillery to sample your wares. A charge of £35 would be all that was needed. We will also find some other yummy whiskies to make it a great event. Do ring Sarah and let her know if you are interested.

Our distillers are of course busy making new whisky to be laid down for their big sleep and busy choosing whisky to be bottled. This spring we have bottled a new Chapter 13 (the one with the big red letter box on the label) which has been very popular. By demand from you all a new batch of Chapter 7 (matured in a rum cask) is being bottled as we speak, this will be a tiny bottling as only one cask was available, so if you are a fan of 7 be quick. For the single cask fanatics amongst you, we very quietly released a new Founders last week; this is a single malt matured in a Sassicaia cask – pretty special and very rare.

It will be father’s day in a couple of weeks and this has always been lively time for whisky sales. A very firm favourite has been the Personalised Label, which for only an extra £5 makes for a great gift. Can I ask those of you who intend to go down this route to do it now rather than on the 5th June! Our lovely Sarah does all the labels and whilst we all know she is superhuman, she does need to sleep just occasionally. We will also give free postage on any order containing a 70cl bottle of English Whisky between 1st June and 21st June.

Hopefully you will be aware that our membership is now up and running. The Fellowship has proved to be a great hit, so if you have someone you are struggling to by a pressie for – this maybe the answer.

Some minor changes to the coffee shop… all of us smile and look far more cheerful in shop area, apparently someone was spotted being less than cheerful (this may have been me, which is why they tend to keep me locked in an office!) our cakes, which are made by Judy’s daughter in the neighbouring village, have had their time on display halved – so are incredibly fresh and I have re-introduced some local wines (by the bottle) from our great friends up the road at Humbleyard Winery. A bottle of wine and a slice of cake on the lawn is a lovely way to spend half an hour.

Coming up soon:

May 27th-28th:

Suffolk Show

We will be at the Suffolk Show, come and find us in the Food Hall – this year the stall will have Sarah, Paul & Tina pouring you drinks making sure you are suitably refreshed to carry on around the show.

June 13th:

Whisky Lounge Bristol

A bit further from home, English Whisky is going to Bristol for the first time, we will have a stand as the Whisky Lounge event. Click to find out more.

June 24-25th:

Lincoln County Show

A firm favourite and as usual we will be in the food court. A lovely show and worth a visit if you haven’t been before.

July 1st-2nd:

Royal Norfolk Show

We will be in the main food hall and as we never seem to have the same stand at this show you will have to walk the aisles exploring all the wonderful offerings and feasting on freebies in order to find us – such a hard life!

Kind Regards,

ANDREW NELSTROP

Managing Director
English Whisky Co. Ltd
St George’s Distillery
Harling Road
Roudham
Norfolk
NR16 2QW

Liz and Paul of MCLEANSCOTLAND attend the 2015 Speyside whisky festival (Spirit of Speyside).

As guests of The Glenlivet, we did enjoy our wee outing. It made a nice change from taking our guests to Glenlivet (Strathisla and Aberlour) to being taken there ourselves!  We had our very own guide/hosts in Rachel MacDonald and James Collins, Ambassadors. FRIDAY 1 MAY  We took the early (and I mean early! 6am) morning train to Aberdeen and then Elgin, where we met up with Rachel and James – our driver/hosts. We four set out from Elgin to The Glenlivet Distillery to partake and enjoy the Dram Room Specials – a tasting from the Glenlivet range; a handpicked selection of some of the best limited edition whiskies, mostly single casks. The whiskies where sampled in the Malt Loft. They included 3 cask strength, a single cask expressions of The Glenlivet – Valiant, Uisge Beatha and Auchbreck bottled exclusively for the Festival. In addition we tasted the 1983 Cellar Collection, vatted from a limited selection of casks and finished for its last couple of years of maturation in French Limousin oak casks before bottled in 2003 – this is one of very few remaining bottles of this outstanding dram and we both scooped it doon, beautiful. The final cask strength dram was the exclusive 18 year old Glenlivet.  We sat down and chilled for a wee time and enjoyed some lunch.

Lunch was followed by a session with an old friend, Charlie Maclean (Patron of our whisky club don’t you know), who gave an entertaining account of the visit to Edinburgh in 1822 by King George IV and how this led to the single malt that started it all. This visit by King George IV, orchestrated by Sir Walter Scott, was the first visit to Scotland by any monarch for over 180 years (even a German one sitting on a sassunach throne). When the said King asked for Glenlivet malt whisky by name this led to a change in the law which laid the foundations of today’s Scotch whisky industry. George Smith of Glen Livet was the enterprising illicit distiller who spotted the opportunity presented by the Excise Act 1823 and went on to establish his original Glenlivet Distillery at Upper Drumin. We also enjoyed a selection of special drams, some rare and drawn again from single casks. Charlie’s interest in Scotch whisky was originally stimulated by visits as a teenager to The Glenlivet Distillery and the surrounding area. The Glenlivet was the single malt that instigated his enthusiasm. At the end, Charlie gave us a personally signed copy of his book “Whiskypedia” which we had signed for a future guest of ours (we both have his book), so two of our guests – we know who they are – will find the books in their welcome packs.  We rounded off a superb day of whisky experiences with a whisky dinner at Strathisla distillery, did we have another dram? Does a horse have four legs???

