Finalists Shortlisted for the Whisky Awards 2015

Six malt whiskies from Speyside distilleries will go head-to-head for the honour of being recognised as one of the region’s top tipples. The finalists in the 2015 Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival Whisky Awards have been shortlisted by a panel of judges – but the whisky-loving public will be responsible for crowning the overall winners.

Festival visitors will be asked to vote for their favourite drams at a series of judging roadshows taking place during the annual five-day celebration of Scotland’s national drink from April 30 to May 4.

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival Whisky Awards remains the only whisky awards scheme in the world that places the power to determine the winners in the hands of the public.

The judging panel, which was made up of industry experts, whisky writers and specialist retailers, whittled down the eight finalists from an overall entry of 37 from distilleries across Speyside. There are three separate categories.

In the 12 years and under category and non-age statement category, Cardhu Gold Reserve will take on Strathisla 12 years. In the section for malts aged 13 to 20 it will be between Aberlour 18 and Glenfiddich 18. GlenSpey 21 and Benromach 30 will battle it out in the 21 years and over category.

The awards are sponsored by coppersmiths Forsyths of Rothes – the company responsible for building many of the pot stills in which the shortlisted single malts were distilled. The judging session took place at the Knockomie Hotel in Forres.

Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival director Laura Sharp says that the judges blind tasted the entries, and only found out which drams made their shortlist after all the scores had been counted.

“We were very fortunate to have a highly skilled panel of judges who are all respected within the industry. I know that they were all very impressed with the overall quality of the entries, and the final scoring was very close. That makes a real statement about the quality of the whisky that we have here in Speyside,” she says.

“We feel very strongly, however, that the final say should rest in the hands of Festival visitors. Our judging panel may help to educate and form opinions about whiskies in their-day-to-day roles, but it could be said that consumers are the real experts as they ultimately have the power to make or break through their buying preferences.

“Whisky drinkers appreciate a fantastic whisky when they taste one – we have every confidence that visitors to the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival will once again select winners worthy of being crowned the best in Speyside.”

A number of judging sessions will take place across Speyside, with visitors asked to sample each shortlisted malt in a blind taste test. Tasting the malts blind ensures that consumers are not swayed by loyalty to or awareness of brands.The final judging session and awards prize-giving will take place at the Festival closing ceilidh on Sunday, May 3.

Tickets for all events in the 2015 Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival programme, including the roving judging sessions, can be bought via the website – http://www.spiritofspeyside.com/ – from February 3. The Festival is also active on social media – facebook.com/WhiskyFestival and @spirit_speyside on Twitter.

Nickolls & Perks Ltd
37 Lower High Street
Stourbridge West Midlands DY8 1TA
UK

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This week Joe Ellis reviews the English Whisky Co. Chapter 9 (Peated/Smokey).

http://youtu.be/pX4_C10onnM

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Black Bull Kyloe

 £24.17 ex VAT £29.00 inc VAT

50% ABV | 70cl

Arran 14 Year Old Non Chill Filtered

£35.83 ex VAT £43.00 inc VAT

46% ABV | 70cl

Single Malts Direct

36 Gordon Street | Huntly | Aberdeenshire | AB54 8EQ | Scotland UK

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

www.ralfy.com talks about specialist whisky shops in Whisky Review 518 – Bunnahabhain Cask 5525 @ 46.1%vol (BB&R)

SPRINGBANK UPDATE

We are still awaiting a final release date for the new Springbank 17, 21 & 12 year old cask strength, as soon as they arrive we will feature them on the web shop front page.  I am sure you will love the new 21 and 17, and the new 12 cask strength is a bit of a gem, one I am sure will be a fast mover.

TASTING ROOM UPDATE

The Tasting Room has become so busy we are booked out until May for most of the evening sessions, this includes extra dates we have been adding. We are reviewing the schedule with the view to increasing them from every Thursday to every Tuesday & Thursday from Mid May until further notice. We hope this helps the many 100s who have tried to book over the last month or so only to be told it’s a 3-4 month wait.

Distillery Profile No 2 – Springbank

When people research the history of whisky one distillery is always mentioned or acknowledged in some way, J&A Mitchell Springbank Distillery.

The distillery we see today was established in 1828 on the site of a distillery run by the Mitchell family as far back as the early to mid 1700s because like so many distilleries at that time it was operating illicitly few records survive just the family records and internal history thats passed down from one generation to another.

Springbank is the most complete and original of Scotland’s original distilleries, they still produce 100% on-site from Malting the Barley then distilling and maturing on site to the final process of bottling the matured spirit.

If you have ever visited the distillery then you will understand how unlike other distilleries Springbank is be it the number of staff working on site to the original equipment still in use from the 1800s. No gloss and shine at this small iconic distillery just honest old fashioned values allowed.

Springbank has the only 2.5 times distilled whisky made via reduction and a back and forth distilling process (Too complicated to explain here) After distilling the whisky is stored in Bourbon or Sherry casks that will be used a maximum of 3 times, the cask are stored in the No’3 Bond for part of the time the oldest earthen floor bonded warehouse in Scotland, cask are stacked 2 high to allow the resting spirit to breath and mature equally.

The bottling hall is built into the old Longrow Distillery that operated like 32 others in Campbeltown from the 1800s until prohibition in the USA took its toll on the once whisky capital of the world Springbank was the only distillery to survive the downturn because unlike the others it did not rush to what was then the worlds fastest growing economy the USA that like all others had a period of political instability or an act of a leader who wishes to leave their mark usually to the detriment of the economy or society.

After the second world war Springbank like many other distilleries was growing its market once again which continued on the whole undisrupted until like many others it suffered the economic instability following the oil crisis of the 1970s then the biggest threat came during the 1980s as the then UK government decided to shift vast swathes of the economy to move away from manufacturing to a service based economy and the loss of millions of jobs, luckily thanks to some forward planning the distillery survived and grew in the new whisky markets, its reputation has grown not only with whisky drinkers but also within the industry.

It’s iconic 21 year old was named malt of the century much to the dismay of some back in 1999 thanks to the votes of whisky drinkers around the world this was a great moment for the distillery.

Between 2000 & 2005 Springbank 21 had sold out then a surprise release hit the market in 2005 which sold out quickly leaving us with another few years with-out the vintage, over the last few years every January early February another bottling hits the market. In the last 2 years some rather special editions have been released with a cask strength limited edition Sherry cask 17 year old due out in February 2015. And for those who love the truly rare then another 25 year old is due out late October to Mid November 2015, the 2014 edition sold out in London less than 25 mins from being released.

Not bad for a distillery that was called ODD back in 2008! Now there is a real Gem Springbank ODD a whisky bottled exclusively for our shop in London and to celebrate and bask in the glory of being ODD! Long may it continue.

And finally, don’t tell anyone this but…

The 2015 London Exclusive is going to come from a small Island off the West coast of Scotland, the only other clue is it’s not from Jura, Skye or Mull, and its old.

Cadenhead’s Whisky Shop & Tasting Room

26 Chiltern Street London W1U 7QF

Tel: 020 7935 6999

GLASGOW DISTILLERY 

Paul and Liz of mcleanscotland/angels whisky club paid a pre planned visit to the Glasgow Distillery during January. Meeting up with Liam and a privileged show round of the operation, where they met the team, tried a few samples, saw the equipment and asked the questions. Made all the more difficult after a whole day and night with the Irish Tourist Board, we did struggle to make breakfast!

Q; Jarmo Halmeenkari from Finland asked us to pose the question; Where can we get this?

A; precious batch of aged single malt Speyside casks has been acquired by Glasgow Distillery and is to be launched under the brand name Prometheus. Where has Glasgow Distillery kept hidden this 26 year old? Chatting to Liam (Liam Hughes CEO) it will be delivered in a nice presentation box – still being designed – a very nice tall bottle shape with a cork/glass stopper. It will be presented in Hamburgh at the start of February and sadly, for us, also available in Scotland soon at around £300. Liz and Paul were lucky enough to sample this and very lucky to be given the chance to get their hands on a bottle once out there!

It WAS a really good dram, we both agreed (for once!). The coveted liquid was left to quietly sleep for nearly three decades until it was awoken after a chance meeting between Liam and the original owners. During the summer of 2014, a plan was hatched to finally release this unique and special whisky.

A question from a friend in Moscow; Q; we are interested in the cask idea and the club, what can you find out?

A; The 1770 CLUB This is a chance to own a piece of Glasgow distilling history. The 1770 Club gives you the opportunity to purchase your own cask filled with new make spirit and have it stored in their bonded warehouse for a minimum of three years and a day. Membership Includes; a specific cask (size you choose) with a unique reference number stencilled onto the end plate of the cask. A certificate of ownership detailing the quantity and strength of spirit that you own. Advice on optimal bottling time. You will be welcome to visit the distillery and inspect your whisky. Protection by 24 hour security and insurance – Paul’s note, we did check this out, dinnae worry, tight as Fort Knox, the whole site is bonded and totally secure. Membership also gets you a bottle of the distillery’s first spirit, Makar™ Glasgow Gin – and can I say (Paul), I hate gin, do not like it at all! But, we were introduced to a few different gin samples, mine had an orange twist with loads of ice and tonic, well d’you know, I drank the lot! I asked, why that much ice? A few ice cubes will start to melt away in the drink, lots of ice with keel each other company and keep each other iced for longer, amazing. Club membership starts at only £670 excluding VAT and UK duty, whoopee!

When asked,”what is annual output?” Liam answered; around 200,000 70cl bottles per year. They will mash 5 times per week and will run the whisky still and the gin still simultaneously.

The gin is available now, each day they “play around” making up cocktails, trying new ideas with this gin; Makar™

In all, we spent a couple of hours at the distillery, by the way, an industrial unit, no pagoda, no sign even! There will be NO visitors allowed and no visitor centre, but, depending on the tour and group we (mcleanscotland) may be able to sneak you in, eh Liam!

When will the first whisky dribble out? The first week of February. But you can buy a cask anytime.

We both agreed (Liz and Paul), everyone working here is super friendly, they know what they are doing and, more to the point, enjoy what they are doing! So much so, the planned Christmas drinks away in Glasgow was cancelled as all volunteered to stay and help receive still equipment, then set it up, a task in itself they said! Now what other distillery would do that I ask you? After samples of both whisky and gin, not to mention botanics and herbs Liz also took away, we were then driven back to Glasgow city by Liam!

See story on angels here

http://www.mcleanscotland.com/    http://www.angelswhiskyclub.com/

This Weekend Only!!

Kilchoman Cask Strength 59.2% ABV | 70cl

Save £10.00 (was £73.00) 17.5% off!

This is the first original cask strength expression launched by Kilchoman distillery since it was founded in 2005. It’s 100% bourbon matured and bottled at 5 years old and was distilled with a proportion of home-grown barley.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Soft peaty aromas, citrus and pear drops.
Palate: Sweetness first, soft peat smoke and ripe fruity notes.
Finish: Long and clean with peat smoke and citrus later.

Price: £51.67 ex VAT
£62.00 inc VAT

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