SATURDAY 2 MAY  Open day! Whisky, music, fun and entertainment in the Malt Barn at Glenlivet Distillery, an exhibition area focussing on local food and drink producers as well as artists and crafts businesses. The Sma’ Still ran both morning and afternoon (I had experienced this ages ago – Paul) when at the 3 day whisky school, there was barrel making demonstrations and a range of competitions to try, we were hopeless. Musical performances throughout the day.  OUR DAY started with an exclusive chat with Alan Winchester – The Glenlivet Master Distiller, answering questions and served more delicious drams of the single malt. This year Alan celebrate’s 40 years making whisky. Rare and special drams of The Glenlivet aged 25, 30 and 40 years old were served during this event, just in case we hadnee tried them previously. Slightly smiling and giggling in a glorious Glenlivet haze, we dropped down for some lunch, many thanks to The Glenlivet team for our lunches by the way.  Some music, aye – more drams and then a private chat with Ian Logan upstairs in the Library, Liz and myself are both Guardians. The Glenlivet Distillery, now one of the largest in Scotland. The Library at The Glenlivet Distillery is exclusively reserved for groups of up to five Guardians at a time – we were welcomed by Ian Logan, International Brand Ambassador and the ultimate Guardian of The Glenlivet to share special drams including some rare specials up to 40 years old.

We were driven back to the hotel, tired oot, drammed out (maybe), but looking for some food to soak up all those drams.  We felt as if we had each drank at least 3 bottles worth over the two days!  Ooo it’s hard being a whisky tour operator. We just put it down to “research & development”, someone has to do it, we do this for the good of all our future whisky tour guests, so we have the knowledge (and the drams) to trust us with your whisky tour. Amen to that.

MCLEANSCOTLAND – your spiritual advisors.

I do have to say, we did also enjoy meeting friends old and new from Speyside whisky world, but as we were guests of The Glenlivet, it’s unfair to add other drams, names and celebrities into this story. Paul McLean.

NEW ARRIVALS

Scotland – Single Malt Scotch

• 2003 Auchroisk 11 Year Old “Exclusive Malts” Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 6 available ($99.99)

• 1983 Caol Ila 30 Year Old Signatory Single Barrel Cask Strength Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 3 available ($349.99)

• 1996 Caol Ila Samaroli Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 6 available ($249.99)

• 1992 Glen Scotia Samaroli Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 6 available ($249.99)

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

BACK IN STOCK

Scotland – Single Malt Scotch

• Aberlour 12 Year Old Non Chillfiltered Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($49.99)

• 1994 Glen Garioch Single Vintage Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 5 available ($119.99)

• Glenfiddich 15 year Single Malt Whisky 750ml ($42.99) 95 points Wine Enthusiast: “Look for rich, rounded flavors with lots of honey, vanilla and baking spice notes. The palate is creamy, with a mouth-filling texture and smoky finish. ” (12/2013) Wine Spectator: “A deceptive delight that starts sweet with honey, leather and orange peel on the nose, then turns to spice on the palate. After a spot of honey on the tongue tip, the spices come on in earnest, with cinnamon and ginger. Leaves a long, spicy finish. Three types of cask: Sherry, Bourbon and new oak.” (02/2011) K&L Notes: Awarded Double Gold Medal at the 2013 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

• Scapa 16 year old “The Orcadian” Isle of Orkney Single Malt Whisky 750ml – 10 available ($69.99)

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

Whisky Ramblings Via Video #109

Mark Dermul, Belgian Whiskyblogger, tries a wine-finished GlenDronach. Since Billy Walker and his team took over the GlenDronach Distillery in 2008, it has truly been put back on the map. Walker and his team are well-known for experimenting with different types of casks, and the whisky Mark tried today fits that bill perfectly: the GlenDronach 14 Year Old Sauternes Finish. It is sweet and creamy, with the wine putting its stamp on the spirit, but in this case it worked wonderfully.

http://youtu.be/3B1SxBa7Kyk

“There is no bad whiskey. There are only some whiskeys that aren’t as good as others.”

Raymond Chandler, Novelist and Screenwriter

Whisky Ramblings Via Video #110

Mark Dermul, Belgian Whiskyblogger, tries a BenRiach, selected as festival bottling in Belgium. Every whisky festival in Belgium offers a specially selected whisky as their festival bottling, after all. For the 10^th Anniversary of Whisky Live Belgium (in Spa in 2013), a single cask of BenRiach 1996 was bottled. It is a bit atypical as it was a virgin oak hogshead, meaning less fruit, but all the more spices. But what a damn good whisky indeed.

http://youtu.be/7k9925MaNZ8